Min/Max Boards

Monastic Magus (Archetype)

Magi usually embrace weapons and armor, producing veritable twisters of steel and magic. A monastic magus, however, believes those implements only get in the way of perfection. Leading secluded lives not unlike a monk's, cultivating their minds and their bodies, these magi show that eldritch might meshes perfectly with unarmed - and unarmored - martial prowess.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A monastic magus is proficient with the bolas, club, dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, quarterstaff, nunchaku, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, and spear, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a monastic magus' movements, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail.

When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monastic magus loses his AC bonus ability. This replaces the normal magus weapon and armor proficiency feature.

AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monastic magus adds his Intelligence bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, a monastic magus gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monastic magus levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monastic magus is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load. This ability replaces the ability to cast magus spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance.

Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monastic magus gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monastic magus' attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monastic magus may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monastic magus striking unarmed. A monastic magus may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.

Usually a monastic magus' unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.

A monastic magus' unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.

A monastic magus also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would. A monastic magus unarmed strike damage is the same as a monk's of his level and size. Furthermore, a character's monastic magus and monk levels stack when determining his unarmed strike damage.

Fast Movement (Ex): At 7th level, a monastic magus gains an insight bonus of 10 ft. to his land speed. A monastic magus in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed. This ability replaces the Medium Armor class feature.

Movement Blending (Ex): Starting at 13th level, a monastic magus' Spell Combat ability counts as a full attack action instead of its own kind of full-round action. Furthermore, the bonus to his land speed provided by Fast Movement increases to 20 ft. This ability replaces the Heavy Armor class feature.

I've been thinking about making a really small handbook on Ari Marmell's fixes for the Shadowcaster. Basically, it would present his proposed fixes for the class (mainly on the second post in that thread, but there is information scattered elsewhere in it) in a format not unlike official errata. Is there any interest for that?

Suppose I'm playing a Lawful Good Soulborn that has taken the Shape Soulmeld (Incarnate Avatar) feat. In order to better fight and/or fool its fiendish enemies, it has decided to undergo a Ritual of Alignment to acquire the [Evil] subtype.

Now, when that character shapes its Incarnate Avatar, will it have access to the abilities given by the Law, Good and Evil alignments?

I mean, how cool would it be to have a bonus to AC, attack and damage from that single soulmeld? And the overlain image? It could even be a not-so-fallen Erinyes!

This guide is my humble attempt to contribute to the Character Optimization boards. It is heavily inspired by Todd's awesome Incarnate guide, which can be found here. In this post I will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the class and compare it to some of its non-Incarnum based counterparts. As the Soulborn is more of a combat class than a utility class, this guide will focus mainly on optimizing the combat potential of the Soulborn. It is my hope that others will find the class as fun and powerful as I have.



Strengths: d10 HD, Good BAB, Good Fortitude save, Proficiency with Martial Weapons and Heavy Armor.
Weaknesses: Poor Reflex and Will saves, low Skill Points (2 + Int bonus per level), small Class Skill selection.
Role: Unlike the Incarnate, which has the flexibility to assume multiple roles in a group (from a skill monkey to damage dealer), the Soulborn is designed to be a Tank, similar in form and function to the Fighter or Paladin. The biggest question is, what makes the Soulborn worth playing any more than any of the other tank-type base classes. The answer is, of course, Incarnum.



The Soulborn is the Incarnum equivalent of a hybrid melee/caster like the Paladin or the Ranger. It has a Meldshaper level equal to one-half it's class level and at level 20 has just above half the Soulmelds and Chakra Binds as the Incarnate. The Soulborn has access to six soulmelds that are not on the Incarnate list. These include the Fearsome Mask, Gloves of the Poisoned Soul, Hunter's Circlet, Gauntlets, Soulspeaker Circlet, and Thunderstep Boots. There are a few very powerful soulmelds that are on the Incarnate list but not the Soulborn list, but these are easily obtained via the Shape Soulmeld feat. Its greatest weakness when compared to the other Magic of Incarnum base classes, however, is its relatively small essentia pool.

Though at first glance the Soulborn seems to be a hybrid of the Fighter and Paladin classes (including extra feats, smiting, heavy armor and a d10 HD), it is much more. It does not use a watered down spell list like those of the paladin or ranger but has access to the most powerful melds right from the beginning. It only lacks the essentia to fuel them properly until the higher levels. Depending on what soulmelds a Soulborn chooses to shape, a Soulborn can be more defensive than a heavily armored fighter or paladin, or able to deal greater damage than even a raging barbarian or archery focused ranger. Their alignment components will greatly influence their combat focus.



The Soulborn has one huge advantage over the Incarnate, and that is its alignment. Where the Incarnate must decide whether it will forever be unable to use three of the four alignment descripted Soulmelds, the Soulborn will be able to choose two. This allows for some rather potent bonus stacking as many of the bonuses granted by soulmelds are of different types. The Soulborn's alignment can potentially have a large influence on the Soulborn's focus in combat. It is also worthy of note that Soulborn's Smite ability can be used on two different types of opponents due to their alignment.



As Todd did an amazing job analyzing the versatile nature of Soulmelds in his guide (and Incarnates and Soulborns share the majority of their melds) so I will leave that topic alone and go straight to the primary focus of the Soulborn, combat. Please note that as the Soulborn has two components to its alignment, it has access to two forms of Incarnate Avatar. As there is no rule that I am aware of to govern this, it is up to the DM as to determine whether you must take the Shape Soulmeld feat separately for each, or you may choose which to shape when you shape the soulmeld, similar to a meld which may be shaped onto different Chakras.

This is a list of combat bonus focused Soulmelds, their chakra, alignment descriptor, and their bonus type. Obviously some combinations are not possible due to alignment restrictions and location (especially hands and arm chakras), and bonus type. Even then, the Soulborn's limited essentia pool only allows for a few to be invested to the maximum. The Double Chakra feat is required to have two soulmelds on the same chakra. As this requires a meldshaper level of 9th, a Soulborn will not be able to take this feat until 18th level. The idea for this list was heavily inspired by Todd so more kudos to his Incarnate guide.

• Apparition Ribbon (Throat): Insight bonus to damage (vs. Incorporeal only) *
• Armguards of Disruption (Arms, Good): Insight bonus to AC (vs. Undead only)
• Bloodwar Gauntlets (Arms or Hands, Evil): Morale bonus to hit and damage (melee) *
• Bluesteel Bracers (Arms): Insight bonus to damage
• Crystal Helm (Crown): Deflection bonus to AC
• Incarnate Avatar (Soul, Chaos): Insight bonus to attack (ranged) *
• Incarnate Avatar (Soul, Evil): Insight bonus to damage (melee) *
• Incarnate Avatar (Soul, Good): Insight bonus to AC *
• Incarnate Avatar (Soul, Law): Insight bonus to hit (melee) *
• Incarnate Weapon (Arms): Enhancement bonus to hit and damage (melee) *
• Lammasu Mantle (Arms or Shoulders, Good): Deflection bonus to AC (vs. Evil only) *
• Lucky Dice (Hands): Luck bonus to attack and damage
• Mauling Gauntlets (Arms or Hands): Double critical threat range (melee)
• Necrocarnum Shroud (Soul or Waist, Evil): Profane bonus to hit and damage
• Necrocarnum Weapon (Hands, Evil): Profane bonus to damage (melee)
• Riding Bracers (Arms): Insight bonus to damage and AC (when mounted only)
• Sighting Gloves (Hands): Insight bonus to damage (ranged)

* Requires the Shape Soulmeld feat. A Soulborn may be able to take Incarnate Avatar twice but no Soulmeld may be shaped more than once per day.

It should be obvious based on the above, that certain alignment descriptors can stack more bonuses to certain statistics. For example, Law with melee attack rolls, Evil with damage rolls, Good with AC, and Chaos with ranged attack rolls. It should also be apparent that the alignment combinations can heavily influence whether the Soulborn will be more offensive or defensive in nature while performing their role as group tank. Please note that the above examines purely numerical combat bonuses and not additional damage sources such as that provided Lightning Gauntlets and Thunderstep boots.

Soulborns gained access to three new soulmelds in the Incarnum Mind's Eye article, which can be found here. One of them is especially worthy of note, Astral Vambraces. When bound to the arms chakra (unfortunately a popular location for combat soulmelds) it gives the Soulborn a choice of a special ability from Astral Construct Menu A (XPH pg. 186). The Soulborn can choose from many potent abilities such as Flight or even use of a feat such as Power Attack or Cleave. This is important because it gives the Soulborn a bit more flexibility when making feat choices.



If a Soulborn were to concentrate entirely on defense, they can acquire immunity to many (a staggering amount in fact) types of damage and effects commonly encountered while adventuring. Starting with their inherent Incarnum Defense ability, below is a list of defensive soulmelds that grant various immunities.

• Incarnum Defense (LG): Immunity to Fear
• Incarnum Defense (CG): Immunity to Paralysis, Immunity to Enchantment/Charm effects (Elf only)
• Incarnum Defense (LE): Immunity to Exhaustion
• Incarnum Defense (CE): Immunity to Strength Damage and Drain
• Enigma Helm (Crown), Chakra Bind (Crown): Immunity to Enchantment/Charm effects
• Impulse Boots (Feet): Uncanny Dodge (Immunity to being Flat-Footed)
• Incarnate Avatar (Law, Soul), Chakra Bind (Soul): Immunity to Daze, Paralysis, Petrification, Stun, and Slow *
• Necrocarnum Mantle (Throat): Immunity to Disease; Chakra Bind (Throat): Immunity to Poison
• Necrocarnum Vestments (Heart or Waist), Chakra Bind (Heart): Immunity to Stunning and Death effects *
• Pauldrons of Health (Shoulders): Immunity to Disease and being Sickened or Nauseated; Chakra Bind (Shoulders): Immunity to Energy Drain
• Planar Ward (Throat): Immunity to Possession, Enchantment/Charm effects and Enchantment/Compulsion effects *
• Spellward Shirt (Heart), Chakra Bind (Heart): Spell Immunity to Four Spells *
• Strongheart Vest (Heart), Chakra Bind (Heart): Immunity to Energy Drain and Death effects *
• Vitality Belt (Waist), Chakra Bind (Waist): Immunity to Constitution damage and Drain *
• Shedu Crown (Crown or Heart): Immunity to Bull Rush *
• Threefold Mask of the Chimera (Crown or Soul): Immunity to being flanked *

* Requires the Shape Soulmeld feat and/or the Epic feat, Open Soul Chakra or Open Heart Chakra, or the Soulborn is an Ironsoul Forgemaster able to bind a soulmeld to his or her Heart Chakra.

Though they won't be as potent as their Incarnate counterparts, a Soulborn is capable of creating two “allies” via the Necrocarnum Circlet (Crown Chakra Bind) and Soulspark Familiar (the Throat Chakra Bind will allow the creation of a Greater Soulspark Familiar). Those these two helpers are by no means powerful on their own, but like any summoned or animated allies, they can provide enough help to turn the tide of a close battle.

• Necrocarnum Circlet (Crown), Chakra Bind (Crown): Animate Necrocarnum Zombie
• Soulspark Familiar (Throat), Chakra Bind (Throat): Create Greater Soulspark

Azurin: Soulborn is the favored class of the Azurin and they are well suited to it. They get the free feat normal of humans, but get a bonus point of essentia instead of extra skill points. This is a good trade-off as the Soulborn's essentia pool is so low, especially so at the lower levels.

Dwarf: There are multiple benefits to playing a Dwarven Soulborn, which include racial substitution levels and access to the Ironsoul Forgemaster prestige class. The Dwarf's Constitution bonus increases their maximum number of melds and save DCs for melds that allow a saving throw. If you were planning on being a Dwarf anyway, there is no reason not to take the substitution levels as almost all of the benefits they grant, augment. Not replace existing abilities. Dwarven Soulborns must be Lawful Good.

Elf: Like the Dwarf, the Elf also has Soulborn Racial Substitution Levels. The Elven ability adjustments are not as well suited to the Soulborn as a decreased Constitution decreases their maximum number of soulmelds and soulmeld save DCs. Elven Soulborns must be Chaotic Good. From an optimization standpoint, the Elf is only a good choice if you planned on being a Chaotic Soulborn anyway. Their racial substation levels give them the ability to use their Smite attack at range and a potential increased range with bows.



Like many other non-core base classes, there are not many PrCs designed specifically for the Soulborn, so optimal choices are limited. For purposes of this guide, I will focus on those classes with Incarnum related abilities. PrCs not found in MoI are probably better entered via a non-Incarnum class. I do not think the Soulborn is an optimal choice for dipping as, like the other hybrids, it does not gain its magical abilities for a few levels. Instead of dipping into Soulborn, any class can acquire a desired Soulmeld by taking the Share Soulmeld feat.

Incandescent Champion: This class seems to be designed for non-Incarnum, good BAB classes, even though it only gives medium BAB. It requires a +6 BAB to enter and does not progress meldshaper level. The bonus essentia and essentia-fueled abilities would be useful for a Soulborn, but not any moreso than other good BAB classes.

Incarnum Blade: Like the Incandescent Champion, the Incarnum Blade seems designed for non-Incarnum classes and it also does not progress meldshaper level. Unlike the Incandescent Champion it has good BAB. The Blademelds do not grant much that cannot be achieved through Soulmelds.

Ironsoul Forgemaster: Though designed more for a multiclass Incarnate/ Fighter, it is one of the few PrCs worth taking for a Soulborn. The classes loses 3 BAB and 1 meldshaper level over 10 levels, compared to a straight Soulborn, but in exchange grants strong essentia fueled defensive abilities and the ability to bind soulmelds to the powerful Heart Chakra. Due to having such a limited Essentia pool, difficult choices accompany this class, but many of the class's abilities are as or more powerful than soulmelds of similar function. Those who pursue this class should consider the Double Chakra feat to optimize the Heart Chakra binds.

Necrocarnate: Though clearly designed for evil Incarnates, an 8th level Soulborn can enter the class. As a 13 level class, it cannot be completed until epic levels. It opens up more Chakras at the cost of HPs and poor BAB. Noteworthy benefits of this unusual combination include potentially limitless essentia via the Harvest Soul ability and a cool potential “Death Knight” flavor. Your zombie will also be less powerful than that of the Incarnate counterpart due to the Soulborn's decreased meldshaper level.

Sapphire Hierarch, Soulcaster, Soul Manifester: Though these classes are all full meldshaper progression, they are best entered as an Incarnate due to their low BAB and HPs. Soulmelds are support for each classes primary caster or manifester progression.

Spinemeld Warrior: Though not a bad choice for a Skarn Soulborn, despite what is written in the description, the class would best be entered via the Monk Racial Substitution levels. A Monk/ Spinemeld Warrior is capable of savage damage, but that is best explored in another guide.

Totem Rager and Witchborn Binder: A Soulborn cannot meet the requirements before level 10 for either of these PrCs without dipping into other classes.

Umbral Disciple: An interesting, if not optimal, choice for a Soulborn looking to become a more stealth based character, past level 10. The class does not progress meldshaper level and has medium BAB but the bonus essentia will be useful for the melds the character already has. Sneak Attack damage and Concealment (with the possibility of HiPs) is a welcome addition to almost any build.

Unfortunately, what this all adds up to is that unless you are a Dwarven Ironsoul Forgemaster (and even then it is debatable), Straight Soulborn 20 is likely the most optimized build until (if ever) they add more Incarnum based prestige classes. Lucky the Soulborn is a versatile and powerful enough class to be entertaining and fun on it's own until then.



Selection of feats, just as with any other class, can greatly influence the effectiveness of the Soulborn. As there are far too many feats to examine the benefits of each and every one, I will briefly detail a few that have special significance to the Soulborn.

Bonus Essentia and Incarnum Feats: As the natural essentia pool of the Soulborn is relatively small, these feats are extremely valuable. The more Incarnum feats that can be worked into a build, the more essentia that is available for investment.

Double Chakra: Though not available to the Soulborn until level 18, due to the meldshaper level requirement, this feat is exceptionally valuable for the Hands and Arms Chakra as so many combat soulmelds reside on those locations.

Expanded Soulmeld Capacity and Improved Essentia Capacity: The Soulborn often does not have a large enough essentia pool to take full advantage of these feats except for very specialized builds. Possible examples include the Incarnum Avatar (Evil) Soulmeld for a heavy damage build or the Sapphire Smite feat for a Charisma synergy build.

Heart of Incarnum and Incarnum-Fortified Body: As most Soulborns builds will try to include as many Incarnum Feats (to get a larger essentia pool) as possible, these feats may be useful. Note that unless the character is an Ironsoul Forgemaster, a Soulborn cannot bind a soulmeld to the Heart Chakra until epic levels.

Open Least, Lesser, and Greater Chakra: Apparently, these feats, despite the wording, only allows new Chakras to be bound to but do not actually grant the Bind ability. As such they would only be useful for a multiclass Soulborn, and even then their utility would be limited.

Shape Soulmeld: This feat is extremely valuable for rounding off many Soulborn builds with Incarnate or Totemist soulmelds. Note that as the Soulborn has a meldshaper level of one-half his class level, soulmelds obtained via this feat will be of a normal meldshaper level to the Soulborn.

Split Chakra: This feat varies in value based on the availability of magic items in the campaign. As Soulborns cannot bind to their Soul Chakra until Epic levels, and weapons do not block a Chakra, this feat is not necessary for the Soulborn to use magic armor and weapons.

Azure Toughness and Midnight Dodge: These feats can be used to meet pre-requisites that require Toughness or Dodge, respectively.

Cobalt Charge, Cobalt Critical, Cobalt Power, and Cobalt Precision: It is worthy of note that these feats provide an insight bonus to damage and therefore will not stack with some soulmelds, such as Bluesteel Bracers.

Sapphire Smite, Extra Smiting ^CW, and Improved Smiting ^CD: These feats can be the bread and butter of a Smiting focused build. Extra Smiting can be taken multiple times and stacks with the additional uses of Smite ability gained from Sapphire Smite.



Here is sample build emphasizing the combat potential of a melee focused Soulborn. For bonus stacking purposes I have decided to go with a LE Azurin. As MoI is such a versatile resource, I will build the entire character using only Core rules and MoI. To make the build focused on defense, just change the alignment to Good and refer to the immunities list for replacement melds for the Shape Soulmeld feats.

Lawful Evil Azurin Soulborn 20 (32 point buy)
Attributes: Str 15 (+1), Dex 15 (+1), Con 16 (+3), Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Essentia: 16, Soulmelds: 9, Chakra Binds: 3

1 (H) Shape Soulmeld (Incarnate Avatar), Shape Soulmeld (Incarnate Weapon)
2 Immunity to Exhaustion
3 Shape Soulmeld (Bloodwar Gauntlets), (B) Sapphire Smite
4 +1 Str
5
6 Bonus Essentia
7 (B) Midnight Dodge
8 +1 Dex
9 Shape Soulmeld (Vitality Belt)
10
11 (B) Azure Toughness
12 Shape Soulmeld (Lifebond Vestments), +1 Con
13
14
15 Split Chakra (Hands)
16 +1 Con
17
18 Double Chakra (Hands)
19
20 +1 Con

Incarnate Avatar (Soul, Law), 4 Essentia: +4 attack
Bloodwar Gauntlets (Arms or Hands, Evil), 4 Essentia: +1 attack and +4 damage
Lifebond Vestments (Heart): Heal up to 40 pts. of damage once per hour but take up to 20 damage back
Bluesteel Bracers (Arms), 4 Essentia: +4 damage
Necrocarnum Shroud (Soul or Waist, Evil): +1 attack
Necrocarnum Weapon (Hands, Evil), 4 Essentia: +4 damage, +4 attack to confirm Criticals; Chakra Bind (Hands): provides 4 temporary essentia on a Critical hit
Crystal Helm (Crown), Chakra Bind (Crown): melee attacks gain the force descriptor
Impulse Boots (Feet): Uncanny Dodge; Chakra Bind (Feet): Evasion

Total bonuses to attack and damage from soulmelds equal +6 attack and +12 damage. When Smiting Good or Chaotic creatures, add 20 pts. of damage. These bonuses are greater than Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization and Mighty Rage combined.

Essentia Strategies: You will not have enough essentia to invest all your melds to their maximums at the same time. As re-allocating your essentia investments in your soulmelds (not Incarnum feats) is a swift action, you may choose to change the amount of essentia invested in each soulmeld, based on the situation. The above build assumes you have four essentia invested in Bloodwar Gauntlets, Bluesteel Bracers, Incarnate Avatar, and Necrocarnum Weapon while in combat. I would put temporary essentia gained when scoring a critical hit first into the Crystal Helm, and if a second is scored in the same combat, then into Midnight Dodge, for a total bonus of +8 AC. Another possibility is to shape Vitality Belt instead of Necrocarnum Shroud and put stolen essentia into the Belt and then Azure Toughness for a total of 52 bonus HPs. If I knew I was fighting chaotic or good enemies, I might invest in the Sapphire Smite for a total of 9 Smites per day at +24 damage.

Following the Quickstart Druid thread, this thread is going to give a few pointers on ranged cleric builds. The ranged cleric is an old CO staple and, even though it's not the best out there, it keeps a respectable damage output with minimal investment and maintains access to several spells that can benefit a party. This short guide will focus on weapons mainly and not weapon-like spells or abilities (for example, a warlock's eldritch blast).


The cleric class provides access to all simple weapons. With simple weapons, you get the following ranged weapons: heavy and light crossbow, sling, dart, javelin. With the first three you will be unable to benefit from multiple attacks, because they require a move or longer action to reload. An exception to this rule is the rapid reload feat, only for the light crossbow. Slings, darts and javelins are thrown weapons and thus you get your full strength modifier on your damage roll, without the composite bow crap. The downside is that you need multiple weapons (probably with the returning property) to make use of them. Obviously, if you want to use thrown weapons, you really have two choices: humans (medium size and bonus feat) and strongheart halflings (bonus to dexterity and a bonus with thrown weapons to attack, but lower damage due to size and strength penalty).

The cleric also provides access to the war domain, which gives us free martial weapon proficiency and weapon focus with the favorite weapon of our god. Now, if you find a god with favorite weapon longbow or shortbow, there's your martial weapon, right there. The problem is that it's very difficult to find deities (which aren't race-specific) that provide the war domain and are associated with a bow as a favorite weapon. Using the old crystalkeep index I've only found "The Silver Flame - Knights Militant", which is an Eberron deity. If you are an elf, there are two deities: Shevarash and Solonor Thelandira, which have longbow as a favorite weapon and war as a domain, but unless you're using a weird elven subrace, you already have the longbow as a weapon. However, we're not totally missing the point, as there are options out there to help the cleric-archer-with-the-war-domain out, even with overlapping proficiencies. At this point, I'll also mention the deity Ehlonna, which has longbow as her favorite weapon, but does not grant access to the war domain; she is mentioned, because of a beautiful magic item located in the Magic Item Compendium, the Raptor Arrows.

Remember that while you don't have to be an actual elf to pick the elf domain (which grants the point blank shot), almost all deities that offer it list "elves" as their typical worshipers. According to the Revised Player's Handbook, if the typical worshipers of a deity include the members of a race, a cleric must be of the indicated race to choose that deity as his own. As such, in the rest of this guide, I'm going to assume that the elf domain is typically (barring DM permission, or a rule that I seem to have ignored) open to elves, only.

Your race is also a great way to get proficiencies. This almost always means elf, but that means that they come with the dreaded constitution penalty. There are several ways to overcome that, most of them come from the Unearthed Arcana. Aquatic Elves are a useful alternative, since they lose their gills and are thus able to act outside water for as long as they like; the intelligence penalty is not a problem for the cleric class (plus Aquatic Elves are far superior to Painted Elves from Sandstorm). Arctic Elves and Desert Elves from the same book have a strength penalty, which translates to reduced damage output; remember that Desert Elves favor the shortbow, too. Snow Elves from Frostburn get a hit to charisma, which is not recommended for a cleric. One exception to avoiding the constitution penalty would probably be the Lesser Drow from Player's Guide to Faerun, because they provide us with the wonderful exotic weapon proficiency for hand crossbows, which not only you can dual wield, but also reload as a free action using a feat from the Drow of the Underdark supplement (remember to grab a Raptor's Mask, from Magic Item Compendium, which grants immunity to blindness). Finally, an often overlooked elf-related race is the half-human elf, located in the Dungeon Master's Guide, page 173; they are half-elves, but they receive the martial weapon proficiencies of an elf (half-human elves mix very well with Ehlonna and her raptor arrows).

Continuing talking races, there are other options than just going elf, but they are somewhat questionable. The main argument is that an outsider is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as per Monster Manual, page 313. However, it's almost impossible to find an outsider that has level adjustment of 0. The only ones that I know of are Neraphims, in the races section of Planar Handbook; they are frog-like creatures that reside in Limbo and look a lot like the Slaadi. They have respectable racial features (+2 natural armor!) and even treat an exotic thrown weapon, the annulat, as martial (which you will get anyway, since outsiders are proficient with martial weapons anyway). An annulat-throwing Neraphim cleric would be an interesting variation of the ranged cleric, probably using multiple annulats with the returning property. If your Dungeon Master allows the Level Adjustment Buyoff variant from Unearthed Arcana, additional outsider options will be available for you, the most notable examples are Aasimars and Zenthyri (Zenthyri have racial stat adjustments of +2 str, +2 dex, +2 wis, -2 cha). Remember that you actually need the outsider type, so just taking the lesser planetouched version of the race will not work; rather, you need to take the level adjusted race and buy the adjustment off.

To dexterity or not to dexterity: Unless you're going for very a specialized build, you can just grab Zen Archery as your level three feat (because it requires +1 BAB) and almost forget about dexterity (because some archery-related feats, like rapid shot, have a minimum dexterity requirement - here elves and their racial bonuses come in pretty handy).

Cloistered Cleric: The cloistered cleric is a very good alternative class if you want to play a ranged character. The biggest loss is that of your medium base attack bonus (you get the worst progression of the three) and your hit points, but even without them, the seer amount of skill points you'll receive (remember that Intelligence is a dump stat for you) and the additional domain (which you can trade for the knowledge devotion feat - a feat that translates knowledge checks to damage) make up for it. You can receive extra attacks by casting Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, the Rapid Shot feat, a Haste spell from an allied arcane spellcaster (or Boots of Speed) or the Splitting enhancement from the sourcebook Champions of Ruin. In any case, one less attack due to your base attack bonus won't really be an issue, especially after your 7th level, since around that caster level you'll have access to the Divine Power spell (which is a great candidate for Persistent or Quicken Spell, coupled with Divine Metamagic), which gives you a full base attack progression (like that of a Fighter) and a large bonus to strength.

• Point Blank Shot: Point blank shot is a necessary evil somewhat. The benefits are marginal at best; +1 to your attack roll and your damage roll with ranged weapons, if your opponent is within 30ft of you. At least the bonuses are untyped, which result in reliable damage. You need this feat, because most of the archery-related feats (such as Rapid Shot and Precise Shot) list it as a requirement. The Elf Domain gives you the Point Blank Shot feat for free.
• Precise Shot: Generally a requirement for archery builds, barring degenerate examples of parties with no melee characters. The -4 bonus is a lot, especially at low levels, however, later it is not going to hurt you that much. Scouts, rogues and swift hunters want to use this, because if they are not able to use their weapon effectively, they can't apply their precision-based damage with it, but that's not the case for the ranged cleric. The Splitting weapon enhancement from Champions of Ruin (a +3 weapon enhancement) requires that you have the precise shot to use it effectively. The Precise weapon enhancement (a +1 enhancement) effectively provides you with the Precise Shot feat and you don't have to possess the Point Blank Shot feat to use your weapon.
• Rapid Shot: Rapid Shot requires that you possess the Point Blank Shot and a mediocre dexterity score. This feat is a fine pick at low levels (before you gain access to Divine Power), since it will grant you a second attack; however all your attacks are going to receive a -2 penalty. Later, after spells and items become more and more a reliable source of additional attacks, you can retrain this to something more appropriate, like setting up the components for Divine Metamagic (Persistent). Even if you don't retrain it, additional attacks are welcome at all levels.
• Holy Warrior ^CC: The Holy Warrior reserve feat is a must have as your 9th level feat (typically) if you have selected the War Domain. You gain a flat scalable bonus to your weapon damage rolls, as long as you don't expend your highest-level War spell; the wording is somewhat weird, it doesn't mention domain slot, but "War spell", which probably means that if you memorize a war domain spell in one of your normal spell slots (if it appears on the cleric spell list, too, of course, like Divine Power), you get the bonus normally. The +1 caster level to force spells is just the icing on the cake.
• Zen Archery ^CW: This is going to be your 3rd level feat almost always. It's just too good to pass and effectively makes your SAD, if you rule out constitution.
• Knowledge Devotion ^CC: Note: This feat is blue-rated, only if you can swap the additional Knowledge Domain the Cloistered Cleric receives for it. Otherwise, it's probably not worth it. This is a place to sink your skill points, of course, after maxing concentration and having respectable scores in any other necessary skills (diplomacy, listen, spot, spellcraft). If your Dungeon Master rules that you lose the knowledges the Cloistered Cleric receives (due to losing the Knowledge Domain), don't worry; having high enough skill checks in knowledge (arcana), knowledge (religion) and knowledge (the planes) (the knowledges the cleric normally gets) will provide bonuses to a great deal of enemies: dragons, elementals, outsiders, undead and more. Plus, Knowledge Devotion provides you with an extra knowledge, which should probably be knowledge (nature), because that is assosiated with a high amount of creature types. Finally, if your god is assosiated with the Knowledge Domain, consider the Lore of the Gods (can be persisted, too) spell from Complete Champion, which will give you a +10 bonus to your knowledge skill checks. Don't forget about the Collector of Stories skill trick, which arguably works with the feat.
• Divine Metamagic ^CD: On Quicken Spell or Persistent Spell. This is probably the best feat a Cleric is able to pick and the Cleric Archer archetype is not an exception. You use this with typical buffs: Divine Power, Divine Favor, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful either to keep them on all day or to cast them as swift action as needed. Persistent Spell requires Extend Spell, which will make your build feat starved, while Quicken Spell saves some feats and consumes your Turn Undead attempts per day at a fairly lower rate, but it needs you to memorize multiples of the same spell, assuming you're preparing for multiple encounters in a given day. Generally, the Persistent Spell route is considered the most optimal version, assuming you can fit everything in. The Cleric's Handbook mistakenly suggests that you don't have to possess the feat to apply Divine Metamagic, as per Complete Divine errata.
• Hand Crossbow Focus ^DotU: Hand Crossbow focus is effectively a Rapid Reload and Weapon Focus feat rolled in one. This is suggested for the Lesser Drow elves, who receive an exotic weapon proficiency with the hand crossbow for free. To make the most out of your hand crossbows, you'll have to use the Crossbow Sniper from Player's Handbook II, which applies your 1/2 dexterity bonus to the damage rolls with your hand crossbow; remember that Hand Crossbow Focus counts as Weapon Focus for the requirements of Crossbow Sniper. You can also dual-wield hand crossbows, so taking the Two-Weapon Fighting and the magic item Gloves of the Balanced Hand from Magic Item Compendium will net you Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. Finally, there are some spells that will give you with great benefits, such as the fifth level Cleric spell Divine Agility from Spell Compendium (+10 enchantment bonus to your dexterity score).
• Divine Might ^CW: Not exactly optimal, as it requires Power Attack, Divine Might as written works with all weapons, including ranged ones. If your charisma is high for whatever reason, this is a very good way to add it to your weapon damage rolls.

Unless noted, the spells are from the Revised Player's Handbook or the Spell Compendium.

• Level 1^st: Divine Favor, Blessed Aim, Guiding Light.
• Level 2^nd: Owl's Wisdom, Spiritual Weapon, Align Weapon.
• Level 3^rd: Magic Vestment, Ghost Touch Weapon, Girallon's Blessing.
• Level 4^th: Divine Power, Greater Magic Weapon.
• Level 5^th: Righteous Might, Divine Agility, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Surge of Fortune ^CC.
• Level 6^th: Energy Immunity, Superior Resistance.
• Level 7^th: Brilliant Blade.
• Level 8^th: Antimagic Field.
• Level 9^th: Greater Visage of the Deity.

Enhancements:

• Collision ^MIC: Collision provides you with five additional damage per hit, which is superior to having two +1 elemental enhancements on your weapon, both because 2d6 damage averages to around 7 damage per hit and because elemental damage becomes highly unreliable as you gain levels. Also note that Collision damage gets multiplied in criticals.
• Speed: You can just cast Righteous Wrath of the Faithful or get a Haste effect from an allied spellcaster.
• Splitting ^CoR: Essentially double your damage output. This is an expensive property, more appropriate for high level play. Requires Precise Shot to work.
• Precise ^MIC: Forget about the Precise Shot feat, this +1 enhancement effectively provides it for you, almost free.
• Force ^MIC: Very good enhancement at +2, which enables you to bypass any damage reduction automatically and suffer no miss chance when attacking incorporeal targets. The only downside is that your weapon will not be able to deal any damage against targets that are immune to force effects.

Other Items:

• Bracers of Archery, Lesser: You get a free proficiency with all bows, eat your heart out.
• Gauntlets of War ^CC: As written, arguably works with any favored weapon, even if your deity favors a ranged one. However, note that errata lists the bonus damage as enhancement, which is bad, because just a single casting of greater magic weapon will be enough at higher levels to surpass this item.
• Gloves of the Balanced Hand ^MIC: Gives you Improved Two-Weapon Fighting for free, useful if you're going to use thrown weapons.
• Gloves of Endless Javelins ^MIC: Provides you with endless +1 force javelins and you can activate as many times as you want per round, because it's a free action, which means that you can even two-weapon full attack. You apply your full strength bonus to thrown weapons, so buff your strength to insane amounts and fire away. These gloves are a very cheap alternative (they cost 7.000gp) for any cleric, even those that are primarly melee and just wish to have a reliable ranged attack.
• Belt of Battle ^MIC: Bonus to initiative and extra actions by spending renewable charges. It's considered an important item to any caster.
• Boots of Speed: A little pricey, but a nice alternative if you don't have haste available (or if you don't want to persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful for some reason).
• Raptor Arrows ^MIC: Get some raptor arrows and you will never need ammunition ever again. You only need to get one for each attack you can make per round. They are particularly worth it if you worship Ehlonna, since by permanently sacrificing one 4th level slot each fired arrow will automatically acquire the bane property against its target. That means that your fired arrows will have a +2 bonus to their enhancement and deal an additional 2d6 points of damage against all enemies, which is nothing to scoff at.

Iconic Cleric Archer

Neutral Good Aquatic Elf Cloistered Cleric of Ehlonna 8 (32 point buy, 2 flaws, no traits)

Medium Humanoid (Elf, Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 8d6 + 16 + 8 temporary
Initiative: +0 (+4 sign)
Speed: 40ft, Swim 40ft
Base Attack: 4 (8 buffed)
Attack: 8 BAB + 3 (Raptor Arrow enhancement bonus) + 6 (wis modifier) + at least 1 (Knowledge Devotion)
Damage: 1d8 + 3 (str modifier) + 3 (Raptor Arrow enhancement) + 2d6 (Bane property) + at least 1 (Knowledge Devotion)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Saves: +8/+2/+12, immunity to magic sleep effects, +2 vs enchantment spells or effects.
Abilities: Str 16 (+6 Divine Power), Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 22 (+2 level +2 item), Cha 12.
Skills: Concentration +13, Knowledge(Religion), +11, Knowledge(Arcana) +10, Knowledge(The Planes) +10, Knowledge(Nature) +10, Knowledge(Dungeoneering) +1, Spot +8, Listen +8, Search +2, Spellcraft +11, Collector of Stories trick.
Feats: Point Blank Shot ^1st retrained to Extend Spell, Precise Shot ^Flaw retrained to Persistent Spell, Extra Turning ^Flaw, Knowledge Devotion ^Bonus, Zen Archery ^3rd, Divine Metamagic (Persistent) ^6th
Domains: Plant, Celerity. Spontaneous Domain ACF on Plant Domain.
Senses: Superior Low-Light Vision, Hidden Portals.
Languages Spoken: Common, Elven.
Level Adjustment: +0.

Notable Possessions: +1 Precise Longbow (+3 bonus), 2x Raptor Arrows (with relic power unlocked), Reliquary Holy Symbol, Periaph of Wisdom +2.

Hello there, guys!

I've been playing D&D since I was 6 or so, which means some 20 years now! I recently came across Brilliant Gameologists, and took an interest to minmaxing. It's a pity the other forum is lost, but I hope I can be of any help here! Most likely, I will just be helped, but anyways XD It is a pleasure to join you!