Archers can easily guarantee full attacks simply because it doesn't really matter where the opponent is as long as you have line of effect and few creatures are able to retaliate from 1000' away so there's something to be said about nuking someone in the horizon. The biggest advantage archers have, of course, is functioning at a range. The specific means for pumping up damage will be covered separately in each section, and this is indeed the main point that requires optimization when it comes to archery. This means that dealing damage is an important hurdle to overcome. Of course, depending on the class, the archer will fill secondary functions like the Divine Caster, the Skill Monkey, the Arcane Caster or such, but if you want to do archery, you should do it well enough to actually make shooting arrows worth your time.
Since archery generally doesn't lend itself very well to controlling the battlefield, most archers should focus on dealing enough damage to warrant their position in the party. Since archers generally key their damage off a different attribute than their To Hit, they can't solely focus on one or the other, and since Power Attack hasn't been printed within 3.5 rules for ranged weapons (see Hank's Energy Bow though, as well as the Deadly Aim feat and the Peerless Archer prestige class), archers tend to have a lot of difficulty dealing damage comparable to effective melee combatants. The largest challenge an archer tends to face is damage. At least the martial section will be touching upon Archers geared for Extreme Ranges (due to terrain and spot difficulties, such ranges are usually impractical so it's not the primary focus).A majority of the guide will deal with Long Range (all non-Precision characters).Sneak Attacking Archers mostly deal with Extended Point Blank Range.The Swift Hunter-section will obviously be for the short ranges.High attack bonuses help too, of course.Īs for a breakdown for the class specifics: A Fighter Archer with Ranged Weapon Mastery, Dragonbone Bow, Far Shot/Distance-weapon and levels in Cragtop Archer can probably still act effectively given the means to detect opponents, but usually it already starts to take effort and specialization to function at such a range. To effectively act at such a range, you tend to need uncanny means of detecting opponents, be it ridiculously high spot check or some divination magic/spotter, and very high attack bonuses or long range increments to act effectively. Most Cleric Archers and other non-Fighter Archers tend to operate at this range.
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At this range, you can generally pepper the opponent with a few full attacks before they close in to casting/melee range and free damage never hurt anyone. This is generally one-two increments away and a range where normal characters can still succeed their spot checks, so a good range to start an encounter at for a non-Precision Damage Archer in wilderness areas. This is generally also the maximum range you'll have to deal with in dungeons. If you can move after attack, this range gives you relative safety and alpha strike capability as an average movement speed of 30' cannot charge beyond 60'. This is the range for Precision Damage Dealers with range extending feats, such as a Swift Hunter with Ranged Skirmisher. This is also the standard move action, so acting at this range is almost as dangerous as fighting in melee. The common Swift Hunter Archer is going to want to visit this range quite often and this is also the range for a normal Rogue to Sneak Attack. This is the range for Point Blank Shot, Manyshot and the range limitation for most sorts of Precision Damage. Archery is easiest divided to range categories: SRD = System Reference Document Īrchery is a pretty large umbrella for a form of attacks, so a bit more accurate separation will help with dealing with particular builds and the capabilities we'll be looking for in each category. PF SRD = Pathfinder System Reference Document Not all of the sources are used in the present guide the listed abbreviation is what I'll be using should I happen to add material.įRCS = Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings (3.0) Purple options are godlike these are the cream of the crop and if you can, you should be picking them up. Red options are rated as bad, and should by and large be avoided.īlack options are average and probably have specific niches or are good options in the absence of others, but are nothing special.īlue options are good options and if they happen to sync with what your character is doing, you should probably pick them up.
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