I am very new to NWN (I used to play a lot when i was really young, however i had no idea what i was doing or how the game worked at the time). I wanted to make a bow build and it seems like the Arcane Archer is the best option to go with.

I was wondering if anyone could tell what Arcane Archer build is considered to be the best to play through the base game and all the expansion content with and why its considered theb est over other types of Arcane Archers. Or simply point me in the right direction.

Any help would be appreciated,
many thanks!

The first thing to note that Archery is relatively weak in NWN.

And it will only really be in Hordes of the Underdark(HotU) where an Arcane Archer build will come into it's own from plentiful AA levels (and where you get a good enough bow).

There are all kinds of Exotic AA builds that feature things like charisma based builds, or dex based with Sneak Attack.

But IMO, the best choice is a more straight forward Fighter/Bard/AA, that can fight well with Swords, and does consistent high damage with Arrows.

I have played such a build to the end of HotU.

Example Build of this type:

Note this build aims for eventually getting devastating critical in both Sword and Bow. That need not be followed (and really you can barely achieve Dev Crit for one weapon in HotU).

But some key points:

Strength based: This gives you damage with both melee and might bows. It also gives you attack bonus for melee. AA levels make up for the lack of Dex with the bow.

Epic Weapon Specialization Longbow: as Early as possible. This is big bonus to bow damage. Get it ASAP.

You can chose your own favorite weapon. Scimitar is chosen for critical range bonus.

Fighter(14), Bard(3), Arcane Archer(23), Half-Elf

STR: 17 (30)
DEX: 13 (14)
CON: 14
WIS: 8
INT: 14
CHA: 8

Half-Elf: (Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Low-light Vision, Partial Skill Affinity: Listen, Partial Skill Affinity: Search, Partial Skill Affinity: Spot, Sleeplessness)
01: Fighter(1): Power Attack, Cleave
02: Fighter(2): Weapon Focus: Scimitar
03: Fighter(3): Weapon Focus: Longbow
04: Fighter(4): STR+1, Weapon Specialization: Scimitar, (STR=18)
05: Fighter(5)
06: Fighter(6): Point Blank Shot, Weapon Specialization: Longbow
07: Bard(1)
08: Arcane Archer(1): STR+1, (STR=19)
09: Arcane Archer(2): Improved Critical: Scimitar
10: Fighter(7)
11: Arcane Archer(3)
12: Arcane Archer(4): STR+1, Blind Fight, (STR=20)
13: Fighter(8): Rapid Shot
14: Arcane Archer(5)
15: Arcane Archer(6): Improved Critical: Longbow
16: Arcane Archer(7): STR+1, (STR=21)
17: Arcane Archer(8)
18: Arcane Archer(9): Great Cleave
19: Arcane Archer(10)
20: Fighter(9): STR+1, (STR=22)
21: Fighter(10): Epic Weapon Focus: Longbow, Epic Weapon Specialization: Longbow
22: Fighter(11)
23: Arcane Archer(11)
24: Arcane Archer(12): STR+1, Overwhelming Critical: Scimitar, (STR=23)
25: Arcane Archer(13)
26: Arcane Archer(14): Overwhelming Critical: Longbow
27: Bard(2): Great Strength I, (STR=24)
28: Fighter(12): STR+1, Devastating Critical: Scimitar, (STR=25)
29: Fighter(13)
30: Fighter(14): Epic Weapon Specialization: Scimitar, Epic Weapon Focus: Scimitar
31: Arcane Archer(15)
32: Arcane Archer(16): STR+1, (STR=26)
33: Arcane Archer(17): Armor Skin
34: Arcane Archer(18): Devastating Critical: Longbow
35: Arcane Archer(19)
36: Arcane Archer(20): STR+1, Great Strength II, (STR=28)
37: Bard(3)
38: Arcane Archer(21)
39: Arcane Archer(22): Great Strength III, Great Dexterity I, (STR=29), (DEX=14)
40: Arcane Archer(23): STR+1, (STR=30)

So Bard (1) gets you into the AA class, which I understand. However, I'm a little confused about what Bard (2) and (3) provide. Cha 8 means you aren't really getting spells out of it. Granted, it looks like those Bard levels come long after HotU is over, but still. What do they provide?

Ah.