Advice on archer Inquisitor + pet + pet's pet

[Gray Warden]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on a 13th level Halforc Sacred Huntsmaster Inquisitor + Infiltrator/Evangelist of Erastil with Roc animal companion for RotR. Click on the Spoiler if you want to know more (no AP spoilers involved).

Spoiler:

I am currently playing RotR, the party is at level 10. I have joined the game with a hornbow-wielding Halforc archer Warpriest of Erastil, and it was an absolute beast. However, around level 8, I grew a bit tired of the 4d20 + 10d6 + tons of conditional bonuses rolling every round, so I decided to take a break and play a more support based character for a few levels. The Halforc is, however, still alive and leaving the party made, coincidentally, perfect sense in game too.

Now we are halfway through the AP (level 10, almost 11), and I plan to come back with the archer Halforc at the beginning of next chapter (so, level 13, almost 14). However, I plan to give him a bit of a make over, with a bit less buffing potential and raw damage, and a bit more versatility.

My idea is to go Sacred Huntsmaster Inquisitor + Infiltrator for a touch of social skills, with levels in Evangelist PrC. The animal companion will be a Roc (not just a Roc however, as it will be the same Roc the teammate Sylvan Sorcerer had until level ~5 before dyeing, who disappeared after his master's death). I am also interested in playing a bit with Teamwork feats, as there was a lot of talking lately on the boards, and I have never had a chance to actually use them in game.

The idea of this character is to ride the Roc whenever possible and shoot while flying. For completeness sake, the rest of the party will be composed of: reach-tank Fighter (who plans to retrain to Paladin), reach-DPR Fighter/Hellknight, reach-support Skald, Brown Fur Arcanist. Also, it's worth noting we are playing a much more difficult version of the AP, with enemies eventually accessing Mythic material, so there is no such thing as OP.

The build backbone is, for now:

Stats: 14 15+2 12 10 16 7, level increases to Dex (+1, 4th level) and Wis (+2, 8th-12th level)

Traits: Deadeye Bowman, Finish the Fight, Fate's Favored, Drawback (we can get more traits for more Drawbacks)

Inquisitor/Domain: Monkey Domain, Valet Monkey familiar
Animal Companion: Roc, Bodyguard archetype

Class / Feats / Teamwork feats / other effects:
1 Inquisitor, PBS
2 Inquisitor
3 Inquisitor, Precise Shot, Paired Opportunist
4 Inquisitor
5 Inquisitor, Deific Obedience
6 Evangelist
7 Evangelist, Rapid Shot, Broken Wing Gambit
8 Evangelist, Family's Bond: cure light wounds 3/day, shield other 2/day, or prayer 1/day
9 Evangelist, Manyshot
10 Evangelist, Wounded Paw Gambit
11 Evangelist, Weapon Focus(Longbow), Twin Fang: summon duplicate of animal companion 1/day
12 Evangelist
13 Evangelist, Snap Shot, Target of Opportunity
---
14 Evangelist, Faithful Archer: add Wis to hit and damage in PBS range
15 Evangelist, Improved Snap Shot, Spiritual Form: Fly speed, +4 Dex or Wis
16 Inquisitor, Any?
17 Inquisitor, Divine Interference

Roc feats:
1 Combat Reflexes
2 Power Attack
5 Flyby Attack
9 Bodyguard
11 In Harm's Way
14 Intercept Blow
17 Any?

The monkey will also be riding the Roc, while wielding a Tiny longspear.
Here's its story, although it contains spoilers from the campaign.

Spoiler:

After the flooding of Turtleback, only two of the Black Arrows survived. The region was then left without its wardens and the entire Turtleback community was now at risk. Because of his faith in Erastil, the Halforc decided to leave the group and join the Black Arrows, and do his best to protect the community and the woods around it. One day, while patrolling the woods, he was attacked with tiny sticks and pebbles, coming from the trees. Assuming it was Fey's act, he proceeded to investigate. After a few steps, he found himself in a small, secluded clearing, where a wounded Roc was lying. The Halforc recognised at first glance his old friend's companion, and approached him. However the severed link with his previous master and the passing of time made the Roc feral, and did not recognise his old ally. But before the Halforc had even the chance to step forward, something dropped from the trees. A miniature goblin-shaped creature was now in front of him, dressed with rags, wearing a definitely oversized mask made of a turtle shell and feathers, wielding a tiny makeshift spear and blocking the way towards the Roc. It turns out, it was not a Fey at all, but a...monkey, for some reason dressed up as a sort of shaman. Amused by this view, but also curious, the Halforc left some food in front of him, and left. The following days he went back to the clearing, observing the unlikely pair while hiding: the monkey seemed to have befriended the Roc, bringing him food and water, attending (or rather trying to attend) his wounds, but also some more peculiar gifts, such as shells, shiny items and flowers. More than a friend, the monkey seemed to revere the Roc, almost treating it as a...god. Rocs were indeed not common in the region, and for some reason the monkey was completely fascinated by it. The Halforc then understood that, in order to approach the Roc, he had to befriend his little subject first...

Apart from the usual full-attacking from afar routine, the idea of this build is to pull off a couple of additional off-turn attacks using Teamwork feats. The trick routine would be (no spoilers on the AP):

Spoiler:

1) Full-attack at range from the Roc's back as usual
2) The Roc then moves towards the target and attacks, activating Broken Wing Gambit
3) The Roc then procedes to move away following a U-shape trajectory via Flyby Attack
4) Moving out from the target threatened area triggers AoO against the whole moving unit.
5a) If the target of the AoO is the Roc, proceed to point 6)
5b) If the target of the AoO is the Halforc, the Roc will try to Intercept (the) Blow as immediate action and proceed to point 6)
5c) If the target of the AoO is the Halforc and the Roc fails to Intercept Blow, he will use a AoO to suck up the damage using In Harm's Way.
6) In these circumstances, the Roc has been damaged (hence attacked), which triggers the effect of Broken Wing Gambit. This triggers:
7a) A ranged attack as immediate action from the Halforc due to Wounded Paw Gambit
7b) A AoO from the Monkey (who counts as having Broken Wing Gambit) ["How dare you hit my master?"]
8) Regardless if the Monkey hits or not, this causes AoO from the Roc and the Halforc as well due to Paired Opportunist and Snap Shot.
9) The Roc will then proceed to move back up
10) Repeat

The main limitation of this trick is that it doesn't work on targets with 10ft reach until I also get Improved Snap Shot and I equip the Monkey with a Lashing Shadowcraft longspear or the Arcanist casts Longarm on it, as the AoO from the target would trigger before being adjacent to it. In these cases, the Monkey will fling s*it from above, triggering Target of Opportunity (if hitting). Target of Opportunity will be periodically swapped out for other feats such as Improved Spell Sharing or more situational ones.

So, feel free to comment on this build on any aspect: better feats, better strategies, better options in general, potential items, limitations, ways to make the character more interesting and so on. For example:

- any cool way to use Acrobatics or Sleight of Hand given the bonuses given by the Monkey Domain? Additional traits can be obtained in exchange of more drawbacks. For example, can the Halforc alone roll Acrobatics to avoid AoO while riding, but not the Roc? This would allow me to avoid the whole Intercept Blow/In Harm's Way thing.
- Suggestions on the missing feats?

If anything, I just wanted to share with you this character :)

[Claxon]

There some blogposts about it, but the first thing I really have to say is your monkey familiar is squishy and wont use manufactured weapons.

Basically no animals will use manufactured weapons.

[Claxon]

Here is the first blog post.

Here is a seconded relevant blog post.

[JiaYou]

Could you post the archer build somewhere? I'm really interested in building a warpriest similar to yours.

[Gray Warden]

Claxon wrote:

There some blogposts about it, but the first thing I really have to say is your monkey familiar is squishy and wont use manufactured weapons.

Basically no animals will use manufactured weapons.

Thanks Claxon for the input, but I don't see any mention to Familiars in the blogposts, only Animal Companions and creatures with animal-like intelligence. Unlike Animal Companions, Familiars do not have animal intelligence: you can actually argue and discuss with them, and for this reason you don't need tricks to direct them, but just to talk. Furthermore, upon becoming familiars, animals count as Magical Beasts.

Additionally, by looking at the Eldritch Guardian class, we can read:

Shared Training wrote:

At 2nd level, when the familiar can see and hear its master, it can use any combat feat possessed by the eldritch guardian. The familiar doesn’t have to meet the feat’s prerequisites, but at the GM’s discretion may be precluded from using certain combat feats due to its physical form. For example, an eldritch guardian’s pig familiar with access to Exotic Weapon Proficiency (spiked chain) would not gain the ability to use spiked chains, since it doesn’t have any limbs capable of properly handling them.

which implies that any limitation on the use of manufactured weapons is not to be imputed to the Familiar intelligence, but rather their physical ability to manipulate the item. Since monkeys have limbs capable of properly handling a stick, they can wield a properly sized stick-like weapon. Of course, they are not able to use it properly, which is reflected in the non-proficiency malus.

Finally, the same concept can be achieved with a Hawk + Eagle Domain and properly timed readied actions (which was the initial idea since the beginning). However, in order to make the routine easier to follow (and the concept funnier, in my opinion), I opted for this solution.

Therefore, for the purposes of this thread, please treat the weapon-wielding monkey as legal.

[Gray Warden]

JiaYou wrote:

Could you post the archer build somewhere? I'm really interested in building a warpriest similar to yours.

Halforc Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Warpriest of Erastil

Feat / Bonus Feat / Bonus Feat from Human FCB
1 PBS, Weapon Focus
2
3 Precise Shot, Rapid Shot retrained at 5th level to Weapon Specialization
4
5 Rapid Shot
6 Manyshot, Advanced Weapon Training > Warrior Spirit
7 Point Blank Master
8
9 Deadly Aim, Burrowing Shot

Bonuses to attacks:
- Luck from Divine Favor
- Morale from Bloodscent and Thistle arrows
- Alchemical from Animal Mask and Pheromone arrows

Warrior Spirit uses:
- Bane
- Seeking vs concealment
- Cyclonic vs wind walls and similar spells

Important equip:
- +1 Adaptive Orc Hornbow
- Durable arrows: 20x cold iron, 20x silver, 20x adamantine
- Ghost salt weapon blanche
- Dueling Gloves
- Animal Mask
- saving money for Bracers of Archery

[LordKailas]

If you can afford to fit it into your build. I would recommend taking two levels in fighter(eldritch guardian). This will give your monkey all of your combat feats. It means if you grab exotic weapon proficiency in a ranged weapon your monkey will also have that proficiency (otherwise it will take non-proficiency penalties). At this point, unless there are teamwork feats that you're getting that are not also combat feats then you can swap out valet for mauler. This allows it to use a normal sized weapon and flank properly (if needed) since it can become a medium sized creature.

Claxon wrote:

There some blogposts about it, but the first thing I really have to say is your monkey familiar is squishy and wont use manufactured weapons.

Basically no animals will use manufactured weapons.

What you say is absolutely true when it comes to animal companions. The monkey however, is a familiar which means it's a magical beast with an intelligence of 6 (at minimum) not an animal. Familiar's don't learn "tricks" because they don't need them to function. If they did then familiars would be quite useless. For example, without the trick "attack" it wouldn't even be able to use it's natural weapons to attack something. What's more we are talking about a monkey, meaning it has the appropriate appendages to use weapons.

[Gray Warden]

Hi LordKailas, thanks for the input! Indeed the tandem archery build is already one of those I have theory-crafted in the past (I call it Double Trouble), with the exception that I was planning to equip the monkey with some lesser Bracers of Archery to avoid the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat :D

However this seems to be quite outside the scope of this build. Dipping two levels into another class delays too many class features (already delayed due to the first Evangelist level), and I don't want to risk to shadow the role of the other DPR players just with a familiar :)

[LordKailas]

Gray Warden wrote:

Hi LordKailas, thanks for the input! Indeed the tandem archery build is already one of those I have theory-crafted in the past (I call it Double Trouble), with the exception that I was planning to equip the monkey with some lesser Bracers of Archery to avoid the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat :D

However this seems to be quite outside the scope of this build. Dipping two levels into another class delays too many class features (already delayed due to the first Evangelist level), and I don't want to risk to shadow the role of the other DPR players just with a familiar :)

yeah, that makes sense.

looking over the build the only thing that jumps out at me is that you don't have the roc taking improved natural attack. I realize you're having it go the bodyguard route, but its an easy enough choice if you've got an extra feat to spend.

If the bodyguard route isn't working out you could give the roc a Perfectionist Shavtoosh, pick up FCT and grab something like the boar style chain.

But really I'm just kind of spitballing, I think I'll have to steal your build as it is :p

[Scrapper]

If you have a free feat, could burn it on an Evolution for the Familiar.

[Gray Warden]

scrapper wrote:

If you have a free feat, could burn it on an Evolution for the Familiar.

Unfortunately Evolved Familiar requires both Int 13 and Cha 13, which I don't have

- - -

After crunching a few numbers, I realized that resolving AoOs with the bow might not be convenient at all. With the Tusked trait I would get a primary bite: by spending around 11k I could get a Fortuitous Amulet of Mighty Fists and a permanent Greater Magic Fang. Assuming a base buff setup including the Skald inspiring his raging song, Divine Favor and Bull Animal Focus, I would end up dealing more damage than an arrow for ACs below ~40 (even including Greater Bane on the bow) thanks to the double attack and 1.5x Str to damage. This allows me to forgo the, quite heavy, Snap Shot chain, which frees 3 feat slots between levels 11-15.

At this point I was wondering, how about using the two free feats to pick both Deadly Aim and Power Attack? Since I was already willing to spend 3 feats for, essentially, one AoO per round (tops), I guess spending only one (rather than 3) that could be used for both AoO and other circumstances might be quite a good idea. Sure, without Improved Snap Shot I won't be able to pull off this trick against enemies with reach, but at this point I guess it's worth the loss.

Thanks to the Skald, Amplified Rage becomes also a very useful feat.

The build would then be:

11 Evangelist, Deadly Aim, Twin Fang: summon duplicate of animal companion 1/day
12 Evangelist
13 Evangelist, Power Attack, Amplified Rage - Target of Opportunity
---
14 Evangelist, Faithful Archer: add Wis to hit and damage in PBS range
15 Evangelist, Divine Interference, Spiritual Form: Fly speed, +4 Dex or Wis
16 Inquisitor, Amplified Rage - Target of Opportunity
17 Inquisitor, Any?

Here is a Google Sheet with all the calculations with the conditional buff if you are interested:
AoO vs AC spreadsheet

Thoughts?