WodenKrait wrote:
In a way Cadaver Draconis has made it worse; it gives the impression that the only true way to the Archer profession is via the Hunter. Clearly the Archer should be a proper profession in its own right.
Certainly, that's a valid opinion - but to me, having the archer as a standalone profession would seem limiting - I'd worry that it would almost literally be one string to the bow. I'm thinking in terms of the 'typical' game environment - the adventuring type lifestyle.
WodenKrait wrote:
On the other hand, I don't have Cadaver Draconis on hand so I can't check on whether the paths to an archer-specific version of Hunter address the issues I have with it. I'll dig it up and take a look.
If I was going to use
Cadaver Draconis to try and create an archer type, I would certainly look at the Longbow-Man in the coursing paths, but I also think I'd consider the Man-at-Arms in the Knight paths. I'd take Weapon Focus in Weapon Group VI (Bow) at 1st rank, Smite at 3rd rank, Combat Instinct at 6th rank, Weapon Mastery in Weapon Group VI at 8th Rank, and Master Bowman at 9th rank.
That's a Knight's ATTACK, plus an additional +2 to ATTACK from skills with a bow, and a +1 to ABR with a bow as well.
But if this really was something I was looking at in my own games, I'd probably design a new path for it. If I did that, I probably would start with the Hunter, but would take out the Set Traps, Forage, Hunter's Mind, and False Trail skills, and would substitute in:
Weapon Focus (Group VI) as a first rank skill
Then one skill acquirable at 3rd, 6th, and 8th and each rank thereafter from the remaining Hunter list, and the following
Smite (available from 3rd) (CD26)
Earth Quiver (available from 3rd) (CD42)
Weapon Mastery (Group VI) (available from 8th) (without the Combat Instinct prereq)
Master Bowman (available from 8th)
Fire Support (available from 8th) (CD42)
Arrow Storm (available from 8th) (CD42)
And that is without creating a new skill to give even more Archery bonuses, which would certainly be doable.