(3.5) How to get maximum number of shots per round

[Cogidubnus]

Aside from the SRD ones, what feats are there for archers? Particularly ones that add bonuses to hit/damage, but any are good.

Ed: How is Manyshot good? Seems to me that you only ever get 4 arrows, which is the same number you'd get from your BAB anyway.

Changed focus of question now. I've read builds talking about optimised archers getting scores of attacks per round, but how do they do it?

[Greenish]

Click the smiling face.

[Il_Vec]

I've clicked the smiling face. I've read the guide. But the part I really wanted to read was not there. Archivist Archer. I've heard of this for some time but never saw a real build out of it. Just "Use the ranger spells"...

[Ruinix]

Aside from the SRD ones, what feats are there for archers? Particularly ones that add bonuses to hit/damage, but any are good.

Dead Eye feat, the Dragon Compendium Vol 1 version pag 95.

give full dex to damage to add to the str.

check the errata online wich fix the BAB required to +1

[Greenish]

I've clicked the smiling face. I've read the guide. But the part I really wanted to read was not there. Archivist Archer. I've heard of this for some time but never saw a real build out of it. Just "Use the ranger spells"...

Knowledge Devotion, Divine Power, Splitting Force bow. Feats as volley archer. Crack open Spell Compendium and look over the ranger spells.

[Keld Denar]

The Woodland Archer tactical feat is also pretty good. You know, in case you have trouble hitting, a stacking bonus on attack rolls until you do hit is nice. The other abilities are pretty sweet too.

[SurlySeraph]

I've clicked the smiling face. I've read the guide. But the part I really wanted to read was not there. Archivist Archer. I've heard of this for some time but never saw a real build out of it. Just "Use the ranger spells"...

Spell Compendium:
Hunter's Eye. Gives you d6s of Sneak Attack. With CL boosts, awesomeness ensues. Combine it with Sniper's Shot, which lets you make sneak attacks at any range.
Arrow Storm. You attack everything within a range increment. Great against hordes.
Guided Shot. Cover, range penalties (!), and concealment don't affect your shots for the next round
Hunter's Mercy. Your next attack with a bow is automatically a critical hit. With the right weapon enhancements, this is awesome.

Champions of Ruin:
Brilliant Energy Arrow. Screw cover.
Arrowsplit. For when the DM bans Splitting bows.
Bloodfreeze Arrow. What it hits needs to make a Fort save vs paralysis. Useful but not great when used as intended, but there's a fun trick you can use: its duration is Instantaneous and it doesn't have a clause about the magic ending if it isn't fired, so you can just cast it on an arrow and use said arrow as an improvised dagger by the rules in the SRD. A dagger that forces a Fort save vs paralysis with every hit. This is better for an actual ranger than for an Archivist, due to higher BAB and free TWF, but still has applications.

[Raging Gene Ray]

Talk to your DM about houseruling in the Pathfinder core feat Deadly Aim.

[Person_Man]

Zen Archery for a Cleric or Psychic Warrior. After that, I would suggest avoiding archery feats all together, as they tend to be extremely weak. Instead, just take your standard metamagic or psionic buffs.

[Eldariel]

Zen Archery for a Cleric or Psychic Warrior. After that, I would suggest avoiding archery feats all together, as they tend to be extremely weak. Instead, just take your standard metamagic or psionic buffs.

Rapid Shot is almost always worth it since it acts as a buff multiplier. Precise Shot also enables Splitting, which acts as a damage multiplier. Both tend to be worth it. And Knowledge Devotion and Holy Warrior have their places, as does the occasional True Believer for non-divinists with certain restrictions. Point Blank Shot is the only truly weak archery feat, but the stuff you get for it generally makes it worth the opportunity cost, and then there's the stuff you'll never pick.

[Forged Fury]

Ed: How is Manyshot good? Seems to me that you only ever get 4 arrows, which is the same number you'd get from your BAB anyway.

Manyshot only requires a standard action, so you can move before or after you fire. Normally, you would have to use a full-round action to fire more than one arrow at an enemy and would thus be limited to a 5' step. With that said, most people don't go crazy for Manyshot. They go crazy for Greater Manyshot combined with the Scout.

[Cogidubnus]

Just to say I changed the question put didn't want to waste space making a new thread.

[Reynard]

I remember a build that could get hundreds of attacks per round with throwing knives.

[Greenish]

Just to say I changed the question put didn't want to waste space making a new thread.

Rapid Shot, Whirling Frenzy, Splitting bow, Haste, BAB, few ToB maneuvers come to mind first.

Aptitude crossbow with Lightning Mace, if you want cheese.

[Keld Denar]

Wield multiple bows (Thri-Kreen, Arrow Demon via polymorph). Gain multiple standard (Multishot) or full attack (Rapid Shot) actions via Factotum8, Time Stands Still (Diamond Mind9), Island in Time (Eternal Blade10), Belt of Battle (MIC) etc.

Splitting bow (Champions of Ruin) doubles each shot.

[Eldariel]

Rapid Shot, Whirling Frenzy, Splitting bow, Haste, BAB, few ToB maneuvers come to mind first.

Aptitude crossbow with Lightning Mace, if you want cheese.

Targetteer [DR325] Fighter's Arrow Storm as well.

And Aptitude can use more than Lightning Maces for truly ludicrous numbers. E.g. Roundabout Kick. I think Olo had a relatively comprehensive list. There's a lot of multipliers though.


Most arrows in one round I've managed is:
Ranger 2/Barbarian 1 (Whirling Frenzy)/Fighter 1 (Targeteer; Arrow Storm)/Warblade 6/Eternal Blade 10

This can generate a few novas depending on exact allowances. The simpliest version is:
Haste (e.g. Boots of Speed)
Splitting
Belt of Battle

Activate Whirling Frenzy, get a total of 9 base attacks (4 BAB + 1 Rapid Shot + 1 Whirling Frenzy + 2 Arrow Storm + 1 Haste).

Splitting doubles that for 18 attacks per full attack.

Time Stands Still means a full-round action contains two full attacks, for 36 total attacks.

Eternal Training allows regaining Time Stands Still once you've used it.

Island in Time gets you a second turn, complete with a swift action

Belt of Battle turns a swift action into a full-round action.


This gets us the following action sequence:
Full-Round Action #1 => Time Stands Still (36 attacks)
Swift Action #1 => Island in Time (Extra Full-Round and Swift Action)
Free Action #1 => Eternal Training (Time Stands Still)
Full-Round Action #2 => Time Stands Still (36 attacks)
Swift Action #2 => Belt of Battle (3 charges, extra Full-Round Action)
Full-Round Action #3 => Full Attack (18 attacks)

For a composite of 90 attacks total. Mind you, this is a level 20 build. But still, a good starting point. If you pick up UMD, you can double that a couple of times more (Polymorph into Arrow Demon doubles everything, you can get a dozen extra actions with some tricks - well, infinite if you really try - you could quad-wield Hand Crossbows instead if you took Thri-Kreen form and used Heroics, etc.) but it's a bit silly for my taste.

[Cogidubnus]

What're targeteer and fighter's arrow storm from?

[Keld Denar]

Targetteer [DR325] Fighter's Arrow Storm as well.

DR means Dragon Magazine (check the sticky at the top for a link to common acronyms). The 325 is the issue number, as Dragon is/was a periodical.

[Cogidubnus]

DR means Dragon Magazine (check the sticky at the top for a link to common acronyms). The 325 is the issue number, as Dragon is/was a periodical.

Are they in one of the compendiums?

[Keld Denar]

Nope. There is only one Dragon Compendium. It was labled as Volume 1, and I'm guessing they had plans to publish more. WotC yanked Paizo's license to put their name on stuff around when 4e was to be released, and with it, the plans to release a Dragon Compendium Volume 2+ were probably trash canned.

Its an actual soft cover magazine. You could usually find them on shelves in places like B&N or Boarders. No idea where you'd buy copies of them now. Maybe Ebay?

[Cogidubnus]

Nope. There is only one Dragon Compendium. It was labled as Volume 1, and I'm guessing they had plans to publish more. WotC yanked Paizo's license to put their name on stuff around when 4e was to be released, and with it, the plans to release a Dragon Compendium Volume 2+ were probably trash canned.

Its an actual soft cover magazine. You could usually find them on shelves in places like B&N or Boarders. No idea where you'd buy copies of them now. Maybe Ebay?

I'll have to do without. Won't get squat in this country.

Ed: While people are reading this, can I spend XP instead of gold when crafting?

[Diarmuid]

Crafting what?

I think the answer is no, but I want to make sure I understand the question fully before committing to my answer.

[Cogidubnus]

Crafting what?

I think the answer is no, but I want to make sure I understand the question fully before committing to my answer.

Magic Weapons and Armour.

[Keld Denar]

Crafting with the craft skill? No, you have to pay 1/3 the cost of the item in raw materials. You can't just will steel into being before pounding it into a sword.

Crafting magic gear with the Craft Magic X feats? It takes both gold AND xp. You pay half of the item's market value in gold, and 1/25 of the items market value in XP. So if there was an item that cost 25,000g, you could craft it for 12,500g and 1,000 xp. You have to pay BOTH costs.

[Cogidubnus]

I have just found myself with far more crafting XP than gold in a campaign where xp doesn't affect leveling up. May have to save it up for later.

[grarrrg]

Forget sheer number of attacks, just throw Katanas at people.
So much more awesome.