Post by johannhowitzer on Nov 7, 2008 3:24:22 GMT
Ascetic Archer
(9 Monk / 1 Wizard / 30 Arcane Archer)
Arcane Archers are the most powerful ranged damage dealers in Higher Ground. They are the only class capable of firing the focused-damage bows found in later areas, and can pour damage of one elemental type into one enemy, allowing a party to burn down problematic creatures quickly.
There are several ways to build an Arcane Archer on this server. You can go all-out offense, maximizing chance to hit, chance to get critical hits, amount of criticals' damage, etc. This is dangerous, as it requires an investment of feats that leaves the archer very vulnerable to attack, but many experienced players find that route attractive and have found ways to stay alive.
In the interest of giving new players a build they will enjoy and can use to learn about the world of Higher Ground, I am going to provide a much more defensive build. Damage output will be somewhat lower than other builds, but Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit) will be very high, and the set bows have enough damage by themselves to make you very useful in any party.
This build is the same that my Hardcore Arcane Archer uses, and she has done very well. If you would like more information on Hardcore play, consult your journal or find someone in-game with -HC- in their name.
Base Race: Elf
Subrace: Wood Elf
Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or Lawful Evil
You get the Point Blank Shot feat for free with this subrace. It is a must-have for all archers, as it eliminates the -4 penalty to Attack Bonus (chance to hit) you would normally get when standing close to your target.
Enter the ability scores below when making the character:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
The Wood Elf subrace will raise your Consitution to 16 and lower your Intelligence to 14. This will happen when you first log-in after creating your character, when you get off the boat. If it does not happen, you probably misspelled the subrace, and you will need to delete your character and start over.
NOTE: Using Wood Elf for this character means that you will gain 20% less experience for each kill. This does mean you will level a little slower than other characters, but it will not affect anything at all when you are done leveling. Therefore, I recommend enduring the lower experience. Think of it this way - you get to play this archer more!
Level 1 - Monk
Skill ranks: 4 Discipline, 4 Hide, 4 Parry, 4 Tumble (12 unused)
Feat:
Strong Soul - "Saves" are critical to any character. Fortitude Save bonus helps you avoid attacks which would otherwise poison or slay you, Reflex Save helps you dodge things like traps and dragon breath, and Will Save helps you avoid mind-altering effects like domination and confusion. Strong Soul boosts Fortitude and Reflex a little, and unlocks a feat you will take much later which boosts them even more. Archers have high Reflexes and low Fortitude and Will, so this will help balance that out.
Level 2 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (14 unused)
Level 3 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (16 unused)
Feat:
Toughness - Provides 1 extra Hit Point per level. When you reach level 60, this feat will have given you 60 extra Hit Points, which means extra time to drink a potion or run away if you get in trouble.
Level 4 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (18 unused)
Level 5 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (20 unused)
Level 6 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (22 unused)
Feat:
Weapon Focus (longbow) - Increases your Attack Bonus by 1 when using a Longbow. Higher Attack Bonus means a better chance to hit your target.
Level 7 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (24 unused)
Level 8 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (26 unused)
Level 9 - Wizard
Skill ranks: NONE (30 unused)
Feat:
Blind Fight - If you are blinded or you're attacking an invisible creature, your chance to hit enemies and dodge attacks would normally suffer. Blind Fight alleviates some of these effects, and is essential for almost any character who uses a weapon.
Level 10 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 2 Hide (34 unused)
Level 11 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (39 unused)
Level 12 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (44 unused)
Feat:
Rapid Shot - Allows you to activate Rapid Shot mode in combat. Rapid Shot mode gives you an extra attack each round, but lowers the attack bonus of all attacks by 2. I recommend you put this ability on your quickbar, as you will use it a lot.
Level 13 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (49 unused)
Level 14 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (54 unused)
Level 15 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (59 unused)
Feat:
Improved Critial (longbow) - Doubles your chance to get a critical hit with longbows. For this character, critical hits will deal three times as much damage as normal hits.
Level 16 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (64 unused)
Level 17 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (69 unused)
Level 18 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (74 unused)
Feat:
Weapon Finesse - Normally, your attack bonus (chance to hit) would be increased by your Strength score. Weapon Finesse allows you to use your Dexterity score instead, for some weapons. Sometimes archers may need to wear a shield to avoid getting hit; this feat will allow you to switch to a melee weapon and shield combo and still stand a chance of damaging enemies. This character will be able to use the following weapons with Weapon Finesse:
Dagger, Katar, Sai, Mace, Sickle, Goad, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Light Pick, Sap, Shortsword, Kama, Nunchaku, Wind Fire Wheel, Rapier
Level 19 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (79 unused)
Level 20 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 12 Discipline, 1 Hide, 12 Parry, 12 Tumble (48 unused)
Level 21 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (53 unused)
Feat:
Epic Weapon Focus (longbow) - Increases your Attack Bonus by 2 when using a Longbow. Higher Attack Bonus means a better chance to hit your target.
Level 22 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (58 unused)
Level 23 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (63 unused)
Level 24 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (68 unused)
Feats:
Great Dexterity I - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Great Dexterity II - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 25 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (73 unused)
Level 26 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (78 unused)
Level 27 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (83 unused)
Feat:
Epic Prowess - Increases your Attack Bonus by 1 for ANY weapon, which increases your chance to hit. When combined with Legendary Weapon Focus, which you will take later, this feat provides 1 extra to your Attack Bonus with the weapon you've focused on - in this case, Longbow.
Level 28 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (88 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity III - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 29 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (93 unused)
Level 30 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (No more skills until level 41. Make sure you save the points, you'll need them later... 99 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity IV - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 31 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (105 unused)
Level 32 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (111 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity V - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 33 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (117 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity VI - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 34 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (123 unused)
Level 35 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (129 unused)
Level 36 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (135 unused)
Feats:
Great Dexterity VII - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Great Dexterity VIII - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 37 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (141 unused)
Level 38 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (147 unused)
Level 39 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (153 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity IX - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 40 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (159 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity X - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
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Congratulations, you're entering a new phase in your career as an archer! From now on, all leveling will be done in the Altar of Legends in the Docks. If you remove all equipment, your character sheet should show the following ability scores:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 36
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
You will have taken a total of 23 Discipline, Parry, and Tumble, and 32 Hide. Actual skill level used in-game is a total of the RANKS you have taken, plus bonuses from your ability scores and perhaps some feats or special abilities... this means the skills listed on your character sheet may look a little different.
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The following levels do not allow you to choose your class. As your highest class is Arcane Archer, they will be counted as Arcane Archer levels, for the purposes of determining Arcane Archer special abilities, attack bonus increases, and various other things. Full information on Legendary Levels can be found in your in-game journal under the heading "Legendary Levels."
Level 41
Skill ranks: 8 Discipline, 8 Parry, 8 Tumble (117 unused)
Level 42
Skill ranks: 14 Discipline, 13 Parry, 14 Tumble
Feat:
Legendary Hardened Soul - The feat you qualified for when you took Strong Soul at level 1. It will increase your Fortitude and Will saves by 4 each, which will help you survive.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 43
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 44
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 45
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment I - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Level 46
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 47
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 48
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment II - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 49
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 50
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 51
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment III - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Level 52
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 53
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 54
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment IV - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 55
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 56
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 57
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment V - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
You now have all five Self Concealment feats, so your Concealment will never be lower than 50%. This means you will dodge 50% of the attacks that would normally hit you.
Level 58
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry (not Tumble!)
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 59
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry
Level 60
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry
Feat:
Legendary Weapon Focus (longbow) - Normally increases your Attack Bonus by 2 when using a Longbow. If you have Epic Prowess (which you do), this bonus is increased to 3.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
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Congratulations once again! You have reached the highest level you can get on Higher Ground, but there are many more adventures awaiting you at this point. Let's look at the stats you should have if you take off all your gear.
Ability scores
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 46
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
Saves
Fortitude: 37
Reflex: 46
Will: 34
You should have taken 63 ranks in Discipline and Parry, 60 in Tumble, and 32 in Hide. Again, these will look a little different on your character sheet, but they should all be higher except Discipline, which will be slightly lower. However, here is what each skill will do for you:
Discipline - Helps in preventing some negative effects. Very important at high levels.
Hide - This skill won't do much by itself. If you can manage to fit Hide bonuses in your gear, there is a Druid spell called Mass Camouflage that may be able to raise your Concealment above your innate 50%; Mass Camouflage is affected by your Hide skill.
Parry - Enemies are capable of getting critical hits in Higher Ground! Parry skill will turn some of those critical hits back into regular hits.
Tumble - Every 5 ranks in Tumble will boost your Armor Class (chance to dodge enemy attacks) by 1. Since you have 60 ranks, you should now have a bonus of 12 to your Armor Class! That is a LOT. Tumble can also keep enemies from getting an extra attack when you run by them.
Now that you have made your Ascetic Archer, you need to find some good gear! Ask players in-game for advice on setting up your equipment to cover all the things needed for various areas. In fact, you should already have been doing this and paying close attention to your gear since you started, so hopefully there's not much to do at this point.
PLAYING YOUR ARCHER
An archer's task is to learn the vulnerabilities of every enemy and switch bows as needed. You are the one who will be responsible for burning certain enemies down quickly, so be sure to ask your parties about target priority and elemental weaknesses if you're not sure. For the Nine Hells, should you ever get there, you will find the following chart of damage types VERY useful:
www.hgwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hells_Damage
This character has solid defenses, but that does not mean you will be running up and standing so close to enemies that you can smell their breath. Why would you want to? You're just as effective at a distance, and most things can't hit you if they can't get to you. Use your tanks to provide a protective shield - your innate defenses such as Armor Class and Concealment are there as a second line of defense if enemies get through. Running away is usually an option, and the boost to speed you get from Monk should help there.
Carry scrolls!! You have a Wizard level, so you can use ANY arcane scroll in the game. You will need a friend who can make scrolls, or a scriber of your own - Wizards can scribe scrolls automatically. Making scrolls costs a small amount of experience and gold. Here are some types of scrolls you should keep in your stock... this list is copied from Tyran's Reptilian Mageslayer, and I have added some notes on each.
Greater Sanctuary - Easily the most useful, it will make enemies ignore you for a while. If you get in big trouble, this could be a lifesaver.
Timestop - Freezes all players and enemies except YOU for a very short time. This gives you a few precious seconds to ressurrect a friend in safety. Timestop scrolls are hard to come by.
Black blade of Disaster - Summons a blade which can't damage enemies, but it's almost completely invincible. Very useful for distracting enemies.
Mordenkainen's Disjunction - Normally strips enemies' magical defenses, but a scroll probably won't be strong enough for that. It DOES, however, lower enemy Spell Resistance, which will help your allies land spells. It can be targeted at the ground to affect a large area, but be careful of hitting your friends or yourself.
Mind Blank - Protects you and those around you from various nasty mental effects. It won't protect from everything, though.
Lesser Mind Blank - Same as Mind Blank, but single-target.
Stone to Flesh - Restores petrified allies. If you see someone say "stoned" in chat, use one of these on them right away!
Clarity - Shorter version of Lesser Mind Blank.
Greater Spell Mantle - Will absorb the first 2-3 spells that hit you. This is not as useful as it might seem, as caster enemies tend to use a lot of spells quickly, but it could save your life in some cases. Also found on some items, such as the Scion of Sorcere helm.
(9 Monk / 1 Wizard / 30 Arcane Archer)
Arcane Archers are the most powerful ranged damage dealers in Higher Ground. They are the only class capable of firing the focused-damage bows found in later areas, and can pour damage of one elemental type into one enemy, allowing a party to burn down problematic creatures quickly.
There are several ways to build an Arcane Archer on this server. You can go all-out offense, maximizing chance to hit, chance to get critical hits, amount of criticals' damage, etc. This is dangerous, as it requires an investment of feats that leaves the archer very vulnerable to attack, but many experienced players find that route attractive and have found ways to stay alive.
In the interest of giving new players a build they will enjoy and can use to learn about the world of Higher Ground, I am going to provide a much more defensive build. Damage output will be somewhat lower than other builds, but Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit) will be very high, and the set bows have enough damage by themselves to make you very useful in any party.
This build is the same that my Hardcore Arcane Archer uses, and she has done very well. If you would like more information on Hardcore play, consult your journal or find someone in-game with -HC- in their name.
Base Race: Elf
Subrace: Wood Elf
Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or Lawful Evil
You get the Point Blank Shot feat for free with this subrace. It is a must-have for all archers, as it eliminates the -4 penalty to Attack Bonus (chance to hit) you would normally get when standing close to your target.
Enter the ability scores below when making the character:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
The Wood Elf subrace will raise your Consitution to 16 and lower your Intelligence to 14. This will happen when you first log-in after creating your character, when you get off the boat. If it does not happen, you probably misspelled the subrace, and you will need to delete your character and start over.
NOTE: Using Wood Elf for this character means that you will gain 20% less experience for each kill. This does mean you will level a little slower than other characters, but it will not affect anything at all when you are done leveling. Therefore, I recommend enduring the lower experience. Think of it this way - you get to play this archer more!
Level 1 - Monk
Skill ranks: 4 Discipline, 4 Hide, 4 Parry, 4 Tumble (12 unused)
Feat:
Strong Soul - "Saves" are critical to any character. Fortitude Save bonus helps you avoid attacks which would otherwise poison or slay you, Reflex Save helps you dodge things like traps and dragon breath, and Will Save helps you avoid mind-altering effects like domination and confusion. Strong Soul boosts Fortitude and Reflex a little, and unlocks a feat you will take much later which boosts them even more. Archers have high Reflexes and low Fortitude and Will, so this will help balance that out.
Level 2 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (14 unused)
Level 3 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (16 unused)
Feat:
Toughness - Provides 1 extra Hit Point per level. When you reach level 60, this feat will have given you 60 extra Hit Points, which means extra time to drink a potion or run away if you get in trouble.
Level 4 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (18 unused)
Level 5 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (20 unused)
Level 6 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (22 unused)
Feat:
Weapon Focus (longbow) - Increases your Attack Bonus by 1 when using a Longbow. Higher Attack Bonus means a better chance to hit your target.
Level 7 - Monk
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (24 unused)
Level 8 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Hide, 1 Parry, 1 Tumble (26 unused)
Level 9 - Wizard
Skill ranks: NONE (30 unused)
Feat:
Blind Fight - If you are blinded or you're attacking an invisible creature, your chance to hit enemies and dodge attacks would normally suffer. Blind Fight alleviates some of these effects, and is essential for almost any character who uses a weapon.
Level 10 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 2 Hide (34 unused)
Level 11 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (39 unused)
Level 12 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (44 unused)
Feat:
Rapid Shot - Allows you to activate Rapid Shot mode in combat. Rapid Shot mode gives you an extra attack each round, but lowers the attack bonus of all attacks by 2. I recommend you put this ability on your quickbar, as you will use it a lot.
Level 13 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (49 unused)
Level 14 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (54 unused)
Level 15 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (59 unused)
Feat:
Improved Critial (longbow) - Doubles your chance to get a critical hit with longbows. For this character, critical hits will deal three times as much damage as normal hits.
Level 16 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (64 unused)
Level 17 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (69 unused)
Level 18 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (74 unused)
Feat:
Weapon Finesse - Normally, your attack bonus (chance to hit) would be increased by your Strength score. Weapon Finesse allows you to use your Dexterity score instead, for some weapons. Sometimes archers may need to wear a shield to avoid getting hit; this feat will allow you to switch to a melee weapon and shield combo and still stand a chance of damaging enemies. This character will be able to use the following weapons with Weapon Finesse:
Dagger, Katar, Sai, Mace, Sickle, Goad, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Light Pick, Sap, Shortsword, Kama, Nunchaku, Wind Fire Wheel, Rapier
Level 19 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (79 unused)
Level 20 - Monk
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 12 Discipline, 1 Hide, 12 Parry, 12 Tumble (48 unused)
Level 21 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (53 unused)
Feat:
Epic Weapon Focus (longbow) - Increases your Attack Bonus by 2 when using a Longbow. Higher Attack Bonus means a better chance to hit your target.
Level 22 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (58 unused)
Level 23 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (63 unused)
Level 24 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (68 unused)
Feats:
Great Dexterity I - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Great Dexterity II - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 25 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (73 unused)
Level 26 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (78 unused)
Level 27 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (83 unused)
Feat:
Epic Prowess - Increases your Attack Bonus by 1 for ANY weapon, which increases your chance to hit. When combined with Legendary Weapon Focus, which you will take later, this feat provides 1 extra to your Attack Bonus with the weapon you've focused on - in this case, Longbow.
Level 28 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (88 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity III - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 29 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: 1 Hide (93 unused)
Level 30 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (No more skills until level 41. Make sure you save the points, you'll need them later... 99 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity IV - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 31 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (105 unused)
Level 32 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (111 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity V - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 33 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (117 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity VI - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 34 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (123 unused)
Level 35 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (129 unused)
Level 36 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (135 unused)
Feats:
Great Dexterity VII - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Great Dexterity VIII - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 37 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (141 unused)
Level 38 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (147 unused)
Level 39 - Arcane Archer
Skill ranks: NONE (153 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity IX - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
Level 40 - Arcane Archer
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Skill ranks: NONE (159 unused)
Feat:
Great Dexterity X - Increases your Dexterity score by 1. For every 2 points of Dexterity, you gain a bonus of 1 to Attack Bonus (chance to hit), Armor Class (chance to avoid being hit), and Reflex save.
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Congratulations, you're entering a new phase in your career as an archer! From now on, all leveling will be done in the Altar of Legends in the Docks. If you remove all equipment, your character sheet should show the following ability scores:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 36
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
You will have taken a total of 23 Discipline, Parry, and Tumble, and 32 Hide. Actual skill level used in-game is a total of the RANKS you have taken, plus bonuses from your ability scores and perhaps some feats or special abilities... this means the skills listed on your character sheet may look a little different.
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The following levels do not allow you to choose your class. As your highest class is Arcane Archer, they will be counted as Arcane Archer levels, for the purposes of determining Arcane Archer special abilities, attack bonus increases, and various other things. Full information on Legendary Levels can be found in your in-game journal under the heading "Legendary Levels."
Level 41
Skill ranks: 8 Discipline, 8 Parry, 8 Tumble (117 unused)
Level 42
Skill ranks: 14 Discipline, 13 Parry, 14 Tumble
Feat:
Legendary Hardened Soul - The feat you qualified for when you took Strong Soul at level 1. It will increase your Fortitude and Will saves by 4 each, which will help you survive.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 43
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 44
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 45
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment I - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Level 46
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 47
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 48
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment II - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 49
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 50
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 51
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment III - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Level 52
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 53
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 54
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment IV - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 55
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Level 56
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 57
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Tumble
Feat:
Epic Self Concealment V - Each Self Concealment feat increases your Concealment by 10%. Concealment would normally start at 0%, and any attack which would normally hit your character has a percentage chance equal to your Concealment to miss instead. This will not stack with Concealment given by other sources.
You now have all five Self Concealment feats, so your Concealment will never be lower than 50%. This means you will dodge 50% of the attacks that would normally hit you.
Level 58
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry (not Tumble!)
Ability score increase: Dexterity
Level 59
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry
Level 60
Skill ranks: 1 Discipline, 1 Parry
Feat:
Legendary Weapon Focus (longbow) - Normally increases your Attack Bonus by 2 when using a Longbow. If you have Epic Prowess (which you do), this bonus is increased to 3.
Ability score increase: Dexterity
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Congratulations once again! You have reached the highest level you can get on Higher Ground, but there are many more adventures awaiting you at this point. Let's look at the stats you should have if you take off all your gear.
Ability scores
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 46
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8
Saves
Fortitude: 37
Reflex: 46
Will: 34
You should have taken 63 ranks in Discipline and Parry, 60 in Tumble, and 32 in Hide. Again, these will look a little different on your character sheet, but they should all be higher except Discipline, which will be slightly lower. However, here is what each skill will do for you:
Discipline - Helps in preventing some negative effects. Very important at high levels.
Hide - This skill won't do much by itself. If you can manage to fit Hide bonuses in your gear, there is a Druid spell called Mass Camouflage that may be able to raise your Concealment above your innate 50%; Mass Camouflage is affected by your Hide skill.
Parry - Enemies are capable of getting critical hits in Higher Ground! Parry skill will turn some of those critical hits back into regular hits.
Tumble - Every 5 ranks in Tumble will boost your Armor Class (chance to dodge enemy attacks) by 1. Since you have 60 ranks, you should now have a bonus of 12 to your Armor Class! That is a LOT. Tumble can also keep enemies from getting an extra attack when you run by them.
Now that you have made your Ascetic Archer, you need to find some good gear! Ask players in-game for advice on setting up your equipment to cover all the things needed for various areas. In fact, you should already have been doing this and paying close attention to your gear since you started, so hopefully there's not much to do at this point.
PLAYING YOUR ARCHER
An archer's task is to learn the vulnerabilities of every enemy and switch bows as needed. You are the one who will be responsible for burning certain enemies down quickly, so be sure to ask your parties about target priority and elemental weaknesses if you're not sure. For the Nine Hells, should you ever get there, you will find the following chart of damage types VERY useful:
www.hgwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hells_Damage
This character has solid defenses, but that does not mean you will be running up and standing so close to enemies that you can smell their breath. Why would you want to? You're just as effective at a distance, and most things can't hit you if they can't get to you. Use your tanks to provide a protective shield - your innate defenses such as Armor Class and Concealment are there as a second line of defense if enemies get through. Running away is usually an option, and the boost to speed you get from Monk should help there.
Carry scrolls!! You have a Wizard level, so you can use ANY arcane scroll in the game. You will need a friend who can make scrolls, or a scriber of your own - Wizards can scribe scrolls automatically. Making scrolls costs a small amount of experience and gold. Here are some types of scrolls you should keep in your stock... this list is copied from Tyran's Reptilian Mageslayer, and I have added some notes on each.
Greater Sanctuary - Easily the most useful, it will make enemies ignore you for a while. If you get in big trouble, this could be a lifesaver.
Timestop - Freezes all players and enemies except YOU for a very short time. This gives you a few precious seconds to ressurrect a friend in safety. Timestop scrolls are hard to come by.
Black blade of Disaster - Summons a blade which can't damage enemies, but it's almost completely invincible. Very useful for distracting enemies.
Mordenkainen's Disjunction - Normally strips enemies' magical defenses, but a scroll probably won't be strong enough for that. It DOES, however, lower enemy Spell Resistance, which will help your allies land spells. It can be targeted at the ground to affect a large area, but be careful of hitting your friends or yourself.
Mind Blank - Protects you and those around you from various nasty mental effects. It won't protect from everything, though.
Lesser Mind Blank - Same as Mind Blank, but single-target.
Stone to Flesh - Restores petrified allies. If you see someone say "stoned" in chat, use one of these on them right away!
Clarity - Shorter version of Lesser Mind Blank.
Greater Spell Mantle - Will absorb the first 2-3 spells that hit you. This is not as useful as it might seem, as caster enemies tend to use a lot of spells quickly, but it could save your life in some cases. Also found on some items, such as the Scion of Sorcere helm.
