| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Why lead instead of silver, cold iron, living steel or Adamantine?
Lead blades as the spell
Honestly, you're better off with impact. Because its an enchantment on the weapon and not a spell active on the weapon, if you for whatever reason increase your size like with Enlarge Person or Righteous Might(much better), the weapon damage will also increase. Righteous Might is also an armor enchant so you could be doing some pretty good stuff without needing to waste a few turns activating them all
No matter what you do, a Vital Strike build really isn't ever going to be viable unless you can get very large number of damage die, which simply isn't possible as a fighter.
However, if you are set on doing this just use advanced weapon training to pick up Focused Weapon, which gives you scaling damage like a warpriest.
You can wield an Oversized Weapon (+1 size) of Impact (+1 size) and get a size increase (Enlarge Person = 1 size, Giant Form = +2 sizes) or get a Polymorph Any Object into a colossal Giant (+3 sizes).
Oversized Greatsword is 3-18, but -2 To hit, you'd need some Effortless Lace.
Impact/Lead Blades would be 4-24.
Enlarged would be 6-36.
Giant Form II would be 8-48.
PoA into a Storm Giant would be 12-72.
True.
Then use a Bastard sword with EWP. Damage ends up exactly the same. Just goes from 1-10 to 2-16 to 4-24 and up from there.
|
If you were going to do a vital strike build, I wouldn't go fighter. I'd do either Avenger Vigilante for Vital Punishment (Vital Strike AoOs), or Warpriest for Greater Weapon of the Chosen (roll twice for VS, and vastly increase crit chances, lower BAB isn't an issue when you aren't making full attacks and roll twice).
And there is a massive advantage to being able to be very mobile with your damage, not the least of which negating full attacks. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't some trait or ability I was missing
You make presumptions here that probably aren't accurate.
You consider it a massive advantage to be able to negate a full attack, which is a nice advantage but....
Casters and archers wont care about your mobility. They will be just as deadly to you, and are generally more of a threat than any melee character. You can only negate the option of melee full attack. Even then, there are options for melee characters to get pounce or pounce like abilities that will completely ruin your day.
Not only that, if you really want to negate a full attack you need Spring Attack (which can't be combined with Vital Strike). Otherwise when you Vital Strike and move away the enemy knows your game. You want to try and trade single blow for single blow. He can ignore you and attack your friend instead of chasing you down and playing to your strategy that you are better at. If you end your turn next to him you take a face full of full attack.
If thats a huge worry to you, keep in mind cut from the air and combat reflexes exists. Or, just trust that your combat expertise, heavy armor and possibly defensive weapon training will make you too hard to hit consistently from all but the best archers (an enemy I find is more likely to come in mob droves than BBEG). A +2 impact weapon, combat expertise, gloves of dueling and defensive weapon training grants an additional +7 AC over a traditional fighter at level 12. Thats an additional 35% miss chance on enemies who would already be hard-pressed to hit me. I'm not sure I buy into 'they'll just focus other party members' as a reason the build is weak. Thats true of any non-crowd-control focused fighter. I doubt thats a complaint you'd give a cavalier or swashbuckler.
What you've just described is the classic turtle, and the turtle paradox is why "tanking" in Pathfinder doesn't work.
If you put that much effort into being defensive, you have no offense, which you already lack comparatively since you were trying to use Vital Strike.
You look menacing but can't actually do much.
And yes, the enemies really should ignore you and fight someone else. And yes, it is a weakness of this build. A swashbuckler or cavalier is going to be able to output serious damage that is capable of killing the enemy in 1 to 2 rounds. This build will deal less and less damage (comparatively) as everyone levels up. Where it would take a swshbuckler or cavalier one round to kill the enemy, it could take you 4. And the enemy wont want to ignore them, they'll be in their face harassing them and be a big threat. You'll be trying to kite them along and dealing a lot less damage.
When you get into a battle who does everyone usually go for? The spell caster, they're the biggest threat. From the same sort of logic, you're likely to end up the smallest threat. Ignored until the enemy has to address you. Although your allies will probably have killed them before it ever comes up.
Ultimately though this is simply my opinion based on the games I've been a part of and I'm simply trying to give you advice from my perspective.
agreed. Vital Strike is a way to get to do some damage in the rounds where you can't do a full attack. It is NOT a replacement for a full attack by any stretch of the imagination.
This is one of the reasons why initiative isn't so important for a fighter. You don't want to charge up to the enemy, get in one swing, and then eat a full attack. You want to sit back, have the enemy swing at you, and then THEY get to eat YOUR full attack./
A subtle difference, but it is hwo the mechanics of the rules work. Your job is to get off full attacks.
the best way to do this is to simply shoot the bastards at range. If they charge up on you, they get one swing, and then you drop the bow and take it to them with a full melee attack.
So, the most EFFECTIVE build in Pathfinder is generally someone who can reliably switch hit. This is why Greatsword/longbow combinations are popular, so you can always get the full attack.
With ways to get Point Blank Master (so your attacks don't provoke) most archers don't bother with switch hitting anymore.
Depends on the level and class. Point Blank Master tends to be fairly late in the game for a lot of people. Also, lots easier to sunder.
Really? Most people I know capable of getting it usually pick it up ASAP.
Zen Archer monk, Fighter, Warpriest, Ranger, Slayer, Sanctified Slayer Inquisitor (and probably others I'm forgetting) all can pick it up by level 6.
|
Might I suggest a change of course if you are looking for damage while also having buckets of hit points and being a necessary target for the enemy and not needing to rely on full attacks?
Polearm master (shorten grip), trip weapon, high dex, combat reflexes, greater trip. Felling smash for when you can't full attack, fury's fall to take advantage of your high dex. Very Oberyn Martell.
You will eventually do more damage, your party will do more damage, you can stay at distance, and you can harass ranged and casters in groups much more effectively.
Absolutely no help with your original question, but it is a character I played into retirement, and while frustrating for the GM, nobody in the party ever argued with a massive hit point pool that blocked 20 squares instead of 9 that could make everything prone (well, maybe a ranger once, but he didn't count).
Casters at LEAST have to immobilize you because you can ruin their day with your AOO's if they let you get close. I found him targeted more than any other fighter I have sat at a table with.
For what it's worth, I did have four levels of alchemist for the mutagen, enlarge person (32 threatened squares), heroism, and alchemical allocution for things like bark skin and fly, but that was just so I could be more self sufficient, one could totally skip that and rely on party buffs to make an even beefier fighter. My fighter was for PFS and thus couldn't rely on an optimum party mix.
IT depends on how early he can pick it up. If he has a level of ranger, he could start using it by level 2. If he's waiting on Impact, he will probably be level 8+.
that's a pretty long wait.