...and please help me select my next feat. :)
I've been very happy with the way my Elven Zen Archer 4 has been working out lately in a Carrion Crown-inspired horror game i'm playing in. I'm not playing him as a monk, per se, My theme is essentially Legolas, a very "elfy" elf, disdainful of all cultures but elven ones, etc. as a zen archer, my feat path is very laid out for me, but at this point i have some leeway with my level 5 and 7 feats, and thought to ask for some advice. The build is below:
Male Elf Monk (Zen Archer) 4; LN Medium humanoid (elf); Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+1 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 untyped)
hp 24 (4d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +8; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +5 (1d8+2)
Ranged +1 adaptive composite longbow +8 (1d8+3/×3)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, ki flurry, ki speed, ki strike, magic, zen archery
Spell-Like Abilities (from envoy trait) (CL 4th; concentration +3)
1/day—comprehend languages, detect magic, detect poison, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 22
Feats Deadly Aim, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Perfect Strike[APG], Point Blank Master[APG], Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Traits ease of faith, rich parents
Skills Acrobatics +9, Climb +6, Craft (bows) +5, Diplomacy +5, Escape Artist +6, Perception +12, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +9; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan
SQ weapon familiarity, fast movement, hero points, ki archery, ki defense, ki pool, slow fall, unarmed strike
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So far, hit points are low due to low con, so i thought about toughness, but it seems rather suboptimal. I also thought of arcane strike, but due to most of my ki powers taking a swift also to activate, i might have a conflict there. I wish i had one more BAB so i could take Martial Flexibility at 5th, but it's good enough to wait for 7th. :) i have all the essential feats listed in the various class guides, so i was at a loss what i'm missing feat-wise.
So, i entreat the advice mavens of the forums, what are my best choices for 5th and 7th? Thank you in advance!
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First off you took rich parents so you aren't a poor Zen archer.
Kidding aside, I would never have started with a 10 con in the first place, but since you have already I'd take the toughness. Also are you rolling for hit points? Because if not it looks like you should have 3 more (9 first level, 6 for each additional. 9+6x3= 27). If you do lots of damage, and as a Zen archer you usually do, then you will frequently find yourself a high priority target to the villains. If you're also squishy, then you'll find yourself dead very quickly.
You're a Zen Archer.
You're not getting pity from ANYONE. :)
True, to be born an elf is to be blessed by the gods, and one should strive not to take dim view of others not so beloved by the universe... I certainly understand. ;)
First off you took rich parents so you aren't a poor Zen archer.
Kidding aside, I would never have started with a 10 con in the first place, but since you have already I'd take the toughness. Also are you rolling for hit points? Because if not it looks like you should have 3 more (9 first level, 6 for each additional. 9+6x3= 27). If you do lots of damage, and as a Zen archer you usually do, then you will frequently find yourself a high priority target to the villains. If you're also squishy, then you'll find yourself dead very quickly.
True, to be born an elf is to be blessed, etc. etc... I took rich parents to start with a kickass masterwork mighty composite bow, which upped my survival for the first three levels tremendously.
As for the hit points, it's our table rule, half hit die round down instead of up.
I'm not really doing tons of damage, the dice have been very unkind the past few sessions, but i also have twice been within an inch of death, which is what's got me thinking toughness instead of more attack or damage bonuses.
It might not be better than Toughness, but you could consider Crane Style. It will allow you to still fire your bow while fighting defensively. (-2 attack, +4 AC). Or, Monkey Style if you find that you wind up prone often enough to make it useful.
If your GM allows you to be Qinggong, you should swap out Slow Fall for Bark Skin.
At 7th level, Clustered Shots is a great one. All damage from all your shots counts together before DR is subtracted basically counting them as one attack.
The only prerequisites for this are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and BAB of +6. Where do you see that it can't be taken until level 9?
The only prerequisites for this are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and BAB of +6. Where do you see that it can't be taken until level 9?
Namely, the BAB of +6, because a zen archer only has a +5 at level 7. Same reason I would have to wait for level 7 for martial flexibility. Believe me, clustered shots is already planned for level 9. :)
Boring choice but toughness sounds like the way to go...
You could consider Elven Accuracy (reroll a miss chance due to concealment). Since it doesn't specify "except total concealment", it will still help you against invisible foes even after you get Improved Precise Shot.
If you want to play off your ever-increasing speed, you can pick up Mobility followed by Shot on the Run. (I like the visual of the Zen Archer using High Jump to make a standing 40-foot forward leap and shooting at the top of the arc.)
Something to increase your Perception is never a bad thing (unless your GM is ignoring distance penalties for you).
Side note:
Until you can get Clustered Shots, weapon blanches are your friend.
Namely, the BAB of +6, because a zen archer only has a +5 at level 7. Same reason I would have to wait for level 7 for martial flexibility. Believe me, clustered shots is already planned for level 9. :)The only prerequisites for this are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and BAB of +6. Where do you see that it can't be taken until level 9?
Whoops... of course. I multiclassed my PC quite a bit so that didn't occur to me for some reason.
Thanks to everyone here for several great ideas that I hadn't thought about before! (Particularly the crane style and shot on the run ideas!) I may well go the toughness route, but crane style won't be far behind - especially since it didn't occur to me that crane style and total defense would net me a stunning +7 to AC in desperate times..
Another cool feat for down the road is hammer the gap...
BTW, if you're allowed to use 3rd party material, you should consider a 2 level dip in Serene Barbarian. You get all the goodness of Barbarian (full BAB, +10 speed, d12 HD), but instead of Rage, you go into a state of serenity. This grants you +2 to WIS and DEX and all your saves. This means that you are +2 to hit and your AC is +4. Otherwise it acts like Rage in the things you can and can't do (cast spells, etc.) and has the same limited rounds per day. At the second level, your Rage/Serenity Power could be Scent. Using pheromone arrows with Scent gives you +2/+2 on pheromone marked targets. If your DM gets hung up on alignment restrictions, the designer of this "alternate class feature" stated that he would support a change in the non-lawful restriction in this thread http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ot8l?Jedi-i-mean-serene-barbarian#1.
BTW, if you're allowed to use 3rd party material, you should consider a 2 level dip in Serene Barbarian. You get all the goodness of Barbarian (full BAB, +10 speed, d12 HD), but instead of Rage, you go into a state of serenity. This grants you +2 to WIS and DEX and all your saves. This means that you are +2 to hit and your AC is +4. Otherwise it acts like Rage in the things you can and can't do (cast spells, etc.) and has the same limited rounds per day. At the second level, your Rage/Serenity Power could be Scent. Using pheromone arrows with Scent gives you +2/+2 on pheromone marked targets. If your DM gets hung up on alignment restrictions, the designer of this "alternate class feature" stated that he would support a change in the non-lawful restriction in this thread http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ot8l?Jedi-i-mean-serene-barbarian#1.
I have a half-orc Zen Archer who had "anger management issues" and was finally kicked out of the monastery at level 6. Two levels of barbarian got her the Scent rage power, and she carries a +4 composite bow for when she rages--she calls it her "angry bow" (it's Adaptive now, but she still switches bows when she rages). And she picked up Scent just because she discovered Pheromone Arrows. :-)
The reason this works is because monks who become non-lawful don't lose any abilities: they just can't advance any further in the monk class. If you want to go that route, you can check out the Urban Barbarian archetype, which can rage for Dex instead of Strength.
Another cool feat for down the road is hammer the gap...
I'm not a big fan of hammer the gap. The way I read it, the hits have to be consecutive. So your attack sequence could go
Attack 1: Hit (+0)Attack 2: Hit (+1)
Attack 3: Miss (reset to +0)
Attack 4: Hit (+0)
Attack 5: Hit (+1)
It seems like a lot of bookkeeping for not a lot of benefit. (Of course, I could just have terrible dice luck.)
Hammer the gap is controversial, but fun for a zen archer with the flurry of arrows. Is it worth it? Probably later on when you are looking to add a fun feat. When you do string together a bunch of hits in a row it will be a blast.