Also one thing to think about is that some of the shield feats actually free up actions for attacking. Since to use the shield you have to spend an action to raise it. There are at least 2 shield feats that reduce this or make it a reaction. This alone will free up more actions to attack with that sword you are so good with.
This quote when talking about getting the flat-footed condition stuck me as a major problem when dealing with pathfinder 2e tactics. "A fighter may trip an opponent or a sorcerer may stun one, but you can’t rely on these sources. You must be able to cause the condition reliably by yourself." I have been working on party synergy and teamwork. I feel this should be a regular party discussion as to "how can we work together better". "What are are tactics going to be in situation A or situation B. Pathfinder 2e is more about group tactics than solo play. In my opinion it is probably better for someone else to apply flatfooted (or even just be a flanking buddy (or if you take gang up at lvl 6, just a melee buddy or 2). If the whole party is trying to get the most every member of the party then it shouldn't be a "must" to make it happen yourself. Also I don't think stun grants flat-footed btw.
Ranger - Outwit Human/or Half-elf (because you really need all the lvl 1 Ranger feats you can get your hands on) str 10
I have been trying make a decent Outwit Ranger and after pouring through the books and trying different things I think I have one that seems to be very effective. Please give me your thoughts The idea is to be a party enabler and you will do this through demoralize and using a cat animal companion to get flat-footed for your entire party) Take Animal Companion and choose cat for the support ability to make a creature flat-footed if you hit it with an attack. Take Natural Ambition to pick another Ranger feat Hunted Shot to give you 2 shots for one action, making the cats ability more likely to trigger. Also this build struggles with action economy and a range weapon means you have to move less, since your already going to have issues commanding a companion, marking a prey and demoralizing. Level 2 pick up Monster Hunter (or heal companion) and turn 4 maybe pick up Favored Enemy -Animal (this will give you a free Hunt Prey) because they are the most common enemy. The perfect turn 1 is that you are already tracking or have stealth and can already have Hunt Prey already up, if so Demoralize your prey, then send cat in to use support ability and then shoot twice at the target. If all goes well the enemy will be flat-footed and frightened making its AC up to -4 for a whole round. The reason for Outwit is the +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate mainly, but it certainly doesn't hurt to on the tracking, stealth, seeking and monster knowledge. I would love to make this a halfling, but to work fully it needs 3 level 1 hunter feats. I am not even sure that Heal Companion isn't better than Monster Hunter, even though this build was originally supposed to optimize Monster Hunter... Please give feedback, I worked several days on this and finally found something I'm excited about.
These dedication feats don't give anything other than proficiency which is very lackluster if you wanted to make a 2 handed weapon fighter or a heavy armor specialist. I was disappointed when I saw these. The Scout dedication seemed to do it right also giving a feat as well. Maybe the Scouts dedication is a little much, but I would have liked more consistency in dedication feats, and its discouraging when you take a dedication feat and get absolutely nothing from it at that level. |