Best Feats for Arcane Archer Fighter 5e
by Prince Phantom
Often derided as an underpowered subclass, the Arcane Archer mixes faux-casting in with its martial prowess to produce some pretty potent effects, but only a few times per day. The trick to this subclass is which Arcane Arrow to pick, and how to make the most use out of them.
The best shot by a mile is Grasping Arrow, dealing damage on hit and again whenever the creature moves for the first time EACH turn. Not just their turn. Now there’s an ability to build around! If you couldn’t tell, I’m actually of the opinion that this subclass is a fair bit underrated, so let’s talk about some feats that prove my point.
Best Feats for Arcane Archer Fighter 5e
Sharpshooter (ASAP): I mean, duh. Not taking this feat is like eating a chicken tender without any honey mustard. Sure it’s functional, but why settle when it could be so much better? Sadly, our abilities all stem from using either a short or longbow, so we can’t benefit from Crossbow Expert like most Fighters normally would. This is a net loss in DPR, but it isn’t all bad. It’s one less feat we have to take, and it also means our bonus action could be used for other things. Let’s explore that possibility.
Telekinetic (Lv 4): Let’s set up the play pattern. We strike an enemy with our Grasping Arrow, dealing the normal damage plus 2d6 poison (poison damage is very unreliable, so let’s call worst case scenario and pretend the poison damage doesn’t exist). For our bonus action, we shove them 5ft with Telekinetic, dealing 2d6 piercing damage. Now, they should be out of melee range of any of our allies, forcing them to either move and take 2d6 more damage or stay put and do something else. That’s a pretty good shot at 4d6 damage, maybe even 6d6, all on top of our standard round of attacks. We’re actually outdamaging the Crossbow Expert build at our best, and nearly matching it at our worst! Telekinetic also provides a ton more utility than just that, so this is a top tier pick for us all around.
Gift of the Gem Dragon (Lv 6): Now let’s double down on this whole forced movement thing. If we’d like to be really bold, we can hit with our Grasping Arrow, push them with Telekinetic, then walk right up to them and dare them to hit us. If they do, they take 2d6 from the shove from this feat, plus another 2d6 from the thorns. This is slightly better than just leaving them alone on the field, as they are in a pretty tight spot even if they have ranged attacks. Then when it’s our turn, if they are still within 5ft of us, push them with Telekinetic, dealing more damage, then run away and fire with your longbow, free from opportunity attacks. Do be careful when employing this strategy however. Only do it when you aren’t putting yourself in attack range of any notable enemies other than the one you stuck the brambles to, as you still don’t want to get swarmed with attacks.
Alert (Lv 8) : Applying Grasping Arrow is much more effective right at the start of combat before an enemy has had the chance to move, as now they are almost certainly not within melee range of any allies. Since we are prioritizing Dexterity, this should give us something like a +9 or more to initiative, allowing us to very likely go before our primary target.
Magic Initiate (Lv 8): If you’d prefer to lean more into the Arcane side of this archer, grabbing a Familiar and two cantrips can really help in that area. Since we actually do have a decent Intelligence, we have much more freedom than the average user of this feat. For example, if our party already has a familiar, an additional one doesn’t add very much. Instead, we could take a spell like Hideous Laughter, allowing us to use our otherwise unused concentration to knock an opponent out of the fight for a bit each day. We can even take cantrips that rely on Intelligence, but I’d still probably go for things like Minor Illusion and maybe even Message if you like to play as the party’s scout.
Fey Touched (Lv 8): Our other option for expanding our magical capabilities, Fey Touched gives us Misty Step and another spell of our sheet, and that other selection is probably Silvery Barbs, but it could also be something else like Bless or Gift of Alacrity. I’d probably take this over Magic Initiate if someone else in the party had a familiar.
Resilient Wisdom (Lv 10): Friends don’t let friends neglect their Wisdom saves. A combination of horribly debilitating and a bit too common for my liking, a bad roll on a Wisdom save will probably put you out of commission for at least a few turns at best, and firing arrows at your friends at worst. Please, you’re a Fighter, you get so many feats. Use one of them to take this. D&D is much more fun when you’re actually the one in control of your own character.
Ritual Caster (Lv 12): We have the Intelligence to take this, so why shouldn’t we massively expand the scope of our utility? Why should the Wizard get all the fun? We know Prestidigitation! We’re a real spellcaster too! On a more serious note, this gives us access to Phantom Steed, aka every archer’s dream, allowing us to kite enemies with such ease that your DM will be the one learning that running is sometimes the right answer… From the table.
Tough/Lucky (Lv 16): As a Fighter, by this point we should have everything we need. We’re just taking luxury feats at this points, and these two are the best of those. Use Lucky on saves and to avoid crits, or take Tough for more general durability. Take your favorite, you can’t go wrong here.
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