Elf: free access to Arcane Archer

DEX: put every single point into it, no exceptions.  Start with max DEX (20 on an elf) and put the remainig points into CON; anything left over goes into CHA.

5 ROG levels: you're going to need to UMD heal scrolls in order to stay alive; raise dead/ressurection scrolls are good too, and this gives you the action point neccessary to accomplish that.  Between this investment, and a random piece of CHA gear, you can no-fail UMD heal/rez scrolls.  You also get Uncanny Dodge, which hels keep your ass alive when shit gets real in the hood.  You'll also have lots of AP left over to invest in other things: jump and tumble are good: especially when combined with Unearthly Reactions.  Also, you get an extra 3d6 sneak attack dice with no investment, an extra 1d6 from the Assasin tree, and acess to the Mechanic tree: up to +8 damage from Sharpshooter with an additiona 4d6 sneak dice; that's a total of 8d6 sneak dice.  Also, scroll mastery will make those heal scroll go off for more HP.  Don't invest in trapping, don't bother with traps, put a single AP into open lock, but invest no further; you just want to open up the ability and let your DEX score carry you through. If may take multiple tries, but locks don't blow up!

3 FVS levels.  Follow the Silver Flame Path: long bow favored weapon.  Child of the Flame feat=+1 damage (auto granted), Warpriest enhacement line=+3 damage, Inflame buff=+4 damage, Divine Favor spell=+1 damage.

12 FTR levels: long bow Weapon Focuses and Weapon Specializations.

If you're going to TR @ 20, do whatever.  If you're going to take this to 28 and beyond, take ROG at level 1, FTR lvl 2, fvs lvl 3; then fighter/fvs all the way intil your last INT tome kicks in, then take the remaing 4 ROG levels: you get extra AP that way.

FORGET ABOUT MONK: 10k stars requires an investment in WIS, meaning a 3 way split between DEX, CON, and WIS.  Monkchers and shuriken builds generally have low DPS, low HP, or low reflex save because of this.  Skip it.

Asheras wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 11:48am:


I was working up a similar post and want to echo this.

The AP costs are as follows:
31AP in AA, 11 in Elf to open AA, and 31AP in Kensei. That only leaves 7AP and it would cost 11AP minimum to get Sniper Shot from DWS. So basically you're giving up either crit threat range or Sniper Shot (and a lot of other goodies) due to the 31AP you're spending in Kensei.

I've got some more thoughts I'm going to post in another post about class split.

It seams the ways to improve crit range/threat by going ftr are just 2 then...kensei T5 and 18 core elf AA...lame..

Btw poor ten thousands star is better than no tts at all,even with low wis and mnk levels or I missing anythink (also mnk with earth stance got higher crit mult).

nietzsche wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 12:08pm:


You're dead-on with the crit range/threat and the deeper I looked at this build those are completely class agnostic (other than your main class of Fighter). You could build 8 fighter/6 cleric/6 wizard and still have the right class mix to fit in the crit range/threat.

nietzsche wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 12:08pm:


That would depend on what you could get otherwise. I'm playing around with those options right now and just about to toss out a few suggestions.

nietzsche wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 12:08pm:


wrong: it now shares a cooldown with manyshot.

Asheras wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 12:15pm:



...because you don't know shit about ranged builds, nigger!

If you want a OP ranged build, I'll post that shit; the damage is literally impossible to improve upon.

nietzsche wrote on Nov 5^th, 2015 at 12:27pm:

I was going to suggest X-Bow as a better synergy build, but you said you had a bunch of bows and wanted to try archery.

A fighter/mechanic x-bow build would be far faster leveling.

Some options:

• Your original split of 8fig/6rng/6mnk is fine. There's definitely some value in the free feats from ranger as well as 10k stars (as poor as it is on this build) as well as the crit on 19-20 in earth stance. I'm not a huge fan for heroic purposes there though as you won't see all these things fall into place until near the cap.
• 14+ fighter/6 levels of anything but monk. Basically you run heavy armor on this one, spend in the new feats to give more PRR/MRR, and have a tanky archer. The 6 levels from other classes don't really matter. 6 ranger gives 2 favored enemies and extra feats so it's nice. I could even see some argument for something like 5 rogue for the sneak dice and 1 barbarian for extra run speed. Honestly on this build the 6 levels matter very little - you're just putting on some heavy armor and running around shooting things with a bow and not even bothering to kite. You could even go 14/5clr/1brb to get some healing at the cost of some BAB.
• This one's probably my favorite...10 fighter/10 rogue. Tons of sneak dice, take opportunist to further extend the chances of seeing those sneak dice even against enemies with fortification, make sure to get some light black dragon armor for the extra armor pen. Plenty of skill points for trapping, etc.

Edit: Any splits that don't use 6 ranger must spend either a feat to get Bow Strength if you're going Str for damage or spend 16ap to get Dex to damage with either Longbow or Shortbow (not both). We have the AP (grudgingly) available and likely the feats aren't an issue either so it would simply be down to personal preference which route to go. Similarly Rangers must spend 6 points in DWS to get dex to damage so the points we have left to play with are exceedingly limited on a dex to damage build (77AP spent, 79 if you take the dragonmark on a ranger, and 76AP spent on a non-ranger).

Last thing. You're looking at an elf. You're lousy with feats from fighter and possibly monk/ranger. You're forced to spend 11AP in the elf tree to get AA. I'd go ahead and spend 2AP of the 9 we had left to pick up Displacement and spend one of your feats on the elven dragonmark. You've got plenty of feats to go around and 2AP for that is well worth it. I'd even toss in Extend on any builds where it's an option - having those Extended Displacements cast at character level would be really nice. Could work with the 14 fighter build especially well if you've put in another class like clr or fvs for some light healing which would also qualify you for Extend.

Here's the build (just class/feats) through level 14 for a pure fighter:

Pure Fighter AA
Level 14 Lawful Good Elf Male
(14 Fighter)
Hit Points: 203
Spell Points: 0
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 11
Reflex: 8
Will: 3

Strength 18 + levels
Dexterity 16 + 3 tome required (possible to do 12 con and 18 dex with +1 tome on a 32-point build or 18 dex/14 con on a 36-point build if the tome isn't available)
Constitution 14

Level 1 (Fighter)
Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot

Level 2 (Fighter)
Weapon Focus: Ranged

Level 3 (Fighter)
Precision

Level 4 (Fighter)
Weapon Specialization: Ranged Weapons

Level 5 (Fighter)

Level 6 (Fighter)
Many Shot

Level 7 (Fighter)

Level 8 (Fighter)
Greater Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons

Level 9 (Fighter)
Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons

Level 10 (Fighter)
Bow Strength

Level 11 (Fighter)

Level 12 (Fighter)
Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot

Level 13 (Fighter)

Level 14 (Fighter)
Heavy Armor Champion

Edit: Missed out on Manyshot in the original layout

who you talking to, dude?