Right now Im trying to make a Bloodrager that can hit enemies from a distance without swapping weapons often, so a throwing weapon would be better than a sling. Any character not using a Composite Longbow or Light Crossbow could also benefit from his.
Im trying to find the most effective and efficient feats so I can give a warrior type character with few or no bonus feats some distance effect. I want it to be either minimal drawbacks or that can stay effective into later levels so its not a long-term waste.
Quick draw as far as I know allows you to draw weapons as a free acton. Im not sure, but I think that allows you to make multiple attacks as a full-attack action.
Returning is a magic effect for +1 magic bonus that allows weapons to come back when thrown. not hard to see having multiple reusable magic javelins could be useful. Unfortunately that costs at least 8000g per javelin.
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The only way to keep thrown weapons viable is to build for it completely.
Otherwise I would only go so far so far as to pickup Quickdraw and your choice of a few non-magical throwing weapons.
The problem with thrown weapons is that you basically have a to build an archer, and then add a bunch of feats to make it actually work.
You're talking about building a switch hitter or sorts, but with thrown weapons instead of a bow. Overall it's just not going to work very well.
One thing that may be worth considering is the Sharding Weapon special ability.
So there's no reason to not have a(n) (adaptive) Composite Longbow?
Basically.
Without a lot of feat investment pulling out a composite longbow is pretty much always better than trying to throw weapons. Throwing needs pretty much all the same feats as archery, plus some other to actually make it work.
If you interested I have a couple threads about specializing in thrown weapons that you can read through and it goes into a lot more detail than I have here.
But suffice it to say, if you're not looking to invest much character resources into it, then a bow and whatever archery feats you fancy is the way to go.
Also, don't forget you have ranged attack spells as options for things to do. Not necessarily optimal, but it gives you something to do when you're not in melee range. I personally used lightning bolt on my bloodrager to give me some ranged options.
Another thing to consider is that as a switch hitter you're not going to focus in archery. You don't want point blank shot because if the enemy is that close you charge them. You don't want precise shot because if the enemy is close enough to melee them, you charge them. In fact, you really don't get any archery feats because the basic ones are mostly for making ranged attacks not a problem when the enemy is close. But you're just going to quickdraw your sword and melee them to death when they get in range.
I have basic question about ranged attacks. If the ranged weapon in question has free-action reloading can multiple attacks granted by BAB be used?
I want to give every character i have some basic kind of ranged attack as you can frequently find use of it. A character may not specialize in ranged attacks, but having multiple attacks can still be very useful.
Yeah, bows have a free action reload and you can make a number of attacks equal to your normal iterative attacks without needing anything else.
I've been trying to make something like this work and here are my conclusions.
- You can build a throwing switch hitter without much extra investment if you have abilities that allow you to take extra attacks (TWF, Flurry, Ki Pool) and you invest in both DEX and STR. However your throwing DPR is gonna be s++*e without reasonable investment...
-Two handed thrower can be really good for this, Quick Draw is needed of course
- Investing in a blink back belt makes this a much better strategy (as you can use your melee weapon as a range weapon and benefit from enhancement bonus twice), but comes at the cost of a stat belt. There's a handy new feat in Magic Tactics Toolbox which can function as a partial replacement of a stat booster at least in the PFS level range
It's actually easier to build a ranged character with high STR and good DEX and just give it Power Attack and a huge weapon as long as you have class abilities that will boost accuracy and or damage from both melee and ranged (e.g. Warpriest, Paladin, Savage Technologist, Fighter, Ninja, Monk(for Flurry or Ki))
Why are most classes made without the apparent planning for ranged attacks?
deadly aim, Point Blank Shot, precise shot, Rapid Shot, manyshot, improved precise shot, pinpoint targeting all all necessary feats. Quick Draw and far Shot are for throwing weapons. Rapid shot for crossbows and firearms, and crossbow mastery.
Its far less feat intensive to be melee. Pick up Power Attack and a two-handed weapon and youre good to go.
Why are most classes made without the apparent planning for ranged attacks?
deadly aim, Point Blank Shot, precise shot, Rapid Shot, manyshot, improved precise shot, pinpoint targeting all all necessary feats. Quick Draw and far Shot are for throwing weapons. Rapid shot for crossbows and firearms, and crossbow mastery.
Its far less feat intensive to be melee. Pick up Power Attack and a two-handed weapon and youre good to go.
Well the DPR of a fully stated out Archer will easily exceed that of a two hander with PA. In my mind this is legit as specialization should pay off.
Which is why I suggest that a true switch hitter should not specialize on either but instead dip his toes in both disiplines and rely on static bonuses and bonus attacks. Essentially you just need the following:1) High STR and good Dex
2) A way to gain extra attacks and or to hit bonuses for all attacks
3) Quick Draw
Of the ranged Feats you list the following are not needed to make a switch hitter viable: deadly aim, precise shot, manyshot, improved precise shot, pinpoint targeting.
Improved precise shot can be replaced by the Deadeye bowman trait. Far Shot can be replced by class abilities and or traits.
Did anyone mention belt of hurling yet? STR to attack rolls when throwing.
Sigh, well any time I found out something new with this game its either going to be a new way to make characters, or finding out there are more limits than I thought. So Pathfinder feels Bipolar.
Its just not possible to make any character into an Archer without bonus feats. I like Sniper characters in games, so that is just negative.
Ranger, Slayer, Brawler and Fighter all have bonus feats that allows them to fight well.
Its really depressing finding out everyone but them is basically the same thing with a two-handed weapon and a bow.
Here's a build outline for a Ninja Barbarian Switch Hitter.
Accuracy is achieved via Savage Technologists Rage+Reckles Abandon+Scent+Pheromon Arrows despite relatively low Dex.
Ki-Pool helps with DPR both when two Handing a No-Dachi and when launching 5 arows a turn at level 7
Ki is a fairly limited Ressource so get extra Ki
Defenses are fairly weak but somethings gotta give...
Multiclass Switch Hitter
Human Ninja 2/Savage Technologist Barbarian 4/ Ulfen Guard 5
STR 18 DEX 15 CON 12 INT 7 WIS 10 CHA 14
Traits: Deadeye Bowman/ Sound of Mind (+2 vs Mind Affecting efffects)
Feats:
1 Ninja PBS, Rapidshot
2 Ninja Ki-Pool Quick Draw
3 Barbarian 1 Power Attack
4 Barbarian Reckless Abandon
5 Barbarian Extra Ki
6 Barbarian Scent (Combine with Pheromone Arrows)
7 Ulfen Guard Many Shot (Requires DEX Belt) ?Rage Power?
8 Ulfen Guard
9 Ulfen Guard Bonus Feat or Rage Power + Ability Mastery/Extra Ki/Iron Will
Equipment