Description

The archer is the epitome of skill with the bow. He is the ultimate marksman, able to make almost any shot, no matter how difficult. To become so skilled with the bow, the archer has had to sacrifice some of his proficiency with melee weapons and armor

Advantages:
- +1 to hit, and +1 to damage with any missile weapon for every 3 levels of experience.
- Can put 5 stars into ranged weapon proficiency slots ***
- Every 4 levels he gains the ability to make a called shot once per day. When he activates this ability, any shot made within the next 10 seconds is augmented in the following manner (according to the level of the archer):
4th level: -1 to THACO of target
8th level: -1 to save vs magic of target
12th level: -1 to strength of target
16th level: +2 bonus to damage

*** - Thanks to Lyberty for spotting this was missing from this page originally.

Disadvantages:
- An archer can only become proficient in Melee weapons; he may never specialize.
- An archer cannot wear any metal armor.

Opinions

Bardan says : In my opinion, the best ranger kit. A devestating sniper at any stage in the game. Go for longbows for big damage and maximum THAC0, or go for shortbows and 5 attacks per round with the Tuigan Bow. Don't sweat the armour or melee restrictions - he shouldn't be near enough to an enemy to get hit. Devestating.

Go for an elf for the high Dexterity and the bonus with Longswords and Bows.

Sir Exxon says : The Archer is one of my absolute favourite kits. Why?
Mainly because they are masters with Ranged weapons. This gives them many opportunities. If you’re more of the melee-type, then this kit isn’t for you. Mainly because they can only be proficient in melee weapons.
Beeing Rangers, they still get Druidical spells, as well as the regular Ranger-abilities and High Level Abilities. Their only restriction besides melee-weapons, is that they can’t wear any armour over the Studded Leather. Don’t let this frighten you, though, the Shadow Dragon Scale Armour beats most any armour anyway.
I suggest that you are an Elf of race, because they get bonuses when fighting with Bows and Long Swords, and they have good immunities that is very useful for a Ranger. Plus that they also can get 19 in Dexterity, which is very useful.

Weapon proficiencies... Try to guess what I will suggest.;) It says itself, use bows!
As the Archer is a master with Bows, it would be stupid of you to waste many points at swords. You need a side weapon, though. I suggest you go for a Long Sword, atleast if you are an Elf. There are two reasons for this:
Elves get a bonus when fighting with Long Swords
Out of all the other swords out there, there are most powerful Long Swords.
So, I think you should start with something like this:
**** Long Bows
* Long Swords
* Single Weapon Style
You can drop the one in Single Weapon Style, and go right for Grand Master in Long Bows, but I suggest you have it like this. Also, you can switch the Long Bows with Short Bows, but there are more powerful Long Bows out there, as well as they generally are stronger.

Stats... This is harder. Rangers are never easy, especially not Archers, as they should be strong, Dexterous and Wise.
I suggest something like this (if you get a good roll):
18 Str
19 Dex
14 Con
15 Wis
10 Int
12 Cha
The 18 Strength is imperative, atleast if you’re using Long Bows. Because to be able to use a Composite Long Bow, you need 18 Strength. 19 Dexterity... speaks for itself, as a high Armour Class is very important. 14 Constitution – remember that the Archer still is a warrior, and therefore needs many HP. The high Wisdom is for the spells. Intelligence is rather unimportant, as an Archer needs not be smart, only wise. Charisma is to get a better price in stores.

Well, that should be it. I hope you have a great time with your Archer – I know I had.:)