help finding feats for my new archer build

[Thac0 Redeye]

Hello all, My next chara is going to be an archer. I am planning on going scout/ ranger for the swift hunter build. I am going to concentrate on many shot and movement. ( I do know about the cloistered cleric and movement devotion feat so please don't suggest that) At this point I'm weighting multiple options and looking for a few specific feats.

1. close combat shot (I think that's what it is called). I want to shoot someone right next to me. I need the description and the source.
2. any feat that will reduce or eliminate the penalties for many shot. description and source
3. any feat that lets me AoO from a distance with my bow. description and source.

almost all sources are allowed except: Ebberon and book of 9 swords and no psionics

Thanks

[Eldariel]

Hello all, My next chara is going to be an archer. I am planning on going scout/ ranger for the swift hunter build. I am going to concentrate on many shot and movement. ( I do know about the cloistered cleric and movement devotion feat so please don't suggest that) At this point I'm weighting multiple options and looking for a few specific feats.

1. close combat shot (I think that's what it is called). I want to shoot someone right next to me. I need the description and the source.
2. any feat that will reduce or eliminate the penalties for many shot. description and source
3. any feat that lets me AoO from a distance with my bow. description and source.

almost all sources are allowed except: Ebberon and book of 9 swords and no psionics

Thanks

Okay.
1. No feat but it's a class feature on Order of the Bow Initiate (level 2) [Complete Warrior], Exotic Weapon Master [Complete Warrior] (level 1, use Greatbow [Complete Warrior] or Footbow [Races of the Wild]) and a spell for Ranger. Arrowmind (Ranger 1 [Spell Compendium]) is the easier option; swift to cast so trivial for you to access when you need it. Also allows you to threaten space with a bow. Lasts only 1 round but you can access it as will when you need it. One of the many reason to take more Ranger and less Scout levels (all of those reasons aside from BAB are spells).

2. No good way to reduce those penalties; just suck it up and pump your to hit instead. That's luckily rather easy on a bow; Knowledge Devotion [Complete Champion] alone more or less suffices (though it does cost you a lot of skill points). Then just get a source of Haste, consider something to get Weapon Specialisation (Pious Templar [Complete Divine] is the easiest) to pick up Ranged Weapon Mastery and go from there. You'll have more accuracy than you know what to do with; with bows the tricky part is coming up with damage instead. Greater Manyshot does all the attacks at the full BAB -8 so if you have just Knowledge Devotion and Haste, you're doing 4 attacks at full bonus -2 effectively, which tends to be almost within autohit parameters higher up. Brilliant Energy arrows, attacking from cover/concealment/invisibility, etc. give you significant bonuses as needed too.

3. As mentioned, the Arrowmind spell (Ranger 1 [Spell Compendium]) does it. It's by far the easiest way. Gives you threat up to your natural reach (so 10' for a Large character). No feats, again (well, there's a Dragon Magazine feat called "Ranged Threat" [DR350] that requires Combat Reflexes and uses up all your AoO options to take one AoO with a bow within 15'), but a 3.0 PRC called Peerless Archer [Silver Marches] does give you a ranged threat ability.


FWIW I don't really like Swift Hunters since their range is so limited. Kinda removes the whole point of archery if you can't affect enemies more than 30' (or 60' with Ranged Skirmisher [DR346]) away. It's also fairly repetitive. I find straight Ranger relying on their Archery-related spells [chiefly Champions of Ruin, Spell Compendium, Player's Handbook II] much more interesting. Doubly so if going Mystic Ranger [DR336], which is really awesome to play and very strong.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Eldariel
Doubly so if going Mystic Ranger [DR336], which is really awesome to play and very strong.

Seconding Mystic Ranger, which is great for its early spell progression. You gain that by giving up your animal companion, but as an archer you're less reliant on the animal companion anyway, and the spells more than make up for it. The ability to heal yourself in the first couple of levels is very handy.

.

[jdizzlean]

if dragon is allowed:

dragon 335: no threat to me (feat) when making ranged attacks against favored enemy, you don't generate AoO

dragon 350: ranged threat (feat) allows you to make a ranged AoO on opponent w/in 15 feet, but consumes all your remaining AoO's for the round

you can always shoot someone right next to you, it just provokes an AoO against you, there is Defensive Archery from RoTW which gives you +4 to your ac against that.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

1. Take a level of Exotic Weapon Master in Complete Warrior for the Close-Quarters Ranged Combat special ability. You'll need Exotic Weapon Proficiency in an exotic bow (Greatbow in CW or Bone Bow in Frostburn) along with Weapon Focus. I'd go with the Bone Bow and make it Dragonbone from the Draconomicon p117.

2. Manyshot may fire multiple arrows, but you only get to add skirmish damage to one of them because it's precision damage. You'll want Greater Manyshot (from XPH but it has nothing psionic about it) to get around that limitation. Since the Manyshot penalties are consistent with iterative attacks, and you can't really eliminate that penalty, your best bet is to just find more bonuses to your attacks.

3. Nothing to add about AoOing with ranged attacks, but make your bow Elvencraft from Races of the Wild's equipment/weapons section and it counts as a quarterstaff and a longbow simultaneously. So you can fire it during your turn, and you're holding a melee weapon to AoO adjacent opponents as needed.


Other things to consider:

Woodland Archer feat in Races of the Wild
Ancestral Relic feat in Book of Exalted Deeds (for your bow)

[RNightstalker]

Champion of the Wild (CC 50) allows you to trade your spellcasting for bonus feats.