Hey guys,
So I am relatively new to playing pathfinder, I've made a few characters and know the basic mechanics but I am trying to build a VALUABLE character. In our campaign I was a aasimer paladin but for in game reasons I have to change my class and ability scores. Basically everything but my race. Anyway I have decided on Zen Archer, Monk. But I have some questions I can't find answers to.
1) The primary question I have is this, Can feats such as Point-blank shot and far shot be applied to flurry of blows? I don't think they can but the site I was using didn't specify full attack actions. I also don't know if flurry of blows COUNTS as a full attack action.
2) Secondly I have heard a lot of negative feedback on the snatch arrow feat. To me it sounds like a valuable addition. Or is there something I don't know about it. The way I read it is that for the first ranged attack per round made against you, you just snatch it out of the air. Deflect arrow would then let you knock the second ranged attack away.
3) Thirdly, I would just like some advice. Helpful feats, traits, items, etc. I want to stick within the realm of "monks", "angels", and "light".... basically I don;'t want to make my ex-holy paladin a Satan worshiping pyrokinetic just because then I could deal an extra 10 dmg lol
THANKS GUYS!
1) The Flurry of Blows full round action just allows you to make additional attacks. Any ability, feat, etc. that affects the attack in question can be applied to the attack whether or not you're using flurry of blows. So point blank shot, etc. are good to go. The exception is that you're specifically prohibited from using rapid shot and manyshot with flurry of bows, so don't take those.
2) The problem with snatch arrows is a cool ability, but the reason people are generally against it is that it's fairly situational and you can do better things with the feat slot etc.
3) Your basic archery chassis is going to be Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Deadly Aim. Take those ASAP. Use your level 6 bonus feat for Improved Precise Shot. Since Zen Archer Monks make so many attacks, they can make better use of the "Hammer the Gap" feat than most characters. For Aasimar specific stuff, if you want wings (and everybody wants a fly speed) you can take the Angel Wings feat after level 10 (it has a prereq that's not very useful, but you have some feats to spare.)
Also don't forget to trade out the class features that you don't have much use for to get useful Quinggong powers (e.g. Slow Fall for Barkskin at level 4).
Welcome to Pathfinder!
1. Point-blank shot and most other archery feats do work with Flurry of Bows - the exceptions should be called out in the ability description. Specifically, Rapid Shot and Multishot do not. Feats that require a standard action (such as Pinpoint Targeting) also do not stack. Everything else will probably be fine.
2. Snatch Arrows works off of Deflect Arrows, so you would only be able to catch one arrow per round.
When using the Deflect Arrows feat you may choose to catch the weapon instead of just deflecting it.
Snatch Arrows isn't taken very often because it doesn't really do enough to justify taking. Deflect Arrows can be nice (it's a bit situational, but it's not terrible), but all Snatch Arrows lets you do is not drop the arrow after you stop it from hitting you. Arrows are cheap enough that it's pretty much a waste of a feat.
3. Feat-wise, Zen Archers are pretty easy to build. You'll want to take Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Deadly Aim early on, but you can get all but the latter through your bonus feats. Don't bother taking Rapid Shot and Multishot, because they do not stack with your flurry of blows (as mentioned above). Eventually, you'll want to take Hammer the Gap.
With your items, you'll want to get a Composite Longbow (or a shortbow, if you prefer) as soon as you can. You'll probably want to get the Adaptive enhancement on the bow as soon as possible, so you don't have to keep replacing your bow each time your STR changes.
Bracers of Armor will be nice to have, and you'll want to start increasing your WIS and STR with a Belt of Giant Strength and a Headband of Inspired Wisdom. A Cloak of Resistance will also be nice to have, but I wouldn't consider it a priority because your saves will be naturally good.
You can pretty much take whatever traits you want, although I favor the Reactive trait for that sweet initiative bonus. Your strategy in combat will be pretty simple - just stand there and shoot everything that moves. The sooner you start shooting, the sooner stuff starts dying >.>
Everything PossibleCabbage said is true as well. The Quinggong archetype is amazing, and swapping Slow Fall for Barkskin is almost mandatory :)
Thanks guys! Our DM has actually given all of us who have been part of the group and shown up pretty much every meeting bonuses so I will have access to the aasimer wings earlier on at lvl 5 and only have to drop 1 feat for them and since they made me change classes and rework all of this they are giving me a natural spell like ability that mimics the bow of cinders. Basically through my enlightened mind I have unlocked my inner light and whenever I pull back a bowstring I auto knock an arrow made of light so i can see "snatch arrow" not being that useful.
I am level 5 and my stats are STR: 10 DEX:14 CON:11 Int: 11 WIS:19 cha:8
We have a oread hunter weilding a warhammer with a sabercat to ride, a halfling Oracle of community named Jeremiah Bullfrog, and a human wizard who sometimes shows up with a raven named crow.
Hunter & Sabercat: Strength and murder
Oracle: Face & Buff
Wizard: ..... Mostly nothing. Some ok knowledge arcana
and me: lots of ranged dmg.
at level8 I will finish getting my wisdom to 20, lvl12 con to 12 to boost hp, lvl16 dex to 16 to boost ac and improve skills, and lvl 20 i guess I'll throw a random point somewhere.
I could be wrong but I don't really see a need for a high strength since my main point is archery. or am I overlooking something
sorry just realized I do need lvl 20 ability point to make dex16 but yeah.
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I would try and find a way to increase your strength, being an Archer you'll only be doing 1d8(if you go with a longbow) and your weapon spec/pbs.. and whatever weapon enhancement you have... I'm working on a Zen Archer/Inquisitor build, and before racials, my stats are 14/14/14/9/16/7 on a 20pt buy Working out my +hit and damage, I had at lvl 11 something like +19(or 23) for my first 3 attacks(having haste always with boots of speed) and last attack at +12. My damage was something like 1d8+2d6+17.
That was with a build of only 4 Zen Archer levels and wasting my feats from 5-7 essentially. Is there a way to get dex to damage for bows? Str has the composite bow, what about enchantments?
Zen archers don't use str or dex for bow dmg. you use wisdom. look at the zen archery class ability you get at level 3. I only want a high dex to compund on the ac bonus zen archers get. my bow damage is 1d8+wis.mod. of soon to be 5.
I want a high dex to compund on the ac bonus. so my ac would be 10+3 (dex mod) + 5 (wis mod)+ 1 per 4lvls + any dodge bonus I give as feat slots I don't need.
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Zen archers don't use str or dex for bow dmg. you use wisdom. look at the zen archery class ability you get at level 3.
That's not correct.
At 3rd level, a zen archer may use his Wisdom modifier instead of his Dexterity modifier on ranged attack rolls when using a bow.
By "Ranged Attack Rolls" they mean "rolls to hit", that is "attack bonus plus d20 versus armor class". You still add your strength modifier to damage with a composite bow (and not with any other kind of bow). So you will want a good strength score as an archer. Think of it as "your strength increases your ideal draw weight which increases the force of the arrow."
The only way to get wisdom to damage with a bow is to use the Guided weapon property, which is technically a 3.5e effect, but in a Paizo published product so it's a bit of a gray area.
PossibleCabbage is correct. It's an easy mistake to make, I did the same thing the first time I made a Zen Archer (turns out, Zen Archers getting WIS to damage is completely broken). You probably only want a 14 at most in DEX, and you'll want STR to be your second-highest ability score.
Are those stats rolled? I'd consider con 11 as a no go honestly. I hope you're not rolling for hit points...