With an 8d6 Death Attack and a 5d6 Assassin damage bonus, against the right monsters these builds can outdamage minmaxed Divine Might archers like Sorc2/Pal8/AA30 or Bard16/AA21/BG3 even when not minmaxed. Also both builds have UMD and so can use any scrolls or wands. The main downside of these builds is that they need to be fairly close in order to get Death Attack damage, which means that you lose one of the main advantages of a ranged build.
This is the DEX variant of the build.
When using Rapid Shot in Point Blank Shot range it has +79 AB, 1 more AB than a minmaxed Sorc2/Pal8/AA30.
You can minmax the build by changing the starting stats to 16STR/20DEX/6CON/8WIS/8INT/12CHA.
This will increase your AB and damage by 1 at the cost of 120 HP and your stealth skills.
You get four level 1 Bard spells and three level 2 Bard spells.
For level 1 I recommend: Grease. Lesser Dispel. Mage Armor. Magic Weapon.
For level 2 I recommend: Darkness. Silence. Ultravision.
With +12 DEX, +12 CON, a +20 AB longbow, and +6 AC items, it will have the following:
AB: 27 (BAB) + 19 (DEX) + 4 (feats) + 10 (AA) + 20 (AB bonus) = +80 (+79 with RS + PBS)
AC: 10 (base) + 19 (DEX) + 8 (Tumble) + 24 (AC bonus) + 4 (haste) = 65
HP: 278 (base) + 280 (CON) + 40 (feats) = 598
Fortitude: 20 (base) + 7 (CON) = 27
Reflex: 26 (base) + 19 (DEX) = 45
Will: 19 (bas) - 1 (WIS) = 18
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Code: Select all
Bard(6), Assassin(15), Arcane Archer(19), Elf
STR: 14
DEX: 18 (36)
CON: 12
WIS: 8
INT: 12
CHA: 12
Code: Select all
01: Bard(1): Point Blank Shot
02: Bard(2)
03: Bard(3): Rapid Shot
04: Bard(4): DEX+1, (DEX=19)
05: Bard(5)
06: Assassin(1): Weapon Focus: Longbow
07: Assassin(2)
08: Assassin(3): DEX+1, (DEX=20)
09: Assassin(4): Toughness
10: Arcane Archer(1)
11: Arcane Archer(2)
12: Arcane Archer(3): DEX+1, Improved Critical: Longbow, (DEX=21)
13: Arcane Archer(4)
14: Arcane Archer(5)
15: Arcane Archer(6): Blind Fight
16: Arcane Archer(7): DEX+1, (DEX=22)
17: Arcane Archer(8)
18: Arcane Archer(9): Called Shot
19: Arcane Archer(10)
20: Bard(6): DEX+1, (DEX=23)
21: Arcane Archer(11): Epic Weapon Focus: Longbow
22: Arcane Archer(12)
23: Arcane Archer(13)
24: Arcane Archer(14): DEX+1, Epic Prowess, Great Dexterity I, (DEX=25)
25: Arcane Archer(15)
26: Arcane Archer(16)
27: Arcane Archer(17): Great Dexterity II, (DEX=26)
28: Arcane Archer(18): DEX+1, Great Dexterity III, (DEX=28)
29: Arcane Archer(19)
30: Assassin(5): Great Dexterity IV, (DEX=29)
31: Assassin(6)
32: Assassin(7): DEX+1, (DEX=30)
33: Assassin(8): Great Dexterity V, (DEX=31)
34: Assassin(9)
35: Assassin(10)
36: Assassin(11): DEX+1, Great Dexterity VI, (DEX=33)
37: Assassin(12)
38: Assassin(13)
39: Assassin(14): Great Dexterity VII, Great Dexterity VIII, (DEX=35)
40: Assassin(15): DEX+1, (DEX=36)
Code: Select all
Disable Trap 1(2), Hide 43(56), Lore 3(10), Move Silently 43(56), Open Lock 1(14),
Pick Pocket 1(14), Search 25(28), Set Trap 1(14), Spellcraft 23(24), Tumble 40(53),
UMD 34(35)
Ba 01: Hide(4), Move Silently(4), Pick Pocket(1), Spellcraft(4), Tumble(4), UMD(3),
Ba 02: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), UMD(1),
Ba 03: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), UMD(1),
Ba 04: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), UMD(1),
Ba 05: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), UMD(1),
As 06: Disable Trap(1), Open Lock(1), Set Trap(1), Tumble(1), UMD(1),
As 07: Hide(2), Tumble(1), UMD(2),
As 08: Hide(1), Move Silently(3), UMD(1),
As 09: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(2), UMD(1),
AA 10: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(3),
AA 11: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(6),
AA 12: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(9),
AA 13: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(12),
AA 14: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(15),
AA 15: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(18),
AA 16: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(21),
AA 17: Hide(1), Save(25),
AA 18: Hide(1), Save(29),
AA 19: Hide(1), Save(33),
Ba 20: Hide(1), Lore(3), Spellcraft(15), Tumble(8), UMD(11),
AA 21: Hide(1), Move Silently(4),
AA 22: Hide(1), Move Silently(2), Save(2),
AA 23: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(5),
AA 24: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(8),
AA 25: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(11),
AA 26: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(14),
AA 27: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(17),
AA 28: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(20),
AA 29: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(23),
As 30: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(6), Tumble(10), UMD(10),
As 31: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(2), UMD(1),
As 32: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(3),
As 33: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),
As 34: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),
As 35: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),
As 36: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(1), Tumble(2),
As 37: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(3),
As 38: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),
As 39: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),
As 40: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Search(3),