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Ok... this character is going to be anything but deadly.
The lack of STR is making your damage go away. You should have at least 12, although a 14 is better.
There is no reason for a Zen archer to have Dex above Wisdom. Wisdom gives you far more than Dex, and bonus feats ignore prerequisites.
The only thing Rouge is adding to the build is trapfinding. You will never be able to apply sneak attack on your arrows as sneak attack at range is terrible. If you want to add trapfinding to a Zen Archer, dip 1-2 levels of Trapper Ranger. you get trapfinding, full BAB, and a combat style if you want to take the second level. Or if you really want to go oracle, Seeker archetype will give you trapfinding as well, although investing that much to CHA on a Zen Archer is a bad idea.
personally, i think a ZA/rogue is going to end up being lackluster as well... you'd most likely be better off staying straight classed ZA and spending traits (and/or feats) to make him more roguish. its a campaign trait, so you'd have to check with your GM, but trap finder is one trait that might give you everything you're looking for.
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Trapper Ranger gets Trapfinding at level 1, as does the Seeker.
Zen archer doesn't need Dex to hit with archery as they get Wis to Hit with bows. While flurry does help with damage, you do not do enough damage without static bonuses. You will want a str bonus to damage, deadly aim, enhancement, specialization, and so on. A 10 STR is hurting your ability to do damage when you hit.
Additionally, Zen Archer rewards you for staying single classed. Every new level you get a new bonus feat to class ability to help your role. Rogue is taking away feats, class abilities, BAB, and giving you very little in return. Your build is giving up Improved Percise Shot, Weapon Specialization, and access to the level 8 Flurry of Blows upgrade.
You build has a lack of focus, and society play can circumvent traps without having a dedicated trapfinder. Even if you do want a dedicated trap finder, a Single level is all you need assuming you put a skill point into Perception and Disable Device each level.
So just to be clear and not insulting lol - do you understand the character I'm trying to build.
No, but it seems you don't either.
You don't seem to understand how any of the class abilities interact or deal with one another. Your stat point distribution is a mess.
A zen archer relies on wisdom, not dex, to hit. Forget about having a high dex for skill bonuses. The extra +1 or +2 to skill isn't worth it after level 3. Especially not for class skills.
You should have (based on the 20 pt buy you have):
Str 14
Dex 12
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 18 (16+2 from race)
Cha 8
Personally, I would also sell Cha down to 8 and raise Con.
Forget about levels in rogue. Trapfinding and a few extra skills aren't worth it. You don't need to have all the skills, but you will have 6 per level with 14 int and 4 per monk level. And that should be enough to make your character knowledable about whatever he wants to focus in while still picking up other necessary skills like perception. Not to mention every level in rogue means you are missing a lot of gains from Zen Archer. If trapfinding is a necessity, taking a level in trapper ranger is better than a level in rogue. It gives you 1 full point of BAB, access to wands on the ranger list. For certain APs or campaigns a single favored enemy can be very good. FE Human can often be a +2 bonus to attack and damage against 90% of enemies.
Forget fighter as well, you get all the archery feats you need from zen-archer. The bonus hp is about the only thing that would be worthwhile, but as an archer you should typically be far enough away that you're not taking much damage. Again oracle is too disparate. If you want augury make yourself a Qinggong Zen Archer monk. They can pick up augury as an ability at 4th level, and you can do so by sacrificing Slow Fall (which isn't a big deal) and pick up augury if you really want the thematics of it.
Qinggong Zen Archer - can you have two archetypes from the same base class>?
As long as they don't overlap. Since you can pick and choose what you replace with Qinggong, it doesn't overlap with Zen Archer or any of the other monk archetypes.
Qinggong Zen Archer - can you have two archetypes from the same base class>?As long as they don't overlap. Since you can pick and choose what you replace with Qinggong, it doesn't overlap with Zen Archer or any of the other monk archetypes.
Yep
I have to agree with that combo being lackluster. Imo a archeologist would be better if created right.
Half elf archeologist
Str 14
Dex 17 +1 @4
Con 10
Cha 14
Int 10
Wis 13 +1@8
Traits fates favored
+1 fort or +2 init trait or magical knack with dual classing
Feats
1 bonus proficiency longbow
1 point blank shot
3 precise
5 rapid fire
7 many shot
If u want those quicker take a lvl of fighter
@Claxon your response was pretty good - do you think that what I'm really trying to do would fit better with the Urban Ranger / Investigator combination given the base stats I originally posted?
Your original stats just aren't really good for anybody.
If you were playing a ranger archer instead of a zen-archer would take an wis of 14, and drop charisma to 10 or 8. You have no need of it. Even if you want to be good at diplomacy it is simply a -1 penalty. Not worth spending you precious point buy points on. You can turn diplomacy into a class skill with a trait or by taking a single level get it as a class skill along with other skills.
Urban Ranger is bad, but I'm also not sure what you're really trying to gain from it. Also, Favored Community is pretty weak since as an adventurer you're all around the world. Especially in PFS. You would never benefit from favored community or anything that depends on it. However, generally speaking Ranger is good. Even without archetypes. Actually, especially without archetypes even.
Again, I'm not really sure what you're trying to gain from Investigator(rogue).
Can you give a clear definition of what you want your character to do mechanically? And not just say "wise, traveled, and deadly".
@Duncan
I have an archaeologist now, and I thought I was going to be happy with the way it played; but I'm finding that the bard magic is a waste to my play style in combat. I'm definitely a shooter, and used very little magic from the archaeologist line. Additionally the scenarios we play make something like summon monster not even worth it so my only offense was a light crossbow. So, if this is how I'm going to play then I'm thinking I should play to my strengths. I do like using magic, just not bard magic.
Why were you using a crossbow?
You should have been using a shortbow. Strength to damage is a big deal, as archers need every point of static damage boost they can get.
I can understand bar magic not be the style you're after though, and wanting to focus more on using ranged attacks. To that end, zen-archer or ranger is a much better way to go.
I get it. I am playing an arcane duelist right now. I got 16 str and when I stay back to cast a few spells people are like why don't u go in and hit stuff. But u get heroism and ur luck bonus going on and ull hit a lot.
U can take 2 lvls of rogue btw get trap spotter. Have a high perception and when u find a trap trigger it at range with ur bow. So maybe just go zen archer full.. 2 lvls rogue. No other multi classing.
There's also the trapper ranger
Sure thing, and thanks for the help:
Primary:
1. The character must be able to contribute to combat. This has typically been ranged and not melee.2. The character must be able to find and disable up to magical traps.
Secondary
1. The character should be able to assist or lead in diplomacy. This comes up at least once scenario and no one is ever prepared for it. The trend seems to be entirely combat related and we actually missed out on full prestige because all we could do was hack away.2. The character should be able to assist with knowledge based skills. Again, only thing we were able to do was hack away and we missed out on things.
3. The character must have some form of stealth. Again, this doesn't always come up, but I have found it useful as I am typically on point.
Tertiary
1. Aid in out of combat or in combat healing. Everyone carries a healing wand so I'm not entirely concerned about this, but ok.2. Ability to wide range of wands. This would be a nice perk to offset something or cast invisibility.
Hope this helps ~
If you ignore the magical traps part the ranger can do everything you've listed. if you take the trapper archetype you can get trapfinding to disable magical traps, unfortunately you lose out on spells. Which are good. Especially for being able to use wands.
To be good at disable device you can simply take a trait to get it as a class skill. If this wasn't for PFS I would simply suggest the Trapfinder trait from Mummy's Mask, but I don't think it's legal.
Diplomacy, you might not be great at it, but you can also put skill ranks into it. Same for various knowledges. At know(geo) and know(nat) you can do pretty well, though the aren't the most useful.
Rangers can be great at stealth.
It sounds like you are trying to be a 1 man party, and no one can do that very well. Something always suffers. Unfortunately with PFS you can't guarantee who you will play with and that you will have characters who fulfill all the traditional roles. That is not your fault, and you can't build your character to mitigate it completely.
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I honestly think you are placing far too much importance on disabling magical traps. Anyone can find magical traps with a perception check. Disabling the trap can be done with a dispel magic from a caster.
Even if you can't disable a trap, it's usually just damage or an alarm. It will drain some charges from your wand of CLW and you move on.
If you absolutely must have trapfinding, then I would go with a single class Trapbreaker or Crypt Breaker alchemist with the explosive missile discovery, and alchemical ammunition from the alchemy manual.
this new information I have (i.e. a trait that converts WIS to DEX et al).
I think you may have misunderstood something. There isn't a trait (to my knowledge) that does this, but zen-archers get the ability to use Wis to hit instead of Dex to hit with bows.
But yes, definitely think things over and see what you can come up with.
Remember, a single class character is usually better at the few things he will specialize in compared to a character that tries to be a jack of all trades.
You can do a few things well, or all things mediocre. The problem is that being mediocre at things causes you not to succeed at those tasks.
Primary:
1. The character must be able to contribute to combat. This has typically been ranged and not melee.
2. The character must be able to find and disable up to magical traps.Secondary
1. The character should be able to assist or lead in diplomacy. This comes up at least once scenario and no one is ever prepared for it. The trend seems to be entirely combat related and we actually missed out on full prestige because all we could do was hack away.
2. The character should be able to assist with knowledge based skills. Again, only thing we were able to do was hack away and we missed out on things.
3. The character must have some form of stealth. Again, this doesn't always come up, but I have found it useful as I am typically on point.Tertiary
1. Aid in out of combat or in combat healing. Everyone carries a healing wand so I'm not entirely concerned about this, but ok.
2. Ability to wide range of wands. This would be a nice perk to offset something or cast invisibility.
ok, having read your list of wants i think you should look at the inquisitor. they are only a 3/4 BAB class, but with judgements, bane, and the ability to buff themselves (and others) they can definitely handle p1. take the trap finder trait i linked above and p2 is covered. if you take the conversion inquisition your social skills are all Wis based which means you can be a face without investing in Cha, so s1 is good. you also get to add Wis to knowledge checks and can make them untrained to id monsters, so you're set for s2. stealth is a class skill, the heretic archetype lets you stack Dex and Wis to it, and Invisibility is on your spell list, so s3 is no problem. cure spells are also on your spell list so t1 is covered, and you're a 6:9 caster so there are a ton of useful wands you can use.
resource management will be a little tougher (judgement and bane are more limited than flurry), so if you're worried about that you could try making a ZA who dips inquisitor... they have good stat synergy and you would get a lot of the bonuses of an inquisitor by dipping 2 levels (even more, with no added BAB loss, if you did 4).
U don't really like spells and u picked inquisitor?