Order of the Bow Initiate is INCREDIBLY broken.

[Tidus4444]

Take a gander at this situation I set up:
5th Fighter/ 7th OOTBI
feats: Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Rapid Shot
Weapon Focus: longbow
Weapon Specialization: longbow
Zen Archery
Improved Crit: longbow

gear:
+1 composite longbow
+1 arrows
bracers of archery
some dex and wis enhancing items

this is really the kicker though. This assumes you have around +12 with both Wis and Dex ( not too hard if you anticipate the Wis bonus and stick your 2nd highest stat into it and with magical enhancement)

base attack bonus: +12/+7/+2
bracers of archery +2
weapon specilization/ superior weapon spec. +4
Dex and Wis: + 12
GMW on both arrows and bow: +10

so all modifiers = +28
so the final attack bonus is: +40/+35/+30

wow.

This also adds around +17 to the damage (+10 for weap enhancement +4 for weap. spec., +2 or 3 composite)

I pray my DM will allow me to use this.

EDIT: also assume the character is an elf.

 

[Piratecat]

So let me get this straight. You create an incredibly twink character with specific race, stats, spells, non-standard feats and magic items, and the class is incredibly broken? You may want to edit the thread title to something a little less... forceful.

 

[Storminator]

What P-cat said.

But I agree, OotBI is crazy. Just ignoring some cover and losing the AoO is enough to make me drop it.

PS

 

[takyris]

You're right -- there's no way that anyone could cast a Greater Dispel on him and his gear, close up, sunder his longbow, and then proceed to trounce him like a one-dimensional glass cannon!

-Tacky

 

[Baron Von StarBlade]

All the Uber weapon focused classes (OOBI, Weapon Master, Lasher) look nasty on paper and the majority of the time they are very effective in combat. However when you focus so narrowly on a single aspect, in this case a bow, you really do become dependant upon it. So if that weapon is ever taken away from you (say disarmed, or sundered) you are completely useless. Furthermore your CR14 Uber archer would be completely annhilated by a clay golem (CR10).
Also you're dependant upon GMW to enchant your arrow. Since it only works on 50 arrows and you have such a high rate of fire, you'll be lucky to make it through 2 normal combats or 1 large combat before the supply is exhausted (you should have around 12 rounds of arrows).
Finally just to nitpick wouldn't you be getting 4 attacks a round with Rapid shot (38/38/33/28)

 

[Tidus4444]

even with his magic gone, he still put up a formidible fight. The only thing magical that this relies on is GMW. Even without it the AB is still +30/+25/+20, which you'll still rarely ever miss with. And besides you can do something similar to the sunder thing with almost every character. Sunder a fighter's weapon, steal a wizard's component pouch, ect., ect. Very few characters are immune to that kind of thing, including this one. Also, the reason why I state that it is broken is because a good deal of this character's strength is related to the class. Superior weap. spec. adds a cool +2 and Zen Archery takes the cake. Without the class, it is "only" +34/+29/+24. Still impressive, but not nearly as such. However, you are right in saying that this topic is really more about the brokeness of archery in general rather than the brokeness of the class.

 

[WizarDru]

Here we go again.


Shouldn't this really be in the rules forum?

 

[pingpong]

to take advantage of Zen Archery, you need to be within 30 feet, which should put you well within Charging range. you can strike a weapon/strike an item (depending on which one applies to the bow; still not sure) at the end of a charge. so youre kinda asking for it.

 

[Drawmack]

Sure I'd let you take this in my game. BTW: Roll a natural 1 with a bow in my game and you just broke the string. Doesnt' matter what kind of bow it is either. IMC Critical failure always results in a broken weapon, just like critical hit always results in a broken opponent.

 

[Felon]

The BotBI is not a well-rounded, multi-faceted PrC designed to have a wealth of roleplaying potential. It is a combat specialist PrC for those who want to wreak major carnage with a bow. It is certainly geared towards a more hack-n-slash style of play.

Nothin' wrong with that. Powergamers are still gamers. Reinhagenish DM's can always ban it if they think it's too one-dimensional for their storyteller campaigns.