Diachronos's page

I was looking into necromancer builds and came across the Frostfallen template. Interesting, but the fire weakness seems to be a pretty big drawback since fire is so common.

What I'm wondering is how this template works if you apply it to a creature that has the (fire) subtype. I vaguely recall reading something before about how a creature can't have opposing elemental subtypes, but it was almost 10 years ago now and I can't find where it was that I saw that bit of information, so I'm looking to confirm whether that's actually the case or not.

TL;DR: Can a creature have two opposing subtypes due to the effects of a spell or template? Or does the base creature's subtype get overwritten by the spell/template being applied?

I couldn't find any mention of it elsewhere, so I figured that I would ask here:
Is there a limit on how many people can use the Cooperative Crafting feat on the same crafting project? Or is it a flat x2 speed increase no matter what?

For example, I know that if I had a Valet familiar I could make a bag of holding at double speed, but what if I were to hire a mage with Cooperative Crafting and Craft Wondrous Item? Would I then be crafting at triple speed (assuming that it follows the usual rules for stacking "doubled" effects)?

Ultimately decided to simplify things and go with 1 level of Unchained Scaled Fist and the rest in Dervish Dancer Bard.

The build:
Trait - Aldori Caution (this and 3 ranks in Acrobatics to get an extra +2 dodge while fighting defensively)
1) U. Monk - Imp. Unarmed Strike, Dodge (Monk bonus), Crane Style
2) Bard
3) Bard - Weapon Focus (waveblade)
4) Bard
5) Bard - Extra Performance (planning to go into Master Performer later)
6) Bard
7) Bard - Crane Wing
8) Bard
9) Bard - Osyluth Guile
10) Bard
11) Bard - Crane Riposte (current level)
12) Bard
13) Bard
14) Bard
15) Bard
16) Bard
17) Bard
18) Bard
19) Bard

Between these, spells, and equipment, her AC is sitting in the mid 30s by default, and I can pump it up to the mid 50s with adequate time to buff.

I'm at a loss for what feats to take next, though. Master/Grand Master Performer seem ideal, but I don't know what to shoot for besides those.

Maybe Magus for the other half of the gestalt? It's already Int-based, and as DeathlessOne said you can pick up Broad Study to make your Wizard spells usable with your spellstrike and spell combat.

If you go with the Kensai archetype, you're also getting a substantial dodge bonus to your AC.

For Unchained Rogue, you have the options of the Superior Sniper and Stealthy Sniper talents.

I was also looking into Warrior Poet (Samurai) since they also get a dodge bonus from their Charisma, on top of eventually getting half their level to damage with certain finesse weapons.

I'm using a piece of art I found as inspiration for a character for a "Living World" Discord server, with the art in question giving off very strong vibes of a tiefling dancer (hesitant to post the image itself here since I'm not sure if it would be considered "inappropriate", sadly).
With that vibe, I decided I wanted to make her someone who goes unarmored and nimbly ducks and weaves her way across the battlefield.

So, basically, I'm looking to make her as un-freaking-touchable as humanly possible.

My first thought was to go with Water Dancer due to it seeming to apply Charisma to AC twice (dodge bonus up to your level from the archetype, then the base unarmored AC since it isn't removed by Water Dancer and the archetype explicitly says "He uses his Charisma score instead of his Wisdom score to determine the size of his ki pool and the DC and effects of monk class features."), as well as going into Crane Style for a defensive fighting build, but I'm wondering if there are any possibilities that I'm missing.
Maximizing AC is the primary goal, but if at all possible I'd like to be able to make her a solid damage-dealer as well.

Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Some caveats:
Point buy is 25
Race is non-negotiable, the character will be a tiefling no matter what.
The following server house rules/homebrew are in effect:

• * Multiclass archetypes are allowed
  
• * Elephant in the Room feat taxes are in play (I confirmed with one of the GMs that Combat Expertise also covers having 13 Int for feat prerequisites)
  
• * Unchained Classes may take archetypes from their chained counterparts as long as they have the replaced or equivalent features.
  
• * We're allowed to move ability score modifiers around, as long as they stay in the same category (example: a +2 to Dex can be moved to Str or Con, but not Int/Wis/Cha)
  
• * Any character can take Human/Elf/Half-Elf Favored Class Bonuses regardless of their race
  
• * I might be able to get the character to count as a halfling for the purposes of feat prerequisites without resorting to taking Pass For Human+Racial Heritage, but I'm waiting for confirmation from a GM about it.
  

Oh my god, Master proficiency with attack rolls, FINALLY!!!

For clarification, I'm talking about the straitjacket item, not the spell.

Running a game where the players are being thrown into a high-security prison (they let themselves get captured in order to infiltrate the place, knowing mostly what sort of thing they'd be dealing with once inside), but I'm not sure how to handle part of it.

As part of the facility's method of keeping its inmates under control, every prisoner is put into a straitjacket, which applies the Grappled condition to the wearer with an Escape Artist DC 28 to get out. One of the players in the party had taken Still Spell as a throwaway bonus feat earlier on, which I know would allow him to still attempt to cast spells while in the straitjacket...
but I don't know how the concentration check would work. The only rules I can find regarding spellcasting while grappled say that the DC is based on the CMB of the one controlling the grapple, which doesn't apply to an inanimate object. But I'm also wondering if there would even need to be a concentration check if he's ignoring the somatic components entirely, as the jacket isn't exactly yanking him around or doing anything to disrupt his concentration beyond binding his arms in place.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

His color palette gives me strong Majora vibes and I kinda dig it.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

So that makes two more classes that are better at using bombs than Alchemists.

Please tell me that Guns & Gears is going to fix the issue of Alchemist weapon proficiencies...

While the boosts to Alchemist that we did get are nice, I'd still greatly appreciate it if they actually got decent proficiencies with bombs...

It's extremely aggravating that they're the class most heavily focused on them and yet they can't get above Expert... while Champions, Barbarians, Investigators, Swashbucklers, and especially Fighters not only get Expert proficiency with bombs earlier, but they get Master (or Legendary for Fighters) as well. As it stands, Alchemists are the only class that doesn't get any attack proficiencies above Expert; every other class gets at least Master with either spell attack rolls or with weapons.

Even if Master+ proficiency with bombs was something specific to the Bomber research field, that would be fine (maybe do something similar with weapon/unarmed attacks for the Mutagenist as well?).

Apologies if this has already been answered somewhere, but I searched and couldn't find anything mentioning it.

I'm looking into making an alchemist that focuses on using the touch injection spell with the Tainted Infusions of detonate in combat. However, there's something that isn't quite clear in the spell's wording...

"If you hit, the substance takes effect immediately, despite any onset period, and that opponent receives the normal saving throw (if any) against the substance."

...Which is seemingly contradicted by the very next sentence:

"In the case of a personal infused extract, the opponent receives both a Fortitude save and spell resistance."

I'm assuming that "personal" here means a range of "Personal". Does this mean that an infusion of detonate would allow the injected person a Fortitude save to negate it, even though the spell normally doesn't allow a save for the person who's exploding? Or does it mean that the target only gets a save and spell resistance if the extract being injected would normally allow for them?

Most people wouldn't even try to make a character with all of these abilities. One level of Magus to get Soul Forger, five levels of Wizard to get an arcane discovery, and five levels of cleric to get the bonus from Master Forger. You'd be an 11th level caster with the casting power of a 5th level character and a trash BAB.

I was looking at using only one of Forgemaster or Soul Forger (Soul Forger requires level 7 to get the crafting speed bonus), and one level of Wizard for Arcane Builder.

It would be better to figure it out by converting each day to gold per day.

Arcane Builder gives you a 25% increase in progress, so you'd go from 1000 gp/day to 1250gp/day. Or an increase in 250gp per day.

The 50% bonuses are the equivellent of 500gp per day.

Now the hard part, are the bonuses additive or multiplicative? The more sane and easier to figure option is to declare them to be additive. So it would be:

1000gp base + 250gp (Builder) + 500gp (Forger) + 500 gp (Forgemaster) + 50gp (hedge wizard) = 2050gp/day

And double that if you add 5 to the DC.

If you did this as multiplicative then it would be

1000gp x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.25 x 1.05 = 2953.125gp per day, doubled again if you add 5 to the DC.

Jeez... and that's without even counting in the Valet familiar I was thinking of using @.@

I'm curious as to how exactly the accelerated crafting would stack between the wizard's Arcane Builder discovery (25% less time) and the Master Smith ability of the Soul Forger/Forgemaster archetypes (Soul Forger says "requires only half the normal amount of time to enchant magical arms and armor" and Forgemaster says "can craft magical metal items in half the normal amount of time", so 50% less time).

Would it be "reduce the base crafting time by 50%, then reduce that result by 25%"?

Do you really need to be a single class Fighter, and if you can budge at all, what do you think is most important about being a Fighter?

"Need to", no. But I have a long-standing bias against multiclassing due to how it was pretty much mandatory in 3.5 and how most builds seem to dip more than a tobacco-chewing redneck tied to a fishing line.

Do you really need to use a Longbow? How about a Long Composite Bow or an Orc Hornbow? How do you feel about Thrown Weapons? How do you feel about other stuff like guns and magic wands?

How do you feel about Longsword? Why Longsword? Why not Split Blade Sword, Estoc, Greatsword, or Bastard Sword? How do you feel about Natural Attacks? How do you feel about Feats that let you use your Bow in melee?

I picked Longbow and Longsword specifically because they fit the thematic design of the bow and sword used in the Shadowshot and Daybreak skills. None of those other weapons fit the design very well (maybe greatsword).

For clarification, I'm not looking to optimize to Powergamer/PFS levels. I just want to be able to invest in the standard power-boosting feats while still having plenty left over to invest in feats that are more interesting than powerful, like the Weapon Mastery feats.

I'm currently playing a kineticist in a WotR game, and my hope is to combine the Flagellant feat with the 6th-tier Guardian path ability that grants immunity to the staggered condition.

...So nothing that would allow me to stick with Fighter, then?

I'm currently working on a Fighter who's going to be using a longbow and a longsword, focusing on both so that they can reliably perform with either of them at a moment's notice (the specific weapons function similarly to the Shadowshot and Daybreak Super abilities from Destiny 2). However, I'm running into an issue with managing the number of feats necessary to pull it off...

At first I was looking at the Martial Mastery feat as a late-game solution, but I didn't notice until just now that it only applies to a specific weapon group. I can't use the Weapon Specialist advanced weapon training option for the same reason.

Is there a way, through either a fighter archetype or a feat, that would allow someone to apply feats like Weapon Focus to both a longsword and a longbow?

For Book 2 (Trial of the Beast), I would recommend altering the Aberrant Promethean's role in the mansion. Instead of having it just be a surprise final encounter that jumps the PCs after they've already fought their way through everything else, have it chase the PCs through the place.
Maybe it drops down behind them at the front door, scaring them into retreating inside. It can't follow them inside, but it can crawl around outside the mansion and take blind swipes at them if they wander too close to a window or door leading outside.
Perhaps they find opportunities to lose it or to harm it along the way, like spilling a vat of acid onto it as it reaches into a lab.

Looking over the Jinkin, it says that its attacks with the shortsword are magical, but it's listed as having an ordinary shortsword in its items... is this a typo? Or did I overlook something?

Those are some devious ideas ._.
I was considering having him come up with a way to turn suits of armor into mimics as well (highly-mobile Mimic Knights?) but I haven't come up with a feasible way to do that yet.

His end goal would be establishing himself as some kind of supreme overlord, likely out of spite that "a mere mortal" would dare use his kind as menial servants.

I thought the created mimic was loyal to the key's possessor?

They're supposed to be, yes, and the mage had tested the key several times before (on empty containers) with no apparent drawbacks. The thing is, a typical mimic only has 10 Intelligence, whereas the mage's killer ended up with a significantly higher Intelligence because of the items that were inside the container used to make it. Basically, its enhanced mind allowed it to think through the compulsion it was under and break free of the control.

A while back while playing Hearthstone, I was messing around with the Kobolds & Catacombs board and, out of habit, I activated the board's secret feature of revealing a key in the board's bottom-left corner that, when clicked, will turn the treasure chest in the top-right corner into a Mimic.

It gave me an idea. A paranoid mage wants to protect all of his secrets, so he creates a magical key that will turn anything you use it on into a mimic that is loyal to the key's bearer, and the mimic absorbs the properties of the container it was made from (i.e., an adamantine lockbox would make a mimic that's hard to injure with physical damage).

Unbeknownst to the mage, the absorption also applies to whatever is inside the container. So when he uses the key on the lockbox he keeps one of his spellbooks and various Intelligence-boosting items in, he inadvertently creates a highly intelligent mimic with knowledge of many of his spells. The mimic kills him in his sleep, takes the key for itself, and starts creating an army of mimics under its service.

I'm looking for suggestions on what could feasibly be turned into mimics using this key. Chests and doorways are obvious candidates, but that doesn't leave much variety. Or should I simply have the mimic king alter the key so that it can be used on any object?

...This better mean that Kobolds are going to get buffed to not be the laughing stock of Golarion. I'm not against them being physically weak, but at least give them enough to not be a complete and utter joke.

Pretty well, honestly. Not accounting for the fact that half the time I can't roll above a 5, at least; if it weren't for that I'd be pulling it off regularly.

I'd recommend a belt of tumbling, and seeing if the DM will let you use a different item slot for your Belt of Dex. Like Boots/Gloves of Dex, maybe.

The new Totem Channeler Skald from Disciple's Doctrine gave me a gestalt idea I'm eager to try out: Primalist Spell Eater Bloodrager/Totem Channeler Skald.

I'm fully aware that bloodrage and raging song don't stack, which is why I'm digging around to find out if there are any items, feats, or additional class features that would allow the character to spend rounds of bloodrage on other abilities, since they're probably only going to use their inspired rage in combat.

If you want raw power, I'd recommend Kineticist/Barbarian or Kineticist/Bloodrager. Extra use out of your Con, you can take Raging Vitality to get even more Con, perfect BAB, lots of HP... If your DM allows Mad Magic to work on SLAs, you're golden. Add in a conductive weapon for extra fun if you choose an energy blast.

In Strange Aeons I was using a Bloodrager (Sovereign Draconic bloodline)/Elemental Annihilator and she was the hardest-hitting member of the party by far.

Tough call... you can make some damn scary things happen with Dirty Trick if you build it right, but you're right about Feint being much easier to pull off consistently. If you have room to spare in your build, I'd actually suggest getting both and using whichever one's more advantageous for the situation.

Of course, I'm also the kind of guy who jumps at the chance to use Up Close and Personal...

Alternatively, you could do Skald + Unchained Barbarian, it's functionally the same if you're looking strictly at the attack/damage increases.

Regular Barbarian + Skald isn't necessarily bad though... just not optimal without careful planning.

Your interpretation of Dead Shot is correct, you only get the damage dice you'd normally have from making an extra attack.

I agree that Clustered Shots is almost a straight upgrade over Dead Shot. The only downsides are that Dead Shot will do more damage if you successfully crit the target, and that you need Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot to take Clustered Shots (although considering those are considered mandatory feats for a ranged character, that's not really a drawback).

I'm considering building a Dex-based Fighter who takes advantage of Bladed Brush Combat, Slashing Grace, and Spear Dancing Style all at once, but I'm not entirely sure how they'd interact together.

On one hand, Spear Dancing Style says that you treat the polearm/spear weapon in question as a double weapon, meaning that it would involve two-weapon fighting and thus negate the "can't have anything in your off-hand" clause of Slashing Grace.

On the other hand:

When wielding a glaive, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing or slashing melee weapon and as if you were not making attacks with your off-hand for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon

Does Bladed Brush Combat overcome the fact that using a double weapon wouldn't allow you to use abilities that require a free off-hand? Or would Spear Dancing Style negate the benefits of using Slashing Grace? In either case, I'm assuming that the "light mace" part of the glaive wouldn't benefit from Slashing Grace despite technically being part of a weapon being modified by the feat.

Apologies if this has already been answered; I searched but didn't spot any threads that looked like they answered this particular question.

My issue with the "This is weak because wizards exist" argument is that the people who use that argument will use it to invalidate anything that isn't a Wizard.

The biggest thing I see from them is "Damage is useless because a Wizard can just cast X and remove the problem immediately."
* "Barbarian/Fighter/<any other DPS class> beating the enemy with a stick? Why? Dealing damage is worthless, I'll just cast a save-or-die/save-or-suck spell and make that thing not a threat."
* "Stealth? I'll just cast invisibility on myself."
* "Opening locks? I'll cast knock."
* "Disarming traps? Don't bother, I'll summon a bunch of weak stuff and have them blunder into the trap to set it off."

Even Clerics and Druids aren't entirely safe. The only thing they can do that Wizards can't is heal, and that can easily be solved with Use Magic Device and wands/scrolls.

Why do direct damage when I can throw them to another plane, or in a pit, or mind control them, or insta kill them, or have a horde of summons/necromancy/gated creatures to kill for you?

Because some people aren't stupid enough to think that save-or-die/save-or-suck spells are foolproof. Those spells can fail, and when they eventually do fail you just blew a spell to have exactly 0 effect on the encounter.

"Hordes of minions" isn't any better than doing direct damage, either. You're still killing them with damage; literally the only difference is that the wizard isn't the one dealing damage in that situation.

Kineticist would be my recommendation. Even without an archetype they can easily be built for melee combat.
* Their kinetic blast gives them a potent ranged option if they aren't able to get into melee for some reason, and it's just as effective when used with kinetic blade/whip.
* Four out of their 7 element choices give them some way to quickly get into range (Air gets a passive fly spell, Fire/Void/Aether all get a pseudo-fly).
* The defensive talents are all exceptionally good. Water, Wood, and Air all make it harder for enemies to hit you. Earth and Aether give you a buffer against damage. Void protects you from evil clerics and sudden damage spikes from critical hits. Fire doesn't boost your defense, but it punishes enemies for attacking you and helps end fights a little faster.
* Plus there's the massive amount of utility that their wild talents offer. Aether, Water, and Wood can serve as backup healers, several elements can manipulate the terrain to hinder your opponents' movements, Air can buff your allies with haste, etc.

Another good option would be Warpriest. They can self-buff quickly and have strong melee attacks, as well as access to a lot of the same magic that clerics would use in combat at lower levels.

You're not the only one!

From the sound of it, the people insisting that lines have to go in sets of 3 squares didn't bother to look at the whole image in the rulebook. There are two examples - half of them - in that image where the line isn't done in sets of 3.

The standard rule is maximum HP at level 1, then rolled or average each level after. Average would be your Con modifier plus the average of your die roll (3.5 for d6, 4.5 for d8, 5.5 for d10, and 6.5 for d12).

While you're rounding the number down when averaging, you do keep the extra 0.5 HP each level, effectively giving you an extra HP at each odd level.
So, for instance, a Fighter would get 10+Con at level 1, 5.5+Con at level 2, 5.5+Con at level 3, etc. At level 3, they'd have 10 (level 1) + 11 (levels 2 and 3 combined)+(Con*3).

Considering that literally nothing about Mantis Style says that you have to be a monk, it's entirely possible to get that style as a Sacred Fist without taking levels of another class.

That said, taking Stunning Fist using only Warpriest levels means you'll be waiting until level 11.