Psyren
2015-08-28, 09:31 AM
Summary:
As you all may know, one of the big disadvantages of the Unchained Monk (at least, as of this writing) is that it isn't compatible with any of the existing monk archetypes. This has left several folks who enjoyed the old Zen Archer archetype feeling glum.
The trick below should let you get the core of that archetype (flurry with bows + Wis to attack) back onto an Unchained Monk, without houserules. Basically it involves getting Guided Hand and Crusader's Flurry onto an Unchained Monk so that they can treat a longbow as a monk weapon. The key is that neither Crusader's Flurry nor Guided Hand appear to be for melee weapons only - they should both apply to ranged weapons as well, and flurry of blows itself can be used with ranged monk weapons (presumably thanks to the shuriken.)
Ingredients:
- Unchained Monk (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/monk-unchained)
- Cleric dip (or VMC Cleric (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/character-advancement#TOC-Core-Classes)) for Channel Energy. This trick is feat-intensive however so VMC should only be used if you're allowed to retrain earlier feats.
- Guided Hand (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/-guided-hand), which also requires Channel Smite (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/channel-smite-combat)
- Crusader's Flurry (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/crusader-s-flurry), which also requires Weapon Focus (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/weapon-focus-combat---final), which also requires proficiency with the chosen weapon.
- Worship a deity with a bow as their favored weapon. (Erastil is a good choice as he is major and LG.) If you went with the cleric dip, you now also have proficiency with the bow; if you went VMC instead, you need an alternate route (I personally prefer the Heirloom Weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/equipment-traits/heirloom-weapon) trait, or you can go with a racial option too.)
- Optional: Ki Channel (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/ki-channel) so you get some practical use out of your channel ability.
Method:
1) Unchained Monk gives you its sweet, sweet penalty-less flurry, which can be used with any "monk" weapon.
2) Cleric dip or VMC Cleric = you get a deity (well, you didn't need a class to get this) and channel energy at 1 or 7. You also get a domain for added goodies (I'm a fan of War->Tactics.) You now have a deity with a bow (or other ranged weapon of choice) as its favored weapon. If you went with the cleric dip option, you also have proficiency with this weapon automatically.; if you went with VMC instead, just take the Heirloom Weapon trait to get proficiency with your bow without spending another feat. Now you also qualify for Weapon Focus with that weapon, letting you qualify for Crusader's Flurry.
3) Take Weapon Focus with your bow, and Crusader's Flurry - now your bow is treated as a monk weapon, allowing you to flurry with it. For a monk with high Dex you can actually stop here, but if you want Wis to attack as well, keep going.
4) The Channel you got in step 2 qualifies you for Channel Smite. This one is melee weapons only and your Cha is likely to suck anyway, so you can ignore it as an unfortunate feat tax.
5) Now you qualify for Guided Hand - take it and enjoy Wis to attack with your favored weapon.
Napkin Math:
End result: Wis to attack with a bow, and ability to flurry with a bow, using the Unchained Monk's flurry. This gives you up to 5 attacks at full BAB (BAB, Flurry 1, Flurry 2, Haste/Speed bow and Ki) by level 20, followed by three more iteratives (15, 10 and 5) for 8 attacks total. If you have Manyshot, your first attack will launch two arrows for 6 attacks at full BAB and 9 attacks total. Add in Rapid Shot (note: I'm not totally clear on whether this works with unchained flurry) and you get 10 attacks, at the cost of all your attacks now taking -2, for a total of: (+18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +13, +8, +3) at level 20.
If you went with the Cleric dip rather than VMC, subtract 1 from each number above.
With the cleric dip, you can get the whole thing as early as 5 if you're human.
clvl 1: Cleric 1 - Channel Smite, longbow proficiency (worship Erastil), Human: Guided Hand
clvl 3: Clr 1/Mnk 2 - Weapon Focus (Longbow)
clvl 5: Clr 1/Mnk 4 - Crusader's Flurry
With VMC + retraining you can get it as early as 9.
Human Monk VMC Cleric 9: {channel energy}, 1st Channel Smite (retrained), Human 1st Guided Hand (retrained), 5th Weapon Focus (retrained), 9th Crusader's Flurry.
The advantage to the VMC route is that you get more domain powers and your channel scales, which means more ki from Ki Channel if you can squeeze it in.
Can someone check my reasoning and see if I missed anything?
As you all may know, one of the big disadvantages of the Unchained Monk (at least, as of this writing) is that it isn't compatible with any of the existing monk archetypes. This has left several folks who enjoyed the old Zen Archer archetype feeling glum.
The trick below should let you get the core of that archetype (flurry with bows + Wis to attack) back onto an Unchained Monk, without houserules. Basically it involves getting Guided Hand and Crusader's Flurry onto an Unchained Monk so that they can treat a longbow as a monk weapon. The key is that neither Crusader's Flurry nor Guided Hand appear to be for melee weapons only - they should both apply to ranged weapons as well, and flurry of blows itself can be used with ranged monk weapons (presumably thanks to the shuriken.)
Ingredients:
- Unchained Monk (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/monk-unchained)
- Cleric dip (or VMC Cleric (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/character-advancement#TOC-Core-Classes)) for Channel Energy. This trick is feat-intensive however so VMC should only be used if you're allowed to retrain earlier feats.
- Guided Hand (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/-guided-hand), which also requires Channel Smite (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/channel-smite-combat)
- Crusader's Flurry (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/crusader-s-flurry), which also requires Weapon Focus (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/weapon-focus-combat---final), which also requires proficiency with the chosen weapon.
- Worship a deity with a bow as their favored weapon. (Erastil is a good choice as he is major and LG.) If you went with the cleric dip, you now also have proficiency with the bow; if you went VMC instead, you need an alternate route (I personally prefer the Heirloom Weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/equipment-traits/heirloom-weapon) trait, or you can go with a racial option too.)
- Optional: Ki Channel (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/ki-channel) so you get some practical use out of your channel ability.
Method:
1) Unchained Monk gives you its sweet, sweet penalty-less flurry, which can be used with any "monk" weapon.
2) Cleric dip or VMC Cleric = you get a deity (well, you didn't need a class to get this) and channel energy at 1 or 7. You also get a domain for added goodies (I'm a fan of War->Tactics.) You now have a deity with a bow (or other ranged weapon of choice) as its favored weapon. If you went with the cleric dip option, you also have proficiency with this weapon automatically.; if you went with VMC instead, just take the Heirloom Weapon trait to get proficiency with your bow without spending another feat. Now you also qualify for Weapon Focus with that weapon, letting you qualify for Crusader's Flurry.
3) Take Weapon Focus with your bow, and Crusader's Flurry - now your bow is treated as a monk weapon, allowing you to flurry with it. For a monk with high Dex you can actually stop here, but if you want Wis to attack as well, keep going.
4) The Channel you got in step 2 qualifies you for Channel Smite. This one is melee weapons only and your Cha is likely to suck anyway, so you can ignore it as an unfortunate feat tax.
5) Now you qualify for Guided Hand - take it and enjoy Wis to attack with your favored weapon.
Napkin Math:
End result: Wis to attack with a bow, and ability to flurry with a bow, using the Unchained Monk's flurry. This gives you up to 5 attacks at full BAB (BAB, Flurry 1, Flurry 2, Haste/Speed bow and Ki) by level 20, followed by three more iteratives (15, 10 and 5) for 8 attacks total. If you have Manyshot, your first attack will launch two arrows for 6 attacks at full BAB and 9 attacks total. Add in Rapid Shot (note: I'm not totally clear on whether this works with unchained flurry) and you get 10 attacks, at the cost of all your attacks now taking -2, for a total of: (+18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +18, +13, +8, +3) at level 20.
If you went with the Cleric dip rather than VMC, subtract 1 from each number above.
With the cleric dip, you can get the whole thing as early as 5 if you're human.
clvl 1: Cleric 1 - Channel Smite, longbow proficiency (worship Erastil), Human: Guided Hand
clvl 3: Clr 1/Mnk 2 - Weapon Focus (Longbow)
clvl 5: Clr 1/Mnk 4 - Crusader's Flurry
With VMC + retraining you can get it as early as 9.
Human Monk VMC Cleric 9: {channel energy}, 1st Channel Smite (retrained), Human 1st Guided Hand (retrained), 5th Weapon Focus (retrained), 9th Crusader's Flurry.
The advantage to the VMC route is that you get more domain powers and your channel scales, which means more ki from Ki Channel if you can squeeze it in.
Can someone check my reasoning and see if I missed anything?