Best pure archer class?

[Santa Claus Jr]

It's been a while since i played BG1 or 2. I played them when i was a kid and they were still being sold in stores and dont remember dnd2e anymore. When i think good archer in 3.5e or pathfinder I just think a fighter with bow and archery feats.

fighter or ranger? I also want to play human because iirc there are plenty of dialogues that reference character race and whatnot.

[N0P3]

I generally flub around with a ranger with sub-classing even more ranger stuff rather than dual class and a mix-race of half human & elf for a logical twist. Rangers are probably going to be a touch more adept with bows while fighters can use bows they teeter between melee and bladed/bludgeon weapons more so. Really up to you; I have done fighters with bows in the past to great effect, but currently notice a little bit more fluidity with a ranger elf hybrid.

Disclaimer: I'm not a D&D wiz either - more a filthy casual (lol).
TC and have fun.

[Lokiator]

If you're going purely for ranged damage, then the Archer subclass of Ranger is by far the best. And let's be honest, ranged damage is the most devastating form of damage in BG, BG2, and Icewind Dale...

Every 3 levels, Archers get a 1 point bonus to THACO and +1 damage (to level 18, then every 5 levels after). If you stick with an Archer through to the end of BG2, then that's a 9 point to hit bonus and +9 damage with each hit.

Archers also get the Called Shot feat, which can penalize the opponents THACO, saves, strength, and adds piercing damage to further hits. Better still, these penalties stack with each hit while Called Shot is active.

However, Archers are even more limited than Rangers in the armors they can use (hide, leather, and studded only) and can't put more than a single point in any non-ranged weapon specialization.

[Centurion]

Allow me to offer my two copper pieces....

1) For sheer missile mayhem, the Archer Kit of Ranger is total terror. What others have not yet mentioned is that by the end of BG2, if you play all your cards right, you will have a Dexterity of 21 (or more, +4 THACO), those Archer buffs (+9/+9), and Grand Mastery (+3/+5, with an extra attack every turn!). Toss in a high-end bow with magic arrows, and you always hit on anything but a critical miss and each shot can cause more than 20 HP in damage! Absolutely wicked! Get past that whole romance dialogue thing (or mod it with Tweaks Anthology), and switch to an elf and you get another +1 THACO and another point of DEX for another +1. The only downside of the Archer is you only have leather armor and proficiency in melee, meaning that you have problems in any ambush or close quarters situation.

2) After this I would go with a standard Fighter. You can still achieve the High Dex and Grand Mastery, but you won't get the added +1/+1 every 3(5) levels of archer or the called shot. But, unlike the Archer, you can tank up the heavy armor and also pursue higher skills in a melee weapon over time as well.

3) Fighter dual-class. Here you get to be Human for all those dialogues. Since you won't really improve with bows after you make Grand Master, dual at whatever level you can (9 or 13, preferably). You will lose those awesome bow skills for a while, but once you get them back (one level higher in your new class over your old fighter class), you are still the second-deadliest archer around and you have another useful class as well. (Thief or Mage to use bows. You could be a Sling-Sniper and dual to Cleric or Druid.) Mage is good as they don't want to melee anyway, and using a bow makes you a dual-threat mage.

4) Multi-Class. Same combos as above. A lot weaker as you can only be specialized in bows (slings), +1/+2 and an added 1/2 attack per turn (as opposed to 2 & 1/2 with Grand Mastery.) But with increases in dexterity, items (bracers of archery), and top bows you will still max-out THACO, I have used M/C F/T for decades as character-generated NPCs and they really do kill it! Not close to the damage and ROF of the Archer, but way better than a Bard with a short bow!

And here's what to Avoid (for a strong Archer):

a) Kensai and Beserkers. Kensai cannot use bows and Beserkers can only be proficient with ranged weapons. (Both have a work-around in BG2. They can use magic throwing axes, hammers, etc., as ranged weapons with grand mastery. But I gather this is not what you are looking for?)

b) Wizard Slayers. They suck, overall. Although,... a WS can apply their spell-failure ability to ranged attacks and can GM in bows and such. So not as bad as Kensai and Beserkers, although you can't use those bracers of archery and such.

c) All other Ranger kits. Rangers can only be Specialized in bows. If you want to kill at range, Archer is the only ranger with a real advantage. The other kits are meant for other purposes, and are really just watered-down fighters when it comes to bows.

d) All Paladins. Same restriction on Specialization as other Ranger kits. Except the Cavalier who can't use bows at all!

And you already know that no other classes can do more than minimal with bows, etc.

For what it's worth, Ranged Weapons are the way to go for most of the game. BG1 is wide-open with lots of wilderness spaces and large buildings made for archery. I would say only a handful of battles are so close quarters as to put a bowman at a disadvantage. (I learned the hard way to NOT put my Level 2 Archer in the front row when battling slimes in Beregost. Best to wait a few levels for that!) BG2 is harder, and you do get maneuvered into more ambush/melee situations than BG1. However, by then you should have the extra HP (especially as a Fighter-type) to survive even if you have lousy melee skills and armor. Simply put, this series was designed for would-be Robin Hoods and William Tells!

[Wicket W. Warrick]

Originally posted by Santa Claus Jr:

It's been a while since i played BG1 or 2. I played them when i was a kid and they were still being sold in stores and dont remember dnd2e anymore. When i think good archer in 3.5e or pathfinder I just think a fighter with bow and archery feats.

fighter or ranger? I also want to play human because iirc there are plenty of dialogues that reference character race and whatnot.

Ranger Archer kit is devastating.

[Damn_Monkey]

If you're open to a range character that isn't specifically a bow user, I'd roll a Kensai with Daggers. Highest sustained DPR range build in game.

[AlexMBrennan]

Archers are very strong in BG1 but will start to struggle in SoD because the highly enchanted ammo you need to hit enemies is extremely limited (you will be drowning in +6 melee weapons but you will never find anything better than +3 arrows)

[Voroff]

As a twist of thought, why not a throwing chara ?
Knife throwing has some powerfull weapon in the end of BG2 so you'll stay competitive, boomerang hammers are fun too but iirc lacks an end-game one, and darts on a specced warrior are devastating by both sheer violence but more importantly - volume of throwed things. The fire rate for darts is honnestly kinda impressive, and there are end-game darts variants - but they are kinda few for the said fire rate.

[Hell-met]

what a strange topic

pick the archer kit, that's what you are looking for.

Yes, it's better than a fighter with ranged, because archer gets insane damage bonus stacks with levels.

[Gustuv Wynd]

The archer ranger kit is probably the strongest class in BG1. There are enough arrows of detonation to even cover the cases where AOEs are really needed.

With proper caster support to get through defenses in BG2...the Archer kit is one of the strongest classes in the entire series. Even in ToB when you run into a few enemies that need a +4 weapon to hit and you aren't using one of the few ranged weapons that can hit that enchantment level...you are still a fighter with a fighter base THAC0 and hit points and three free pips in dual wielding. Even with one pip in a melee weapon you will still hold your own in those few fights...just for once won't be wrecking everything.

[Raven057]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

Archers are very strong in BG1 but will start to struggle in SoD because the highly enchanted ammo you need to hit enemies is extremely limited (you will be drowning in +6 melee weapons but you will never find anything better than +3 arrows)

You could go the crossbow route, there is a good crossbow in watchers keep.

[Gustuv Wynd]

Originally posted by Raven057:

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

Archers are very strong in BG1 but will start to struggle in SoD because the highly enchanted ammo you need to hit enemies is extremely limited (you will be drowning in +6 melee weapons but you will never find anything better than +3 arrows)

You could go the crossbow route, there is a good crossbow in watchers keep.

There are literally like three fights that need more than +3...Demogorgon, the Ravager and a lich. So like 99% of the time you can use whatever. Just whip out some awesome melee weapons and kill those couple enemies.

[Damn_Monkey]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

Archers are very strong in BG1 but will start to struggle in SoD because the highly enchanted ammo you need to hit enemies is extremely limited (you will be drowning in +6 melee weapons but you will never find anything better than +3 arrows)

Gensen's shoots unlimited +4 arrows for the few fights that require it.

[Hamish]

Archer with Grand master in long and short bow would give you options to use those unlimited ammo short bows later, plus you could use the unlimited +1 (upgrades to +2) quiver with any bow you want from watchers keep. despite the limit on armour, there is plenty for good enough studded leathers throughout the games, a couple with give 1 AC which makes you tanky enough (one even increases movement rate). To be fair I just finished a play through and now you have put the idea into my head to try an archer of some kind! And I will follow my own advice too.

[Hamish]

The fact I rolled a 100 making my archer is making me grateful for the idea! Thanks!