Best bloodline for a buffer?

[Thefurmonger]

Hey all.

So my wife is looking to play a Sorcerer next and wants to try a buffer.

She is going Tattooed sorc with a Scorpion (+4 Init)

She was also planning on taking inmroved Init for +4 and Reactionary for a further +2

Add that to a 14 Dex (+2 Mod)

And she will end up with a +12 Init Mod at 1st.

Tattooed Sorc gives up the 1st level bloodline power.

However teh Varisian tattoo aplys to all her bloodline spells regardless of school (+1 CL)

So whats a great bloodline?

She is going to go first most of the time.

[Kydeem de'Morcaine]

I think both celestial and destined work well with a buffer, but many disagree with me.

Also, I don't see a buffer as being really in need of really high initiative. To me that is more a trait you see in blasters (get that fireball in before your meat allies close) or a controller (dominate the bad guy before he can hurt you).

However I will admit, it is always fun to go first.

[Thefurmonger]

Our thnking for the high init was for bufffs to hit before the party acted and spread out.

That way people are not delaying, waithing for that haste they know is coming.

[Thefurmonger]

And we were thinking the wildblooded celestial (Empyreal)

The small heals at 1st will really help and Wis based casting is good for saves and Percep.

Also while bless is not great, its a decent buff at low levels.

[Kydeem de'Morcaine]

Sounds reasonable to me.

Most of what I read on these boards, people seem to assume a buffer will be able to do most of the buffing before the fight not trying to get it in in the first couple of rounds.

[spalding]

Kydeem de'Morcaine wrote:

Sounds reasonable to me.

Most of what I read on these boards, people seem to assume a buffer will be able to do most of the buffing before the fight not trying to get it in in the first couple of rounds.

Or is a bard so it doesn't really matter.

[Thefurmonger]

And thats a good point. I suppose I should have mentioned that this is for PFS play.

In a lot of the Mods there is no real prep time. it is box text then roll for init.

In a home game I agree that pre-buffing really helps.

[Benly]

Prebuffing is great when you get a chance to do it, but even in a home game I feel a buffer should be ready to get things rolling in the first round of a fight. I agree that a high initiative is a good idea if you can afford it; pick up a Lesser Rod of Quicken ASAP as well so you can pop out two buffs in the first round.

Aberrant bloodline (and the Warped variant) is one that might be worth looking at for the ability to deliver touch-range buffs to a wider range of allies. The polymorph benefits won't apply until mid to high levels (since there aren't really many ally-targeted polymorphs before then), but they're among the very few bloodline arcana that directly benefit a buffing strategy, so there's that.

[Thefurmonger]

Actually it looks like the winner may end up the Dreamspun (Visonary) Bloodline.

Tattooed sorc gives up a lot that makes bloodlines good.

You lose your 1st level power as well as your 7th level bonus feat.

So really its all about the arcana.

Visionary is not real sexy, you only need one hour of sleep to regain spells, but while not exciting, its really good.

the bonus spells kinda suck. but the further bonuses to Init fit the character. (3rd, 7th and 11th)

Now on to looking at the rest of the character.

Thank you for all the input.

[Benly]

Thefurmonger wrote:

Tattooed sorc gives up a lot that makes bloodlines good.

You lose your 1st level power as well as your 7th level bonus feat.

So really its all about the arcana.

While Visionary is a respectable choice, I sort of disagree with your assessment of Tattooed Sorcerer. The first-level bloodline power is usually just something to get you through the early levels when running out of spells is a danger, and I can only think of a few I'd miss after level 4 or so. Sorcerer bonus feats also tend to be pretty uninspiring. The spells, bloodline arcana, and higher-level bloodline powers are all intact. I can only think of three bloodlines where I'd really consider changing their relative assessments based on losing the first bloodline power (Arcane, Sylvan, and Rakshasa all have unusually good first-level bloodline powers.)

edit: it replaces the level 9 bloodline power too, that's what I get for not double-checking before I post. Still, it depends on the bloodline.

[Gignere]

If you are thinking of maxing out initiative you can look into the Noble Scion Feat, take the scion of war, and you now use your charisma instead of dex for initiative.

What is so cool about this is that now initiative becomes a charisma check for the sorcerer. Which means a circlet of persuasion's bonus will apply to initiatives.

Of course it still stacks with Improved Initiative. So you can have crazy initiative when everything stacks up.

[Thefurmonger]

wow, thats awesome.

Scion of war just took the place of improved init.

Thanks for the tip.

[Zephyre Al'dran]

Thefurmonger wrote:

Actually it looks like the winner may end up the Dreamspun (Visonary) Bloodline.

Tattooed sorc gives up a lot that makes bloodlines good.

You lose your 1st level power as well as your 7th level bonus feat.

So really its all about the arcana.

Visionary is not real sexy, you only need one hour of sleep to regain spells, but while not exciting, its really good.

the bonus spells kinda suck. but the further bonuses to Init fit the character. (3rd, 7th and 11th)

Now on to looking at the rest of the character.

Thank you for all the input.

I'd not bother with the Dream bloodline for the same reasons your choosing it. PFS Play seldom ever allows for time for players to rest mid adventure. I'm not saying it will never happen, but you really won't see much if any use of this power in game.

Consider Verdant for access to Barkskin or Protean for the +4 bonus your transmutation spells have against dispelling. This can help your enlarge person and stat buffing spells.

[Thefurmonger]

Zephyre Al'dran wrote:

I'd not bother with the Dream bloodline for the same reasons your choosing it. PFS Play seldom ever allows for time for players to rest mid adventure. I'm not saying it will never happen, but you really won't see much if any use of this power in game.

Consider Verdant for access to Barkskin or Protean for the +4 bonus your transmutation spells have against dispelling. This can help your enlarge person and stat buffing spells.

Hrm, actually you make a really good point.

And at level 3 you get almost the same thing anyway.......

and the bonus spells are way better....

wow, yeah thats just better.

[Professor Q]

Abraham spalding wrote:

Kydeem de'Morcaine wrote:

Sounds reasonable to me.

Most of what I read on these boards, people seem to assume a buffer will be able to do most of the buffing before the fight not trying to get it in in the first couple of rounds.

Or is a bard so it doesn't really matter.

I was actually coming into this thread to say something along the lines of "the best buffer bloodline is a bard."

I had it worked out, if you do haste and inspire courage on the first round and good how on the second, you nearly double your BSF's damage.

If you wade into melee and provide flanks after casting tactical acumen, it was something like 150% assuming the BSF has multiple attacks.

Dang you guys, I was going to take a break from metagaming pathfinder, but now I want to play with putting Eldrich Heritage on a Bard to see if I can make him even more buff-tastic.

Anyway if you are buffing your party properly, your actions are well spent, even in combat.

[Dazaras]

You're probably most interested in bloodline spells, so I'd recommend the Arcane, Celestial (or Empyreal), Draconic or Fey (not Sylvan since that interacts oddly with Tatooed Sorcerer). They all have great bonus spell lists and useful bloodline abilities. There aren't any bloodlines that have great bloodline powers for buffers, but I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't pigeonhole yourself into one role.