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The Iron Man Build
9th Level Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3oQlB72acoIQlh6d3JxS0RtRVE/view?usp=shari ng
7th level Sheet: Coming Soon
5th Level Sheet: coming soon
So starting off my series on pathfinder builds is one of my favorites I call the Iron man build. At it’s core this build is the master of all trades. Not really but it gets as close as you can in pathfinder. So without further ado lets take alook at the classes.
Class
Alchemist (Mindchemist) : This is the builds primary class. At it’s heart beats the bomb thrower. This is where you spend most of your levels and energy. Yes spells are important but the main thing you get here is bombs and bomb damage. So make sure you do everything you can to upp that bomb damage. You’ll want to take alchemist for levels 1-4 and 6+.
As for archetypes there are a lot of good ones for this build but I have chose Mindchemist because it fits the jack of all trades. With Mindchemist your knowledge checks give you a bonus of “yes”. Other good options are preservationist because summons are always useful as meatshields if nothing else. Or if you’re in a giving mood chirurgeon because too much healing is never a bad thing. In fact most of the archetypes of the alchemist get rid of poison use. Which while I thas it’s uses is … still fairly useless.
Gunslinger(Guntank): Gunslinger is the Iron man builds secret weapon. And the one level dip into it accomplishes several important goals.
1st you are losing a level of alchemist and that can at certain levels mean a d6 less on your bombs. Sounds painful right? Well thanks to Explosive missile you replace that missing D6 with a D8 from your pistol. Not a bad trade off right? Well you get more because at higher levels you can enchant that gun to do more and more damage. So your base damage actually surpasses that of a single bomb from a pure alchemist. The catch? You lose the ability to make use of fast bombs But this build is about an all rounder and an alchemist throwing 2 bombs a turn quickly runs out of bombs.
2nd is that guntank gives you heavy armor. Heavy armor on an arcane spell caster? Yes. This is one of the coolest things about the alchemist. They have no arcane spell failure. Oh and that mutagen of the mind chemist still gives you a Bonus to AC.
Now it’s possible to go overboard with AC but a lot of people overstate this. AC is very important. When you’re walking up to within 20 feet of that giant extraplanar tree or adult dragon you want to make sure you’re not going to get hit. A barbarian you ain’t and while with this build you don’t have the worst health, you are going to feel the burn when that tree starts bashing you upside the head. Not to mention the grapple when he does hit you. But you’re not going to be hit because he needs a 17 to hit you.
Meanwhile, the 3rd advantage, even though you only have a dex of 12 you are also still hitting against touch (guns and bombs both hit on touch). So yes you don’t have that extra +3-+4 you’d have by maxing out dex…. But you hit on touch. And not many creatures or opponents you run into will have anything less than 3-4 armor, nat or regular armor.
Race
Tiefling: Now you can decide what you want based on what is available, but I have chosen tiefling. Mainly because as a favored class bonus you can add +1/2 bomb damage Bomb diggity dog. Meaning your minimum bomb damage should be in 13-17 range depending on your level (3-5 D6’s 6 int 4-5 favored class bonus at a minimum.)
Abilities
Strength: 14 You’ll need it to carry all that gear
Dex: 12 you’ll want to match the max dex mod of your armor but obviously no more.
Con: 12 Repeat after me “I am still squishy”. Iron man is not afraid to get up close and personal but a front line fighter you ain’t You want to stay 10-20 feet back from the action.
Intelligence: 22 (20 without level bonuses) Int gives you spells, spells per day, bomb damage, and knowledge checks (these are important)
Wisdom: 10 Standard minimum (you don’t want to be slinging bombs at your buddies when you get your mind scrambled.
Charisma: 5 Dump stat hard HARD
Important Spells
· First Level Spells
o Shield – you won’t be using shields. You get lots of lvl 1 spells and this lasts 1 minute per level. You want this.
o Cure Light- Because you are still squishy.
o Jump – see fly below.
o True strike – for when you see monks. Or anything else with high touch.
· Second Level Spells
o Barkskin- 10 mins/ level? Yes. Just all the yes.
o Cure moderate- Because you are still squishy
o Invisibility- still helpful
o Restoration, lesser- always helpful
o Ablative barrier – Lesser form of damage resistance, important if you want your character to live against all odds.
· Third level Spells
o Herosim- Multiple bonuses that last for an hour per level. Great spell.
o Resinous skin- Straight up Damage Resistance Enough said.
o Fly – you are wearing heavy armor, you might need to get out of some pits.
o Protection from energy- you don’t have the best saves, so energy resistance helps.
o Cure serious wounds- Because you are still squishy.
Skills
Knowledges- all of them, just all the knowledge, know all the things.
Feats
Point Blank shot – Prereq for precise
Precise shot – You’ll be assiting your buddies in CC
Extra bombs – More boomage
Discoveries
Explosive missile – Core of the build
Precise bombs – Allies get testy when you burn them in splash damage
Force bomb – because whats immune to force damage?
Equipment
Full Plate- for that bonus to AC
Pistol - +1 this, then add damage modifiers like flaming and corrosive, start with corrosive and frost
Headband of vast intellect- Because why the hell would you not want more damage to your bombs
Crossbow
Strategy
Okay so now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, lets talk strategy. What does this build do? First and foremost is the knowledge checks. They basically let you identify anything with a knowledge check of “yes” and plan accordingly. Does my foe have touch attacks? Yes, okay pull out the cross bow and back the hell up. Immune to fire? Okay force bomb time. Other than that it’s fairly straightforward, get within 20’, blast in the face with the gun/bomb combination laugh as the boss flails ineffectively against your 32 ac.
Afaik please check out my blog I'll be putting more of these up. http://eqstate.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-iron-man-build-9-th-level-sheet.htm l?m=1.
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