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Lv. 15: Improved Critical: Longbow
Lv. 18: Whatever (probably toughness)

Advantages of this build:

- Bardsong gives you a total of +2 attack, +2 damage, +1 for all saves, +8 temp. HP. Add this to your +5 Enchant Arrow, +5 longbow, +6 attack from Dex, and potentially +5 additional Dex bonus from equipped items, and you're talking insane attack bonuses.

Disadvantages:

Same as for the Bard Archer you mention, but also:
- You qualify for Arcane Archer really late (lv. 10).
- Rapid Shot and Improved Crit are also pretty late, since you have to take Dodge and Mobility early on.

(From Colin McMillen)

For people who want to cast both devine and Arcane spells, an Elf Cleric
9/Wizard 1/Arcane Archer 10, is a very effective build.

(From Drgnlncr, GameFaqs Message Boards)

The most dangerous Arcane Archer build, however, is a 7/3/10
Rogue/Wizard/Arcane Archer. A 5d6 Sneak Attack, ability to cast lvl 2 spells, and stealth abilities. The bad part is the same for the Bard.

Another build is one based on the Rogue/ Wizard/ Arcane Archer, only rather than maxing your levels in Arcane Archer, run your character to level 9, add 9
Arcane Archer levels, then and a level of Shadowdancer, for Hide in Plain
Sight, then add the last wizard level. (rest not completed... looking for other multi-class options.)

3. Abilities

You will want a high DEX, STR, and INT. Let's go over them one at a time.
Dexterity is important because you do want to hit your target, don't you?
Strength is important because the Longbow (and shortbow) deal extra damage based on your strength. You will want Composite Bows that come with Mighty, though. Intelligence is important because you are a spellcaster. You may not be a full caster, but you will be able to cast some spells.

Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma is important, but not as important as the aforementioned. While Con and Wis improve saving throws, if you are a fighter/ mage, you already have good saving throws in these areas. Charisma is good in the single player game, but honestly, since persuade is a cross class skill, you migh want to stear clear of this one and put your points into the important ones. Set Con, Wis, and CHA to 10, just so you don't have a penality.

However, if you're a Bardic or Sorcerer based Arcane Archer, you will need
Charisme, rather than INT.

4. Skills

Ok. this section not only deals with skills for the Arcane Archer, but skills for the classes that make up it as well.

Fighter:

Disipline- Get it. Max it. You need it if that dragon comes after you, and tries knockdown on you.
Lore- Get it. Put enough in it that you feel comfortable of being able to identify most (if not all) the items you come across
Parry- Forget it. Sounds good in theory, but in practice, it never works for me. And on top of that, you're a ranged attacker.

Wizard:

Concentration- Get it. Max it. While you generally won't cast spells in battle (and even if you do, you probally won't draw Attacks of opputunority), it helps when you come up against archers (arcane or normal).
Spellcraft- Not sure the counterspell benefit (see Parry, under the Fighter section), but +1 saving throws never hurt.
If you took my advice, then you would want to max Spellcraft, Concentration, and Disipline, AS CLASS SKILLS. That's why you want to have 2 levels left after leveling up your Arcane Archer class. One goes to fighter, the other to wizzard.

Ranger

Animal Empathy- Very good. Gives you an additional meat shield.

Bard/Rogue

Disable Device/ Search- Even if you aren't a rogue based Arcane Archer, you will want to put points in to here, so you can disable some traps that otherwise might hurt you.
Perform- Very helpful if your a Bard- based Arcane Archer.
Use Magic Device- Good if you find some monk items that you find useful, but put the skill points into other skills first. If you have any left over, put it here. (rest not completed... looking for other class skills for other classes.)

Now for the Arcane Archer.
Hide/Move Silently: Good for a rogue, but if you took my advice, you should have Invisibility. Usless.
Listen/Spot: Not sure how good these are. Why not some one telling me.
Lore: See fighter section

5. Feats

Required Feats

Point Blank Shot
Weapon Focus (Longbow) or (Shortbow) {NOT BOTH}: I'd reccomend the Longbow, since it is more powerful than the shortbow (and the Taralesh is an excellent
Longbow).

Feats good to have

Weapon Specilization (Longbow): Good for +2 to damage. Never hurts. Only available to the fighters.
Toughness: Save it for one of your last feats. Don't bother taking it early in the game, doesn't really help. Helps Late in the game, though.
Still Spell: Until you find good robes, you will want to wear armor, so use this feat to negate the penalities.
Improved Critical (Longbow): Doubles the threat range, so it is a good feat.
Mobility/Dodge/Spring Attack: Since you are a long-range attacker, you will want to stay away from the front lines. But sometimes the enemy breaks through.
Use these feats to get away.
Rapid Shot: More attacks. Need I say more?
Improved Iniative: Good for getting the jump on unwary foes.
Weapon Finnesse: If an enemy breaks through the front lines, you might want to pull out a rapier rather than retreating.

Feats to ignore

All the rest of them.

(If you disagree, please tell me).

6. Equipment

Weapon- A LONGBOW. Preferably one that has mighty, but when you start out, you just want a longbow.
Armor- Studded Leather is good, but you will eventually want to wear just normal robes, since all armors cut into the important Dexerity bonus and cuts into your spellcasting.
Jewelry- Elemental Resistance, or stat boosters. Also look out for low level spell slot increasers.
Helmet- Darkvision or mind-affecting spells (email me with other suggestions)
Cloak- Damge Reduction or AC bonus.
Belt- STR increasers, or in the case of Bardic Arcane Archers, Perform Bonus
Bracer- Stat boosters, or skill Boosters
Examples of good equipment

Taralesh, for the weapon
Robes of the Magi, for he armor slot. While you aren't a full caster, the +5 to
AC help alot. On top of that, it is Robes, so you get your full DEX bonus
Jewelry: For the Amulet slot, an Amulet of Natural Armor (all the way up to
+5), or Linu's Pendant of the Elf (DEX bonus+ Darkvision)
Rings: Ring of Power, and a Ring of Resistance
Helmet: Golden Circlet (Immunity to mind affecting spells)
Cloak: If the module has it, a Greater Mantle of Spell resistance (SR 20).
Otherwise, either a Cloak of Resistance or Fortification.
Belt: Non Bards should go for Giant STR Belts, while Bardic Archers should go for belts that have a Perform Bonus (Like Sharwyn's Belt of the Performer.
However, the Brawler's Belt, the Archer's Belt, the Swordman's Belt, and the
Greater Belt of Guiding Light all have thier purposes, so keep them handy.
Bracers: Dexterity and Armor are good choices here
Tatics and Henchmen (or Women)

Since your a back line archer, you want somebody to make sure the enemy doesn't get to close to you.

Good Henchmen to choose

Daelen/ Grimnaw- For the purpose of henchmen, these act the same. Meatshields, so you can annoy enemies from a distance.
Linu- She's a cleric and tanks pretty well, so she is probably the best for an
Arcane Archer.
Dorna- she combines Tomi with Linu, so if your playing the XP, she's, while not a good, is you're best choice.

Decent Henchmen

Tomi- He's a Rogue, so rogue based Arcane Archers don't need him. He's good, but since he's not a tank, go with either Daelen or Linu.

Bad Henchmen to choose

Boddynockle- He's a mage, who has a poor A.I. He'd help, if he summons, but since he doesn't, steer clear.
Xanos- He's a Barbarian/Sorc, who will cast spells first, no matter how much you want him to tnk. He suffers from the same A.I. problem as Boddynockle. On top of that, he's an insane meglomaniac. Some people might be able to put up with that, but not me.
Deekin- Although he's the coolest henchman (in both the OC and the XP), he's
VERY fragile. So you don't want to take him along with you, although he has some VERY good stories to tell.

Tatics

Granted, you're an archer, so te backline's the place for you, but there is one tactic that helps tremendously. MOVE CONSTANTLY. You're a gunship. You don't have the HP to go toe toe with Dragons, and you aren't playing to your strengths that way either, so keep moving.
8. Credit where credit is due.

You, for taking the time to read this FAQ.
Me, for writing this FAQ
GameFaqs, for putting it up
Bioware, for making such a good game
Wind 79, Gamefaqs Message boards
Jabbrwock, GmaeFaqs Message Boards
Fredrik Derefeldt, for adding refuting the late qualification for the
Bard-based Arcane Archer
Colin McMillen, for an additional Bardic Arcane Archer build.
Drgnlncr, GameFaqs Message Boards, for a Cleric Arcane Archer build

9. Version History v .80 added a Cleric build v .75 Major Changes. Added examples to the items list, added tatics to the
Tatics list, and additional minor spelling corections. I seem to make a lot of those :) v .60 Added IGN.com to allowed sites, minor spelling/ grammatical changes v .55 Added a different Bardic Arcane Archer build, changed Final Words v .50 Added Sorcerers.net to allowed sites to use this v .45 added a refute to the Bardic Arcane Archer v .35 Added Shadowdancer to Arcane Archer builds, minor spelling corrections and additions. v .25- initial release.

10. Final words

Thanks for reading this. And for those who contrubited, your contribution is greatly appreicated. Contact me if you have praise, constructive critisism, or advice to make it better. Your help is greatly appriacated

11. Copyright Information

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