|
Ill post the character first for people who will call TL;DR- build below and specific questions at the bottom:
Human Samurai 14
abilities:
STR 16 +2(human) +3(levels)= 21
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 10
Order: Ronin
Traits: defender of the society (+1AC); indomitable faith (+1will save)
Feats:
Lvl 1(2): Power attack, weapon focus (katana)
Lvl 3: furious focus
Lvl 5: weapon specialisation(katana) [MUAHAHAHA yes im Australian!]
Lvl 6: dazzling display
Lvl 7: shattered defense
Lvl 9: greater weapon focus (katana)
Lvl 11: Deadly Stroke
Lvl 12: Critical focus
Lvl 13: Staggering Critical
with just a nonmagical katana + four mirror armor:
HP: 182 attack: 17/12/7 damage 1d8+21 (power attack) AC: 19
In coming to this the following feats combos are ones I am not sure it was wise to drop: [cleave & Greater Cleave], [lunge & combat reflexes], [vital strike & improved vital strike], [step up & step up and strike] Cornugon Smash, greater weapon specialisation, intimidating prowess, improved feint, shield of swings (beautiful role play but too costly to take).
I would prefer to stay pure samurai for the capstone if possible, but I have comtemplated the following splashes:
Samurai13/Barbarian 1
taking drunken drunken brute to sustain rages and allow quick potion drinkin and extra rage at levels 7 and 11. Also i can pop resolve to get rid of fatigue and eventually exhaustion and nauseated following rages. I like the concept of having a short burst even higher DPS in the bag, but this build will net only about 20ish rounds of rage as opposed to a Barb would be at 36ish. I didnt know whether 20 rounds of rage is too insignficant, especially at later levels, to consider worthwhile.
Samurai 12/ Monk 2
taking master of many styles - swapping furious focus for dodge and getting the crane style & crane wing & crane riposte. Advantage appears to be evasion, will save, AC and deflection. From the bare snippets on samurai optimisation I gleaned that samurai's are fine with damage but unlike paladins struggle to keep themselves goling in the absence of lay on hands. Therefore this build was my only idea i could come up with to address
Animal Companion: Horse 14
STR 25; Dex 17; Con 17; Int 3; WIS: 12; CHA: 6
feats: power attack, improved overrun, greater overrun, charge through, improved bullrush, awesome blow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all. I have searched the forums but not found much specific samurai advice.I cant predict the mechanics of games beyond level 3, having not played in one, but i need a campaign worthy hero! I have been sweating over this samurai for weeks. All advice is welcome :)
CAMPAIGN
The Campaign starts at level 1 but I am tryign to come up with a character plan. 25 pt buy in. I am building to about level 14 so I can see how it will play in the majority of the campaign. I have not played very many games but will be joining a rather longish campaign and do not want to bring a gimp to the table.
I play PFS oftren and ideally this character would be viable in PFS too.
GOALS
My top two priorities are to NEVER fall behind with my attack rolls, and secondly to do damage which is competitive with the other melees.
I want to wield a katana two handed after level 1 or 2.
While I know the challenge mechanic is available to do the awesome damage where it counts, I am looking to optimise damage in the situations where it will already be expended or not appropriate to use.
Additionally, I would like to not totally abandon my defence if I can help it. I have built this not allowing for items, because I do not know what to expect I should reasonably have by that stage.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTIONS:
when building, the following questions crossed my mind:
1) Why does everyone consider the Ronin order to be drastically inferior to the Warrior?
Granted that always having DR is better than the so conditional as
to be irrelevant challenge bonuses for ronin, but the ability to
keep rolling on failed will saves appears to be useful more
regularly than the +4 to a save etc of Warrior. At least at early
levels the +4 is too rare to be determinative isnt it? The ability
to roll three times to get a crit by burning resolve as opposed to
Ronin's once per combat ability again seems to be more regularly
available and therefore more beneficial. As i said generally, I am
having alot of trouble assessing the value of the ordersin later
levels.
2) is vital strike noticeably useful where you do not get your full attack?
3) Are my Attack rolls high enough to be reliable at all levels? I am acutely aware that barbs get rage bonuses and fighters get weapon training, and I am worried about falling behind. I hate missing when without combat maneauvrees your entire roll is hitting.
3) As deadly stroke is conditional on getting an opponent (alive long enough) to be first shaken then flat footed, is it to conditional to be viable?
4) is AC 19 (without magical items) relevant or should THFs simply abandon AC?
5) Are there any feats or traits mentioned or not mentioned that you would reccomend? is the feat order appropriate?
6) any advice on how to prevent a mount falling into obscurity? Is natural armor/attack a must have on mounts?
For those of you who made it to the end, thank you for taking the time. All advice is welcome and will help to quell my uncertainty.
FOr any Australians reading this, i apologise for the the z in optimised in the post title.
|
Australian huh?
I remember a character like this at the last Perth Gamers Guild event, I was GMing there, although the character at the time was wielding a Nodachi and butchering npc's with brace, was that you?
1) Ronin abilities are very circumstantial, as you know, even the 8th level abilities are pretty strange, the only really useful one being rerolling a crit that failed to confirm. Don't forget that Samurai's have access to Cavalier orders as well, if you aren't satisfied with either. Cockatrice would give you Dazzling Display for free, and help your to-hit if you are concerned.
2) Full BAB, high strength, two handed wielder. You should be fine.
3) Cornugon Smash allows you to intimidate for free, so you aren't wasting actions performing Dazzling Display.
4)Don't abandon AC, you wear heavy armour and have ok dex, with a minimal investment you can have a good AC, without needing a shield.
5) You mentioned Master of Many Styles monk, you could invest the two bonus feats into getting Crane style and Tiger style feats. Crane Wing/Riposte and Tiger Pounce might be nice cards to have up your sleeve, if you take the style feats and use your monk bonus feats for the ones in the style path without meeting pre-requisites. Not confident it is worth it, as for PFS you would give up the 11th and 12th level samurai abilities. An option though.
I wouldn't get critical focus for the PFS build, it isn't a great feat unless you have access to the critical status feats it is a prerequisite for.
6) Use it as a flank partner when you can, ride it when available. Give it some barding for survivability, but I wouldn't invest in much more unless you plan to build around it. Make sure to give it Int 3 at some point so you don't have to use handle animal to control it.