Nightstalker Optimization?

[Giegue]

The Nightstalker class from Races of Ansalon just seems awesome to me, yet, I am having trouble seeing how to build one to be effective. The class wants to be a skill monkey, but only gets 4+ Int modifier skill points. The class has casting, but it is similar to a bard's and thus not enough to be a "dedicated caster." It gets some nice bonuses to skills, and at higher levels awesome ghostly cohorts, but I am still not sure what to focus a nightstalker build on due to a lack of skill points to spend. Should I bother at all with melee and weapons finesse? Or does the MAD from needing strength for damage make that not a good idea? If so would it be better to forget melee and make an archer/scout character that uses undead minions and battlefield control via UMD to tie up foes while I plink from afar in combat and outside of combat uses my incorporeal allies and skills and trapfinding to be a scout? If this is a better route, what feats ect.. should I take?

Also, the rebuke undead power I get is inferior to that of a cleric, and since the nightstalker is highly cha-based and a divine caster it screams out for Divine feats, but which ones would be best for a nightstalker? Would DMM be worth it with my limited spell list or not? What other divine feats would be useful?

Any tips and opinions for optimizing a Nightstalker would be greatly appreciated.

[eggs]

I can see a few ways to do this, but most of them are dedicated to one or two tricks, which don't necessarily come together until level 6

Ray/Wand specialist. Requires Empower, DMM: Split Ray. Metamagic Spell Trigger is also good. Don't let anything scary start a fight with less than a -23 Strength.

An unarmed fighting Nightstalker with Snap Kick, DMM: Fell Drain and Death Devotion can crank out quite a few negative levels a round, by holding its Chill Touch charge. Pretty good endurance, too. A Spell-storing Necklace of Natural attacks would let you toss a Vampiric Touch into the mix, as well.

I'm sure there's a way to combine archery, death devotion and some sort of common ranged debuff, to spew negative levels and other negative effects along with arrows. I'm drawing a blank as far as a way to tie the mechanics together, though.

With LA buyoff, the Dark Template from Tome of Magic is very nice, rather thematic and can allow something like a human meet the Nightstalker's membership fluff.

Don't underestimate the Ghost. It's a beast. Telekinesis makes the cohort an excellent blaster, so long as it remains stocked with comically oversized ammunition. Master of the Unseen Hand levels agree very well with Ghosts. Their Appearance/touch attacks stack nicely with Nightstalker's rays. Possession can also make it into a hefty meat-wall

[Mithril Leaf]

Although I don't know much in the way of the class, going off what eggs said, as far as unarmed combat, if you can swing a 1 level dip in Soul eater, you get level drain on your attacks by default. I think it would fit thematically with the build, and wouldn't be that painful.