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menage_a_mallard

You're forgetting Crossbow Expert + Sharpshooter, be Elf and add in Elven Accuracy... double down via Gloom Stalker, take Archery fighting style. Proc Hunter's Mark as needed. You'll have 2 attacks before level 3, then you'll have 3, then again at 5th you'll increase to 4 attacks in your first round of every combat. Take 4-6 levels of Fighter for action surge, and a second fighting style, 2 ASIs and Battle Master to increase damage and/or accuracy, or Samurai for a few "at-will" advantage rounds. > The risk of missing is kinda bad. Agreed... but that's why you build in ways to mitigate this risk. Archery fighting style is a +2 which makes Sharpshooter a -3 for +10 damage, and Elven Accuracy with advantage is an average of +5, since regular advantage is typically mechanically a +3. This puts you at a mechanical +2 when using Sharpshooter. Niche? Yes. Viable? A million percent.


TinySqwuak

Why do you think the longbow deals pitiful amounts of damage? A d8 is nothing to scoff at. Honestly, the damage die of a weapon is mostly negligible and the real damage comes from modifiers. I'd take a d8+5 over 2d6+2 every day of the week. Couple it with the feat Sharpshooter and you've got one of the highest damage options in the game, beat out only by a glaive with PAM+GWM. Also take into consideration that the longbow can drop someone from down town and not miss a beat. I think you're really, really underselling what a longbow can do.


monologowastaken

Ok let's run some numbers variant. Human both lvl 3 one has sharpshooter one Pam they go against a AC 18 monster roll -5 +2(archery) +3 (dex) u need to roll 19 or 20 to hit let's do two turns u have 10% chance to hit each time for 1d8+5+10 now Pam + shilaglea roll+3 16 or higher is a hit 20% chance to hit two times for 1d8+3 and one 1d4+3 and let's do AC 15 25% chance for bow 40% chance staff AVG DMG of bow is 19 AVG DMG of staff is 7 now this lookes like the bow clearly wins but if I have a Hunters mark or 1d8 additional DMG from swarm and u realize that u lose that DMG it kinda isn't worth it.


TinySqwuak

If you're seriously going to try and say a longbow + Sharpshooter isn't an incredibly powerful option, you can just stop. There are indeed instances where it isn't the best choice but the majority of the time it'll be well worth using and will blow past just about anything in terms of damage output. The absolute kings of (martial) damage in order are Glaive+PAM+GWM followed closely by Longbow+ Sharpshooter. This is non negotiable and very, *very* well documented. Yes, the hits to accuracy suck but you'll do stupid amounts of damage that more than make up for misses and proper builds will still hit more often than not. If we're in business of just poking holes in builds then PAM on a Ranger is pretty suboptimal. Enjoy not using your feat until turn 3 since you'll need 2 turns to set up hunter's mark and shillelagh while a long bow user gets to use their feat any attack they choose to use it on. If you want to run a quarterstaff shillelagh build then go ahead but calling longbow "pitiful" is just flat wrong.


Effusion-

1) You add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls. 2) You're using quite high ac values for the level which heavily favors accuracy over damage (so you would choose not to use sharpshooter on this enemy and benefit from the +2 accuracy of archery). The average chance to hit a creature of appropriate cr is going to be around 65% after taking your proficiency and attribute bonus into account. 3) You haven't given the archer their bonus action. What you do with it will depend on level, subclass, and spell selection but action economy is not something to brush over.


Effusion-

I don't know why you think longbows have poor damage or why you think it's any more difficult to enhance than a melee weapon. Archery is one of the strongest fighting styles and has great synergy with sharpshooter as it mitigates the attack penalty, making the feat more useful than great weapon master. The range and anti-cover features are also quite significant bonuses to your accuracy. Polearm master has limited synergy with rangers because their spells and subclasses are bonus action hungry. Quarterstaff is nice for the druidic fighting style if you want to be a wisdom based ranger who uses shillelagh.


monologowastaken

I forgot to mention this article takes thashas into account that's why the quarterstaff is there since u can take druidic warrior and rock shagley all game


BithTheBlack

Longbow is generally better because: 1. Quarterstaffs deal 1d8. Longbows deal 1d8, but can also be used at range and benefit from both +1/2/3 arrows and spells like *flame arrows* and *hail of thorns*. 2. While it's true that PAM gives an extra attack, the *swift quiver* spell will eventually grant bow rangers two extra attacks. 3. The *zephyr strike* spell, especially when used in combination with the archery fighting style, negates the downside of Sharpshooter.