It's Homebrew Time! This time, I'll be sharing the Archer Class: A non-caster (depending on subclass) alternative to the ranger, with a bit less focus on nature (open images in new tab if too small)
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1155710
1 reply
I like the general flavor and direction of the class, but with a first read, I'd be a bit concerned about balancing. The Spell Shot subclass provides near-full casting, while also getting Extra Attack at level 6. I recommend significantly reducing the spell progression of the casting subclass (consider other half-caster classes as a guide).
A few other things you might want to tweak:
The other thing you could consider with this is how the ranger-ish features (land's stride, vanish, feral senses) connect with the class's identity (ranged weapon specialist). Maybe have the class identity encompass more (capture the essence of sneak archer), or swap the ranger-y features for more archer-oriented ones (features that let you get out of melee, dodging attacks, maybe an AOE feature). Alternatively, you could rebrand this entire class as a ranger re-work, and have the more typical "ranger" identity be your focus.
Overall it's a solid effort, but needs a bit of work before playing it. Awesome work overall!