I'm running a Blood Rager in PFS and have been experimenting with various builds while going through 1st level. He is Elemental (Air) Bloodline.
Male human (keleshite) bloodrager 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 15)
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +2
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft. (30 ft. in armor)
Melee cold iron battleaxe +4 (1d8+3/×3) or
mwk silver earth breaker +5 (2d6+4/×3) or
silver light mace +4 (1d6+3) or
spiked gauntlet +4 (1d4+3)
Ranged sling +2 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks bloodrage (7 rounds/day), elemental strikes
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Blind-fight, Iron Will
Traits affable, magic is life, rousing oratory
Skills Acrobatics +1, Diplomacy +6 (+8 to gather information.), Perception +4, Perform (sing) +6, Survival +4
Languages Common, Kelish
SQ fast movement
Combat Gear cold iron sling bullets (30), cold iron sling bullets (20), potion of feather step, wand of cure light wounds, acid (2); Other Gear agile breastplate, cold iron battleaxe, mwk silver earth breaker, silver light mace, sling, spiked gauntlet, backpack, belt pouch, blanket, flint and steel, trail rations (5), waterskin, 21 gp
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Special Abilities
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Affable +2 on Diplomacy to gather information and do so in half time.
Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Bloodrage (7 rounds/day) (Su) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Elemental Strikes (3/day) (Su) As swift action, your melee attacks do an additional 1d6 Electricity dam for 1 rd.
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Magic is Life While under the effects of a spell, gain +2 to save vs. death effects, and automatically stabilize bleeding.
Potion of feather step Add this item to create a potion of a chosen spell.
Rousing Oratory (Perform [sing], 1/day) +1 trait bonus to allies on saving throws vs. fear effects.
I'm curious as to how necessary Power Attack is to a Blood Rager build.
I originally built the character with Power Attack rather than Iron Will. I was thinking of retraining at 4th level for Arcane Strike.
Now I'm seriously considering getting Arcane Strike at 5th level, Improved Initiative at 6th level via Bloodline Feat, and possibly skipping Power Attack all together. Arcane Strike doesn't scale up quite as quickly as Power Attack, but it also doesn't impose the penalty to hit.
I've found the elemental attacks give that little extra damage boost for the boss fights. My damage has been very respectable, but it is sort of hard to really tell at first level how well it would scale. My 4th level attribute boost would be Strength and the first booster item is also likely to be strength.
As for defenses, I plan to get a wand of Endure Elements. That will allow me to automatically stabilize via the Magic is Life trait, as well as a bonus vs death effects. Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Protection, and then see when I want to upgrade to Mithral armor vs. getting other magical defenses.
It's the best and most important feat for you to take.
That said, if you don't want it, don't get it! Nobody's forcing you to make your character a cutthroat optimizer - but if it's pure damage output you're after, there is literally no better feat than Power Attack, by my assessment.
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Uh, maybe I missed something, but it looks to me like on any given round you have to choose between either Arcane Strike or Elemental Strikes, since they're both a "swift action for 1 round of benefit" type of deal.
Anyway, for a full-BAB class that also has additional bonuses to hit (rage, in your case), the attack penalty on Power Attack is very nearly negligible past the very early levels, making it very close to free damage, in quantities vastly beyond Arcane Strike.
For instance, at 8th level, you're looking to hit a typical Armor Class of 21. You have 8 BAB, +7 from STR (assuming rage and a +2 belt), and at least a +1 from your weapon (possibly more).
That means you're hitting on a 5, and dealing 2d6+11 damage.
Add Arcane Strike, and you're hitting on a 5 for 2d6+13 damage.
Swap for Power Attack, and you're hitting on an 8 for 2d6+20 damage.
I don't think you'll "feel" the difference between +11 and +13 damage at 8th level.
I think you'll only "feel" the difference between hitting on a 5 and hitting on an 8 a little bit.
I think you'll "feel" the difference between +13 damage and +20 damage a lot.
Even so, you have the info, so you can make your own decision with that. :)
That means you're hitting on a 5, and dealing 2d6+11 damage.
Add Arcane Strike, and you're hitting on a 5 for 2d6+13 damage.
Swap for Power Attack, and you're hitting on an 8 for 2d6+20 damage.I don't think you'll "feel" the difference between +11 and +13 damage at 8th level.
I think you'll only "feel" the difference between hitting on a 5 and hitting on an 8 a little bit.
I think you'll "feel" the difference between +13 damage and +20 damage a lot.Even so, you have the info, so you can make your own decision with that. :)
My last character death was because I couldn't roll more than a 5, so your example is probably working against you.
You are right though, I had forgotten that the Elemental Strike takes a swift action to activate. I would need Blooded Arcane Strike in order to use both the elemental strike and arcane strike at the same time. That does make Arcane Strike a bit less tempting.
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My last character death was because I couldn't roll more than a 5, so your example is probably working against you.
But as soon as you get to where you still hit on a 5, you'll just roll 5s on your saves instead of your attacks and die that way. ;)
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My Blood Rager has done fine at low levels of PFS without Power Attack make sure you have ways to bypass the common forms of damage resistance and the extra damage won't make much difference. My Blood Rager will be taking Power Attack at 7th level because high level opponents can have a lot of hit points.
Yeah, the upper tiers is the point where I was worried that I might need Power Attack.
Using Jiggy's numbers at 8th level, for a full attack it would be:
Neither (.75 * 18 + .5 * 18 =) 22.5 damage or 26.875 with Elemental Strike
Arcane Strike (.75 * 20 + .5 * 20 =) 25 damage
Power Attack (.60 * 27 + .35 * 27 =) 25.65 damage or 28.975 with Elemental Strike
Very close, but the Arcane Strike can't be combined with Elemental Strike without the Blooded Arcane Strike feat. If I put the same two-feat investment into Power Attack I could do Weapon Focus to raise the damage by 2.7 per round.
At the low levels, I think the damage difference would mostly be lost in overkill. At higher tier I don't expect that to be as much of an issue.
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I think you can get by without power attack till about 6th level in PFS. I honestly think you should hold off and take it as your first Bloodline feat. Improved Initiative is great but can be taken at 9th level.
I'd still take Arcane strike-> Bloodied arcane strike but I would do them at levels 5 and 7 Myself. Saving level 9 for Improved Critical (I like to use a high crit ranged 2 handed weapon myself)
Not being able to use both swift actions is not a huge deal for 6 sessions. When you are not using the Elemental attack then use Arcane strike. After you pick up B.A.S. then you can use the abilities together...and they will be on top of the Power attack as well. You damage will be more than enough and you can focus on fun or flavor feats if you like.
If your die consistently rolls low, replace it. Many game-store dice are not properly weighted, simply due to poor manufacturing standards. While rolling low and missing an attack you would have hit without power attack is frustrating, a genuinely fair die will result in power attack producing significantly higher average damage output over time. Keep in mind that a run of bad luck, or a bad roll at a crucial time, doesn't invalidate the overall statistical benefit of power attack.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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If your die consistently rolls low, replace it. Many game-store dice are not properly weighted, simply due to poor manufacturing standards. While rolling low and missing an attack you would have hit without power attack is frustrating, a genuinely fair die will result in power attack producing significantly higher average damage output over time. Keep in mind that a run of bad luck, or a bad roll at a crucial time, doesn't invalidate the overall statistical benefit of power attack.
If you're rolling the die enough to actually have a good idea of whether it truly rolls low, consider diversifying your hobbies. ;)
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My other hobby is statistics, so identifying whether any of my d20s are biased is diversifying my hobby! :PIf your die consistently rolls low, replace it. Many game-store dice are not properly weighted, simply due to poor manufacturing standards. While rolling low and missing an attack you would have hit without power attack is frustrating, a genuinely fair die will result in power attack producing significantly higher average damage output over time. Keep in mind that a run of bad luck, or a bad roll at a crucial time, doesn't invalidate the overall statistical benefit of power attack.If you're rolling the die enough to actually have a good idea of whether it truly rolls low, consider diversifying your hobbies. ;)
Good luck finding that bumper sticker.