IMHO when I want to make an 'arcane archer' I make a Battle Master and have him dip 2 levels in something else like Warlock. You hit it on the head...the AA doesn't feel like anything special after their two shots. I'm not sure how the people at WotC let this one slip by. Seriously? You mean by level 11 an AA can use their 'thing' for less than one whole turn (they get 3 attacks but can only use their shots for two of them).
Since Tasha's essentially fixed the Ranger, the AA is possibly the worst sub in the game and certainly the worst for Fighters.
You can only use one arcane shot per turn, so technically it'd be 2 turns to go through it. That said, you can do the same thing on battlemaster, blow through your superiority dice in two turns once you can attack twice. So in that regard they're the same.
At level 15 AA has a bit of an edge in that they can get one shot back when rolling initiative and battlemasters also only get one back, but the AA shots are generally more impactful than a single maneuver, given they can also do aoe damage or have some nasty effects if an enemy fails the saving throw.
The two subclasses are very similar in a lot of ways. Where their differences lie:
2 uses of arcane shot vs 4, but the AA options are generally better for the most part. That said, you'll need to invest into INT if you want a good DC for AA, where as BM can use STR or DEX, so it may be tricky to get certain enemies to fail certain saves as an AA.
AA is longbow/shortbow only. So no crossbow experts here unless the DM makes an exception for you. While there are some melee only maneuvers, most do not specify melee. That said, if you take AA you're pretty clearly favoring a dex fighter range build anyway.
The level 7 abilities, AA is flat out better getting to reroll a missed attack if there's a second enemy in 60 feet of the first, versus BM getting to get a couple of stat comparisons from another creature.
The 2d6 most arcane shots give is on average more damage than a superiority die use, though the AA damage only scales up once very late game. The ones that are 1d6 also do guaranteed damage and aren't part of an attack roll. Banishing shot doesn't do damage until level 18, but hey not every manuver adds damage either.
IMHO when I want to make an 'arcane archer' I make a Battle Master and have him dip 2 levels in something else like Warlock. You hit it on the head...the AA doesn't feel like anything special after their two shots. I'm not sure how the people at WotC let this one slip by. Seriously? You mean by level 11 an AA can use their 'thing' for less than one whole turn (they get 3 attacks but can only use their shots for two of them).
Since Tasha's essentially fixed the Ranger, the AA is possibly the worst sub in the game and certainly the worst for Fighters.
No no. Purple Dragon Knight is the worst. ‘Nuff said. Eldritch Knight actively competes with its own base class. Way of the Four Elements is even more restricted than the Arcane Archer. Only when they blow their load they don’t even have Monk to fall back on because their subclass also actively competes with its own base class. And don’t forget that the Berserker’s very first subclass feature at 3rd level can actively kill your PC. Arcane Archer is nowhere near the worst subclass in 5e. It doesn’t even get Bronze.
IMHO when I want to make an 'arcane archer' I make a Battle Master and have him dip 2 levels in something else like Warlock. You hit it on the head...the AA doesn't feel like anything special after their two shots. I'm not sure how the people at WotC let this one slip by. Seriously? You mean by level 11 an AA can use their 'thing' for less than one whole turn (they get 3 attacks but can only use their shots for two of them).
Since Tasha's essentially fixed the Ranger, the AA is possibly the worst sub in the game and certainly the worst for Fighters.
You can only use one arcane shot per turn, so technically it'd be 2 turns to go through it. That said, you can do the same thing on battlemaster, blow through your superiority dice in two turns once you can attack twice. So in that regard they're the same.
At level 15 AA has a bit of an edge in that they can get one shot back when rolling initiative and battlemasters also only get one back, but the AA shots are generally more impactful than a single maneuver, given they can also do aoe damage or have some nasty effects if an enemy fails the saving throw.
The two subclasses are very similar in a lot of ways. Where their differences lie:
2 uses of arcane shot vs 4, but the AA options are generally better for the most part. That said, you'll need to invest into INT if you want a good DC for AA, where as BM can use STR or DEX, so it may be tricky to get certain enemies to fail certain saves as an AA.
AA is longbow/shortbow only. So no crossbow experts here unless the DM makes an exception for you. While there are some melee only maneuvers, most do not specify melee. That said, if you take AA you're pretty clearly favoring a dex fighter range build anyway.
The level 7 abilities, AA is flat out better getting to reroll a missed attack if there's a second enemy in 60 feet of the first, versus BM getting to get a couple of stat comparisons from another creature.
The 2d6 most arcane shots give is on average more damage than a superiority die use, though the AA damage only scales up once very late game. The ones that are 1d6 also do guaranteed damage and aren't part of an attack roll. Banishing shot doesn't do damage until level 18, but hey not every manuver adds damage either.
I actually hate everything about the current Arcane Archer. I'm thinking of making a variant that is a ranger subclass.
No no. Purple Dragon Knight is the worst. ‘Nuff said. Eldritch Knight actively competes with its own base class. Way of the Four Elements is even more restricted than the Arcane Archer. Only when they blow their load they don’t even have Monk to fall back on because their subclass also actively competes with its own base class. And don’t forget that the Berserker’s very first subclass feature at 3rd level can actively kill your PC. Arcane Archer is nowhere near the worst subclass in 5e. It doesn’t even get Bronze.
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This is my attempt at making the Arcane Archer good.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/971297-arcane-archer-nex-edition
Beta 0.6
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/974331-arcane-archer-nex-edition
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/978561-arcane-archer-nex-edition
Version 0.7
Also made Warden's Hound into a feat.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/718750-wardens-hound