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monty
2009-04-27, 06:35 PM
A couple of the other threads discussing Complete Psionic got me looking at the Soulbow a little more. I noticed that mind arrows get Wis to damage, and thought that might make a reasonably effective cleric archer. Since I was planning to play a cleric anyway in an upcoming campaign, this might be something fun to try.

So how would I go about optimizing this? Soulknife 2/Cleric 3/Soulbow 1/Cleric X seems like the natural progression, but I'm not sure where to go from there. Other prestige classes? Feats beyond the obvious? Specific spells and items that might be more useful in this build?

28 point buy, starting at level 9 with standard wealth, if anyone wants to post a complete build. Also, the character will probably be evil.

Starbuck_II
2009-04-27, 06:46 PM
1) Zen Archery or is that too obvious?
2) Twfing feats or Gloves of Balanced hand.
3) Rapid Shot: extra attack.

A notable feature is you get one arrow per attack you could get.

monty
2009-04-27, 06:50 PM
1) Zen Archery or is that too obvious?

Yeah, I figured that, because that way I'd only need 13 Dex for Rapid Shot (well, actually 14, because I hate odd stats).

Mr.Bookworm
2009-04-27, 07:07 PM
I have zero idea if there's actually a PrC like this (probably not), but some Mystic Theurge type PrC that advances Soulbow and Clerics sounds completely reasonable. Talk to your DM about that.

If not, I'd say Soulknife 2/Cleric 5/Soulbow 2. Maybe advance Soulbow to 4th when you can, so you can use your soul arrows in melee. Possibly 6th, depending on what you want to do.

Grab Zen Archery with your Soulbow bonus feat. This makes you pretty much SAD.

Taking this out to the logical 20th level conclusion (most games don't run that far, but what the heck), you end up with Soulknife 2/Cleric 14/Soulbow 4. 7th level spells and mind arrows, not bad.

Also, if there's a Practiced Spellcaster Cleric-equivalent somewhere, you probably want to grab that.

Kylarra
2009-04-27, 07:08 PM
You probably don't want to give up too much casting, but that said, it'd probably be worthwhile to pick up soulbow 4.

Soulbow 2 is pretty much non-negotiable and gets you a +1 enhancement effect of your choice (Bane, Distance, Flaming, Frost, Lucky, Merciful, Psychokinetic, Returning, Seeking, Shock). The 4 psionic levels spent can be accounted for with the practiced spellcaster feat anyway.


3 and 4 continue to increment your BAB (assuming not fractionals, if fractional, then this part is irrelevant), and gives you the ability to attack without provoking AoOs (Soulbow 3 alone gives a nice, if irrelevant, +1 bonus to attack/dmg and a random bonus feat). Maybe not worth giving up your highest end spells for, but depends on your concept.

Chronos
2009-04-27, 07:10 PM
Also, if there's a Practiced Spellcaster Cleric-equivalent somewhere, you probably want to grab that.Yeah, it's called Practiced Spellcaster.

Mr.Bookworm
2009-04-27, 07:11 PM
Yeah, it's called Practiced Spellcaster.

*checks*

...Howabout that. I thought it was just for arcane spellcasters.

Excuse me while I go curl up in a corner somewhere.

Starbuck_II
2009-04-27, 07:13 PM
Lucky is almost too good: Remember the bow (there is no bow) isn't lucky, the arrows are.

I'll let that sink in.
Done?
That means each arrow has 1/day lucky. That means by RAW each attack can rerolled if you don't like the resulted roll (before rolling damage of course).

It basically adds a situational +1-10 to hit (depending on what you rolled)

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-04-27, 07:17 PM
It would definitely not be as good as just a single-classed Cleric Archer with a normal bow. One of the buffs that makes the build so good is Greater Magic Weapon, which cannot be cast on Mind Arrows that have not yet materialized. You're also losing out on three levels of spellcasting ability, delaying your higher level buffs. Mind Arrows are good because you get free enhancement bonuses and special properties when you take more Soulbow levels, which means missing out on even more Cleric spellcasting.

The only way I could see it working out would be in a gestalt game, and even then a gestalt cleric/fighter makes a better archer than a gestalt cleric/soulbow.

I would just go with a standard Cleric Archer, rather than trying to mix it with Soulbow.

monty
2009-04-27, 07:21 PM
If not, I'd say Soulknife 2/Cleric 5/Soulbow 2. Maybe advance Soulbow to 4th when you can, so you can use your soul arrows in melee. Possibly 6th, depending on what you want to do.

Soulbow 2 might be worth it, but I don't want to lose more caster levels than I have to, and since I still have most of the standard 'zilla options, I don't think getting stuck in melee will be too much of a problem.


Lucky is almost too good: Remember the bow (there is no bow) isn't lucky, the arrows are.

I'll let that sink in.
Done?
That means each arrow has 1/day lucky. That means by RAW each attack can rerolled if you don't like the resulted roll (before rolling damage of course).

It basically adds a situational +1-10 to hit (depending on what you rolled)

For some reason, I don't think my DM will go for that.

Bluebeard
2009-04-27, 07:41 PM
Psychic Warrior 1/Cleric 19's going to be a far better bet with the same fluff.
For some reason I think of Soulbow as a Chaos Incarnate class, but not much else.

But for a Cleric/Soulbow, I'd recommend Cloistered variant for knowledge skills.
Church Inquisitor gives Knowledge Devotion at level 1 with easy prerequisites (KD is disguised as the Inquisition domain, but don't let that fool you). Grab it at level 6.
Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Zen Archery, Holy Warrior, Practiced Spellcaster and Quicken Spell are all pretty much required.
(*Maybe not Holy Warrior, but extra damage never hurts, especially with the build you're looking at)