Many who seek to perfect the use of the bow sometimes pursue the path of the arcane archer. Arcane archers are masters of ranged combat, as they possess the ability to strike at targets with unerring accuracy and can imbue their arrows with powerful spells. Arrows fired by arcane archers fly at weird and uncanny angles to strike at foes around corners and can pass through solid objects to hit enemies that cower behind such cover. At the height of their power, arcane archers can fell even the most powerful foes with a single, deadly shot.
Those who have trained as both rangers and wizards excel as arcane archers, although other multiclass combinations are not unheard of.
Role
Arcane archers deal death from afar, winnowing down opponents while their allies rush into hand-to-hand combat. With their capacity to unleash hails of arrows on the enemy, they represent the pinnacle of ranged combat.
Entry Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +6.
Feats: Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow or shortbow).
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 1st-level arcane spells.
| Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Arcane Spellcasting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +1 | +1 | +0 | Enhance arrows (magic) | — |
| 2nd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +0 | Imbue arrow | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | Enhance arrows (elemental) | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +1 | Seeker arrow | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Enhance arrows (distance) | — |
| 6th | +6 | +3 | +3 | +2 | Phase arrow | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +7 | +4 | +4 | +2 | Enhance arrows (elemental burst) | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +8 | +4 | +4 | +2 | Hail of arrows | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +9 | +5 | +5 | +3 | Enhance arrows (aligned) | — |
| 10th | +10 | +5 | +5 | +3 | Arrow of death | +1 level of existing class |
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Arcane Lore, Handle Animal, Perception, Profession, and Stealth.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
An Arcane Archer is proficient with simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with light and medium armor and with shields (but not with tower shields).
Arcane Spellcasting
At each indicated level, you progress an arcane spellcasting class you already possess. If you possess more than one arcane spellcasting class, you must decide to which class you add each new level of progression.
Enhance Arrow
At 1st level, every nonmagical arrow you nock and let fly becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus, just as if the arrow had a magic weapon spell cast on it; however, you need take no special actions to enchant these arrows, and your magic arrows only function for you. For every two levels you advance past 1st level in this prestige class, the magic arrows you loose gain +1 greater potency (+1 at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level, and +5 at 9th level). In addition,your magic arrows gain a number of additional qualities as you gain additional levels. The elemental, elemental burst, and aligned qualities can be changed once per day, when you prepares spells or, in the case of spontaneous spellcasters, after a Long Rest.
At 3rd level, every non-magical arrow you loose gains one of the following elemental themed weapon qualities: flaming, frost, or shock.
At 5th level, every non-magical arrow you loose gains the distance weapon quality.
At 7th level, every non-magical arrow you loose gains one of the following elemental burst weapon qualities: flaming burst, icy burst, or shocking burst. This ability replaces the ability gained at 3rd level.
At 9th level, every non-magical arrow you loose gains one of the following aligned weapon qualities: anarchic, axiomatic, holy, or unholy. You cannot choose an ability that is the opposite of your alignment (for example, a lawful good arcane archer could not choose anarchic or unholy as his weapon quality).
The bonuses granted by a magic bow apply as normal to arrows that have been enhanced with this ability. Only the larger enhancement bonus applies. Duplicate abilities do not stack.
Imbue Arrow
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to place an area spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is loosed, the spell’s area is centered on where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows you to use the bow’s range rather than the spell’s range. A spell cast in this way uses its standard casting time, and you can loose the arrow as part of the casting. The arrow must be fired during the round that the casting is completed or the spell is wasted.
Seeker Arrow
At 4th level, you can launch an arrow once per day at a target known to your within range, and the arrow travels to the target, even around corners. Only an unavoidable obstacle or the limit of the arrow’s range prevents the arrow’s flight. This ability negates cover and concealment modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action). You gain additional uses per day of this ability for every two levels beyond 4th to a maximum of four times per day at 10th level.
Phase Arrow
At 6th level, you can launch an arrow once per day at a target known to your within range, and the arrow travels to the target in a straight path, passing through any non-magical barrier or wall in its way. (Any magical barrier stops the arrow.) This ability negates cover, concealment, and even armor and shield modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action). You gain additional uses per day of this ability for every two levels beyond 6th to a maximum of three times per day at 10th level.
Hail of Arrows
In lieu of your regular attacks, once per day at 8th level or higher, you can fire an arrow at each and every target within range, to a maximum of one target for every arcane archer level you have earned. Each attack uses your primary attack bonus, and each enemy may only be targeted by a single arrow.
Arrow of Death
At 10th level, you can create an arrow of death that forces the target, if damaged by the arrow’s attack, to make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + your Charisma modifier) or be slain immediately. It takes one day to make an arrow of death, and the arrow only functions for the arcane archer who created it. The arrow of death lasts no longer than one year, and you can only have one such arrow in existence at a time. If you create a new arrow of death, any existing arrow of death you have previously created crumbles into useless dust.