stoolpigeon87's page

The only real difference a Dex to damage feat does is increase the amount of stat points you have to work with. It's certainly good, but DEFINITELY far from broken. Needing a feat like this to make up for a serious MAD issue is not good design, and it just adds to the list of feat tax "things you need to be an okay monk." It being a three feat chain just adds to the problem.

For comparison:
Your AC will be about the same as another martial, albeit a better touch and worse flat-footed.

Good initiative. This is the best boon of being a dex based damage dealer. But you could also take improved initiative and get more mileage here anyway for the cost of one feat.

Reflex save. Whatever, reflex saves are by a mile the least dangerous.

Monks are still one of the worst classes, all things being equal. Sure, you can make a halfway decent unarmed monk but all that system mastery and optimization is doing is overcoming the monks huge shortcomings. I don't think you should have to optimize and research the crap out of a character for it to be an okay option. ALL classes should be effective "out of the box," and we should disregard good optimization when discussing a classes overall efficacy. A player should be able to pick up a class and have it do what they expect. And the Monk fails at that.

If it were me? I'd retool the entire class and try to come up with mechanics from the top-down that reinforce the "fast and mobile harrier" type character that monks should be. Flurry is a bad mechanic for reinforcing this. And c'mon, give them full BAB and d10 HD. Why is a kung fu master worse at hitting his opponents than the big dumb fighter? Why is he less tough?

To top it all off Monks are starting to have the same problem Rogues have: other classes fill their archetype/trope/theme while both filling the role more effectively and generally being stronger mechanically.

If you can use Vital Strike with Kinetic Blasts, then suddenly all the damage woes go out the window.

They will probably modify them to not work with Vital Strike, and since Deadly Aim definitely doesn't work with them, we'd be left with a blasting class that does anemic damage.

I really want this class to be good, but as far as my theorycrafting/character building has gone, these guys have TERRIBLE damage compared to other 3/4 BAB classes geared for range combat, and it just gets embarrassing when you put them up against full martials.

Kineticist at level 7 - 8d6+12 (40 damage) elemental damage versus AC at around +10 to hit with no buffs. This is using composite blasts and taking burn damage, so "going nova" so to speak. This is assuming that there will be a feat for more Wild Talents so the character can qualify for both Expanded Element and a Composite Blast.

Archer 1d8+10 (14 damage) Many shot plus rapid shot plus BAB attacks is 4 attacks, with the bonus to hit being +7/+2 for 3/4 and +9/+4 for full. This isn't taking into account ANY other bonuses from class features, like Bane and Judgments, Smite Evil, Weapon Training, Bardic Performances, Studied Combat, Studied Target, etc. Just archery feats (which, granted, is 4-5 of them, but the Kineticist needs PBS and Precise Shot anyway, so it's only a few more feats over what the Kineticist is already taking)

If you want to compare it to touch, it gets a lot worse. Gunslingers target the same AC, and do a ton more damage. Again, mostly because of Rapid Shot, BAB attacks, Deadly Aim, and weapon enchantments.

I do understand that this class has more stuff going on than pure blasting, so comparing it to Fighters/Gunslingers is a little unfair. But even comparing them to Bards/Inquisitors/Investigators they do less damage. Sure, those classes have buffs that they have a limited amount of, but it really isn't limited in actual play. And on top of all that they have either more skills, spellcasting, or both.

This class needs a lot of help.

Mechanically, there isn't a whole lot of options for tactics in the sense of sitting down in a war room and going over a battle plan. Most of that should be done with RP and skill checks if necessary. This is just because almost 100% of combat in D&D and PF is small party skirmishing so there is no real reason to have fleshed out large scale rules.

Ultimate Campaign has some options for large scale fighting, but there aren't many character options for becoming optimized in those sub-rules.

If you want your character to have a tactical bend, I'd go with a class that has some sort of buff sub-role to it, like Evangelist Cleric, or any Bard or Skald, or Exemplar Brawler. Then give him a reasonable Intelligence or Wisdom and role-play him as being a smart leader instead of a charismatic leader. Even if his mechanics are keyed off of Charisma (and therefore has a high charisma) you can still skin the mechanic however you want, including saying that your Inspire Courage buffs are from smart tactics instead of inspiring words.

Other options would be a class that gains teamwork feats and can share them with other PCs, like Cavalier.

All of these options, however, are leading a skirmish, not leading a war.

I saw a topic about whether or not a character can "downgrade" a Move or Standard Action into a Swift action. RAW no, you can't do that, and Quicken Spell is a big balance reason not to allow it.

My question is: What about classes that have abilities that started out as a Standard or Move, and eventually "upgrade" to getting it as a Swift? Example: Slayer's Favored Target or an Investigator's Studied Combat. Both of these start as move actions but become swift either with a Talent or just by progressing in the class.

So could an Investigator or Slayer downgrade their move into a swift to use these abilities after they've unlocked the Swift version? Or no? Example: 10th level investigator with the talent that makes Studied Combat a move; Cast a quickened SLA, use a move action to use Studied Combat, imbibe an Extract or make an attack or whatever.

In order for their blasting spells to be even REMOTELY useful they had to keep full caster level.

Paladins and Rangers aren't as reliant on Caster Level as Bloodragers since most of their stuff is utility/healing. The Bloordager spell list has some clunky blasting options like burning hands that would just by abysmal if they didn't have full caster level.

Honestly, PF should have been designed with "fluff" and "mechanic" language in mind, and have been written with clear delineation between the two. Most things are written concisely enough to understand the RAI and RAW, but not all author's are created equal. I wish they had a strict development/editing position or team to make sure everything was worded the same way to prevent confusion. It should be someone's job to make sure things work within the same framework as every other rule. And if they DO have someone doing this... well... :/

Obviously, the intent was for Extracts to provoke.

However, RAW it probably does need a little bit of clarification. Especially what does and doesn't affect them.

Also, FWIW someone said at one point that imbibing a Mutagen provokes, and I'm almost certain it doesn't. It is a Supernatural ability and doesn't say anywhere about it being imbibed as a potion.

Man, I love the alchemist, but it sure is rules-bloated.

If this does fall into the "does not stack" camp officially with a FAQ I hope they cover weird corner cases too. Not to mention the Dragon Ferocity errata they would need for it to do anything.

I for one, am pumped about the new archetype in the ACG. Finally, a Druid that gives up wildshape for something good! While Wildshape is sweet and poweful, I've had characters in mind that wanted to use the druid spell list, themes, and animal buddy, but didn't like the fact that wildshape pigeonholed you into one specific fighting style. And this archetype is more caster oriented than the Hunter, and seems to actually be a much better martial type than a Hunter could ever dream.

Now that we have this archetype I feel like there's some potential for a Druid Archer. Pick a flying pet so you can get some great mobility while full attacking. Roc is the obvious pick, but the other flying mounts will also serve just fine, assuming they start medium and progress to large.

Human
20 Pt Buy
Str 14
Dex 19
Con 10
Int 7
Wis 16
Cha 7

Feat Progression
1 Point Blank Shot
1H Rapid Shot
3 Feat that lets you ride your mount as medium from ACG
4 Slayer Talent - Combat Feat - Precise Shot
5 Deadly Aim
6 Slayer Talent- Ranger Style - Manyshot
7 Retrain Mount feat -> Start going down Spell Focus Conjuration Chain. Or something else, this is a part of the build I have kind of open currently.
8 Improved Precise Shot

While this isn't a GREAT archer, it sure is passable. It gets Manyshot and Imp Precise Shot at extremely early levels, especially considering you're a full caster. Also, a lot of those feats can be shifted around depending on your preference. I think the mount is a huge part of the build and picked it accordingly. You can play around shooting into melee in the time being.

Pet synergizes very well with this fighting style, giving you incredible mobility that other classes can't get easily. An Inquisitor is the only one I can think of that is as good of an archer with easy access to a pet.

Studied Target should really help you stay competitive with the full martials as well, bringing your to-hit up to roughly the same level as them, and becomes a swift action at 7 for free! Also easy to use at early levels since you can spend a Standard to cast a Crowd Control Spell and activate Studied Target as a move. And sneak attack is just a little bit of icing on the cake, but I doubt you'll make much use of it outside of winning initiative post level 7.

Anything I'm missing? Seems like a straightforward build, but this is something that was basically impossible (or just bad) before the ACG came out. I would love to try and fit in some way of seeing through magical darkness or mist, but can't find one that meshes with the Nature Fang archetype.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that you need to take Heirloom Weapon as one of your 2 traits in order to get proficiency with a Longbow.

DOUBLE EDIT: Why does the archetype list the 9th level ability of giving you the ability to use Studied Target as a swift? Don't you get that at 7th under the rules for Studied Target?

Wouldn't you have to have enough animals to make it through the day? Or, I guess you could challenge one and put it back in the bag, then pull it out right before a fight, murder the crap out of it while in sight of a bad guy.

Or, in a more realistic fashion, would taking somebody prisoner turn off your challenge? That's actually kind of cool, thematically. Walk into a fight with a prisoner, kill him, and point to an opponent, declaring him next.