Requesting: Ranged Combat Build

[Eldritch_Ent]

Hello, I'm going to be playing in a local game soon and have a hankerin' for Archery, however I don't know much about ranged combat- builds or weapons.

Can someone suggest some feats, stat distribution, and gear for me? At the very least how much damage I could be doing each round with decent build would be handy.

Edit: I'm especially interested in the parameters of strong Archery weapons. Bows and Arrows, xdx damage, useful enchantments, etc.

And yeah, I know Non-casters are considered "weak" but I don't care. Let's save that discussion for another thread, okay?

[Quietus]

Do you have a general idea what kind of fluff you're looking for with this character, or are you going to fit fluff to crunch?

[Iku Rex]

From the build thread:

A character can be built:
From scratch to a certain level (showing the end result character at the level you specify)
Level by level (showing what you should take at each level)
Based on an existing character (taking a character you provide to the next level or whatever level you specify)

Asking for a Character (You may want to use the Sample below as a template for your request):
1. Which of the above are you asking for?
* * *a. If it’s the third one please provide the vital stats of your current character.
2. In your request specify whether you have requirements, preferences, or no limits on the following:
* * * * *a. Books that can be used to build your character
* * * * *b. Race (including any Level Adjustment Limits)
* * * * *c. Class
* * * * *d. Ability Scores (fixed or generation method)
* * * * *e. Alignment
* * * * *f. House Rules: are there any other requirements or unusual rules imposed on you/your character (e.g. no single level dips, no item creation feats, Track is being given to you as a class skill, etc.)
* * * * *g. Concept: what requirements or preferences do you have regarding concept?
* * * * *h. Other: Is there any other information that might help someone make your character all she can be (e.g., what are others playing, the setting is largely wilderness, the DM is threatening to use a lot of undead, or the campaign will be heavy on combat and light on intrigue)?

[MeklorIlavator]

Here's a link to a thread where I asked the same question.
Ranged combat

[TeenageHeat]

Requirements:
Complete Scoundrel, Complete Adventurer, the Core books, and whichever book has Improved Manyshot in it, i think it's both the Epic Player's Guide and the Psionics Handbook (don't fret, it's no psionic feat)

go Scout3/Ranger17, take the Swift Hunter feat from Complete Scoundrel, it lets Scout levels and Ranger levels stack for determining skirmish and favored enemy strength AND allows you to skirmish things that wouldn't be able to be normally skirmished like Constructs and Undead as long as that creature type is on your favored enemy list. it's pretty much the best archer build out there right now, take point blank shot (you have to start somewhere =]) at first level, precise shot at third (it's annoying shooting into melee and having that -4 =[), Swift Hunter at 6th level (get things rolling), Improved Skirmish at 9th (new feat from Complete Scoundrel, if you run 20ft instead of 10ft, your skirmish gets +2d6 added to it as well as +2 AC), Greater Manyshot at 12th (this is when BIG things just start to die, one spray), and 15th and 18th level, go wild with 2 random feats. dont forget to make all your favored enemies things that are immune to Sneak Attack =]

Improved Manyshot is just like Manyshot except precision damage (such as Skirmish) applies to every single arrow AND you can make the arrows hit seperate targets and any which way you want. SOOO that means that by level 20, 4 arrows shot, 1d8 plus 7d6 attatched to every single one. hit a nice little Hill Giant with small AC, that's 4d8s plus 28d6s of damage. ouch.

also, later see if you can get a bow of Splitting (i forget what book it's in), every arrow fired from said bow splits into two, meaning 8 arrows, going to any target or one, each +7d6 skirmish damage, and when hitting those favored enemies you get a bunch of extra damage as well.

ranger levels give you nice things as well:

-Favored Enemy (duh)
-go archery of course, and those 3 feats
-Track
-Endurance
-Animal Companion (have him Aid Another you constantly for a free shield =], also good if you have a rogue on the party =])
-Evasion
-better saves
-good skills
-nice spells
-use of wands
-Camoflauge + Hide In Plain Sight = "hey, where did that rain of arrows that decimated my troops come from just now? i knew we shouldn't have walked through the woods..."
-other stuff i can't think of right now


do you want to make Legolas look like a Halfling Commoner with a sling and no Dex? then use this build my friend. i've used it once in a campaign, i murdered and was the star of the show, and now in this other campaign i'm in, i'm a dwarf fighter (vanilla, sounds horrible but i created this insane build for it) and my friend is playing this as an Elf, we have fun competing for total kills every fight (he always wins).

have fun, if you understood any of this.

[Eldritch_Ent]

The fluff I'm going to be going for is, basically, the leader of an Archer Regiment for a specific mercenary army, who is searching for the family of a soldier who died in combat... At least at first.

And while the Multishot scout/ranger build looks good, I think I'll take that with that one feat that lets him attack multiple targets.... Manyshot was it?

[Celsius]

In general, for archery in D&D, there are two ways to go... Either you try to throw as many arrows at the enemy as possible in one round (Greater Manyshot, Rapid Shot), or you can choose to throw one massively enhanced arrow at your hapless foe (Hunter's Mercy?). The former gives you an amazingly high potential damage rate when coupled with classes like OotBI or scout.. The latter on the other hand is much more reliable, since it's easier to increase your attack bonus...

Useful feats include the Fell Shot feat (If you're psionic), Zen Archery (for clerics/druids), devastatingly obvious (Improved) Precise Shot...

As for Archery enhancements, the best enhancement to give your bow would be the Splitting (+3) enhancement from Champions of Ruin. It's vastly better than the Speed enchantment, which costs the same amount.

You might wanna consider taking Ranger for some of the Ranger spells, like Arrow Mind, Hunter's Mercy and Bane Bow. Alternatively a Rogue with UMD could activate wands with these spells...

[kpenguin]

Make sure you've got a wizard or cleric on the team. They can cast greater magic weapon on your arrows so that you can use that money to put special abilities on your bow.

Also, remember to stock up on different types of arrows. One of the advantages of archery is the versatility you have with the material you can shoot with. Grab some silver arrows, some cold iron, some adamantine, and whatever else you got in your campaign.

[Tellah]

This thread fleshes out the build that TeenageHeat has alluded to. It's roundly considered one of the most optimal mundane archery builds.