Subclass Fighter Arcane Archer

What Is the Arcane Archer?

The Arcane Archer is a Fighter subclass that infuses physical ranged attacks with arcane magic through Arcane Shots — a limited pool of magical arrow effects that layer debuffs, damage, and control on top of standard weapon attacks. Arcane Shot at Level 3 gives four uses per Short Rest and a choice of arrow effects. Magic Arrow at Level 7 makes your arrows magical, and the charge pool grows to seven at Level 7 and ten at Level 10.

Class Features

Progression Overview

LEVEL	FEATURE
3	Arcane Archer Lore, Arcane Shot
7	Magic Arrow, Curving Shot
10	Improved Arcane Shot

Level 3

Arcane Archer Lore You gain proficiency in Arcana and Nature, and you learn one cantrip of your choice from Guidance, Light, or True Strike.

Arcane Shot Each Arcane Shot is its own ranged attack that costs your Action and one Arcane Shot charge. All charges come back on a Short Rest.

• Charges: 4 at Level 3, 7 at Level 7, 10 at Level 10
• Options known: 3 at Level 3, a fourth at Level 7, and a fifth at Level 10. At most other Fighter levels you can swap one option for another.

Saving throws against your Arcane Shots use an Intelligence-based DC.

SHOT	EFFECT
Banishing Arrow	Weapon damage; Charisma save or the target is banished to the Feywild until the start of your next turn
Beguiling Arrow	Weapon damage + 2d6 Psychic; Wisdom save or Charmed for 2 turns
Bursting Arrow	Weapon damage, then a 3 m explosion for 2d6 Force around the target
Enfeebling Arrow	Weapon damage + 2d6 Necrotic; Constitution save or Feeble for 2 turns
Grasping Arrow	Weapon damage + 2d6 Poison; Strength save or the target's Speed drops by 3 m and it takes 2d6 Slashing whenever it moves, for 10 turns
Piercing Arrow	A line attack — every creature in it makes a Dexterity save or takes weapon damage + 1d6 Piercing
Seeking Arrow	No attack roll: the target makes a Dexterity save or takes weapon damage + 1d6 Force and is lit by Faerie Fire
Shadow Arrow	Weapon damage + 2d6 Psychic; Wisdom save or Blinded for 2 turns

Level 7

Magic Arrow Whenever you fire a nonmagical arrow from a shortbow or longbow, you can make it magical for the purpose of overcoming Resistance and Immunity to nonmagical damage.

Curving Shot When you make an attack roll with a magic arrow and miss, you can use a Bonus Action to reroll the attack roll against a different target within 60 feet of the original target.

You also gain three more Arcane Shot charges and a fourth Arcane Shot option.

Level 10

Improved Arcane Shot You gain three more Arcane Shot charges, for ten in total, and a fifth Arcane Shot option.

Playstyle Notes

The Arcane Archer is the control-focused ranged Fighter. Unlike other Fighter subclasses that primarily enhance damage, the Arcane Shot options lean toward debuffs and battlefield manipulation — Banishing Arrow removes a target from the fight entirely for a turn, Shadow Arrow blinds, Enfeebling Arrow halves damage output, and Grasping Arrow creates sustained damage plus movement restriction.

With four charges per Short Rest at Level 3 — and ten by Level 10 — Arcane Shot is a per-encounter tool rather than a rationed one. Each shot costs your whole Action, so the question is which effect is worth more than a full Attack action this turn, not whether you can afford to spend a charge.

Curving Shot at Level 7 reduces wasted shots: miss on one target, redirect to another. Against enemies with high AC, this converts a miss from a lost Arcane Shot to a second chance.

Magic Arrow ensures that at Level 7, every arrow bypasses nonmagical resistance — relevant for enemies immune to nonmagical attacks. Combined with Arcane Shots, this makes the Arcane Archer effective even against physically resistant enemies.