PvM Ranged Build - Ba 10/BG 3/AA 27 (Glass Cannon)
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:50 pm
To start, as it is a Divine Archer, this concept is very similar to Areani's build. I started with a Bard base and went chaotic-evil.
Only 8 Bard is required for this build. I added two extra bard levels for skill dumps (UMD and Tumble) and because at lvl 10, bards get access to their lvl-4 spells which include Improved Invisibility and War Cry (+2 attack/dmg and another special effect that you shouldn't worry about). As far as I know, this is the only way you'll get war cry. (I don't think scrolls exist.). You're able to learn 2 and cast 3.
Your bard song increases at lvl-8 and doesn't improve again until lvl-11. At lvl-8 you get: +2attack/dmg(bludge?), +1 will/reflex/fort and 8hp.
AA maxes out damage at lvl-29, so if you want to forgo the last two bard levels, you can pick up +1 AA damage at the expense of your lvl-4 spells.
I probably went overboard on UMD, my old rule of thumb was UMD 25 pretty much gave me access to everything... but I've never played anywhere that actually had ILR 40 items before either. There is definitely opportunity to optimize skill allocation and would max out my listen/spot if i had it to do over. I'm also not sure how much tumble is actually useful since AC doesn't appear to be meaningful against mobs on this server... again, I'd rather not be hit to start with... but then there are ranged enemies.
Also, I'm posting two variants here because there is a decision you have to make up front. I'm new to the server and as such I found myself soloing a lot. On an archer, especially a glass canon (I have a DR tanky version of this I can post if there's interest.) that means a lot of run-and-gun. In those cases only the first flurry really matters. So you have to decide, do you want a 2/2/2 progression (that you'll almost never see solo because your target either died in the first round or you are getting ready to run and see 2/-/- for a while) or would you settle for 2/2/1 and pickup 80hp. The starting stats to do this are: STR: 17 (26), DEX: 11 (12), CON: 10, WIS: 8, INT: 10, CHA: 16 (22). At Lvl-36 you pick up another Greater Charisma instead of Rapid Shot and at Lvl-40 you bump STR+1 instead of CHA.
On Eima, I opted to drop Rapid Fire to get the 80hp (306 total). In hindsight, I'm playing more in parties than I was before (which is nice! Thanks for being such a welcoming server community!) and with my gear I will be able to max my Str/Cha/Dex and still have some space to boost Con. So maybe I'll go back to my original concept which I post below.
One other note, even though I exceeded it, I find 18 Cha to be the sweet spot for this build. The reason being toon maintenance as the Bard song and the DM will time out at roughly the same time when you have 30 Cha (18+12), yielding a Cha bonus of +10.
/***** Original Glass Cannon Concept ****/
Bard(10), Blackguard(3), Arcane Archer(27), Elf
STR: 18 (26)
DEX: 12 (13)
CON: 6
WIS: 8
INT: 10
CHA: 16 (22)
Elf: (Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Keen Sense, Low-light Vision, Skill Affinity: Listen, Skill Affinity: Search, Skill Affinity: Spot, Sleeplessness)
01: Bard(1): Power Attack
02: Bard(2)
03: Bard(3): Point Blank Shot
04: Bard(4): STR+1, (STR=19)
05: Bard(5)
06: Bard(6): Weapon Focus: Longbow
07: Bard(7)
08: Bard(8): STR+1, (STR=20)
09: Arcane Archer(1): Cleave
10: Blackguard(1)
11: Blackguard(2): {Smite Good}
12: Blackguard(3): STR+1, Divine Might, (STR=21)
13: Arcane Archer(2)
14: Arcane Archer(3)
15: Arcane Archer(4): Called Shot
16: Arcane Archer(5): STR+1, (STR=22)
17: Arcane Archer(6)
18: Arcane Archer(7): Improved Critical: Longbow
19: Arcane Archer(8)
20: Arcane Archer(9): STR+1, (STR=23)
21: Arcane Archer(10): Great Cleave
22: Arcane Archer(11)
23: Arcane Archer(12)
24: Arcane Archer(13): STR+1, Great Charisma I, (STR=24), (CHA=17)
25: Arcane Archer(14): Overwhelming Critical: Longbow
26: Arcane Archer(15)
27: Bard(9): Great Charisma II, (CHA=18)
28: Arcane Archer(16): STR+1, (STR=25)
29: Arcane Archer(17)
30: Arcane Archer(18): Great Charisma III, Epic Weapon Focus: Longbow, (CHA=19)
31: Arcane Archer(19)
32: Arcane Archer(20): STR+1, (STR=26)
33: Arcane Archer(21): Great Charisma IV, (CHA=20)
34: Arcane Archer(22): Devastating Critical: Longbow
35: Arcane Archer(23)
36: Arcane Archer(24): DEX+1, Rapid Shot, (DEX=13)
37: Bard(10)
38: Arcane Archer(25)
39: Arcane Archer(26): Great Charisma V, Epic Prowess, (CHA=21)
40: Arcane Archer(27): CHA+1, (CHA=22)
Hitpoints: 226
Skillpoints: 166
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 25/25/30
Saving Throw bonuses: Mind Effects: +2
BAB: 28
AB (max, naked): 37 (melee), 47 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 19/30
Spell Casting: Bard(4)
Alignment Changes: 0
Hide 5(6), Listen 31(32), Move Silently 5(6), Perform 14(20), Spot 31(32), Tumble 40(41), UMD 40(46)
...
02: Hide(5), Move Silently(5), Perform(5), Tumble(5),
...
07: Tumble(5), UMD(5), Save(10),
08: Perform(5), UMD(4), Save(5),
...
37: Perform(4), Tumble(30), UMD(31), Save(50),
...
40: Listen(31), Spot(31),
Only 8 Bard is required for this build. I added two extra bard levels for skill dumps (UMD and Tumble) and because at lvl 10, bards get access to their lvl-4 spells which include Improved Invisibility and War Cry (+2 attack/dmg and another special effect that you shouldn't worry about). As far as I know, this is the only way you'll get war cry. (I don't think scrolls exist.). You're able to learn 2 and cast 3.
Your bard song increases at lvl-8 and doesn't improve again until lvl-11. At lvl-8 you get: +2attack/dmg(bludge?), +1 will/reflex/fort and 8hp.
AA maxes out damage at lvl-29, so if you want to forgo the last two bard levels, you can pick up +1 AA damage at the expense of your lvl-4 spells.
I probably went overboard on UMD, my old rule of thumb was UMD 25 pretty much gave me access to everything... but I've never played anywhere that actually had ILR 40 items before either. There is definitely opportunity to optimize skill allocation and would max out my listen/spot if i had it to do over. I'm also not sure how much tumble is actually useful since AC doesn't appear to be meaningful against mobs on this server... again, I'd rather not be hit to start with... but then there are ranged enemies.
Also, I'm posting two variants here because there is a decision you have to make up front. I'm new to the server and as such I found myself soloing a lot. On an archer, especially a glass canon (I have a DR tanky version of this I can post if there's interest.) that means a lot of run-and-gun. In those cases only the first flurry really matters. So you have to decide, do you want a 2/2/2 progression (that you'll almost never see solo because your target either died in the first round or you are getting ready to run and see 2/-/- for a while) or would you settle for 2/2/1 and pickup 80hp. The starting stats to do this are: STR: 17 (26), DEX: 11 (12), CON: 10, WIS: 8, INT: 10, CHA: 16 (22). At Lvl-36 you pick up another Greater Charisma instead of Rapid Shot and at Lvl-40 you bump STR+1 instead of CHA.
On Eima, I opted to drop Rapid Fire to get the 80hp (306 total). In hindsight, I'm playing more in parties than I was before (which is nice! Thanks for being such a welcoming server community!) and with my gear I will be able to max my Str/Cha/Dex and still have some space to boost Con. So maybe I'll go back to my original concept which I post below.
One other note, even though I exceeded it, I find 18 Cha to be the sweet spot for this build. The reason being toon maintenance as the Bard song and the DM will time out at roughly the same time when you have 30 Cha (18+12), yielding a Cha bonus of +10.
/***** Original Glass Cannon Concept ****/
Bard(10), Blackguard(3), Arcane Archer(27), Elf
STR: 18 (26)
DEX: 12 (13)
CON: 6
WIS: 8
INT: 10
CHA: 16 (22)
Elf: (Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Keen Sense, Low-light Vision, Skill Affinity: Listen, Skill Affinity: Search, Skill Affinity: Spot, Sleeplessness)
01: Bard(1): Power Attack
02: Bard(2)
03: Bard(3): Point Blank Shot
04: Bard(4): STR+1, (STR=19)
05: Bard(5)
06: Bard(6): Weapon Focus: Longbow
07: Bard(7)
08: Bard(8): STR+1, (STR=20)
09: Arcane Archer(1): Cleave
10: Blackguard(1)
11: Blackguard(2): {Smite Good}
12: Blackguard(3): STR+1, Divine Might, (STR=21)
13: Arcane Archer(2)
14: Arcane Archer(3)
15: Arcane Archer(4): Called Shot
16: Arcane Archer(5): STR+1, (STR=22)
17: Arcane Archer(6)
18: Arcane Archer(7): Improved Critical: Longbow
19: Arcane Archer(8)
20: Arcane Archer(9): STR+1, (STR=23)
21: Arcane Archer(10): Great Cleave
22: Arcane Archer(11)
23: Arcane Archer(12)
24: Arcane Archer(13): STR+1, Great Charisma I, (STR=24), (CHA=17)
25: Arcane Archer(14): Overwhelming Critical: Longbow
26: Arcane Archer(15)
27: Bard(9): Great Charisma II, (CHA=18)
28: Arcane Archer(16): STR+1, (STR=25)
29: Arcane Archer(17)
30: Arcane Archer(18): Great Charisma III, Epic Weapon Focus: Longbow, (CHA=19)
31: Arcane Archer(19)
32: Arcane Archer(20): STR+1, (STR=26)
33: Arcane Archer(21): Great Charisma IV, (CHA=20)
34: Arcane Archer(22): Devastating Critical: Longbow
35: Arcane Archer(23)
36: Arcane Archer(24): DEX+1, Rapid Shot, (DEX=13)
37: Bard(10)
38: Arcane Archer(25)
39: Arcane Archer(26): Great Charisma V, Epic Prowess, (CHA=21)
40: Arcane Archer(27): CHA+1, (CHA=22)
Hitpoints: 226
Skillpoints: 166
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 25/25/30
Saving Throw bonuses: Mind Effects: +2
BAB: 28
AB (max, naked): 37 (melee), 47 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 19/30
Spell Casting: Bard(4)
Alignment Changes: 0
Hide 5(6), Listen 31(32), Move Silently 5(6), Perform 14(20), Spot 31(32), Tumble 40(41), UMD 40(46)
...
02: Hide(5), Move Silently(5), Perform(5), Tumble(5),
...
07: Tumble(5), UMD(5), Save(10),
08: Perform(5), UMD(4), Save(5),
...
37: Perform(4), Tumble(30), UMD(31), Save(50),
...
40: Listen(31), Spot(31),