A Use for a Skulk [Archive] - Wizards Community

A Use for a Skulk [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Zemyla
08-11-06, 07:15 PM I've liked the skulk ever since I saw it in Races of Destiny. All the sneakiness must be good for *something*. Finally, I had the brilliant idea to combine it with the umbral disciple (from Magic of Incarnum) and added the Woodland Archer feat (from Races of the Wild), which allows it to snipe well. And since you're moving and taking single shots, the Order of the Bow Initiate works well with it. The skillpoints take a little juggling and require an Int of 14+, but it all works out.

So, without further ado, here is my build.

Race: skulk
AL: any
Class: skulk 3/scout 1/ranger 2/umbral disciple 3/fighter 1/OotBI 10

Feats:
1st: Point-Blank Shot
4th: Indigo Strike
5th: Track
6th: Rapid Shot
7th: Precise Shot
10th: Weapon Focus (longbow), Woodland Archer
13th: Bonus Essentia
15th: Greater Weapon Focus (longbow)
16th: Bind Soulmeld (sighting gloves)
17th: Sharpshooting
19th: Midnight Dodge?

Tactics:
Basically, what you do is you max out Hide and Move Silently, and then stay mobile around the battle field. You put two of your essentia into your Embrace of Shadow ability, which lets you hide in plain sight, and put the rest into Indigo Strike, which gives you a +8 to damage whenever you move and hit someone. Using Woodland Archer, you can move, shoot (using Ranged Precision), and hide in the same turn, and your +8 to Move Silently and +15 to Hide will help you remain unnoticed. It may not be doing huge amounts of damage, but it is very hard to find and even harder to pin down.

This build's bane is cramped corridors and grappling. A ring of freedom is almost mandatory.
PhoenixInferno
08-11-06, 08:05 PM Its Shape Soulmeld, not Bind. Although you may want to consider opening up chakras to bind Sighting Gloves to your hands for a free Precise Shot. I think the net gain is 0, so there's no advantage to doing it that way.
Tleilaxu_Ghola
08-11-06, 08:12 PM If umbral disciple is only there for the hide-in-plain sight effect, I suggest just throwing on the dark template (from Tome of Magic). It's a +1 LA and gives hide in plain sight, big bonuses to hide & move-silently, and some other small bonuses.

In my opinion, it's well worth losing 1 HD worth of ranks, hit-points, BAB, and saves. Primarily because you can do your thing from ECL 2 on up. In my busting persistant buffs thread I posted a ECL 7 dark whisper gnome that had a *SICK* bonus to hide. I think the link is in my sig.

Anyways, the bottom line is the dark template would save you 3 levels worth of PrC (for a net gain of 2 levels). Perhaps you could use those for more fighter levels?
tacoronte
08-11-06, 08:25 PM Was about to make the suggestion that T_G just made...

Dropping umbral disciple for the Dark Creature template will also help you on your skill crunch by not having to put 8 points on listen. Besides "hide in plain sight", it also gives you +10 unnamed bonus on hide if memory serves well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zemyla 08-11-06, 07:15 PM	I've liked the skulk ever since I saw it in Races of Destiny. All the sneakiness must be good for something. Finally, I had the brilliant idea to combine it with the umbral disciple (from Magic of Incarnum) and added the Woodland Archer feat (from Races of the Wild), which allows it to snipe well. And since you're moving and taking single shots, the Order of the Bow Initiate works well with it. The skillpoints take a little juggling and require an Int of 14+, but it all works out. So, without further ado, here is my build. Race: skulk AL: any Class: skulk 3/scout 1/ranger 2/umbral disciple 3/fighter 1/OotBI 10 Feats: 1st: Point-Blank Shot 4th: Indigo Strike 5th: Track 6th: Rapid Shot 7th: Precise Shot 10th: Weapon Focus (longbow), Woodland Archer 13th: Bonus Essentia 15th: Greater Weapon Focus (longbow) 16th: Bind Soulmeld (sighting gloves) 17th: Sharpshooting 19th: Midnight Dodge? Tactics: Basically, what you do is you max out Hide and Move Silently, and then stay mobile around the battle field. You put two of your essentia into your Embrace of Shadow ability, which lets you hide in plain sight, and put the rest into Indigo Strike, which gives you a +8 to damage whenever you move and hit someone. Using Woodland Archer, you can move, shoot (using Ranged Precision), and hide in the same turn, and your +8 to Move Silently and +15 to Hide will help you remain unnoticed. It may not be doing huge amounts of damage, but it is very hard to find and even harder to pin down. This build's bane is cramped corridors and grappling. A ring of freedom is almost mandatory.
PhoenixInferno 08-11-06, 08:05 PM	Its Shape Soulmeld, not Bind. Although you may want to consider opening up chakras to bind Sighting Gloves to your hands for a free Precise Shot. I think the net gain is 0, so there's no advantage to doing it that way.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 08-11-06, 08:12 PM	If umbral disciple is only there for the hide-in-plain sight effect, I suggest just throwing on the dark template (from Tome of Magic). It's a +1 LA and gives hide in plain sight, big bonuses to hide & move-silently, and some other small bonuses. In my opinion, it's well worth losing 1 HD worth of ranks, hit-points, BAB, and saves. Primarily because you can do your thing from ECL 2 on up. In my busting persistant buffs thread I posted a ECL 7 dark whisper gnome that had a SICK bonus to hide. I think the link is in my sig. Anyways, the bottom line is the dark template would save you 3 levels worth of PrC (for a net gain of 2 levels). Perhaps you could use those for more fighter levels?
tacoronte 08-11-06, 08:25 PM	Was about to make the suggestion that T_G just made... Dropping umbral disciple for the Dark Creature template will also help you on your skill crunch by not having to put 8 points on listen. Besides "hide in plain sight", it also gives you +10 unnamed bonus on hide if memory serves well.