10th level gestalt archer / spellcaster

[Blightersbane]

Folks I am making my 1st archer in 3.0/3.5. I am joining a gaming group that has been playing same campaign once a week for several months. 1 of the npcs is a mysterious archer/gish that pops in lays down a barrage of arrows n magic then is gone just as quickly. They have only had brief words with the archer he moves very quickly and usually keeps his distance. Purposefully done by DM because another player was going to take this npc-archer and develop as a pc. He never joined group (got a night job)

The other party members like the idea of a archer at low levels but tell me I am being set up for failure by the DM. And they tell me at 10th level I will be bored, frustrated & humbled as the party's weakest member. Tell you the truth, Im not impressed with the optimization of the party. Party consists of Archivist/fighter/Scout/Barbarian, Psion/rogue/ranger/elocater (spk chain tripper), warmage/scout, Bard/swashbuckler/rogue.

So without letting them know my intent, I took this up as a challenge to make a archer/gish that kicks some serious butt. Its not that I am good at archer/gish optimization, Im hoping you are, as I haven't played an archer in 10 years. Very little experience with 3.0 / 3.5 archery. So I suck at this so far, Im at a loss. Feats/class/prt class mano o man do I need help...

All books, dragon mag, wotc, on line (except wiki) even a lot of Pathfinder stuff is open.

recap 10th gestalt archer/gish

Blightersbane

[Rebel7284]

Moves very fast makes me think of Swiftblade.

Arcane Archer may actually be a good prestige class for 2 levels, and with gestalt, you don't need to lose casting progression!

Factotum 8 is always good due to extra actions.

Unseen Seer may be good too. 

Will add some sample builds in a bit.

[Blightersbane]

I was thinking of swiftblade to be used with a ranged attack, (swift bow) but the feat req was steep

[Blightersbane]

Has anybody looked into a Bard or prest bard + Arcane Archer? Area affect spells, yes, but more enchantments and illusionary less evoc.


Blightersbane

[Rebel7284]

My Favorite Swiftblade build in gestalt goes like this:
(Note, I am using martial Wizard  which trades scribe scroll and 5th level feat for fighter feats)

Wizard 5/Swiftblade 1/Spelldancer 1/Swiftblade +3 //
Factotum 5/Wizard 1/Factotum 3/Wizard 1

However, it may be nice for you to enter Arcane Archer as soon as possible.

So trading the last level of swiftblade for the first level of Arcane Archer may be nice.  You would still have to wait until level 11 to get Imbue Arrow though.

The Arcane Archer + Swiftblade, however, eat through a lot of feats.  Martial Wizard helps, but you can also take a level of Cleric of Corellon Larethian and pick up the War and Elf domains to get two feats for free!  Of course this means you need more levels of wizard progression to catch up.

Overall, I feel that you can't easily get both Arcane Archer AND Swiftblade into the same 10th level build without giving up the power of the factotum (and extra actions are really THAT good).  If you want to plan for later though, you can certainly fit that into a level 12 build with something like

Wizard 5/Swiftblade 1/Spelldancer 1/Swiftblade +2/Cleric 1/Arcane Archer 2 //
Factotum 5/Wizard 1/Factotum 3/Wizard 3

Of course you can also go for simplicity and do
Martial Wizard 10 //
Factotum 8/Arcane Archer 2

Also, get a Spitting Bow.  Splitting is very very good for an archer of any kind.  Ask your DM how spitting works with Imbue Arrow.  It looks like you would double the effect of your spells.

[edit] looks like based on wealth by level guidelines, you should not be able to afford splitting quite yet.  Still get it ASAP [/edit]

Has anybody looked into a Bard or prest bard + Arcane Archer? Area affect spells, yes, but more enchantments and illusionary less evoc.

First of all, evocation is considered the least effective way to play a wizard in D&D 3.5.  battlefield control/buffs/debuffs/save-or-die roughly in that order tend to alter the outcome of battles more.

I have seen a few builds (non-gestalt) finish an Ur Priest build with two levels of Arcane Archer and thus shoot cleric spells. 

I have not seen bard builds, but I assume something like Bard 8/Arcane Archer 2/Sublime Chord 2/Some way to progress Sublime Chord 8 would do ok.

[SorO_Lost]

I was thinking of swiftblade to be used with a ranged attack, (swift bow) but the feat req was steep

It's gestalted.

Invisible Fist Cobra Strike Monk 2 / Fighter 2 / Psychic Warrior 1 / Swiftblade 5 // Any Prepared Caster 6 / Anything 2 / More caster 1 / Anything 1
Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, & Psionic Shot all as Bonus Feats. Full casting, Swiftblade included, and dipping room provided if you want even more.

[Rebel7284]

I was thinking of swiftblade to be used with a ranged attack, (swift bow) but the feat req was steep

It's gestalted.

Invisible Fist Cobra Strike Monk 2 / Fighter 2 / Psychic Warrior 1 / Swiftblade 5 // Any Prepared Caster 6 / Anything 2 / More caster 1 / Anything 1
Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, & Psionic Shot all as Bonus Feats. Full casting, Swiftblade included, and dipping room provided if you want even more.

While you certainly can ignore factotum and just dip a bunch for feats on the non-casting side, it's probably weaker in actual play. Standard actions >> 5 fighter feats.

[SorO_Lost]

I was answering his problem with Feats more than anything else. You can gain multiple Feats per level in gestalt (sic fighter 2//psychic fighter 2=4 feats in 2 levels + manifesting).

Also Factotum 8 isn't that impressive. Unless you invest in Font of Inspiration multiple times -- Which is a huge problem if the op thinks he doesn't have enough slots -- its only usable once, typically for a single extra attack. Heck, Monk grants that all day and that's without opening the ToB. And Swiftblade 8 does the same job every single round pretty much all day long.

[Ithamar]

Deadly Hunter Druid 10 || Soulknife 5 / Soulbow 5

WIS to Attack (Zen Archery feat of course), Damage, & AC.  At level 10 you can now cast Owl's Insight a couple of times a day for an extra WIS boost.  Be a Jermlaine if you want to be really silly

That druid version gets a nice speed boost, so you'll be moving plenty fast.  And you'll have an animal companion if you want to go the mounted archery route.

[Soft Insanity]

I was answering his problem with Feats more than anything else. You can gain multiple Feats per level in gestalt (sic fighter 2//psychic fighter 2=4 feats in 2 levels + manifesting).

Also Factotum 8 isn't that impressive. Unless you invest in Font of Inspiration multiple times -- Which is a huge problem if the op thinks he doesn't have enough slots -- its only usable once, typically for a single extra attack. Heck, Monk grants that all day and that's without opening the ToB. And Swiftblade 8 does the same job every single round pretty much all day long.

This is correct.  Factotum is a 3 level dip in gestalt at best due to the feat tax that is FoI.

I have my own gestalt build that I run sometimes that just does whatever it feels like fairly well:
Artificer 10//Factotum 3/Incarnate 4/Cloistered Cleric 1/Chameleon 2

Just pick up the archery stuff with items you make, infusions, soulmelds, and your bonus feat (*edit: oh, and domains).  You won't be the best archer, but you will be the best everyman.  Added bonus is you can just make belts of battle and swap them out between combat.  Infuse Doomwarding and make extra attacks as well.  It puts Factotum to shame.

Edit: Someone will correctly tell you to use archivist instead of artificer.  I just happen to like that class.

[Rebel7284]

I was answering his problem with Feats more than anything else. You can gain multiple Feats per level in gestalt (sic fighter 2//psychic fighter 2=4 feats in 2 levels + manifesting).

Also Factotum 8 isn't that impressive. Unless you invest in Font of Inspiration multiple times -- Which is a huge problem if the op thinks he doesn't have enough slots -- its only usable once, typically for a single extra attack. Heck, Monk grants that all day and that's without opening the ToB. And Swiftblade 8 does the same job every single round pretty much all day long.

A standard action on a spellcaster is much more than another attack, yes, even on a gish. 
Imbue Arrow is a standard action. 
Casting a buff spell and still being able to full attack is a standard action.
Being able to full attack while running away (while not spellcaster specific) is a standard action converted to a move.

Nitpick: Swiftblade gives you another action at Swiftblade 9 while hasted.

Yes, without additional levels in factotum OR front of inspiration, cunning surge will only be usable 1/encounter (which is still 4 times a day on average.) and it still leaves 2 points to add a significant bonus to your attack/damage/armor class/saves.

By the way, Spelldancer is the most broken element of all my builds if you take Extend Spell and Persistent Spell.  Having your buff spell last all day is truly ridiculous and it shares most of the prerequisites with Swiftblade.