How to make a Slayer more interesting?


Advice


I'm currently playing a Slayer in a Rappan Athuk homegame, and I just reached level 7. Now that I got Studied Target as a swift action, there's very little incentive for me to stay Slayer, except for maybe more Slayer Tricks. So, is there anything else I can take to spice up my build or make him more interesting in any way? I'm currently a reach tripfighter with some knowledges (though I'm outshined by our Witch, it's nice to have a backup).
My stats look like this:
Half-Elf Slayer (Vanguard) 7
STR 18
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 12
CHA 7

I have the Half-Elf racial where I can have two favored classes, but I haven't listed my second class yet. >_>
1. Dirty Fighting
2. Escape Route
3. Improved Trip
5. Combat Reflexes
6. Whirlwind Attack (my GM allowed me to take the second tier of Sarenrae's Combat Style without taking the first tier)
7. Greater Trip
Planning to take Lunge on 9.

I was thinking of going Steelblood Crossblooded Abyssal/Aberrant Bloodrager for more STR and more reach, but maybe I'm focusing too much on tripping. I was also consindering a Fighter for more feats and weapon specialisation, but I'm open to suggestions. Ideally I'd stay full-BAB so my trip attempts don't suffer. I was suggested Unchained Monk, but I'm not entirely sure that'll do me a lot of good.
This is a campaign that'll last until level 20, but I prefer to have something that comes online relatively quick, but that's not a must.

EDIT: The Lore Warden looks pretty cool. Gives me some more skill points, and a naturally progressing CMB increase. The only downside is that I get Combat Expertise, but maybe I can train out of Dirty Fighting.


What to you makes something "more interesting?"

Stuff that I feel have cool early stuff and work with your stats
Id Rager Bloodrager
Bloodrager
Barbarian
Champion Medium
Warpriest
Mutation Warrior fighter
Inquisitor
Magus
Occultist


Basically, at level 7 I have everything I want to get out of the Slayer (mainly, Studied Target as a swift). The only reason to stay is to get marginally more Sneak Attack and a very slowly increasing bonus on Studied Target. A Barbarian gives me something more to do, for instance. Ideally I'd like to have access to some spells without losing out on BAB, but I'd need to be either a Paladin, Bloodrager (both key off CHA), or Ranger. I was looking at the Lore Warden Fighter and he has some cool stuff. More feats are always nice, and the archetype has a naturally increasing bonus to CMB.


Invulnerable Rager Barbarian is always a great idea. Full BAB, D12 Hit Dice, Rage, Rage Powers (Beast Totem, Superstition, etc)., it just screams melee.

However, if you are planning to become Trip-focused, I'd work on getting abilities and such that increase your size. The biggest problem with Trip builds is never being effective due to size differences. Being Gargantuan size or larger would allow you to affect all creatures with Tripping.


Um, I'd vote for Brawler. That Martial Flexibility... Its a shame your charisma is so low, otherwise I'd push for the Exemplar archetype.


Barbarian does look like a nice complement to my current build. I'm not sure how long tripping will be a viable strategy, so I'd like to expand my repertoire. Barbarian at least gives me some smashing power.

I'm currently interested in the Lore Warden Fighter (for better trips), and the Deep Walker or Warden Ranger archetypes. Deep Walker gives me a better favored terrain (I'll be underground for at least 90% of the time, I'm guessing), Warden throws out Favored Enemy (I'm not sure what I'll be fighting more later on. I'm guessing humans, but could be other stuff) in exchange for more team-friendly buffs. It also loses out on a combat style, but the only thing I'm likely to pick up is Power Attack, I think.

Sovereign Court

What about Living Monolith? It gets you Enlarged without Rage. Being Large is quite nice for tripping; reach and access to bigger enemies.


Also a nice option, though it'll be a while until I can qualify for it, as I'm missing the prerequisite feats and I already have a few feats on my wishlist. Also not sure how to deal with the sphinx prerequisite. I'll ask my GM, maybe he'll handwave it.


A GM permissive enough to let you skip a tier of combat style shouldn't have a problem with letting you switch free combat expertise for dirty fighting.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Depends on factors in your game, frankly.

--Barbarians and Bloodragers make great dips. Bloodragers excel for reach builds and tanking, particularly. The downside is you'll be way behind the curve for rage rounds per day. If your DM throws a lot of combats at you, or especially long combats, this could be frustrating.

--Fighters archetypes like the Mutation Warrior and Lore Warden are great. The Weapon Master's Handbook has opened up some sweet new options. Biggest drawback is lack of skill points and crappy saves, but Advanced Weapon training can help with either.

A note on mutagens: this gets better benefits than rage, and lasts a solid chunk of time. If your encounters are squeezed in back to back in very short amounts of time this can last between them, and it is also really good if you can prep a lot between fights. If you are getting ambushed a lot and don't have time to stop and brew, rage is probably better.

Monk and Brawler are both neat classes but I don't think they will mesh well for a medium armored reach build.


I notice you have Escape Route on your feat list; going Inquisitor would be a fun choice if you like Teamwork feats. 3 levels of Inquisitor lets you act like everyone has your teamwork feats, and gives you a free teamwork feat. The class also comes with other great fun, like Bane at 5th level and some great buff spells. It isn't full BAB, but some of the other goodies might make up for that.


Yeah, Inquisitors are nice. Not quite full-BAB, but they have a few tricks to make them nearly so: Bane and Judgments almost counter that, I'll only be missing out on iterative attacks. I'll miss out on a few uses of Judgment per day, but I think I can manage that. It's at least better than missing out on 10+ Rage rounds per day. I'll consider it.

Sovereign Court

Before picking up any rage-using class, check in with your GM whether that works with Studied Target. It probably should, but there's room for opinion there. Given the existence of Seething Hatred I'd say being angry should be fine for a slayer though.

(It's something I've thought about for Investigator Studied Combat, which seems more cerebral and might not jive with Rage.)


There is the issue with Slayer using a fair amount of swift actions through studied target. Those swift actions will conflict with the swift action you need for inquisitor. It's not a conflict that will happen every combat, but it will come up.


Hmm, fair point. That's what drove me nuts about my Sanctified Slayer. Bane, Study, and some spells were all competing for that precious Swift, it drove me nuts. Hmm...

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