John of Arc's page

Rays are fantastic. Most monsters have atrocious touch AC, so its a good way to get around high saves. I forget if most rays allow SR, since I haven't played a full caster, but they definitely solve half your problem. Rays usually aren't powerful enough to end an encounter on their own, but the effects are powerful enough to be great support to your martial characters.

Augment Summoning (and Sacred Summons, if her aura's right) will make her a good summoner. Spell Focus: Evocation or Enchantment would also help her be an offensive caster. If she wanted to go battle cleric, then one of those 18s should have been in STR or DEX, but the Guided enchantment exists if she really wants to battle it up.

Stream has the right of it in my experience. If you're going to switch hit, you should focus on melee and use archery as a way to make you more tactically versatile. If you focus more on the archery side of it, then you'll eventually never have any reason at all to enter melee and then all those melee feats you took are suddenly wasted.

I'm currently playing a Rune/Trickery cleric that focuses on misdirection and magical traps. I know at one point I saw a monster that had a bunch of tentacles (I believe two of them ended in human hands) and it had an ability that would be perfect for my character. I believe it was something along the lines of +2 to writing based magic trap DCs and you didn't have to pay the material cost. I'm hoping my GM would let me take that ability as a feat, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. I'd appreciate help looking for it, but any general advice to help that kind of build would be helpful as well. Thanks!

Hello Pathfinder sages. I'm starting up a new campaign here and I'm going to be playing a sneaky cleric. I picked up the Rune and Trickery domains, and I'm using a bladed scarf. It's only a two man party, so the idea is to make a character who's a competent fighter and caster with some useful skills. We're at level 4 at the moment, and here's my build:

STR 13
DEX 16
CON 10
INT 13
WIS 16
CHA 12

Feats: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Weapon Focus Scarf

Basically, I want to be able to trip effectively and deal good (but not great) damage. The feats I'm looking at right now are Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Spell Focus Conjuration and Augment Summoning. This isn't my final build or anything, its early enough in the campaign that we can reroll at will, but I need to finalize things soon. I get that my focus is pretty scattered, but as half of a two man party I need to be able to fill a lot of roles. The other member is a halfling summoner, so I won't be alone at the frontlines but I definitely need to contribute. Are my feat choices solid? Would I be better served ignoring Power Attack or Combat Expertise? Would it be better to trade out some of my current feats for other ones? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm planning on playing a Sword Saint Samurai in a campaign soon, and I was wondering about what to do with the build. I looked some things up, and I have two ideas.

Race: Human

20 point buy
STR 18
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 10

Those would be my starting stats either way. My question is which build do I go for: Either straight Sword Saint from level 1, or I take my first level in Urban Barbarian and then level Sword Saint. The idea is that I carry around a composite longbow and my katana, opening with attacks from the bow and then switching to the katana to mix things up in melee. The idea behind Urban Barbarian is that it gives me a flexible rage to benefit in melee or ranged as I see fit. I also get 1 more health, Crowd Control and a more diverse skill set.

The other build I'm looking at is just straight Sword Saint with the same switch-hitter mindset. I'm leaning towards this at the moment, since I'm not so sure that the benefits of grabbing a level in Urban Barbarian are worth delaying what I'd be getting by going straight Samurai. To put all of this in context, this character will probably go straight through to level 20, and is in a two man party. The other is a summoner, so I won't be alone up front, but self-sufficiency is definitely a concern. Any advice on which build is better would be much appreciated, but general Samurai advice would be nice as well. Thanks!

EDIT: And if it helps, I'm thinking Order of the Warrior claiming the other party member as my lord. For feats I'm just thinking standard 2 hand fighting feats plus maybe a couple to help out my archery if I find myself using the bow often enough.

By RAW, the Rapid Reload feat increases the time it takes to load a Rifle from a Move Action to a Standard Action.

I'll stop using guns when they stop making crossbows suck. It's nice having a viable ranged alternative to bows, even if the mechanics are a little wonky and full of holes (how does rapid reload and metal cartridge ammo interact with the reload time of advanced firearms? etc...)

That being said, I love guns anyway. I love the Dark Tower and I main eCaine in Warmachine, so I naturally started playing a spellslinger/EK. Loves me some guns.

If a spell requires an attack roll and a save, do I get to apply my gun's enhancement bonus to both, or do I need to choose to apply it to one or the other?

Oh, for sure. In fact, I think that's one of the greatest benefits of this archetype, is being able to take any spell you want, and know that no matter what, you can at least convert it into some darn good combat bonuses. It's just nice knowing that if it appears you won't be needing invisibility or slow fall for the day, you can turn that into some damage bonuses for yourself. Not to mention the fact that, unlike casting Greater Magic Weapon or a Heightened spell or something, this is a Swift action- you get to cast your buff and use it too!

I think I've definitely decided on going Fighter 1/Wizard 5, taking the Magical Knack trait, and then multi-classing into Eldritch Knight. I won't lose any caster levels, and I'm certainly willing to slow my access to new spells for all the other benefits I'm receiving. In the end, I'll end up at about a 3/4 BAB class with damn near close to full Wizard casting potential. Feats are a little trickier, but I think I know what I'll be needing for the most part.

And thanks for the guide! You've definitely helped me decide on where I'm going with this character :)

While I'm at it, there's a couple rules questions that I'm pretty sure I know the answer to, but I wouldn't mind some clarification.

1) Casting a spell is completely independent of the gun. I am still able to cast on my own, but if I use my arcane gun, firing it replaces the normal somatic components (but does not use up any bullets as part of the casting of the spell). Improved Critical on the gun does not improve my chance to crit with spells.

2) Point Blank Shot and Arcane Strike will increase my attack and damage on all spells that require an attack roll, but spells like Burning Hands are unable to benefit from the increased damage.

3) Weapon Focus (whatever gun I'm using) will apply to all attack rolls made with the gun, but attacking with a spell is a separate thing and therefore will not benefit from Weapon Focus.

4) An arcane gun is NOT an arcane bond, and I do not gain the bonus spell, but similarly I am not penalized if I lose my gun.

5) Not really a rules clarification, but is there anyway to increase the crit chance of my spells beyond Improved Critical (Ray)?

Thanks for all the help!

I'm a Cygnar player in Warmachine, so it should come as no surprise that I'm attracted to the Spellslinger archetype for wizards. I'm aware that it's probably not quite as good as going straight Wizard, but it looks like the best way to blend guns and magic together, and I love Arcane Gun and Mage Bullets.

So that being said, if we're dead set on playing this, what kind of spells and feats am I looking at? I'm looking at a mix of blasting spells and save-or-sucks, but ideally my gun wouldn't just be for show, either. What I'm thinking is take Gunslinger at level 1, then go Wizard from there onward. I'm also thinking Human, since this is most likely going to be very feat intensive. Beyond that, I'm looking for advice on a build to capitalize on this archetype's strengths. I have very little experience with ranged characters AND spellcasters, so I'm kind of at a loss here. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Also, what's with the dual arcane gun choice? It seems like a strictly worse choice than using a single gun. I honestly can't think of a single advantage, other than having a backup gun when the first one breaks.

HI all! Me and my friends recently got into a campaign, and we're all starting at level 3. I normally play support types, but this time I decided to roll up a ninja. First of all, thank you Paizo for giving me an excuse to pump charisma. I love bluff and diplomacy, and now I don't have to feel guilty for not dumping charisma. Second, I'm really enjoying the ninja class so far. The ability to go invisible as a swift action helps me sneak attack at range, and the extra attack in a full attack really helps me tear it up in melee. This is on top of all the fun out of combat skills I've got going on.

That being said, I'm not really sure where to go from here. There's a lot of tricks I want, but I'm not sure how effective they all will be. Here's my character at the moment:

HUMAN NINJA 3

STR 12
DEX 18
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 13
CHA 14

FEATS
Weapon Finesse
Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Focus (Wakizashi)

NINJA TRICKS
Vanishing Trick

GEAR
2x MW Wakizashi
MW Chain Shirt
Cloak of Resistance
Wand of CLW

This was pretty easy to get to, and before you ask, I am married to the two weapon finesse build. My problem is, I'm not sure where to branch out from here. I know I want Pirahna Strike, Dodge, and Fort/Will feats. I've got plenty of time for those. My problem is, what are the best ninja tricks to take as you level? I'm basically attracted to every single one of them. I can really see myself using every trick, so I'm coming to the forums for advice to see which ones you all think are best. Thanks for the advice!

P.S. What are your favorite traits, as well? Those aren't quite set in stone yet, and it's another area where I'm pretty torn.

Sun blade counts as a bastard sword and a short sword for weapon focus in 3.5 dmg. Is it different in pathfinder?

No, it's not different, a sun blade counts as both.

But it still doesn't change the fact that it's more efficient to dual wield two of the same weapon with Weapon Focus, nor does it change the fact that your katana will have a terrible chance to hit since it doesn't benefit from Weapon Finesse and you only have 10 strength.

We're allowed any one magic item we want so I think I'm going with a sun blade, so I carry one katana in my main hand and my sun blade in my off-hand.

Alright, you wanna dual wield, so you're taking the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. This is not up for debate. Now that that's out of the way, lets look at what else you'd like to do.

People are recommending that you dual wield Wakizashis, because of the way Two-Weapon Fighting works. If your off-hand weapon is a light weapon, your attacks are only made at a -2 penalty instead of -4. They're suggesting that you use one in your main hand as well so that you can take the feat Weapon Focus (Wakizashi), giving you a +1 to hit with your main hand and your off hand. If you want to wield a katana and a sun blade, Weapon Focus isn't as efficient. You would have to take the feat twice, once to apply to your katana and once to short swords. That being said, you don't have to take Weapon Focus at all if you really don't want to. It's just that, for Ninjas, hitting is more of a problem than actually doing damage, so dual wielding wakizashis with Weapon Focus is a very common, effective build.

Now, the most important part of why people are recommending wakizashis: Weapon Finesse. Strength determines your ability to hit and deal damage in melee. You have no strength. If you want to do anything in combat at all, you need Weapon Finesse. Now, Weapon Finesse only works with light weapons. A Sun Blade counts as a short sword, so you're okay there, but if you really want to wield a katana then you will be very bad at hitting things. You can't do damage if you don't hit anything. To recap:

Katanas require strength to be effective. If you want a katana, stack strength.

If you want to stack dexterity and not be useless in combat, get the Weapon Finesse feat and use light weapons. Wakizashis are the best light weapons in the game.

If you want to dual wield, make sure your off hand weapon is a light weapon.

Also, it's really difficult to stay stealthy when carrying around a three foot long glowing sword. Just sayin'