Ranger is a great dip, especially with the trapper archtype for trapfinding. You weren't planning to use spells anyway. Humans are pretty common enemies wherever you go, so the first level dip gets you a +3 attack against a common foe, plus extra weapon proficiencies.
Inquisitor for access to their Inquisitions. One of them (heresy I think?) is 'Use Wisdom instead of Charisma for Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy'. You can also stack on an archetype which says "Add Wisdom to Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy'. And the ultimate Party Face is born.
EDIT: Found it.
Conversion domain:
Charm of Wisdom (Ex): You use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Charisma modifier when making Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks.
Infiltrator archetype:
Guileful Lore (Ex)
At 1st level, the infiltrator’s will is bent toward subterfuge and deception. She adds her Wisdom modifier on Bluff and Diplomacy skill checks in addition to the normal ability score modifiers.
A powerful 1 level dip for Dex based characters that hasn't been mentioned yet is the Dervish Dancer Bard Archetype from Inner Sea Magic. Gives you Dervish Dance for free at level 1 which is effectively worth 2 feats. It also includes a remodeled inspire courage (battle dance) which only affects you gives you double the bonus and is activated as a move action.
Also if you are keen on using exotic slashing weapons Kensai magus gives you a lot in the early levels.
Also Cavalier 4 and a feat (forgot it's name) gives you a full mount progression. That can be useful.
@Alex Mack
Confusingly, there is are two archetypes, one named Dervish Dancer and one named Dervish of Dawn. Seems to be the latter you are referring to. While it does look quite nice, note that it requires you to worship Sarenrae- which can be a dealbreaker for some.
@ GM Arkwright: Actually they are both named Dervish Dancer (the renaming at PFSRD is due to legal issues) which is why I also referred to Inner Sea Magic.
Yeah Saernrae's... such a nice girl what's not to like about her...
Also Urban Barbarian is another great dip for dex based melee chars with the rage power adding to Dex and not subtracting from AC.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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My top picks:
-Oracle 1 for the Revelation, access to Extra Revelation, and some buff spells
-Alchemist 2 for the extra arm or other useful Discovery, along with access to Extra Discovery
-Urban Barbarian 1 for Controlled Rage
-Monk (Master of Many Styles) 1 for a free Style feat with no pre-reqs, along with Improved Unarmed Strike and wisdom to AC
-Crossblooded Sorcerer 1 for two bloodline Arcana (especially useful for a Wizard or Witch)
-Fighter (Lore Warden) 2 for two bonus feats, Combat Expertise as a free feat, and extra skill ranks
Hmm... this gives me the idea to start writing "Cartmanbeck's Guide to Getting the Most from Level Dipping"!
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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@ GM Arkwright: Actually they are both named Dervish Dancer (the renaming at PFSRD is due to legal issues) which is why I also referred to Inner Sea Magic.
Yeah Saernrae's... such a nice girl what's not to like about her...
Also Urban Barbarian is another great dip for dex based melee chars with the rage power adding to Dex and not subtracting from AC.
Actually the original name for the "Dervish of Dawn" is the Dawnflower Dervish. You can see the original version at www.pathfindercommunity.net/classes/base-classes/bard/dawnflower-dervish if you'd prefer.
Actually the original name for the "Dervish of Dawn" is the Dawnflower Dervish. You can see the original version at www.pathfindercommunity.net/classes/base-classes/bard/dawnflower-dervish if you'd prefer.
Ah, I had wanted to mention that myself. Not to derail the thread, but what is up with that anyway? Is it the SRD removing copyright material? Paizo deciding for a restructuring? What?
On topic again: Alchemist 2 with the spontaneous healing discovery might be interesting. Sure, you would only get 1 round of fast heal 5 day, but that has some nice uses. Fast healing can instantly cancel the bleed condition. Also, it activates when you go unconscious from going below 0 hp, so it should stabilize and wake you if you are not too far into the negatives. Plus, since it is a free action to use, you could think of it like getting an extra 2.5 hp per alchemist level.
Of course, that choice would mean that the dip would normally only be noticeable for the buffs from mutagens and extracts. They wouldn't last long, but it would be nice to get a few per day at least. Sneak attack from vivisectionist might also be nice. A rogue might like it to get an immediate boost to their own sneak attack. I'm also pretty sure that with 1d8 hit dice, they would not might a nice boost to CON at the expense of CHA when a fight breaks out.
Actually the original name for the "Dervish of Dawn" is the Dawnflower Dervish. You can see the original version at www.pathfindercommunity.net/classes/base-classes/bard/dawnflower-dervish if you'd prefer.Ah, I had wanted to mention that myself. Not to derail the thread, but what is up with that anyway? Is it the SRD removing copyright material? Paizo deciding for a restructuring? What?
d20pfsrd.com (which isn't connected with Paizo) started selling stuff, which caused Paizo to recategorized them from "yeah, we're fine with you using our names and stuff" into "just the rules, ma'am".
Yeah, I thought it would end up something like that. Meh. While I can understand large swaths of material being frowned upon, but a lot of what I ended up missing was the flavor text and some pictures. Cases like this where things just got weird and vague all of a sudden. I still have trouble looking through the traits section.
On the other hand, Copyright is always hard to protect, so I guess I can understand. It is a hard balance between making material available enough so that new players do not feel like they need to immediately buy a dozen books just to run one of the latest module, but not so much that they would never get the urge to buy those same books later on.
Now, so that I do not feel guilty for going completely off topic: I think that the white haired witch archetype might be an interesting choice for INT based casters willing to take a dip. It is a weirdly worded archetype, and generally not good to work with offensively. It does, however, give you a constant natural attack that can grapple using intellect instead of strength, and you do not become grappled yourself. Might find uses, although I guess that most would just be happier with the prehensile hair hex on a vanilla witch for similar results, if not better results, although it would be limited to 1 minute per day. Enough for an emergency maybe?
rogue is a 2 level dip for evasion, trapfinding, a rogue talent, and +3 to reflex and 16+2xint skill points.
monk is a 2 level dip for +3 to all saves, 4 free feats, 2 of which are predetermined, a free backup weapon, and depending on archetype and background. can get you +1 natural armor, or martial weapon proficiency
Fighter 3 offers weapon training (weapon master archetype), 2 feats, proficiency with all martial weapons and all armor.
Id like to see the ultimate dipper character. Making a level 20 fighter based around dipping other classes.
4 levels Alchemist, 2 levels MoMS/Sacred Mountain or Sohei/some barbarian/some figher?
Fun :P
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Already done
Wow, that is an excellently-written guide. If only it was in Google Doc form so that we could all add it to our libraries!
This doesn't directly answer your question, but here are some good dips that I have found.
Mostly I make rogues, so most of these work best for roguish builds
Lore wardens are great; they are from Pathfinder Society Field Guide. They automatically get all int based skills as class skills, and they gain 2 additional skill points each level to put into these skills. (replaces medium, heavy armor and shield proficiencies)
they still get the bonus feat at 1st and 2nd level, PLUS they get combat expertise, which replaces bravery.
After 2nd level, they are not so good, because they lose really good stuff such as armor training to so-so abilities.
Unbreakables: My favorite archetype of fighters. They are AWESOME and from the ultimate combat.
At first level, instead of a bonus feat, they get endurance and diehard; two feats for the price of one. It gets better.
At second level they get their second bonus feat as normal, plus they get 'unflinching', which is (and replaces) bravery, except it if for all mind effecting effects.
At third level they get armor training as normal.
After third level they arent so good, because they lose weapon training and armor training to meh feats, so it's usually good to stop at third, or at fourth if you really want that fourth level bonus feat.
These guys make GREAT barbarians, as they give diehard and armor training, meaning you you get 40ft. movement in medium armor, plus some bonus feats. They lose tower shield proficiency, but I doubt that matters to most of you guys.
I think almost everyone should take a level of bard, but rogues especially. You guys know the drill. Bards get performance, so they can do inspire courage as a free action every round (standard action to start it though). What makes them awesome for rogues is that they get all kinds of spells on their spell list, which means you can cast scrolls and use wands of any spell on their list (including cure spells) without having to make a use magic device check. Plus, they can make all knowledge checks untrained and have a decent skill selection.
Since inspire competence is a free action, you can do it while in combat, while using scrolls, or during full-round actions.
I hope that helped somebody because that's all I got off the top of my head.