Inquisitor Build Advice

[Majestic8705]

Hey all,

So I've joined a PFS group that meets up on Sundays at a local game shop in Toronto and I'm thinking of rolling up an Archer Inquisitor with the Feather subdomain. At this time, I am also planning on splashing two levels of monk (either Sohei or Zen Archer) for feats, evasion, and the wisdom mod counting as armor and other stuff depending on which of the two monks I end up splashing with.

The question I'm fretting about is which race should I choose? I've narrowed it down to either the Garuda-blooded Aasimar or the Tengu.

In the case of the Tengu...I really like that swordtrained ability considering the Inquisitor is sorely lacking in the decent melee weapons department. Meaning right off the bat I can wield either a greatsword or Elven curve blade should I ever find myself in melee combat. However, I end up with weaker stats thanks to their -2 racial to CON.

In the case of the Aasimar...well, stats are better and darkvision is always a plus. However, I don't get my greatsword or curve blade (at least not right away). This is partially resolved if I take Sohei monk levels and get the greatsword proficiency that way. However, my build is going to be DEX focused so a weapon I can use with finesse would be better (like the curve blade). Yeah, I'd have to blow a feat on finesse, but it seems like it would be worth it.

I dunno...I guess my first question is how much, if at all, should I care about a melee weapon?

My current line of thinking is to go the Aasimar route and Sohei for proficiency at level 2.

I feel I should point out that Sohei isn't on the list simply for the martial proficiency...I like that I get Handle Animal as a class skill (since I'm getting a companion from my domain); I really like the Devoted Guardian ability; and I like that I get Mounted Combat feats for free (since I get a companion at -3, I figure best bet was a mount of some kind...Roc or Direbat or something).

Zen Archer is on the list because its feats are directly related to my Inquisitor's play style allow me more feats to spend on other things as I get the basic archery feats for free. That said, there is little else of interest in only going two levels of Zen Archer.

Anyways...suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Major_Blackhart]

As an archer, I would say focus more on mobility and the ability to stay mobile and out of harms way than on melee combat. Keep a light mace on hand, but really beyond that, stick to the bows. Use light or mithral armor, (elven chain breast plate or chain shirt) and anything that can keep your dodge bonuses up high and your speed up. You will want to be able to fire on the move and have a high enough dodge bonus that AoO won't be a huge fear.

[MyTThor]

Yeah, if you want to be an archer, concentrate on getting the ability to fire while in melee and stay out of melee. No reason to spread yourself thin just to get better at something you don't want to be doing in the first place.

[Bigdaddyjug]

Remember, even as an archer you're going to want some Str to add damage to your attacks. My archer inquisitor started with 14 Str and 16 Dex so my melee attacks are only 1 behind my ranged attacks for now.

If you want to make the build less MAD you may want to look at the Conversion inquisition. It allows you to use Wis instead of Cha for Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate, so you can completely dump Cha to give you a better point buy. I think I ended up with 14/16/12/12/16/7 on a human where the +2 bumped Wis from 14 to 16.

Don't forget, inquisitors do not get the bonus spells from a domain, so inquisitions are just as good if not better.

[mplindustries]

I see absolutely no benefit to dipping levels of Monk. Evasion is just not as big a deal as people seem to think, and Wisdom to AC is inferior to wearing armor in every way. There's just no way to have your Wisdom high enough at low levels to beat a chain shirt, and later on, there's no way to beat a mithril breastplate.

As an archer, there is next to no reason at all to bother with a melee weapon. You will be so far out of the way of combat, you won't get hit much. The rare times that something does get close to you, you can just five foot step back or eat an AoO to shoot them in the face (very few enemies have combat reflexes).

It's even more important with a Dex build--archery is feat intensive, so you absolutely should not waste a feat on Weapon Finesse.

Are you playing this from level 1? Non-human archers suck for the first two levels because they can't get Precise Shot until then. You'll be eating a -4 to hit when the enemies are engaged in melee and delaying Rapid Shot until 5th level, just to get a +2 to Wisdom. Not worth it, in my opinion, not by a long shot.

Remember, you need:

Point Blank Shot -> Precise Shot -> Rapid Shot -> Deadly Aim -> Manyshot -> Clustered Shots -> Improved Precise Shot

Humans get up the chain faster and have an open feat for weapon focus or whatever they feel like at 7th. Non-humans don't get a free pick until 13th (humans also get one at 13th, too).

And yeah, as the others said--Strength really matters here. Static damage buffs help archers more than other classes because they make so very many attacks.

[Majestic8705]

Thank you all for the comments. It has been quite helpful. I may just end up foregoing any kind of non-simple melee weapon then and just take Zen Archer levels to get the feats quicker.

[Bigdaddyjug]

Fighter levels would be vastly superior to zen archer levels and gt you martial weapon proficiencies. Also, don't forget that you win proficiency with your deity's favored weapon.

[Major_Blackhart]

Yeah, that's true.
Fighter levels are friggin amazing. You might want to consider the Archer archtype. It's damn good for a ranged type.