Eldritch Knight Archer Build - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

Eldritch Knight Archer Build

Eldritch Knight and Fighter in general is one of the best picks if you want a powerful archer setup. The core kit of Action Surge just gives a huge power spike for nova rounds, and Improved Extra Attack as a capstone, enables you to reach 3x attack per main action point.

So with the core kit covered, what does Eldritch Knight do? It's like a cherry on top, providing a few nice features that synergize into an excellent combination. The main point is that you get access to a few spells; they are not game-changers, but still nice helpers.

The cool aspects are War Magic and Eldritch Strike. The former is what will allow you to reach 4 attacks without any buffs. This is a very powerful option and enables very high damage per round. To activate War Magic you need a cantrip, and for this my pick would be Booming Blade. This means that we will engage in melee combat, and for that Shadow Blade will be used to maximize that single-target damage.

The Eldritch Strike plays into the spellcaster role, giving enemies a Disadvantage to Saving Throw. Even without dedicating items to Spell Save DC, you can technically be a full spellcaster.

As you are following this, you might have caught on a few things. The first one is that for the archer part to be powerful, you will need lots of consumables, mainly items like Arrow of Fiend Slaying, Arrow of Undead Slaying, Arrow of Humanoid Slaying and others. These double your damage to the target.

Another part is that your spellcasting is pretty limited, to only level 2 spell slots. So what can you do? Well, the answer is scrolls - Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Hold Monster, etc. Stocking up on these will allow you to cast very strong spells, disable enemies, and finish them off with hundreds of damage per hit.

Hope you like the idea of the build, and enjoy reading it!

Class Contribution

This shows the class contribution of the build

12 Eldritch Knight

So this is the core of the build that you will use the most:

• Whooping 4 feats, to customize the build based on your preferences.
• Second Wind​ for an easy heal when the situation requires, works well in the early game, where bonus action usage is limited.
• One of the simplest and most powerful actions in the game - Action Surge, giving a full action point that works with Extra Attack.
• Weapon Bond is a nice feature that forces the weapon to return to hand if dropped.
• Access to up to level 2 wizard spell list. These are great spell options, like Shield​ or Mirror Image, to improve defensive capabilities.
• Extra Attack​ and Improved Extra Attack​ for 3 attacks on the main action point, this is the highest number of any class.
• A free action Indomitable, which allows you to reroll a saving throw in case you fail it.
• The main highlight is the ability to attack with a bonus action using Booming Blade​ + War Magic, without needing much effort.
• Semi-spellcaster setup, with the passive Eldritch Strike,​ you can cast spells (be it normal ones or scrolls) to highly increase your chances of landing them.

Build Variations

For this build, there are a lot of options, both from a progression perspective and the level splits

Setup	Description
11 Eldritch Knight 1 War Cleric	This variation allows you to activate a bonus action attack with War Priest charges, so you are not required to use a cantrip to activate War Magic. This is limited to 3 times per long rest, but could be a very powerful choice for boss fights, where you want to land as much damage as possible on the first turn.

Build 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.

‹Titanstring Minmax setup›×

‹Standard Archer Setup›×

+ Add tab

This will require you to get Auntie Ethel's Hair with +1 Dexterity and use Titanstring Bow. This setup skips Elixir of Hill Giant Strength and goes all in on Elixir of Bloodlust or Elixir of The Colossus when the former one is not available

Level	Class	Selection
1	Fighter 1	Fighting Style: Archery​
		Background: Soldier, Noble
		Abilities: STR - 16 (15+1), DEX - 17 (15+2), CON - 10, INT - 14, WIS - 8, CHA - 8
		Skills: Intimidation, Athletics, Acrobatics
2	Fighter 2	-
3	Fighter 3	Subclass: Eldritch Knight
		Cantrips: Booming Blade, Minor Illusion
		Spells: Shield, Mage Armour
		Expanded: Longstrider
4	Fighter 4	Spells: Thunderwave
		Feat: Sharpshooter: All In
5	Fighter 5	-
6	Fighter 6	Feat: Ability Improvement +2 Dexterity
7	Fighter 7	Spells: Darkness, Shatter​
8	Fighter 8	Expanded: Shadow Blade
		Replace Spell: Shatter -> Mirror Image
		Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Strength
9	Fighter 9	Replace Spell: Thunderwave -> Misty Step​
10	Fighter 10	Cantrips: Ray of Frost
		Spells: Arcane Lock
11	Fighter 11	Spells: Gust of Wind
		Replace Spell: Arcane Lock -> Hold Person
12	Fighter 12	Replace Spell: Gust of Wind -> Enlarge/Reduce
		Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Strength or +2 Intelligence

The setup is best suited:

• Interested in using other bows besides Titanstring Bow
• Want a safer option in terms of survivability
• Have a slightly higher spellcasting modifier

Level	Class	Selection
1	Fighter 1	Fighting Style: Archery​
		Background: Soldier, Noble
		Abilities: No Auntie Ethel's Hair: STR - 8, DEX - 16 (14+2) , CON - 14, INT - 16 (15 + 1) , WIS - 12, CHA - 8 +1 DEX Auntie Ethel's Hair: STR - 8, DEX - 17 (15+2), CON - 14, INT - 16 (15+1), WIS - 10, CHA - 8
		Skills: Intimidation, Athletics, Acrobatics
2	Fighter 2	-
3	Fighter 3	Subclass: Eldritch Knight
		Cantrips: Booming Blade, Minor Illusion
		Spells: Shield, Mage Armour
		Expanded: Longstrider
4	Fighter 4	Spells: Thunderwave
		Feat: Sharpshooter: All In
5	Fighter 5	-
6	Fighter 6	Feat: Ability Improvement +2 Dexterity
7	Fighter 7	Spells: Darkness, Shatter​
8	Fighter 8	Expanded: Shadow Blade
		Replace Spell: Shatter -> Mirror Image
		Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Intelligence
9	Fighter 9	Replace Spell: Thunderwave -> Misty Step​
10	Fighter 10	Cantrips: Ray of Frost
		Spells: Arcane Lock
11	Fighter 11	Spells: Gust of Wind
		Replace Spell: Arcane Lock -> Hold Person
12	Fighter 12	Replace Spell: Gust of Wind -> Enlarge/Reduce
		Feat: Ability Improvement +2 Intelligence/Dexterity, Alert, Dual Wielder

Synergy with other builds

This section will give a few ideas on how to utilize other builds to maximize the combat potential of the group. There are usually various synergies that make the group play more enjoyable. However, this should not be the main factor. With full game knowledge, any party composition will work freely.

Piercing Damage

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Bardadin Shadow Monk Two-Handed Eldritch Knight Others	Bhaalist Armour for the Aura Of Murder	As a ranged build, you will greatly benefit from other characters that would use Bhaalist Armour in Act 3. This means you are not required to go into close range and risk getting Threatened effect. The Aura Of Murder will double piercing damage, making you extremely powerful.

Darkness Setup

You do get access to Darkness spell, but it's also easy to be able to see inside it via items likes Eversight Ring.

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Beast Master Ranger (level 11)	Dire Raven Companion	From level 11, when using Fly, the raven will create Darkness fields for free.
Shadow Magic Sorcerer	Eyes of the Dark: Darkness	The Sorcerer has an easy way of creating Darkness fields, and see inside of it thanks to Eyes of the Dark
Sorlock	Devil's Sight Darkness	Sorlock can create and also see inside the Darkness thanks to the Devil's Sight

Psychic Damage

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Sorcadin Show Blade Bardadin Bladesinger Hexblade	Resonance Stone Shadow Blade	All of these builds have access to Shadow Blade spell, making this an extremely good synergy with Shadow's Monk Shadow Strike.
Open Hand Monk	Manifestation of Mind	Open Hand Monk also can deal psychic damage, it's not as big as having full Shadow Blade, but still works well for a slight damage boost.

Starting the Game - Level 1

This section covers the creation screen and what would go into the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for the EK Archer build. Some of these choices are impactful as you cannot respec them.

Races

Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc. Specifically for the Eldritch Knight Archer build, they will give important armor proficiencies or advantages on stealth checks to better utilize the assassin playstyle.

Race	Features	Description
Halfling	Halfling Luck Brave	One of the better races, when the number of attacks is high, with the ability to reroll 1s.
Deep Gnome	Gnome Cunning​ Superior Darkvision​ Stone Camouflage​	The main attractiveness of Gnomes is that they have Gnome Cunning, which will allow you to negate some of the Resonance Stone effects, thus improving your survivability.
Dwarf Duergar	Dwarven Combat Training​ Superior Darkvision​ Dwarven Resilience​ Duergar Resilience​	One of the best race picks overall. The Invisibility​ action allows you to enter combat with the best possible position and always activate the Surprised round. This way you can use Minor Illusion to group up enemies before combat.
Wood Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.	A higher movement speed is always welcome. The build also utilizes melee attacks to some degree, so it's great to have the speed boost.
Wood Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.

Class

Overview
Fighter
Features
Second Wind​	You can use this to heal yourself in tight encounters, to get a little bit more of survivability.

Fighting Style

Style	Description
Archery	As an Archer build, this fighting style is a must for an easy boost to your hit chance.

Background

Backgrounds are mostly for role-playing, and you can pick whatever you prefer. If you want to optimize, then it would be good to pick backgrounds that are based on your high-value ability points - Strength, Intelligence.

Abilities

Skills and Expertise

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your roleplaying and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendation would be to go for these, most relevant to the theme of the build:

• Acrobatics
• History
• Intimidation

Leveling Progression 2-12

Here is the detailed progression for the Eldritch Knight Archer 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

Levels 2-6

By this time, you should have landed on the Ravaged beach already and started exploring the initial area. You might need 1 additional encounter if you did not obtain enough XP in the Nautiloid.

For most of the builds, early levels are pretty simple, as there are minimal spell options and features that you can use. However, there are notable spikes at levels 5-6:

• Extra Attack
• Level 3 spells
• Major class and subclass features

With these, you will feel how the game combat opens up, and with correct preparations, you can start eliminating foes with minimal preparations.

Level 2

Feature	Description
Action Surge​	The iconic action of a fighter is extremely popular for its simplicity and effectiveness. You get additional action with full bonuses from Extra Attack.

This level brings the important choice of subclass

Subclass

Overview
Eldritch Knight
Features
Weapon Bond​	Your weapon cannot be knocked out from the hand and returns when thrown.

You can choose two Cantrips. Here are my suggestions:

Cantrips	Description
Booming Blade​	One of the core cantrips that later will deal additional damage, and provides an easy way to activate War Magic​ each turn.
Minor Illusion	A ridicilously powerful cantrip, that at least one party member should have. With a correct knowledge of the game, you can pull enemies into a neat group which is then easier to eliminate.

Lastly, you can pick spells

I recommend concentrating on utility spells rather than offensive or control ones, which will have limited effectiveness.

Spells	Description
Shield​	One of the best level 1 spells, giving a high boost to armour class to help with avoiding attacks.
Mage Armour	Can be used to get an armour class boost if all items are clothing, especially while you are wearing The Graceful Cloth

Expanded

Spells	Description
Longstrider	At least one member in the party should have it to apply it to everyone. It's free to cast outside of combat, and greatly enhances the party mobility during combat

Using Minor Illusion

On the other hand, you can also use something like Minor Illusion​ to pull enemies together, change their vision cones, and attacking with the same spell but hitting all of them. This is a very powerful cantrip that can be overlooked.

First, it does not break Invisibility or stealth (unless you get seen). Second, enemies, when not in combat, will chase it, meaning they will change their vision direction. Third, on most occasions, they will come closer to investigate the illusion.

This creates various opportunities like landing a powerful Area of Effect spell from the caster or scrolls, or hitting with wide attacks.

Level 4

Level 4 brings the first feat, it will be a huge improvement. Here you can select from a few choices, based on your playstyle and what kind of playthrough you are doing.

First, select a spell:

Spells	Description
Thunderwave	A solid spell in the arsenal that can be used to push off enemies from the ledges.

For the feat:

Feat	Description
Sharpshooter: All In	My recommendation, especially if you can handle the penalty to attack rolls. I recommend checking the increased Attack Roll guide to make it easier to land your attacks.

Correctly using Sharpshooter

For many people Sharpshooter: All In feat can be a nightmare, especially if you are less experienced. However, it can play a big role in turning the bow user into a full powerhouse with a flat +10 damage boost. However, it comes with a drawback: -5 to attack rolls. This, of course, can be circumvented via various tricks:

• Archery​ fighting style bonuses
• Guided Strike - War Domain channel divinity action.
• 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 via the Passives tab in hotbar:

You can also move it into your main hotbar, so that it's easier to enable/dsiable when needed based on your hit chance.

Level 5

The level gives an important feature for the build:

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

Level 6

Fighters get a special feature that gives them an additional feat at level 6. We can use this to gain a boost to combat potential:

Levels 7-10

Generally, this covers the Act 2 part of the game. This unlocks items that give a slight boost to a few builds, and you uncover a really interesting part of the story.

Level 7

A new subclass feature is unlocked:

Feature

Description

War Magic​

This is a pretty powerful feature that lets you easily weaponize bonus action. It does come with a few caveats which the build will try to circumvent. As an Archer, you have limited options of activating it. Either you have to use something like Ray of Frost or a more welcome alternative - Booming Blade. So the idea is, that you use one of your attacks as a melee hit with Booming Blade and activate War Magic giving you a free attack. You end up with 3 attacks at level 7, which is a very powerful setup.

Overall the spell selection is not great. There are uses in certain party setups:

Spells	Description
Darkness​	In case you have a darkness party that has Blinded​ immunity, this spell can be a decent option for covering more of the field. Still, you are more motivated to hit with a weapon, so only use this either before combat or when Hastened.
Shatter	Taking this as a progression spell

Level 8

There are a few nice additions at this level, and an expanded list of spells is unlocked, and we also gain a 3rd feat.

Let's start with the expanded spell list:

Expanded	Description
Shadow Blade	This will be one of the weapons that we will use to activate Booming Blade. The result is much higher damage than using something like Ray of Frost or other cantrips, without sacrificing a full action point or needing Haste.

Now I also recommend replacing a spell:

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Shatter	Mirror Image​	A solid spell that can be precast and gives an armour class boost to bolster survivability.

For feats, my recommendation would be:

‹With Ethel Hair +1 Dex›×

‹Not using Ethel Hair›×

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Feat	Description
Ability Improvement - +2 Strength	Pick this option if you are going for Titanstring minmax setup
Ability Improvement - +2 Intelligence	Improves spellcasting modifier, making it easier to land spells
Alert	I think this is the perfect time you get this feat, as there will a few major fights, where going early can be a game-changer.

Feat	Description
Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity	This will help you round up to 20, if not using Auntie Ethel's Hair

Level 9

An additional feature is unlocked for the Fighter class:

Feature	Description
Indomitable​	Greatly improves chances of succeeding in Saving Throws, minimizing the impact of various actions and spells.

Replace Spell

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Thunderwave	Misty Step​	I think the spell has served its purpose and there is not much use for it.

Level 10

This level unlocks another Eldritch Knight feature:

Feature	Description
Eldritch Strike​	This is a powerful feature, especially on archer builds, where they can hit multiple targets using Arrow of Many Targets. Eldritch Strike applies Disadvantage, meaning that your spells have a high chance of landing. You or an ally can follow up with something like Hold Person, to disable specific targets.

For cantrips, here are a few suggestions:

Cantrips	Description
Ray of Frost	This is one of the alternatives to use if you want to activate War Magic. The great thing is you will deal double damage if the target is Wet. However, you should only use this cantrip with a Hastened action point, as otherwise you will waste three attacks. In my opinion Shadow Blade + Booming Blade is a superior option.
Friends	A solid cantrip, especially if you are the main character. Makes it easier to succeed on dialogue checks. Be careful when using it; if you cancel it near a target NPC, they will attack.

Spells

Spell	Description
Arcane Lock	Taking anything, which we will replace for a better spell next level

Obtaining Resonance Stone

At this level, you will most likely reach Mind Flayer Colony, the goal here is to obtain Resonance Stone. The item doubles psychic damage with Steeped In Bliss effect, which can be a huge damage boost both for you and your party.

You will mainly benefit as Shadow Blade use. Moreover, items like Strange Conduit Ring also benefit from it. It does come with a few negative effects, and does not bring value for the end of Act 2 fights, so you can send it to the stash

Levels 11-12

This is where you will spend most of the time in Act 3. There will be an immense amount of content, and you can finish your builds and unlock extremely powerful gear.

Level 11

Now the capstone feature of the fighter is unlocked:

Feature	Description
Improved Extra Attack​​	Now, a third attack can be used, tripling your base damage. Especially in the late game, where you have multiple sources of additional damage, this will stack up for easy kills against most foes.

For spells:

Spell	Description
Gust of Wind	Taking anything, to replace later

Replace Spell:

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Arcane Lock	Hold Person	A powerful spell that can hold an enemy in place and if attacking from close range, guarantee critical hits.

Level 12

For the last level, we can choose another feat, but overall, no major changes to the build.

First, replace Spell:

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Gust of Wind	Enlarge/Reduce	Easy source of Concentration and slight damage boost.

Lastly, for the feats:

Feat	Description
Ability Improvement - +2 Strength	Pick this option if you are going for Titanstring minmax setup
Dual Wielder	You might want to wear caster weapons like Staff of Spell Power or Markoheshkir to boost your Spell Save DC, so this allows you to dual-wield these weapons.
Ability Improvement - +2 Intelligence	Further boosts your spellcasting modifier.
Alert	If not yet picked, a pretty good choice for maximum initiative.

Equipment Recommendations

Act 1

This covers the earliest part of the game, which generally spans Nautiloid, Wilderness, Underdark and the semi-Act 1, or to be precise, Act 1.5 - Rosymorn Monastery Trial.

Act 2

Act 3 - Final Build setup

This is where you will unlock the strongest weapons and armors for most of the builds. It is split into two major parts, starting with Rivington and later reaching the huge area - Lower City itself.

Alternative Setups

Build Mechanics

In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Shadow Monk. 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 effectively use the build.

Utilizing Consumable Arrows

One key thing to understand about archers is that they become extremely powerful not just from various buffs, and items, but also the consumable arrows - Arrow of Fire, Arrow of Fiend Slaying, Arrow of Aberration Slaying, Arrow of Lightning, etc. You get plenty of these throughout the game, and you can pickpocket vendors to stock up on these.

For example, you can use Arrow of Darkness to build Darkness fields before combat and shoot the enemies from within, without them having a way to reach you. Arrow of Fire or Arrow of Ice are great for a slight damage boost and additional conditions.

Arrow of Aberration Slaying, Arrow of Dragon Slaying or any other with the "slaying" in their name deal double damage. In the late game, this can be a huge damage boost, allowing you to take out bosses with just a few shots. But you do need to buy these from vendors and use the correct type for specific monsters.

Arrow of Many Targets is another special that I would like to dedicate a full section to next...

Correctly using Arrow of Many Targets

Arrow of Many Targets allows you to technically double your damage, as you hit 4 enemies for half damage. This is already better than you expect bonus. But it gets even better. It only rolls one attack roll, against the first enemy. So if you hit them and get a critical hit, this gets applied to the remaining 4 enemies.

Now imagine a boss is under the effect of Hold Monster, you use Arrow of Many Targets on it, and the rest of the minions get hit with critical hits. The damage stacks up exponentially very fast.

Another neat trick is that you can shoot consumables with this arrow. For example, if you hit Void Bulb that you have dropped on the ground, enemies get pulled, and you can continue hitting the stacked enemies. This is one of the main ways to control enemy positioning. Other items can be Potion of Speed, where you don't need to use a bonus action and still get Hastened effect.

The power of Scrolls

Eldritch Knight is a perfect build for using all the scrolls that you get. By itself, you are pretty limited with spellslots. Only level 2, and minor spell selection. However, you do have a very high spell success chance - Eldritch Strike with Arcane Acuity makes you as strong as any other caster. 

By using Band of the Mystic Scoundrel you can freely use scrolls like Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Hold Monster, Scroll of Fear etc. with just your bonus action, having minimal impact on your combat damage.

You can also use spells like Scroll of Chain Lightning, Scroll of Cone of Cold, etc if enemies are Wet, or have resistance to piercing damage. Eldritch Knight makes it a perfect choice to use all of these high-level scrolls with great success. Scroll of Globe of Invulnerability is a true lifesaver and can be used in the late game fights to have a safe spot for negating damage.

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 sweet spot 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.

Act 2 - Githzerai Mind Barrier

To have good resistances for some time against Intelligence checks, you can do a special mechanic late in Act 2 (illithid colony). This requires you to finish a puzzle and find a specific mind. First, go and complete the puzzle:

Once the doors are unlocked, go inside and pick up the Waking Mind:

Now, go back to the interface and place the mind. After that, you will be able to get the Githzerai Mind Barrier effect.

This is a great buff that will improve your saving throws, giving an Advantage on Intelligence. This will be extremely valuable in the upcoming fight. Sadly, it will disappear if you die, so try to avoid that.

Combat Tactics and Rotation

Maximizing the Build - Abilities, Illithid, Consumables

This section, I would like to dedicate to various optimizations that you can do to further empower your build. Various things like Illithid Powers and consumables can make the build from powerful to totally overpowered, trivializing the hardest game encounters

Maximizing Ability Scores

Ability Scores play an important role both in terms of how your attacks and spells land. Moreover, these can help to also reach extremely high skill rolls needed for a few checks.

1. Act 1 - Auntie Ethel's Hair - you will want to get +1 Dexterity if you pick this choice.
2. Feat - Ability Improvement - +2 Dexterity
3. Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - pick +2 Dexterity.

This will allow you to reach 22 natural Dexterity. This is the maximum value. Without Auntie Ethel's Hair, you will reach 20.

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.

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.
Luck of the Far Realms​	Base	Guarantees a critical hit, use it on important targets that you want to make sure are killed.
Psionic Overload​	Base	As this is Psychic damage, you will double it to 2d4 thanks to Resonance Stone.
Psionic Backlash	Base	A decent use for reaction to deal some bonus psychic damage.
Ability Drain​	Base	As you will be using Dexterity, this can help you to reduce enemy Armor Class and give an increased hit chance on the next attack.
Cull the Weak​	Base	Can help to kill an enemy faster if it is left with a few HP.
Illithid Expertise​	Elite	As you are not a charisma-based character, these proficiencies help with dialogue checks.
Psionic Dominance​	Elite	Can be used to save yourself from a deadly spell. This is especially relevant as you will have a Disadvantage on mental saving throws.
Freecast​	Elite	Remove the cost of spell slots or charges.

Potions, Elixirs and Consumables

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

Potions

These are general consumables, and most of them are activated for a few turns. Potions are separate from Elixirs and can be active together.

Consumable	Description
Potion of Speed	You can chug this potion before combat, or during combat using a bonus action. It gives another action point that gives an additional attack or one more spell cast. Sadly, its duration is only 3 turns.
Potion of Animal Speaking	Although not something powerful, it is worth stocking up and saving a spell slot.
Potion of Invisibility	Can be used to get a perfect position before the encounter starts. It can also help trigger Surprise rounds.
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 Accuracy	The attack roll bonus is pretty good, which improves your chances of hitting.
Diluted Oil of Sharpness	Helps with attack and damage rolls.
Crawler Mucus	This is a very powerful debuff that applies Paralysed on an enemy if they fail a Saving Throw. This then guarantees critical hits.
Drow Poison	Has a chance to put an enemy to Sleeping condition, giving a guaranteed critical hit option.
Oil of Combustion	Extremely powerful item that is quite easy to activate. You only need a damage rider that you can get through Drakethroat Glaive, Flawed Helldusk Gloves or Helldusk Gloves. Pull enemies together, hit them with Arrow of Many Targets and then follow up again with an attack, to create an explosion that increases its damage by the number of affected targets.
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.

Elixirs

Unfortunately, only one Elixir can be active at a time. However, the good thing is that they last until a long rest, making them very useful and economical.

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

Consumable	Description
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength	The strength elixirs enable a pretty simple setup with Titanstring Bow. This does lock you out of other elixirs, but offers a pretty simple option at least in the early game
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 Aberration Slaying, Arrow of Humanoid Slaying, Arrow of Fiend Slaying, other Slaying arrows	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.

Grenades

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

Conclusion and Credits

Thank you for reading the Eldritch Knight Archer build for Baldur's Gate 3. This is a ridiculously powerful build, especially if you are ready to funnel the key items. It uses both ranged attacks and spellcasting.

• C4B - the first one to share this amazing build with the world - The Rivington Rat
• BG3 Builds Discord members - Quag, Machina, shared many insights on optimizing the build to reach extremely high damage numbers.

Cheers!