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Is playing a magic archer even viable in pathfinder
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:52 am
by argol228
I really want to play an archer/wizard style character but there is just no way I can think of building such a character without gimping myself. sadly I am stuck to pathfinder for this. any advice or am I just going to have to play a wizard that carries a bow and fluff all my spells
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:06 am
by Night Goat
You won't be the most optimal character, but you probably don't need to be. You could play en elf for free bow proficiency, and though your attack bonus won't be great you won't lose any levels of spellcasting. You could also choose a planetouched race (outsiders get proficiency in all martial weapons) and take Eldritch Knight at level 6, only losing one level of spellcasting. Keep in mind that ranged combat is very feat-intensive, so you probably won't have feats for anything else. You won't be as powerful as a god wizard, but since the rest of your group probably thinks that noncasters are a real option, you might still be the best in the party.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:26 am
by Prak
Consider asking your GM if you can adapt the Spellslinger archetype of wizard for this concept. Taking a look at it, I would suggest something like this as an archetype-
Spellsniper
Especially popular among elves, there is a school of wizardry which focuses on the use of the bow as a conduit for spellcasting. While they can cast spells without bows, they truly shine when they are allowed their focus.
Arcane Bow (Su): The spellsniper gains proficiency in bows, and begins play with either a bow of their choice or two one-handed crossbows. Arcane bows are normal bows or crossbows in the hands of others, as they were normal bows before the spellsniper imbued them with magic. In a spellsniper's hands, they both fire projectiles (arrows and bolts) and cast magic. At 1st level, the spellsniper decides whether he wants to have one arcane bow or two arcane crossbows at a time. If the spellsniper chooses to have only one arcane bow at a time, spells fired through the arcane bow that require an attack roll have a ×3 critical hit multiplier.
A spellsniper can cast any ranged touch attack, cone, line, or ray spells through his arcane bow. When he casts through the arcane bow, the bow's enhancement bonus (if any) is a bonus to the spell’s attack rolls or to the spell’s saving throw DCs.
A spellsniper can attune his arcane bows at the start of each day. That attunement lasts until the spellsniper attunes to a new bow, even if a formally attuned bow is destroyed.
This ability replaces arcane bond.
Scribe Spell Arrows:
The spellsniper gains the ability to inscribe spells on arrows such that firing the arrow becomes a part of casting the spell inscribed on it. Spell Arrows are identical to scrolls, save that the arrow must strike something as part of the spell completion (usually through being fired, but being stabbed into something will count as well) in order for the spell to take effect. Firing a spell arrow takes the same action as casting the spell inscribed on it would, you are not limited to inscribing damaging spells (for example, darkness is as legitimate a form for a spell arrow as fireball or magic missile), and, despite the name, you may inscribe spells onto bolts as well as arrows.
This ability replaces Scribe Scroll.
School of the Bow
The art of a spellsniper is similar in required focus to specializing in a school of magic. The spellsniper must choose two opposition schools, but does not gain a specialization school as normal. Their specialization is in using an Arcane Bow.
This ability replaces Arcane School.
I personally would lean towards keeping cantrips, but sac'ing spells for weapon enhancements may be worth it.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:45 am
by erik
Night goat, someone corrected me earlier when I had the same belief on outside martial profs. There's hidden text elsewhere in srd which nixes the free profs.
What about being an archer do you want to keep? Able to deal good damage per round at range? Elf wizard with bow and buffs or set of wands/staves fluffed to look like bows may get that done.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:09 am
by argol228
erik wrote:Night goat, someone corrected me earlier when I had the same belief on outside martial profs. There's hidden text elsewhere in srd which nixes the free profs.
What about being an archer do you want to keep? Able to deal good damage per round at range? Elf wizard with bow and buffs or set of wands/staves fluffed to look like bows may get that done.
while I would like to have awesome bow damage, my main goal is just to be a gish archer inspired by games like Dragon Dogma's Magick archer.
I love playing spellswords but the party comp is pure melee...I am trying to fill the caster role and if possible ranged.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:40 am
by Orca
If you want to fill the caster role and shoot arrows a bit, then you probably want one of the 3/4 BAB full casting divine classes - cleric, druid, oracle or shaman. Even if your definition of 'the caster role' requires the sorcerer/wizard list the shaman has you covered (lore spirit, arcane enlightenment hex). If you want to focus more on the archery side of things, a nature fang druid or a cleric using buffs is probably the answer.
I have no direct knowledge of the Dragon Dogma Magick archer. If you want to post something about what you want from that I might be able to suggest more.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:56 am
by argol228
Orca wrote:If you want to fill the caster role and shoot arrows a bit, then you probably want one of the 3/4 BAB full casting divine classes - cleric, druid, oracle or shaman. Even if your definition of 'the caster role' requires the sorcerer/wizard list the shaman has you covered (lore spirit, arcane enlightenment hex). If you want to focus more on the archery side of things, a nature fang druid or a cleric using buffs is probably the answer.
I have no direct knowledge of the Dragon Dogma Magick archer. If you want to post something about what you want from that I might be able to suggest more.
It's mostly just a stylistic thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mXQlO4iUf0 shooting spells through a bow which is easy fluff.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 3:30 am
by Prak
float the spellslinger modification I suggested by your gm, worst he can say is no, and then you can go from there.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 4:25 am
by Orca
OK - if you're a cleric or oracle you could have your holy symbol on your bow and use that as your divine focus.
It looks like you definitely want the Grace spell since that guy does a lot of bouncing away from enemies without getting stabbed for it; Burst of Radiance, Daybreak Arrow, Align Weapon and Holy Smite may help cover the glowing attacks.
Relevant domains for a cleric might include Sun, Glory/Heroism, or possibly Weather (mainly for the lightning lord ability). As an oracle you'd probably want to go for the Battle mystery, it's just the most relevant for fighting.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 8:29 am
by Username17
Casters with bows have been Clerics for a long long time in D&D. Like, back to 2nd edition AD&D days. The original term for CoDzilla was "Cleric Archer."
Pathfinder has a lot of fiddly options here and there. The obvious choice would be to look at the Battle Oracle. But the mystery where you get all the martial weapons is rather pointless. In Pathfinder, you don't really need to have access to all martial weapons, because you can't afford more than one magic weapon. You only need to have proficiency with one martial weapon, which in this case is the Longbow and which you get for writing "Elf" on your character sheet.
The number of archetypes and options and fiddly bits on a Pathfinder character has gotten to ridiculous levels, so actually finding the perfect set of options for your character is going to take a long time. But the place you need to start is divine magic, because that's the magic that the Paizo people don't seem to mind you doing big damage with weapons and still being good at casting it.
-Username17
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:58 am
by argol228
So yeah, I think I will run a Cleric archer, possibly with death domain and undead lord archtype since a free undead companion sounds handy
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:21 pm
by Pseudo Stupidity
You get can longbow proficiency by worshiping Erastil. But then you have to be within one step of lawful good and his domains aren't the best. Then you take Guided Hand to use Wis on all your attack rolls with longbows, so feel free to dump Dex.
After that, do normal Cleric things and murder shit with a bow on the side.
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:03 pm
by MisterDee
FrankTrollman wrote:The number of archetypes and options and fiddly bits on a Pathfinder character has gotten to ridiculous levels, so actually finding the perfect set of options for your character is going to take a long time. But the place you need to start is divine magic, because that's the magic that the Paizo people don't seem to mind you doing big damage with weapons and still being good at casting it.
-Username17
Also, by going for a full-progression spellcaster combined with a non-terrible fighting style, you've basically bypassed the whole "torture the SRD and Herolab to achieve Playable Character Status" minigame. Just picking options that don't seem flat-out terrible will leave you with a competent character, unlike the poor guys who will either be playing cripples or have to spend days tweaking options just to pull their weight.
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:55 pm
by Avoraciopoctules
Next Pathfinder campaign I play in, I kind of want to rip off
Knight Elhanan from Titan souls in combat. Cleric is an obvious fit, Air Walk and Righteous Might let you turn into a giant that floats around and shoots superpowerful arrows, and you could probably get away with a Spiritual Weapon that was just a big arrow that chased people around. All that's left is some kind of counterattack, which can probably be handled with a bit of dumpster-diving through obscure spells.
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:37 am
by OgreBattle
Avoraciopoctules wrote:All that's left is some kind of counterattack
"My counter-attack is an angel/skeleton army standing next to me"
There any arcane viable equivalent though? Like a magus variant or eldritch knight build, or perhaps a vivisectionist alchemist with a bow?
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:43 am
by Prak
Prak wrote:Consider asking your GM if you can adapt the Spellslinger archetype of wizard for this concept. Taking a look at it, I would suggest something like this as an archetype-
Spellsniper
Especially popular among elves, there is a school of wizardry which focuses on the use of the bow as a conduit for spellcasting. While they can cast spells without bows, they truly shine when they are allowed their focus.
Arcane Bow (Su): The spellsniper gains proficiency in bows, and begins play with either a bow of their choice or two one-handed crossbows. Arcane bows are normal bows or crossbows in the hands of others, as they were normal bows before the spellsniper imbued them with magic. In a spellsniper's hands, they both fire projectiles (arrows and bolts) and cast magic. At 1st level, the spellsniper decides whether he wants to have one arcane bow or two arcane crossbows at a time. If the spellsniper chooses to have only one arcane bow at a time, spells fired through the arcane bow that require an attack roll have a ×3 critical hit multiplier.
A spellsniper can cast any ranged touch attack, cone, line, or ray spells through his arcane bow. When he casts through the arcane bow, the bow's enhancement bonus (if any) is a bonus to the spell’s attack rolls or to the spell’s saving throw DCs.
A spellsniper can attune his arcane bows at the start of each day. That attunement lasts until the spellsniper attunes to a new bow, even if a formally attuned bow is destroyed.
This ability replaces arcane bond.
Scribe Spell Arrows:
The spellsniper gains the ability to inscribe spells on arrows such that firing the arrow becomes a part of casting the spell inscribed on it. Spell Arrows are identical to scrolls, save that the arrow must strike something as part of the spell completion (usually through being fired, but being stabbed into something will count as well) in order for the spell to take effect. Firing a spell arrow takes the same action as casting the spell inscribed on it would, you are not limited to inscribing damaging spells (for example, darkness is as legitimate a form for a spell arrow as fireball or magic missile), and, despite the name, you may inscribe spells onto bolts as well as arrows.
This ability replaces Scribe Scroll.
School of the Bow
The art of a spellsniper is similar in required focus to specializing in a school of magic. The spellsniper must choose two opposition schools, but does not gain a specialization school as normal. Their specialization is in using an Arcane Bow.
This ability replaces Arcane School.
I personally would lean towards keeping cantrips, but sac'ing spells for weapon enhancements may be worth it.