Particularly caster-ly Incarnate?

[Veyr]

This isn't really planned for any particular game, but I'm wondering if an Incarnate has to gish it up to make use of its abilities? I know that is what they're best at, but what other options are there for them?

What I'm thinking is a kind of mid-line support caster: they have reasonably good defenses, so they don't have to hang way back, but ideally I'd hope to be using my actions for things other than just attacking. What ability does the Incarnate have in this area? Any alignment's fine; in fact, I'd love to hear ideas about which alignment would serve this purpose best.

Also, Sapphire Hierarch/Soulcaster/Soul Manifester are right out. This is about Incarnate. You don't literally have to be Incarnate 20, but justify to me that it is the meldshaping that is making you casterly, not some actual-caster levels.

[Zaq]

Well, UMD (Mage's Spectacles or that dragon one whose name I forget, since I refluff it to "Dwarven Ancestor" on my Incarnate. Elder Spirit?) is obvious. If you like elemental damage, Dissolving Spittle has your ranged stuff, Lightning Gauntlets covers melee (not that you're after that), and Mantle of Flame makes you an unappealing target. The Shape Soulmeld feat can be your very best friend . . . even without the totem chakra, Totemists get a fair number of casty melds, including a couple breath weapons. (I'm pretty sure that there's at least one breath weapon that doesn't require the totem bind, at least.)

[Veyr]

Thanks but... damage isn't what I'm going for, I'm looking for more support/debuff/buff/heal/battlefield control types. Especially Battlefield Control, I suppose.

UMDing it kind of goes into the same realm as the Sapphire Hierarch, Soulcaster, and Soul Manifester.

Having skimmed the Soulmelds some (gaaah, Magic of Incarnum is a difficult book to keep track of everything in, the organization really is not good), I'm not really seeing any options of the sort I'm looking for. The Necrocarnum zombies thing gives a bit of soft control, but that's a really low-level trick.

[Jude_H]

I made a list of stuff that might be useful here, but it was misleading. The Incarnate just doesn't have anything meaningfully offensive going for it after Dissolving Spittle loses its edge.

Azurin Totemist 2/Incarnate X is probably going to be the best 'Caster Incarnate' around, using the Totem Chakra for offensive options, the Incarnate class for support and UMD to fill in the gaps. If it's important for it to act like an Incarnate at low levels, a couple Shape Soulmeld feats and a bit of retraining could probably make it happen.

One thing that could be interesting, but that I'm having trouble putting together without party member support, is Flame Cincture. If there's a way for an Incarnate to self-inflict 50ish fire damage as a non-action, it'd be a meaningful bit of blasting to fit into a swift action each round.

[Zaq]

Thanks but... damage isn't what I'm going for, I'm looking for more support/debuff/buff/heal/battlefield control types. Especially Battlefield Control, I suppose.

UMDing it kind of goes into the same realm as the Sapphire Hierarch, Soulcaster, and Soul Manifester.

Having skimmed the Soulmelds some (gaaah, Magic of Incarnum is a difficult book to keep track of everything in, the organization really is not good), I'm not really seeing any options of the sort I'm looking for. The Necrocarnum zombies thing gives a bit of soft control, but that's a really low-level trick.

BfC is not the Incarnate's strong suit without UMD. Your best bet is probably poaching a breath weapon meld from the Totemist, then taking Entangling Exhalation.

Healing pretty much means the Lifebond Vestments, but I shape those almost every day on my Incarnate.

One option would be to take EWP: Harpoon (from . . . Stormwrack, I think? Maybe Frostburn) and poach the Mauling Gauntlets from the Soulborn list to get +yes to your STR checks. There are attack rolls involved, sure, but it's not terrible single-target BfC/debuffing, and no one does it quite like the Incarnate does.

Buffing is also hard, since Incarnum is very self-focused. Lucky Dice technically affects your allies, but isn't worth it. Bluesteel Bracers are the same.

Basically, Incarnates are a ton of fun and are capable of a lot, but I don't think they can do it in the way you want them to.

[Person_Man]

Thanks but... damage isn't what I'm going for, I'm looking for more support/debuff/buff/heal/battlefield control types. Especially Battlefield Control, I suppose.

Necrocarnum Circlet: As you already know, this lets you summon a necrocarnum zombie, who can be used as a tackle dummy to lock down enemies. It's worth mentioning that it has a range of 30 feet (unlike Animate Dead, which has a range of touch) and that Necrocarnum Zombies can actually be quite potent (unlike normal Zombies). So it's really quite good at battlefield control, especially if you can find a big corpse to reanimate.

Soulspark Familiar: Gives you another summoned creature, which gives your enemies another target to worry about and helps out a little with battlefield control. A nice DM will allow this to count for the Share Soulmelds feat, which drastically increases your power output.

Psion's Eyes: Mindlink at will. Handy for coordinating party activities, especially if you need to split up for some reason. Also allows for a greater degree of "talking" as a free action during combat to coordinate tactics without announcing your plans to the enemy.

Planar Chasuble: Increases your Incarnum Radiance. Once you hit 7th level, this can give everyone in your party a fairly large bonus to To-Hit, Damage, AC, or Movement (depending on your alignment). Particularly awesome if you also have a Bard to Inspire Courage and someone who focuses on summoning in your party. It takes some coordination (especially on alignment), but it's an amazing way to flood the field with effective allies.

Necrocarnum Shroud: Fear can be a handy battlefield control tool against some enemies. Although this soulmeld has a short duration, this can be a handy Fear effect when combined with other Fear effects, and it lacks the "once you've passed a Save you are immune" language that many other Fear effects have, and it doesn't require any action to activate.

Fearsome Mask: Another Fear effect which you could stack with others. Though this is a Soulborn soulmeld, you might want to invest a feat to get it, because it has a longer duration then Necrocarnum Shroud and only need to be bound to the Brow chakra.

Theraputic Mantle: Increases the effectiveness of any "spell or effect that heals hit point damage" on you. The overlooked trick with this soulmeld is that it specifically works on any effect that heals hit points, and not just spells. Fast Healing 1 becomes Fast Healing 1 + essentia invested, an investment in the Divine Spirit stance would mean that every melee attack you make would heal you 2 + essentia invested, a Vampiric Weapon enhancement would heal 1d6 + essentia on each attack, and so on. Stack 3-4 different sources of healing on yourself, throw a couple other defensive soulmelds, and you're essentially an unstopable. If you also have Lifebond Vestments shaped and bound to your Heart chakra, you get unlimited healing.

Arcane Focus: I know that you don't want to use spells or UMD. But if you did, this would let you add a Daze effect to a spell, which is a very potent lockdown effect (since almost nothing is immune). Also, the Save DC is based on the soulmeld, and not your spell. So you can use a Quickened Acid Splash or something similar to great effect. There's also the Psionic Focus soulmeld, which does the same thing for psionics.

Illusion Veil: Again, I know that you're not interested in wands or Soulcaster. But if you did want to use Wands, this is a phenominal way to improve the Save DC of Illusion spells, which can do a huge variety of different things.

[Veyr]

Zaq: Thanks for those notes; the bits with the breath weapons is a pretty nifty idea, and I'm not completely opposed to the harpoon idea, even though it's a bit different from what I had in mind.

Person_Man: Awesome, thanks! That's a lot of ideas; I appreciate it. It's not (entirely) that I want to completely avoid Soulcaster or what have you, more that I was trying to get at what Incarnum, itself, could do. I like the stacking fear effects; that's interesting. Dipping Bard for Inspire Courage and stacking it with Incarnum Radiance might be interesting; a bit MAD there but only if I really use those features. Hrm, hrm. Thanks, that gives me some to think on.