Invisible Archer Bard 3/SD 10/AA 27

[orateck]

Invisible Archer
First AA Atempt, wish i dident need Wraith , like to see my gear and change its look lol

Elven ability adjustments: +2 Dex, -2 Con
Special Abilities
Sleeplessness: Immune to spells and effects of the 'Sleep' subtype.
Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells.
Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow)
Skill Affinity (Listen): +2 racial bonus to listen checks.
Skill Affinity (Search): +2 racial bonus to Search checks.
Skill Affinity (Spot): +2 racial bonus to Spot checks.
Keen Senses: Elves make active Search checks automatically and with no movement penalties.
Low-light Vision: Allows them to see better than normal in the dark.

"Wraith" - requires None
-3 str +3 dex +1 int +6 hide +6 MS Bonus Feat Aura Of Courage, Perfect Health, Immunity to Sleep, Immunity to Death.

Stats (After subrace)
STR 11 (8)
CON 10
DEX 20 (23)
INT 11 [12]
WIS 8
CHA 12

Another Choice
STR 9 (6)
CON 12 (up to 60 more Hp)
DEX 20 (23)
INT 11 (12)
WIS 9
CHR 11 (min for Bard)

Level progression (Stats: 19 dex 1 wis)
3 bard (Dodge and mobility)
6SD (Point bland Shot and Weapon Focus: Long Bow)
10 AA (Improved critical: Long Bow, Rapid Shot, Toughness)
1 SD (Max Tumble and hide)
4 AA (Armor Skin, Epic Weapon focus)
3 SD (max tumble and hide to 30)(Epic Prowess)
12 AA (now you can get epic dodge and self conceal <---get it as high as you can)(Self Conceal III and Great Dex IV)

Could Drop 1 AA lvl to take a 4th lvl Bard and Max your tumble Displin, UMD, and any other you think you might need

Benafit you gain 2 AC gain UMD and Higher Disaplin

Loss you only get Enchant Arrow XIII, -1 DC for AA Abilities

Not to bad of a trade off

LL's
Self Conceal max (if you dident get befor lvl 40)
Great Dex and Con

Base Dex of 52 by level 60

Total AA level of 47 for LL benefits.

Arcane Archer Abilities
X-There are four bows only usable by arcane archers that are able to inflict massive elemental damage. These bows alter the damage type that the AA's Imbue Arrow ability does.
X-Seeker arrow now does increased damage, with the multiplier scaling up to x9 at 50 levels AA. At 24 levels of AA (legendary levels included if control is AA) it becomes unlimited uses per day. At 29 levels of AA (legendary levels included if control is AA) it adds a Bigby's Interposing Hand effect to the target lasting ten rounds and resisted at a check against the AA's level (legendary levels included if control is AA) + 20 + d20.
X-Hail of Arrows gains unlimited uses at 28 levels of AA (legendary levels included if control is AA). Legendary levels do NOT count when calculating its damage bonus multiplier, whch remains capped at x5 for 30 levels of AA.
X-Death Arrow gains unlimited uses at 30 levels of AA (legendary levels included if control is AA). Legendary levels now count when calculating the save of the arrow (if the archer's control class is AA), which is capped at arcane archer level + 15, to a maximum of 49 dc at arcane archer level 34. At AA level 35 (counting legendary levels if the character's control class is AA), the death arrow ability changes dramatically. It becomes usable only once every 4 minutes, but casts wail of the banshee, with a dc of AA level + 5 (legendary levels included if control is AA), capped at dc 55 at AA level 50, and resisted at a check against the AA's level (legendary levels included if control is AA) + 20 + d20.
X-Imbue Arrow gains unlimited uses at 22 levels of AA (legendary levels included if control is AA). Its damage type may be altered by equipping certain bows found ingame. It does 1d6 damage per AA level, including legendary levels if the character's control class is AA, with a dc of AA level + 5 (legendary levels included if control is AA), capped at dc 55 at AA level 50, and resisted at a check against the AA's level (legendary levels included if control is AA) + 20 + d20.

Skills
Tumble 30
4 Hide at first lvl Max Hide 30 for self conceal
2 MS at first lvl
After that its personal choice though i'ed go for a 15-20 PP.

Skills (alternit)
Tumble 40
4 Hide at first lvl Max Hide 30 for self conceal
2 MS at first lvl
Disaplin 43
UMD 43

After that its personal choice though i'ed go for a 15-20 PP, Can Max Concentration if you wish 43.

Pros
Very high final Dex
Natural Death Immun
Improved Evasion so you generally take low or no damage from spells with a reflex save
Enchant Arrow XIV at lvl40 (Enchant Arrow XIII lvl 38 on alternit)
Very good ab with bow
Good ac
Epic Dodge
50% Self Concealment
+6 Tumble ac at level 27 (from tumble skill) (+8 on alternit lvl 40)

Cons
Your ab 2 lower then a fighter AA but hay with an AB this high whats 2 points
Crappy discipline and concentration (unless you took alternit)
Limited alternative Feat Choice



Please give any advice you might have

Modifyed Sept 11, 2006, 6:07pm to provide some alternit choices based on advice
Modifyed Sept 11, 2006, 6:07pm to fillin feats i took for epic lvl's

[hiryuu]

1 Great Con, for final stats of Con 11 and Cha 12? I would swap those -- your spell casting is a joke. Also, take any Con bonuses before LL for the best HP. Be sure to take Epic Weapon Focus and Armor Skin, even if it means you don't max your Dex. (+2 AB and AC for 2 feats, rather than +1)

Very nice build.

[AndyDeck]

I'm playing a character eerily similar to this now, slight differences in levelling order and I took a 4th level of Bard at 40 to max out Disc, Spellcraft, and some others. The Bard level takes care of the Discipline disadvantage you mention - don't think I've noticed the missing Concentration.

The biggest deficiency I'm feeling so far is on fort saves (damn the Living Sand & Implosions), but I just took Epic Fort in LLs to help with that. Avio is currently level 45, been pretty happy with him so far. I'm looking to add Blind Fighting next due to recent revelations about BF versus Conceal, then possibly Armor Skin.

I'll post my full version if you're interested in how I did it differently.

[chainlink]

Why initial Str of 11? I'd leave it at 8 or possibly increase it to 9 (reduces to 5 or 6) and add these points on Con. Have you factored in the -2 Con from Elf base as well? By high levels you should easily able to get something that adds +12 to your Str so the initial low value should not be an issue.

[orateck]

Thanks for advice, i filled in the Feats i left out and provided the alternit stats, skills and Lvl 40 class pick

And sure AndyDeck post your build, can compare notes then

Right now i'm trying a Tiefling Elf AA, a variation on chainlink's Dark Archer, 2 less rogue lvl's for 2 added AA lVl's but dont get Self Conceal V till lvl 41, not to bad i think

[AndyDeck]

I went 3 Bard/6 SD/10 AA/4 SD/4 AA/1 SD/12 AA/1 Bard. Total 4 Bard/10 SD/26 AA. Wraith (Elf) is required, of course, to get SD at Character Level 4 .

Initial stats (after Wraith effects):
Str 7
Dex 21
Con 10
Wis 10
Int 16
Cha 12
(I'm opposed to taking Con or Wis penalties, and I like taking skills. You could drop the Int in favor of Con and/or Wis, probably a good idea from what I've seen of saves in Legendary areas)

This build gets Epic Dodge at CL 27 with the 10th level of SD. Hail of Arrows damage tops out at 52 at CL 38 (AA Level 25). Seeker Arrow damage will top out at 104 at CL 59 (AA Level 45).

Relative to Orateck's build, my lower starting dex required me to take 2 Great Dexterity feats at level 21 & 24 in order to get Epic Dodge at CL 27. I finished off my epic feats with 3 more Great Dex (to hit lvl 40 with dex 36), EWF: Longbow, and SC IV. I left off Epic Prowess - I don't seem to be hurting for AB at all.

In LLs, I've taken SC V and Epic Fort so far. I took Epic Fortitude because my saves at lvl 40 were Fort 20/Will 18, which when fully buffed (and typically I could not fully buff my Con) would only give a Fort save of 46 - against Living Sand and Implosions in the Desert, I was failing far too often. I'll probably end up taking Epic Will for the same reason. The +8 to spell saves from Spellcraft does help quite a bit here as most items for a dexer are going to boost Reflex not Fort or Will.

I expect to take Blind Fighting and Armor Skin next, leaving 2 open choices - probably Great Dex 6 & 7. That should take me to a final Dex of 48, or 60 fully buffed. I'll probably leave these choices for last, though - who knows what may end up being important. I could even see an Epic Skill Focus being advisable, although ESF: UMD won't be available unless you take your 4th Bard level at CL 39 and give up a point of Appraise/Disc/SC&UMD, and delay SC IV to LLs.

For my extra skill points I was able to max Appraise, Discipline, Spellcraft, and UMD, plus decent levels of Heal, Hide, MS, Lore, and Tumble 40. I even was able to splash a bit of DT, OL, PP, Search, etc., which has come in handy from time to time (especially the PP - free heals!).

I went in to this build focused on improving my overall defenses beyond what my first AA (a Drow, 5 bard/5 fighter/30 AA) could muster. That puppy was only swinging an AC of around 91 at CL 44 - this one can hit 101 so far, and adds on ED and SC V. So far it's been worth losing the extra damage, but we shall see if that holds true in other LL areas.

Orateck doesn't mention the a couple of the 10 levels of Shadow Dancer that can help keep you alive, so I shall. At SD level 10 your Shadow Evade is 20% conceal, 10/+1 soak, and 4 AC for 20 rounds, 3 times a day. With halfway decent +12 boots you can then max your own Dodge AC for 20 rounds, 3 times a day - worth remembering. The Summoned Shadow ceases to be useful before ~CL 35, but it can be a handy assistant prior to that.