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Hey All,
I've wanted to play a crossbow build for quite sometime but haven't had the opportunity until now.
I know that crossbows are not optimal and I know how feat intensive ranged combat is in Pathfinder. But at the end of the day all I can do is give it a shot.
The build I've come up with should be playable from 1 to 12, but I have intentionally deferred some feats until later as I have no idea if they are PFS compliant for what I have in mind.
Here's the feat progression I have come up with. Any advice on how to improve it is welcome. Also note that I don't really care what class my character is as I don't let class define my character. It's just a way to make it work mechanically. I'd prefer to not Multi-class if possible so I am open to better ideas than what I've got.
Crossbow Ranger 10 / Fighter 2
FEAT PROGRESSION
1.F1) Pointblank Shot, HB) Precise Shot, FB) Deadly Aim.
2. F1/R1)
3. F1/R2) EWP: Crossbow, Repeating, RB) Rapid Shot.
4. F1/R3)
5. F1/R4) WF: Crossbow, Repeating
6. F1/R5)
7. F1/R6) Snap Shot, RB) Improved Precise Shot.
8. F1/R7)
9. F1/R8) Snap Shot, Improved.
10.F1/R9)
11.F1/R10) Rapid Reload, RB) Pointblank Master
12.F2/R10) . FB) Crossbow Mastery
So, as you can see Rapid Reload & Crossbow Mastery come late - I have no idea how or if they work with a repeating crossbow in Society Play so I don't want the build to rely on them. If the GM/Judge says they don't work as I hope I will probably swap out for Boon Companion & Greater Snap Shot.
I'm also considering skipping the repeater all together and taking Rapid Reload at 3rd level.
I know it won't be optimal, but I'd like it to be the as good as it can.
Cheers,
D
Why not PBS, Rapid Shot, Rapid Reload at level 1, then another level of Fighter for Crossbow Mastery at level 2?
Try Inquisitor. They get EWP: Crossbow, Repeating for free, and their Banes and boosts are perfect. HU will get
1:Pointblank Shot, Precise Shot
3:WF: Crossbow, Repeating (you only have a ¾ BAB, so take accuracy feats before others0
etc
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Ok, I am going to throw this out for you. It is not optimal but I think it could be a cool idea and I have never gotten the chance to play with it:
Genus Crossbowman:
Str:10
Dex:18(2 human)
Con:12
Int:15
Wis:14
Cha:7
Freebooter Crossbow Ranger 11/Unarmned Fighter 1
1 Ranger1 Point Blank shot, Rapid Reload
2 Ranger2 Focused Shot
3 Ranger3 Crossbow Mastery
4 Ranger4
5 Ranger5 Deadly Aim
6 Fighter1 Unarmed Strike, Kirin Style
7 Ranger6 Improved Precise Shot, Iron Will
8 Ranger7
9 Ranger8 Kirin Strike
10 Ranger9
11 Ranger10 Pin Point Targeting, Improved Critical
12 Ranger11
The idea is to buff and direct your allies and then deliver a single devastating blow. At level 12 with no magic items you will hit at +16 for 1d10+18 at a 18-20 crit. You will hardly ever miss do to concealment and give your allies +3 attack and damage against the foe of your choice.
Ad in a +4 dex belt, a +4 int headband, a +3 weapon and gravity bow and you will do +21 to hit for 2d8+29 damage. You also get to be a skill master :)
I was going to suggest a Cleric (of Abadar) 1/Monk 11 with the feat Crusader's Flurry in order to flurry with a light crossbow.
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@Nebten: I presume you're referring to seraphim84's build? I'm not sure, could be a typo.
Question: does it matter which order you take your feats in if you receive a bonus feat the same time you receive a feat for levelling up?
I ask because if I take Ranger at 1st level and Fighter at 2nd, I could do the following (presuming the order works favourably);
1) R1: Point Blank Shot. Rapid Reload (HB)
2) R1/F1: Precise Shot
3) R2/F1: Rapid Shot (RB), Crossbow Mastery.
Provided I can take Rapid Shot as my Bonus Feat, prior to selecting my level 3 feat I would meet all the pre-Reqs for Crossbow Mastery.
Would give me more skills at level 1 this way too.
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I'm aware of that. Problem is the level 6 bonus feat is reserved for Improved Precise Shot.
Taking a level in Fighter delays this feat until level 7, which I'm not that thrilled about, but I can live with it. I don't want to put Improved Precise Shot off until level 10 (or 11 in this case) in a game that ends at level 12.
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Improved Precise Shot is really not that impressive and very situational. It boils down to fighting somebody with Blur up, in Darkness or having to shoot through somebody.
If you feel you need it, by all means go for it. I have a similar character in the works as well for a Carrion Crown game. Let's hope it works out.
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We rarely find ourselves in wide open spaces, even when we do its often not feasible to get into a position that completely eliminates the cover or partial cover provided by your own allies.
I think it's a pretty impressive feat. Admittedly my regular GM is a stickler for the rules - I'm expecting that my local PFS GM will be as well.
I do realize this all boils down to opinion & play style so results may vary.
Your suggestion has me considering a switch-hitter that uses a crossbow, but I think the end result would just be a character that was bad in melee & at range.
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It was in fact an error. As I said it is just an idea I have had floating for a while. I have never really tried to flesh it out. I think Rapid shot would be a nice addition though gives options. You can full attack or use one very powerful attack if you have something else to do that round, like move, declare an Freebooters bane or something else.
Maybe then something like:
1 Ranger1 Point Blank shot, Rapid Reload
2 Ranger2 Focused Shot
3 Ranger3 Rapid shot
4 Fighter1 Unarmed Strike, Kirin Style
5 Ranger4 Crossbow Mastery
6 Fighter2 Deadly Aim
7 Ranger5 Precise Shot, Iron Will
8 Ranger6 Improved Precise Shot,
9 Ranger7 Kirin Strike
10 Ranger8
11 Ranger9 Improved Critical
12 Ranger10 Pin Point Targeting,
Then start with a light crossbow and go up to heavy at level 5.
Not perfect yet but has potential. Anyways, Improved Precise shot is very powerful in society. As all GMs must be rules sticklers ignoring that extra AC or miss chance helps alot. Combine it with a Seeking bow and you will never miss :)
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I was going to suggest a Cleric (of Abadar) 1/Monk 11 with the feat Crusader's Flurry in order to flurry with a light crossbow.
Does this work in PFS? I ask because while I was looking into this idea I noticed;
You learned to use your deity’s favored weapon as part of your martial arts form.Prerequisites: Channel energy class feature, flurry of blows class feature, Weapon Focus with your deity’s favored melee weapon.
Benefit: You can use your deity’s favored weapon as if it were a monk weapon.
I ask because of the part I bolded
If you're going Ranger at all go 6 levels in straight away to get Improved Precise Shot ASAP.
Otherwise, just go straight Fighter 12 (NOT the crossbowman archetype, though).
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If you're going Ranger at all go 6 levels in straight away to get Improved Precise Shot ASAP.
Otherwise, just go straight Fighter 12 (NOT the crossbowman archetype, though).
That's what I want. Straight Ranger all the way. Don't know I can manage it though... Worst case scenario I dip 2 levels of fighter - even if I take them before ECL 6 I'll be getting early entry into Improved Precise Shot (just not as early as Ranger 6).
For a second I thought, maybe I could go the Point Blank Master route and just get up in the thick of it and avoid Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot - then I realized even if I was on the front lines fighting foes I'd still eat the -4 penalty that is negated by Precise shot if any of the foes I was adjacent to we're engaged in melee with any of my allies...
Can't win for trying.