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Im playing a homebrew campaign and looking at options to add more utility in combat.
My stats are 4th Level Investigator
10 Str
16 Dex
12 Con
18 Int
13 Wis +1 at lvl 4
10 Cha
Feats:
Weapon finesse
Weapon Focus Falchion
Agile Manuvers
Im looking at utilizing Slashing Grace, and maybe Implementing Kirin style feat path. What would be the best way to get past the feat taxes, and still maintain the Investigator feel.
I would like to either use a Sword cane, Unarmed strikes, or any weapon tied to orcish weapon familiarty.
Most of the build is aimed at support/skill monkey. Just hopeing to assist more in combat.
All feats can still be changed before the next session due to it being the first round.
Any other ideas are welcome.
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I personally Like the Swashigator.
1 Inspired Blade Swashbuckler/Emp. Investigator X
First level grabbing Fencing Grace and using a rapier and gaining a Buckler to boot. You gain tons of Skill bonus with Daring Do and GREAT combat ability with Parry/Riposte.
As for other feats and Discoveries Rush Mutagen and Quick Study. Combining Mutagen, Reduce Person and Cat's Grace your getting:
+6 to hit, +2 Natural Armor, +1 Size AC, +5 Dex AC, +5 to damage, +5 to Reflex, +4 to Stealth (Being Small), and -2 Wisdom.
Seems like a killer bonus to your combat abilities.
The bad thing about Orc weapons and Familiarity is: NONE work for dex to damage. Sorry. Your better off going STR if the weapon is the make or Break deal.
Here is a Copy of my swashigator I'm playing in Skulls and Shackles:
Mr. E I took the Orator route so I can use Linguistics (a Free Inspiration skill) in place of most Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate skill checks. So I can face very well and always get inspiration to the skill. I also plan to center around Profession Sailor because it is a AP skill that is as important as Perception in this campaign. So I do not recommend you copying that part. But the Combat Feats, skills, and traits will still be a core of any Swashigator builds.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Flavorwise though, Im not a fan of the rapier. Ive already gotten the Falchion approved for both Finesse and Slashing Grace as long as I attach the Effortless lace. Might be able to convince gm to allow swordcane to act as rapier for the Inspired blade abilities and feats. Both piercing weapons after all.
I don't think ability scores at this point are liable to change.
I could take a level in synthesist summoner to bring it up a bit making falchions and the like more viable.
Also, would Kirin style be a good thing to throw in?
no, kirin style takes 3 feats and 3 rounds to work on a target, by that time the bonuses aren't that useful as the target should be close to dead if not dead, then you need to spend more rounds on the next target. So using those three feats for more generally useful stuff should be better.
Your main problem is you took a fighty base and built a non-combat character, so of course you don't have anything to do in combat. A spellcaster or an Alchemist with those stats would have no problem contributing as they don't fight. But You have low HP, no str, and only light armor. And your INT doesn't really help you all that much, all you're getting with a +4 instead of +3 is some skill bonus and an extra round of studied combat. Putting your +2 into dex instead of int would help your combat out. So this is to help for next time, be sure to have an idea of how your character will help in combat before making them.
But with your guy I'd suggest trading your feats and going with a Bow there's a feat that lets you add your studied target bonuses while at ranged, OR trade agile maneuvers for Slashing grace. I'm not sure why you'd take agile maneuvers, let alone before slashing grace.
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no, kirin style takes 3 feats and 3 rounds to work on a target, by that time the bonuses aren't that useful as the target should be close to dead if not dead, then you need to spend more rounds on the next target. So using those three feats for more generally useful stuff should be better.
Your main problem is you took a fighty base and built a non-combat character, so of course you don't have anything to do in combat. A spellcaster or an Alchemist with those stats would have no problem contributing as they don't fight. But You have low HP, no str, and only light armor. And your INT doesn't really help you all that much, all you're getting with a +4 instead of +3 is some skill bonus and an extra round of studied combat. Putting your +2 into dex instead of int would help your combat out. So this is to help for next time, be sure to have an idea of how your character will help in combat before making them.
But with your guy I'd suggest trading your feats and going with a Bow there's a feat that lets you add your studied target bonuses while at ranged, OR trade agile maneuvers for Slashing grace. I'm not sure why you'd take agile maneuvers, let alone before slashing grace.
Makes sense. I initially didn't want a combat based character, I'm just looking for a way to assist more during combat. My character is a god when it comes to skills and getting past other objectives. Agile maneuvers was due to me thinking maybe trip or disarm maneuvers would help give our damage dealers the upper hand.
With the effortless lace + Slashing grace you should be well on your way to non-negligible combat damage.. Pick up the quick study and mutagen talents and you'll be groovy.. I would be scared of being dependent on a specific weapon though, just a sunder or disarm or dispel away from being sidelined..
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Ok, several suggestions...
Don't take Agile Maneuvers unless you are doing a dedicated maneuver build and plan to take Improved Trip or Improved Disarm down the line. The sickle and the hanbo are both simple weapons with the trip feature, and you can use them with Weapon Finesse to get Dex to trip. Getting Dex to disarm is situational and not worth a feat. (Apparently the hook hand will give disarm on a simple, light weapon, but you'd have to lose a hand :) )
As Cult of Vorg pointed out, Mutagen and Quick Study can be big helps. Studied Combat makes you better than full BAB against the only opponent you care about most of the time. Quick Study turns that into almost all the time.
The Investigator has several options to buff his to-hit. That is especially true if you know that trouble is coming or are entering a small dungeon.
Mutagen - +4 Dex, -2 Wis for 10 mins/level.
Heroism (by way of Alchemical Allocation): For a one-time 750gp cost and 1 2nd level extract per day, you can get 50 minutes of +2 to hit, saves, and skills. Fantastic for a short dungeon crawl.
Reduce Person extract: Going from medium to small is actually to your benefit. You'd go from an average of 5 weapon damage to 3.5, but you'd add +2 Dex (+1 to-hit, +1 dmg, +1 AC) and a size bonus (+1 to-hit, +1 AC). That's a lot to gain for -.5 net damage.
Cat's Grace: Good until you can afford a Belt of Dex, if you know something's coming.
Barkskin: Great defensive buff if you aren't using it already.
Alter Self: Great utility buff, and it can help you take advantage of Studied Combat. Turn into a troglodyte and get three natural attacks. Better if you focus on natural attacks and get an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists.
Monstrous Physique (at higher level): Turn into a Charda. +2 Dex for the size change, plus 5 natural attacks, plus a swim speed, water breathing, and darkvision. Gargoyle is a good alternative when you need to fly.
Remember that it only takes an Investigator 1 minute to prepare an extract, not 15 like a caster who leaves a slot open. So you can leave some extract slots open until you know what you're doing for the day.
At 9th level (with a level dip into Sleepless Detective) I regularly enter a dungeon with a Mutagen, Heroism, Barkskin, False Life, See Invisibility, and sometimes Investigative Mind just to make sure I make those knowledge rolls on creatures (EDIT: I forgot Resinous Skin for DR 5/Piercing 10 mins/level). That's for PFS, though, and there are a lot of short dungeon crawls in PFS. When I sense trouble is close, I'll add Shield and Monstrous Physique. That puts me somewhere around +18 to-hit/+10 to damage on all 5 natural attacks per round, with an AC in the 30s. If I don't use Monstrous Physique, I can still get decent damage out of my rapier thanks to Sneak Attack (from Sleepless Detective), Studied Combat/Strike, and Quick Study. And I've still got Expanded Inspiration, Underworld Inspiration, Alertness, Breadth of Experience, and +Int to Perception, Sense Motive, and Diplomacy to Gather Information (through the level of Sleepless Detective). So I haven't sacrificed anything meaningful for skills to get there. This was a character that was largely ineffective in combat at 6th level, until I started figuring things out about how the Investigator works.
Quick Study, as mentioned, is great. It does two things for you. Being able to study as a swift action means that you can study and full-attack in the same round. If you've already studied someone on a previous round, and you drop them in the middle of a full-attack, you can study the next target. It can also be combined with Domino Effect for some interesting tactics. But almost more importantly, it lets you burst damage with Studied Strike against a single target.
Assuming you start within a 5-foot step:
Round 1) Swift Study target, 5-foot step, full-round attack. On the last attack that hits, use Studied Strike.
Round 2) Swift Study the same target (spending 1 Inspiration to do so again within 24 hours), full-attack. On the last attack that hits, expend Studied Strike.
Repeat as needed until you run out of Inspiration or the thing drops. Great for BBEG encounters.
If you don't start within a 5 foot step on the first round, you can still move up and attack once and use Studied Strike if you hit.
Finally, your GM is being very generous letting you finesse the Falchion. Since you can, you should also be able to use Piranha Strike from the Sargava: The Lost Colony book. That's essentially Power Attack for light weapons. Given the amount that an Investigator can boost his to-hit, the feat is worth considering.