Dwarf Alchemist bomber

[monczkam]

Hey, so I'm planning on making an Alchemist bomber. I'm making him a dwarf for flavor. I was wondering if you guys could take a look at my build and tell me what you think:

Abilities: (15 point)
STR: 10, DEX: 14, CON: 10, INT: 17, WIS: 12, CHA: 7

feat/discovery progression:
1st: point-blank shot(1st level) Precise shot (campaign feat)
2nd: precise bomb
3rd: extra discovery (explosive bomb)
my other character died so I'm staring at 3rd. what follows is my plan up to lvl 10.
4th: force bomb, add a point to INT
5th: extra bombs
6th: wings
7th: extra bombs
8th: fast bomb, add a point to INT
9th: Either two-weapon fighting, or rapid shot.. not sure which
10th: probably acid bomb or tanglefoot bomb

I put 'campaign feat' above because my GM gives everyone a bonus feat at level 1. Any tips and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[blackbloodtroll]

Grenadier Alchemist sounds right up your alley.

[monczkam]

Oh wow. I never knew about that archetype. Thanks a bunch!

In light of the above archetype, I replaced extra discovery at level 3 for extra bombs. (can never have too many)

[blackbloodtroll]

You might as well dump charisma.

[monczkam]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

You might as well dump charisma.

My GM doesn't let us go below 7 for an ability (after racial mods), so my 7 CHA is as low as I'm allowed to make it.

[The smitter]

It looks pretty good I would go with grenadier, but I would drop wings as it is not quite as good as the fly spell and it uses a discovery. take a bomb discovery or vestigial arm instead. That way you can have one hand with a fly extract in it or learn to use a shield.

[blackbloodtroll]

Houserules huh?

Curious as I am, I must ask if he gave reasoning behind it.

What happens if you are reincarnated, and one of the physical scores goes below 7 as a result?

Does it get bumped up to 7?

[monczkam]

I think his reasoning behind not letting the physical ones go below 7 is that you wouldn't be physically able to go adventuring (or would be way more unlikely to) and his reasoning behind the mental attributes is that you become, in his mind, somewhat mentally handicapped and would probably be untrusted with a lot of fancy/risky/important tasks. I think the restriction is just to character creation though. We haven't had any resurrections where this has come up yet.

I might go with a couple vestigial arms instead. The only reason I wanted wings was because a gritty dwarf with a big pair of Raven wings sounded kind of awesome to me. Plus it allows a freed-up extract slot for something else and I can use it more on the fly without having to prep anything (pun not intended)

[The smitter]

with grenadier you get to pick a martial weapon, if if you go two weapon fighting and vestigial arms you could dual wield a couple of war axes.

[blackbloodtroll]

Vestigial Arms are not going to do much for a Bomb focused Alchemist.

Smoke and Stink Bombs are pretty awesome, I would consider those.

[monczkam]

I'm trying to stay out of Melee. Not sure what martial weapon I'm going to pick for that, though.

Yeah, I was thinking of taking the smoke-bomb stuff starting around level 10 or replacing one of the "extra bombs" feats with "extra discover: smoke bomb". That or confusion bomb.

[blackbloodtroll]

For Martial weapon, I would consider Armor Spikes.

Wearing them allows you to threaten, while keeping your hands free.

[monczkam]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

For Martial weapon, I would consider Armor Spikes.

Wearing them allows you to threaten, while keeping your hands free.

I like that idea. It's better than my idea of either throwing axes or the dwarven boulder helm.

[Jubal Breakbottle]

Force bombs have an 8th level prereq. Concussive is good at 6th to be retrained into Force bombs at 8th if your DM allows that.

Look at Smoke and Stink bombs for low level battlefield control. They rock.

A good low level feat is far shot to extend your 20-ft. range. And a great 7th level feat is Bullseye Shot.

[monczkam]

Jubal Breakbottle wrote:

Force bombs have an 8th level prereq. Concussive is good at 6th to be retrained into Force bombs at 8th if your DM allows that.

Look at Smoke and Stink bombs for low level battlefield control. They rock.

A good low level feat is far shot to extend your 20-ft. range. And a great 7th level feat is Bullseye Shot.

Oh wow. I didn't notice force bomb's level pre-req. I played an alchemist in an earlier campaign with the same group and had it around level 4. I guess they're gonna get a kick out of that.

looks like I'll take smoke at 4th and take extra discovery at 5th for stink bomb

I would take bullseye shot at 7th (it's an amazing feat), but I'm planning on making it so my character throws (or can throw) multiple bombs per round. I'm going to need a lot of bombs for that. I might take it at higher levels, or move the 7th level extra bombs to 9th or 11th level and take it at 7th. I'll have a while before I have to decide. Thanks for the tips!

[Gjorbjond]

I like the Splash Weapon Mastery feat myself. With the relativity short range increment of your bombs and other splash weapons, the fact that it works as Far Shot would be enough to get it.

[Jubal Breakbottle]

Gjorbjond wrote:

I like the Splash Weapon Mastery feat myself. With the relativity short range increment of your bombs and other splash weapons, the fact that it works as Far Shot would be enough to get it.

If you're taking Point Blank Shot anyway, I like Far Shot better. At latter levels you can use it with your Conductive Light Crossbow to easily launch bombs at a range of 100+ squares. Duel those long distance magic missile slingers...

[ossian666]

Stingchuck

These are free...carry them because you can.

If you DO go the Vestigial Arm route I just use mine to hold a Darkwood Shield for added protection with no negative effect. Gives you some more AC and another armor piece you can enhance magically.

[monczkam]

Awesome. Thanks for the advice, everyone. First session is tonight and I'm pumped. Again, Thanks so much for the help!