| Microchaton |
Hello! This will be my 2nd PF2e character. I've put quite a lot of thought about this, and then I stumbled upon the freshly released Stalwart Defender (not on AoN but you can find it on pathbuilder) and as I was already almost certainly making a dwarf, this was just too neat to pass!
This is for Abomination Vaults, Free Archetype, with a party of : Human Wizard, Fetchling Sniper Gunslinger (who will go either Medic and/or Sniping Duo with me as a spotter, probably both), Kobold Cloistered Cleric of Apsu w/ Fey Sorcerer dedication. As you can tell, I am the only melee/frontline character, so I need to be thicc.
Unfortunately Pathbuilder doesn't let me "share a copy" of the character because I have the paid version with Free Archetype, which is a bit irritating but oh well. Here are pictures of it instead https://i.imgur.com/tRfDIVx.png https://i.imgur.com/L0iVBCN.png
https://i.imgur.com/9cIhtoC.png
In album form: https://imgur.com/a/1FdQvIl
Do note: Reinforced Surcoat + Unburdened Iron for "free" crit resistance. Good possibility of using Shield Augmentations instead of Boss/Spikes.
Album of Stalwart Defender feats since they're not on AoN yet https://imgur.com/a/VVECfxw big "you shall not pass" energy
My main doubts:
#1: Am I spreading myself too thin trying to use double slice with shield boss/spikes, for the damage value and the alternate damage type? If yes, what alternative would you recommend?
- Sudden Charge is very nice, but this is AV, and my speed should be reasonable all things considered since I'm ignoring my armor speed penalty entirely, I'll be at 20 feet, 25 if I get fleet at 3, which seems like the play especially if I'm not taking Sudden Charge.
- Exacting Strike is nice but doesn't really synergize with other feats I'm interested in very well, this is for people using 3 separate actions to attack, and I'll almost always be raising a shield.
- Reactive Shield ruins my reaction action economy, doesn't let me shield block and doesn't work with my 2 stalwart defender feats (which isn't a dealbreaker in itself but makes it much worse).
- Snagging Strike & Combat Grab are great, but I don't want to be doing unarmed stuff. I know it's good, but I'd much rather use a reach weapon, and especially from level 5 making enemies prone with a hammer/flail, or at least do more damage without costing like 3 feats.
- Power attack is nice early on but I'm going to be using a d4 or d6 weapon, and will apparently get magic weapon regularly, so it's not amazing.
#2: With the stats I'm going for, are there better things I could be doing with my skill feats other than all the athletics stuff? There's some other neat ones that have niche uses but...
- Skills aren't finalized and will depend on what the party ends up with, though I'm definitely beelining Athletics, and having trained Acrobatics.
#3: Finalizing weapon choice has been a big thorn, especially because of the level 5 spec "locking" you into one weapon type (making shield boss/spikes worse in passing).
- My current top picks are: (Scorpion) Whip, Asp Coil, Khopesh/Temple Sword
- With a dwarf, I don't really want to consider advanced weapons, at least not before level 6 where I could get the fighter feat for them. Flickmace is obviously still very good, though it's nowhere near as crazy as before, and I also kinda don't want to be "that guy". Chain Swords would have been nice if I went Rogue dedication for the sneak attacks. Falcatas are insane and I'm definitely still thinking about them.
- I've also been considering these in addition to the ones I've already mentioned: Urumi (deadly d10 sweep flail), Light Hammer (for Agile Double Slice), Light Pick/Pick (big damage).
#4: Ranged options?
- Thrown weapons are a given given my stats + AV, Chakri https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=333 seem absolutely excellent and I don't see why I wouldn't be using them.
I can pin 2 on each of my wrists without any requirements as far as I can tell, and they're 40 ft range, 1d6+STR damage with reload 0 in most scenarios, since I'm unlikely to use more than 4 in a fight, and they have Recovery, so I get 4 or 5 hits worth (if I start with one in hand) no matter what.
Any opinions or ideas are welcome, thanks for reading!