Hello everyone, I'm going to start a new campaign and the inquisitor is one of the classe I might try. I'd like some advice on my character :
I want a dex based character, so ranged inquisitor with longbow most of the time. I'm probably going to take the preacher archetype.
I want to character who can scout and help in the nature and i'd like to take the feather domain for an animal companion (never play a class with animal companion, it look nice for the RP). So I'd consider Erastil as god, but the Lawful Good alignement is pretty hard :( i'd like to be Chaotic Neutral ... Is there any other option ? I like Erastil because protecting the little village/community from monster and living in the nature fit with my roleplay. I think an elf is also a good choice of race for this kind of character.
I'd also like to be a skillmonkey and help the party. My performance in combat are secondary, I just don't want to be completely useless.
For the feat I think I'll take the basic ranged combat feat : point blank, rapidShoot, manyShoot. Probably Deadly Aim and/or precise shoot and boon companion.
There are some point where i'm really not sur :
-Is animal companion really usefull ? I also like the conversion inquisition so i can be a face (and I like it).
-Did I need weapon finesse and another weapon ? An agile elven curve blade would be awesome.
- I was considering the use of whip, mainly for trip ? But I think it require too many feat to be effective ...
- For the stat, i think i need some strength for the composite longbow, so what are the priority ? (we are going to roll the stat)
Dex>Wis>Strengt=Cons>Int>Cha ?
If you are rolling for stats, then throw all plans for a character out the window. The stats will determine the class, and character, you play. Otherwise you'll end up trying to fit in the stats you did get into your class and more often than not, be very disappointed. Granted, you'll probably always be disappointed because you are rolling for stats.
Personally, I wouldn't go with Preacher, I'd go with Sanctified Slayer. There are a few great teamwork feats for archery (Friendly Fire Maneuvers, Coordinated Shot), and Studied Target is way better than judgement, at least for me.
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Id rather have base inquisitor over preacher myself but I prefer both Sanctified Slayer and Sacred huntmaster over the base inquisitor, I hate 1 or 2 times per day abilities.
The huntmaster works better for Melee but still can be very strong at ranged. The Sanctified Slayer can still take the feather domain and will have a lot of offensive power.
Ok I missed some archetype, sanctified Slayer look really great, any tips on using my animal companion to get more RANGED sneak attack ?
I wanted to make a character with darkvision and a way to cast darkness, this is even more true if I go sanctified Slayer
You could make your character Half-Orc for darkvision and take the beast rider feat to bump your companion to lvl-1 and get one of those powerful mount ACs. Intimidate bonus ties in well with stern gaze for a truly brutal intimidate check, then tie in the half-orc favored class bonus of 1/2 intimidate and 1/2 to all knowledge checks to identify and it just gets scarier.
At level 6 you could have a +17 (+3 class bonus +6 ranks + 2 racial + 3 fcb + 3 stern gaze) with 10 Charisma
Boon companion feat can help get your animal companion up to your level.
Gozreh is another nature deity that you could worship. He/she is more about the uncaring neutrality of nature, emphasizing both growth and destruction. Different worshippers give their own interpretations though.
Sanctified Slayer is very good, but with the one issue that you must use a swift action per each enemy to benefit from studied target. This can potentially be more than a little annoying when Bane also requires swift-action targeting/retargeting, or in a situation where you're attacking hordes of goons with full attacks and/or AoO's. Using archery makes it particularly likely that you'll have full attacks 'spilling over' from one target onto the next and having no bonus until you can re-arm your studied target on the next round.
Dex-based Inquisitor works quite well for either archery or a dex-to-damage style like Fencing Grace rapier or Dervish Dance scimitar or whatever - the fact that dex-to-damage tends to do a fair deal less damage isn't as much of an issue when you're stacking massive bonuses anyways. Elven Curved Blade two-handed power attack can be good too, though it's kind of annoying that an Elf Inquisitor still needs to spend a feat to get it. Note that an Inquisitor archer can't easily get Point-Blank Master, so if an enemy closes to melee you've got a problem. You could ask your GM about letting you take Ranger Archery Style as a Sanctified Slayer bonus feat and taking Extra Slayer Talent to get Point Blank Master at 9.
Animal Companions can be quite powerful with "Improved Spell Sharing" (NOT "Improved Share Spells", that's a different and much worse feat!). At higher levels, teamwork feats with an animal companion can be devastating if that's your specialty, but it's complicated and combat-heavy. If you're not planning to do much with an animal other than have it around, it's somewhat weak and likely to die later on.
Also, I have to ask... your RP angle is that you want to protect the community and help your party as a chaotic neutral!?.
One tiny question to add in. With Studied Target, would that improve the DCs of the Inquisitor's spells against his studied foe?
For an archer I would try to avoid studied target as until level 7 it will be largely useless to you as you don't have time to activate is ayou will be taking full attacks every turn once you have rapid shot.
Spells are listed under class abilities and the save DCs are defined there so yes, studied target applies.
Not that an archer should often be casting spells directly on enemies rather than to buff him/herself. Yes, the litany spells exist ... but now that they require saves I wouldn't waste a spell known on them.
Thank for all this feedback.
So I think i'm going to stay with Erastil but take a lawful neutral alignement (never play a lawfull char :s ).
For the archetype i'm still undecided : Sanctified slayer look nice but have some drawback (move action until lvl 7 for studied target, and ranged sneak attack are hard to place) and huntmaster is more for for melee. Preacher still look nice beacause there isn't a loot of teamwork feat for ranged combat.
I also found the monster tacticien archetype which seems great, with this I can summon companion for every fight (but not for out of combat uses, and they are less powerful ... ) and take the conversion inquisition. (I'm pretty sur I can talk my GM to take summon nature's ally instead of summon monster, so it fit well with my character).
Any advice about using a whip to trip target ?
Monster Tactician is pretty awesome...but it would be really tough on feats...you want the archery feats but also you would want to go the summoning route ..augment summons and superior summon...getting a pack of monsters with teamwork feats taking on opponents is pretty sweet.
For Erastil there is a trait called Deadeye bowman...which is pretty darn awesome. I've played the archer or erastil a couple times and is really nasty. I tend to see him as a misfit in the church of Erastil but still doing his duty (CG/NG etc) Boon companion is also solid for a feat. But remember you need handle animal for a companion. Studied target isnt a huge deal... if you manage a sneak attack in a suprise round or such it automatically applies or if you need to cast that divine favor you might as well pick your target as you do so
Whip-trip is more than a little feat-intensive, and comes together slowly for a 3/4 BAB class. It certainly has it's upsides, but you're investing a lot into a tactic that may not work very well or at all at times.
If you want a good defensive and melee option, taking the Quickdraw feat lets you use a Quickdraw Light Shield for protection even if you're using a bow; since you can equip or remove a Quickdraw Light Shield with a free action, you can remove it to shoot and then equip it again right after (it's basically like a buckler that lets you get your AC back the moment you stop attacking). Quickdraw also of course means that you can draw a weapon as a free action. So when you put it all together, you can use your Quickdraw shield all the time, and if you get attacked in melee you can pass your bow over to your shield hand (you can hold an item in a light-shield hand) and draw a weapon as one smooth action - you're ready to fight with weapon and shield instantly and don't even have to drop your bow.
