Kensai-Soulbow?

[dyslexicfaser]

Wasn't sure if this was the right place for it, but why not?

I was recently looking into making a Soulknife-Soulbow-Kensai - sort of a martial temple priest. Is this build the stuff of madness, or does it actually work together? Would I, for example, be allowed to make a Kensai signature bow and fire soulbow mind arrows with it? Or would all the enhancements and plusses clash?

[Person_Man]

Yes, you can do it.

Soulknife 2/Whatever 3/Soulbow 5/Kensai 10

However, its not a good idea.

Kensai make respectable archers. For a minor xp investment, they get a +1 Flaming Shocking Wounding Etc. Ad Nauseam Longbow. They have a friend cast Greater Magic Weapon on it to increase the enhancement bonus. And then they dump all the money they've saved on a magic bow into a wide variety of magic ammo.

Soulbows get bonus feats and free nifty ammo. But the ammo doesn't really scale well. And they lack full BAB. And they require two levels of Soulknife (which sucks) as a pre-req.

So I'd avoid this particular combo.

[dyslexicfaser]

Thanks Person_man, but even if it's suboptimal, I like the idea too much to just drop it entirely.

Since a soulknife gets weapon focus (mindblade), and mind arrows are an extension of the Throw Mindblade skill, is it too much of a stretch to cut out the middle man and have the kensai signature weapon be a mindblade/mind arrow? I don't have access to my books right now, so I can't look up how kensai works, exactly.

[Hyfigh]

They're better than first mentioned.

*Snip*Your mind arrows improve as you gain higher levels. At 3rd level, a mind arrow gains a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls, and at 7th level the bonus improves to +2. These enhancement bonuses stack with previous enhancement bonuses gained earlier for your soulknife class levels. Likewise, these enhancement bonuses also improve your soulknife base attack bonus. If your return to your soulknife class progression, these mind arrow enhancement bonuses on attack and damage are cumulative bonuses on top of any new enhancement bonuses gained, and they benefit both your mind blade and mind arrows.*Snip*

Emphasis mine. Boost that enhancement bonus for a great boost to your BAB.

I also don't see the weapon focus question being much of a concern unless your DM is too RAW.

[dyslexicfaser]

That strikes me as a typo (having the enhancements of soulknife and soulbow stack would make more sense) but... RAW is RAW, I guess.

[Person_Man]

Hyfigh, I think that when they used the term "base attack bonus" that they meant to say "attack and damage bonus."

But screw it, they wrote what they wrote. It's not an uber PrC, so as DM I'd allow a Soulknife 4/Fighter 1/Soulbow 7 to have +12 BAB. dyslexicfaser, you'll have to check with your DM about his call on this.

A Soulknife/Kensai can imbue his Mind Blade. He can't normally imbue ammo. I'm not sure where Mind Arrows would fit. If your DM allows it, I think you'd end up with the equivalent of +12 Mind Arrows that you could then shoot from a magical bow.

However, I'd warn you that all non-caster archer builds tend to become very boring. You do the exact same thing (Move and use Greater Manyshot or stand still and use Rapidshot) almost every turn of almost every combat. Using a variety of special ammo can add a Green Arrow like effect to your PC, but this build wouldn't have that.

Though admittedly, firing MIRV nuclear missiles every round is pretty cool.

[dyslexicfaser]

However, I'd warn you that all non-caster archer builds tend to become very boring.

Truer words were never spoken.

But then, my last character was a power attack guy, so I'm very familiar with attacking, and attacking, and attacking until someone is dead.

[Fawsto]

Needing advice on wich enchants to put on with that Kensai levels? Exploding and Knockback is quite interesting. You are Basicaly shooting missiles with your bow. But yeah, dont forget some nifty damage increasing ones.

[Thinker]

Hyfigh, I think that when they used the term "base attack bonus" that they meant to say "attack and damage bonus."

But screw it, they wrote what they wrote. It's not an uber PrC, so as DM I'd allow a Soulknife 4/Fighter 1/Soulbow 7 to have +12 BAB. dyslexicfaser, you'll have to check with your DM about his call on this.

A Soulknife/Kensai can imbue his Mind Blade. He can't normally imbue ammo. I'm not sure where Mind Arrows would fit. If your DM allows it, I think you'd end up with the equivalent of +12 Mind Arrows that you could then shoot from a magical bow.

However, I'd warn you that all non-caster archer builds tend to become very boring. You do the exact same thing (Move and use Greater Manyshot or stand still and use Rapidshot) almost every turn of almost every combat. Using a variety of special ammo can add a Green Arrow like effect to your PC, but this build wouldn't have that.

Though admittedly, firing MIRV nuclear missiles every round is pretty cool.

That is why I'm partial to the Sublime Way variant of the Ranger someone homebrewed, here: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=738077