Musket Master for PFS play


Advice

Grand Lodge

Hi all!

My newest PFS character is a Musket Master inspired by this fine piece of artwork.

For style reasons, I don't want to use armor. Thus, access to wands of Mage Armor and a Shield spell or two would be nice.

My plan is to take one level of Wizard (Foresight) at level 2 for some utility, magicness and all that, then four more levels of Musket Master for Musket Training and then four levels of Alchemist (Grenadier).
The INT 12 with a +2 headband is easily enough for both caster classes. The high DEX synergises nicely with Alchemist class features, giving me the option to deal splash damage with alchemical weapons and bombs in situations where that's needed. I can also use Alchemical Weapon and Explosive Missile to deal ridiculous amounts of damage with single shots every now and then. It also fits nicely with the Arcane/Alchemical Scientist kinda theme I had in mind for this guy. I'll also get four levels' worth of favored class bonusses in Grit so that I'll have 3 Grit without needing a WIS headband. 3 Grit means that even with the DEX mutagen active, I won't drop below 2 Grit. 1 to always maintain, 1 to spend and refill.

Here's the build I'm planning:

STR 10 INT 12
DEX 18 WIS 14
CON 13 CHA 10

Level 1: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Level 3: Deadly Aim
Level 5: Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (Musket)
Level 7: Combat Reflexes
Level 9: Snap Shot
Level 11: Improved Snap Shot

At Level 10, when I get my 4th Alchemist level, I'll take the Explosive Missile Discovery.

Wizard spells
0 - Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending
1 - Feather Fall, Shield, Identify
I'll get Crafter's Fortune as my fourth level-1-spell in the Spellbook for Day Job checks.

Alchemist extracts
1 - Expeditious Retreat x2, Shield x2
2 - Blur x2

I'll be using scrolls of comprehend language, disguise, and all that stuff, and a Wand of Mage Armor, all via the Wizard level.

Now my questions:

1) What do you think of the build in general? Any huge issues you see with it?

2) What discovery should I take at level 8, when I get my 2nd Alchemist level? I was thinking about Spontaneous Healing or Explosive Bomb. The problem with the latter is that with 4 levels of Alchemist and INT 14, hardly anyone will ever fail the Ref save for my bombs' splash damage, right?

3) What Wizard spells and Alchemist extracts would you recommend for this character? Can you think of better choices than the ones I've listed?

4) I'll have a total of 6 bombs at level 10, which will do 2d6 damage. Is that enough to be worth all the hassle?

5) What classes should I take for the remaining two levels? More Gunslinger? Alchemist? Wizard? Fighter? Or would Rogue be worth a shot?

6) Do any of you see any reason to use True Strike? Seems like a wasted action to me, if I could instead just shoot at touch AC...

7) I went the Snap Shot way for this build, as the extra AoOs would potentially add a lot of damage. Do you think other feats/feat chains would be more useful? Vital Strike, Improved Critical, and such things, for example?

Grand Lodge

This is the second time I ask for advice on a Gunslinger here and I never get a reply. Is my post too long? Too many questions? xD

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

1) I really hate over-multiclassing. I honestly would just gunslinger/wizard or gunslinger/alchemist, not gunslinger/alchemist/wizard. You'll be really lackluster by spreading yourself so thin.

2) Tanglefoot bomb is good, but your save will be pretty bad. Maybe infusion? Explosive Missile is cool, but it doesnt' work with muskets.

3) Feather Fall is too situational. What about Vanish? Why have a Mage Armor wand when you can cast it on yourself?

4) No. Most creatures will have 100+ hitpoints at 10th level. 2d6 damage is really weak, never mind if they fail their saves. You're better off just shooting people.

5) I'm not sure if it really matters as if your character's that high of level, you'll probably stop playing them soon (either they're dead or you're too bored of them). I'm not sure how far PFS characters tend to get. Either way, you're better off just leveling up a class you already have.

6) True Strike is fantastic for attacking at long range or if you have a lot of obstructions in your way. Remember, you can't target touch AC out of your first range increment.

7) I'm not a fan of snap shot for this build. The whole point of using muskets is to target touch AC while being as far from danger as possible. Running into the middle of close-range combat negates this advantage. If you were, say...a pure gunslinger with pistols, this would work. A standard gunslinger has a lot of health and good armor. However, you mixed with spellcasting classes and deliberately choose not to wear armor.


Drop the wizard level, take the perk to get UMD as a class skill and just put points into it and get wands of mage armor and shield. If there is a sorcerer or wizard in your group at early levels you can have them use the wand on you (at least the mage armor). Don't like alchemists personally and gunslingers destroy at higher levels, I would just go straight gunslinger and that's it.

Grand Lodge

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Cyrad wrote:

1) I really hate over-multiclassing. I honestly would just gunslinger/wizard or gunslinger/alchemist, not gunslinger/alchemist/wizard. You'll be really lackluster by spreading yourself so thin.

2) Tanglefoot bomb is good, but your save will be pretty bad. Maybe infusion? Explosive Missile is cool, but it doesnt' work with muskets.

3) Feather Fall is too situational. What about Vanish? Why have a Mage Armor wand when you can cast it on yourself?

4) No. Most creatures will have 100+ hitpoints at 10th level. 2d6 damage is really weak, never mind if they fail their saves. You're better off just shooting people.

5) I'm not sure if it really matters as if your character's that high of level, you'll probably stop playing them soon (either they're dead or you're too bored of them). I'm not sure how far PFS characters tend to get. Either way, you're better off just leveling up a class you already have.

6) True Strike is fantastic for attacking at long range or if you have a lot of obstructions in your way. Remember, you can't target touch AC out of your first range increment.

7) I'm not a fan of snap shot for this build. The whole point of using muskets is to target touch AC while being as far from danger as possible. Running into the middle of close-range combat negates this advantage. If you were, say...a pure gunslinger with pistols, this would work. A standard gunslinger has a lot of health and good armor. However, you mixed with spellcasting classes and deliberately choose not to wear armor.

Thanks a lot for your input! Some thoughts/comments of mine:

1) All my characters so far have Zero multiclassing. This is the first one where I wanna do it. The idea was to synergise. But that's out the window, now that...

2) Explosive Missile doesn't work. Oh. Okay. Thanks a lot for the pointer! I completely missed that. So I can load my heavy crossbow, longbow and pistol with it, but not my musket? Makes total sense. -.- Of course that makes Alchemist highly questionable for this build as it now adds nothing to my Boom.

3) Feather Fall is USELESS on a wand, as you don't have time to draw it. Vanish is pretty useless at 1 round duration anyway. Mage armor always lasts an hour, whether I cast it off the wand or not. And it can easily be cast out of combat, then the wand is put away and then I do other stuff. It's better to use in-combat-spells like Shield "naturally", as that saves you the actions of drawing and sheathing a wand. Methinks. Of course some things change if you take more than one level of Wizard, but even then Mage Armor is the second best wand you can get. (CLW being the best)

4) Well, the idea was to add the 2d6 to my shots via explosive missile. Not an option now.

5) PFS goes up to level 12 so that's why I plan that far. I don't need to think about stuff past that. As a VC, I get a lot of GM credit to level my characters, so they tend to get a bit further than most, I guess.

6) Yeah, but does that happen? It's so rare to have long-range encounters at all and I guess I'd rather move into the first increment (or point-blank-range) than waste expensive ammo at long-range shots that don't hit. True Strike costs me a full turn! I never understood who would ever want to use that spell, eeeever.

7) I don't know... The sweet spot for me is 30 feet away, just as for any other ranged character, no? I get to use Point Blank Shot and that's nice. Ten foot more doesn't make me all that more safe but costs me +1 hit and +1 damage. Also, with Mage Armor and Shield, I'm at +8 to armor class. What Gunslinger runs around in heavy armor? :) Snap Shot potentially gives me a lot of free attacks. But Vital Strike would be nice too for the cases where I have to move and can't full attack, now that Explosive Missile is out the window.

My main question is: What would you do differently? I really don't see any benefit to going past level 5 on Gunslinger. Multiclassing would give me a lot more options, even if it's just Fighter for more feats.
I'm also wondering whether I should get more Wizard levels for better buffs/spellcasts. But that'd lose me a lot of BAB and potentially require me to get higher INT, not something I'd like too much as I don't enjoy characters with dumped stats. 7s make me cringe...

john sweeney 328 wrote:
Drop the wizard level, take the perk to get UMD as a class skill and just put points into it and get wands of mage armor and shield. If there is a sorcerer or wizard in your group at early levels you can have them use the wand on you (at least the mage armor). Don't like alchemists personally and gunslingers destroy at higher levels, I would just go straight gunslinger and that's it.

You're probably right that that would be the most efficient option, but it's not really an option for flavor reasons. I'd have built a spellslinger or gunmagus if that was possible, but it isn't. So I'll take some spellcasting even if it doesn't really interact with the main class.

Can you explain what it is about gunslingers that makes the higher levels so great? I just don't see it. You don't really get anything all that strong after level 5 for musket master. Am I missing something?

Musket Master is a must if you want to use muskets, as it's the only way to get full attacks on them. And I want to use a musket, as the character is inspired by the image I linked. That's also the reason for the must-be-arcane-in-some-way condition.
Under these constraints, I want to build an efficient character.

Silver Crusade

Well, at level 12 with, say 24 Dex, you're doing 4 attacks at a minimum of +19 that each do a minimum of 1d12+8 damage, assuming you're in PBS range. That's with just a Masterwork musket, no enchantments. Add enchantments for higher attack bonus (as if you need it) and more damage. This isn't even getting into feats that add damage or deeds or anything.

That's 58 damage a round without blinking an eye.

Sczarni

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An important thing to consider when playing any gunslinger is your ammo cost. As a Musket Master in order to even use Rapid Shot and/or iterative attacks that means you'll be using paper cartridges for every attack you make, hit or miss. Even at the 50% cost reduction, that gets expensive. At least you aren't trying to be a dual-wielding Pistolero. I honestly do not understand where these guys are getting all their gold to justify their obscene numbers of attacks per round. I've always suspected some sever fudging on their ammo expenditures... But I digress.

So ammo cost. This is a concern both at low and high level PFS play. Low level, your resources are limited and you will also be needing to save money to enchant your musket, get your DEX belt, perhaps a Handy Haversack, potions, etc. At high level you should have several attacks per round and the combats tend to get bigger requiring your party to whittle through high hit point monsters, large numbers of lower HP baddies or fight creatures that are just a pain to hit whether that's due to AC, DR, positioning, or what have you. My solution was a wand of Abundant Ammunition. For 2PA in PFS at 50 charges, you will save a fortune in ammo costs **especially** when it comes to special material bullets like Adamantine. The only concern then is activating it. UMD is an option, but realistically not a viable one at low level and I assume you want to actually play this character not buy him with GM credit. Your options then are a level dip in either Bard, Cleric, Ranger or Sorc/Wizard.

I personally chose a Cleric dip because although I miss out on Mage Armor, it opened up CLW wands, Lesser Restoration Scrolls and synchronized well with a Gunslinger's need for a decent Wisdom score as well as gave a nice boost to Fort and Will saves as well as the goal of unlocking Abundant Ammo wands.

You will need to spend your first action in a fight using the wand to buff due to it only lasting a minute per charge but I've felt the move worth it. My starting action is generally using a Swift action to eject the AA wand from a spring loaded wrist sheath, a Standard to cast AA on the bandolier holding my ammo and a Move action to load. Provided your musket is unloaded before you cast AA, you've never actually used any of your ammo. For one charge you can get ten shots of Adamantine or even Ghost Salt blanched regular bullets for the cost of one to keep in your ammo pouch. Once you get Fast Musket and loading paper cartridges becomes free you can use your move to set up better positioning on the field.

The benefit to sticking with Gunslinger longer would be the extra attacks per round in addition to the one you get with Rapid Shot. Remember, the real point of being a Musket Master is that they are *the only* archetype that can fire a musket in combat more than twice a round every round. That can lead to some nightmarish damage down the line. Another reason to stick with it is for Deadshot at 7th. You could take the Clustered Shots feat instead (either choice becomes VERY useful when overcoming DR in higher levels) but your misfire chance, which is already high thanks to paper cartridges, could lead to your musket blowing up in your hands if you roll two bad dice on that attack. Deadshot reeeeaaaally helps prevent catastrophic failure like that.

In regards to not wanting to wear armor, aesthetically I can understand the desire, but you may reconsider with something like a Mithral Shirt which has always been allowed to be worn under your clothing. Mage Armor may last one hour but Shield only lasts a matter of *minutes* and if you're not using both you're going to have trouble the higher in level you go. And if you decide to try to use Abundant Ammunition to soften the blow of ammo costs (which you are supposed to be tracking as a Gunslinger in PFS), Shield is another round spent buffing. I have personally opted for a +1 Mithral Breastplate supported by the Armor Expert trait to avoid any check penalty. Expensive, but that combined with a high DEX, Dodge and Nimble really help prevent untimely death. Plus I could afford it at level 5 thanks to all the money I saved on ammo (and two modules).

I'll include my Musket Master below. My play style has become much more dynamic since getting my move actions back thanks to Fast Musket. I combine a 40 movement (Desna Cleric: Travel and Liberation Domains) with a high Acrobatics to keep mobile on the field and modify my position to avoid cover issues. Occasional use of Longstrider and the Agile Feet ability from the Domains also become super handy when needed. My charisma is pretty poor and only allows one Channel per day but since I'm not playing as a healer it's a nice "Oh CRAP!" button to lay down to help someone stabilize at range. Plus having access to 3 orisons has proven pretty handy, especially Guidance and Detect Magic.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Here's my build;:

Raithel Sartana
Alignment: CN
Human - Varisian
Gunslinger (Musket Master) 4 / Cleric (Varisian Pilgrim) 1
Sczarni Faction
Str 10
Dex 21 (+2 Human, +1 Level 4, +2 Dex belt)
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 16
Cha 7

AC: 24 (+1 Mithril Breastplate, +5 Dex, +1 Dodge, +1 Nimble)
Initiative: +7/+9 with grit
Movement: 40

Domains: Travel, Liberation

Traits: Armor Expert, Hermean Paragon
Feats:
L1: Point Blank Shot
H1: Precise Shot
L3: Deadly Aim
L5: Rapid Shot
Gun4: Dodge

Acrobatics: +12 / 5 ranks
Craft-Alchemy: +5 / 1 rank
Diplomacy: +4 / 3 ranks
Know-Arcana: +5 / 1 rank
Know-History: +5 / 1 rank
Know-Local: +7 / 3 ranks
Know-Planes: +5 / 1 rank
Know-Religion: +5 / 1 rank
Linguistics: +6 / 2 ranks
Perception: +11 / 5 ranks
Profession-Gambler: +7 / 1 rank
Sense Motive: +8 / 2 ranks
Sleight of Hand: +8 / 1 rank
Spellcraft: +5 / 1 rank
Survival: +7 / 1 rank

(A lot of my skills are grabbed to work with a boost from Guidance and to assist the attempts of my party members or to simply allow the check which can be a big deal in PFS play and a by the book GM.)

Languages: Common, Varisian, Tien, Elven, Aklo

Sczarni

Apologize for the double post, but another reason to stick with Gunslinger came to mind. Although situational, the 11th level deed Bleeding Wound could prove valuable. By level 11 you should have a minimum Dex modifier of +6, more if you can afford the better belts. Since Bleeding Wound only takes a free action to activate after you successfully hit at the cost of 1 grit, that's a guaranteed 6 extra damage per round on your target or 2 grit for 1 point Str, Dex or Con *bleed* damage. Every turn they're taking a point of damage to a stat. Yes, it takes 2 points of ability damage to inflict each negative, but if the damage equals their stat, the target is unconscious or dies when its Con. Couple that ability bleed damage with a Wizard casting a spell like Chill Touch or worse, Calcific Touch (Spectral Hand delivered preferably) which guarantees 1-4 Dex damage on a successful hit, no save, that can be used up to a minimum of 7 times per casting you could potentially drop a BBEG rather quick. Or hell, just go for Con bleed damage. Unless using a spell to heal, every two rounds the penalty to their con increases by one meaning they take the penalty multiplied by their Hit Dice in damage until the con damage kills them outright, no matter their hit points.

Again, Situational, but potentially nasty.


The problem with multiclassing the way you propose it is delays two big power boosts to the musket master, the level 3 fast musket deed and the level 5 musket training, but fast musket is most important for you. Without fast musket you need alchemical cartridges to fire every round (and then can only fire once per round regardless of any other effect like haste). Musket training you can put off but fast musket is a more serious problem

1) rapid shot should be level 3, it almost doubles damage output if you have fast musket. That is worth far more than any utility you get from a level of wizard.

2) combat reflexes after snap shot. without snap shot you can only make melee attacks and you aren't too good at those. also snap shot lets you fire without provoking AoOs.

Sczarni

I would agree with taking Rapid Shot at 3 if you were playing a straight Musket Master but as the OP did specify they would like to multiclass this build, taking Deadly Aim gives them a boost to damage they can immediately take advantage of rather than wait three scenarios or one module of PFS play to have come online. With my character, mitigating gold costs to allow for later large purchases, greater field mobility and a wider selection of special material bullets early was more important to me than being able to hammer out the damage for a few scenarios.

Of course if one were to just buy their character with GM credit up to level 5 it would make the order rather moot.

A thought... Although Snap Shot with Combat Reflexes allows you to make multiple AoOs without provoking an AoO on yourself, even though reloading as a Free Action is allowed to make multiple ranged AoOs, nowhere in the errata does it state that reloading your firearm does not provoke. And the act of loading a firearm always provokes as per the firearm rules. I suppose that's why they included the feat Deft Shootist. But taking both trees might not be an option with only 12 levels to work with.

Dark Archive

What I did for my PFS musket master was take the alternate helf trait arcane training. It means I have to take sorcerer as a favored class, so I loss 1hp/level but I count as a 1st lvl sorcerer for the use of spell trigger and spell completion items. That means no UMD check for wands of abundant ammunition, Mage armor, shield, or infernal healing.

Sczarni

Not a bad choice for the wand access, but you do lose the bonus feat for being human. Guess it boils down to how soon you want access to Precise Shot, Deadly Shot and Rapid Shot since Point Blank should always be your first feat as a ranged combatant.

Dark Archive

Yeah, I'm unable to deadly aim until lvl 5 , at which point my damage explodes, but not having to buy bullets more then once is fantastic.

Grand Lodge

Thanks for all the advice!

First of all, while I agree that a divine class like Cleric or Inquisitor would be a much superior choice for multiclassing, the problem is that this does not fit the fluff of my character at all. And I love that fluff.

Character Background:
The man now known as Jacques Rostand grew up with the far more prestigious name of Alain, Comte de Mieville. A former Galtan nobleman who had to make a quick getaway when the Grey Gardeners decided it was time for his head to roll, he was always good to his servants and never hurt anyone. Seems that don't stop them none, though.

I see him as kind of a 19th century aristocrat, with lots of leisure time and lots of money, so he spent that on his hobbies: the study of all things arcane and scientific. He's a scholar and an inventor, maybe not as good one as he'd like, but not all men are gifted with Intelligence on the level of a Prof. Percival Quizzlenobs and it sure as hell didn't stop him. In the end, it might have been the weird lights coming from that upstairs window that caused all this talk in town, and ultimately led to him jumping out a window, the mob in pursuit.

If it hadn't been for Eliza Petulengro of the Woodsedge Lodge and her Shadow Lodge contacts, he probably wouldn't have made it out of there alive. He briefly served in the Taldan military after that, but while a soldier's structured life suited him better than he feared, there just wasn't time or space enough for his primary interest, the thing he felt driven to more than anything: the pursuit of knowledge. So, as soon as he could, he retired and made his way to Absalom to join the one organization he knew that shared his intense desire for knowledge, his boundless curiosity, his love for things that go boom: The Pathfinder Society.

So yeah, it's gotta be something arcane.
The thing is, that one level of Wizard gives me a lot:
- Always act in the surprise round.
- +1 to Initiative
- +2 to Fort Saves (Rat Familiar)
- Alertness
- Prescience ability 4-5 times a day
- A small bonus to my worst save (Wil) at a small cost to my better saves (Ref and Fort)
- Access to cantrips (Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending)
- Spellcraft, Linguistics and Knowledge (all) as class skills
- Access to tons of useful spell trigger/completion items (Wands: Abundant Ammunition, Longshot and Mage Armor. Scrolls: Comprehend Languages, Disguise Self, Expeditious Retreat, Obscuring Mist, Silent Image)
- A couple of low-level utility spells (Feather-fall, Shield, Identify)
- +5 to Day Job checks from Crafter's Fortune :D

The cost of it isn't all that steep at first look:
- No armor (see below)
- -1 BAB
- -2 Skill Points for that level

Why wearing no armor isn't that bad, really:

Wand of Mage Armor lasts an hour and gives me the same +4 that a chain shirt would have given me. It also carries no DEX limitation and no skill check penalty, as opposed to that chain shirt. Even a Mithral Chain shirt only allows a maximm +6 DEX bonus and still doesn't give me more armor than Mage Armor. Once I enchant it, that armor bonus goes up one point above Mage Armor, but I feel like I'd rather spend that money on my gun, DEX belt, INT and/or WIS headband or other stuff.
Sure, I could go for a +1 Agile Mithril Breastplate, as the +7 armor and max DEX bonus of +5 might put me 2 points above what I'd have with Mage Armor at the point where I can afford 5900 gp.
Either way, I'd lose 4 points of shield bonus from the shield spell I could cast instead...

The main cost of the Wizard level, though, is delaying other things. Assuming I take the Wizard level at 2:
Rapid Shot doesn't work at 3 as I don't yet have Fast Musket. I'll get that at 4. Do I take Rapid Shot at 3, even though it'll be useless for a level, or do I wait until 5? That's 2 levels later.
My BAB will be one lower, meaning I'll get my first bonus attack at level 7 instead of 6, the second at level 12 instead of 11. This'll also mean that Deadly Aim damage will increase one level later than it normally would.
Since I get my last feat at level 11, but will only be Gunslinger 10 at that point, Signature Deed and a few other BAB +11 feats are not available to me. But since we're talking PFS, that's only a couple of scenarios away from retirement, at least.

So yeah, that one level is painful, but I don't really see another option to get some "arcane" into my gun. I basically trade damage for utility, which is the trade I decided to do. The question is: how to do it best?

At least I now know that Explosive Missile isn't an option for 2handed firearms, so that'll save me the hassle of figuring that out. Alchemist levels would still add some interesting utility, allowing me to deal splash damage with bombs and alchemical items, and I could still use funnelled alchemical weapons by taking a 2-level-dip, but it'd further delay my BAB and Gunslinger class abilities. I don't believe that would be worth it.
I also see the point of the level 7 and 11 deeds now, so I might just go:
Level 1 - Gunslinger
Level 2 - Wizard
ALL the rest - Gunslinger

Thanks also for the advice about Abundant Ammunition. I'll definitely make sure to get that as I take great care to do all my bookkeeping right, especially with Gunslinger ammo. Abundant Ammunition would actually enable me to use Adamantine paper cartridges without having to cry every time I roll to hit.

Now for feats:

Combat Reflexes was first as, in that build, the Alchemist levels cost me another point of BAB, meaning that Snap Shot was not available at level 7 (BAB 5) to me. Now that I won't be taking Alchemist, this might be different.
I'm not set on that feat chain, though, as four feats are a steep price to pay for that, especially since it really only shines at levels 11 and 12. I'd probably be better off taking stuff that's more "frontloady". The game ends at level 12, after all. So maybe Improved Critical and Critical Focus? Would go nice with my traits (Lingshen's Finest and Killer) and the x4 modifier of the Musket. Vital Strike might be nice for the turns where I have to move and can't take a full attack action. I was planning to Explosive Missile on those turns, but that's not actually an option.

New Feat tree:
Level 1: Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim
Level 3: Rapid Shot
Level 5: Precise Shot, <??>
Level 7: Vital Strike
Level 9: Improved Critical, <??>
Level 11: Critical Focus

I'll delay Precise Shot to get more damage right away and to have Rapid Shot available at level 4 instead of 5. -4 to hit for a lot more damage. Might work. Might be an enormous waste of ammo. I'll see.
I drop the whole Snap Shot shenanigans and get a useful standard action at 7, and some crit stuff at 9 and 11.
Question is: what second feat to get at 5 and 9? Since the two I picked are combat feats already, taking up the Gunslinger bonus feats, I can pick anything I want.
Options I see:
- Extra Grit
- Blind Fight and Ricochet Shot
- Deft Shootist
- Improved Initiative
- Toughness

Feel free to comment on this and give me any advice, of course, but I'm quite set on multiclassing at least one level to get some arcane stuff and some utility. A pure Gunslinger doesn't quite fit the background and mental image I have of Jacques.
So what do I want? Answers to these questions:

1) Is there another multiclassing option you can think of, that would fit the background and give me better advantages than a level of Wizard (Foresight)?

2) What feats would you pick at 5 and 9, and why?

3) Anything I missed/got wrong?

Sczarni

Hmm. You're pretty much limited to Bard and Wizard for arcane spellcasters who studied to get where they are (ie not Sorcerers). Bard would suck pretty hard, even with the Archaeologist archetype or the one that gives you Arcane Strike. Wizards really only have Shadowcaster as an archetype that doesn't blow for your purposes and all it gives you is one bonus level 1 spell slot at the cost of Arcane Bond. That leaves arcane schools for customization. Transmutation is an option for the +1 enhancement bonus you could drop into Con to crank it up to 14 for free. Or Conjuration with the Teleportation alternate power which would give you 3+Int mod. uses of a 5 foot Swift action teleport. You *can* combine that with your 5 foot step to get 10 feet of unprovoked movement and still full attack. Beyond that, there isn't any real useful multiclass options. You could take Precocious Spellcaster to increase the duration of your Shield to two minutes, I suppose.

Another consideration for the Mage Armor + Shield spell combo in lieu of armor. Your caster level, not your character level determines the duration. As a 1st level Wizard your Shield will only ever last 1 minute or ten rounds. If you're using Abundant Ammunition too, You will only have ten rounds of one and nine rounds of the other and won't even be able to attack until your third round of combat. A level 1 Wizard's Shield is no better than a wand of Shield unless you take Precocious Spellcaster. But then you are still limited to at best four castings of a two minute Shield per day and no open spell slots if you go Shadowcaster with the Abjuration arcane school For extra spell slots, less if you don't, and Precocious Spellcaster eating into one of your traits.

I myself had a hard time deciding between the Richochet Shot line and the Deft Shootist Line. Negating cover can be pretty valuable though you may still have to worry about concealment unless you make your musket Seeking. The only other way around that would be Improved Precise Shot but you could only get that at level 12 with the Wizard drop. Deft Shootist may be a bit more useful over all particularly in tight quarters (dungeons, buildings, etc) or whenever the melee baddies decide to smack you. Plus Dodge never hurt anyone. That's the route I'm planning.

Grand Lodge

Thanks, you've given me a lot of food for thought! :)

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

Have you ever considered taking one level in Musket Master, taking many levels in Spellslinger wizard, and then getting the Eldritch Knight prestige class?

Grand Lodge

Spellslinger is not legal in PFS.

Silver Crusade

I'm building a musket master for PFS as well. I've only got 1 scenario under my belt right now, but man oh man was it a blast (no pun intended)! So anybody got a sample build for PFS? I went human and took PBS and Precise Shot at level 1. Here's what I'm thinking:

1. Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3. Rapid Shot
4. Deft Shootist
5. Weapon Focus
7. Deadly Aim
8. Snap Shot
9. Combat Reflexes
11. Weapon Specialization
12. Improved Snap Shot

With some Boots of Speed, at level 12 I'm looking at an attack sequence, assuming within 30 ft, something like:

+20/+20/+20/+15/+10 (1d12+10/x4) (Just over 90 DPR!)

The attack bonus comes from:

BAB=12
MW musket=1
24 Dex=7
Weapon Focus=1
PBS=1
Rapid Shot=-2

And this is low because you'll almost certainly have at least a +1 musket with some other enchantment(s) on it.

Sczarni

I'm a little confused as to the wording of Deft Shootist and how to interpret it's prerequisites.

Deft Shootist Deed (Grit).

Now, do you read the prerequisites as;

"Grit class feature or Amateur Gunslinger feat, Dodge, Mobility"

implying that a 1st level Gunslinger who has the Grit class feature can take Deft Shootist without Dodge or Mobility, or do you read it as;

"Grit class feature or Amateur Gunslinger feat, Dodge, Mobility"

meaning that the grit class feature and the Amateur Gunslinger feat are interchangable, however you must take Dodge and Mobility regardless?

This clarification is pretty important in regards to Gunslingers.

Silver Crusade

Yeah I didn't even notice that. I would say Dodge and Mobility are required and then you need Grit in some fashion. That means it's out of my build. What can I replace it with?

Grand Lodge

You need Dodge and Mobility, whether you're a real gunslinger or just an amateur. :)

Silver Crusade

I also forgot about Deadly Aim in my DPR calculations. At level 12, the attack sequence changes to:

+16/+16/+16/+11/+5 (1d12+18/x4).

So your first 4 attacks are almost definitely hits, but your last iterative is gonna be somewhere around 60% hit chance. Of course, without Deft Shootist, this entire build is most likely changing since reloading after taking an AoO is going to provoke.

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