Quote Originally Posted by CombatOwl View Post
Rangers get some stupid class bonuses to initiative if you keep terrain bond up. Which, at level 20, is totally doable. Wardens specifically are right up there with diviners. Literally the diviner gets a +14 init bonus from his class @ 20, the Warden gets a +12 @ 20. They both have the same ability to automatically take 20 an initiative check. It seems reasonable to assume that an archery focused character can squeak out an extra +2 or +3 over the wizard regarding dex. They can both do stupid things with initiative.
PF, irrelevant

Both of them have ludicrous initiative, and it's very likely the archer's is one or two higher than the wizard. Which is important, since the initiative is automatic here.
Not in 3.5

I never mentioned a damn thing about hiring anyone. Requirements for killing a wizard: the martial archery build, the warden archetype, a ****ty +2 speed bow, being 20th level. Those are actually the only things I've made a requirement here. If the wizard isn't a diviner, then you can pick pretty much any archer archetype instead.
not PF, no archetypes.