Sacred Fist Build for WOTR - Advice?

I'm currently in an online Wrath of the Righteous campaign that has made it to Drezen (finally... after five years...). We're Level 6/Tier 1, and haven't fought Soltengrebbe or attempted to breach the citadel itself yet. My current character is a half-orc geokineticist, but... frankly I've lost interest in the character due to several factors. How long the game's dragged on, issues with my character's input largely being ignored or shot down with extreme prejudice by one of the other party members...
and discovering that that I'd overlooked a line of the Kineticist's burn feature that makes it so that they do not, in fact, get any real benefit out of the Flagellant feat T.T

As a result, I've been toying around with ideas for a backup character (considered a Good-leaning Hellknight but I don't think the DM would appreciate that kind of drama), and a piece of art I stumbled across while looking up unrelated topics gave me one I wanted to try: the Sacred Fist Warpriest. Specifically, a worshiper of Irori who's picked up Jabbing Style and Pummeling Style for some good old-fashioned Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs. I'm not looking to make the character into an utter game-breaker, but I do want her to be good at what she does, namely buffing and punching.

Right now I'm looking at doing a Human Master of Many Styles 2/Sacred Fist X (not usually a fan of multiclassing but this is one of the situations where I'm fine with doing so), but I'm kinda at a loss for specifics outside of the feats required for the Jabbing/Pummeling Style chains.

The rules I'd be working with are:
- Point Buy - 25 points
- Restricted to the Guardian, Marshal, or Trickster mythic path. The DM had required that we each take a different campaign trait and that we go into the path listed for that trait; Champion, Channel/Heal Bot Hierophant, and Archmage are already spoken for.
- I'd prefer to dip as little as possible.

-Unless you specifically want the evasion ability, I wouldn't take 2 levels of monk. One for Fuse Style, yes.

-Pummeling Bully/Greater Trip/Vicious Stomp can be a great combo normally (two extra attacks). But I probably wouldn't recommend it for a mythic game. It's just too many feats, and too many mythic creatures can negate falling prone.

-Human is usually a great choice for a warpriest, I love their alternate favored class bonus.

-If you want to go for a super-dexy, low strength build then Weapon Finesse (with Mythic Weapon Finesse) and Piranha Strike are good feat choices.
-The other good choice is Guided Hand and Mythic Guided Hand It's more feat-intensive (you need Channel Smite as a prereq) and would still need a strength of at least 13 to take Power Attack. However it also lets you take Mythic Power Attack.

-Mythic Improved Unarmed Strike and Titan Strike are OK. They aren't bad, but the damage bonuses are relatively minor.

-If you're looking at "buffing and punching" I would definitely suggest the Marshal Path. You've got a good mix of those two. Focus, Words of Hope, and Fight On are good buffs. Tactical Genius and Glorious Charge are good for melee.

-Unless your GM bans it, take the "Dual Path" mythic feat and grab Hierophant abilities as well.

What does Hierophant have to offer for the Warpriest, though?
Admittedly I never looked too closely at it since it seems to be mostly channel modificarions, but I couldn't find anything that boosts Warpriest abilities.

What does Hierophant have to offer for the Warpriest, though?

Admittedly I never looked too closely at it since it seems to be mostly channel modificarions, but I couldn't find anything that boosts Warpriest abilities.

The base Divine Surge (Inspired Spell) is pretty handy. Cast any standard-action warpriest spell you are capable of casting whether or not you have prepared it today. And you count as two caster levels higher, so even if you're not in combat it can be good for buffs with level-dependent bonuses.

As for possible path abilities: (and don't forget that Warpriests do get Channel Energy!)
Insightful Interaction (can make you a great "face" for the party)
Relentless Healing (especially if your cleric just died)
Divine Potency (if your party has a lot of fights per day)
Enduring Blessing (make spells last all day)
Hand of Mercy (remove conditions)
Servant of Balance (critical hits against you do normal damage)
Enhance Magic Items (increase CL of magic items, use mythic power instead of charges from a wand or stave)

Obviously it will be dependent on your group and your particular build. Enduring Blessing and Hand of Mercy are good for just about any group.

If you've made a goof with your PC the GM may let you change it if you haven't played with it or used it. There's also Retraining. So I'd talk to him about it.
As it is a slowly progressing casual game don't worry about it... 5 yrs and online...

The Mythic Paths aren't really tied to class and are more themed to affect familiars/foes, others/allies, or your melee/ranged attacks. So I'd ignore the opening text and just look at what the Path abilities do rather than the creative descriptive text.

If you want a super easy to run doing one shtick over and over ... Gunslinger! with Trickster. GM:What do you do? Gunslinger:I shoot it! LoL... You can dip Wizard(Diviner)1 or Arcanist(Dim Slide)2 with magical Knack so you can ignore UMD and use shiny magical toys. Ensure that magical knack will stack for dimensional slide (40ft TP) otherwise just go with the wizard. All you need is an ally that gives out morale bonuses like they're breath mints at a garlic festival.
For roleplaying(as you don't want to be one dimensional, shoot!) focus on a useful skill or two like Bluff(for feint {which is clearly not a CmbtManuev}), Know(local){for identifying humanoids and where good italian restaurants are in every town), Prcptn, Profession(so you have a Real Job), and Ride(as you want to look good on that horse for your bronze statue). As you have the Technologist Feat get a Chainsaw as your backup weapon & make sure the wizard learns recharge:K3 spell. Ask the GM to build you a tiny homunculus robot or clockwork butler or soulbound doll (someone's gotta reload your guns). Give (your guns or maybe a construct) a fortifying stone to keep them going.
An implanted cracked Pearly White ioun stone at 3400gp combined with some "bonus to Con for the purposes of determining death" items/feats should slow down any death and keep your appendages and head where they should be. Remember you don't die UNTIL the regeneration stops and since these things normally happen between your turns, your allies have until your turn starts and as a wizard the spell contingency is on your spell list.

The DM was iffy on Dual Path with my kineticist because he wasn't super familiar with Mythic so it might be off the table. I'll ask again, maybe now that he's played with it a bit he'll be more confident in deciding one way or the other.

The build is slowly coming together. Once I've narrowed down some feat selecrions I'll share what I've come up with!

Forgot about one other Hierophant ability that could be very useful to you since you are playing WotR.

Heathen Slayer. Wonder what deity you should pick. . .?

Forgot about one other Hierophant ability that could be very useful to you since you are playing WotR.

Heathen Slayer. Wonder what deity you should pick. . .?

Gonna guess...

Iomedae.

Belafon wrote:

Forgot about one other Hierophant ability that could be very useful to you since you are playing WotR.

Heathen Slayer. Wonder what deity you should pick. . .?

Gonna guess...

Iomedae.

I think you misunderstand his meaning...

so Belafon means as your "rival". I don't think it's a surprise to say Deskari is the only demon lord listed in the WotR Player's Guide.

For your character's deity; Ragathiel, Iomedae, Gorum, Milani, Elion, Calistria, Bastet are classic choices.

Diachronos wrote:

Belafon wrote:

Forgot about one other Hierophant ability that could be very useful to you since you are playing WotR.

Heathen Slayer. Wonder what deity you should pick. . .?

Gonna guess...

Iomedae.

I think you misunderstand his meaning...

Heathen Slayer(Ex) (Mythic Adventures pg. 34): Pick one deity (or similar entity able to grant divine spells to followers) as your religious rival. You gain a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against this deity's followers, as well as a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against this deity's followers. At 6th tier, these bonuses increase to +4. You can select this ability multiple times. Each time you do, choose an additional deity to be a religious rival.

so Belafon means as your "rival". I don't think it's a surprise to say Deskari is the only demon lord listed in the WotR Player's Guide.

For your character's deity; Ragathiel, Iomedae, Gorum, Milani, Elion, Calistria, Bastet are classic choices.

I'm aware. Heathen Slayer is basically "Favored Enemy (That Specific Cult)".

Saying that I'd pick Iomedae was a joke.

There could be a fair bit reactivity with Gorrumites (since it was the main war god of Sarkoris), Desna and Sarenrae also should have specific reactivity degrees.

The two-level dip is usually used to ensure the Sacred Fist gets his bonus style feat at 6 + 2 monk levels = monk level 8 prerequisite for Pummeling Charge (since for some reason only the bonus style feat ability lets you count warpriest levels as monk levels). I don't see the need for Pummeling Style at all when you are playing mythic. Mythic Haste (bear in mind that worshiping Irori adds Haste to the Cleric/Warpriest list as a 4th-level spell) gives everyone a bonus move action and either Trickster Path's Fleet Charge or Marshal's Advance will let you move as a swift action, at the cost of mythic power. At Mythic Tier 2 you can just use Amazing Initiative's ability to spend a use of mythic power on an extra standard action (which cannot be used to cast spells) to move as well. A 3rd-tier Trickster can also use the Path Dabbling ability to obtain the Champion's 3rd-tier Fleet Warrior ability and obtain the ability to move when making full attack actions (no mythic power needed). So, you should really just single-class as Sacred Fist instead of dipping Master of Many Styles Monk and delaying everything else by 2 levels. You may want to get Mythic Weapon Finesse to free up the need for an Agile weapon property on your Amulet of Mighty Fists or handwraps, but either way works.

Other than being a Human, there is also the Garuda-Blooded Aasimar with Scion of Humanity or Undine with Mostly Human to obtain a +2 bonus to both Dex and Wis while still counting (and appearing) as a human, letting you take that favored class bonus.

For blessings, when it comes to Irori, I think Strength has the only decent minor blessing but for the major blessing, Rune and Law are both viable. I'm a bit iffy on Knowledge since the Warpriest has poor skills (2 per level), poor int, will need the appropriate Knowledge skills to get a decent bonus (or otherwise have to use the Display of Intellect power by burning mythic power, which is generally not worth using on this) and will then need to make a swift action (which has a lot of competition between fervor, quickened spellcasting, activating Jabbing Style if you took it, mythic abilities, and your ki pool which can give you an extra attack or +4 dodge to AC as a swift action). You may or may not want to contemplate the Evangelist prestige class, since Irori's evangelist boons work well for monks and it will give you much better skill ranks, but you will lose a point of BAB, a level of progression, and the warpriest's favored class bonus.

Honestly, Sacred Fist can get way stronger depending on your choice of deity, since you can take Crusader's Flurry at level 5 to flurry with your deity's favored weapon, and that means you can flurry with a longbow by worshiping Erastil, for instance, and then take Rapid Shot and Manyshot for more attacks than a Zen Archer Monk (but it's equal or inferior in number of attacks to a Sohei Monk), perhaps using Evangelist again so you can add wis to attacks and damage at Evangelist level 9.

By the way, just checking, but make sure you have Fate's Favored as your faith trait because you'll want to cast a quickened Divine Favor (later Divine Power) with Fervor. And if you do get that faith trait, you may want a Four-leaf Clover or five or just get a Luckstone.

The two-level dip is usually used to ensure the Sacred Fist gets his bonus style feat at 6 + 2 monk levels = monk level 8 prerequisite for Pummeling Charge (since for some reason only the bonus style feat ability lets you count warpriest levels as monk levels). I don't see the need for Pummeling Style at all when you are playing mythic. Mythic Haste (bear in mind that worshiping Irori adds Haste to the Cleric/Warpriest list as a 4th-level spell) gives everyone a bonus move action and either Trickster Path's Fleet Charge or Marshal's Advance will let you move as a swift action, at the cost of mythic power. At Mythic Tier 2 you can just use Amazing Initiative's ability to spend a use of mythic power on an extra standard action (which cannot be used to cast spells) to move as well. A 3rd-tier Trickster can also use the Path Dabbling ability to obtain the Champion's 3rd-tier Fleet Warrior ability and obtain the ability to move when making full attack actions (no mythic power needed). So, you should really just single-class as Sacred Fist instead of dipping Master of Many Styles Monk and delaying everything else by 2 levels. You may want to get Mythic Weapon Finesse to free up the need for an Agile weapon property on your Amulet of Mighty Fists or handwraps, but either way works.

Other than being a Human, there is also the Garuda-Blooded Aasimar with Scion of Humanity or Undine with Mostly Human to obtain a +2 bonus to both Dex and Wis while still counting (and appearing) as a human, letting you take that favored class...

I completely forgot to look for ways to get pseudo-pounce with mythic abilities...

Would another Style chain be a good fit? Thinking either Dragon or Outslug, but if there isn't one then I can tweak my feats a bit.

Outslug Style is likely no good. It only provides benefits when you perform 5-foot steps but between all the forms to take extra move actions, you are likely to preclude yourself from being able to take a 5-foot step in combat, which would make the style chain pointless. And Dragon Style invokes a rules debate on whether or not adding to your strength modifier increases dex-to-damage, so you would have to ask your GM. If it does, it's an option, but you would need 8 dex to add the equivalent of +2 damage, so Jabbing Style is still superior for that. Jabbing Style combined with Fleet Charge (as a swift action, you can do this during a full attack, between iterative attacks) and Fleet Warrior will also give you a large variety of movements in a single turn that will make you very mobile and capable of moving from one opponent to the next, but moving from one opponent to the next will reset the bonus damage from Jabbing Style (but that is probably not a big loss since moving from enemy to enemy suggests you are fighting small enemies and when fighting a big enemy you will likely be focusing all your attacks on him and thus still get the full bonus).

There is also the option of no style feat simply to save the swift action it takes to enter a style feat in favor of casting self-buffs with fervor. You can also take Combat Style Master to enter your without an action and change styles as a free action (which is very valuable when you will always have a strong use for a free action) but then you will need a second style feat (Panther Style+Panther Claw maybe, since you can switch back and forth between the two styles as a free action, letting you use Panther Style while moving and Jabbing Style while attacking, but you may need to stay in Jabbing Style while moving with Jabbing Master).

Er, I seem to have miswritten a tad, so let me restate things. What I meant to say towards the end is that Combat Style Master lets you enter a style without an action and that making changing styles a free action is very valuable both because you will always have a strong and compelling use for your swift action (ki pool, fervor healing, quickened fervor spellcasting, mythic powers, etc.) and because free action style switching allows you to gain the benefits of both styles in the same turn by taking two style feats that apply benefits at different moments and switching styles between actions accordingly, such as the Panther Style + Jabbing Style combo.

Okay...
After a great deal of thought, research, and tearing out what little hair I have left, I think I have the level progression sorted:

Starting stats:
STR 13 (for Power Attack), DEX 16, CON 14, INT 10. WIS 16, CHA 10
Traits: Fate's Favored, Child of the Crusades
Blessings: Strength, Law (not usually a fan of the alignment domains/blessings, but I figure that the Outsider summons could at least have some useful spells for later on)

• Sacred Fist 1 - Dodge (Level 1), Mobility (Human bonus feat)
  
• Sacred Fist 2
  
• Sacred Fist 3 - Power Attack
  
• Sacred Fist 4 - +1 Dexterity
  
• Sacred Fist 5 - Weapon Finesse
  
• Sacred Fist 6 - Jabbing Style (Sacred Fist bonus feat), Jabbing Dancer (Warpriest favored class bonus)
  
• Sacred Fist 7 - Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike)
  
• Sacred Fist 8 - Dexterity +1
  
• Sacred Fist 9 - Combat Reflexes
  
• Sacred Fist 10 -
  
• Sacred Fist 11 - Panther Style
  
• Sacred Fist 12 - Jabbing Master (Sacred Fist bonus feat), Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike) (Warpriest favored class bonus), Dexterity +1
  
• Sacred Fist 13 - Combat Style Master
  
• Sacred Fist 14 -
  
• Sacred Fist 15 - Deflect Arrows, Panther Claw (Warpriest bonus feat)
  
• Sacred Fist 16 - Dexterity +1
  
• Sacred Fist 17 - Toughness (couldn't think of anything else worth taking :/)
  
• Sacred Fist 18 - Panther Parry (Sacred Fist bonus feat), Greater Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) (Warpriest favored class bonus)
  
• Sacred Fist 19 - Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike)
  
• Sacred Fist 20 - Dexterity +1
  

Mythic Path: Marshal (Marshal's Order: Advance)

• Tier 1 - Focus, Mythic Weapon Finesse
  
• Tier 2 - Dexterity +2, Extra Feat (Mythic Power Attack)
  
• Tier 3 - Greater Surge, Mythic Improved Unarmed
  
• Tier 4 - Dexterity +2, Words of Hope
  
• Tier 5 - Mythic Spells, Titan Strike
  
• Tier 6 - Wisdom +2, Inspiring Assault
  
• Tier 7 - Legendary Item (not sure what form it'd take just yet), Mythic Weapon Focus
  
• Tier 8 - Dexterity +2, Legendary Item
  
• Tier 9 - Additional Order, Mythic Deflect Arrows
  
• Tier 10 - Wisdom +2, Legendary Item
  

I ultimately decided not to worry about Dual Path, as nothing stood out too much aside from Heathen Slayer. The feat choices aren't set in stone, as I'm still on the fence about a couple of them and I may end up needing to shuffle them around a bit.

I did take a look at Evangelist, though, and... I'm not sure I understand this correctly. Does their Aligned Class ability mean that if I were to go, say, Sacred Fist 10/Evangelist 10, I would have the spells and class features of a Sacred Fist 19/Evangelist 10?

You are correct about the Evangelist. Just remember that you do lose your favored class bonus (so do not enter Evangelist until after 6 levels of Sacred Fist Warpriest, so you can still collect the first bonus feat). I would also recommend dumping charisma to 7 and using that to shore up other ability scores, and do not put your racial +2 bonus into constitution of all things. Always put the floating human +2 ability score bonus into your highest ability score because you can reduce that by 2 for a much bigger point-buy savings if you want.

I can see why you went out of your way for Mythic Power Attack, but dumping str to 7 and taking Piranha Strike instead is also an option, especially as dumping str and cha will let you start with 18+2=20 dex, which is worth +2 attack, +2 damage, +2 initiative, +2 reflex, and +2 AC (also +2 to Stealth and other dex-based skills). If you also dump int to 7 (playing off the fact that you always get a minimum of 1 skill per level with an extra skill rank per level for being a Human so 2 skill ranks per level total, although with Evangelist you will get 6+int modifier=4 skills per level) and decide to have 13 con as your point buy, you can raise starting wis to 18 as well.

If you were to play a Scion of Humanity Garuda-Blooded Aasimar (+2 wis and +2 dex), you can start with 7 str - 20 dex - 13 con - 7 int - 20 wis - 7 cha. The result of this new stat array is that you have +4 AC over your current build, +2 attack and damage, more bonus spells, +2 ki, +2 to concentration checks, +2 to Perception checks, +2 will and reflex saves and still have the human favored class bonus. The only drawbacks are moving from 14 con to 13, starting with 1 less bonus feat and skill rank per level, and missing out on Mythic Power Attack (but you can get something else instead).

Incidentally, if you take the Possessed Hand feat, you get +1 attack and damage with all attacks with your fist, but you also take a -2 penalty on concentration checks.

I'm not sure how good Words of Hope is, by the way, since its value is proportional to the length of combat but if combat turns into rocket tag that's not much value, but the good news there is that you can activate Words of Hope with the extra standard action from expending mythic power on Amazing Initiative, which I would recommend since doing it with your regular standard action seems too costly in terms of action economy. That does mean you will spend 2 uses of mythic power to activate Words of Hope without needing to spend a normal standard action. Just save it for the big fights, I suppose.

I'll probably drop Words of Hope and Extra Mythic Feat for Enhanced Ability (Dex/Wis). Somehow I completely forgot that existed. I'm surprised they never made a Mythic Piranha Strike, to be honest.

I'm on the fence about switching from human to aasimar, the feat progression is tight already and the only one I can realistically see being safe to drop without the build falling apart would be Toughness or Improved Critical.

I did take a look at Evangelist, though, and... I'm not sure I understand this correctly. Does their Aligned Class ability mean that if I were to go, say, Sacred Fist 10/Evangelist 10, I would have the spells and class features of a Sacred Fist 19/Evangelist 10?

Yes, Sacred Fist 19/Evangelist 10 is correct. Evangelist levels determine BAB and save progression. Except for first Evangelist level, all class features advance with each level. You will have to choose your deity and perform the daily obedience. Iomedae, Sarenrae, and Irori all have fairly straight-forward obediences, and are thematic to AP.