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Creating an evocation Arcanist and i want to make sure what i am doig is legit.

I select the feat that give me 2 bonus trait and i chose for fireball:

Magical Lineage: One of your parents was a gifted spellcaster who not only used metamagic often, but also developed many magical items and perhaps even a new spell or two—and you have inherited a fragment of this greatness. Pick one spell when you choose this trait. When you apply metamagic feats to this spell, treat its actual level as 1 lower for determining the spell's final adjusted level.

I select this feat for fireball as well:

Spell Perfection

Benefit: Pick one spell which you have the ability to cast. Whenever you cast that spell you may apply any one metamagic feat you have to that spell without affecting its level or casting time, as long as the total modified level of the spell does not use a spell slot above 9th level. In addition, if you have other feats which allow you to apply a set numerical bonus to any aspect of this spell (such as Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus [ray], and so on), double the bonus granted by that feat when applied to this spell.

Am i correct to say that when i use a metamagic feat to cast a fireball its actual level is now 2 lower for determining the spell's final adjusted level? ie spell perfection double the bonus of magical lineage since it came from a feat...

Our group:

necromancer cleric: not really evil, can heal a little, not uptimized
bard: halfling, not optimized at all
fighter: generic fighter well built

I want to do battlefield control (and maybe some buffing) with spells and dmg with archery. Our group lacks a class with trapfinding so i will probably need to fill that role as well.

Druid: New Nature Fang archetype from ACG. Rogue talents + ranger combat styles + trapfinding + 9th lvl spells. Will probably replace the animal companion with a domain, not sure which one. Not sure if battlefield control will be enough for Rotrl.

Arcane archer: Two choice:

- Transmuter Wizard 5, trapper ranger 1 (for trapfinding), EK9, AA3. Spell lvl 15, 8th lvl spells, BAB 15, bunch of bonuses to archery. Not sure if the 3 lvl of arcane archer bonuses and the + 1 to BAB is worth the lost of a spell lvl.

- Transmuter Wizard 8th, trapper ranger 1, EK9. Spell lvl 16, 8th lvl spells, BAB14. Not sure if the +1 to spell lvl is worth the lost of archery power.

What would you do and why? Also is trapfinding worth it for arcane archer or should i go 1 lvl fighter for the bonus feat.

25 point buy game.

My witch got the Elements patron. For my patron spells, my DM allowed me to replace fireball by dragon breath (i know, it's normally a 4th lvl spell). I plan to focus heavilly on that spell, taking spcialization, greater specialization and spell perfection.

I am currently lvl 5 and last game i discovered how much fun it was to use spells like thorny entanglement, web and stinking could. What i plan to do now is keep those kind of spell on my prepared list and replace them by spontaneous dragon breath when needed.

Are those spells effective even if i dont have any feat for them?

A shaman is allowed to take one witch basic hex. Is a witch allowed to take one shaman basic hex? If it is not by RAW, as a GM would you allow it?

I have read somewhere in the forum that the elf favored class option (FCO) only raise the maximum number of point you can have in your reservoir, not the number of point you recharge per day. But after reading the description of a feat i think RAW says otherwise.

Elf FCO description:

Arcanist: Increase total number of points in the arcanist's arcane reservoir by 1.

Extra Reservoir feat:

Benefit: You gain three more points in your arcane reservoir, and the maximum number of points in your arcane reservoir increases by that amount.

To me if you compare both descriptions it looks like the FCO increase the # of point you get per day, not the maximum number of point of your reservoir. Am i correct?

Is it like a wizard or like a sorcerer?

One complain i see a lot is the lack of a melee class in the book. A shapeshifting focused class has been requested for a long time now. It would fit the occult theme perfectly...

Full BAB, beast shape ability similar to druids at lower lvl and new magical beast shape at later lvl. Ability to shift frequently and stay in a form as long as desired. Maybe a penalty if you shift too much or stay in the same form for too long. No spell. Would make a more simple class to understand and play since all classes of the book at the moment are quite complexes.

She is currently lvl 3 and max lvl should be 18. She is going to be a jack of all trades: bit of Healing, bit of control, bit of blasting and summoning.

My GM allowed me to use the elements patron even if she took the Hedge Withc archetype. He also allowed me to replace the fireblall spell gained at lvl 3 by dragon's breath. In a previous game the melee characters were complaining that the sorcered was "fireballing" everything from far away before any of them could get 1 hit. Dragon's breath has higher max dmg at later lvl and is more versatile but the range and area is more limited. This spell will probably be my main blast.

My plan is to use my hexes mostly to crowd control and heal and use my spells mostly to blast, summon and control large area.

So far i know i will take the following

Hexes: Flight, Healing, Slumber, Cackle, Charm. For sure i wont be take misfortune because my DM dont want to contantly roll twice. I dont think ill take evil eye either but not sure.

Major hexes: Agony, Ice tomb, Major Healing and retribution (all set)

Grand hex: not sure

Feats: Thoughness, Accursed hex, Split hex and probably some extra hexes

What other feat should i take? I was thinking maybe spell focus conjuration and augmented summoning. Probably empower or maximize meta.

A feat requires 13 int. If i have 11 base int and +2 from a headband, can i take the feat? Say the answer is yes, if later my Int drop below 13 because i unequip de headband, what happens with the feat?

Tks!

Simple question, what is stronger? To me having a pet that is almost as good as a hunters companion is much better than the judgment ability. The pet is active all the time, provides constant reliable DPR, helps you get your teamwork feat going even when you are solo and can sometime serve as a mount...

Opinions?

Can you use Vital strike, cleave or power attack after a charge? Also can vital strike or cleave be combined with power attack? Last question if after a charge you are flanking your target do you get the flank bonus for the attack you make?

For the Divine Hunter, the ACG describes what happens if the hunter chose the animal domain. The same description is not present for the Sacred Huntsmaster. So what happens if the Inquisitor chose the animal domain? Does he get 2 companions or a stat boost?

If i am in a threatened square beside oponent #1, i take an action to move out of the square and go attack opponent #2 who is 20 feet away. Both opponent have only 5' reach. Do i provoke an attack of opportunity from opponent #1? I am not withdrawing, just making a move action/standard attack.

- If i multiclass a hunter with a ranger, how does spellcasting works (access, duration, DC, etc)? Lets say hunter lvl 3 and ranger lvl 10 for example.

- If i start as a hunter and the take ranger lvl later on, does my effective druid lvl from the ranger animal companion applies to the AC i took when i first started as a hunter? From this line of the ACG i think it does but i have been told otherwise:

"The hunter's effective druid level is equal to her hunter level. If a character receives an animal companion from more than one source, her effective druid levels stack for the purposes of determining the companion's statistics and abilities."

I know theres is a FAQ that says it normally does not stack but the book was created after the FAQ and seems pretty clear. Also the FAQ might not take into account an hybrid class multiclassing into one of his parent class...

- Does the teamwork feat "Coordinated Charge" works when my animal companion pounce? Can i charge after he pounces?

- When an AC use pounce, if i understand correctly it uses all its primary natural attacks plus rake. If one of his primary attack hits, can he also use his grab ability?

I was originally planning to do an archer with a pet. My goal was to be as effective as possible with a bow and have a pet from lvl 1 that would remain at my lvl.

After reading the forums and consulting guides i came to the conclusion that with a ranger i could make a switch hitter without sacrificing much effectiveness with the bow. Only problem is i would have a limited choice of pet, would only get it at lvl 4 and it wont be at my lvl.

To solve the problem i start with a hunter, multiclass to a ranger and use Boon companion to keep the pet at my lvl. This give me a really strong pet from lvl 1 (with skirmisher stricks!), free archery feats, favored enemies, teamwork feats that enhance both melee and archery, earlier spell access (limited) and a lot more.

Here it is (for PFS you can remove the 3rd hunter lvl and change the teamwork (tm) feat for other regular ones):

Starting stats as human (25 pts buy):
Str 19, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10

Feat progression:

Lvl 1: Hunter(1) Blank Shot and Precise Shot
Lvl 2: Hunter(2) Bonus Outflank(tm)
Lvl 3: Ranger(1) Boon Companions
Lvl 4: Ranger(2) Bonus Rapid Shot
Lvl 5: Ranger(3) Power Attack
Lvl 6: Ranger(4)
Lvl 7: Ranger(5) Deadly Aim
Lvl 8: Ranger(6) Bonus Manyshot
Lvl 9: Hunter(3) Precise strike(tm)Bonus Spell Sharing(tm)
Lvl 10: Ranger(7)
Lvl 11: Ranger(8) Coordinated Charge(tm)
Lvl 12: Ranger(9)
Lvl 13: Ranger(10) Distracting Charge(tm) Bonus Improved Precise Strike

The core of the character is done by lvl 13. After that getting Ranger lvls would give me better BAB, access to lvl 4 spells, more favored stuff, improved evasion, quarry, camouflage and another free archery feat. Hunter would give me 1 or 2 teamwork feat and a bonus tricks. I think the choice is obvious :-) Feat selections will be based on my play experience.

Only thing i need to figure out is how the spells will work...

Hi,

I want to make an archer with a pet. After some research the falconer ranger archetype seems interesting. I have some questions:

1 - Can it use a Roc as a pet? If not would you still recommend the archetype if i use a regular bird (hawk, owl, eagle)?

2 - What is the difference between an hawk, owl or eagle as animal companions?

3 - Can i still be affective at switching between archery and melee if i loose one combat style feat (from falconer archetype)?

4 - If you want an AC thats at your own lvl, would you take the falconer or would you take a regular ranger with the feat to bring your AC to your lvl (boon companion i think)?

All i want is to be an archer and have a pet that tank for me. I do not care about spells but wont mind if they are included.

Ideally i would like to have the pet from lvl 1. But all classes with pet at lvl 1 do not have full BAB progression. Is a 3/4 BAB class like the hunter or druid viable for archery? Or should i go for a ranger (like the archetype that give a bird companion at lvl 1). Maybe something else?

Studied target gives a bonus on dmg rolls. I am not sure how that bonus is applied.

As an example if the base dmg from my sword is 1d6 and i do 3d6 sneak dmg. Lets say i do not have any other dmg bonus than a +3 from studied target. On one sneak attack, is the dmg calculated like:

a: (1d6+3)+(3d6+9) - applied on all dice rolls
b: (1d6+3)+(3d6+3) - applied once on sword dmg and once on sneak dmg
c: (1d6+3d6)+3 - applied only once per attack

Thanks!

Just for fun i created a lvl 13 Slayer to compare with my lvl 13 Rogue. I used same base stat, same gear and same combat style (Dex two weapon fighting)

The Slayer is just superior in combat. Full BAB gives him more attacks per round with higher hit chances. He lose some dice of sneak dammage but it is largely compensated by the hit/dmg bonuses he gets from studied target. He also has better saving throws and they are boosted again by studied target.

Skillwise he loses trapfinding but he has access to it from a talent. He has a little bit less skill points and different class skills but again this is compensated by studied target.

He has access to almost all good rogue talents and he gets new ones.

Like if that was not enough the Stygian Slayer archetype was added:

-Invisibility more than once per day for a single talent: no talent better than that anyway.
-The ability to use wand and staff to cast some extremely useful spells as a caster: you lose some small bonuses to a few skills.
-The ability to cast BOTH gaseous form and fog cloud on yourself for 7 minutes per day for a single talent: no talent better than that anyway...
-You lose medium and heavy armor but if you are dex based, most of the time you do not use these to keep your dex bonus.

Conclusion: This class should have been given 3/4 BAB like the rogue

The way the feat "spell perfection" is written is a little confusing. Lets say the spell i chose is fireball. Can i use Enlarge Spell, Empower spell and Widen spell all at once without raising the spell lvl or the cast time? (spell lvl 3, enlarge +1lvl, empower +2lvl, widen +3, total 9lvl).

Or am i allowed only one "free" metamagic so long as it does not bring my favorite spell over the 9th lvl (to prevent using metamagic on 9th lvl spell)

The archetype note:

"Solitary: Unlike most hunters, a feral hunter does not
gain an animal companion."

The way it is worded it doesnt say they dont get the animal companion feature. So can they still summon natures allies as 1min/lvl duration? If yes, does "Summon Pack (Sp)" apply to creature summoned that way? (ie can the have 2 summons that last 1 minute?)

I am playing a rogue who is skilled in "craft alchemy" and "knowledge dungeon". We killed a troll and i took 3 flasks of his blood. I am trying to find ideas of what i could do with the blood, for my GM.

Troll's kiss: injury poison, 5hp dmg/round for 5 rounds, fort save DC20

Troll Blood Wine: injested poison, 5hp dmg/min for 1 day, fort save DC20

Troll's Gift: injested poison: you become weak vs fire/acid (take 1.5x dmg) but regen up to 5hp/round for 10 round, fort save DC20.

Troll Fumes: inhaled poison. Create a small flask of poison that can be thrown. cover 10' cubes. Creatures in the area become weak vs acid/fire (1*5x dmg) and regen 5hp/round for 5 rounds, fort save DC18.

What do you think of my suggestions? Got any other one?