Wrath of the Righteous Power Builds: Two Archer Builds

July 27, 2022 by jasonite75 1 Comment

I love archers. In the tabletop game archers are the martial kings: they can full attack without having to move an inch, and multiple options give them spellcasting as well. I love them. Why haven’t I written about archer builds previously? Simply because you will not have a shortage of archer-style NPCs in the game, so if there’s a role you don’t need to worry about being filled, this is it! But so what, if you want to play an archer why shouldn’t you?!

There are multiple approaches to awesome archers. Zen archer monks, ranged Inquisitors such as the ravener hunter and sanctified slayer, the Ranger class, etc. Today we will be looking at two different versions, the Eldritch Archer Magus and the Fighter. These characters are built around taking the Trickster mythic path, if you take a different one some choices in this build will be different beginning at level 13.

Build Progression (Magus)

1. Human Magus: Eldritch Archer. Background Wanderer: Hunter for the bonus to bows

• • Str 14 Dex 19 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 10. You may dump wisdom or charisma if you want to pump something else, but I don’t think it’s necessary
  • Skills:  Athletics, Mobility, the others are up to you
  • Feats:  Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
  • Spells:  True Strike, Grease, Magic Weapon, Reduce Person if you like
  • Deity:  To quality for Trickster pick deities with compatible alignments

3. Feat:  Rapid Shot. You can have three attacks if you count using acid splash with ranged spellstrike. Arcana:  Arcane Accuracy

4. +Dex, every four levels

5. Feats:  Deadly Aim, Weapon Focus Longbow.

6. Arcana:  Enduring Blade. This and arcane weapon let you proc Elemental Barrage later on for massive damage with every arrow

7. Feat:  Improved Initiative

9. Feat:  Manyshot. Arcana:  Extended Magic. This is great for your buffs like haste, displacement, blur, mirror image

11. Feat:  Improved Critical–Longbow; Weapon Specialization Longbow

12. Arcana:  Devoted Blade, which lets you add Holy

NOTE:  Be sure and take Perception 1 and Perception 2 from Trickster

13. Feat:  Improved Improved Critical–Longbow

15. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical–Longbow. Arcana:  Bane Blade. One note about spells:  take Transformation to improve your BAB if you like. Hellfire Ray is also a great spell

17. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved–Longbow; Greater Weapon Focus–Longbow. If you don’t have the Covenant of the Inheritor relic you may want to take Clustered Shot, but it’s not that hard to bypass the demon’s DR in the game

18. Arcana:  Whatever you like, Metamagic Quicken is good

19. Feat:  Metamagic: Completely Normal Spell–a great application is to use this with True Strike to turn it into a cantrip, then you can spam it before every battle. Greater Spell Access give you access to Hurricane Bow, Sense Vitals, Greater False Life (stacks with False Life), Echolocation and Greater Heroism

Build Progression (Fighter)

For this build feel free to pick any race you like, since we have so many bonus feats you’ve got more flexibility than usual. The mutation warrior is terrific because he has access to mutagens, which will pump our Dex even higher. The only thing you lose is some armor training, but since you’re in the back as an archer it isn’t all that important.

1. Human Mutation Fighter. Background Hunter for the bonus to bows

• • Str 16 Dex 19 Con 12 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 8. You’ve got options here. I’ll pump Int to take advantage of the wizard’s spell book,  and increase strength as well
  • Skills:  Mobility is required, the rest are up to you
  • Feats:  Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
  • Deity:  To quality for Trickster pick deities with compatible alignments

2. Feat:  Weapon Focus Longbow

3. Feat:  Deadly Aim. Take Dex Mutagen

4. +Dex, every four levels. Feat: Weapon Spec: Longbow

5. Feat:  Improved Init. Weapon Training–Bows, obviously

6. Feat:  Manyshot

7. Feat:  At this point we have the great feats we need. I’d recommend the Snap Shot line to generate AoO’s–in general it can be great to build parties around capitalizing on AoO’s. Discovery:  Feral Mutagen is also in line with the AoO theme

8. Feat:  Improved Critical–Longbow

9. Feat:  Greater Weapon Focus–Longbow. Training:  Trained Initiative, and Bows

10. Feat:  Combat Reflexes

11. Feat:  Seize the Moment, and now we are getting a ton of AoO’s.  Mutagen: Feral Wings

12. Feat:  Greater Weapon Spec–Longbow.

13.  NOTE: As usual, take Trickster Perception 1 and Perception 2 first. Then take Improved Improved Critical. Training:  Armed Bravery to shore up your low Will saves

14. Feat:  Improved Snap Shot. It’s not that hard to bypass DR from demons, so don’t necessarily need Clustered Shot

15. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical–Longbow. Discovery: Greater Mutagen

16. Feat:  Greater Snap Shot

17. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved–Longbow. Training:  Fighter’s Reflexes to help with your Reflex saves

18. Feat:  You’ve got what you need at this point…Point Blank Master is a nice one if you like.

19. Feat:  Metamagic Completely Normal Spell since we now have the wizard’s spell book. Discovery:  Greater Mutagen again

20. Weapon Mastery: Longbow. Feat:  anything really. Penetrating Strike, Arcane Strike, etc

Mythic Progression

I will list the Magus first, and if there are differences with the Fighter build I will put that in italics

1. Instrument of Freedom, buffing everyone else with Holy is awesome. Ability:  Cleaving Shot.
2. Feat:  Rapid Shot Mythic or Deadly Aim Mythic (definitely Deadly Aim for Fighter)
3. Ability:  Elemental Barrage, which is one of the keystones of this build. Trick:  Knowledge Arcana (Fighter:  Distracting Shots / Knowledge Arcana 1 rank)
4. Feat:  Deadly Aim or Rapid Shot Mythic (Improved Critical Mythic–Longbow for Fighter) Tricks:  Perception 1 and 2, in preparation for your level 13 feat
5. Ability:  Distracting Shots, especially if you’re the only archer. If you’re not, you’ve got more flexibility Trick:  Knowledge World 1 (The Bigger They Are for Fighter)
6. Feat:  Improved Critical Mythic Longbow–this is where I prefer to take this feat. Tricks:  You’ve got options. If you want the wizard’s spell book take UMD 1 and 2, setting up UMD 3 and mythic 7–not sure this is needed with a magus build. I lean more toward Athletics 1 and 2. (Weapon Specialization Mythic for Fighter)
7. Ability:  The Bigger They Are–ranging shots requires missing your target and we will not be missing much at this point, even on Unfair, especially with some great buffs that are available by now. Tricks:  Lore Religion 1 and Athletics 3 (Ever Ready for Fighter)
8. Feat:  Weapon Focus Mythic–Longbow, or Imp Initiative Mythic if you prefer. Tricks don’t matter now, but Trickery 1 if you invest in the skill (so you can get Trickery 2), and Knowledge World 2
9. Ability:  Again, options here…Last Stand is a good choice, but since you’re more likely to be in the back, Ranging Shots is my preference. Tricks:  Nature 1 is nice, Trickery 2 if you want it, otherwise Lore Religion 2–and whatever domain you like. Madness is incredible for Vision of Madness alone (Elemental Barrage for Fighter)

Equipment/Gear

Weapon:  Ultimately you want to end up with Killing Pace–this is where putting ranks in Mobility really pays off

Head:  Headbands for Intelligence are important for both builds:  spells for Magus, and the Wizard’s spell book for fighter. If you don’t care about that, Shy Lily’s Helmet is great, unless you accepted Nocticula’s gift

Neck:  Vellexia’s Magnifying Amulet for both builds

Goggles:  Goggles of Malocchio

Armor:  Haramakis are what you want since there is no Dex restriction

Chest:  Anything you want

Belt:  Belts that increase Dex, later on Str and Dex. However if you get the boots below, then have the belt increase Str and Con, since Dex is already boosted

Gloves:  Magus whatever you like, Gloves of Dueling for Fighter

Boots:  Ronneck’s Sacrifice is what will go here, especially important for Dex-based PC’s

Bracers: Bracers of Armor are good, Lesser Bracers of Archery if you prefer

Rings:  I like Ring of Guiding Star, and Merciless Shot

Cloak:  Cloak of Resistance

Consumables:  Wand of Heal, especially after the Trickster stuff kicks in; Greater Quicken MM rod, especially for the Trick Fate spell as a swift action; Jharsygax; the Fatal Mark quiver can be great, so is the Seal of Madness quiver

Buffing

I’m going to try this as an experiment. If folks want a section like that on other builds simply let me know. Of course you don’t necessarily need to cast all of these for every battle. Mix and match what you like, and maybe only cast all of them on tougher battles. Spells such as Haste are always useful, as are hexes like Protective Luck and Fortune. So, for relevant buffs:

• First cast the Trickster spell Microscopic Proportions for +6 Dex
• Next cast Legendary Proportions for a few good bonuses
• Those with the cleric domain Good can cast Holy Lance to gain Holy on your bow
• Those with the Luck domain, cast Bit of Luck for an awesome boost to your first attack
• Tricksters can cast Firebrand
• If Magus, cast Transformation for a nice boost to BAB–it will block spell casting, which may or may not matter depending on play style

Alright, that’s it for now. This post has gone on for a long time, so I’ll cut it short here. I may or may not include other builds, not quite sure if I’ve completely scratched my itch or not. I hope these builds have been helpful! Check out my guide to rule changes and power builds here.