Should I bother with Weapon Finesse on a halfling oracle?

[eakratz]

I am waffling on taking Weapon Finesse on the halfling oracle I am building for an upcoming Skull and Shackles campaign. On one hand, with her strength she will never land a melee attack without it. On the other, she isn't going to use melee weapons, only the "touch of electricity" oracle revelation which is a touch attack. If I can help it :)

We used 4d6 drop lowest, reroll ones as the stat generation method and a house rule that does away with the big 6. Cutting down the 3.5 Xmas tree

Build:

Sandy Trufflebottom
Female halfling oracle 1
CN small humanoid (halfling)
Deity Gozreh and Besmara
Init + 4; Senses Perception + 0

Defense
AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+ 4 dex, + 2 armor, + 1 shield, + 1 dodge, + 1 size)
hp 9 (1d8+ 1)
Fort + 2, Ref + 4, Will + 2
Weaknesses oracle’s curse (haunted)

Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee touch of electricity + 5 touch (1d6 electricity)
Ranged light xbow + 5 (1d6/19-20)
Special Attacks touch of electricty 8/day (1d6 electricity)
Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration + 5)
1st (5/day)—air bubble, cure light wounds , murderous command
0 (at will)—detect magic, purify food and drink, read magic, spark
Mystery Wind

STATISTICS
Str 7, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 20
Base Atk + 0; CMB -3; CMD 11
Feats Weapon Finesse
Traits Peg Leg, Fast-Talker, Dangerously Curious
Skills Acrobatics 1/+ 8, Bluff 1/+ 10, Linguistics 1/+ 7, Swim 1/-1, UMD 1/+ 9
Languages Common, Giant, Goblin, Halfling, Polyglot
SQ revelation (touch of electricity)
Race fleet of foot, underfoot, polyglot
Gear light crossbow, 20 bolts, lamellar cuirass, buckler

Progression:

1. weapon finesse; rev: touch of electricity
2. [1st Ability] +1 dex
3. [2nd Ability] +1 cha, Prowess +1; extra revelation invisibility; rev: air barrier
4. AC +1, Saves +1; levitate and minor image; + 1 cha
5. [1st Ability] +1 dex; extra revelation: windsight
6. [2nd Ability] +1 cha, Versatile Metamagic
7. AC +1, Saves +1, Prowess +1; extra revelation : gaseous form; rev: wings of air
8. [1st Ability] +1 dex, [3rd Ability] +1 con; telekinesis; + 1 wis
9. Prowess +1
10. AC +1, Saves +1; reverse gravity
11. [1st Ability] +1 dex, [2nd Ability] +1 cha, [3rd Ability] +1 con, Prowess +1; rev: thunderburst
12. AC +1
13. [1st Ability] +1 dex, Saves +1, Prowess +1
14. [2nd Ability] +1 cha, AC +1
15. [1st Ability] +1 dex, [2nd Ability] +1 cha, [3rd Ability] +1 con, Prowess +1; rev: lightening breath

Sorry if this is hard to follow. I am including feats, spells gained from the haunted curse, and bonuses from the Xmas tree.

So, can anyone think of a better use of my 1st level feat? Much appreciated thank you.

Edit: If relevant, my rolls were 18 17 13 12 11 9

[Magda Luckbender]

Personally, I'd put that 2nd high stat into CON instead of DEX. This PC should not have much use for DEX. As a halfling spellcaster with a 7 STR, this PC has very little reason to ever wield a weapon. More HP will probably be more valuable than batter AC. If this PC is having to dodge many melee attacks then the martials are not doing their job.

Lacking weapon finesse this PC will inflict about 1/20 the damage of a dedicated martial. With weapon finesse this PC will inflict about 1/10 the damage of a dedicated martial. Either way, weapon damage is always going to be a rounding error, so don't focus on it.

Instead, focus on things that this PC can be good at. There are lots of flavorful feats that would be effective. Be warned that your 'touch of electricity' power will work at low levels, but will soon cease to matter at all.

For example, this PC would make a great Flagbearer. That feat adds attack power to the entire party, and thus accomplishes far more than would your dinky melee attacks. Here are some other juicy feat choices: Toughness (more HP are always good) ; Bouncing Spell (great for Murderous Command);lots and lots of other feats would be great for an Oracle. Consider the Dual Cursed oracle archetype: you would lose nothing important, and would gain the ability to manipulate luck via Misfortune.

If you combine the trait Magical Lineage (Murderous Command) with the feat Bouncing Spell you'll have a high powered Murderous Command spell right from the start, so long as you are prepared for the extra metamagic casting time.

[Rub-Eta]

I wouldn't bother.

[eakratz]

Thanks, Magda, those are all awesome ideas. Bouncing murderous command sounds exactly like the kind of flavor I want for her. Basically, she is a troublemaker.

[eakratz]

Magda Luckbender wrote:

If you combine the trait Magical Lineage (Murderous Command) with the feat Bouncing Spell you'll have a high powered Murderous Command spell right from the start, so long as you are prepared for the extra metamagic casting time.

Thanks again for the idea. With this idea and Dark Tapestry's Gift of Madness revelation, first session with this character was AWESOME!