Hi Everyone,
I’m playing a Zen Archer Monk for PFS and really enjoying the archer role! My character is a Kellid “barbarian with a bow” and I RP him as a frost ranger. I am not taking the Quinggong archetype because I am not one to over-optimize. But, I do want to go into Horizon Walker around level 7.
Horizon Walker requires the most useless feat in the game, aka Endurance. My 3rd level feat will be Deadly Aim (of course). But, what is the “best” level to take Endurance?
At 2nd level, my current feats are:
1st: Improved Initiative
H: Point Blank Shot
Mo1: Improved Unarmed Strike
Mb1: Precise Shot
Mo2: Weapon Focus (longbow)
Mb2: Deflect Arrows (nothing else looks exciting to me)
I haven’t played my 4th session yet, so, I can still make changes to my character. Should I tweak my character, switching out Point Blank Shot for Endurance (and making PBS my monk bonus feat at 2nd level), or wait till 5th level to take Endurance?
Also, are there any feats that have Endurance as prerequisites that would be good for archers and/or Monks?
Thanks!
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Swap endurance for PBS or Improved Initiative. You don't need Deadly Aim at 3rd I'd wait until 5th. Use your 2nd level MB feat for PBS.
The great thing about Zen Archers is that you don't need to spend any feats on archery, other than Deadly Aim which you don't need right away.
Why HW? Are you planning on doing the Dimensional Dervish thing or looking to stack Terrain bonuses for extra damage?
I want to go Horizon Walker mostly for flavor reasons and because Zen Archer doesn't offer much past 7th level. Having some ranger-like abilities will also give me something to do out of combat and make the character more versatile at later levels. And, I've always wanted to try the class.
In a small way, I'm trying to under-optimize the Zen Archer...trying to not make my PFS GM disallow my character at their table or get into arguments over "Can/Can't flurry with a bow", yada yada...
Diehard is the primary reason most players take Endurance.
But if you are not going for that feat, I would take Endurance as late as possible.
What about Deny Death?
It's a monk-ish feat, but, as an archer, would I ever get to use it? And, is it even that good of a feat?
Yes, that feat Deny Death feat is better for a monk that Diehard. I forgot about it because I hardly ever play that class.
I would take it at 5th lvl or consider dipping into an Unbreakable Fighter for both Endurance and Diehard at lvl 7.
Unbreakable Fighter sounds like an idea to me.
One counter argument - PFS only goes up to lvl 14. Starting HW at 8th level wouldn't be too late?
PapaZorro - excellent argument. But, Zen Archers get proficiencies with all bows, not just the shortbow.
lvl 1: Zen Archer
lvl 2: Zen Archer 1/Unbreakable 1
lvls 3-7: Zen Archer 6/Unbreakable 1
-3rd: Deadly Aim
-4th: +1 Con (for a 13 CON)
-5th: Survivor (requires 13 CON, negate crit 1/d)
-7th: Extra Ki (?)
levels 8+: Horizon Walker
If I get the fighter feat out of the way now, I get survival up front (letting me choose something other than Know the Land as a trait) in addition to some handy monster identifying skills.
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what you could do if you were willing, dip one level into an unbreakable fighter, it wouldnt hurt you too bad as far as dpr loss and you gain diehard and endurance as free feats, as well as open up other monk weapons for you to use if you choose to.
oh and wait until 9th level before you go for HW that way you can get your second flurry shot.