Just a quick poll. If you had the option of picking up an extra person for your adventuring group who would you rather have, a Samurai or an Inquisitor?
Dunno. Do I need a well rounded mounted warrior or a RP machine that's good in combat as well?
Well, without knowing the makeup of my hypothetical party, I'd have to say Inquisitor. It's just a stronger class. Or rather, Samurai's just such a weaker class.
With no other information, definitely the inquisitor. I don't think Cavaliers are terrible (I have very little direct samurai experience), but Inquisitor is a lot more versatile, so I'd probably take that unless A) the campaign is such that mounts can work to maximum capability a lot of the time, or B) there's a very samurai-shaped hole in the party's capabilities.
|
Both, since an Inquisitor is pretty silly without time to buff and a Samurai does not have any other problem solving options than killing stuff and speechcraft.
Basically, the party make up is vital to know in this case. Inquisitors can't really tank without some levels under their belt so a Samurai is a better option if you need an ac machine and an instant combat monster. Inquisitors are way better team players and can actually offer some skills to the mix.
My experience with them is only at low level and through reading. However the inquisitor appears way more useful. picked carefully they can be fair combatants and are useful in most other situations. In fact the time goes on the more I like the class.
Cavaliers/samurai appear ok, but in rems of usefulness rank behind fighters/paladins and rangers in my experience.
I think it depends on the build and the rest of the party for example if someone was playing an archer inquisitor when we had no melee character I would probably want the samurai.
Overall the inquisitor is a stronger class. It gets my vote. There are fewer situations where the samurai is more useful in the party than the inquisitor.
Inquisitor. A well-built inquisitor is both a powerful combatant AND versatile out of combat.
Also, I just noticed that Cavaliers and Samurais don't get a single Knowledge skill as class skill. They get out-knowledge by EVERY other class in the game. That's just sad.
|
Well, without knowing the makeup of my hypothetical party, I'd have to say Inquisitor. It's just a stronger class. Or rather, Samurai's just such a weaker class.
Samurai are bloody butchers once they're up to three or more challenges per day. IMO they're the strongest "melee nova" in the game (especially as TWFs), and have a higher likelihood+damage combination of securing crits than any other martial class.
Inquisitors are great if your GM doesn't pay attention to Swift action usage, but a PITA if he does.
How are Samurai better melee butchers than normal Cavaliers when they trade away all the sexy Cavalier charge-boosting class features?
Samurai just seems like a Cavalier w/o the awesome tactician ability or as much "death by lance" and instead has some random mounted archery stuff and the ability to die one round later than normal.
Gross generalization, but basically what it looks like to me.
As for Inquisitors, they can melee tank. The judgements go a long way to help and with either a dip or a feat they can be in full plate just fine.
Okay, the rest of the party is composed of a Paladin, Monk, Oracle of Life, Mage (Universalist), Druid with a Tiger companion.
The Samurai or Inquisitor will be two levels lower as they will be taken as a companion.
I will also give you the specifics of the Samurai and Inquisitor
Samurai 8: Str 18, Dex 16, Con--, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 17. Sword Saint, He is undead, actually he is a soul trapped within a suit of armour, +10 vs. Channeling and Turning. Undead Traits. Feats: Weapon Focus and Specialization Katana, Power Attack, Cornugon(Sp?) Smash, one extra
Inquisitor 8: Str 17, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 7. Worshipper of Angradd(Dwarven God of War) Weapon Focus Great Axe, Power Attack, Heavy Armour Prof, Vital Strike, Teamwork Feats, Outflank, Pack attack.
Samurais are strictly better than Cavaliers, because they don't rely on mounts to be awesome. Their re-roll ability is very good and they can keep alive for a healer to get to them if necessary.
And they get a decent archetype which does away with the mount entirely in the Dragon Empires Primer. One which doesn't wants you to be a bad Gunslinger.
But, yeah, Inquisitor is a better class. But I'd play a Samurai, while I'd have to be forced into playing a Cavalier.
Okay, the rest of the party is composed of a Paladin, Monk, Oracle of Life, Mage (Universalist), Druid with a Tiger companion.
The Samurai or Inquisitor will be two levels lower as they will be taken as a companion.
I will also give you the specifics of the Samurai and Inquisitor
Samurai 8: Str 18, Dex 16, Con--, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 17. Sword Saint, He is undead, actually he is a soul trapped within a suit of armour, +10 vs. Channeling and Turning. Undead Traits. Feats: Weapon Focus and Specialization Katana, Power Attack, Cornugon(Sp?) Smash, one extra
Inquisitor 8: Str 17, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 7. Worshipper of Angradd(Dwarven God of War) Weapon Focus Great Axe, Power Attack, Heavy Armour Prof, Vital Strike, Teamwork Feats, Outflank, Pack attack.
Take the Inquisitor. Even with the suboptimal choice of being yet another melee monster ( which your party has plenty of ), it can fill roles which the Samurai is unable to. My personal recommendation would be to rock a ranged weapon, which the Inquisitor class is very suited to.
Samurai really don't rely at all on being mounted. That's just a perk. Also, Sword Saint from Dragon Empires Primer does away with that aspect.
@GnomePaladin. You can always re-skin a samurai to a western setting, giving him a western appearance and name but keeping the same mechanics.
@OP - I would take the Samurai (Order of the Warrior) since he's going to be a companion. It's a class that requires much less decision making, is more survivable (resolve + heavy armor + d10 hp), won't out-shine the paladin who is two levels higher but will still remain effective in combat (full BAB + challenge ability).
For the extra feat I suggest Furious Focus (negates PA to hit penalty for first attack). Also, I suggest applying the Weapon Expertise feature to katana. This way you've got a melee switch hitter that can start off with a reach weapon (hello Naginata!) and switch to a katana when needed. This allows him to participate in melee combat in tight spaces without getting in the way of the PCs + Tiger and then switch to katana as the combat opens up and he gets a shot at the BBEG with his Iaijutsu.
I especially like the samurai as lower level companion because it's much more likely that you can pull off Iaijutsu + Way of the Samurai* (x3 reroll, costs you a standard action) since with the katana you have a really good chance of landing a crit and with Iaijutsu you have an improved chance of confirming that crit (Weapon Expertise katana gives +2 to confirm + 1/2 samurai level to confirm from Iaijutsu).
* (edit): Since he's not a principal PC he's more likely to find an extra round to spend on Way of Samurai and the Boss-type enemy is less likely to alter his battle plans around what a lower-level companion might do. If the boss is forced to change his battle plans to avoid the naginata wielding samurai, then that's a benefit too.
Another thought: I can see how the Inquisitor skill-set would fit nicely with those already in the party but you'll wan to think critically about the role of companions in your game.
IMHO companions shouldn't draw the spotlight away from the PCs and so I suggested a combat-oriented companion that could survive and participate in combats designed for higher level characters. If you feel differently about the role of companions and the other players are okay with you having a greater share of the spotlight (since you'll be role-playing two characters) then the Inquisitor would be a great choice, although it will be difficult to come up with a build that will approach the combat effectiveness and survivability of the Samurai.
Yeah, the Samurai sounds much more like a "set it and forget it" kind of deal, while the Inquisitor has so many options that it can get overwhelming. Much like the argument about druids really playing their animal as opposed to their character, the Inquisitor can easily overshadow his PC. Plus, another point in favor of the Samurai is that he totally reminds me of Al from Fullmetal Alchemist.
Could explain the druid-animal companion issue to the Inquisitor again. I am not seeing the correlation.