So arcane archer shots. What shots do you think are the best to take and why? I like Seeker arrow due to the ability to shot from behind cover. I also like Bursting shot due to the AoE of it.
Out of the crowd control arrows, I think Grasping Arrow is one of the best. It doesn't have a time limit and monsters that aren't humanoid-shaped pretty much never have proficiency in Athletics. Additionally, Strength scores are very closely correlated to creature size, so if you shoot a small or medium monster it's almost guaranteed their Athletics checks are mediocre at best.
Banishing Arrow is probably the best out of the ones that last one round. It takes the monster completely out of the fight, Charisma is usually a weak stat for monsters. Since Wisdom is tied to perception and awareness, low scores tend to be rarer, and it has no correlation to monster intelligence. On the other hand, the dumber a monster is, the lower its Charisma tends to be, and scores below 6 aren't uncommon. The monsters that have good Charisma saves tend to be high CR, intelligent, and fall into very specific groups: beholders, true dragons, genies, true giants, fiends, mind flayers and powerful undead.
Beguiling Arrow, Shadow Arrow and Enfeebling Arrow seem strictly worse than Banishing Arrow at preventing damage, though at least they deal some extra damage themselves. Out of the three, Beguiling Arrow could be useful if you want to try to negotiate with one of the monsters.
Inquisitive I feel is dead on with their analysis. Seeking and bursting are two i think you will always want in your repertoire, and grasping and banishing have some very useful potential.
My personal plans for an arcane archer as an npc basically will revolve around the top two picks and everything else will just be what I think fits thematically.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I think the best options would be grasping arrow and bursting arrow because they mean you could either deal AoE damage or damage that concentrates on one person.
So arcane archer shots. What shots do you think are the best to take and why? I like Seeker arrow due to the ability to shot from behind cover. I also like Bursting shot due to the AoE of it.
Out of the crowd control arrows, I think Grasping Arrow is one of the best. It doesn't have a time limit and monsters that aren't humanoid-shaped pretty much never have proficiency in Athletics. Additionally, Strength scores are very closely correlated to creature size, so if you shoot a small or medium monster it's almost guaranteed their Athletics checks are mediocre at best.
Banishing Arrow is probably the best out of the ones that last one round. It takes the monster completely out of the fight, Charisma is usually a weak stat for monsters. Since Wisdom is tied to perception and awareness, low scores tend to be rarer, and it has no correlation to monster intelligence. On the other hand, the dumber a monster is, the lower its Charisma tends to be, and scores below 6 aren't uncommon. The monsters that have good Charisma saves tend to be high CR, intelligent, and fall into very specific groups: beholders, true dragons, genies, true giants, fiends, mind flayers and powerful undead.
Beguiling Arrow, Shadow Arrow and Enfeebling Arrow seem strictly worse than Banishing Arrow at preventing damage, though at least they deal some extra damage themselves. Out of the three, Beguiling Arrow could be useful if you want to try to negotiate with one of the monsters.
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Inquisitive I feel is dead on with their analysis. Seeking and bursting are two i think you will always want in your repertoire, and grasping and banishing have some very useful potential.
My personal plans for an arcane archer as an npc basically will revolve around the top two picks and everything else will just be what I think fits thematically.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I think the best options would be grasping arrow and bursting arrow because they mean you could either deal AoE damage or damage that concentrates on one person.
Shadow Arrow gives every attack from more than 5' away advantage for a round (&/or lets everyone move/hide/etc), on top of 2D6 extra damage.