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I've been looking over the handbooks by Treantmonk, Rouge Eidolon, and others and have come to really enjoy the build archetypes. So I ask the boards to show me your builds.
I don't mean stats, though its ok if you want to include them, nor do I mean a level by level account, though, again, that would be ok too. I'm asking for good advice on how to put together old standby builds and fun new builds. Even wacky builds are welcome.
Archer rogue: elf rogue (sniper), Silent Hunter alternate racial trait; Fast Getaway, Fast Stealth, Snap Shot, Sniper's Eye, Surprise Attack, Hunter's Surprise, Stealthy Sniper rogue talents; other good choices include Minor Magic (acid splash) and Major Magic (gravity bow); Deadly Aim, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Many Shot, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run feats; get sniper's goggles ASAP.
Paladin tank: human paladin (divine defender and warrior of the holy light), energy resistance alternate favored class option; Channel Smite, Double Slice, Extra Lay On Hands, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Shield Slam, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Rend feats; other good choices include Critical Focus and Improved Critical (Scimitar); get a bashing light shield with shield spikes ASAP.
God wizard and support cleric are more about spell selection than anything else, so the rest of the character choices don't matter as much. The human extra spell alternate wizard favored class option is nice, but not necessary. Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, and metamagic feats are also useful.
Copypasta! From when somebody asked what an 11th level sorcerer should take as a 9th level sorcerer. He's pretty good at all levels, but 9th or so I think is where he really starts to shine.
Man I feel dirty even suggesting this... A Zen Archer Monk.
9th level is where the ZAM reaches its full potential. Why? At 9th level, ZAM gains the ability Reflexive Shot: You can make attacks of opportunity with a bow.
You get to Flurry of Blows with a bow. (Can’t be combined with Manyshot and Rapid Shot, but who cares?) This is amazing, because now you no longer have to worry about enemies getting outside of your flurry range!
Combine that with all of the other amazing things the monk is offered, and you can make one amazing archer who is also a melee character. (You have AoO's and Point Blank Master means you don't provoke AoO's.) You also have amazing saves. The stats that matter to the ZAM are Wis, Dex, Str and Con (Further making your saves awesome.)
Spending Money:
If you have about 23k to spend you should have everything you need. Perhaps something like 4k for Headband of Wis, 4k for a Belt of Dex , ~8k on a weapon and 1k on a Cloak of Resistance and whatever else. (If you can get someone to craft stuff for you, you’ll have some more cash to spend. If that’s the case, I suggest getting a Headband of Wis +4. Wisdom gets you +AC, +Ki Points, +Atk rolls, +Will Saves, +CMD, +Perception… and other things. Other good things include getting a better cloak, and belt. Ring of Protection and Amulet of Natural Armor are nice too. ) Skip Bracers of Armor. Do him a huge favor and cast Mage Armor on him at the start of the day.
First of all, be a Dwarf. I guess you could be a Human, but really. Be a dwarf. You get bonuses to where it counts and penalties where you could care less. The 20 movement speed turns into 50 because you’re a Monk, and you also get other goodies for being a dwarf. (Darkvision, Hardy, etc.)
If you have a 20 point buy, for example:
Str 15
Dex 15
Con 11
Int 7
Wis 17
Cha 7
Apply middle-aged...
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 8
Wis 18
Cha 8
Apply racial bonuses and penalties and ability score bonuses...
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 8
Wis 22
Cha 6
Apply enhancement bonuses…
Str 14
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 8
Wis 24
Cha 6
The feats the ZAM gives you straight out:
Improved Unarmed Strike
Weapon Focus(Longbow) – rather, you should be picking longbow?
Weapon Specialization (Longbow)
Point Blank Master
Perfect Strike
3 Monk Feats and 5 feats from leveling up. (Could they cram any more in?) I suggest:
Precise Shot
Improved Precise Shot (Level 6 Monk feat)
Deadly Aim
Point Blank Shot (You’re a melee character now! You love this feat!)
Toughness (If your Monk has more Con than my build, perhaps something else. Improved Initiative, a Save boosting feat, Extra Ki… Whatever)
Optional feat strategy:
Dodge
Mobility
Combat Reflexes
Combat Patrol
(Benefit: As a full-round action, you may set up a combat patrol, increasing your threatened area by 5 feet for every 5 points of your base attack bonus. Until the beginning of your next turn, you may make attacks of opportunity against any opponent in this threatened area that provokes attacks of opportunity. You may move as part of these attacks, provided your total movement before your next turn does not exceed your speed. Any movement you make provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.)
The strategy: The key to this is casting Enlarge Person on the monk. Combine your AoO archery with being large and having natural reach and with the additional reach from Combat Patrol… This can get a little silly. So long as they provoke the AoO, you can attack them (they still have to be within your threatened area when you attack) The feat says nothing about having to be adjacent to the enemy when you attack, so you can attack, run to a more favorable position, and wait for more enemies to provoke attacks. Rinse, and repeat. Have fun with this one.
The monk should be Lawful Neutral. This will be necessary for the following:
Traits:
Resilient: Shore up your Fort Save, since you have a lower Con.
Wisdom in the Flesh (Acrobatics) - Your Acrobatics checks are based off of your Wisdom modifier. Not entirely necessary, but being awesome at acrobatics is pretty sweet.
An initiative boosting trait is also pretty nice to have.
Given these things: You have a Belt of Dex +2, Headband of Wis +2, +1 Frost Longbow (or whatever works better; extra damage with archery is amazing), Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, and Mage Armor cast on him.
…and given you have these stats and you are at 9th level and you’ve followed my advice thus far…
Str 14
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 8
Wis 24
Cha 6
You should have:
Special Abilities:
Flurry of Blows( +7/+7/+7 (with ki)/+2/+2)
Perfect Strike (9/day)
Zen Archery (To Hit based upon wisdom)
Ki Pool (11 Ki)
Various Ki Abilities
AC/CMD Bonus (+2 +7 = +9)
Fast Movement (+30, for +50 speed total)
Slowfall 40ft
High Jump
You will have:
+3 Initiative
~68 hp (Given you rolled an average of 4.5 on the hit die)
27 skill points to spend
AC - 29
Touch AC - 24
Flat-footed AC – 25
Fort Save – 9
Reflex Save – 10
Will Save – 14
(Saves don't include Hardy, so keep that in mind!)
BAB +6/+1
CMB – 8
CMD – 30
Dealing Damage:
To hit - +15
Flurry to hit - +16/+16/(+16)/+11/+11
Damage per arrow – d8+5+1d6 (frost or whatever)
Abilities to mess with to hit/damage:
Perfect Strike (Roll twice)
Deadly Aim (-2 Atk, +4 Dmg)
Point Blank Shot (+1 Atk, +1 Dmg)
I hope that was helpful and that you would strongly consider using the Zen Archer Monk.
I'll drop in my Samurai from my Serpent's Skull game, he's a little silly.
Str: 24
Dex: 18
Con: 16
Int: 9
Wis: 14
Cha: 7
Abilities:
Challange 3/day, order of the warrior, resolve 4/day, Weapon expertise (katana), bravery, overhand chop
Feats:
Human
1st Power Attack
Ftr 1 Weapon Focus (katana)
3rd Furious Focus
5th Weapon Specialization
7th Step Up
Sam 6 Following Step
9th Combat Reflexes
Ftr 2 Step Up and Strike
Equipment
16,000 Belt of Physical Perfection +2
9,000 Cloak of Resistance +3
8,000 ring of prot +2
8,000 amulet of nat armor +2
8,000 +1 keen katana, large
4,000 +2 full plate
3,200 permanent enlarge person
When attacking a challenge target he does;
+16 / +9 (3d8+29)
It it is a single attack;
+16 (3d8+33)
Being enlarged he has a 10ft. reach and anyone who tries to make a 5ft step provokes Step Up and Strike. Moving around him proves to be very difficult for enemies.