To dip or not to dip? For a 'Way of the Wicked' Antipaladin

[fatbaldbloke]

We've not long finished the first part of the campaign and our characters have hit level 5.

I'm playing an Antipaladin, the party bruiser and (so far at least) the party's voice of reason. As it stands I already have Power Attack, Improved initiative & Intimidating Prowess as feats. I've gone pure Antipaldin for the first 5 levels to get to the fiendish boon ability but I haven't quite decided if I'm that impressed by the classes' capstone that I'll stick with it for the whole adventure path.

Multiclass options I've been considering so far are:-

Oracle for a level with Lore mystery and the Side-Step secret (nice boost to AC and my reflex saves since my CHA is much better than my DEX).

2 level dip into Order of the Cockatrice Cavalier mainly for the Tactician ability and the bonus of Dazzling Display at 2nd level. (think this is the one I'm leaning toward at the moment)

2 levels of Barbarian for extra 'AM SMASH!' in combat.

Final option I was considering would be to maybe go into the Evangelist prestige class.

[fatbaldbloke]

Oops forget Barbarian...forgot I'd been allowed to pick Lawful Evil as my alignment.

I'm definitely tempted by the Cavalier dip as myself and the party rogue have been setting up a lot of flanking so far, being able to grab the Outflank feat and grant it to the party for a few rounds could be very handy.

[JohnHawkins]

Evangelist is viable if you like the Obedience abilities without knowing what they are it is hard to say.
Sidestep secret depends on what armour you are going to wear if you want Adamantine Full plate then a high dex bonus won't help much, so look at the totals for armour and dex bonus and compare.
I have not looked much at cavalier so no advice on that one

[Dafydd]

What john said.

The oracle dip is only advisable if you have poor dex and lighter then full plate armor. Otherwise, it is just a -1 to BaB.

I do not care for the cavalier myself. If you and the rogue are already flank buddies you can both just take outflank.

Evangelist can be good. Who is your diety, that will have the biggest impact on whether it would be good for you.

[fatbaldbloke]

Yeah my CHA is currently 18 compared to DEX 12 which is why i thought the Sidestep Secret might be worth it if i could get some good medium armour.

Its 'Way of the Wicked' campaign so I've taken Asmodeus as deity. I'll read up about his Obedience before I decide.

Regarding the Cavalier, the rogue and I could just both take Outflank, but getting it as a bonus Teamwork feat and being able to give it to the rest of the party is tempting. Also the Order of Cockatrice grants me 'Dazzling Display' as a bonus which plays in nicely to my high intimidate and the 'Lord of Darkness' archetype from Fire Mountain Games (which the DM has allowed me to take)

[Dafydd]

Hmm, Asmodeus. Well, I will be honest, I do not know the Prince of Darkness very well. Lets break down the benefits

Drain some blood from your slave and draw a pentagram: +4 profane vs fire effects.

Honestly, this is kinda meh. Could be good though, I do not know the amount of fire in that game.

8 Your choice of 3pd Wrath, 2pd Flames of the Faithful or 1pd Bestow Curse

Wrath is a +2 to hit and damage vs 1 target for 1 minute. Improves at 9, 12, 15 and 18 by +1 each time. Also gain Improved Critical when attacking the target. Pretty good if you take the Outflank fun, more crits mean more AoO for rogue buddy.

Flames of the Faithful lets you give your weapon Flaming (never flaming burst as you do not have judgement class feature). Lasts a number of rounds = to HD. Does not stack with existing flaming property.

Bestow Curse, -6 to an ability score. You have to touch to deliver the spell, and it has a DC of 18 (10+level[4]+ability[cha/4])

Over all, this is not exciting. All of these are standard action spells and none are big effects.

11 You gain a feat. Or would if you had judgement class ability. As such, you gain a +4 bonus on survival to track.

Obvious question here, do you use survival? If so, this could be good, if not, this is a waste.

14 Resounding Blow, +1d6 sonic, and chance to stagger. On a crit, chance to stun and deafen too. DC 18 Fort. Once per day. Last note, this is not a casting of the spell, just the effect for 1 hit.

This is actually really good. That said, you have this spell on your spell list anyway, and casting it gives you multiple rounds of the effect, not just 1.

Overall, the obediance is nice, but most of the abilities are for an Inquisitor, not an Antipaladin.

[fatbaldbloke]

Yeah looks like an Inquisitor of Asmodeus would be quids in. Thanks for the breakdown.

I do really like the look of the Evangelist for that Aligned Class ability, little wary of the the fact that I'm the only full BAB char in the party at moment.

[Kaouse]

Dipping into Oracle is really good for an Antipaladin, since Oracles can get the Black Blooded Archetype that changes their Curse to the Curse of the BLack Blood. This allows them to basically be treated as undead with regards to negative and positive energy. With this ability, you can ask your GM if you can use the Swift Action Touch of Corruption on your self the way the Paladin can with Lay on Hands.

Otherwise, you'll pretty much have to be a Dhampir, which, while not bad, is rarely the most optimal choice, IMO. Since you can't dip Barbarian for Lesser Spirit Totem, I can recommend no other dip besides the Black Blooded Oracle.

Beyond that, Demoniac isn't a bad class to have as an Antipaladin.

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

This is the LE Lord of Darkness archetype, so Demoniac is not an option.

Black Blooded Oracle is an excellent dip, as noted.

From what I understand, the Way of the Wicked is not set in Golarion by default. However, if your GM allows you to take levels in the Hellknight Prestige class, and use Hellknight Armor, especially Mithral Hellknight Armor, you would have the benefit of full plate armor with a high max dex. It would also give you the ability to smite chaos, so if you are fighting a CN or CE foe, you'd be able to get the same kind of boost as if you were fighting a good foe.

Another option for heavy armor with a higher max Dex is Mithral O-yoroi , which has a +4 max dex. However, you wouldn't actually have a higher net AC than Mithral full plate. Only Mithral Hellknight armor, with levels in the Hellknight PC would give you that.

Another option would be levels in Fighter. This wouldn't exactly be a dip, but at the 3rd level of fighter, you'd be able to move at full speed in mithral full plate, and it would have a +4 max Dex.