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Ok.
I am in the process of developing a "martial artist" for PFS and would like some advice from those who possibly have played with the new UC material, or who just consider themselves RPG geniuses.
I looked into MoMS and after some hard soul searching, decided I just could not give up the Flurry. I also could not see an easy way to secure Improved Trip, which I want for the build, but do not want to pay for Combat Exp. This led me to a straight Monk (or Martial Artist arch-type), with a 2 or 4 level dip into Unarmed Fighter.
Given that I want to do other things than just style, I have settled for the fact that I will only have one style that I am actively trying to get. This question is, which one?
In order of my (current) preference:
Crane - solid defensive abilities to complement FoB, the front-runner. Question is - Is Snake better for the "on-the-defensive" strike?
Snake - like the piecing dmg, and only requires two feats to get the top ability, possibly an extra AoO if it works. Question is - Does Crane's auto success make it better?
Dragon - like the 1-1/2 STR boost on first attack, and +1/2 STR bonus on all attacks, good offense.
Panther - nice, but more situational (have to be moving), and Crane or Snake will work in that situation as well. If I only have one style, I think Crane, Snake or Dragon are better.
Tiger - since I am keeping FoB, the Claw is not as useful, which leaves only the slashing dmg and PA to penalize AC ... good for MoMS, but if there is only one style ...
Monkey - would definitely have this if I were MoMS, as I just love its theme and all the ancillary abilities, but not a contender.
Boar - not really interested, unless there is a really good reason.
Mantis - meh, extra stunning fists
Snapping Turtle - meh, extra defense without the punch
Djinni, Earth Child, Efreeti, janni, Kirin, Shaitan - not really interested in any of the "elemental" style, as it doesn't really fit the concept.
I guess it really comes down to Crane, Snake or Dragon. I will get the base style, then use the Unarmed Fighter to get the upper tier feats of the style sooner.
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
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I am a huge fan of Panther style...yes, you have to be moving, but with a decent DEX you can have extra attacks of opportunity, with Mobility feat you get +4 to your AC when you DO provoke due to moving, with the 2nd level of Panther style you can make up to your DEX (or WIS, I forget which) bonus in additional ripostes, and you can really foul up the enemies positioning by placing yourself squarely in a door which if they move past you get your AoO, and if they take AoO against you when you move past them then you get even more ripostes. IMHO, this is a good thing.
Snake!
Half Elf or Human can get Skill Focus: Sense Motive. That with the +2 from the feat allows a total misc modifier of +8. With a 16 Wisdom and the ranks you get a +14 at third level. Add A trait bonus in and we are looking at a +15 for an average of 25. That is pretty good. This can count against any attack the way I read it and can count as touch AC vs. ranged touch attacks.
Crane is my second favorite and I am in love with the Master of many forms (Panther, Snake, Crane)
Dragon Style is my favourite, personally.
I love how much even just the first feat does... the mobility in difficult terrain is really cool.
I havent' done a detailed disection of them all yet, but I REALLY like the Crane style.
Something about martial arts boosting someones defense REALLY..... REALLY appeals to me.
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I have a similar dilema, I really like the idea of MoMS, but losing Flurry seems to be a heck of a penalty. I am unsure how even with the styles you can make up for the damage lost. I guess you could grab TWF Feat as a poor man's flurry.
Even with MoMS I am not sure which styles to grab, choice is even tougher with just one choice. I have to admit Crane is my favorite for defensive style of play and Dragon is my favorite for offensive.
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Ok.
I am in the process of developing a "martial artist" for PFS and would like some advice from those who possibly have played with the new UC material, or who just consider themselves RPG geniuses.
I looked into MoMS and after some hard soul searching, decided I just could not give up the Flurry. I also could not see an easy way to secure Improved Trip, which I want for the build, but do not want to pay for Combat Exp. This led me to a straight Monk (or Martial Artist arch-type), with a 2 or 4 level dip into Unarmed Fighter.
Given that I want to do other things than just style, I have settled for the fact that I will only have one style that I am actively trying to get. This question is, which one?
In order of my (current) preference:
Crane - solid defensive abilities to complement FoB, the front-runner. Question is - Is Snake better for the "on-the-defensive" strike?
Snake - like the piecing dmg, and only requires two feats to get the top ability, possibly an extra AoO if it works. Question is - Does Crane's auto success make it better?
Dragon - like the 1-1/2 STR boost on first attack, and +1/2 STR bonus on all attacks, good offense.
Panther - nice, but more situational (have to be moving), and Crane or Snake will work in that situation as well. If I only have one style, I think Crane, Snake or Dragon are better.
Tiger - since I am keeping FoB, the Claw is not as useful, which leaves only the slashing dmg and PA to penalize AC ... good for MoMS, but if there is only one style ...
Monkey - would definitely have this if I were MoMS, as I just love its theme and all the ancillary abilities, but not a contender.
Boar - not really interested, unless there is a really good reason.
Mantis - meh, extra stunning fists
Snapping Turtle - meh, extra defense without the punch
Djinni, Earth Child, Efreeti, janni, Kirin, Shaitan - not really interested in any of the "elemental" style, as it doesn't really fit the concept.
I guess it really comes down to Crane, Snake or...
as a martial artist i wouldn't use a style, sorry to say that, i know its not what you wanted to hear.
martial arts master, IMO, is a dip class.you can make an ok one, but you lose so many useful abilities for nothing more then a + to reflex and ac.
if you want to use styles just do it, take a master of many styles and then add martial artist. tiger boar and janni... its very powerful, and very effective.
i can post a spring attack build that uses panther,tiger, with twf build that kicks ass. jeeze its a very brutal build, all about mobility and hitting like a truck.
I'm personally a fan of boar style.
Extra 2D6 damage and then 1D6 at each turn, slashing, piercing and bludgeoning and free demoralize, all good stuff
Just one style? Boar or Dragon, probably.
But I am currently playing a twelfth level MoMS (a character re-made when UC came out), and I have to say that if you use styles at all you should be playing that archtype. The ability to ignore prerequisites for bonus feats lets you snag some really great combos. My build is Tiger, Panther, and Snake. I have to remind myself to actually take an attack action at the end of my move, because I've already smacked everyone who tried to AoO me during my move action, multiple times if they attacked me and missed; which I can help to guarantee against one attack by making a skill check. Works while slow-falling past people, too. If I get cornered I Tiger them up.
Feats taken like so:
Combat Reflexes - 1
Bonus: Panther Style - 1
Bonus: Panther Claw - 2
Tiger Style - 3
Tiger Claws - 5
Bonus: Snake Style - 6
Panther Parry - 7
Tiger Pounce - 9
Bonus: Snake Fang - 10
Power Attack - 11
You'll note that I skipped a TON of prereqs for Snake, and a twelfth level MoMS can use all of those feats at the same time, unlike other classes with multiple styles.
Just a thought. But for a dip just to give a character a little boost? Boar or Dragon.
I'm a big fan of Dragon Style! A decent boost to damage, being able to hand out other conditions using Stunning Fist, ignoring difficult terrain, getting Elemental Fist early... not to mention it contains one of the few feats that basically gives you an archetype's class ability without even taking the archetype (Monk of Four Winds). I also like the imagery of being able to "roar" at people, but really you're punching them with your voice. You get a lot of stuff for taking 3-4 feats. Definitely more than 3-4 feats worth of abilities.
I can see every mounted character teaching their mount dragonstyle...