My racial TR build: Inquis -> Bombardier

[tekkentroop]

Alchemists are a bit lackluster at low lvls, but are very strong at lvl 12. So for racial past lives without planning to go epic, I made an Alchemist build which works well at low lvls, too

First Level: Arti for traps, repeater proficiency, rapid reload, and pet
Level 2-18: Alchemist for all the great stuff Alchemist can do.

At low Levels, this build plays like a normal inquis. Batallion Brew adds int to hit and damage, so most AP go into inquis, 6 AP go into the poison tree for poison imbue.

At lvl 13 the build evolves: with an enhancement reset to full poison bombardier, multivial of poison greatly synergizes with poison imbue and negative energy SP gear, one-shotting most stuff in heroics. Using the crossbow still helps conserving spellpoints.

Stats:
full int, enough dex for rapid shot, some con

Feats:
Point blank shot, rapid shot, insightful Reflexes, batallion brew, Evasion, IC:ranged, Maximize, completionist, - no precise shot since AOE is covered with spells later.

Equip:
Beacon of Magic from ravenloft including Silverthread belt for poison damage and better heals, slavers nullification item, ratcatcher/barovian light crossbow, random/crafted crossbows at low lvl.

This build has a lot going for it:
-full trapping and Evasion
-decent ranged damage with inquis
-great AOE damage with bombardier, breaking poison immunity
-decent healing with good spellpower
-makes full use of caster and ranger/Monk past lives

[Zarkarion]

I recommend using Repeating Crossbow at lower levels. The repeater completely eliminates the Alchemist weakness at low levels, better than dual crossbows.

At level 13 you will need at least 31 points in Bombardier to clear poison immunity, which only leaves 17 for Inquisitive at that level, or 11 if you want 6 in Vile Chemist for Poisoned Coating.

Since you are taking t5 in Bombardier, you won't ever be able to take T5 Inquis, so you won't get the +30% ranged alacrity that brings the dual crossbow rate of fire roughly up to parity with a repeater. (Which I have previously tested).

So you may in fact be better off sticking with the repeater and not bothering with Inquis at all. Taking:

Bombardier 37
Vile Chemist 31
Harper 12

The extra poison damage (ultimately d10) and rate of fire will probably cancel out the law dice and other benefits of t4 Inquisitive. For most of the life the repeater build will be doing 30% more shooting poison damage than the Inquisitive build, and once you get d8 at level 18, 67% more shooting poison damage than the Inquisitive build.

In short, a repeater/bombardier build gets off the mark quicker, and probably retains parity with an inquisitive/bombardier build up to level 20.

And of course you can easily switch between the two as the only difference is enhancements. (And the crossbow of course).

[Nubicus]

Alchemists are a bit lackluster at low lvls, but are very strong at lvl 12.

Actually, once they hit level 6, they can start doing area damage. With the right TR's and gear, I'm keeping up pretty well.

I've been going 1 Artificer, and leveling up like a full caster, using a holy repeater from 1-7 without feats. Works out pretty well.