Hunter Ranger Build - Fire Archer - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

In this post, I will go through the Hunter Ranger Archer - The Fire Archer for Baldur's Gate 3. At first glance, this looks like a vanilla ranged build with a bow in its hands. However, it offers decent progression, which ends with Volley​ allowing you to hit multiple enemies with full damage.

Hunter Ranger Archer Build - The Fire Archer

The Hunter is one of the three available subclasses for Ranger. It comes with a good feature progression up to level 11, when you get access to Volley, enabling you to hit all the targets for full damage in its radius. Generally, you would have some limitations, but not here.

There are other goodies to play around with, like Horde Breaker,​ which gives additional attack if enemies are clumped close together. This is a powerful damage boost that is great for progression until you reach Act 3.

Of course, the general Ranger kit is quite decent, with plenty of proficiencies in both equipment and skills. Other small boosts, such as fighting styles and favoured enemies, are good additions that can give a slight role-play spin to your build.

So, where does the Fire Archer come? The main aspect is the Oil of Combustion that allows to blowing up of enemies with preparation. The damage numbers grow exponentially, depending on the number of foes that you can tag, and one shot can reaches hundreds of it.

So let's jump into the build!

Class Contribution

The build does have variations, whether it is a pure or multiclass build. I do see merit in some variations to ensure that you can freely use all of the capabilities.

11 Ranger Hunter

• Minor features, and spin on roleplay via Favoured Enemy and Natural Explorer selections
• Selection of Fighting styles, mainly Archery​
• Spell slots for casting spells - Ensnaring Strike, Spike Growth, etc. Decent spells for progressing through the game.
• Hunter's Prey features, where the main one for progression is Horde Breaker, followed by Colossus Slayer​ for the late-game damage boost.
• Defensive Tactics gives an option to select one of three defensive features
• Better movement on Difficult Terrain​ with Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain.
• Can become invisible with Hide in Plain Sight, albeit the effect only works if you don't move.
• The core feature - Volley, allowing to hit multiple targets with full damage and no compromises.

1 War Cleric

• Access to additional bonus action attacks via the War Priest​ feature.
• Divine Favour​ for an easy boost of damage.
• Some protection in dire moments like Sanctuary.

Synergy with other builds

The Hunter Ranger is a very versatile build, mainly due to its simplicity. It can perform well as a standalone, but there are a few ways that can help take its damage to the next level.

Controllers

Almost any party can benefit from good controllers that use Hold Person, Glyph of Warding: Sleep,​ or Hold Monster. They guarantee a 100% critical chance and allow you to maximize the whole group's damage. Shooting an Arrow of Slaying will deal a ridiculous amount of damage

• Fire Sorcerer - one of the most reliable builds for this type of setup, with Hat of Fire Acuity + Scorching Ray​ to build Arcane Acuity. After that, use the control spell witha  100% success chance.
• Lorecerer - similar to Fire Sorcerer, can use the same combo and can easily apply total control. Sadly, it is just limited to Hold Person and Glyph of Warding.
• Spellsword build - Sorcadin, Bardadin, Swords Bard Archer is the standard option for gish controllers, as they get access to Band of the Mystic Scoundrel + Helmet of Arcane Acuity for a very high spell success chance
• Other caster-related builds - Lore Bard or even Arcane Trickster with access to unlimited scrolls. They get nice features that help them improve their spell success chance.

Piercing party

The Hunter uses ranged weapons, and these deal piercing damage. In Act 3, the biggest boost in terms of damage for this is Bhaalist Armour as it applies Aura Of Murder​. You can do this by yourself, but I would recommend having a melee character do that:

• Melee martials with piercing weapons - Bardadin, Battle Master, Sorcadin, Bladelock, or any other.

This way, you don't need to get in close and get a penalty for your Volley​ attacks.

Fire Party

The biggest and most obvious option would be a fire party. Hunter can easily apply Oil of Combustion or, if needed, use Arsonist's Oil to remove Fire resistance from enemies. This is a powerful combination that unlocks huge damage potential:

• Fire Sorcerer - gets access to plenty of fire spells
• Lorecerer - also has access to fire spells
• Light Cleric - one of the strongest cleric subclasses with access to fire spells.

So combining these can create an excellent synergy - need more damage? Use Oil of Combustion, which both you and other fire builds can utilize. Need to remove resistance and help your casters? Use Arsonist's Oil.

Leveling Overview

Here is a concise table with all the main picks during your leveling progression. For more detailed reasoning, I go further in the article. Also, do not forget to check the recommended gear, as it is crucial.

Level	Class	Selection
1	Ranger 1	Favoured Enemy: Bounty Hunter​
		Natural Explorer: Urban Tracker​
		Abilities: STR - 8, DEX - 17 (15+2), CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 16(15+1), CHA - 8
		Skills: Athletics, Perception, Survival
2	Ranger 2	Spells: Ensnaring Strike​, Hunter's Mark​
		Fighting Style: Archery​
3	Ranger 3	Spells: Longstrider​
		Subclass: Hunter
		Hunter's Prey: Horde Breaker​ or Colossus Slayer​
4	Ranger 4	Feat: Sharpshooter: All In​
5	Ranger 5	Spells: Spike Growth​
6	Ranger 6	Favoured Enemy: Ranger Knight​
		Natural Explorer: Wasteland Wanderer: Fire​
7	Ranger 7	Spells: Pass Without Trace​​
		Defensive Tactics: Multiattack Defence​
8	Ranger 8	Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity
9	Ranger 9	Spells: Conjure Barrage​
10	Ranger 10	Favoured Enemy: Any
		Natural Explorer: Any
11	Ranger 11	Spells: Lightning Arrow​ or Daylight​
12	Cleric 1	Cantrips: any 3
		Subclass: War Domain
		Deity: Any

Build Variations

Here are some variations that work similarly and utilize the same classes at their core.

Setup	Description
12 Hunter Ranger	This is pure build variation, which offers the third feat. It could be something like Alert or Crossbow Expert: Point-Blank​, but otherwise, the benefits are minimal.

Starting the Game - Level 1

This section covers the creation screen and what would go into the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for the Hunter Ranger build. If you have already started playing, feel free to do a respec at Withers and follow along. This will make it easy to follow the build step by step.

Races

Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc.

Race	Features	Description
Lightfoot Halfling	Halfling Luck​ Brave​ Naturally Stealthy​	One of the best races overall, and gets an advantage on stealth checks, in case you want to get into better positions for some combat encounters.
Dwarf Duergar	Dwarven Combat Training​ Superior Darkvision​ Dwarven Resilience​ Duergar Resilience​	Gets special Invisibility,​ which can be used to set up surprise rounds; this also gives an option for easy advantage on first attacks. The Superior Darkvision​ also plays a helpful role.
High Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry	These subraces are great for getting some bonus cantrips. The highlights would be: Minor Illusion​ - distract NPCs or trick enemies to go to a specific place, perfect for setting up Volley​ or Horde Breaker​. Friends​ - helps with various charisma checks, but can leave enemies aggressive if cancelled while near them.
High Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry
Githyanki	Martial Prodigy​	Githyanki comes with a wide array of utility actions like Astral Knowledge, Misty Step, etc. These can help both in combat and world exploration.
Deep Gnome	Gnome Cunning​ Superior Darkvision​ Stone Camouflage​	With a general advantage to mental checks with Gnome Cunning on some deadly spells.

Class

Overview
Ranger
Rangers are unrivaled scouts and trackers, honing a deep connection with nature in order to hunt their favoured prey.

Favoured Enemy

This is a set of abilities unique to the Ranger class. Based on your selection, you can get new spells or unique effects against specific enemy types. Generally, anything works here based on your role-playing choices. I would choose:

Passive Feature	Description
Bounty Hunter​	Ensnaring Strike​ is a decent early-game spell, and this helps land it easier.

Natural Explorer

You also get these nature-related boons for the Ranger. These are based on the class experience in nature and how it can survive in different conditions.

Feature	Description
Urban Tracker​	A free Sleight of Hand proficiency, helping to cover more skill options.

Background

Backgrounds serve a few purposes:

1. They give a role-playing option of your previous history, if you are into that
2. It gives skill proficiencies, meaning that you get an additional bonus when you roll that skill check in which you are proficient. This depends on your proficiency bonus, which increases as you level up.

Here are my recommendations based on this build

Abilities

Now, let's take a look at the abilities of the Hunter Fire Archer build. Correct allocation will allow you to maximize the early gameplay and get good modifier bonuses.

Abilities	Description
Recommended Setup: Strength - 8 Dexterity - 17 (15+2) Constitution - 14 Intelligence - 8 Wisdom - 16 (15+1) Charisma - 10	The main stat is Dexterity, which will improve the weapon's effectiveness. After that Wisdom is the spellcasting stat which will work with spells. Moreover, with Arcane Synergy from Diadem of Arcane Synergy​ it can give significant damage increase.

Skills and Expertise

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your role-playing and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendations are to pick those at which you have a high ability modifier or are useful in general:

• Athletics
• Investigation
• Stealth
• Animal Handling
• Survival

Leveling Progression - Levels 2-12

Here is the detailed progression for the Hunter Rnager build to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get a feel for the class, you can start picking your options.

Level 2

By this time, you should have landed on the Ravaged beach already. The Ranger gives good features from the very start:

Spells

Spell	Description
Ensnaring Strike​	Together with Bounty Hunter, this gives a very high chance of succeeding and provides an easy way for Advantage.
Hunter's Mark​	Excellent spell to utilize a bonus action in the early game. It provides easy bonus damage to help with combat.

Fighting Style

Style	Description
Archery​	My recommendation as it improves hit chance, increasing the overall average damage. It will be especially important once you get the Sharpshooter: All In​ feat.

Stocking on Strength Elixirs

Early in Act 1, after you reach the first settlement - Druid's Grove, you can stock up on some powerful potions for Acts 1 and 2 - Elixir of Hill Giant Strength. This is relevant if you would like to use the most powerful bow in the game - Titanstring Bow - to its full potential.

Another alternative is to use  Club of Hill Giant Strength and use it as a stat stick weapon in one of the weapon slots. This way, you save up the slot and can use other elixirs like Elixir of Bloodlust or Elixir of Heroism. Still, the Elixir of Hill Giant Strength and later the Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength option is the best in terms of damage, up to the end of the game.

Getting elixirs is pretty easy, and you can stock up on these in a few minutes. Here is a guide to stock up on Elixir of Hill Giant Strength.

Level 3

The ranger obtains a subclass and more spell options

Spells

Spell	Description
Longstrider​	Make sure that at least one member in the party has this spell. It enables buffing everyone in the group without using spell slots for free movement speed.

Subclass

Overview
Hunter

Hunter's Prey

Action	Description
Horde Breaker​	A very powerful early game feature, allowing for additional attack. This gives a significant damage boost if you are able to activate it, if enemies are standing close together.

Level 4

Level 4 brings a new feat, slightly improving the build capabilities

Replace Spell

For now, I would not make any changes.

Feat

Feat	Description
Sharpshooter: All In	This is a powerful feat, that gives a flat 10 damage increase for ranged attacks. As a downside, you lose 5 to attack rolls. Early game requires some effort to overcome this, but you have a few options: attack from high ground, attack with an advantage on blinded enemies, receive Bless, etc. Here is a guide on how to increase attack rolls to maintain the higher damage bonus through combat.

Level 5

The level gives an important feature:

Feature	Description
Extra Attack	Can make an additional free attack after making a hit with your main action point.

Spells

Spell	Description
Spike Growth​	A very powerful spell, that covers a large area. It can inflict significant damage and greatly slow down enemies.

Replace Spell

Nothing to replace

Level 6

The level gives more choices for the Ranger features

Favoured Enemy

To be fair, any option works here, as they have a minor impact:

Feature	Description
Ranger Knight​	The Heavy Armor proficiency can be useful, as there are a few armor options in Acts 1 and 2.

Natural Explorer

Feature	Description
Wasteland Wanderer: Fire​	Gain fire resistance, which is the most widely used element.

Replace Spell

Feel free to make any adjustments if needed.

Level 7

Hunter gets a subclass feature that opens up a few defensive buffs

Spells

Spells	Description
Pass Without Trace​	This spell can be very useful in certain situations where you need to boost stealth.
Lesser Restoration​	Although not mandatory, there as situations where it is easier to remove the debuff than go for a long rest.

Defensive Tactics

Feature	Description
Multiattack Defence​	I think this is the most relevant pick out of three.

Replace Spell

Sadly, no level 2 replacements yet

Level 8

Feature	Description
Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain​	Makes it easier to move on Difficult Terrain. Sadly, this does not disable ice or other surface effects.

Replace Spell

Nothing to change

Feat

Level 9

The main highlight of this level is the level 3 spells. These are not gamechangers, but could be utilized well in certain situations.

Spells

Spells	Description
Conjure Barrage​	If there are multiple enemies stacked, this can inflict a high amount of damage. However, try to target enemies with lower Dexterity to improve its success chance. Later, it is outclassed by Volley.

Replace Spell

You could remove any spells that you do not use.

Level 10

Feature	Description
Hide in Plain Sight​	Although invisibility is good, this only works while you are not moving, so I would just better utilize Potion of Invisibility.

Favoured Enemy

Take anything, by this stage, it has a minor impact

Natural Explorer

Take any option, they have minimal impact by now.

Level 11

This is an important level as it unlocks the strongest feature of Hunter:

Feature	Description
Volley​	This is a very powerful action, and what makes the Hunter stand out from other Archer builds. This allows you to hit multiple enemies with full weapon damage, riders, and effects. This can result in very high damage and destroy groups of enemies in a few shots.

Spells

There are a few spell options

Spells	Description
Daylight​	The spell is a powerful option for a particular Act 3 fight against Cazador. Otherwise, pick another option.
Lightning Arrow​	Sadly, this does not trigger Extra Attack, so the only use case for it is when an enemy is Wet. This doubles its damage, making it a viable attack option. Still, this does use spell attack rolls and totally forgoes weapon attack rolls. Overall, most of the time, you are better off using Volley.

Level 12 - Lv 1 Cleric

With all the core features of Hunter covered, we can optimize it and get a slight damage boost via the War Cleric dip.

Class

Overview
Cleric
Features
Spell Slots	These can be used to cast spells and are restored each long rest.
Domain Spells​	Gives access to some additional spells.

Cantrips

There are a few useful ones; however, late in the game, they don't matter much.

Cantrip	Description
Thaumaturgy​	Great for some dialogue checks, giving an easy advantage.
Guidance​	Can help with various skill checks, especially dialogue rolls. Moreover, you can use it to get an easy Concentration spell before combat.
Light​	Useful spell, that can help create lit up areas, for a few specific items.

Otherwise pick anything

Subclass

Overview
War Domain
Features
War Priest​	The additional charges allow for attacks with bonus action.
Divine Favour​	Gives +1d4 radiant damage rider.
Shield of Faith​	Decent concentration spell that improves armour class and helps avoid incoming attacks.

Deity

Feel free to pick any deity.

Abilities

I would prioritise Persuasion, the second one can be anything.

Prepare Spells

Spell	Description
Sanctuary​	It can be used to avoid combat in a dire situation

That's it, the build is done!

Maximizing Ability Scores

Now, as the build progression is covered, there are a few aspects and important decisions you will have to make throughout the game. These will decide your final score for abilities.

Dexterity

The main offensive stat that decides initiative, armour class, and weapon damage:

1. 17 Dexterity - the base from character creation.
2. Act 1 - Auntie Ethel Hair - you will want to get +1 Dexterity if you pick this choice.
3. Feat - Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity. If you did not get Auntie Ethel Hair, then take +1 Dexterity and put 1 point into Constitution.
4. Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - pick +2 Dexterity.

These will allow you to reach 20-22 natural Dexterity, which results in a +5-6 ability modifier bonus.

Potions, Elixirs, and Consumables

Let's take a look at what consumables you can use to further empower the build.

Potions

These have short-term effects for a few turns.

Consumable	Description
Potion of Speed	This is a very powerful potion. It gives an additional action point, which can be used to cast a spell or attack. The activation is generally by drinking using a bonus action. However, you can stack together with party members and make one member Throw​ it on the ground, giving Hastened​ to everyone.
Potion of Invisibility	It can be used in two ways - the first one is to enter combat with a Surprised​ round, causing enemies to skip their turn. Another option is to leave combat if you see that it is not going in your favour.
Potion of Animal Speaking	An easy way to get the Speak with Animals​ effect.
Terazul	Gives Hastened​ and stacks with other sources of it. This is a late-game consumable.

Coatings

These are applied directly on weapons, and usually have a 10-turn duration:

Consumable	Description
Oil of Combustion	One of the key items, to create fire explosions that deal exponential damage to the number of targets affected. Apply this on a weapon, use the first hit to tag enemies, and the second hit with fire damage, to make them explode.
Arsonist's Oil	This is an alternative coating that can be used on enemies that have fire resistance. This removes the effect and enables your casters to deal full damage against these foes.
Oil of Accuracy	The attack roll bonus is pretty good, which improves your chances of hitting.
Diluted Oil of Sharpness	Helps with attack and damage rolls.

Elixirs

Unfortunately, only one Elixir can be active at a time. However, the good thing is that they last for the whole day, before making a long rest. This makes exlixirs very useful and economical.

Be sure to activate them before combat, as otherwise, you will need to use Bonus Action.

Consumable	Description
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength	These are go-to options if you want the strongest setup in terms of damage using Titanstring Bow. The Elixir of Hill Giant Strength sets strength to 21, while Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength gets it to 27. If you do not want to rely on these, instead, you can use Club of Hill Giant Strength, which is an inferior option but still a powerful one.
Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength
Elixir of Bloodlust	The elixir gives an easy option to get an additional action point - just kill a foe. This can then be used to attack one more time or cast a full spell.
Elixir of Vigilance	For some encounters, you will want to go first. This elixir will ensure that it overcomes even Surprised​ mechanics.
Elixir of The Colossus	Provides bonus damage of 1d4 and some other good bonuses.
Elixir of Heroism	Boosts attack rolls by 1d4; this is a good boost to increase the likelihood of landing attacks.

Arrows

Consumable	Description
Arrow of Many Targets	One of the strongest arrow options in the game. Allows hitting multiple targets; its success depends on the first hit, and it can do powerful things, like activating consumables, while also hitting enemies.
Arrow of Fire	Allows to detonate enemies affected by the Oil of Combustion.
Arrow of Humanoid Slaying	These arrows are very powerful when used against the correct target, as they double the damage. This can result in huge damage numbers, with various optimizations and critical hits.
Arrow of Aberration Slaying
Arrow of Dragon Slaying
Other same-name arrows...

Grenades

Consumable	Description
Void Bulb	A very powerful consumable that can be used together with Arrow of Many Targets or Volley​ to pull enemies together. It can also just be thrown by any other party member. You can stock up at Omeluum.

Illithid Powers

This special mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to consume tadpoles and unlock special Illithid Powers.

At first, you can only use the base powers. As you move to Act 3, you will be able to unlock the outer ring powers, also called Elite.

Illithid Power	Type	Description
Favourable Beginnings	Base	Beneficial power to take as it does not have any costs, and provides only benefits on the first hits with attack rolls.
Luck of the Far Realms​	Base	It's an easy way to ensure you land critical hits, especially good with Divine Smite.
Cull the Weak​	Base	It can help to kill an enemy faster if it is left with a few HP.
Psionic Backlash​​	Base	Excellent way to deal additional damage with reaction, early and mid game.
Ability Drain​	Base	Decreases enemy ability score, free use, so worth getting it.
Shield of Thralls​	Base	Excellent option for bonus temporary HP. It can also apply Stunned on foes after it is destroyed.
Illithid Expertise​	Elite	It can be used to maximize the effectiveness of charisma-based skills, especially those relevant to the main character.
Black Hole​	Elite	Allows for easily pulling enemies together for effective use of the area of attacks.
Psionic Dominance​	Elite	It can be used to save yourself from a deadly spell.
Freecast​	Elite	Allows for freely casting a spell without resource limitation.

Equipment Recommendations

Now I would like to go through some gear recommendations to maximize the Hunter Archer Build. Items are especially important as they take the build to the next level thanks to their unique effects.

The good thing about this build is that you can use your melee slots to increase base stats. There are two main setups:

• Dual Wielding - use Light weapons like Knife of the Undermountain King or others to boost stats for ranged attacks
• Weapon + Shield - this is a more defensive setup, or a good option if the weapons are taken for dual-wielding. This easily nets you +2 Armour Class.

Act 1

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	Sorrow	Can use Sorrowful Lash​ to pull enemies together and make it easy to land Horde Breaker.
	Knife of the Undermountain King	It can be used as a stat stick and dual-wielded.
	Club of Hill Giant Strength	Use this together with Titanstring Bow if you skip on Elixir of Hill Giant Strength. This will be a good +4 damage boost on all shots.
Ranged	Titanstring Bow	In terms of pure damage, this bow is the top option for the whole game. Use either Club of Hill Giant Strength or Elixir of Hill Giant Strength to maximize your damage.
	Bow of the Banshee	This bow can be deadly with Gloves of Baneful Striking for frightening enemies and increasing your damage.
	Harold	A decent ranged weapon option, that applies Bane​ and weakens enemy saving throws.
Shield	Adamantine Shield	It provides a substantial defensive boost by reducing critical hit damage. It also applies a Reeling​ effect.
	Absolute's Warboard	Decent shield if you got Absolute's Brand from the priestess in the Goblin camp.
	Safeguard Shield	Gives a bonus to saving throws, easily accessible early in the game.
Head	Diadem of Arcane Synergy	The headwear can be a significant damage boost.
	Haste Helm	Improves movement speed, which is great for better positioning to land your shots.
	Grymskull Helm	It can be a useful helmet for its bonuses and access to Hunter's Mark​ for Act 1.
Cloak	-	Nothing relevant for the build.
Armor	Adamantine Scale Mail	To be fair, I would be indifferent to which armor you pick. But the heavy one does give higher bonuses, and you have proficiencies to wear them.
	Scale Mail +1	The best starter medium armor. You can just take it from Lae'zel, or get the Scale Mail +1 if the other one is not accessible.
	Githyanki Half Plate
Gloves	Gloves of Archery	Your ranged attacks deal an additional 2 damage, one of the best options for early game gloves.
	Gloves of Baneful Striking	Applies Baneful Strike,​ weakening enemies for other actions and spells to have a higher success chance.
	Gloves of Power	Applies Bane​ effect, which does come with a caveat, enemies need ot fail a saving throw, and the effect is not guaranteed.
Boots	Boots of Stormy Clamour	In terms of offensive potential, these are the best boots. However, I would prioritize them on a Cleric if you have one in the party. Otherwise, this is best used with Arrow of Many Targets.
	Disintegrating Night Walkers	One of the best boots in the game, giving easy traversal options and avoiding any difficult terrains and their effects.
	Boots of Speed	Simple yet effective boots, allowing you to avoid attacks of opportunity.
Amulet	Broodmother's Revenge	In terms of damage, this is one of the best amulets in the game. You can just drink a Potion of Healing and get its benefit.
	Amulet of Branding	Using a bonus action, you can weaken a foe and deal double damage with your weapon.
	Amulet of Misty Step	Grants Misty Step​ for moving on the battlefield.
Rings	Strange Conduit Ring	Gives a significant damage boost, as long as you have a spell with Concentration, this can even be Hunter's Mark.
	Caustic Band	Adds additional damage to weapon attacks.
	Ring of Protection	The bonus Armour Class is a great boost for survivability.
	Crusher's Ring	Improves movement speed for better positioning.

Act 2 - mid-game

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	-	Same as Act 1
	Drakethroat Glaive	Obtain this weapon as it is one of the best options for buffing yourself with fire damage via Draconic Elemental Weapon.
Ranged	Titanstring Bow	Continues to be the best bow in the game.
Shield	Sentinel Shield	What makes this shield amazing is that by wearing it, you will be going first most of the time during encounters. This is a great way to apply control over key enemies.
	-	Previous Acts shields.
Head	Diadem of Arcane Synergy	Continues to be a solid headwear option for higher damage.
	Marksmanship Hat	Gives an additional attack roll bonus, and works perfectly with ranged weapons if you decide to use them.
Cloak	Cloak of Protection	Improves survivability and Saving Throw success. You want to equip this cloak to maintain that good Armour Class.
Armor	Dwarven Splintmail	A solid armor, with high Armour Class, and other relevant bonuses.
	Yuan-ti Scale Mail	The best medium armor in Act 2. With high dexterity, it can have the highest Armour Class of all gear options in this stage of the game.
Gloves	Thermoarcanic Gloves	The best gloves if you plan on using the Heat Convergence​ mechanic to buff your fire damage riders from the Draconic Elemental Weapon​ buff with Drakethroat Glaive.
	Flawed Helldusk Gloves	Excellent glove picks that have fire damage and are excellent for use with Oil of Combustion.
	Dark Justiciar Gauntlets	Both of these gloves give 1d4 necrotic damage boost. The upper ones also come with an additional effect.
	Dark Justiciar Gauntlets
Boots	Boots of Stormy Clamour	In terms of offensive potential, these are the best boots. However, I would prioritize them on a Cleric if you have one in the party. Otherwise, this is best used with Arrow of Many Targets.
	Evasive Shoes	Gives a bonus to armor class.
Amulet	Broodmother's Revenge	Continues to be the best amulet in terms of damage boost. However, it will interfere with other coatings like Oil of Combustion, so I would not use it together.
	Amulet of the Harpers	Allows casting a Shield​ spell, and can be a lifesaver if attacked heavily for one turn.
	Periapt of Wound Closure	Excellent amulet for Honour Mode runs, reducing your chances of wiping.
Rings	Shadow-Cloaked Ring	Grants additional damage to obscured enemies.
	Strange Conduit Ring	An easy source of additional psychic damage. You can get concentration from Guidance, casting it before combat. It also works well with Resonance Stone for double damage.
	Risky Ring	The ring is an excellent option when you would like to have an advantage without any worries, to maintain a high hit chance.
	Eversight Ring	The ring can be useful if your party utilizes the Darkness​ spell and related mechanics.
	Caustic Band	Adds additional damage to weapon attacks.

Act 3 - Final Build setup

The main setup options here lie in what you wear in your melee slots. These items will be your stat sticks, so they can improve damage, survivability, etc.

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	Rhapsody	Plenty of options here to wield. Rhapsody is overall the best weapon as stat stick, but is in high demand by almost any build. Club of Hill Giant Strength is useful with Titanstring Bow if not using Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength. The others are also great stat sticks, giving either a critical damage boost or a crit range increase.
	Club of Hill Giant Strength
	Dolor Amarus
	Blade of the First Blood
	Knife of the Undermountain King
Shield	Viconia's Walking Fortress	One of the best shields in the game. Overall, it serves more of a defensive role, giving advantages on Spell Saving Throws.
Ranged	Titanstring Bow	Continues to be the best bow. For Act 3, you can chug Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength for even more bonus damage or continue using Club of Hill Giant Strength.
	Gontr Mael	An alternative Bow, that looks very cool and does decent damage. It also applies bonus Radiant damage.
	Vicious Shortbow	This can be an extremely deadly bow if you have a way in the party to guarantee critical hits. This can be done with paralyzing effects like Hold Person​/Hold Monster.
	The Dead Shot	The lower priority bow, in case you do not have access to the ones above.
Head	Diadem of Arcane Synergy	The best headwear for the build, giving a damage boost via Arcane Synergy.
Cloak	Cloak of Displacement	It provides an increased chance of avoiding enemy attacks with attack rolls.
Armor	Bhaalist Armour	This armor would be the highlight of the build, as it doubles piercing damage with Aura Of Murder. This does require you to stand close to foes, but the huge damage boost is just too good to pass up. Moreover, another melee character can wear it and leave you to stay in a ranged distance.
	Armour of Agility	To be fair, besides Bhaalist Armour, you can use anything that looks cool or imposing. The build has huge bonuses to dexterity, all armor proficiencies, so take anything that fancies you.
	Helldusk Armour
	Dark Justiciar Half-Plate
Gloves	Thermoarcanic Gloves	The best gloves if you plan on using the Heat Convergence​ mechanic to buff your fire damage riders from the Draconic Elemental Weapon​ buff with Drakethroat Glaive.
	Helldusk Gloves	Gives a fire damage rider, which allows for easy detonation of Oil of Combustion.
	Legacy of the Masters	Solid gloves that boost weapon damage and improve attack rolls.
	Craterflesh Gloves	These gloves are an exception as they have a buggy mechanic of doubling damage instances on crit hits. This can result in some ridiculous damage if your party has a member who can apply Hold Person​/Hold Monster​ for a 100% crit chance.
Boots	Boots of Stormy Clamour	The Boots of Stormy Clamour would be the best option, but they are contested, especially by clerics. If you have one in the party, go for any other recommendation or even the ones from previous acts.
	Helldusk Boots
	Disintegrating Night Walkers
Amulet	Broodmother's Revenge	Continues to be the best amulet in terms of damage boost. However, it will interfere with other coatings like Oil of Combustion, so I would not use it together.
	Fey Semblance Amulet	A great amulet, especially if you are using Risky Ring or Resonance Stone to negate the disadvantage.
	Amulet of Greater Health	Great amulet, but as a ranged character with full HP and not many concentration spells, I would not worry about prioritizing it.
Rings	Shadow-Cloaked Ring	Grants additional damage to obscured enemies.
	Strange Conduit Ring	An easy source of additional psychic damage. You can get concentration from Guidance, casting it before combat. It also works well with Resonance Stone for double damage.
	Risky Ring	The ring is an excellent option when you would like to have an advantage without any worries, to maintain a high hit chance.
	Eversight Ring	The ring can be useful if your party utilizes the Darkness​ spell and related mechanics.

Build Mechanics

In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Hunter Ranger Build. This will help you utilize it to the fullest and correctly use various actions and spells throughout the game.

Important Mechanics and Combos

Let's go through key mechanics and tips on how to use the build effectively.

Managing Sharpshooter

One of the main parts of this build is- Sharpshooter: All In, which gives a solid 10 damage boost per hit. However, it comes with a drawback: -5 to attack rolls. This, of course, can be circumvented via various tricks:

• Archery​ fighting style bonuses
• Attacking from stealth
• Oil of Accuracy and Diluted Oil of Sharpness
• High Ground bonuses

I have a full article on increasing attack rolls. That goes into depth on various mechanics that work especially well in the early game, when the -5 attack roll hurts the most. You can also disable its effect. Pull the passives of Sharpshooter: All In​ into your hotbar and disable its effect if your hit chance is very low.

Horde Breaker

What makes Hunter powerful early in the game is that it gains an option to make Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Ranged),​ which acts as a full additional attack. This does require the enemies to be positioned close, which can be a challenge. Still, there are a few ways to do that:

• You can use simple Shove,​ which is straightforward to use and gives a decent bonus action use.
• Sorrow is another powerful weapon that has Sorrowful Lash. It is a bonus action use and does not have a saving throw, so it always lands.
• Other characters like Warlocks with Eldritch Blast​ + Repelling Blast, and more.
• Void Bulb is another easy way to clump enemies together.

Once the enemies are positioned close, you can release the Horde Breaker (Ranged)​ attack, and apply the Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Ranged)​ on a nearby foe. The interesting thing is that items like Boots of Stormy Clamour or Bow of the Banshee will apply the effects to nearby foes that are also included in the radius.

The main problem is that once you reach level 11, the Horde Breaker​ gets replaced by Volley,​ making it irrelevant.

For more ideas, I recommend checking this Horde Breaker Guide.

Arrow of Many Targets tricks

Arrow of Many Targets is a ridiculously powerful consumable, which indirectly doubles your damage if there are multiple enemies. Its success depends on the first hit, and if it hits or crits, all other foes are hit with the same effects. Even though your damage is halved, this is still a very powerful option.

Now, you can do some other tricks to further utilize it. First, you can debuff and apply effects like Oil of Combustion, Reverberation, Radiating Orb,​ and others with each shot. This makes it easy to create various combos and weaken foes with just one shot.

However, there is one trick that helps a lot with resource management. Generally, you would use an action point to Throw​ something like Void Bulb or use a bonus action to apply Potion of Speed. What you can do is place this consumable on the ground (via "Drop Item" in the menu), and then hit it with Arrow of Many Targets.

VIDEO

What happens is that the first hit destroys consumable, triggering its effects, and the rest 3 of the bounces hit enemies and maintain your damage. Neat right? The Void Bulb is especially useful for easily clumping enemies together.

Applying weapon damage buff with Drakethroat Glaive

Drakethroat Glaive is one of those wondrous weapons that you should be using each playthrough. There are no downsides to using it, and it gives a big improvement on what you can do with your builds, besides the damage.

There are a few ways you can apply it:

• The easiest way is to drop your item and cast Draconic Elemental Weapon​ on it while having Drakethroat Glaive equipped.
• You can use Sorcerer to apply Metamagic: Twinned Spell​ and target two weapons.
• If you are using Shadow Blade, the weapon cannot be dropped, so use an ally to cast it on you.

This enables some crazy combos:

• The Draconic Elemental Weapon: Fire​ is perfect for getting a fire damage rider, so you can create explosions with Oil of Combustion and easy bonus damage via Thermoarcanic Gloves + Heat Convergence​
• Draconic Elemental Weapon: Cold​ is great for activating various ice effects like Snowburst Ring.
• Draconic Elemental Weapon: Thunder​ can be used to enable Arcane Acuity​ via Hat of Storm Scion's Power, when each weapon hit increases your stacks.

There are other options, but these are pretty easy to apply and utilize in various builds.

Creating fire Mayhem

So the build is about Fire Archer, and as you saw from the combat showcase, you can create truly huge damage numbers and outright melt foes. There are a few core steps to know about:

1. Make sure to have a fire damage rider on your weapon, like Flawed Helldusk Gloves, Helldusk Gloves, or Draconic Elemental Weapon: Fire​ from Drakethroat Glaive.
2. Apply Oil of Combustion coating on your weapon.
3. Clump enemies. Either with Minor Illusion, Black Hole, or Void Bulb dropped on the ground. If using the latter, you can hit it with Arrow of Many Targets, to clump enemies together + inflict damage and apply Oil of Combustion.
4. Hit enemies with Volley​ or Arrow of Many Targets and apply Oil of Combustion.
5. If you have Heat​ you can activate Heat Convergence​ from Thermoarcanic Gloves and land another Volley​
6. Create a large explosion that deals exponentially more damage based on stacked enemies and Oil of Combustion applied.

Pretty simple sequence, that is extremely deadly and easy to pull off. Still, you might encounter a problem that we need to address...

Arsonist's Oil to weaken foes

Some enemies will have Fire Resistance. While this might not be a big problem for you as you have Piercing damage from your bow, your casters, especially those that use Fire spells, can suffer. To help with this, you can use Arsonist's Oil + Arrow of Many Targets/Volley​ and remove this resistance.

Bhaalist Armor and Aura of Murder

The build can get a huge damage boost in Act 3 with Bhaalist Armour. It has a unique effect - Aura Of Murder,​ which doubles piercing damage. As you use a bow, your base damage is piercing, meaning that you can outright double it.

This does come with some caveats; you have to be close to enemies for the effect to take place, so in many cases, you will get Threatened status, which will decrease your hit chance. This can be mitigated in 2 ways:

• Find the sweetspot of being far/close to the enemy where the effect applies, but no threatened status is present.
• Have another melee party member wear it and apply the effect.

Still, even with Threatened​ status, you will have plenty of late-game boosts to negate the negative attack roll impact.

Early Game Combat

This part would cover how the build plays up until level 6

• Overall, it's pretty standard playstyle early in the game. Hit the targets with the highest success chance. I would try applying Ensnaring Strike​ to gain an advantage for yourself and allies.
• To increase damage and utilize a bonus action, you can use Hunter's Mark.
• Once you get Sharpshooter: All In,​ your damage will greatly increase, enabling you to take out many weaker foes with one shot.
• Once you obtain Hunter specialization, your goal is to activate Horde Breaker​ as much as possible. Try to target foes who are standing close together or use various tactics like Sorrowful Lash, Shove, etc, to get them close together.
• Use Spike Growth​ to cover a wide area, and force enemies to move through it. This not only slows them down but also inflicts damage.

Late Game Combat

This covers the combat options for the late game:

• Use Flawed Helldusk Gloves, Helldusk Gloves or Drakethroat Glaive to enable fire damage rider.
• The main change that should be readily available is Oil of Combustion via various vendors. Apply it to your weapon, and use it to hit enemies. It's best if you can use Arrow of Many Targets. Follow up with a weapon attack having fire damage rider so that they would explode
• Once you unlock Volley,​ you can hit foes for full damage. It does not target allies.
• Pull enemies together using - Black Hole, Void Bulb or any other option. This makes any of the combos easier to land, especially Volley​ and explosions from Oil of Combustion.
• Use buffs like Divine Favour​ and Shield of Faith​ to increase your combat potential.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Hunter Ranger Build - Fire Archer for Baldur's Gate 3. This is truly exciting Archer variation build, which offers multi-attack features throughout the game. This rewards you for well-positioning and using techniques like clumping on enemies.

Cheers!