The Handbook to Kill a Yak...With MIND BULLETS! I mean Arrows! [Soulbow, WIP]

[RMS Oceanic]

Gestalt

The current school of thought surrounding Gestalt is that one side should contain the "Active" components - what you use to fight and engage with the world - and the other is the character "Chassis" - the base attributes. The Soulbow is a curious case in this regards. With d10 hit dice and good reflex and will saves we have the makings of a decent chassis, but it also provides the primary weapon of the character. In this regards the Soulbow's weakness is the medium BAB progression, the poor fortitude save and mediocre skills, so one should consider a class that shores these up. Another advantage of Gestalt is that one is less tempted to abandon the Soulclasses in favour of picking up more important abilities, allowing your Mind arrows to develop more naturally.

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Fighter: The overlapping d10s hurt, but Fighter//Soulbow helps out in three areas: Base Attack Bonus, fortitude save and lovely lovely feats. Possibly not the most exciting choice, but it allows you to really get your A-Game in the archery department.

Ranger: Similarly to the fighter you gain important feats for your combat style, but in addition you are a more effective skill monkey and gain important archery spells.

Swift Hunter: Comes into its own if you can't (or won't) use two-weapon fighting. You have less arrows, so make them count. Also has many advantages of the Ranger, but you have to wait a while to get them.

Cleric: In a way Soulbow is the Junior Partner here. A simple Cleric Progression doesn't need much help to be an effective archer, but providing the weapon, better hit dice and a good reflex save means this is a viable combination.

Swordsage: Unfortunately there isn't much offensive power in the Tome of Battle for ranged weapons, and what little there is surrounds thrown weapons. That said Swordsage's use of Wisdom compliments your combat style, and it's possible to instead rely on Boosts and Counters rather than Strikes to get a good solid use.

Warblade:The same Tome of Battle problems with Swordsage apply here. The Warblade's love of Intelligence isn't shared by the Soulbow, but like the Fighter it shores up your saves and base attack bonus with a sprinkling of extra feats.

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