Been reading up on how magus is supposed to be great at nova damage, but I'm not seeing it. Can someone show me what this nova damage looks like at level 7? Best I could get was something like:
1d6 +6 Dex/Str +2 Weapon Enhancement +2 Arcane Strike
Spell Combat with Intensified Shocking Grasp would give another damage like the above, along with 7d6 Shocking Grasp damage.
If both attack hits, that brings the total to a whopping 9d6+20, or roughly 51.5 average damage, which is kinda underwhelming. Power Attack would make that 59.5, assuming the penalty to your attack is worth it.
How many times can the Shocking Grasp trick be done daily by this point? Is Arcane Strike and Power Attack even worth it? Seems like the swift action would be better spent on boosting AC or attack, and Power Attack's penalty is too big to overcome at this point.
I'm looking into a Dimensional Dervish cleric build. It's nice to qualify for it early like a Summoner, but being able to cast it only once per day kinda sucks. Is it possible to do it more often?
I was thinking of going Synthesist with a biped eidolon to do TWF and go the Dimensional Dervish route. My main thought was that Synthesist get up to lvl 6 spells, and they can have awesome stats, so it could possibly work out well. The main issue is that I'm not sure they can do enough damage.
I know they can dish out crazy damage with natural attacks, but I'm not looking for natural attacks, nor am I looking for pounce with their quad form. I'm going biped + TWF for pure flavor, but those are must-haves. Also wanting Dimensional Dervish asap, and decent spellcasting (mainly for buffs and personal versatility, not for control or SoS or anything like that).
Is Alter Self just as good as a Kitsune with the Realistic Likeness feat? I read somewhere that no spell can make you look exactly like a unique individual, but I can't find that text.
I'm trying to figure out if it's worthwhile for a caster kitsune to take the Realistic Likeness feat.
Is there any type of spell, ability, or even monsters that have the ability to stretch around like Mr. Fantastic from Fantastic Four? Closest I could find is the Rag Doll mutagen from the Alchemist class. Not really stretchy enough, but it may have to do if there's nothing else. Would be great if he could at the very least get reach from the stretch abilities.
This doesn't have to be optimal or anything, I'm simply looking for the ability for roleplay reason, not to be optimized or super powerful. Anything will do, even if it's a monster of some kind.
Just curious what people's thoughts are when comparing a Gunslinger with a gun-totin' Inquisitor?
At level 5, when the Gunslinger gets Dex to damage, an Inquisitor will get Bane for 5 rounds/day, and will have Judgments for 2/day already.
At level 11 the Gunslinger can get a Signature Deed, which could help out with damage if going Pistolero or the Bleed deed, but the Inquisitor gets Greater Bane at 12, and by this point should be able to use Bane for a good 20 rounds or so if using Extra/Extended Bane feats. Seems like they can outduel a Gunslinger. Maybe I'm missing something tho...?
Just wondering if there are spells or enchantments that gives Slashing damage to ammunition? Trying to find ways that can get through that specific DR.
If a Gunslinger has a pistol (20ft range) with the Distance enchantment (doubles the weapon's range), and he uses the Deadeye deed, does he spend only 1 point if the target is within 80ft, or does it have to be within 60ft?
How much would you guys price the Efficient Bandolier if it worked as a free action instead of a swift action? This will be available for all non-double-barrel firearms, if that matters. Any ideas?
What are some ways that an Inquisitor can get rerolls as an immediate action (such as from the Luck domain)? He won't be a halfling, so that one's out.
Just curious how a Gunslinger performs from level 1-5. Do you guys even use guns for the first couple of levels? Do you get frustrated from levels 3-5 due to misfires and spending so much money on bullets?
Been reading up on Synthesists, and I couldn't figure this out. If I want to focus purely on damage, is it better to go biped (presumably for Slam), or go quad (presumably for Pounce/Rake)?
I've seen it argued that you can't always pounce, but more often than not, you should be able to Rake. So what's the downside to quad? -2 to Str doesn't seem so bad? Or is there some other advantage that I'm not seeing for biped? Can someone enlighten me?
Please no snarky comments about going normal Summoner or Master Summoner instead.
Is it at all possible for a melee bard to dish out as much damage as an archer bard? No archetype, just plain vanilla bard. Right off the bat the archer can pick up Rapid Shot, and later on can get Manyshot. What's a melee bard gonna do to compete?
From the treatmonk guide, it seems like bard doesn't really need to focus on Charisma. Chan a cha-focused bard still be combat viable? Was hoping to be a party face with really high charisma.
I'm looking for character story ideas for a druid I'm creating. Would love to hear about your characters, preferably druid, but any character's fine. Hoping to get some inspiration.
I'm trying to find the rules for how far a character can see and hear under normal circumstances. Does anyone know where the rules are (link or book), or know the distances off the top of your head?
What's a good way to round out a party with a wizard focusing on control, and a barbarian (or fighter) focused on tanking/damage dealing? The campaign is home-brew, and all Paizo books are allowed. No 3.5 materials preferably, and definitely no 3rd party books.
I was thinking Druid or archer Bard, as they're both good support roles. Other classes that I've thought about includes cleric (seems so boring), master summoner or synthesist (seems so cheesy), magus (seems so cool and fun, but doesn't really fill any holes).
I'm concerned about the lack of heals (nevermind in-combat or out of combat, just concerned about the lack of it in general), and lack of damage if the barbarian gets shut down.
In terms of overall usefulness for a party, are crafting feats such as Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Wand, etc., worth it for divine classes (druid or cleric) in comparison to their arcane counterparts (wiz/sorc)?
Said party currently have no divine members except for the possible crafter.
I have a basic idea of the type of enemies we'll be facing in RotRL, so I'm guessing it won't be much of an issue, but I wanted to confirm. Will a druid that uses Animal Growth or wants to focus on summoning dinosaurs be able to do it in RotRL, or will there be too many instances where spacing will be an issue?
We'll be playing RotRL, and I'm not sure how to round up the party. There's a rogue, a barbarian, and a bard. All three of them are new players, and will not be optimized. I've heard RotRL gets pretty tough, so I want a character that'll help the entire party be stronger as a team.
I figure that damage will be on the low end aside from the barbarian, so I thought maybe I'd play a druid to let the animal companion help provide damage, which is even more useful since there's a bard in the party. Problem is that the battlefield control won't be too good since it's a druid instead of a wizard (right...?)
Then I thought maybe I'd go Sorcerer with Fey bloodline for animal companion, so that way at least I have access to arcane battlefield control spells, and I still get the animal companion to help out.
Last options would be a wizard summoning specialist (I'd make him diviner, and mainly take crafting feats after Augment Summoning) or a Summoner.
I've been given a basic idea of what to expect, but not sure if any of these are a good choice. My thought is that we're lacking battlefield control and damage. I enjoy playing all sorts of characters, just wanna make one that fits well with the group. Any thoughts?
I keep reading about how Paladins can have really high saves, but I've never actually seen how it's done. They get Divine Grace to add Cha to saves, but is that it? I mean, am I missing a Paladin-specific feat or spell or archetype or something that grants them higher saves?
Between the Magus (or any of its archetypes) and the Inquisitor (or any of its archetypes), which one do you guys think does a better job of tanking?
My definition of tanking:
-High AC (or high HP or high DR, Fast Healing, etc., or a combination of some/all)
-High saves
-High damage (so the enemies will target you)
-Passable mobility (just enough so you can get to the enemy as capable as your party)
I realize that there are other classes that may be better, but I'm specifically asking between Magus and Inquisitor only, please. If you think it depends on the levels, assume this will be between levels 5-10, though I'm curious about all levels. I know Inquisitors get Stalwart at level 11, which is really nice...
Some random thoughts that may be related:
-Dwarf race for Steel Soul feat + Glory of Old trait
-Samsaran for extra cheese topping (Holy Sword combined with Bane weapons for Inquisitor if possible, if not, just Holy Sword on its own is still good)
-A 2-level dip into Paladin for +Cha modifier to saves
-Inquisitors get +1 to +5 on attacks, damage, saves, and AC, and can choose any 2 at level 8 (each at +2).
-Magus gets Mirror Image/Blur/Blinks, which can be much more effective than even super high AC.
-Magus gets nova attack with spells while Inquisitors get Bane + Judgment attack and damage. Not sure which one ends up dealing more in the long run.
Is there any way that a druid can get a non-druid spell added to her list without losing caster level progression? I know samsarans can do it, but I can't choose that race.
I'm looking at the Lantern Archon, and it has 2 light rays that are "range touch" attacks, but it doesn't state what the actual range is. Is there a default range for these types of range touch attacks that doesn't state a range?
Aside from the Summoner class, and the "shaman" archetypes from the Druid class, are there any other ways to be able to cast SNA or SM spells as a standard action?
Is it better to be more well-rounded in a 4-5 people party where you have something like:
a melee combatant, an archer, a divine caster, an arcane caster, and maybe a bard for the buffs.
Or
Would an all-caster party be better, where you're comprised of something like a cleric, a druid, a wizard, maybe a summoner or a witch, and whatever other fifth member? The casters like druid and/or summoner could have animal companions as the damage dealers, and they could also summon if needed.
Is one type of party makeup generally better, or are they about the same? Curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.
I keep reading about how amazing menhir savants are. At a quick glance, I'm not seeing what's so awesome about them. Can someone explain how you take advantage of their powers?
I was really in love with the saurian and lion shamans due to their ability to summon as a standard action AND their ability to add the young/advanced/giant templates to their summons. This seems like a worthy trade for a somewhat stunted wild shape progression (since I don't plan on having high str/dex stats anyway). I would choose either saurian or lion mainly for summoning combat animals (tigers, or ankylosaurus/raptor/trex/etc.)
My gut take on this is that a shaman is the better summoner, while a menhir savant is the better all-around caster. A saurian shaman seems to be more versatile than a lion one, but many dinos won't be able to fit in many dungeons, plus the tigers are better damage dealers all around, so I'm still undecided between those two options as well.
Anyone with experience with either a lion/saurian shaman or a menhir savant have any advice?
Wanting to hear your thoughts on whether or not a ranger is capable of being the tank of the party. An archer ranger with full plate can full attack with 5ft steps, and threaten their adjacent squares through feats. Full plate will limit their dexterity, but they can spread their stats between strength and dexterity using a composite longbow. Is this viable, or are rangers simply not meant to be a front-liner?
Just trying to understand why people seem to say that animal companions suck at high levels. Using the most popular animal companion, a big cat, they start out with 13 str, and in the course of leveling up they gain +8 at level 7, an additional +6 spread throughout 18 levels, and there are +4 ability score increases that can also be applied to strength. That makes it a total of anywhere between a final score of 27 to 31 without any magic, which should make them at least the equivalent of a 3/4 BAB melee combatant.
That's not even taking into account the beast that is a Sorcerer's animal companion, with access to Form of the Dragon, or a samsaran druid who gets access to things like Divine Favor, or Litany of Vengeance.
Of course they won't be as well-rounded as a full-fledged PC, but I imagine they can dish out damage along with the best of them. They won't be the highest, but I guess I don't understand why I keep reading that they're no good past like level 12 or so. Anyone care to explain?
EDIT: I'm not familiar with a ranger, so I don't know how well their animal companion performs. On the plus side, they get Favored Enemy bonuses, but on the minus side the ranger has limited access (unless a Beastmaster archetype) to animal companions. Still, they could be a viable tripper at higher levels I imagine.
EDIT 2: Just to reiterate, I'm not saying they can perform as well as a full-fledged PC, but to me they look viable at high levels at what you focus on creating them to do (mostly slashing faces).
Since a ranger's animal companion gains the benefit of a ranger's favored enemy/terrain bonuses, does it also get the benefit of the Instant Enemy spell?
Just trying to get a better understanding of the switch-hitter ranger. Is the main reason for switch-hitting because there are spells such as Wind Wall and Fickle Winds? Because otherwise wouldn't the ranger just take a 5ft step and full attack with the bow and arrow for presumably more damage as an archer? Is it just a style thing, or am I missing an essential powergaming ability?
Is it worth losing the familiar to play a Scarred Witch Doctor? Con-based casting is nice and all, but I don't plan on using the witch as a melee character, so I'm trying to gauge whether it's worth the loss of action economy. I was planning on using the (IMProved) familiar to use Haste wand, or use Burning Gaze to get additional action out of it.
Pros: high Con score means more HP, good Fort save
Cons: lose familiar/extra action, was planning on staying in the back anyway, so the high HP is only somewhat helpful
I've been working on a party that's meant to be a recurring enemy for my players, and I was hoping to get some input. I'm building this with the idea that this party is a group of survivors. They need to be varied and capable of handling as many possible challenges as they can throughout their adventuring careers.
My players are all fairly new. They're not optimized, and on any given day there will be 5-7 of them. So I'm creating the enemy party to have 4 members, with a floating 5th member that I can put in play, in case more than 5 players show up. I should note that they have a beastly fighter and barbarian, both of whom can kill any of these guys in a single round.
Everyone's currently around level 7-8, so I'm putting the enemy party around the same level. So far, I've got:
Bard 7 (Archer):
This is the only "must have" in the entire group, for story purpose. He's an archer bard, the party face, the undisputed leader that makes sure everything goes smooth on and off the field. Has the trait that gives him Disable Device skill. He stealths, he scouts, etc.
Wiz 8 (Void):
I figured I'd make the wizard a Void specialist, mainly because I like the debuff and buff powers that he gets, but this isn't a lock. I also thought about making him a sylvan bloodline sorcerer, because the party's lacking melee combatants (is it?)
Druid 7 (Melee + Tiger companion):
With a tiger companion, they make up the only real damage dealers on the team. Maybe make her a caster? I was leaning towards damage dealer because the party seems lacking in it, but of course this could depend on the 5th member as well. The animal companion is important because it makes up for a "5th member" in a way, and at these levels, the duo should out-damage just about any other melee class. They're good for scouting as well.
Witch 6 (Scarred Witch Doctor):
Not sure about this one. I wanted another arcane caster in case the wizard goes down, and in a party with so many casters, a witch can rely on her hexes, so she can last all day. Plus having the Con makes her hardy. The witch is the party's scryer.
I don't want this party to be a "counter" to the players' party, so what I'm looking for is a 5th member to plug in a hole that an adventuring party's leader might try to fill.
I was thinking maybe I need a fighter or a barbarian, or even an anti-paladin. Then I thought that they need a "real" archer instead of just the bard, so I thought about a ranger, which could be great as that means that's ANOTHER animal companion. Also entertained the idea of a Hexcrafter magus, since that could go well thematically with a witch already in the party.
Lastly, I thought of a reach cleric because I felt that that's the one class that they would truly benefit the most from, but I felt that maybe that'd be way too overpowering against the players even at a 5 vs 7 handicap (or maybe not, because if their fighter and barbarian can somehow reach any of these guys and get a full attack, that'd be half the party dead).
None of them, except the bard, is a must-have, so any input would be appreciated.
Okay, so a bard can Inspire Courage as a move action, cast Good Hope as a standard action, and possibly cast Haste as a swift action with the right item. All of these are great for physical damage dealers, but they're not that great in helping out casters do their job.
So what can a bard do to buff fellow casters? I realize the casters could use ray attack spells or something, but are there ways buff DCs perhaps? Or increase their caster levels? Perhaps give out a metamagic feat somehow kinda like Blessing of Fervor? Anything?
What are some ways that a bard can do to boost his Inspire Courage performance?
These are the ways that I know of:
-Aasimar favored class (+1/2 level higher)
-Master Performer (+1)/Grand Master Performer feats (+1 stacks)
-Banner of the Ancient Kings (noted below)
Are there any other methods to boost Inspire Courage in PF?
Does the aasimar bonus stack with Banner of the Ancient Kings item?
Also, does a bard have to be holding the spear with the Banner of the Ancient King to get the bonus? Here's a description of the item. Note how they specifically call out the bonuses you get when wielding it in two hands, but for the Bard bonus, it just says as long as he "carries" it.
Banner of the Ancient Kings:
Spoiler:
This tattered white canvas banner looks like an old piece of sailcloth, or perhaps a winding shroud—a 4-foot-by-6-foot rectangle with loops that can fit over a spear haft or pole running up one side. If mounted on a longspear or pole at least 8 feet in length, the banner shifts in appearance to match the heraldry or coat of arms of the person who attached it. If that person has no device, the flag instead displays a device that echoes the owner’s personality (such as a favorite animal, favored weapon, or holy symbol of the wielder’s deity).
When carried into battle, a banner of the ancient kings confers several benefits. As long as the longspear or pole to which the banner is attached is firmly wielded in two hands, its carrier gains a +4 circumstance bonus on Initiative checks. In addition, when so wielded, it grants the wielder and all allies within 30 feet a +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects. If the carrier of the banner fails a saving throw against a mind-affecting effect, he may attempt a new saving throw against that effect every round he continues to wield the banner of the ancient kings—once he releases his firm grip on the banner’s haft, though, he no longer gets this benefit, even if he wields the banner properly at a later point while still under the effects of the mind-affecting effect.
If the banner’s carrier possesses the Flagbearer feat, the banner of the ancient kings doubles the morale bonuses granted by that feat. A bard who carries a longspear or pole to which a banner of the ancient kings has been attached is treated as four levels higher than his actual bard level for the purposes of determining the bonuses granted by his inspire courage bardic performance ability.
I've been reading up on barbarians, and thought their Superstition rage power, combined with human favored class looks pretty sick. Can barbarians become as good as paladins in regards to their saves? Would they pose a problem against, say, a wizard with a lot of battlefield control spells, or will the barbarian just rip through them?
I've been looking up debuffer/SoS builds, and I keep running into builds that emphasize things like Ill Omen and other mind-affecting spells/hexes. With so many creatures immune to them, what are some builds focusing on debuffs that affect all creatures?
A few that I can think of:
-Cleric's Chaos domain gives Touch of Chaos (no save, requires touch attack), making enemies re-roll all d20 and take the worse roll, but this only lasts one round, so unless you have a Quicken Spell or some other way to take advantage of it, it "only" helps your party.
-Cleric's Chaos with Protean subdomain gives Aura of Chaos (Will save can still be funny), which makes enemies have to do what they say they'll do if they make the save, and they can't do it if they fail the save (if your opponent isn't sure they can make the save or not, it'll be funny watching them try to figure out what they say they'll do).
-Cleric's Madness domain gives Vision of Madness (no save, requires touch attack), making enemies take penalty to their attacks and saves equal to 1/2 your cleric level (they get that same number as a bonus to skill checks).
-Wizard with the Void school gives enemies a penalty (no save) to their saves and AC equal to 1/2 your Wizard level.
Some that I can think of that does have a save, but can at least work on everyone/most enemies:
-The Witch's Misfortune hex affects everyone (Will negates), making them re-roll for all d20 rolls. Can be indefinitely prolonged with Cackle.
-Bestow Curse (Will negates) spell, can give them various debuffs, including -4 to saves, or 50% chance to take no action.
-Major Curse (Will negates) spell, same as Bestow Curse but helps you with +5 to your DC on the spell.
-The Maze spell could theoretically be included in this list I guess, no save, though they get an Intelligence check every round to negate it.
-The "pit" line of spells (Create Pit, etc.) can also work, but only against creatures that can fit in a 10x10 pit.
-Dazing Spell metamagic is pretty nasty (Fort, Will, Ref negates, depending on the spell you choose). Steep price at +3 spell level, and also expensive to have a rod of.
Is the AC above correct? I'm not sure if the -1 Size modifier should be there or not. It's already getting -2 Dex from the size change at level 7. Is that where the -1 to AC comes from? Or is the -1 penalty in addition to the Dex penalty?
Applied the size modifier AC penalty again, even though there's really no note about this in the spell.
Does that all look correct?
Related question: When the big cat advances in level 7, is the +2 natural armor stacking with the +1 natural armor from the previous level, or is that +2 the total number?
How does the rules for animal flight work if they're using a spell as means of flight? Are they still unable to fly while wearing medium/heavy barding?
