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Hi all. I'm starting up a new PFS character, an alchemist fighter multiclass.
Stats-
Str 15 (17) +2 racial
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wiz 12
Cha 7
Race- Half elf (dual minded. will save suffers pretty hard without it)
Traits- defender of the society (+1 AC), carefully hidden (that will save again)
Class-
Fighter 1- Combat reflexes, Feat- Power attack
Alchemist 1
Alchemist 2- Discovery- vestigial arm, feat- extra discovery vestigial arm.
alchemist 3
alchemist 4- Iron will/improved initiative/quick draw
The goal is to wield a 2 handed reach weapon, a shield, and a one handed melee weapon all at the same time, chug an extract of enlarge person, and play zone denial with large reach.
I'm pretty happy with the build up to level 5, but I'm not sure what to do from there. Do I go more martial, grab another level of fighter or two, and keep my BAB up, or do I commit to full alchemist, maybe branching out into master chymist later (very late in a PFS career). Also, im not sure what (if any) archetypes i should take on my alchemist and fighter levels.
Thanks all!
If you really want to go crazy with reach, you should invest in a wand of long arm (a new spell from the ACG) to boost your reach by 5 feet. There's also the Aberrant bloodline for the bloodrager, which boosts reach by 5 feet while raging (although it doesn't start until level 4).
Have you seen the fighter archetype that does mix them? Decent stuff
Sadly, I don't think it's PFS legal.
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Its in the new advanced class guide. Just checked archives and your right. Wow. Did not know.
You could try drunken brute/ Alchemist with potion glutton. You would get more out of rage by swilling booze. Puts you down a feat but getting a nice boost in abilities.
I would do 8 barbarian/4 alchemist if you are going more martial.
If you want more alchemy power go 2 barb/7 alchemist/3 master chemist.
Either way will be vicious.
You can still sub fighter for feats but I really like free action rage, move action drink, and standard action drink again and area denial with AoO. Now your set up to own the field.
I like the arm idea but you could make yourself more bestial with a crab familiar tumor gainingfast healing and a +2 to grapple. Or a ttentacle which can take AoO and give you +4 to grapple CMB and CMD as well as the grab ability. You can mix it up as well an arm and a tentacle. Basically play make a monster.
Hi all. I'm starting up a new PFS character, an alchemist fighter multiclass.
Stats-
Str 15 (17) +2 racial
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wiz 12
Cha 7Race- Half elf (dual minded. will save suffers pretty hard without it)
Traits- defender of the society (+1 AC), carefully hidden (that will save again)
Class-
Fighter 1- Combat reflexes, Feat- Power attack
Alchemist 1
Alchemist 2- Discovery- vestigial arm, feat- extra discovery vestigial arm.
alchemist 3
alchemist 4- Iron will/improved initiative/quick drawThe goal is to wield a 2 handed reach weapon, a shield, and a one handed melee weapon all at the same time, chug an extract of enlarge person, and play zone denial with large reach.
I'm pretty happy with the build up to level 5, but I'm not sure what to do from there. Do I go more martial, grab another level of fighter or two, and keep my BAB up, or do I commit to full alchemist, maybe branching out into master chymist later (very late in a PFS career). Also, im not sure what (if any) archetypes i should take on my alchemist and fighter levels.
Thanks all!
An Investigator makes Alchemist extracts and has access to discoveries one level later than Alchemists.
More importantly for your build he has good Will and Reflex saves, and as far as I know is the only class that does apart from Bards. So that meshes well with a fighter mix. It would also let you bring Charisma up and drop Wisdom to ten.
I would consider going full Investigator and using a longspear. You can spend your trait buffing your Fortitude; poison resistance will help also. If you have an eye on a better reach weapon, you could be human and get it with your extra feat or get proficiency via half-elf. The latter is probably the better option because you probably already think of him (her?) as a half-elf and you get the resistance to sleep effects etc, which you'll need more than a bonus skill point.
Bad news - for what you want to do, going full investigator won't get you shield proficiency.
Good news-turns out Darkwood items are legal in PFS; a Darkwood heavy shield has no check penalty and you won't care about Arcane Spell Failure. My Alchemist uses his vestigial arm to hold one.
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@ Fruian -
The mixture of Barbarian and Alchemist is definitely super strong, but its a bit too much munchkin for my liking. The combination of rage, enlarge person and mutagen totals +10 Str. That's nuts.
However, the drunken brute is very powerful. Having drink a potion as a move action works great with Alchemical allocation. I just don't like how much i could outshine/out munchkin other players if i walk around rocking 30 Str from level 5.
As for the bestial route, that seems very strong. I would definitely consider hat if I went with more alchemist levels.
Its in the new advanced class guide. Just checked archives and your right. Wow. Did not know.
You could try drunken brute/ Alchemist with potion glutton. You would get more out of rage by swilling booze. Puts you down a feat but getting a nice boost in abilities.
I would do 8 barbarian/4 alchemist if you are going more martial.
If you want more alchemy power go 2 barb/7 alchemist/3 master chemist.Either way will be vicious.
You can still sub fighter for feats but I really like free action rage, move action drink, and standard action drink again and area denial with AoO. Now your set up to own the field.
I like the arm idea but you could make yourself more bestial with a crab familiar tumor gainingfast healing and a +2 to grapple. Or a ttentacle which can take AoO and give you +4 to grapple CMB and CMD as well as the grab ability. You can mix it up as well an arm and a tentacle. Basically play make a monster.
The fast healing for the tumor familiar only applies to the familiar.
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You mean 30 str at level 2 lol. But if you don't like optimizing you can nerf yourself.
I had a friend do it and at level 2 he crit with his great axe for like 56 damage. Made a yeti in to lunch meat. He played it as a dwarf alcoholic so he didnt get the 20 str start. He was at a 28 str. He needed some roleplay. It was a rather disgusting build but as a lone front liner it worked really well.
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I had started out my alchemist with the plan to be mostly zone denial with the dorn dergar (and the feats to make it easier to "choke up"). He was created way back during the playtest of the APG, and evolved over time as new feats came out, and as I played him. After Ultimate Combat came out, I dropped prestige to retrain him (PFS) to gain the Beastmorph archetype.
I don't have a statblock available to me at the moment for him but I think he was something like:
Alchemist 10/Fighter 1/Master Chymist 1
Dwarf (FCB, +1/4 Natural Armor when mutagen form)
Str: 18 (started at 16)
Dex: 14
Con: 16
Int: 14
Wis: 12
Cha: 5
Traits: Accelerated Drinker, Indomitable Faith, Clever Wordplay (Intimidate), Pragmatic Activator
Feats: Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Cleave, Cornugan Smash, Extra Discovery x3, Additional Traits
Discoveries: Feral Mutagen, Smoke Bomb, Spontaneous Healing, Wings, Enhance Potion, Force Bomb
Other notable abilities: POUNCE!!, Grab, Trip
Items: Mithril Full Plate +2, Helm of the Mammoth Lords, Belt of Str +4, Headband of Int +4 (Intimidate), AoMF (Holy), Sipping Jacket, Boro Beads (2nd level), Boots of the Cat
Potions: Strong Jaw, Magic Circle of Protection from Evil, Greater Magic Fang, Shield of Faith, Chill Touch, Vanish, Righteous Vigor
Extracts: 4) Fluid Form; 3) Heroism, Displacement, Resinous Skin; 2) Alchemical Allocation, Ablative Barrier; 1) Shield, Enlarge Person
Mutagen lasts 110 minutes, also 2 chymist morphs of 110 minutes each, so pretty much permanent mutagenic form. Alchemically allocate the GMF as needed. Ablative Barrier lasts all day (11 hours), while Barkskin, Resinous Skin and Heroism last 110 minutes (usually enough for PFS scenarios). Use Enhance potion for +4 Shield of Faith and plenty of rounds of Chill Touch.
AC when fully self-buffed: 39: 10 + 11 (Armor) + 2 (Dex) + 4 (Shield) + 4 (Shield of Faith) + 4 (Mutagen Natural Armor) + 4 (Barkskin), 37 when enlarged.
Ablative Barrier turns 5 of every damage to non-lethal (double healing and less chance of "death"), Resinous Skin gives Dr 5/piercing. So more mitigation.
Attacks when buffed (estimated from memory, enlarge person + AA potion of Strong Jaw): Bite +22 6d6+19+2d6 holy, Claws(x2) +22 4d6+19+2d6 holy, Gore +22 4d6+19+2d6 holy. Can pounce for full attack, and each attack gets grab, trip and intimidate check (like +24)
I know he wasn't as fully optimized as I could have made him, but I really like him. Especially when I retrained into beastmorph and got the pounce/grab/trip on the four natural attacks.
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@ Westphalian_Musketeer
Yep, I saw that thread when I was building this guy. Takes me a while to bring new characters to the table.
Since posting this I have had a chance to play this guy a bit, and I have found that by far the most valuable turn to be large is turn 1, ideally before any of your opponents have acted. If they are melee, you can catch them as they charge in. If they are ranged, you can (maybe) get close enough to make them rethink their ranged attack strategy. I found if I was too far down the initiative count, my chances to get AoOs was limited, as people just stood toe to toe and slugged each other.
To this end, I am definitely picking up improved initiative (probably at 5) as well as the tumor familiar (green sting scorpion) for an additional +4, bringing my total to +10 at 5 (fight 1/ alch 4).
The alertness is pretty handy, brings my perception up to +13 @ lvl 5 (5 ranks, +3 class skill, +2 half elf, +2 alertness, +1 wisdom). this increases my chances of acting in the surprise round, and getting that all important denial zone up around the party before combat really starts.
I am also definitely grabbing some more will save whenever I can. Not sure if it was just the DM, but the bad guys really liked throwing spells at the 12 foot tall guy.
I am thinking at this point the build will go fighter 1/ Alch 4 then either 2 more levels of weapon master fighter for a feat and weapon training, or continue down alchemist then into master chymist. I think I'll play it by ear, based on how I'm feeling about the value of extracts/discoveries at level 5. Honestly, I'm not sue there are too many more discoveries I really want after tumor familiar.
Invest in a wayfinder with a clear spindle ioun stone, and it will take care of many, if not all, of your Will save problems.
==Aelryinth
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I am thinking at this point the build will go fighter 1/ Alch 4 then either 2 more levels of weapon master fighter for a feat and weapon training, or continue down alchemist then into master chymist. I think I'll play it by ear, based on how I'm feeling about the value of extracts/discoveries at level 5. Honestly, I'm not sue there are too many more discoveries I really want after tumor familiar.
As a melee fighter, Wings is an awesome discovery. Tons of mobility, increased speed. After level 5ish, you start to fight more and more flying things and not being able to reach them sucks hard. Spontaneous healing is also great for 2 reasons. If you're in the thick of things, it might be dangerous for your healer to get to you. But even more important is the fact that it automatically kicks in if you get knocked out for instant stabilization. Enhance potion gets real handy post level 5 for a lot of those level 1 potions. 50g for 5 rounds of vanish, growing shield of faith, etc. Infusion if you want to be less selfish (I wasn't) can give the shield extract to others. Preserve organs is fortification (25% to negate crit). You can take it 3 times to get it up to 75%. My problem wasn't finding discoveries I wanted, it was that there were too many that I wanted. I also love smoke bomb. Shut down those archers/casters.
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@criik
I had missed wings. I am worried about flying enemies, seems like that would be the best fix. That swings me more toward taking some additional levels of alchemist (probably 8, minimize loss of BAB).
Spontaneous healing is great, but I'm less keen if i end up missing multiple levels of alchemist (which is seeming less and less likely).
Preserve organs is good, but discovery intensive. I really want to get both Improved initiative and iron will, which means I don't have the feats to spend on extra discovery.
Smoke bomb, unless I can see through it (goz mask or such) will really hurt my ability to exploit my reach, so probably not that.
If I do grab some more levels of Alchemist, whats my best go to keep my attack bonus up?
@Aelryinth
The clear spindle is definitely on my shopping list, but there are plenty of effects it doesn't cover that can make my life miserable (got color sprayed twice last session. Passed both saves and beat them down on my turn, but it was close)