Well, I havn't actually gotten to any fighting yet but one of my players found out that the tactic "Live off the Land" makes him able to recruit virtually endless amount of armies as long as they are not garrisoned and placed outside the kingdom.
Not sure how to limit that, houserule: max armies equal kingdom level?
I am sorry if I am hijacking this briefly but, couldn't you potentially take the Faith Magic Arcane Discovery to qualify for this prestige class at level 7
My idea would be to take Wizard 7, grab Faith Magic, next level Living Grimoire Inquisitior, then at 9 go into mystic theurge.
If you use the retraining rules, you could potentially train out of Faith Magic once your Inquisitior can cast 2nd level spells. Character level 12 if I am not mistaken.
Level 20 you would have Level 19 Wizard casting and Level 11 Inquisitior casting (Level 4 spells)
I don't know, just spitballing
Faith Magic is commonly used to enter MT. Need a small GM approval though as faith magic states one spell (singular) whereas requirement demand "spells" (plural).
Warlock is one of those archetypes that many people really want to make work but it fail short. It just need that little something that pushes it up from mediocre to viable. There are many sources to take inspiration from but you have to be a real text-lawyer to dig through and understand all the pit traps in this otherwise fascinating class.
Here's what I've compiled after digging through the internet and Pathfinder FAQ.
Mystic Bolt can be selected as a Weapon for the purpose of qualifying for Feats such as Weapon Focus and Improved Critical.
Mystic Bolt is not a manufactured weapon so you assume first that effects like Haste or Sense Vitals do not work but FAQ specifically name state that haste do indeed work with Mystic Bolt (thanks for that). Nothing official about Sense Vitals as far as I've seen.
Mystic Bolt (as described in ability text) can be combined with:
two-weapon fighting
improved two-weapon fighting
greater two-weapon fighting
Rapid Shot and many shot is trickier. Rapid shot require a "ranged weapon" and mystic bolt qualify as a "light one handed weapon", it however can be used at range, so the correct term would probably be "ranged light one handed weapon". Rapid Shot should work if that assumption is correct. Manyshot however specifically state "bow" and "arrow" which is pretty clear.
Same with Point Blank Shot. It require a "ranged weapon" so if mystic bolt at range qualify as "ranged light one handed weapon" it should work.
Arcane Strike work as per described in Pathfinder FAQ. Not too hard to figure out though. It affect weapons and Mystic Bolt count as a "light one handed weapon".
Deadly Aim, Piranha strike and Power Attack doesn't work when Mystic Bolt is used at Range against Touch AC. Power Attack for example will probably work at melee if it target normal AC.
Some try to multiclass to get around the fact that Mystic Bolt scale horribly. Arcane Trickster being one of the top candidates where you combine spellcasting scaling with sneak attack. However that combination just seems to be straight up worse than a standard Arcane Trickster.
Then we get to Lethal Grace. The ability that would make Warlock viable. It states: "When using Weapon Finesse to make a melee attack using his Dexterity bonus on attack rolls and his Strength bonus on damage rolls". First part is is easy, damage would be added on melee mystic bolts, not ranged mystic bolts. Second part completely block this ability since FAQ state that Mystic Bolt does not add strength to damage. It feels like RAI is to deny this talent from dex-to-damage builds, not mystic bolt though.
Summarizing everything. Warlock ranged touch attacks at level 10 could consist of six attacks. (2 from BAB, 2 from two-weapon fighting, 1 from Haste and one from Rapid Shot). Each attack deal 1d6+6 (normal scaling, arcane striker and point blank shot). If every attack normally hit and deal average damage. Mystic Bolt would deal 57 damage. More realistically ~2 attacks is likely to miss reducing the damage down to 38. Other classes reach that level of damage 1-5 levels earlier (kineticist is extremely strong at level 5). Note that this is a build that focus entirely on increasing damage, there is no room for utility and fun. Everything goes toward increasing damage. Giving Mystic Bolt just a tad bit more damage is what it needs to go from below average to balanced.
What do Paizo say about the matter? Is it indented that Lethal Grace should not be used by an archetype of the same class? Is Sense Vitals intended not to work with Mystic Bolt? Have the community missed something vital for Warlock builds to work?
I don't want to complicate things too much with extra rules so I keep it short and simple.
* 25pt buy.
* Full HD at lvl 1 then treat HD as average roll (round up).
* Background skills (+2 ranks/lvl on certain skills).
* 2 traits.
* Allowed to use any Paizo book but I follow loosely the PFS ban list since it's very reasonable.
* Exp is evenly spread in the group and I always divide exp by 4, regardless if I play with 3, 4 or 5 players. Reason for this is to have players at about the recommended level for path adventures (which are designed for 4 players).
* Most adventures path encounters are too easy for the characters so I tend to apply advanced template to every monster.
This class may not have the worst archetype but it certainly have the worst average of archetypes.
Fighter.
51 out of 57 paizo archetypes trade away Weapon Training and/or Armor Training. Most of the archetypes were made before the training programs became advanced. The previous bonuses were good but many archetype abilities traded with them fairly evenly, with the advanced training these two abilities became so good that most (if not all) archetype abilities pale in comparison.
half-elf occultist with the Reliquarian archetype can get ridiculous amounts of perception.
To name a few bonuses:
lvl ranks in perception.
skill focus (half-elf racial).
lvl/2 implement (divination).
lvl/2 feather domain ability (gained from Reliquarian).
class skill bonus.
wisdom bonus (main stat for Reliquarian).
half-elf bonus.
alertness (from animal companion).
Just from these bonuses alone it would be around 56 at lvl 20. Add a trait and some magical items on top of this.
If the mage is of higher level than you, then I guess some kind of optimized melee would be best, hope to your God that you win initiative, have pounce and end him in one turn.
If the same level or lower, Arcanist's immediate action Counterspell will wreck any spellcasters day.
Luck domain best domain, especially if you are a halfling to spam it.
Fits thematically too.
"Best" is hard to determine, the domain that thematically and mechanically complement your build is the best. Could be Sun for evocation clerics, could be Solitude subdomain for bad touch clerics. Could be Travel for general pure awesomeness or luck for halflings as you said.
But for raw damage and straight up increase in power level, I don't see how any domain can compete with a feat+nature (preferably feather) domain for a full progression animal companion.
Since Dinosaur companions are quite nice, Saurian subdomain is up there also.
There are more good ones also.
Sun domain for fireball throwing clerics.
Heroism subdomain grants swift action mass heroism.
Healing domain makes you a better healbot.
Plains domain grants pounce (druid only).
Cave domain grants darkvision and tremorsense (druid only).
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wraithstrike wrote:
Also there are two versions of Hide in Plain sight. There is the ranger version, and the Shadowdancer version and they work differently.
You forgot Rogue talent and Hellcat Stealth. I'm sure there are more.
Anyway, here's how I see it:
* You can hide while in plain sight as part of movement even while observed (Go ahead and debate if senses other than vision apply).
* You become visible after attack whether or not the attack is successful (except when sniping).
* You can hide while in plain sight after attack if you continue to move.
* You become visible at the end of movement unless you end your movement in cover or concealment.
Nothing beats a Sohoi/Weapon Master multiclass. Nothing (...well, OK: maybe certain monsters that can fire more than one bow at a time.)
At level 12 a Nature (feather subtype) based Inquisitor can do:
Five or six arrows (depending on if Friendly Fire teamwork feat kicks in) times:
1D8 (+strength bonus) (+5 for judgement) (+2+4D6 greater bane) (+1 point blank shot) (+magical weapon property) (+6 Deadly Aim)
plus (Tiger is a good example) animal companion with Boon Companion and Improved Natural Weapon. Three attack (plus pounce attacks for:
1D8 (+strength)
1D4 (+strength for pounce)
It's not unreasonable to assume at level 12 you have +6 Strength and a +3 Bow with magical items. Companions strength bonus is: +7
So we are looking at a theoretical top damage of:
6*(1D8+4D6+6+5+2+1+3+6)+(3*1D8+7)+(2*1D4+7): = 337 damage
Average damage is of course a lot lower, practically I used to miss about 1-2 arrows per round and tiger wasn't always hitting.
But reliably reaching 130 damage per round from round 1 was was pretty common.
This is not just the strongest archery build I can think of, it's the strongest single target damage build I can think of.
I would like to see your Sohoi/Weapon Master reach that damage.
[]Sure a Kitsune isn't a numbers perfect race for a war priest
Don't underestimate Kitsune. Humans do get a feat which is awesome in any build but Kitsunes has access to one of the few ways for a character to get a pounce effect. IMHO, kitsune swashbuckler is one of the most powerful ways to build such a class.
You can now only keep a character from casting a spell by knocking them unconscious, killing them, or having them stuck inside of an anti-magic field. Nothing else prevents casting.
uhm, a regular AoO should knock the spell away right?
page 331: "Normally, you can concentrate even in a distracting situation, but if you’re casting a spell and you take damage from either a successful attack that targeted your AC or from an effect that you failed a saving throw against, the spell fails."
some other considerations:
caster level now stack when multiclassing between different types of caster.
targetted dispel magic must be named (so you can't really dispel unknown effects anymore).
casting no longer has spell components (but really powerful effects such as raise dead still has a cost but not wish).
detect magic no longer reveal school of the spell for example no; "glowing with strong abjuration".
fly is no longer a third level spell but instead a variable 1-6 level spell.
haste no longer provide an extra attack but instead an extra move action when doing a full action (so quite nerfed).
knock no longer auto-open locks but instead require a caster level check vs lock/doors DC.
no spells damage scale anymore, they are all fixed (for better or worse, magic missile for example is tremendously more powerful at level 1 and can deal up to 3d4+3).
infact spells overall seems to be equal or better than similar level weapons. In pathfinder melee/bow damage often outscaled spells it doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
mirror image is slightly nerfed, 1d4 images instead of 1d4+lvl/3.
raise dead/reincarnate behaves slightly different from before so re-read those rules.
restoration no longer cost money (instead resolve).
pathfinder has detailed rules regarding attended/unattended objects but sometimes they got quite fuzzy and unclear (which messed up newer classes such as aether kineticists), starfinder doesn't really explain the requirements when an object is unattended or not so GMs should just use common sense here.
The combo Kitsune and Swashbuckler is something I've looked at also. I came to this conclusion:
favored class: Swashbuckler: Increase the total number of points in the swashbuckler’s panache pool by 1/4.
racial talent: Skilled: Some kitsune focus on diversifying their skill set in order to better blend in with their human peers. They gain an additional skill rank at 1st level and one additional skill rank whenever they gain a level. This racial trait replaces agile and kitsune magic.
trait 1: (combat) Slippery - +1 to stealth and it becomes a class skill.
trait 2: (magic) Dangerously Curious - +1 bonus to Use Magic Device, and it becomes a class skill.
I'm going to play a campaing where I will be the intelligent of the group and the trapfinder.
My choice was to build an Investigator with a lv in inspired blade. Unfortunately my GM said the only allowed books are Core, Advanced player, race and class and Ultimate magic, equip and combat. Therefore ruling out fencing grace.
Is there a tier 2 optimization for a Dex investigator or should I just switch to a Str build? (fyi: campaign starts at lv 5 and ends around 8)
Power attack and Greatsword is the best path anyway so go for str build. If a GM feels it's silly for investigators so use heavy swords like that then tell him he can always allow fencing grace.
Note:
This graph assume all attack hit, making warlocks touch AC attacks less important.
Classes get magic items based on automatic bonus progression .
All classes that benefit from haste will get that from level 7 (even warlock).
Graph takes a look at Kineticist physical blast (not blade which has a comparable curve to warlock).
Kineticist can about once per day burst for twice the damage at lvl 17 (not shown in chart).
Kineticist also has foe Throw at level 9 and Many throw at level 16 which may grant more damage against multiple targets (not shown in chart).
Warlock damage assume she get gloves deliquescent at level 10 and Demonic Smith gloves (combine crafting) at level 15.
Conclusions:
Elemental Annihilator is strong. Much stronger than kineticists normal damage output and just below damage range compared to greatsword fighter/barbarian at all levels except it's at range.
Kineticists damage is good but not a powerhouse, at lower levels, such as lvl 5 (due to empower blast) it's one of the best but it doesn't scale as fast as other classes and you need to be creative to deal viable damage at mid to high levels.
Warlock damage is also OK it starts off weak but scales pretty good, far from a powerhouse but you hit ranged touch with variable damage effects without wasting resources. Even at the highest levels doesn't play in the same league as the top damage builds. Stay away from the class if your GM rule that you can't use haste or use the the gloves. Not the end of the world if GM rule that you can't combine craft the gloves (but the damage would be pretty crappy if you can't).
This is just from a damage point of view, you should play what you want to play regardless of numbers. :)
lvl 20 Hardcore Bomb Alchemist would win initiative against Ancalagon and drop him in one turn due to cold weakness and pitiful touch AC. Pazuzu and Cthulhu is trickier to calculate due to high touch AC but since we roll higher on initiative they are at least flatfooted on the first round and all force bombs should go in, dealing ~60% of their hitpoints. What happens next it's hard to determine since both creatures have Wish and other nasty abilities but if they don't cure the lingering damage from the bombs they die at the start of next turn from nearly 1000 in total.
[..]When a creature's base attack bonus reaches +6, +11, or +16, he receives an additional attack in combat when he takes a full-attack action[...]
Core Rulebook wrote:
Full Attack action
If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough [...] you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks.
Core Rulebook wrote:
Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action
You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full-attack action[...]
Core Rulebook wrote:
Attack
Making an attack is a standard action.
Core Rulebook wrote:
Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action
You can choose to fight defensively when attacking[...]
It's interesting that fight defensively doesn't say something like "As a standard action you can make a single attack with -4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 to AC until the start of your next turn." but instead has the cryptic meaning "You can choose to fight defensively when attacking". This implies that it's a part of the normal standard attack or full round attack. Not really it's own action but instead an overlay of the normal (standard) attack action.
End effect should still be a free attack though. Dizzying defense basically says after replacing the text from normal rules with dizzying defense text:
Nord's interpretation wrote:
Fighting Defensively as a Swift Action
You can choose to fight defensively when making an attack as a swift action. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 to AC until the start of your next turn.
So you can swift action attack, make a full-round action (such as run or full attack action). You can by RAW even put the swift action attack *after* full-attack and almost completely negate the attack penalty for the round. Though as a GM I would RAI that rule.
You could make an argument that the extra attack from swift action counts against the total attacks you can do from attack action and attacks from BAB. But I don't think so. RAW although very confusing seems to be that after that swift attack action (+1 attack) you make a standard action attack (+1 attack) (then convert it to full-round action) to get the additional attacks from base attack bonus (+1, +2 or +3 attacks).
I agree. It seems at level 11 Elemental Annihilator takes the lead and keeps it until the melee classes get their level 20 ability (omnicide isn't good enough compared to full round-action).
For a more detailed comparison for kineticist. This is average damage based on 0 burn rounds so no quickened blast at high level.
Yeah, I would pay all their modules and paths if it came with roll20 ready maps. Pre-aligned maps, tokens based on their copyrighted pictures and so on.
I understand it's much harder to create commercially available campaigns compared to a normal GM, winging the map creation but I'm actually a little surprised that Paizo hasn't seen the market value of bringing their paths and modules to roll20.
I've checked the text of Life Link, and it doesn't mention line of effect.
I wonder if any archer can actually hit the Eidolon.....
If he'd not in the area, make sure to not reveal eidolon's hitpoints or show the battlefield unless he specifically use a standard action to use bond senses (up to level rounds/day). This will quickly drain his ability to stay hidden.
The drawback of Naturalist is that he trades summoner's survivability for eidolon's offense/utility. It sounds like he's trying to conceal that weakness by hiding. If they meet intelligent opponents and those spot an eidolon without it's master, there's a good chance they would be really interested in finding and taking care of the source of the problem.
As Drahliana Moonrunner pointed out. Dispel Magic would be an effective counter. -10 AC would suddenly make it very vulnerable to regular hits.
Thanks for the advices. I'm also struggling for my feats progression and I want to avoid two-weapon fighting if possible.
Yeah, skip two-weapon fighting. You have a limit amount of bombs as it is. Also, once you experience the power of haste+rapid shot+attacks from BAB (using fast bombs). You'll see that two-weapon fighting is just overkill anyway.
Even with a supportive role I would pick up offensive feats and discoveries and let the support come from infusion to give out extracts to the party members before or after combat.
Here's the feats I would always take while using bombs:
Point-Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Splash Weapon Mastery (3 feats in one, really good)
Rapid Shot
Extra Discovery
I highly recommend these discoveries:
Infusion (must have for support role)
Precise Bombs (transform the crazy alchemist who hurt the group to a responsible party member)
Explosive Bomb (incredible AoE and high damage, this together with Splash Weapon Mastery where you can pick one extra splash square often allows you to splash damage a big part of the combat field)
Frost Bomb (for those nasty fire immune mobs)
Force Bomb (I picked this at level 13 and asked myself why I didn't pick it earlier, at that level mobs were often immune to both fire and cold)
Fast Bombs (lvl 8)
Sticky Bomb (lvl 10) (straight up damage boost)
Healing Bomb (since you want to go support role, but don't force you to take it, since the healing isn't that great and a round where one of the most offensive characters in the group isn't dealing damage can be a wasted round, you can always give out potions of healing after combat).
Traits:
Trap finder
Focused Burn
Archetype:
Trap Breaker
Items:
Pick up a crossbow for early levels but eventually go out of fashion. At lower levels I used a stash of Flasks of Acid when I ran low of bombs also.
Really are not any items alchemist-only items you drool over but an a headband of intelligence +6 add insane amount of power to the class so save all money to get it as early as possible.
Extracts:
Alchemical allocation is perhaps the best "spell" in the game. So save or craft atleast one copy of all elixirs and potions you can find. For example, Elixir of Shadewalk is re-usable ghetto teleport for only 3500 gp.
Remember to leave one or two extract slots open for each spell level for utility purpose.
I think using retraining Wild Talents with the same rules as for feats sounds a bit to powerful.
But, talking about retraining feats, retraining Extra Wild Talents are a pretty good idea!
Extra Wild Talent makes you able to take talents -2 levels to your primary element, so by retraining a feat into Extra Wild Talent at level 10, I can actually get Telekinetic Maneuvers at level 10 after all!
I think there are a lot of good talents at level 5 and 6, so think I will retrain some feats at level 12 and 14 :)
Quote:
Under Wild Talents it says:
"At 6th, 10th, and 16th levels, a kineticist can replace one of her utility wild talents with another wild talent of the same level or lower. She can't replace a wild talent that she used to qualify for another of her wild talents."
Under Infusions it says:
"At 5th, 11th, and 17th levels, a kineticist can replace one of her infusions with another infusion of the same effective spell level or lower. She can't replace an infusion that she used to qualify for another of her wild talents."
Kineticist often has to pick a few low level talents and infusion at early level because there simply arn't any better ones, but at level 5, 6, 11, 13, 16, 17 these can be re-arranged for some serious replacement-fu action.
For example, Aether can pick Extended Range and Pushing at lvl 1 and 3, then switch Pushing to the slightly more powerful Bowling infusion at level 5.
But an even better example happens when you start being able to get wild talent feat (such at level 6): Aether want two great talents, Self Telekinesis and Telekinetic Invisibility
So, begin by taking one with the regular talent you get, then, replace a lower level talent like Kinetic healer for the other one and pick up Kinetic Healer again as a wild talent (picked up as human 1/6 wild talent favored class bonus).
At level 10, there are several juicy level 5 talents such as Reactive Touchsight, Greater self telekinesis, grappling and Wall, you can do the same replacement-fu to achieve them all by level 11.
And so on...
But then it's been a few years since I've looked at the Mystic Theurge, has something changed?
A few things. MT is still bad - very bad but it's slowly getting there. MT need a way to enter mystic theurge earlier and/or a way to continue +1 wizard/+1 cleric spellprogression after level 10.
Here's a few things to keep in mind for Mystic Theurge.
Traits:
magical knack (+2 CL to one class up to level).
Bifurcated Magic (+1 CL to two classes up to level, does not stack with magical knack).
Race:
Half-elf Multidisciplined (+1 CL to two classes up to level).
Fame:
Eclectic Training (+1 CL to one class up to level).
Esoteric Training (another +2 CL to first class and +1 CL to second class up to level).
Items:
orange prism ioun stone (+1 CL - no cap)
Suggested Classes:
Divine: Cleric, Oracle
Arcane: Wizard for optimal spellprogression
Best Synergy: Empyreal bloodline - Sorcerer uses wisdom instead of charisma.
Third party class: Theurge
I disagree with Scavenger1977. It should work.
Target says: "Target you and touched objects". Nothing about unattended sentient objects, thought the pants are attended.
All worn, wielded, and touched recieve a saving throw based on that creature's saving throws.
So yes, after you successfully cast the spell(AoO, concentration, SR etc) and the orc fail his will save you and his pants will be teleported to another location.
FAQ
Dimension door says, "After using this spell, you can't take any other actions until your next turn." If the caster brings other creatures with them when they cast the spell, are the passengers unable to take any other actions until their next turn, or is that just for the caster?
After doing some research it seems that it is all about saving throws. Infact the rulings around attended or unattended is listed in core rulebook under Saving Throws.
Saving Throws:
Magical Items: Magic items always get saving throws. A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + half its caster level.
An attended magic item either makes saving throws as its owner or uses its own saving throw bonus, whichever is better.
Unattended Non-Magical Items: Non-magical, unattended items never make saving throws. They are considered to have failed their saving throws,
so they are always fully affected by spells and other attacks that allow saving throws to resist or negate. An item attended by a character
(being grasped, touched, or worn) makes saving throws as the character (that is, using the character's saving throw bonus).
Attended (Held/Wielded etc.) Items: Unless the descriptive text for a spell (or attack) specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a
creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed
item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks to determine order in which items are affected.
Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined
item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack dealt. If the selected item is not carried or worn and
is not magical, it does not get a saving throw. It simply is dealt the appropriate damage.
This leads me to believe Telekinetic Haul works like this:
If object(s) can make a saving throw - it doesn't work.
If object(s) can't make a saving throw - it works.
Target is only confirmed and checked at the casting of a spell (see discussion about hasted targets moving away and still retain haste).
This also means a bird can land on the lifted boulder without causing it to instantly fall.
The burn part of telekinetic haul seems pretty obvious. It replaces duration: concentration with duration: 1 minute/level (though you must still point your finger at target as per mage hand description).
What is still unclear is if a willing target can drop his saving throw, allowing telekinetic haul to used on say - a worn armor to lift her up.
willing target:
Declaring yourself as a willing target is something that can be done at any time (even if you're flat-footed or it
isn't your turn). Unconscious creatures are automatically considered willing, but a character who is conscious but
immobile or helpless (such as one who is bound, cowering, grappling, paralyzed, pinned, or stunned) is not automatically
willing.
My gut-feeling says: yes. Since the creature is not making saving throws which extend to his worn/wielded/touched objects also.
Another silly scenario is:
"No, you can not lift that boat because there's a shiprat running around on the deck."
It is definitely a scenario I would allow as GM but I'm not sure exactly how to put the wording. RAI for "attended" seems to to always give creature's a chance for a saving throw if it can affect them negatively in any way. Maybe say something like "the rat doesn't care/understand if boat is flying or not so it is considered a willing target."
