So yeah, archery feats(PB, Precise, Rapid, Many), extra bane.For spells, divine favor will be your main damage source, but inquisitors have good spells and stuff, it is hard to list them all.
Pretty much this. The Heretic Archetype is fairly good and boosts your stealth. You lose Monster Lore but if thats fine with your concept then I think it's a good option.
Fate's Favored will make that Divine Favor stretch a little farther which is nice.
What about a Heretic/Preacher combo?
Preacher actually sounds like a really cool archetype. I always disliked Solo Tactics.
I think...
Str 14(Future enhancements and ability points go here, Adaptive Bow is an item to pursue)
Dex 18(+2 Human included)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 10
Repose Domain is probably the best choice out of Pharasma's while the Tactics Inquisition is probably the best out of the Inquisitions for the character.
About solo tactics: I believe there's a feat in the ACG playtest that allows flanking with a bow, basically. Later on, you can combine it with outflank to get +4, with the right positioning.
If that's the case then Gang Up becomes drastically more useful.
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Why Repose?
The level 8 domain ability is very solid in Carrion Crown. I just finished that AP playing through with a Pharasma inquisitor with Repose, and Ward against Death was very useful. It suppresses negative levels and makes people immune to new negative levels and death effects in a 30' radius. That's just solid, especially as you get above level 9 or so and the SoD spells begin to show up.
Why Repose?
The level 8 domain ability is very solid in Carrion Crown. I just finished that AP playing through with a Pharasma inquisitor with Repose, and Ward against Death was very useful. It suppresses negative levels and makes people immune to new negative levels and death effects in a 30' radius. That's just solid, especially as you get above level 9 or so and the SoD spells begin to show up.
Plus the staggering touch is a handy trick if people get in your face. And against undead it lasts more than 1 round. Which is particularly good in Carrion Crown.
Plus the alternatives aren't as good and especially not considering Ward against Death's effectiveness for Carrion Crown.
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I see what you mean now.
Not sure if worth noting, but the DM has allowed the Trap Finder, and the player is dead set on taking it.
Any traits that are a "must" for this build?
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The Inquisitons are generally less useful than Domains. Pharasma's allowed Inquisitions are pretty weak. There is an Inquisition chart in UM that is not on the PRD, similar to Domains/Deities.
I suggest looking at the Conversion Inquisition though. Wis to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate is a pretty nice feature. You also get to use a short-term Dominate Person as a spell-like ability at 8th, which is pretty cool.
I agree with the others that the Repose (Souls subdomain) is probably the strongest and best bet. It's not amazing for ranged characters, but Gentle Rest is a nasty no-save power that can be a life saver.
Pharasma's other Domains are pretty weak for an archer. Healing(Restoration) has a decent status effect relief ability, but it's not amazing.
Solo Tactics works just fine with archery. I highly recommend it.
Suggested Teamwork Feats: (EDIT: not eligible for Target of Opportunity until 8th level)
3rd: Stealth Synergy
6th: Enfilading Fire
9th: Target of Opportunity
Also, Lookout and Shake It Off are good enough to consider for regular feat slots once you get Solo Tactics.
Target of Opportunity is really a great feat, especially if you have some PCs in the party interested in crit-fishing.
I suggest the Fate's Favored + Divine Favor combo.
It actually fits with Pharasma's theme!
For Judgements, I've had a lot of luck with Healing during low level play. At 6-9, I've been using Justice and Protection mostly, with Smiting on occasion.
Most of the Inquisitor/Judgment-specific feats are garbage. Although Shared Judgment has potential, especially for an archer.
Inquisitors get so many nice things that you don't have to worry about feat selection much.
You can do the standard PBS, PS, RS, DA routine for archery without missing anything important.
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Well, we have a Intimidate, and Diplomacy focused PC. He is not looking to overshadow.
I already figured the Heretic archetype would be fitting, with it's boon to Stealth, and Bluff.
Not sure if Conversion is really needed.
If it helps, the other players are:
Changeling Paladin, high Diplomacy focus.
Hobgoblin Brawler(ACG Playtest) Bull Rush focused.
Ghoran Urban Druid(I have no idea).
Merfolk Sorcerer, enchantment focused.
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Heretic is good stuff. I haven't had much use for Monster Lore, so I don't think losing that is much of a penalty.
I think Conversion is worth another look. Having two characters competent with Bluff/Diplomacy isn't necessarily a bad thing, plus the bonus to Bluff has synergy with Heretic. You're shooting for at least 14 Wis, so that's worth it IMO. You can dump Cha and squeeze more points into Dex or Str this way.
If Conversion isn't interesting, then go with Repose(Souls). I don't think there's really much else that fits.
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Souls seems decent.
Okay, very rough build here:
Human Inquisitor of Pharasma 1
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 shield, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee alchemical silver dagger +2 (1d4+1/19-20) and
. . cold iron dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20)
Ranged masterwork composite longbow +4 (1d8+2/×3)
Inquisitor Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4):
1st (2/day)—divine favor, true strike
0 (at will)—detect magic, disrupt undead, light, stabilize
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Traits fate's favored, rich parents, trap finder
Skills Acrobatics +4, Bluff +2, Disable Device +8, Intimidate +0, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +7, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +4, Stealth +12, Survival +7 (+9 to get along in the wild)
Languages Common
SQ avarice, domains (souls), hide tracks, judgement 1/day), judgement of escape, touch the spirit world
Other Gear leather armor, buckler, alchemical silver dagger, arrows (20), cold iron dagger, masterwork composite longbow, backpack, masterwork, shinobi shozoku, survival kit, masterwork, thieves' tools, 68 gp
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Special Abilities
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Avarice Must gain at least 10% more treasure than allies or cannot Aid Another for 1 week
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Hide Tracks (Ex) Creatures attempting to track you take a -5 penalty.
Inquisitor Domain (Souls)
Judgement (1/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Judgement of Sacred Escape (Su) When hit foe with melee/ranged attack, can create diversion to hide.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Touch the Spirit World (1 rds) (6/day) (Su) Allow touched weapon to harm incorporeal targets.
Trap Finder Use Disable Device to disarm magic traps, like a rogue.
Critiques?
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They are actually pretty simple, also the souls domain is great flavor!
I found out for inquisitors, that deadly aim actually lowers dpr against cr equivalent opponents, so skip that. Instead, get extra bane or extened bane, which is pretty great!
So yeah, archery feats(PB, Precise, Rapid, Many), extra bane.
For spells, divine favor will be your main damage source, but inquisitors have good spells and stuff, it is hard to list them all. If you have a paladin or a melee cleric, litany of righteousness is actually a good support spell, because you can allow them to do double damage due to their good aura!
You are absolutely right: Litany of Righteousness is awesome when you have a Paladin in the party. Double damage on the first strike is just nuts.
It's great even when used as a standard action casting from a scroll.I wonder about your concern over Deadly Aim though... is it because Inquisitor is 3/4 BAB?
I imagine that with Justice, Divine Favor/Fate's Favored, and Bane running, that any disadvantage would be negligible, if not gone entirely. This is absolutely routine stuff past 5th level.
Maybe it's best to wait for it until your 5th or 7th level feat?
I can see using Extra Bane (if you have nothing better to take) but I think Extended Bane is garbage. My melee Inquisitor never seems to run out of Bane rounds (stuff just dies). This problem is not going to be worse for an archer Inquisitor who gets more attacks off per round.
Between the Inquisitor, the Brawler (I'm excited for you BBT) and the Paladin, combat will be a generally brief affair.
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Souls seems decent.
Okay, very rough build here:
** spoiler omitted **...
Awesome. That is not rough at all.
Suggestions:
Arrows should always be Cold Iron base (2gp for 20). Minimum 40 arrows at all times. You never know when you will be too far out to resupply. EDIT: Craft: (BOWS) isn't a bad investment either.
A Pharasmin archer would also have at least 20 blunt arrows at all times.
You can afford Silver Blanch at 1st level, so grab an extra 20 Cold Iron arrows and set that up.
Grappling arrow, silk rope
Bless instead of True Strike. There's more net gain for the party and it gives him something to do when he can't get a clear shot.
There's also the Final Rest inquisition, depending on the whether you can use the 8th level ability on bows.
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I tested it, and without fail, even with divine favor et al up, deadly aim lowered dpr. I think it was the extra dice from bane being pretty significant.Also, extended bane is like extra bane, but scales with wisdom. They are basically the exact same feat, but extended bane is better with 18+ wisdom.
Interesting. Does this apply only to Inquisitors or did it function that way with other classes too?
Is there a difference with full BAB classes?I have it on a 7th level archery Ranger and I find that I don't use Deadly Aim very much. I usually miss with it. Maybe some real-game confirmation? Or maybe I'm just experiencing the Gambler's Fallacy.
I'm thinking that Weapon Focus would be a better pick now.
18 Wis on an Inquisitor seems like overkill. From what I've observed, they mostly aim for a 14. You're correct about the Bane feats, but I still think that they aren't useful feats. In my experience, by the time I'm running low on Bane rounds, the fight's over anyway.
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Don't know if the player will budge but the new Inner Sea Gods book adds some really excellent options for Cleric archers. There's a feat for worshippers of Erastil that allows them to ignore soft cover of 1 ally when shooting at an enemy. Also there's a bow for worshippers of Erastil that they can tune to 1 ally that will ignore them for soft cover. Both options lets the Cleric avoid the -4 penalty when shooting into melee for 1 ally providing soft cover. There's also a nice spell for archery for Erastil worshippers. Just throwing those out there if the player is willing to switch deities.
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Well, this PC will be worshiping Pharasma, not Erastil.
Also, this will be an Inquisitor, not a Cleric.
About that Deadly Aim issue...
Perhaps combining Deadly Aim, with Reckless Aim will work?
Well, this PC will be worshiping Pharasma, not Erastil.
Also, this will be an Inquisitor, not a Cleric.
About that Deadly Aim issue...
Perhaps combining Deadly Aim, with Reckless Aim will work?
I'm a fan of Reckless Aim, but it is rather feat intensive.
PBS, Precise, Rapid, Reckless, Deadly, Manyshot seems like the optimal feat path.
I understand the player is already set on playing a Pharasmin Archer, just throwing this out there as an extention.
Don't know if the player will budge but the new Inner Sea Gods book adds some really excellent options for Cleric archers. There's a feat for worshippers of Erastil that allows them to ignore soft cover of 1 ally when shooting at an enemy. Also there's a bow for worshippers of Erastil that they can tune to 1 ally that will ignore them for soft cover. Both options lets the Cleric avoid the -4 penalty when shooting into melee for 1 ally providing soft cover. There's also a nice spell for archery for Erastil worshippers. Just throwing those out there if the player is willing to switch deities.
Source Inner Sea Gods pg. 52
Boons - Deific Obedience
Evangelist
1: Family's Bond (Sp) cure light wounds 3/day, shield other 2/day, or prayer 1/day
2: Twin Fang (Ex) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon an exact double of your animal companion. The double acts and thinks like your animal companion in every way, and obeys your commands just as the original would. Your original animal companion and its double understand and trust each other perfectly. The double remains for 1 round for every Hit Die you possess, and then vanishes. If you don’t have an animal companion, you instead gain the ability to use summon nature’s ally V as a spell-like ability once per day.
3: Faithful Archer (Ex) You are particularly skilled at using Erastil’s favored weapon. When using a longbow, you add your Wisdom bonus on attack and damage rolls against targets within 30 feet.
There's nothing stopping an Inquistor from using any of the this things mentioned by Kyoko. Speaking of Inner Sea Gods and Erastil, there's that juicy Evangelist PrC that can still make for a great Inquisitor Archer if you don't mind being kinda Rangerish. By level 12 an Aasimir Inquisitor/Evangelist can use Wisdom for damage and attack with any longbow and not have rely on the somewhat shaky Guided weapon enchants. Also in the spirit of Eastil go with the Animal(Feather, Fur) Domain you get to make a fully functional duplicate of your animal companion once per day for HD/round. The fiddly bits come in spending 2 feats for Deific Obediance and Boon Companion when you're already pretty feat starved. Could just say screw the duplicate companion and just except the freebie summon option for that boon.
The slightly broken thing about Evangelist is with it's Aligned Class feature it stacks with all your chosen base class levels -1 when it comes to determining your class features and spell progression as long as they do the daily ritual proscribed by their god. So, for example a level 12 Inquisitor5/Evangelist7 is treated like a level 11 Inquisitor when in it comes to Bane, Judgements, Spells Known, excreta. The balance for it is that if you don't do your daily ritual though, you get booted back down to a level 5 Inquistor with 12HD. In the case of Erastil all you have to do is just plant a few seeds or leave a small bundle of supplies to help out the next passerby every day to keep your abilities.