Wrath of the Righteous Power Builds: Two Archer Builds

I love archers. In the tabletop game archers are the martial kings: they can full attack without having to move an inch, and multiple options give them spellcasting as well. I love them. Why haven’t I written about archer builds previously? Simply because there is an abundance of archer-style NPCs in the game, so if there’s a role you don’t need to worry about being filled, this is it. But so what, if you want to play an archer why shouldn’t you?

There are multiple approaches to awesome archers. Zen archer monks, ranged Inquisitors such as the ravener hunter and sanctified slayer, and entire the Ranger class. Today we will be looking at two different versions, the Eldritch Archer Magus and the Fighter. These characters are built around taking the Trickster mythic path, if you take a different one some choices in this build will be different beginning at level 13. Check out my guide to rule changes and power builds here.

Build Progression (Magus)

1. Human Magus: Eldritch Archer. Background Wanderer: Hunter for the bonus to bows

• • Str 14 Dex 19 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 10. You may dump wisdom or charisma if you want to pump something else, but I don’t think it’s necessary
  • Skills:  Athletics, Mobility, the others are up to you
  • Feats:  Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
  • Spells:  True Strike, Grease, Magic Weapon, Reduce Person if you like
  • Deity:  To quality for Trickster pick deities with compatible alignments

3. Feat:  Rapid Shot. You can have three attacks if you count using acid splash with ranged spellstrike. Arcana:  Arcane Accuracy

4. +Dex, every four levels

5. Feats:  Deadly Aim, Weapon Focus Longbow.

6. Arcana:  Enduring Blade. This and arcane weapon let you proc Elemental Barrage later on for massive damage with every arrow

7. Feat:  Improved Initiative

9. Feat:  Manyshot. Arcana:  Extended Magic. This is great for your buffs like haste, displacement, blur, mirror image

11. Feat:  Improved Critical–Longbow; Weapon Specialization Longbow

12. Arcana:  Devoted Blade, which lets you add Holy

• NOTE:  Be sure and take Perception 1 and Perception 2 from Trickster

13. Feat:  Improved Improved Critical–Longbow

15. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical–Longbow. Arcana:  Bane Blade. One note about spells:  take Transformation to improve your BAB if you like. Hellfire Ray is also a great spell

17. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved–Longbow; Greater Weapon Focus–Longbow. If you don’t have the Covenant of the Inheritor relic you may want to take Clustered Shot, but it’s not that hard to bypass the demon’s DR in the game

18. Arcana:  Whatever you like, Metamagic Quicken is good

19. Feat:  Metamagic: Completely Normal Spell–a great application is to use this with True Strike to turn it into a cantrip, then you can spam it before every battle. Greater Spell Access give you access to Hurricane Bow, Sense Vitals, Greater False Life (stacks with False Life), Echolocation and Greater Heroism

Build Progression (Fighter)

The mutation warrior is terrific because he has access to mutagens, which will pump our Dex even higher. The only thing you lose is some armor training, but since you’re in the back as an archer it isn’t all that important.

4/6/25 UPDATE:  I have updated this build to reflect some better choices as the game has evolved

1. Human Mutation Fighter. Even with all the feats that come with Human and Fighter we will still be a little feat-starved, so stick with Human. Background Hunter if you prefer the bonus to bows, otherwise Pickpocket to boost Initiative

• • Str 16 Dex 19 Con 12 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 8. You’ve got options here. I’ll pump Int to take advantage of the wizard’s spell book,  and increase strength as well
  • Skills:  There are several skills useful to the build. Mobility is required, also recommended are Trickery/Stealth/UMD/Athletics. Trickery and Stealth will be higher than anyone else’s, and Athletics can boost your BAB with the Trickster Athletics trick
  • Feats:  Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus Longbow
  • Deity:  To quality for Trickster pick deities with compatible alignments

2. Feat:  Rapid Shot

3. Feat:  Deadly Aim. Take Dex Mutagen

4. +Dex, every four levels. Feat: Weapon Spec: Longbow

5. Feat:  Improved Init. Weapon Training–Bows, obviously

6. Feat:  Manyshot

7. Feat:  Outflank, which combines with Snap Shot which we’ll be getting later on–in general it can be great to build parties around capitalizing on AoO’s. Discovery:  Feral Mutagen is also in line with the AoO theme, but you won’t be close to melee much so Preserve Organs is also a defensive option

8. Feat:  Improved Critical–Longbow

9. Feat:  Greater Weapon Focus–Longbow. Training:  Trained Initiative, Bows, and always pick bows for this ability

10. Feat:  Dazzling Display

11. Feat:  Seize the Moment, and now we are getting a ton of AoO’s. Seize the Moment no longer works like it used to. Instead,  Shatter Defenses. Mutagen: Feral Wings or the second Preserve Organs

12. Feat:  Greater Weapon Spec–Longbow.

• NOTE: As usual, take Trickster Perception 1 and Perception 2 first. Then take Improved Improved Critical. Training:  Armed Bravery to shore up your low Will saves

13. Feat:  Improved Improved Critical–Longbow. Training: Fighter’s Reflexes

14. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical–Longbow. It’s not that hard to bypass DR from demons, so don’t necessarily need Clustered Shot

15. Feat:  Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved–Longbow. Discovery: Greater Mutagen, great for improving Str and Dex

16. There won’t be any random map encounters until you hit level 18 or so, so you can stop improving Stealth and instead pump Athletics until you hit 20 ranks. Must be this high because of the Athletics 3 mythic trick.

• Feat:  Point Blank Master–Longbow

17. Feat:  Snap Shot. I know it’s late, but we don’t have a pet to mount and we won’t often be close to the enemy to get AoO’s anyway Training:  Armed Bravery

18. Feat:  Improved Snap Shot for greater range of AoO’s.

19. Feat:  Metamagic Completely Normal Spell since we now have the wizard’s spell book, as it’s more useful than Greater Snap Shot. Discovery:  Grand Mutagen

20. Weapon Mastery: Longbow. Feat:  Greater Snap Shot, Arcane Strike, or whatever

• My skills end with Ath and Mob at 20, Trickery 20, Stealth 17, UMD 12 with 1 point to spare

Mythic Progression

I will list the Magus first, and if there are differences with the Fighter build I will put that in italics

Level 1.  Instrument of Freedom, buffing everyone else with Holy is awesome. Ability:  Cleaving Shot.

• I recommend Bit of Fun now, as not only is it perfectly themed with Trickster but also useful for increasing all of your key skills. Stealth in particular is great for avoiding random world map encounters in Ch 3. Also recommended is Close to the Heavens for the healing and damage ray

Level 2.  Feat:  Rapid Shot Mythic or Deadly Aim Mythic Mythic Weapon Focus (recommend MWF for Fighter)

Level 3.  Ability:  Elemental Barrage, which is one of the keystones of this build.

• Trick:  Knowledge Arcana (Fighter:  Distracting Shots / Knowledge Arcana 1 rank)

Level 4.  Feat:  Deadly Aim or Rapid Shot Mythic (Improved Critical Mythic–Longbow for Fighter)

• Tricks:  Perception 1 and 2, in preparation for your level 13 feat

Level 5.  Ability:  Distracting Shots, especially if you’re the only archer. If you’re not, you’ve got more flexibility (Fighter:  The Bigger They Are or Expose Vulnerability)

• Trick:  Knowledge World 1 (Fighter: Athletics 1)

Level 6.  Feat:  Mythic Deadly Aim. Tricks:  You’ve got options. If you want the wizard’s spell book take UMD 1 and 2, setting up UMD 3 and mythic 7–not sure this is needed with a magus build. I lean more toward Athletics 1 and 2. (Fighter:  World 1, Athletics 2)

Level 7.  Ability:  The Bigger They Are–ranging shots requires missing your target and we will not be missing much at this point, even on Unfair, especially with some great buffs that are available by now. Tricks:  Lore Religion 1 and Athletics 3 (Fighter: Ever Ready or what you didn’t take at level 5, Trickery 1, Athletics 3 for an increase to BAB and an extra attack)

Level 8.  Trickery 1 if you invest in the skill (so you can get Trickery 2), and Knowledge World 2 (Fighter: Nature 1, World 2)

• Feat:  Imp Initiative Mythic, Mythic Rapid Shot or Mythic Weapon Spec.

Level 9.  Ability:  Again, options here…Last Stand or Expose Vulnerability. Tricks:  Nature 1 is nice, Trickery 2 if you want it, otherwise Lore Religion 2–and whatever domain you like. Madness is incredible for Vision of Madness alone (Fighter: Stealth 1, Infuse Magic Device to increase spells you cast from scrolls; Trickery 2)

Level 10.  (Fighter: Trickery 3 or World 3) and whichever Feat you didn’t pick at level 8.

Equipment/Gear

Weapon:  Ultimately you want to end up with Killing Pace–this is where putting ranks in Mobility really pays off. In ch 1 get the Wicked Longbow in Kenabres, in a house after killing a shadow demon; in ch 3, get Delamere’s Bow from the Temple of the Good hunt, and cast Gr Magic Weapon on it; in ch4 get Deadeye from a drunk demon close to the Battle Bliss arena.

Head:  Anything that grants initiative is great early on. Headbands for Intelligence are important for both builds:  spells for Magus, and the Wizard’s spell book for fighter. If you don’t care about that, Shy Lily’s Helmet is great, unless you accepted Nocticula’s gift. Hat of the Bitter End is perfect if you have the Midnight Isles DLC.

Neck:  Vellexia’s Magnifying Amulet for both builds. Back Rank Assistance is the best here.

Goggles:  Goggles of Malocchio, Goggles of Piercing Gaze, and Broken Trickster pairs well with Hat of the Bitter End

Armor:  Haramakis are what you want since there is no Dex restriction; Web Strider padded armor is great choice for the +2 morale bonus to Dex, granted from the The Fate of the Altar of the First Retriever decree. After getting Dark Retriever’s padded armor, augment it to get Web strider. Another option is Snakeskin (from Treasure of the Midnight Isles DLC) which gives a +4 profane bonus to Dex, however it won’t stack with Nocticula’s Gift if you accepted it.

Chest:  Wandering Conman is from Woljif’s last quest if you don’t corrupt him.

Belt:  Belts that increase Dex, later on Str and Dex. Ultimately Mangling Frenzy is my favorite if you  have a Skald in the party or are going Demon mythic path. Just pair it with Bane of Spirit ring so demons won’t absorb the extra damage

Gloves:  Magus whatever you like, Gloves of Dueling for Fighter

Boots:  Ronneck’s Sacrifice is what will go here, especially important for Dex-based PC’s

Bracers: Bracers of Armor are good, Lesser Bracers of Archery if you prefer. The more powerful Bracers of Archery are either from the Inevitable Excess DLC or can be looted from Shamira after defeating her in the quest Conspiracy in Shadows as a Demon.

Rings:  I like Ring of Guiding Star, and Merciless Shot. Bane of Spirit ring if using Mangling Frenzy.

Cloak:  Cloaks of Resistance, though if you stay 10′ away from your party the Lone Wolf ‘s Cloak can help.

Consumables:  Greater Quicken MM rod, especially for the Trick Fate spell as a swift action (Extend Rod can be used in combination to make it last longer w/ Completely Normal Spell); Jharsygax; Scroll of Legendary proportions is awesome, and can be cast with UMD. Don’t forget the Imp familiar from Lost Chapel area to further boost Trickery and Stealth.

Buffing

I’m going to try this as an experiment. If folks want a section like that on other builds simply let me know. Of course you don’t necessarily need to cast all of these for every battle. Mix and match what you like, and maybe only cast all of them on tougher battles. Spells such as Haste are always useful, as are hexes like Protective Luck and Fortune. So, for relevant buffs:

• First cast the Trickster spell Microscopic Proportions for +6 Dex
• Next cast Legendary Proportions for a few good bonuses
• Those with the cleric domain Good can cast Holy Lance to gain Holy on your bow
• Those with the Luck domain, cast Bit of Luck for an awesome boost to your first attack
• Tricksters can cast Firebrand
• If Magus, cast Transformation for a nice boost to BAB–it will block spell casting, which may or may not matter depending on play style

Alright, that’s it for now. This post has gone on for a long time, so I’ll cut it short here. I may or may not include other builds, not quite sure if I’ve completely scratched my itch or not. I hope these builds have been helpful!