Hello,
I have an Aasimar Slayer who is currently level six, but will be hitting seven after our next session. He's going to get his fourth Feat. I'm looking for advice on what Feat I should take next. Pathfinder has so many Feats and Feat trees that it's a little daunting.
He's a archery focused Slayer, but due to his Darkvision from being an Aasimar, he often finds himself in the front line.
The Feats I currently have are:
- Point-Blank Shot
- Rapid Shot
- Deadly Aim
The Slayer Talent: Ranger Combat Styles I took are:
- Precise Shot
- Manyshot
Any advice for my seventh level Feat, and maybe for any future feats too?
Thanks a lot. This is a wonderful, helpful community, and you're awesome for advice. :-D
You can't really go wrong with Weapon Focus. It's not flashy but it's nice, and tends to be a prerequisite for some solid feats.
What level is you Slayer? For a archer Slayer at level 6 I would have picked Point Blank master, as it stops anyone from getting attacks of opportunity from attacking with a bow at short range. Range Combat Style is the only way the Slayer can get that, so you missed out. manyshot would have been my 7th level feat.
You say youre forced to be frontline because you have Darkvision, and the rest of your team does not? hmm thats a problem if you get pingeonholed into a role you dont want because your team isnt prepared.
What level is you Slayer? For a archer Slayer at level 6 I would have picked Point Blank master, as it stops anyone from getting attacks of opportunity from attacking with a bow at short range. Range Combat Style is the only way the Slayer can get that, so you missed out. manyshot would have been my 7th level feat.
You say youre forced to be frontline because you have Darkvision, and the rest of your team does not? hmm thats a problem if you get pingeonholed into a role you dont want because your team isnt prepared.
I did state my level in my OP, I'm level six, about to be seven, so I'm asking about the seventh level feat (fourth feat). Also, I already have Manyshot, I listed that in the OP as well.
I'm the only character with Dark Vision, so he ends up in the front, however, we the party weren't aware of how much we would be underground, so there was no problem. I wasn't pingenholed into it. The character is a take charge kind of person, so it works for him. He tends to see things before they get into melee. And I DO have melee combat abilities as well, I'm just better at ranged.
Fortunately being a decent frontliner can be achieved through one feat: power attack. Since you have the almost the entire core archery feat set, grabbing power attack (and a weapon to two-hand) should make you a competent switch hitter if you like.
As was stated above, clustered shots is a nice feat for archers since DR is a huge damper on archery damage output.
You do have the option to retrain your feats.
If youre on the frontlines then that is probably already causing problems. Youre an Archer, you should be using Full attack every turn if possible.
Being "switch hitter" isnt great because you have different stats, feats and equipment than melee. Point Blank Master outside makes the idea obsolete as you can use ranged weapons in melee without penalty.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm not going to retrain my feats, as I like being an archer, and I only end up in a bind if I get surrounded.
I may go with Clustered Shot.
Iron f#+~ing Will.
I still suggest you retrain your level 6 range combat style to be Point Blank Master. That lets you get Manyshot at level 7. At level 8 for you Slayer talent you can get Combat trick once and picked Clustered Shots. Level 9 is up to you. Level 10 you get another combat style talent. I think Pinpoint Targeting is good(6 levels earlier than normal) as it works on high AC targets. Level 11 you can get Improved Precise Shot.
Then..I dont know what. There arent many Archery feats after that. I have trouble thinking of high level archers because most of what they get is level 1-11.
Iron f%@$ing Will.
This. All my slayers get it sooner or later, thus helping with the class's most blatant weakness.
Do you know what's worse than a dead archer? A charmed archer.
Agree. A friend plays an archer in PFS. His damage output frightens me.
Point-Blank Master is my suggestion... Now you can rain death on them without worrying about AoO. That sword-wielding drow will surely be surprised when you put three arrowa in his face without stepping away...
An amazing feat for archers who want/have to engage in melee. :)
Alternatively, if you are frequently in the front line, quick draw. lets you draw your 2 handed weapon. Otherwise Power Attack as suggested.
Thanks again for all of the advice. I went with Point-Blank Master.
I would not pick Empty Quiver Style over Point Blank master. Point Blank Master lets you fire all your attacks without triggering attacks of opportunity, including a full attack action.
Empty Quiver lets you make melee attacks with your bow. That is far worse when you consider Rapid Shot and Manyshot give you additional ranged attacks.
At level 6-10 that is 4 vs 2 attacks.
Quick Draw+Melee weapon and Empty Quiver Style are alternatives to Point Blank Master, but they are not as good. That was pointed out to me by others players when I asked for helped in making my own Slayer Archer.
Switch-hitting only makes sense if you're melee first and archer second, and/or if you can't take point-blank master for whatever reason...
Point-blank masters allows you to benefit from your likely high Dex and all archery-related feats. Add Snap Shots and you can even make AoO!
Ah yes, Snap Shot and Improved Snap Shot increases the threat range of your ranged attacks by 1square each. It 0 squares threat by default.
If you combine that with Combat Reflexes and a decent Dexterity you can be quite hard to approach.
Not to be Confused with Snap Shot the Slayer Talent.
You would have to retrain to get point blank master. As a slayer, you can only get that as your 6th level combat archery style pick. See feat requirements.
Yes snapshot and improved snapshot would give you the ability to flank with your bow to get your sneak attack in.