Metalsymphony |
Hey guys, first time poster here, so greetings to everyone! So long story short, I'm about to start my first Pathfinder campaign and I'm very excited! But alas, I'm having a little trouble deciding on my class. We're playing the Rise of the Runelords campaign and my other party members consist of a switch hitter fighter, a damage oriented kensai magus, and a debuff/control focused witch. It seems we are lacking a divine caster, as well as someone who's a decent face. After doing a lot of research, I've narrowed it down to some choices and I need help picking the one that would be most beneficial to my group, though I'm open to suggestions. They are:
-A reach/battle cleric
-A melee based inquisitor (maybe using conversion inq. to help with skills)
-An Oath of Vengeance two handed paladin
Any help from some veterans who are experienced with RotR would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to hearing your opinions!
Metalsymphony |
Oh yeah! I forgot about Oracles! They seem like great fun with a lot of flavor to boot. I'll have to give those mysteries a closer look. And yeah, I generally lean towards melee but I'm not against other options. I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best fit. I've heard that RotR is pretty battle heavy, so I'm not sure how important a typical face character will be. But if that's an important role I'd definitely like to aid in that if possible.
Drogos |
I'd suggest a more ranged focus divine caster for the later books. I'm playing with a group and we're almost to book 4 from what the DM says and a front line d8 class can be in big trouble. Our oracle is more ranged and it has helped tremendously having him out of melee. I've been rather frustrated with my Druid/Monk's survivability in melee due to the lack of HP.
A character with social skills can greatly help throughout the first half of the AP. No clue on the latter half. But you definitely should have good utility in combat first, then a secondary role that is non combat to ensure you aren't bored throughout.
Metalsymphony |
Alrighty, that's good to know. Back when I played 3.5, everybody would constantly say "You have to have a cleric!!!", so it just seemed natural to always have one, or at least a divine casting class. Nonetheless, thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I'm still a bit undecided though. So many of the classes just sound so damn fun to play! Honestly, I'm in love with the idea of being a character that's capable in melee and can also support his allies. I just suck at really narrowing down a choice for my current group setup.
thegreenteagamer |
Honestly, I'm in love with the idea of being a character that's capable in melee and can also support his allies.
That sounds very much like a cleric or oracle to me.
Or, if you want, the new Skald class seems to be a Bard that doesn't suck quite as much as genuine Bards do. Though I doubt anyone but the fighter would appreciate the Inspired Rage, considering it would stop the Magus and Witch from casting spells.
Metalsymphony |
I've been doing a little more research, and while the inquisitor looks fun....it seems like a very "greedy" class, if that makes sense. So I'm taking that off the list. Now the battle mystery oracle sounds very fun, and I've read up on the oracle guide. Very informative stuff! That being said, I'd love to hear any of your guy's experiences of running one in RotR. I feel like I'm close to narrowing it down. :)
Secret Wizard |
Oracles are OP, one of the best classes in the game.
However, as an Oracle, you have a big wind-up time until you can ACTUALLY wade into a melee. There's a long haul where you'll just play as a caster.
Considering your party, I'd go Holy Tactician (archetype) Paladin, using the two-handed weapon you wanted.
It has some very nice party buffing, and, as a Paladin, always useful face skills.
Another option is Guide Ranger, which combines party buffing and Divine spells. Otherwise there's the Witchguard Ranger, which can help protecting your, well, Witch, while aiding the team and casting more divine spells.
Renegadeshepherd |
First welcome to the community. The main thing is play what you believe will bring you the most joy. When in doubt play urself.
Though I am slightly biased I have found the inquisitor to be a great choice. It is not as complicated as a full caster class but is eloquate enough. It is a magnificent face with your fore mentioned conversion inquisition AND has plenty of skills to go around so that you get to experience more of the game.
I find that this part is most important of all... I recommend to new players grab something where you get to participate in all areas so that you discover what made you happiest a d you getting the most joy for yourself and friends.
One alternative I can offer... Clerics have the option of trading a single domain for an inquisition. As such it is possible to take that conversion inquisition while your playing that cleric. Many would not recommend this, and normally I do not either, but this offers even more opportunity to play more areas of the game such as summoning, group healing, and such. Just be aware that your skills are going to be low compare to that inquisitor.
demontroll |
Having a 'face' in the group isn't really a requirement for RotRL as far as I have seen (your experience may vary). It wouldn't hurt to have a 'face', but the adventure won't grind to a halt if someone fails a diplomacy check.
Wands of Cure Light Wounds or Infernal Healing can be used by the Witch, who does have some divine casting ability.
I'd recommend playing whatever class you feel like playing, without feeling the need to fill a particular 'role'.
Fromper |
I've been doing a little more research, and while the inquisitor looks fun....it seems like a very "greedy" class, if that makes sense. So I'm taking that off the list. Now the battle mystery oracle sounds very fun, and I've read up on the oracle guide. Very informative stuff! That being said, I'd love to hear any of your guy's experiences of running one in RotR. I feel like I'm close to narrowing it down. :)
I have fun playing a battle oracle in Pathfinder Society. I'm sure it would work well in Runelords, too. I've been taking Extra Revelation as a feat multiple times, because other than Power Attack and Quicken Spell, the revelations are better than most feats I'd be taking.
DrDeth |
Oh yeah! I forgot about Oracles! They seem like great fun with a lot of flavor to boot. I'll have to give those mysteries a closer look. And yeah, I generally lean towards melee but I'm not against other options. I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best fit. I've heard that RotR is pretty battle heavy, so I'm not sure how important a typical face character will be. But if that's an important role I'd definitely like to aid in that if possible.
I'd go with a Oracle with some blasty options, actually. Focus on being a spellcaster and a face, not a melee.
Try a Gnome. Not many people play one.
Pyromaniac (This racial trait replaces the gnome magic and illusion resistance racial traits.) if going for flame mystery.
Gift of Tongues (This racial trait replaces the defensive training and hatred racial traits.)
Favored class: After 1st level (take the hit point!)Oracle: Treat the gnome's level as +1/2 higher for the purpose of determining the effects of the oracle's curse ability.
Mysteries: flame mystery, heavens mystery.
DrDeth |
Alrighty, that's good to know. Back when I played 3.5, everybody would constantly say "You have to have a cleric!!!", so it just seemed natural to always have one, or at least a divine casting class.
The old Heal-bot is no longer as necessary for most tables. But yeah, a divine caster with Condition removal and buffing is almost a must-do.
Altho sure, a oracle or cleric can be a melee type, you are a spellcaster, Cast spells, you'll find them much better than wading into melee. Let your fighter & magus do that- you toss a buff their way and let them go to town. Your party doesn't need three melee guys.
Take extra revelation.
Flame oracle wants Cinder Dance first, then Gaze of Flames, then Molten Skin , then Wings of Fire @7th.Fire Breath is fun but weak. Haunted or Deaf curse. Talk to your DM.
Metalsymphony |
Metalsymphony wrote:Alrighty, that's good to know. Back when I played 3.5, everybody would constantly say "You have to have a cleric!!!", so it just seemed natural to always have one, or at least a divine casting class.The old Heal-bot is no longer as necessary for most tables. But yeah, a divine caster with Condition removal and buffing is almost a must-do.
Altho sure, a oracle or cleric can be a melee type, you are a spellcaster, Cast spells, you'll find them much better than wading into melee. Let your fighter & magus do that- you toss a buff their way and let them go to town. Your party doesn't need three melee guys.
Take extra revelation.
Flame oracle wants Cinder Dance first, then Gaze of Flames, then Molten Skin , then Wings of Fire @7th.Fire Breath is fun but weak. Haunted or Deaf curse. Talk to your DM.
Wow, thanks for all of the input everybody. What an awesome community! And DrDeth, that idea sounds very intriguing. Honestly I'm considering possibly switching over to ranged now. I've been mulling it over and we probably don't need another melee, just like you mentioned. So I suppose I'll start looking into my options. I'll definitely check out the flame mystery. Right now I'm at work so it's a tad cumbersome at the moment lol.
Demoyn |
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Aren't you forgetting traps? Your witch is more than capable of healing out of combat (if you need healing IN combat you're playing wrong). You'll definitely want the ability to find traps, knowledges, and a charisma face. I don't often suggest bards, but I think it would fit perfectly with your group. You'd be charisma heavy, knowledge heavy, and you can make disable device a class skill with a trait. You'll even have backup heals if your witch goes down in combat.
Metalsymphony |
I spoke to my DM today, and we're starting our campaign next Sunday. He also told me I'm allowed to switch classes within the first three levels if I'm not enjoying what I'm currently playing. He's pretty fair minded and flexible, which is pretty nice. Anyways, I think I've narrowed it down to either an oracle of battle, or a divine archer/caster of sorts. I still like the idea of wading into battle, and honestly I welcome the spontaneous casting. (I played a lot of wizard in 3.5, and honestly it would be a nice change from bookeeping spells lol). They also seem to be a better "battle cleric" than an actual battle cleric.
As for the divine ranged type, are there any divine archer type builds that stand out? I see that paladin, inquisitor, and cleric all seem to have viable builds for this, but my experience is limited and you guys have been giving me some really interesting builds to look into so far.
Metalsymphony |
Aren't you forgetting traps? Your witch is more than capable of healing out of combat (if you need healing IN combat you're playing wrong). You'll definitely want the ability to find traps, knowledges, and a charisma face. I don't often suggest bards, but I think it would fit perfectly with your group. You'd be charisma heavy, knowledge heavy, and you can make disable device a class skill with a trait. You'll even have backup heals if your witch goes down in combat.
That's a pretty valid point. How do archer bards fair in pathfinder? That actually sounds like a very fun combo.
Rerednaw |
Demoyn wrote:Aren't you forgetting traps? Your witch is more than capable of healing out of combat (if you need healing IN combat you're playing wrong). You'll definitely want the ability to find traps, knowledges, and a charisma face. I don't often suggest bards, but I think it would fit perfectly with your group. You'd be charisma heavy, knowledge heavy, and you can make disable device a class skill with a trait. You'll even have backup heals if your witch goes down in combat.That's a pretty valid point. How do archer bards fair in pathfinder? That actually sounds like a very fun combo.
Bards (and archer bards) fare quite well. Basically this all boils down to what you want.
Demoyn |
Demoyn wrote:Aren't you forgetting traps? Your witch is more than capable of healing out of combat (if you need healing IN combat you're playing wrong). You'll definitely want the ability to find traps, knowledges, and a charisma face. I don't often suggest bards, but I think it would fit perfectly with your group. You'd be charisma heavy, knowledge heavy, and you can make disable device a class skill with a trait. You'll even have backup heals if your witch goes down in combat.That's a pretty valid point. How do archer bards fair in pathfinder? That actually sounds like a very fun combo.
Archer bards start out a little slow, but they ramp up to pretty respectable power. Treantmonk has a guide on the forums about archer bards. Check it out.
Renegadeshepherd |
Archer bards in my opinion are among the best in the game when survivability is concerned. With 2 solid saves, spells like mirror image, and staying out of melee, they are hard to kill. My only beef with em is they are feat starved in the early game so you are pressured to play human. Despite that I have found that a tiefling or elf had some very good things to offer towards that goal (despite havin no charisma boost) and a dhampir is just awesome stat wise.
DekoTheBarbarian |
One thing I've found that I had to point out to the people I play with, especially since most of them seem to pick divine-themed characters (either straight-up divine casters like paladins, clerics, and druids, or a character that is very religious), is that Inquisitors with a 1 level dip in Cleric and the Channeling Scourge feat get the entire Channel Energy progression and the ability to spontaneously cast cure spells, while missing 1 point of channel energy DC, True Judgement, 1 spell per day, and 2 spells know for Inquisitor.
Blave |
I'm playing a battle Cleric in Runelords right now (just hit level 4). Went for Iomedae as my goddes, giving me access to Longswords, the Heroism and the Tactics domain.
As my group is light on both divine magic and melee, I'm basically locked into the healer/melee role for now, so I considered a few different concepts for a replacement should my character die.
If you want an pure offensive divine melee character, the best choice is the Inquisitor. It's like the egoistical version of the bard with lots of self buffs. With Half-Orc as race, you get access to two solid two-handed weapons and can become very good at intimidating and identifying monsters via the racial favored class bonus. Add the Trade Domain for some face abilities and great mobility.
That character is a beast in melee with relatively few buffs and has some very good skills and utility out of combat.
If you go for oracle, consider the Life Mystery. Yes, I know being the heal bot sucks, but the mystery gives you everything you need to keep a group alive. That means you can use all your resources (spells, feats, ability score) on your actual goal, be that melee or casting. The Mystery also has a few nice tricks up its sleeve with life sight and energy body. The latter gives you the elemental sub-type which grants you immunity to crits and other nasty things.
For a defensive melee/healer type, consider life oracle into holy vindicator. You'll use a shield so your damage won't be stellar but your AC will be very hard to hit.
Fruian Thistlefoot |
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I have beaten Rise of the runelords. Come book 3+ you will fight things that can beat really high ac.
In rise of the runelords some key things a cleric will need to be doing.
The spells remove blindness will come up in several places. Deathward will be a big player in each book beyond 3rd. Resist energy will come up in book 4+. I recommend a scroll of life bubble for book 4 and 6. Break enchantment/ dispel evil is handy in book 4 and it can help you easy mode 2 big fights you hit the right 2 big red targets.
I recommend going full evangelist cleric with a focus on e nchantments. Will saves and reflex saves tend to be the weaker saves in this AP. Since your group has a debuff witch you can turn enemies into allies or cause them to be removed from combat all together. Your 2 melee guys will be fine with your inspire courage and your buffs from above.
But I think putting your divine charater on the front lines will do 2 things. 1st the fighter will stay at ranged instead of switching to melee. And it also will get the cleric targeted sooner and more of a chance for you to drop. Giants hit really hard.
Metalsymphony |
I have beaten Rise of the runelords. Come book 3+ you will fight things that can beat really high ac.
In rise of the runelords some key things a cleric will need to be doing.
The spells remove blindness will come up in several places. Deathward will be a big player in each book beyond 3rd. Resist energy will come up in book 4+. I recommend a scroll of life bubble for book 4 and 6. Break enchantment/ dispel evil is handy in book 4 and it can help you easy mode 2 big fights you hit the right 2 big red targets.
I recommend going full evangelist cleric with a focus on e nchantments. Will saves and reflex saves tend to be the weaker saves in this AP. Since your group has a debuff witch you can turn enemies into allies or cause them to be removed from combat all together. Your 2 melee guys will be fine with your inspire courage and your buffs from above.
But I think putting your divine charater on the front lines will do 2 things. 1st the fighter will stay at ranged instead of switching to melee. And it also will get the cleric targeted sooner and more of a chance for you to drop. Giants hit really hard.
Thanks for the heads up on what kind of troubles I'll be facing. I'm going to look into your idea for sure. I'm not usually too keen on pure support characters, but hey you never know if you enjoy something until you try it, right?
Rerednaw, I generally enjoy a bit of everything so it's a little hard to decide sometimes. I've done the pure caster a bunch, so I figured trying a hybrid of sorts would be fun. So far everyone here has proposed some very fun sounding ideas.
And Blave, you definitely make a strong case for the inquisitor, but like others have mentioned I think my group has plenty of offense in melee. But the life oracle sounds interesting, I'll look into it.
Again, thanks everyone for your help and input so far. Is greatly appreciated! Luckily I have a week plus ahead of me to nail this down.
Blave |
And Blave, you definitely make a strong case for the inquisitor, but like others have mentioned I think my group has plenty of offense in melee.
Well, if you have enough offense, how about some defense? Take a shield and heavy armor, enchant both with magic vestment. Invest the money saved on the armor enchantment into an amulet of natural armor. In the first round of combat, cast shield of faith and activate the +AC judgement.
And if you ever need more damage than AC, just activate one of the offensive judgements and cast divine favor instead of shield of faith.
At level 10, you would have an AC of about 33.
10 base
+ 11 full plate + magiv vestment
+ 3 light shield + MV
+ 2 amulet
+ 3 judgement
+ 3 Shield of Faith
+ 1 Dex (probably)
That's without shield focus, dodge or whatever else you can come up with to improve your AC further. Maybe get some prayer beads to boost your AC by another 2 points (from higher CL for magic vestment).
And even with all this, you're still gonna be pretty strong on the offense with outflank, precise strike, bane and so on.
Fruian Thistlefoot |
@Blave he is still wading into melee against stuff that can hit an AC like that. COme book 4+ Ive seen the giants have like +35 to hit.
Your telling him go defense when Pathfinder favors offense typically over defense. And Mitigation over healing. Its atleast the optimal way to play the game.
Thanks for the heads up on what kind of troubles I'll be facing. I'm going to look into your idea for sure. I'm not usually too keen on pure support characters, but hey you never know if you enjoy something until you try it, right?
First You don't have to be a straight up support. and here is how.
Evanglist cleric can start a performance as a standard action...@7 a move action and @ 12 as a swift action.
Low levels you will start your perfomance and position yourself. 2nd round if your melee is on something then cast Command and tell them to Drop or Approach. The drop or approch will provoke AoO from your melee guys who are beefed up by your performance. those 2 extra attack could kill it outright without causing more harm to the group.
Mid levels 7-11 Performancee is your move action leaving your standard to buff more, lay downn the right mitagation (deathward, resist energy), or summon (boosted by performance)
Round 2 your free to go back to command or suggestion tactic...or you can cast Spiritual weapon (which benefits from your Performance)
High levels- Performance as your move, Quicken spiritual weapon or low level buff/mitigation, standard- summon or Blade barrier/wall spell to CC the battle field. You using Divine Interference to force rerolls of any critical threats negating criticals. (much better action then healing)
other then performing your not doing much "full supporting"
Your actually providing more damage just in other forms. And your getting the most out of your spells for the day. It feels like your contributing more then just Buff and look for something to heal.
Blave |
The AC isn't meant to block their strongest attacks. It's meant to block their iterative attacks. And +35 seems a bit much for about level 10. That's almost the attack bonus of the Tarrasque, a CR 25 creature!
An average CR 10 monster has +18 to his strongest attack, meaning it'll hit an AC of 33 with 30% chance. That drops drastically for all weaker attacks. The judgement grants bonus AC against crit confirmation, which increases the chance to negate the most dangerous attacks. If you rely on magic vestment for the AC bonus, you can easily invest some money to get a fortification armor.
At the high end of the campaign (level 16-17) you can easily have an AC of 40+. About 43-45 shouldn't be much of a problem. That means even those CR 19-20 foes will be far from guaranteed to hit you.
AC isn't about negating all damage. It's about negating enough damage so you (and your group) can kill the other guys before they kill you.
And before you say "all out offense will do the same thing", that's true but an inquisitor is ridiculous strong on the offense even with a one-handed weapon.
I'd even go out on a limb here and say that the Inquisitor is probably the best 3/4 BAB class at one-handed weapon + shield.
Fruian Thistlefoot |
Inquisitors use to be one of the best 3/4 class at 1 hand +shield. But Warpriests has them beat now.
Later levels you will deal with some powerful mages that give no shits about AC. Books 5 &6 Layered defenses and mitigation are needed. Also the more full casters you have in rise of the runelords at late game is better. The enemies will be throwing 9th level spells out so your team should be too.
Renegadeshepherd |
^^^^
I believe cleric was always best at 3/4 sword and board because of the crusader archetype. If not the best be was certainly the most defensive thanks to free heavy armor and about 3 feats to improve shield AC even more. By level 10 without spells, magical equipment, or a feat out of ur pocket, he was sporting an average 27 AC. It's just vanilla armor and shield.
Blave |
Don't have the ACG. Don't know what the Warpriest can and can't do.
Inquisitors however do have loads of defensive spells and pretty good saves, even more so with judgement. Add the mobility of the trade domain and you'll be a nightmare for enemy casters.
I'm not saying your Evangelist suggestion is bad. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm just saying that an Inquisitor is a completely viable and quite powerful character, no matter if on the offense or the defense.
Also, despite playing the AP myself, I'm also GMing it. I know it quite well. (Small spoiler coming up!!!)
There's exactly ONE enemy in the AP that uses 9th level spells. Likewise, there's only ONE enemy that has an attack bonus of 30+. Many enemies come close with +28 or +29, but it's not like you'll be hit by +35 attacks all day long. An AC of aound 44 will easily cause 70% of all foes to miss you on their first attack - which means their other attacks will only hit you in a 20.
Fruian Thistlefoot |
Come on Shepard the cleric is a full caster. He disqualifies himself based on that alone.
Not to mention swinging a weapon and wasting your spells on rounds/level buffs is wasted potential for the cleric class. As is giving up 1 slot every spell level. But just the fact he has 9th level spells makes him out of the other 3/4 BABs league.
Renegadeshepherd |
Come on Shepard the cleric is a full caster. He disqualifies himself based on that alone.
Not to mention swinging a weapon and wasting your spells on rounds/level buffs is wasted potential for the cleric class. As is giving up 1 slot every spell level. But just the fact he has 9th level spells makes him out of the other 3/4 BABs league.
I agree the full caster alone makes it unfair. Just wanted to say that if defense is your goal then that cleric makes for a great choice. Inquisitor has more going for him in melee and skills but It deserved a mention.
Metalsymphony |
First You don't have to be a straight up support. and here is how.
Evanglist cleric can start a performance as a standard action...@7 a move action and @ 12 as a swift action.
Low levels you will start your perfomance and position yourself. 2nd round if your melee is on something then cast Command and tell them to Drop or Approach. The drop or approch will provoke AoO from your melee guys who are beefed up by your performance. those 2 extra attack could kill it outright without causing more harm to the group.
Mid levels 7-11 Performancee is your move action leaving your standard to buff more, lay downn the right mitagation (deathward, resist energy), or summon (boosted by performance)
Round 2 your free to go back to command or suggestion tactic...or you can cast Spiritual weapon (which benefits from your Performance)High levels- Performance as your move, Quicken spiritual weapon or low level buff/mitigation, standard- summon or Blade barrier/wall spell to CC the battle field. You using Divine Interference to force rerolls of any critical threats negating criticals. (much better action then healing)
other then performing your not doing much "full supporting"
Your actually providing more damage just in other forms. And your getting the most out of your spells for the day. It feels like your contributing more then just Buff and look for something to heal.
Ahhh I see what you mean now. Yeah, that sounds a lot more appealing. I'm still in the process of elimination for classes I want to play but I've been crazy busy the last two days. But I've been soaking up all the pathfinder information I can in the meantime. I'm the kind of guy who does a ton of research on something before I jump into it :P.
You mentioned the warpriest. How is that as a class? I haven't checked out the book yet, but it aounds akin to what I originally wanted to play.
And Blave, you've convinced me add inquisitor back to the list because you make it sound like a ton of fun lol.
Kolokotroni |
Quote:First You don't have to be a straight up support. and here is how.
Evanglist cleric can start a performance as a standard action...@7 a move action and @ 12 as a swift action.
Low levels you will start your perfomance and position yourself. 2nd round if your melee is on something then cast Command and tell them to Drop or Approach. The drop or approch will provoke AoO from your melee guys who are beefed up by your performance. those 2 extra attack could kill it outright without causing more harm to the group.
Mid levels 7-11 Performancee is your move action leaving your standard to buff more, lay downn the right mitagation (deathward, resist energy), or summon (boosted by performance)
Round 2 your free to go back to command or suggestion tactic...or you can cast Spiritual weapon (which benefits from your Performance)High levels- Performance as your move, Quicken spiritual weapon or low level buff/mitigation, standard- summon or Blade barrier/wall spell to CC the battle field. You using Divine Interference to force rerolls of any critical threats negating criticals. (much better action then healing)
other then performing your not doing much "full supporting"
Your actually providing more damage just in other forms. And your getting the most out of your spells for the day. It feels like your contributing more then just Buff and look for something to heal.Ahhh I see what you mean now. Yeah, that sounds a lot more appealing. I'm still in the process of elimination for classes I want to play but I've been crazy busy the last two days. But I've been soaking up all the pathfinder information I can in the meantime. I'm the kind of guy who does a ton of research on something before I jump into it :P.
You mentioned the warpriest. How is that as a class? I haven't checked out the book yet, but it aounds akin to what I originally wanted to play.
And Blave, you've convinced me add inquisitor back to the list because you make it sound like a ton of fun lol.
Warpriest is probably alot of what you are looking for. They are like a fightier less casty cleric. They are amazing at self buffing, but with the cleric spell list they still buff everyone just fine. Also depending on the blessings you choose, buffing others can also come from there.
They will also have access to all the required condition removing and healing spells a party 'needs'. Keep in mind the witch will also have access to alot of that. Talk to the witch player and coordinate. If that player takes the healing hex early on, it will go a long way toward maintaining the 'divine caster' need. You would be more on the hook for things like lesser restoration and remove blindness that the witch may or may not have access to, in terms of divine casting.
The warpriest however is a little light on skills, soe while you could just put his 2 skillpoints into diplomacy and sense motive and be a good enough face, it wont leave you with much else since you need physical stats for fighting and wisdom for your casting and abilities.
The inquisitor is about as good as it gets for filling in what your party is missing. Its far less effective as a support class, but in terms of ranged divine casters with good skills, there isnt anything better.
Remember that in pathfinder you dont need trapfinding to find traps, and only magical traps require it. So an inquisitor with a good perception and disable device (easy to do with their 6 skill points a level) will be a great 'trap guy'. There is also a trait somewhere that grants trapfinding if your dm is using traits and willing to allow it. There are a few nasty traps in areas of this campaign so it is worth having the ability to deal with it. Plus perception and disable device are always useful.
In terms of face, inquisitors are EXCELLENT faces. They have bonuses to intimidate and sense motive, good skill points, all the social skills on their list and are wisdom based for that old sense motive.
Also keep in mind they also have all the important healy divine spells on their list. And with all the in class self buffs you get, you can often focus on those sorts of things with your spells without hurting your ability to contribute in combat.
Metalsymphony |
Well I've finally settled on what I'm going to play. I'm picking up the inquisitor, and I'm making thistlefoots suggestion as a backup. After reading more threads on the inquisitor, I feel like it'll let me taste a little bit of everything in pathfinder, as well as let me build my original concept if I choose to. And I love the variety it offers.
I have one last question. I see a lot of people tend to go for a melee inquisitor. Do archer inquisitors perform well in comparison?