Incarnum Archer Help

[SleepyShadow]

I'm trying to make this concept work, but I've only got a half-formulated character build at the moment and little idea of what to do from this point. Here is what I have so far:

Incarnate 2/Cleric 3/Sapphire Hierarch 10

I know I'll be taking Point Blank, Precise, and Rapid Shot, but I'm at a loss for what other feats to take, or even what my last five levels should be. Could someone help me out please?

[Ithamar]

What are your domains?  Which god (if any) do you worship?

Zen Archery and Bonus Essentia would be a good choice for feats, as would Expanded Soulmeld Capacity probably.  Law Devotion would be useful, though you more than likely can't trade the domain away for it because of the PrC pre-reqs.

The old stand-by of Extend, Persist, DMM (Persist) are always good investments as well of course.

For the last five levels, just more Cleric would be a good idea so you don't lose any more CL.

[SleepyShadow]

I've got Law and War right now, the former for the prerequisite and the latter for bow proficiency. However, I just noticed that the adaptation bit at the end of the class description does talk about doing away with such a harsh alignment restriction, so that could open up room for a much better domain than Law.

What about Seeker of the Misty Isle for the last five levels?

[Ithamar]

No more than 4 levels of Seeker, you don't want to lose any more caster levels.  Contemplative is a great PrC with nice, easy pre-reqs.  And Divine Oracle isn't bad, so long as you can afford the feat tax to get in.

Definitely stick with War domain though, and eventually try and grab the Holy Warrior reserve feat.  Gives you bonus damage equal to your highest level spell that you have uncast from the War domain.  So an easy way to (eventually) get +9 to damage with every shot.  Knowledge Devotion is also a good source of bonus damage of course.

[Sinfire Titan]

No more than 4 levels of Seeker, you don't want to lose any more caster levels.  Contemplative is a great PrC with nice, easy pre-reqs.  And Divine Oracle isn't bad, so long as you can afford the feat tax to get in.

Definitely stick with War domain though, and eventually try and grab the Holy Warrior reserve feat.  Gives you bonus damage equal to your highest level spell that you have uncast from the War domain.  So an easy way to (eventually) get +9 to damage with every shot.  Knowledge Devotion is also a good source of bonus damage of course.

However, finding a deity who has War, Knowledge, and Law (or whatever you adapted the SH's alignment requirement to, Chaotic Neutral is highly recommended) is a tad tricky in certain campaign settings (like Eberron).

[sirpercival]

Cloistered Cleric gets you knowledge devotion.

[SleepyShadow]

Using the Sighting Gloves and Blue Steel Bracers soulmelds also help to boost my damage output, which I've noticed seems to be a problem with archers. So here's the theoretical build I've got muddled out thanks to your help:


Incarnate 2/Cloistered Cleric 3/Sapphire Hierarch 10/Seeker of the Misty Isle 4/Contemplative 1

Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Long Bow) [War Domain], Incarnum Spellshaping [Incarnum Domain], Rapid Shot, Bonus Essentia, Divine Touch, Expanded Soulmeld Capacity (Sighting Gloves), Holy Warrior, Improved Initiative [Time Domain]

Domains: War, Incarnum, Knowledge, Travel, Time


Would that work fairly well?

EDIT - Swapped out Chaos for Incarnum domain.

[Sinfire Titan]

Looks fairly good. Here's some weapon ideas:

The Big 6:
   Your Bow (200,000+gp)
   †A combined Wis, Con, and Dex item using the MiC rules set to either the Throat or Waist slot (108,000gp)
   Tome of Understanding +5 (Zen Archery only) or Manual of Quickness in Action +5 (137,500gp)
   3 Helms of Essentia (9,000gp total)
   10 Wands of Lesser Vigor (7,500gp total)
   Quiver of Anariel set to +5 (128,000)
   164,000 left over to spend
†: You can obviate the Dex item if your AC is ok and you are using Zen Archery.

The Bow
Greatbow version:
Base Stats:   Composite Longbow (+3 Str)
Enhancements:      +1 Splitting, Collision, Force, Precise or Seeking, Distance

You don't really need to buy the wands of Lesser Vigor yourself. Talk your party members into chipping in for them, because they are valuable healing items.



Have you considered Soulmelds yet, cause my handbook has a suggestion:

Name:   Sighting Gloves (Expanded Soulmeld Capacity), Maxed out
Bound to:      Hands*
Name:   Incarnate Avatar† (Expanded Soulmeld Capacity, optional), Maxed out
Bound to:      Unbound
Name:   Keeneye Lenses
Bound to:      Brow
Name:   Crystal Helm
Bound to:      Unbound
Name:   Vitality Belt (Expanded Soulmeld Capacity, optional), Maxed out
Bound to:      Unbound, or Waist if it comes up enough
Name:   Lifebond Vestments
Bound to:      Unbound
Name:   Fellmist Robe† (Expanded Soulmeld Capacity), Maxed out (if not using the Incarnate Avatar)
Bound to:      Unbound
Name:   Wind Cloak
Bound to:      Unbound
Name:   Bluesteel Bracers
Bound to:      Unbound

*: Ask your DM if this bind will trigger Splitting. If so, you can replace Precise Shot on your feat list with something more useful, such as an Incarnum feat for more essentia.
†: You can't shape both of these. Pick which one is more useful (based on how you've been rolling), then use that one.

If you use the Precise Enhancement, you can free up another Chakra bind and still use the Splitting Enhancement.


Please note that you will need to use spells to get Chakra Binds, as Sapphire Hierarch does not progress them normally. You should have the spells/day to afford this though, and the Bind Soulmeld line of spells has a decent duration.

[sirpercival]

If you can, you should also get the Incarnum Domain, because Incarnum Apotheosis is just awesome (especially + Ocular Spell & DMM Persist, but that's another story).

[SleepyShadow]

Yep yep, already swapped out the Chaos domain for Incarnum. Thanks everyone for the help