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To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield: The Seeker's Handbook (By WEContact)
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<blockquote data-quote="Veep" data-source="post: 6707601" data-attributes="member: 6793297"><p><strong><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 18px">Ability Scores</span></p><p></strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Strength</strong></span> (12-18 post-racial)</p><p>If you're Spiritbond, this is your AC and your riders- except that you can still use DEX if you want, which is better because it gives you Initiative and makes you less MAD when you try to qualify for Polearm Momentum or lets you poach Ranger or Rogue powers. Powers with Spiritbond riders are usually not the best powers, so you lose little and gain a lot if you go DEX/WIS on a Spiritbonder.</p><p></p><p><strong>Constitution</strong> (11-13 post-racial)</p><p>This is where all the points that aren't in your primary or secondary go. If you go for 20 WIS, 11 CON will be all you can afford, and you should take the Auspicious Birth/Born Under a Bad Sign background to make up for your bad hp. If you don't, 13 CON gets you Hide prof, which is nice.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Dexterity</strong></span> (12-18 post-racial)</p><p>If you're an optimal Seeker, this is pretty much your other primary score. DEX riders aren't as big a deal, but Initiative and AC are both huge, as is Polearm Momentum if you're into that kind of thing.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Intelligence</strong></span> (8-10 post-racial)</p><p>Books are dead trees and you hate them. (Unless you're multiclassing Wizard for Orb proficiency, you traitor.)</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Wisdom</strong></span> (18-20 post-racial)</p><p>Some Controllers can lay down big zones and walls that exercise control without an attack roll, but you aren't one of them. You have to hit, and your attacks are WIS-based, so your Wisdom is at least 18 post-racial.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Charisma</strong></span> (8-10 post-racial)</p><p>You're all about interacting with the primal spirits- who cares if you're good at interacting with people? No one, that's who.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Races</span></strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #A52A2A"><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Races - Player's Handbook</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #A52A2A"><strong></strong></span></p><p> <span style="color: #800080"><strong>Dragonborn</strong></span>: They can barely scrape a 16/18 post-racial array as a Spiritbond, but there's really no way a Seeker can take advantage of Dragonborn racial support. This is not a trap, but it's a bad idea.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Dwarf</strong></span>: They can't get WIS without losing STR, which keeps them from being the perfect Spiritbond race. Still, great feat support bumps this race up to being a good option. They are usually hammer-throwing Spiritbonders.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Eladrin</strong></span>: As a Bloodbond they can manage 16/18, and they don't offer much else to the Seeker. If you want to play on, reflavor a Shadar-kai or an Elf.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Elf</strong></span>: The quintessential Bloodbond Seeker. Wild Step means your minor action shift won't get shut down in rough terrain, the racial reroll is excellent for making sure your key powers land, the extra speed is great for staying away from melee, the skill bonuses are ideal, and it even opens up a decent racial PP. This race is everything good.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Half-Elf</strong></span>: Seekers have great At-Wills, so Dillettante/Versatile Master is less useful to you than to other classes, but Half-elves do at least have WIS, and with Adept Dillettante, you can poach something useful from a wide range of classes. You might be tempted to poach a melee ability as a Spiritbonder, but you shouldn't- Half-elves will have lower AC because they lack STR/DEX, and even if you use a thrown weapon you should stay away from melee if possible. Magic Weapon and Twin Strike (ranged, use like Divine Bolts) are good weapon-based options, and the latter opens up some excellent powerswaps. If you pick up an implement, your options are broader, but you have to be careful. For example, if you want the Wizard's Freezing Burst, you will need use Adept Dillettante to make it WIS-based, but then you won't be able to use your MC to pick up a slotless implement (Holy Symbol, Ki Focus). If you need a slotless implement, look for a Druid or Invoker At-Will. Grasping Tide and Chill Wind are good Druid picks, as is Fire Hawk if you're willing to give up AoE, and Spiritbonders can use the Alfsair Spear enchantment to get a weapliment. Invokers have good option in Hand of Radiance, Divine Bolts, and Grasping Shards, but if you need two hands for your weapon you'll need to MC somewhere else for a slotless implement.</p><p></p><p><strong>Halfling</strong>: All of the disadvantages of being a small weapon-user, with none of the feat support melee halflings get to make up for it. Only Sehanine Dedicate keeps Halflings from being Purple- Seekers really like weapliments, Sehanine Dedicate is one of the only ones they can get, and Halflings are better short bow users than anyone else.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Human</strong></span>: This is the only race that gets Sky Blue without +STR or DEX. The bonus feat is wonderful (between Weapon proficiency, Expertise, Speed Loader, MC and Novice Power, and Hide prof, Seekers are particularly feat-starved in heroic) and the Seeker absolutely loves Heroic Effort. Ditch the bonus At-Will- there are only two you want</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong> Tiefling</strong></span>: Tieflings have the dubious honor of being the only PHB race to get perfect wrong stats. None of the Tieflings' considerable support is particularly useful to you. Pass. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #a52a2a"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong></strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #a52a2a"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Races - Player's Handbook 2</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #a52a2a"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong></strong></span></span></p><p> <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Deva</strong></span>: Wisdom is good, but Intelligence is (almost) useless to you. (You... might actually want to MC Arcane.) The racial is helpful, but what really saves the Deva from <strong>mediocrity </strong>is the Soul of the World ED.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Gnome</strong></span>: Fade Away is good, but being small and only being able to manage 16/18 DEX/WIS means your Magic Archer Gnome concept should really be a Bard instead.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Goliath</strong></span>: The best option for Spiritbond, pretty much hands down, mostly because, out of all three STR/WIS races, it has the fewest racial features that only work in melee. Seekers like Markings of the Victor too.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Half-Orc</strong></span>: CON/DEX is as good as you can get without having a WIS bonus, but the Horc offers very little in exchange for losing that primary stat. If your Horc must shoot projectiles, be a Hunter or a Ranger or a Rogue.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Longtooth Shifter</strong></span>: The second-best Spiritbond race. You love having two 18s at level one, and you love regen. Feat support is mediocre, but Seeker feat support is so thin that you might actually have use for some of it.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong> Razorclaw Shifter</strong></span>: Razorclaw Shifters have stats that Bloodbond Seekers want, though the face much more competition than Longtooth Shifters do as Spiritbonders. The Razorclaw racial is decent and the feat support is ignorable, but the stats really are all they need to be great. </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #a52a2a"><strong></strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #a52a2a"><strong></strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #a52a2a"><strong>Races - Player's Handbook 3</strong></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Githzerai</strong></span>: Almost as good as Elves for Bloodbond, and they're still a good option for Spiritbond just because of Githzerai Weapon Training. (If you don't follow, consider the Farbond Spellblade enchantment.) The initiative boost is fantastic, and the defensive racial power is nice.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong> Minotaur</strong></span>: Spiritbond only. They offer almost nothing useful aside from the perfect stats, but those perfect stats are far and away the most important thing.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Shardmind</strong></span>: They lack a secondary bonus, which hurts, but their features are decent and they have a few decent feats. Their racial PPs scream Controller, too, and are worth a look.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Wilden</strong></span>: Same boat as the Razorclaw Shifter, but the racial power and feat support are both worse. </p><p></p><p><strong>Races - Other Sources</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Bladeling</strong></span>(MotP): There's just nothing good about this except for those ideal Bloodbond stats, which are admittedly far more common than ideal Spiritbond stats.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Changeling</strong></span>(EPG): Ugh, this is absolutely nothing that isn't awful.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Drow</strong></span>(FRPG): The best Bloodbond race, and... also the best Spiritbond race. Pretty much the best Seeker race. Cloud of Darkness is an absolutely wonderful tool, with the normal dual purposes of gaining hidden+CA, and the stealth bonus and darkvision are wonderful. They have game-changing feat support, despite the number of lame feats, and an extremely excellent racial PP.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Genasi</strong></span>(FRPG): Technically serviceable, but a genasi Seeker is playing against the race's considerable strengths.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Gnoll</strong></span>(D367): Lacks a primary stat boost, and features and feat support are all melee/striker oriented. Pass.</p><p></p><p><strong> Kalashtar</strong>(EPG): You get WIS, and your racial features are all generally helpful without being outstanding.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong> Mul</strong></span>(DSCS): You're a dwarf, but faster. Feat support makes you a better than average choice.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Revenant</strong></span>(HoS): Revenants can do a lot of things, but none of them fit the Seeker well enough to make up for those lamentable ability score bonuses.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Shadar-Kai</strong></span>(D372): Perfect Bloodbond stats, a very useful racial, and a few decent feats make this an excellent choice.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Thri-Kreen</strong></span>(DSCS): The stats are right for Bloodbond and the extra speed is nice, but they don't have much else working for them. They're a good choice, but there are many better ones.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Vryloka</strong></span>(HoS): A secondary stat and a flexible racial power doesn't do much to absolve the lack of a primary stat and a healing surge penalty. Just take the Vampire Heritage feat on your elf.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong> Warforged</strong></span>(ELG): Not much to offer here. 'Forged support is geared toward melee, and you should always remember that Spiritbond Seekers are not melee characters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Veep, post: 6707601, member: 6793297"] [B][CENTER][SIZE=5]Ability Scores[/SIZE][/CENTER] [/B] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Strength[/B][/COLOR] (12-18 post-racial) If you're Spiritbond, this is your AC and your riders- except that you can still use DEX if you want, which is better because it gives you Initiative and makes you less MAD when you try to qualify for Polearm Momentum or lets you poach Ranger or Rogue powers. Powers with Spiritbond riders are usually not the best powers, so you lose little and gain a lot if you go DEX/WIS on a Spiritbonder. [B]Constitution[/B] (11-13 post-racial) This is where all the points that aren't in your primary or secondary go. If you go for 20 WIS, 11 CON will be all you can afford, and you should take the Auspicious Birth/Born Under a Bad Sign background to make up for your bad hp. If you don't, 13 CON gets you Hide prof, which is nice. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Dexterity[/B][/COLOR] (12-18 post-racial) If you're an optimal Seeker, this is pretty much your other primary score. DEX riders aren't as big a deal, but Initiative and AC are both huge, as is Polearm Momentum if you're into that kind of thing. [COLOR=#800080][B]Intelligence[/B][/COLOR] (8-10 post-racial) Books are dead trees and you hate them. (Unless you're multiclassing Wizard for Orb proficiency, you traitor.) [COLOR=#ff9900][B]Wisdom[/B][/COLOR] (18-20 post-racial) Some Controllers can lay down big zones and walls that exercise control without an attack roll, but you aren't one of them. You have to hit, and your attacks are WIS-based, so your Wisdom is at least 18 post-racial. [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Charisma[/B][/COLOR] (8-10 post-racial) You're all about interacting with the primal spirits- who cares if you're good at interacting with people? No one, that's who. [CENTER][B][SIZE=5]Races[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER] [COLOR=#A52A2A][B][SIZE=3]Races - Player's Handbook[/SIZE] [/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=#800080][B]Dragonborn[/B][/COLOR]: They can barely scrape a 16/18 post-racial array as a Spiritbond, but there's really no way a Seeker can take advantage of Dragonborn racial support. This is not a trap, but it's a bad idea. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Dwarf[/B][/COLOR]: They can't get WIS without losing STR, which keeps them from being the perfect Spiritbond race. Still, great feat support bumps this race up to being a good option. They are usually hammer-throwing Spiritbonders. [COLOR=#800080][B]Eladrin[/B][/COLOR]: As a Bloodbond they can manage 16/18, and they don't offer much else to the Seeker. If you want to play on, reflavor a Shadar-kai or an Elf. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Elf[/B][/COLOR]: The quintessential Bloodbond Seeker. Wild Step means your minor action shift won't get shut down in rough terrain, the racial reroll is excellent for making sure your key powers land, the extra speed is great for staying away from melee, the skill bonuses are ideal, and it even opens up a decent racial PP. This race is everything good. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Half-Elf[/B][/COLOR]: Seekers have great At-Wills, so Dillettante/Versatile Master is less useful to you than to other classes, but Half-elves do at least have WIS, and with Adept Dillettante, you can poach something useful from a wide range of classes. You might be tempted to poach a melee ability as a Spiritbonder, but you shouldn't- Half-elves will have lower AC because they lack STR/DEX, and even if you use a thrown weapon you should stay away from melee if possible. Magic Weapon and Twin Strike (ranged, use like Divine Bolts) are good weapon-based options, and the latter opens up some excellent powerswaps. If you pick up an implement, your options are broader, but you have to be careful. For example, if you want the Wizard's Freezing Burst, you will need use Adept Dillettante to make it WIS-based, but then you won't be able to use your MC to pick up a slotless implement (Holy Symbol, Ki Focus). If you need a slotless implement, look for a Druid or Invoker At-Will. Grasping Tide and Chill Wind are good Druid picks, as is Fire Hawk if you're willing to give up AoE, and Spiritbonders can use the Alfsair Spear enchantment to get a weapliment. Invokers have good option in Hand of Radiance, Divine Bolts, and Grasping Shards, but if you need two hands for your weapon you'll need to MC somewhere else for a slotless implement. [B]Halfling[/B]: All of the disadvantages of being a small weapon-user, with none of the feat support melee halflings get to make up for it. Only Sehanine Dedicate keeps Halflings from being Purple- Seekers really like weapliments, Sehanine Dedicate is one of the only ones they can get, and Halflings are better short bow users than anyone else. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Human[/B][/COLOR]: This is the only race that gets Sky Blue without +STR or DEX. The bonus feat is wonderful (between Weapon proficiency, Expertise, Speed Loader, MC and Novice Power, and Hide prof, Seekers are particularly feat-starved in heroic) and the Seeker absolutely loves Heroic Effort. Ditch the bonus At-Will- there are only two you want [COLOR=#ff0000][B] Tiefling[/B][/COLOR]: Tieflings have the dubious honor of being the only PHB race to get perfect wrong stats. None of the Tieflings' considerable support is particularly useful to you. Pass. [COLOR=#a52a2a][SIZE=3][B] Races - Player's Handbook 2 [/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Deva[/B][/COLOR]: Wisdom is good, but Intelligence is (almost) useless to you. (You... might actually want to MC Arcane.) The racial is helpful, but what really saves the Deva from [B]mediocrity [/B]is the Soul of the World ED. [COLOR=#800080][B]Gnome[/B][/COLOR]: Fade Away is good, but being small and only being able to manage 16/18 DEX/WIS means your Magic Archer Gnome concept should really be a Bard instead. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Goliath[/B][/COLOR]: The best option for Spiritbond, pretty much hands down, mostly because, out of all three STR/WIS races, it has the fewest racial features that only work in melee. Seekers like Markings of the Victor too. [COLOR=#800080][B]Half-Orc[/B][/COLOR]: CON/DEX is as good as you can get without having a WIS bonus, but the Horc offers very little in exchange for losing that primary stat. If your Horc must shoot projectiles, be a Hunter or a Ranger or a Rogue. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Longtooth Shifter[/B][/COLOR]: The second-best Spiritbond race. You love having two 18s at level one, and you love regen. Feat support is mediocre, but Seeker feat support is so thin that you might actually have use for some of it. [COLOR=#33cccc][B] Razorclaw Shifter[/B][/COLOR]: Razorclaw Shifters have stats that Bloodbond Seekers want, though the face much more competition than Longtooth Shifters do as Spiritbonders. The Razorclaw racial is decent and the feat support is ignorable, but the stats really are all they need to be great. [SIZE=3][COLOR=#a52a2a][B] Races - Player's Handbook 3[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Githzerai[/B][/COLOR]: Almost as good as Elves for Bloodbond, and they're still a good option for Spiritbond just because of Githzerai Weapon Training. (If you don't follow, consider the Farbond Spellblade enchantment.) The initiative boost is fantastic, and the defensive racial power is nice. [COLOR=#33cccc][B] Minotaur[/B][/COLOR]: Spiritbond only. They offer almost nothing useful aside from the perfect stats, but those perfect stats are far and away the most important thing. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Shardmind[/B][/COLOR]: They lack a secondary bonus, which hurts, but their features are decent and they have a few decent feats. Their racial PPs scream Controller, too, and are worth a look. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Wilden[/B][/COLOR]: Same boat as the Razorclaw Shifter, but the racial power and feat support are both worse. [B]Races - Other Sources[/B] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Bladeling[/B][/COLOR](MotP): There's just nothing good about this except for those ideal Bloodbond stats, which are admittedly far more common than ideal Spiritbond stats. [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Changeling[/B][/COLOR](EPG): Ugh, this is absolutely nothing that isn't awful. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Drow[/B][/COLOR](FRPG): The best Bloodbond race, and... also the best Spiritbond race. Pretty much the best Seeker race. Cloud of Darkness is an absolutely wonderful tool, with the normal dual purposes of gaining hidden+CA, and the stealth bonus and darkvision are wonderful. They have game-changing feat support, despite the number of lame feats, and an extremely excellent racial PP. [COLOR=#800080][B]Genasi[/B][/COLOR](FRPG): Technically serviceable, but a genasi Seeker is playing against the race's considerable strengths. [COLOR=#800080][B]Gnoll[/B][/COLOR](D367): Lacks a primary stat boost, and features and feat support are all melee/striker oriented. Pass. [B] Kalashtar[/B](EPG): You get WIS, and your racial features are all generally helpful without being outstanding. [COLOR=#0000ff][B] Mul[/B][/COLOR](DSCS): You're a dwarf, but faster. Feat support makes you a better than average choice. [COLOR=#800080][B]Revenant[/B][/COLOR](HoS): Revenants can do a lot of things, but none of them fit the Seeker well enough to make up for those lamentable ability score bonuses. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Shadar-Kai[/B][/COLOR](D372): Perfect Bloodbond stats, a very useful racial, and a few decent feats make this an excellent choice. [COLOR=#33cccc][B]Thri-Kreen[/B][/COLOR](DSCS): The stats are right for Bloodbond and the extra speed is nice, but they don't have much else working for them. They're a good choice, but there are many better ones. [COLOR=#800080][B]Vryloka[/B][/COLOR](HoS): A secondary stat and a flexible racial power doesn't do much to absolve the lack of a primary stat and a healing surge penalty. Just take the Vampire Heritage feat on your elf. [COLOR=#800080][B] Warforged[/B][/COLOR](ELG): Not much to offer here. 'Forged support is geared toward melee, and you should always remember that Spiritbond Seekers are not melee characters. [/QUOTE]
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To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield: The Seeker's Handbook (By WEContact)
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