Can Solar Channeler be Optimized Effectively? [3.5]

[Tokuhara]

This is actually a question of pure curiosity. I decided to brush up on my PrCs and stumbled across one I hadn't looked at in a long time: Solar Channeler from Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. I was intrigued, seeing a 7/10 Casting PrC that basically turned you into a Solar by burning Turn Undead uses, and the capstone gives you minutes/turn attempt, meaning that you can burn 1 Turn Attempt and be a Solar for 10 rounds, which is HOT. Now I know DMM is king, but here's my question:

Can you effectively and flavorfully optimize Solar Channeler 1-10?

[CyberThread]

oh this lovely mess of a thing...

No not really...leveling up in it is painful, and being one is pointless, as you can't use any spells or class abilities anyways, besides what a solar is.

[Tokuhara]

oh this lovely mess of a thing...

No not really...leveling up in it is painful, and being one is pointless, as you can't use any spells or class abilities anyways, besides what a solar is.

I read that, but at the same time, it's so fluffy. It screams (to my sick demented mind at least) Lesser Aasimar Gish Cleric/Prestige Paladin/Solar Channeler/Knight of the Raven. A sort of "Taste My Justice" Cleric

[CyberThread]

eh Yeah, but to get anything really out of it, you would lack the others, and leveling , besides the usual cleric stuff, would be sort of painful, compared to other choices.


The book says no class features, or spells may be used...I don't know if feats count as class features, or if you lose out on stuff if you gain it from a template.

but if you really wanted SOMETHING, maybe a phernic template ? It does not use spells, and would grant you stuff outside a normal solars domain.

Does the book say you gain a solars SLA's?

[Big Fau]

The biggest problem it has is that it absorbs your equipment. A Paladin with VoP and the Worldly Focus feat from FoE could do a decent job of it, but then you are a VoP Paladin until you enter the PrC (which would mean Paladin 9 unless you boost your Turn Undead ability).

[Silva Stormrage]

The biggest problem it has is that it absorbs your equipment. A Paladin with VoP and the Worldly Focus feat from FoE could do a decent job of it, but then you are a VoP Paladin until you enter the PrC (which would mean Paladin 9 unless you boost your Turn Undead ability).

Do wilding clasps specify just preventing item merging with wildshape? Or would they help here?

[tyckspoon]

Does the book say you gain a solars SLA's?

Nope. It doesn't even turn you into a Solar, really- it turns you into a bad Fighter with wings (and does something really weird to your attack routine.) If you got to Shapechange into a Solar by 10th level(maybe minus the spellcasting) it'd actually be pretty neat, but for what it actually does.. ugh. Giving up your gear and spells in order to be an ineffective beatstick? No thanks. The most optimizable ability on this class is actually the one it gets at 1st level - using a single Turn Undead to Quicken or range-cast a Cure spell is pretty interesting if you want to make a healing-focused build.

[Big Fau]

Do wilding clasps specify just preventing item merging with wildshape? Or would they help here?

Just Wild Shape.