help with shape soulmeld suggestions for thief of life

[Venger]

so, I'm building a thief of life, and I'd like to be able to use its bonus essentia for something.

the amount of essentia available is a little on the low side (1 from borrow, 1/2 enemy HD from steal immortality) but it seems like a waste not to do anything at all with it.

what are good melds for a sneak attack character who is mainly social/skill focused? I know that I won't have a lot of essentia, so ones that need it to be useful probably arent' the best. when should I take shape soulmeld? I'm starting at 3 and have my 3rd level slot free. is open chakra (x) worth it? I know it depends on the meld used, and am open to suggestions.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Actually, there's a perfect use for Essentia for a sneaky character...

Umbral Disciple 3 nets effective HiPS and always-on Concealment with the investment of at least 2 essentia (more essentia increases your miss chance due to concealment

The other thing is that while the feat lets you shape it, it doesn't necessarily allow you to bind it to a chakra point. This is an important distinction and limits your options. Open x Chakra feat also doesn't necessarily give you the ability to use it either, since the number of soulmelds you can bind at a given time is a class feature of the meldshaping classes.

[Venger]

Actually, there's a perfect use for Essentia for a sneaky character...

Umbral Disciple 3 nets effective HiPS and always-on Concealment with the investment of at least 2 essentia (more essentia increases your miss chance due to concealment

The other thing is that while the feat lets you shape it, it doesn't necessarily allow you to bind it to a chakra point. This is an important distinction and limits your options. Open x Chakra feat also doesn't necessarily give you the ability to use it either, since the number of soulmelds you can bind at a given time is a class feature of the meldshaping classes.

my class levels are already planned unfortunately. umbral disciple is indeed good at that.

yep, I'm clear on the distinction between shaping and binding to a chakra, which I know does give different effects. I think that I'll really only have room for 1, burning more than 1 feat seems a little much given what I'll be gaining from it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Bluesteel Bracers gives you a bonus to Initiative and Essentia as Insight bonus to attack and damage.

Incarnate Weapon basically gives you a weapon you can summon at-will, and essentia investment gives you enhancement bonus to attack and damage. Basically gives you everything useful out of Soulknife with a single feat.

Adamant Pauldrons gives you Light Fortification and essentia invested gives you DR

Dissolving Spittle gives you a ranged touch attack you can sneak attack with. Essentia increases base damage.

Planar Ward suppresses mental control effects (like Protection from Evil), essentia grants bonus to resist Sp or Su effects from extraplanar critters

Fellmist Robes grant you Concealment against ranged attacks.

Blink Shirt nets you at-will usage of DimDoor, essentia invested increases range.

Totem Avatar gives bonus hit points and essentia invested gives you natural armor bonus to AC

Wormtail Belt also gives you Natural Armor bonus, with essentia invested giving you more.

Those are about the only ones you'd be interested in, but see sig for a more complete list.

[Venger]

very thorough handbook! thanks for the short list. as much as I enjoy dissolving spittle, as you said in your handbook, the effect is easily replicable with a wand of acid splash.

thanks for the joker bard! as a matter of fact, this character is built in that general spirit (has changeling rogue and spymaster) so I'm glad to have your help.

I will likely be going with the fellmist robe (can't bind it, but that's ok) since it'll provide a tangible effect when I gain more essentia points and is still useful shaped. plus rogues don't need armor that much, so I can have it shaped all the time

[ShneekeyTheLost]

very thorough handbook! thanks for the short list. as much as I enjoy dissolving spittle, as you said in your handbook, the effect is easily replicable with a wand of acid splash.

thanks for the joker bard! as a matter of fact, this character is built in that general spirit (has changeling rogue and spymaster) so I'm glad to have your help.

I will likely be going with the fellmist robe (can't bind it, but that's ok) since it'll provide a tangible effect when I gain more essentia points and is still useful shaped. plus rogues don't need armor that much, so I can have it shaped all the time

Rogues do need armor, but just shaping a soulmeld won't block armor slots, only binding it will. By the way, have you seen Shadowed or Silent armor enhancements? They go great on Mithral Chain Shirt for some sick bonuses to Hide and Move Silently. I call it my 'sneak suit', and it only costs around 9k total (1k for the armor, 1k for the+1, and 7k for the two enhancements), which is very reasonable for mid level gameplay.

Fellmist Robes is a very strong soulmeld for a Rogue. Just remember that it just gives a Concealment Miss Chance, which the GM may not allow you to qualify as actual concealment for purposes of being able to make a Hide check, and it only works against things not in melee.

[Venger]

Rogues do need armor, but just shaping a soulmeld won't block armor slots, only binding it will. By the way, have you seen Shadowed or Silent armor enhancements? They go great on Mithral Chain Shirt for some sick bonuses to Hide and Move Silently. I call it my 'sneak suit', and it only costs around 9k total (1k for the armor, 1k for the+1, and 7k for the two enhancements), which is very reasonable for mid level gameplay.

Fellmist Robes is a very strong soulmeld for a Rogue. Just remember that it just gives a Concealment Miss Chance, which the GM may not allow you to qualify as actual concealment for purposes of being able to make a Hide check, and it only works against things not in melee.

whoops! I had remembered it the other way around, I thought shaped took up a slot and bound didn't, but I got it backwards.

oh, I know rogues need some help with AC (rogues need everything, they're kind of difficult like that) I just meant that if it was a choice between an MCS and this cool fellmist robe to make use of my essentia, I was going with the meld. it is awfully nice not to have to choose.

I'm aware of those, they're on my shopping list, but we're starting at 3rd level, so that's a bit off in the future.

I'll ask about whether it allows a hide check. I can see it being argued either way. even if it's not usable in melee since opening the soul chakra's an epic feat, it's still very good

[ShneekeyTheLost]

whoops! I had remembered it the other way around, I thought shaped took up a slot and bound didn't, but I got it backwards.

oh, I know rogues need some help with AC (rogues need everything, they're kind of difficult like that) I just meant that if it was a choice between an MCS and this cool fellmist robe to make use of my essentia, I was going with the meld. it is awfully nice not to have to choose.

I'm aware of those, they're on my shopping list, but we're starting at 3rd level, so that's a bit off in the future.

I'll ask about whether it allows a hide check. I can see it being argued either way. even if it's not usable in melee since opening the soul chakra's an epic feat, it's still very good

Oh, no doubt, it's probably one of the best options for a rogue. The other strong candidates are Blink Shirt for at-will DimDoor and Acidic Spittle. The former is more for out-of-combat positioning. Getting yourself into and out of tight spots, blinking past guards, quick escape from an outside wall to outside of the wall... fun times. Acid Spittle for no-cost ranged touch attack to snipe with.

If you were going to be a stealthy bastard, Blink Shirt is a hell of a lot less conspicuous than a rolling fog that moves around. If you were wanting a ranged sniping toy, Acid Spittle is a (Su) ability, thus SR does not apply.

Fellmist Robes, however, pretty much help negate ranged attacks as a serious threat. Ranged attacks which may include Orb of X spells winging in at you, since your Evasion pretty much laughs at any area-effect blastomancy.

In all, solid choice. Miss Chance generally is better than AC anyways, so you made the good call.