Shafts of Light (A Favored Soul - Arcane Archer TR build by request)

[sigtrent]

Build Name: Shafts of Light
Author: Sigfried Trent
Requester: Anne Trent
Last Updated: 08/06/10

Key Words [True Reincarnation, Favored Soul, Arcane Archer, Evasion]

Objectives
My wife is making her first TR character. After much contemplation she decided that she wanted to play with both Favored Soul and Arcane archer. One of her goals was to be able to solo difficult quests like Sins of Attrition. Blade barrier and good self healing were what she wanted from favored soul, and arcane archer was the chosen combat modality as well as something novel to do. Good defenses seem important for solo play as well and the character should be fairly easy to level.

Design
Favored Soul and Arcane archer are tricky to put together due to both aspects desiring a large number of feats to support the characters strengths. Favored soul also multi classes rather poorly and looses quite a bit of its edge and its powerful end caps so you need to make sure you get good value from the classes you take.

Ranger is an easy pick as it gives you a lot of ranged attack feats for free and a good set of weapon proficiencies. Because I want to maximize the damage potential of blade barrier which caps at level 15, I only have a few off class levels to work with. Ranger 2 is worth two solid feats so that’s the mark well use. For two more levels, monk offered the most benefits. Evasion, great saves, unarmed combat, and great synergy with wisdom to bump up AC. The two bonus feats are handy. In this case none of the monk bonus feats really fit the themes but toughness is always nice so that's where they go.

For easy leveling it makes the most sense to take the splashes up front. You get great defenses and a nice melee offense that should hold you for the early levels while the casting and archery develop. One of the down sides of the build overall is how long it takes to develop its core late game strategies. Archery doesn’t really pick up strong until level 9 and you don’t get blade barrier until 16. Even the self healing is slow in coming and doesn’t reach full potential until level 17. In many ways its a build that is designed to live at level 20 when all its elements gell very well.

This is a past life build because it was requested by my wife as such. The fighter past life isn’t actually doing much for the build other than a free +1 on all attack rolls and the better stat spread.

Its defenses are impressive. Hit points should gear up into the lowish 400s, saving throws are all in the high 20s to low 30s rivaling many paladins. AC should be excellent if geared up for it and you have a good selection of defense buffs. Self healing is great and you should be able to serve as a raid healer in a pinch.

On offense you have Max-Extend-Quickened blade barrier and a good pool of mana to keep it running as well as a decent comet fall and some debuffing trap spells. Your archery is not on par with a DPS AA build, but its not insignificant given the right bow. Arcane Archer elevates the damage to the range where it is comparable to melee in the same build configuration (limited feats on a caster) and range suits the blade barrier kiting style much better.

I thing this build looks best when you think of it as a solo character and it looks its worst when you compare it to a more specialised arcane archer or favored soul. Its offense is lacking compared to either of its pure forms, but its defense is superior thanks to the hybridization.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1
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Level 20 Lawful Good Elf Female
(2 Monk \ 2 Ranger \ 16 Favored Soul) 
Hit Points: 317
Spell Points: 1570 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 19
Reflex: 22
Will: 19

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(34 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             14                    16
Dexterity            17                    22
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom               14                    23
Charisma             12                    16

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               5                    12
Bluff                 1                     3
Concentration         6                    27
Diplomacy             1                     3
Disable Device       n/a                    n/a
Haggle                1                     3
Heal                  4                    10
Hide                  3                     6
Intimidate            1                     3
Jump                  6                    21
Listen                2                     8
Move Silently         3                     6
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               n/a                   n/a
Repair               -1                     0
Search               -1                     2
Spot                  6                    13
Swim                  2                     3
Tumble                4                     7
Use Magic Device      n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Fighter
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons
Enhancement: Ranger Energy Resistence Boost I
Enhancement: Ranger Sprint Boost I
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage I


Level 2 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity I


Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Toughness
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Aerenal Elf Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I


Level 4 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Dodge
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Attack I
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise I


Level 5 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Diety) Favored by the Silver Flame
Spell (1): Divine Favor
Spell (1): Shield of Faith
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness I


Level 6 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Spell (1): Nightshield
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Charisma I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wand and Scroll Mastery I


Level 7 (Favored Soul)
Spell (1): Bless
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Prayer of Life I


Level 8 (Favored Soul)
Spell (2): Resist Energy
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer I


Level 9 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Acid
Feat: (Selected) Manyshot
Spell (2): Lesser Restoration


Level 10 (Favored Soul)
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wisdom I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness II


Level 11 (Favored Soul)
Spell (3): Remove Curse
Spell (2): Close Wounds
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Acid Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +2 Arrows


Level 12 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (4): Deathward
Enhancement: Favored Soul Prayer of Life II
Enhancement: Favored Soul Prayer of Incredible Life I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic III


Level 13 (Favored Soul)
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds
Spell (3): Dispel Magic
Spell (4): Divine Power
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity II


Level 14 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Fire
Spell (5): Raise Dead
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Explosive Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +3 Arrows


Level 15 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell
Spell (3): Searing Light
Spell (4): Freedom of Movement
Spell (5): True Seeing
Enhancement: Favored Soul Charisma II


Level 16 (Favored Soul)
Spell (6): Blade Barrier
Enhancement: Favored Soul Wisdom II


Level 17 (Favored Soul)
Spell (4): Recitation
Spell (5): Protection From Elements
Spell (6): Heal
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Burst Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Terror Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +4 Arrows
Enhancement: Favored Soul Toughness III


Level 18 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Spell (7): Mass Cure Serious Wounds
Enhancement: Favored Soul Life Magic IV


Level 19 (Favored Soul)
Feat: (Favored Soul Bonus) Energy Resistance: Sonic
Spell (5): Symbol of Pain
Spell (6): Cometfall
Spell (7): Symbol of Weakness
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage I
Enhancement: Favored Soul Energy of the Scion III


Level 20 (Favored Soul)
Spell (8): Firestorm
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Slaying Arrows
Enhancement: Favored Soul Longbow Specialization I
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +5 Arrows
Enhancement: Favored Soul Smiting I

Play
Early levels are mostly spent playing like a monk with the occasional bouts of archery. Higher levels do a lot of kiting or playing party support depending on the party. Mid levels will just be plain challenging although TR twinking gear will probably compensate for that nicely.

Variations
You can make this as a 32pt build with only a small stat adjustment. for 28pts I just don’t recommend it. You could move feats from one “side” of the build to the other, but I think it then makes less sense to make this kind of character. The whole idea is to blend the two build types together fairly evenly.

[maddmatt70]

I would high recommend improved precise shot. That feat is absolutely huge for any ranged player at the end game and during level up. Dump mental toughness and extend and pick up precise and improved precise shot.

Edit: perhaps you want to consider 2 fighter instead of two monk as well and yes evasion is nice but two more useful feats also is.

[Dark-Star]

She'll need Mental Toughness for the AA pre-req.

Improved Precise Shot is pretty amazing, and I would work for that if you can. Anything less than 18 FvS and you get no Mass Heal. On my FvS AA/healer, I could not live without it for raid and epic healing. Your wife might be building for solo play, so a different set of goals in mind.

One huge thing though, only giving her only 16, not 17, levels of FvS eliminates the single best soloing tool the class gets, Leap of Faith.

After running five battle clerics/FvS, my experince tells me that if you are building for non-epic content go wisdom and Blade Barier. At 20 if you are running mostly raids and epic content, dump wisdom for str. Balanced stats like this build has will give sub-optimal results.

With all due respect to the time you have put into the write up, I'd sharpen your pencil and redo this build before she spends a ton of time leveling it.

[maddmatt70]

She'll need Mental Toughness for the AA pre-req.

Improved Precise Shot is pretty amazing, and I would work for that if you can. Anything less than 18 FvS and you get no Mass Heal. On my FvS AA/healer, I could not live without it for raid and epic healing. Your wife might be building for solo play, so a different set of goals in mind.

One huge thing though, only giving her only 16, not 17, levels of FvS eliminates the single best soloing tool the class gets, Leap of Faith.

After running five battle clerics/FvS, my experince tells me that if you are building for non-epic content go wisdom and Blade Barier. At 20 if you are running mostly raids and epic content, dump wisdom for str. Balanced stats like this build has will give sub-optimal results.

With all due respect to the time you have put into the write up, I'd sharpen your pencil and redo this build before she spends a ton of time leveling it.

Perhaps 2 fighter 1 ranger dump toughness and dodge and extend and use the feats for rapid (since lost ranger level have to pick up rapid), precise shot, and improve precise shot.

[sigtrent]

I would high recommend improved precise shot. That feat is absolutely huge for any ranged player at the end game and during level up. Dump mental toughness and extend and pick up precise and improved precise shot.

Edit: perhaps you want to consider 2 fighter instead of two monk as well and yes evasion is nice but two more useful feats also is.

Thanks all for the comments (thats why I posted this one since its a tricky build)
I told Anne when I worked it up for her I wish I had another 8 feats or so :P

Those were all things I considered. FVS/AA is really hard to balance out. IPS would be awesome to have... its just a question of what you give up. I cant drop MT, its required for AA. Extend is pretty critical for blade barrier kiting, it essentially doubles your damage for 10sp which is a bit mana saver and frees lessens the number of casts you have to make. Taking fighter instead of monk could help, but I'd still really want at least one toughness feat so thats only giving me one more to work with, and evasion can be the difference between life and death in many quests as a soloist.

You know I just noticed dodge is in there. (I forgot as I did the build a while before this write up... ) There may be some room to work... I'll have Anne read the responses (why I posted it mainly) and see what she things of the options.

Weighing all that IPS started looking more like a luxury than a must have. But its not an easy decision by any means.

[sigtrent]

One huge thing though, only giving her only 16, not 17, levels of FvS eliminates the single best soloing tool the class gets, Leap of Faith.

I've never had it. It always looked fun but not all that essential. What are the practical advantages?

After running five battle clerics/FvS, my experince tells me that if you are building for non-epic content go wisdom and Blade Barier. At 20 if you are running mostly raids and epic content, dump wisdom for str. Balanced stats like this build has will give sub-optimal results.

Thanks, that again is an area where I don't have a lot of first hand experience. My healers only go up to level 15 or so. I've had guildies mention they rarely use mass heal due to the slow casting time but I know I've had it cast on me from time to time. I'm guessing its a question of being good at timing it and its a mana saver compared to mass critical with max/emp.

I've done lots of raids but not much epic. On the epic I have done everyone is playing pretty hard core so the need for raid style healing has been small.

With all due respect to the time you have put into the write up, I'd sharpen your pencil and redo this build before she spends a ton of time leveling it.

Thanks kindly, this is a build where I'm going more by the spreadsheet than play experience so its very handy advice.

[sigtrent]

Perhaps 2 fighter 1 ranger dump toughness and dodge and extend and use the feats for rapid (since lost ranger level have to pick up rapid), precise shot, and improve precise shot.

Yes, I think thats the way you would have to do it.

[Missing_Minds]

Leap of Faith: Besides being an absolute blast, it also offers feather fall for a time. I don't bother with feather fall items due to this.

As you have Many shot, if you can aford to somehow take it, I would also suggest improved preice shot.

Question: Must it be FvS?

Question2: Has she played an archer caster before? Shoot casting is different from melee casting. I'd want her to experiment around first to see if she could deal with the difference or not.

[sigtrent]

Question: Must it be FvS?

Yep, the #1 thing was to be FvS. She decided that she didn't want a "pure" caster/healer though. She has a pure sorc and had a pure cleric which she LRed into a kind of TWF radiant monk/cleric build. She decided she didn't want to go back to pure healers but really did want to try the FvS class. Arcane archer was the "lets try this thing I've never done as well" choice. Lol, all around its a hard set to mix together. In my build thread most of them were filled under "combos that don't quite work"

She is a good technique player though so if play skill can make the thing go well, she can manage that no problem. I wish there were a divine caster class that had bonus feats, it would make this kind of thing so much easier.

Question2: Has she played an archer caster before? Shoot casting is different from melee casting. I'd want her to experiment around first to see if she could deal with the difference or not.

No, I'm sure she'd love to hear what the particulars are though.

I have a bard who uses repeaters. I know that the attack/loading animations can delay spellcasting which if you aren't careful can be a killer in clutch moments. Also you want to work on getting your casting items worked into your wearable slots as weapon switching is going to eat up your casting/attacking time.

[Missing_Minds]

I have a bard who uses repeaters. I know that the attack/loading animations can delay spellcasting which if you aren't careful can be a killer in clutch moments.

This is it exactly. The constant reload, esp at low levels is quite difficult to manage.
Add in the fact that bows are REALLY bad about getting off that one extra shot if you are not very careful about your attack que.
The thing my wife has noticed on her ranger 2/sorc 18 is that you cast first, then shoot.

I've been working through a 2 rogue/18 wizard (no many shot or IPS, or bowstr), and I found at the low levels, blow the 1 AP on the wand damage enhancment, and abuse the heck out of the Finger of Fire (and later Acid Splash) wand like crazy. You shoot SOOO much faster, let alone do damage comparable to a bow at that level with much higher guarntieed minimal damage points and no roll to hit. It is all line of sight.
It was about lvl... 6 when I actually bothered to pick up a bow after I got rapid shot.

I figure that Divine Power is going to help with this a lot, honestly, due to it bumping up her BAB for the short time.

Now if you noticed, I mentioned we are doing arcances, not a divine based. Divine's lack a lot of damaging spells until Commet Fall, BB, and Flame Strike. So I really don't know how to suggest her shoot/casting priority could be. If anything I think she's going to have to pay more attention to health bars such that if she thinks another person/she can take another hit before healing, THAT would be the time to start casting.

How much FvS is she requiring? What spells are a must have?

Oh yeah, has she figured out where she's going to stick her potency yet?

[unbongwah]

Did you consider ranger 2 / wizard 1 / FvS 17? You lose Evasion, WIS AC boost, a pt of BAB, & two feats (tho one of them is mostly useless); but gain a metamagic, drop the MT pre-req for AA, get to use arcane wands for extra buffage (Stoneskin & Displacement wands help take the sting outta losing AC - and who enjoys grinding for AC gear anyway?), and gain an extra FvS lvl. Plus if your wife hits lvl 20 and decides she'd rather be a pure FvS, it's only an LR +3 away.

You'd have 8 selectable feats: 2 for AA pre-reqs (PBS & WF Ranged), Toughness, Manyshot, then 4 metamagics or 2 metas plus Prec Shot & IPS. So 1 less feat than your build, but you'd be dropping two weak feats (Dodge & MT) for one good feat.

Did you consider dump-stating CHA? Since you're only getting lvl 8 spells, 8 CHA + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 enhs and you're set. That gives you a few more stat pts to spread around. I wouldn't tell a newbie who lacked the necessary resources to do that, but I think it's safe to presume you & your wife are not newbs.

BTW, if you're not going for Imp Prec Shot, you could start DEX 15; Manyshot only reqs base DEX 17.

[Missing_Minds]

Just because I can't sleep...(which is going to make tomorrow/today really stink)...
What I'd do...

Ranger (2 levels): bow str, rapid shot
monk (2 levels) : toughness, dodge, wis AC, way of tortise,
rest FvS.
1: point blank shot
3: WF: ranged
6: mental toughness
9: many shot
12: Quickened spell
15: Precise shot
18: Improved precise shot

Why do I choose monk 2 over wizard? Because while the wizard would grant you a meta and take care of the empower spell requirement, you take a hit to your HP and your BAB. (yes, extended divine power will get you to a bab of 19) but the solo aspect that was mentioned.. I have to lean in favor of higher AC and evasion the monk brings.

Why no Extend or Maximize? Besides the obvious lacking of feats as you noted, I'd take Empower over Maximize with a FvS just due to enhancement synergy. Also by being an AA, given the lack of attack spells, she will be shooting more than she'll be casting. Spells will become a secondary thing not the primary. I know the front thought is, "I'll get blade barrier and then kite and shoot kill." That is fun but just what do you think you'll be doing up to that point? By the time you can take BB, she'll be rather conditioned to shoot first, cast spells later. My pure fvs has higher DCs than your wife is going to have, and frankly I gave up on using BB on anything with evasion at lvl 15+. It is a great tool, but not end all be all.

My wife who is doing a 2 ranger/18 sorc complained a lot about not having a lot of sp (and she's lvl...19 now.) that she doesn't have enough spell points to go blasting so shooting is her first thing, buffing is the 2nd, and blast when the opportunity is right. How does the archer stay alive? By not being hit and not being the target. There in lies the issue for your wife. It was mentioned this was to solo stuff, most of her sp is going to be going to keeping herself alive.

I advise to plan well just where you want a shroud SP item to be. She'll be wanting it. The 300 sp item she is going to make is going to give her 570 SP that she really wants badly. And it will make a difference. (I think she took empower and maximize on her build.) But in Anne's case, that same item will net about... 540 SP. And she'll probably want to make it concordant opposition for wisdom 6, and the possibility of getting hp/sp back when hit. Very handy for solo.

With that many sp, she may not need Extend, and just up the buffs when she really needs extra to hit. It isn't like she is playing a party healer, so she can do it. The hardest fights she'll have are with casters that can cast Heal. (I speak from annoyance there.)
If she finds out as she plays that she really doesn't need Quicken after all, I think I'd be more prone to swap that in favor for Extend.

Oh yeah, last note, I'd ditch the elven melee enhancements. If she's going to be that bow focused, she's better of kiting than getting in their face. Her rate of attack when in their face is veritably going to be sword and board speed and damage.
I'm not a mana pot drinker type player, so that does influence my suggestions.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Did this build end up getting made? I'm always curious how these builds turn out.