Author Topic: The Incarnate Handbook  (Read 46076 times)

Offline Sinfire Titan

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The Incarnate Handbook
« on: November 08, 2011, 12:37:17 PM »
The Incarnate Guide


Section 1: Races
Section 2: Class Features
Section 3: Feats
Section 4: Soulmelds
Section 5: Prestige Classes and Multiclassing Options
Section 6: Magic Items
Section 7: Build Tips

Welcome to my third Incarnum-based handbook. This, along with the Totemist Handbook and the Incarnum Handbook itself, will be your guide to playing a Meldshaper. But first, a brief explanation about the Incarnate.


What is an Incarnate?
To put it simply, think (Artificer+Cleric)-Game Breakers. Well, not all of them. Incarnates have access to a large array of tricks that can turn them into the party's... well, anything. Its all a matter of style.

Anything huh?
Basically, yes. The Incarnate has no set role in a party, and their class features and power source allow them to shift between several major roles on a day-to-day basis. While they aren't as effective as a dedicated member of another class who specializes in that role, they are capable of filling in for most roles out there.

Roles?
Tank, Skill Monkey, Party Buffer, and Caster. Incarnates excel at the first two, and do decent imitations of the second two (especially Buffing, thanks to a very potent class feature).

Wait, they can fill all three of those roles?
There are some powerful limitations in place preventing an Incarnate from covering all 4 roles simultaneously, and several factors prevent them from being able to switch roles entirely on a daily basis, but they can still cover for the party. Those limits are:

Skills
Attacks/round
Spellcasting
Feat selection

Because these abilities are almost locked in stone, you can only truly cover one role effectively, but can switch to a nerfed version of the other roles if given time to prepare.

What Tier is the Incarnate?
A high end Tier 4, to a mid-ranged Tier 3. An unoptimized Incarnate (read: Anyone who hasn't read an Incarnum Handbook or had major experience as an Optimizer) can fall all the way to Tier 6, AKA Useless to the Nine Hells and Back.

Useless?! I don't want to play a useless character!
Neither do I, hence the reason I read these handbooks. And hence the reason you were directed to this one. If you're reading this, then let me lay down one rule: You will never look at this class the same way again once you've finished making an Incarnate, provided you follow my advice.

It isn't the most powerful class in the game, but it is very versatile (despite its looks). The chassis isn't the best, but a little customization and some practical application of the CO board's special touch, and you will be very powerful.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2011, 12:43:58 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Offline Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2011, 12:37:43 PM »
Races

(Insert witty joke here SiFir)

Because you can't play the game without a race, this is a list of the best races to pick.


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Offline Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2011, 12:39:11 PM »
Class Features

I'm sure many of you have finally cracked open the book to see what all of the fuss is about, and I'm willing to bet that many of you are ready to throw the damn book at me. I wasn't kidding when I said the chassis isn't that good. But I was also serious about this class being flexible and powerful. You just need a little bit of effort to make it fall into place.

Statistically speaking (with all Soulmelds, magic items, and other benefits included), the Incarnate is rivaled only by the Totemist and Full Casters in terms of numbers. You can get an obscenely high modifier to damn near anything, but you need a clear goal in mind to do so.

This comes into play later on, BTW. So, the first step to building an Incarnate is to figure out your Goal. What does your party need most?

A note on alignments: This class is more restrictive than the Druid with regards to alignment choices. You can only be one of four. Some have adapted the class to be alignment-free. The problem behind this is that the alignment restrictions were put in place not to balance the class, but to make roles clear. Removing them is a mess, and requires careful attention to make it work. I recommend putting up with it, and praying that your DM isn't that strict about alignments. The good news is that you have no moral code, and are free to select one that suits your RP style.

Anyway, onto the class features.


Ability Scores

Str: Mixed feelings here. In case of Lawful Neutral or Neutral Evil, this should be your priority stat (even above Con). Anything else can feel free to ignore Strength.

Dex: Again, mixed feelings. While everyone likes Init, and you like your Reflex saves, this isn't exactly needed (even without Dex, you can get a solid Armor Class and a decent Init modifier). Chaotic Neutral and Neutral Good would do well to make this a priority.

Con: Everyone needs this, but Meldshapers need it most. A 16 will do for most purposes, and 20 or higher is also welcome. Depending on the build, you can get away with a 24 (Dragonborn Mongrelfolk).

Int: I love this stat, and as a Skill monkey class, you will want this to be decent. If skills aren't your focus, feel free to ignore Int.

Wis: Completely dumpable. Why? Incarnates have the least number of soulmelds that allow a saving throw, meaning this is fairly useless to you. If you do pump it for the Capstone class feature, you can set it to 14 base and boost it later with items.

Cha: Yet another mixed stat. If your build is going to abuse UMD (and let's face it, every build can do that), this is a priority too. If not, you have no need for Cha.


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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2011, 12:39:54 PM »
Feats

Theres a lot of feats out there. I'm only going to touch on the major ones, and the ones printed in the MoI itself. Everything else will be left out, but feel free to ask.


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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2011, 12:40:34 PM »
Soulmelds

Onto the best part. A case-by-case review of every soulmeld you can naturally shape. Some special mentions will be made for specific soulmelds.

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2011, 12:41:33 PM »
Prestige Classes and Multiclassing

Incarnum didn't get much love, and meldshapers don't multiclass well.

Still reading? OK, it means you've got a specific goal in mind and want to make it work. Here's a few recommended PrCs and multiclass options for you.

(click to show/hide)

Multiclassing in General: Very little should be used unless you know what to do/avoid doing. Because so little advances your meldshaping abilities, I mostly recommend not multiclassing at all and taking Leadership to make up for it. However, there's times when Multiclassing is the best option. Level dips into Incarnate are very powerful despite what you lose, and Soulcasters/Sapphire Heirarchs are very well-off taking 2 levels in Incarnate (Totemist is fine too, but this handbook is about Incarnates). Factotum 1+Able Learner (Races of Destiny) is an excellent level-dip costing you only your capstones (one is good, the other is ok, both can be saccrificed) at the benefit of making you Skill Monkey GOD. Totemist 2 also makes a good dip, replacing your Soul Chakra with the Totem Chakra (works best with NE and LN Incarnates). Kobold Incarnates may want to go Sorcerer/Soulcaster and grab Greater Rite of Passage and Loredrake to make up for your 4 or 6 Incarnate levels (6th level offers an extra Chakra Bind, and 16th level offers 8 soulmelds, 18 Essentia, and 4 chakra binds as opposed to 12th level's 7, 12, and 3).

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Other: DMs are strange. They allow the weirdest things from home brew. Look at your options and the list above, and consider where the class he provided you falls. If it stands at least a step down from the class you compare it to, consider trying it out over that class (unless I said no to the class you compared it to or if Alignment is a problem). If its lower than that, don't bother.
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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2011, 12:42:34 PM »
Magic Items

Because no adventurer in their right mind would be caught dead without spending his WBL, here are some useful items for an Incarnate. Note that while you can enjoy your soulmelds nicely, you need actual magic items (or VoP) to remain competent during encounters. I only draw from two sources here, the DMG and the MIC, so there will be a lot of items missed that could be good for you. I'll touch on the important ones in the Builds section, noting where they are from.

Section to be expanded upon in the future.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2011, 12:44:59 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2011, 12:43:05 PM »
Builds

The following are sample builds. While the builds themselves are partially incomplete (skill points need to be spent), this post will highlight what skills are important (and the minimum ranks required for certain options).

To conserve space, all builds are being posted on my Keep and Share account. I will link the downloads (all of them will be in Text format, so anyone with Notepad can open them). An explanation of each build's purpose will be kept here.

NG Melee Tank
(click to show/hide)

NG Ranged Tank
(click to show/hide)

NG Caster
(click to show/hide)

NE Tank
(click to show/hide)

LN Tank
(click to show/hide)

LN Caster
(click to show/hide)

LN Skill Monkey
(click to show/hide)

CN Archer
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: November 08, 2011, 12:45:24 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Offline Psyren

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2011, 03:12:46 PM »
Apologies if there are meant to be more posts to this guide (I will delete this if so, or a mod can) but I had a request; there are Incarnate soulmelds in other sources (e.g. Dragon Magic and Mind's Eye; were there any more?) that weren't rated in this handbook. Can these be added?

Off the top of my head, I don't see Dragon Tail or Elder Spirit here.

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2011, 03:21:21 PM »
Apologies if there are meant to be more posts to this guide (I will delete this if so, or a mod can) but I had a request; there are Incarnate soulmelds in other sources (e.g. Dragon Magic and Mind's Eye; were there any more?) that weren't rated in this handbook. Can these be added?

Off the top of my head, I don't see Dragon Tail or Elder Spirit here.

I did not include the Dragon Magazine ones on purpose, as Dragon Magazine is notorious for it's shoddy sense of system balance. I realize that Incarnum doesn't have a lot of love, but I have rarely included Dragon content in one of my handbooks (the exception being the Death Master handbook I wrote years ago). The Dragon Magic ones, however, are generally weak (and the Dragon Tail is a Totemist soulmeld).

And I just haven't bothered making a Discussion thread.
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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2011, 03:43:06 PM »
Apologies if there are meant to be more posts to this guide (I will delete this if so, or a mod can) but I had a request; there are Incarnate soulmelds in other sources (e.g. Dragon Magic and Mind's Eye; were there any more?) that weren't rated in this handbook. Can these be added?

Off the top of my head, I don't see Dragon Tail or Elder Spirit here.

I did not include the Dragon Magazine ones on purpose, as Dragon Magazine is notorious for it's shoddy sense of system balance. I realize that Incarnum doesn't have a lot of love, but I have rarely included Dragon content in one of my handbooks (the exception being the Death Master handbook I wrote years ago). The Dragon Magic ones, however, are generally weak (and the Dragon Tail is a Totemist soulmeld).

And I just haven't bothered making a Discussion thread.

Are you sure Tail is Totemist only? It says "Incarnate, Totemist" here.

Were there soulmelds in Dragon Mag? (-azine, not -agic.) I didn't even know that, and balance or not I'd love to see them. The Dragon Magazine Binder vestiges were interesting after all.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2011, 03:44:46 PM by Psyren »

Offline Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2011, 03:49:16 PM »

Are you sure Tail is Totemist only? It says "Incarnate, Totemist" here.

Were there soulmelds in Dragon Mag? (-azine, not -agic.) I didn't even know that, and balance or not I'd love to see them. The Dragon Magazine Binder vestiges were interesting after all.

So it is. Not very good for what it does (except at the lowest levels). There were a few in one of the Dragon Mags (one that gives you the Swarm subtype, specifically, being the most commonly cited). Person_Man can give you a source on them.
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Offline Psyren

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2011, 03:55:15 PM »
Thanks!

Not to belabor the point, but I think Elder Spirit might actually be quite good. You get your Crown bind at level 2, right? That seems to me a nice point in the game to get immunity to sleep, paralysis and frightful presence.

While I have you on the line, I was also curious about Necrocarnates. Is there any way besides torching an anthill... say, a cheap Calling spell you can UMD to port something in and murder it... to refill your essentia cheaply?

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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2011, 04:01:48 PM »
Thanks!

Not to belabor the point, but I think Elder Spirit might actually be quite good. You get your Crown bind at level 2, right? That seems to me a nice point in the game to get immunity to sleep, paralysis and frightful presence.

While I have you on the line, I was also curious about Necrocarnates. Is there any way besides torching an anthill... say, a cheap Calling spell you can UMD to port something in and murder it... to refill your essentia cheaply?

While you could call in high-HD creatures that are weak for their CRs, you won't have an essentia pool worth noting when you actually have to kill them, making you rely too heavily on existing Necrocarnum Zombies and on your party, forcing them to waste resources to help you fulfill your class requirements. I do not advocate using Necrocarnate unless the DM explicitly tells you that boiling anthills for essentia is fine.
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Re: The Incarnate Handbook
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2011, 05:45:59 PM »
While you could call in high-HD creatures that are weak for their CRs, you won't have an essentia pool worth noting when you actually have to kill them, making you rely too heavily on existing Necrocarnum Zombies and on your party, forcing them to waste resources to help you fulfill your class requirements. I do not advocate using Necrocarnate unless the DM explicitly tells you that boiling anthills for essentia is fine.

I understand, but I'll accept even a subpar solution if it doesn't depend on the DM's graces. Preferably something that would work for a super-good Vivicarnate too, though that would be even harder to justify (i.e. a good character coming up with a fresh corpse every morning  :-\ )

And if I can switch gears to the Mind's Eye melds... how do you feel about these? Some seem really good. For instance, Shape Soulmeld (Astral Vambraces) and your Arms chakra gives you no less than five feats for the price of one (Cleave, Mobility, Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush and Improved Natural Attack.) You indicated that it was better than the Wind Cloak too, though that was the only mention made of it in the guide. Psion's Eyes lets you make Autohypnosis checks untrained and Mindlink at will. Charming Veil lets you read thoughts at will.  Would they be worthy of a rating?