when to switch out orc ferocity?


Advice


paraphrasing

Orc Ferocity: 1/day, act staggered for 1 round when you would otherwise be dying (not enough time/actions to draw and drink a healing potion, sadly)
Sacred Tattoo: gain a bonus on saving throws. abuse this bonus with Fate's Favored
Toothy: bite people
Other Stuff that replaces orc ferocity: meh

I come to this question via a really dumb reason: I'm kitting out a half-orc rogue, and I really like Toothy for that. Greataxe+sneak attacks and bite+sneak attack? I like it...at the same time, I really like the idea of wearing a full face hockey mask, for the sheer creepy factor. I suppose I could do both, but then the question becomes 'how did you bite that guy while wearing a full face mask?'

anyway...the real question: what builds replace orc ferocity? Is it Sacred Tattoo every time? Is Gatecrasher good for anything?


The bones from sacred tattoo is only +1, sure if you spend a trait it's +2 but unless you have a lot of access to luck bonuses I don't think it's worth it.

On the other hand their is the feat razortusk that half-orcs can take but it makes your bite a secondary attack instead of primary.


For a melee character I would always go with the Sacred Tattoo's

But if you play a rogue well, seems to mee that thooty is giving you more...


I'd always go Sacred Tattoo. Honestly you're trading out a very meh racial ability and a trait for effectively 3 feats. Or 4000 gold. A +2 at the start of the game to one of the harder defenses to boost and arguably the most important one.

Toothy becomes a secondary attack when used with any weapons so -5 to hit and only 1/2 strength.

Orc Ferocity is very meh to begin with.

Sczarni

I like toothy. It's easy to get 3 natural attacks (all primary) and then nab Multiattack to combine with Unarmed Strikes at just -2 (to your claws most likely). Mix in some Feral Combat Training, Dragon Style/Ferocity and all of a sudden all of your UAS and Claw attacks are at full BAB -2 and get 1 and a half STR mod to damage. You still get mileage out of Toothy but it's main use is the pre-req for Multiattack...

But, if you're a Rogue, Toothy can still be good for you if you use a Longspear for 10' reach and a bite attack adjacent. Mix in some combat reflexes and you have a pretty decent threatened area.

Not saying it's better than the bonus to saves, but I like it better than ferocity (except for a Paladin. Ferocity is pretty good for a Paladin).


Sacred Tattoo & Fate's Favoured for me, saves occur all the time and a +2 to all plus darkvision and racial weapons makes the half-orc very attractive for non-martials. Throw in Shaman's Apprentice too.


I find that ferocity is one of those things where you always forget to use it until you're packing up to leave after the game session.

"Oh, wait, Zugzug the barbarian didn't have to die after all, I forgot about orc ferocity!"

"Well, it's a bit late -- the PCs already returned to town, found a priest to cast raise dead, and returned to the dungeon where the foes were more prepared this time. No retcon."


I would say always swap it out, unless you're going to take the feat that turns it into real Ferocity. I'm going to take that with my fighting-summoner, because it's a good time when you can't be knocked out, meaning your eidolon doesn't get dismissed unless you die, in which case you don't care anyway. Still, ferocity is dangerous unless you're smart enough to use it as a bit of time to run away, and only gets more so as you go up in level.

Sacred tattoo is easily the best thing to swap it out for. Toothy is nice if you want to play a natural attack character like an abyssal sorcerer or something, but pretty worthless if you're going to use a weapon. Gatecrasher is just not worth it.


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There's the race trait 'Tusked' form 'Orcs of Golarion' for a bite attack. Paizo made sure there were a lot of ways for orcs to get their dentures on. I think its only a d3 instead of the d4 but you're in it for all the delicious sneak attacks anyway.

If you like Orc Ferocity switch Intimidating for Shaman's Apprentice to get endurance and take Diehard as a feat: you're ferocious EVERY time you drop below zero, not just once a day.


Orc Ferocity is probably the single most underwhelming racial trait in the game. Diehard isn't even that great to begin with (I mean, it's okay, but it's also a potential death-trap); I don't understand limiting them to 1 round/day.


According to the Race Builder, half-orcs are only an 8-RP race. Interestingly, Orc Ferocity costs 2 RP, whilst an orc's Ferocity costs 4 RP. For an extra 2 RP, half-orcs could have the real thing (putting them roughly on par with dwarves, in terms of RP cost).


I picked up Gatecrasher on my PFS Rage Prophet. I like having a successful sunder vs. just about everything on a 3 or better and dealing enough damage to outright destroy anything not adamantine has been pretty cool.


I do love the synergy of the Sacred Tattoo + Fate's Favored combination, especially for any class with only 1 good save. Add in a flexible stat bonus, Darkvision and the possibility of getting Endurance for free and Half-Orc are a good prospect for many classes. I just wish there was a greater variety of miniatures for them available.

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