Animal affinity

[Nightowl2]

One level of Bard is all you need to qualify for AA. The ability to cast arcane spells isn't quite the same thing as actually being able to cast them.

Nightowl2

[Nightwing]

I thought the manual said being able to cast 1st level Arcane spells qualifies. The Bard has to be 2nd level before he can do this. I'm currently Ranger 3, Thief 2, Sorc. 2. I thought I could switch by now but not yet. One of the requirements is base attack +6 or higher. I thought this ment my bonus to hit but in looking at the charactor sheet closer there is a base attack and mine is 5. How do I raise that the quickest? Whould doing 5 levels of Ranger and 2 sorc. Raise it faster or what? In old D&D your THACO lowered with level, is this the same concept?

[Nightowl2]

Nope. I just checked, and it says: "Ability to cast arcane spells". Thus one level of bard is enough, even if you can't cast any.

Also, your current character can never be an Arcane Archer, because you are limited to a maximum of three classes in the game. Since you already have 3, that's it. If you want one, you'll have to start over with another character.

The fastest way to meet AB +6 is to take six levels of a fighter class (fighter, paladin, ranger, etc.), then one level of bard, sorc, or wiz, and then at level 8 switch to AA, provided you meet the other requirements.

Nightowl2

[Nightwing]

Thanks for the direction Nightowl, I think I will start over. I found trying to build to one of the prestige classes was kind of fun because it gave me more focus.