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The Basttard Sword itself will not increase in damage, unless you go with an oversized one. However, adding magical bonus's and properties, increased Strength, and the use of Feats like Power Attack will add to your damage, and your additional Base Attack should get you another attack by that level.
So, if your 18 Str character with a Bastard Sword spends like 8,000gp to make it a +1 Flaming Bastard Sword and fights 2 handed, you are looking at 1d10+7, +1d6 Fire, vs 1d10+6. Addin a few Feats will bum that, and add to your Str. At that level a +2 or a +4 to Str in reasonable, which is a +1-+3 damage itself, and you might be able to a ford a +1 Shocking, Flaming Bastard Sword for a +2d6 rather than 1d6.
Strength bonus.
Magic weapon bonus.
Power Attack.
So let's say you're level 7 and you have a +2 bastard sword and an 18 strength.
Strength +4 (+6 when two-handed)
Weapon 1d10+2
Power Attack +2 (+3 when two-handed)
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1d10+8 (1d10+11 two-handed)
I am not sure the barbarian in your party plays things the right way, seems awfully lot to me, that damage he does, even if he would rage
I am not sure if I am posting this in the right place but I could use some help/advice from more seasoned players. I have never played a non-caster class and was thinking of having a go at it. Well to be more specific play an Inquisitor so more transitioning to it. Anyway I was wondering how melee damage is increased when you level up. I am trying to roll up a 7th level character as a backup and don’t quite understand how my weapon (Bastard sword) will deal more than the 1d10 standard damage. I know I have seen a barbarian in our party do 30-40 damage standard and crit for over 90.
Here are my stats, ect.
Str 18
Dex 12
Con 15
Int 12
Wis 18
Cha 7Human
15 point build with 2 items adding 2 to str, con and wis (Still to be approved low magic campaign).
Feats I grabbed: Out Flank, Coordinated D, Expanded Arcana, Power Attack, Marital Weapon Prof, Enforcer, plus one to be filled still.
What am I missing? Any advice on how to do more melee damage would be welcomed.
Thanks in advance!
One thing you have to understand is that a Weapon's base dice damage will not increase unless you change the size of the weapon (from a Medium Sized to a Large Sized weapon). Doing this also makes it awkward for you, and even if you can equip it as a 1h weapon, you'd need at least 2 hands to use a Large Bastard Sword, and I am positive you will have a -2 or -4 to hit. The extra damage is nice though (I think it's 2d6 from a Medium to Large Bastard Sword; could be wrong).
If you want to think about increasing actual overall damage, feats such as Weapon Specialization (I personally wouldn't recommend this, as there are better feats you could choose), Power Attack, etc. Any class features that can increase your damage are ones that you should use. Another good idea is to utilize the Vital Strike feat if you have BAB of 6 or higher, which would allow you to get 1 attack at your highest BAB, and would allow you the dice as if you hit twice, with all other modifiers as if you hit once. A great method to increase damage per round/attack to overcome DR difficulties, which I am sure you have faced already.
Spells that can give you extra damage for your weaponry, such as Weapon of Awe, Divine Favor, etc. should be cast before the fights begin.
I also wouldn't be entirely concerned about matching a Barbarian's damage/DPS. They are one of the easiest classes to Min/Max with due to the assistance of Rage and its powers. On top of this, even with their Rage and such, they still need to hit, and they sacrifice survivability for that extra damage. You'll need to have at least some yourself, and hitting an attack is much more important than worrying about the damage itself.
Another recommendation is to have a pair of Bracers of Might, which give +2 to Strength Skill checks and such, and allow you to amplify Power Attack to the next level category (though this also gives you an additional -1 to hit, so be careful).
Using two hands for your weapon will grant you times and a half Strength Bonus for damage, and is congruent for Power Attack effects as well (instead of +2 per 4 BAB, it is +3). If I had Weapon of Awe, Divine Favor, Bull's Strength, Bastard Sword Power Attack @ Rank III, Weapon Specialization, combined with Vital Strike @ BAB 7 would amount to approximately 2d10 + 17, dealing 37 damage max on a single attack, not including Critical modifiers.
Those are highly favorable conditions with all of those buffs placed, combined with the feats I selected, but it is still a large amount of damage dealt within one swing for a character that is more of a support type class.
I gave plenty of examples, such as buffs, feats, attack options, etc. Whatever and However you want to use them is up to you. Good luck.
Last night in a fight with a Bodak I utterly destroyed the thing in 2 hits. I did a total of 95 pts of damage and rolled fairly low with the dice. If you build the inquisitor right he can be unstoppable.
see my post early this week for an idea of what I'm talking about.
I am not sure the barbarian in your party plays things the right way, seems awfully lot to me, that damage he does, even if he would rage
Raging Strength 22
2d4(Falchion)+9 for a two handed weaponPower attacking gives him 2d4+15 which averages to about 20 points of damage if he hits.
At level 7 he gets two attacks. That penalty for the 2nd attack might be an issue, but if the party likes to use buffs it can be pretty much negated, and if the uses haste which would give the barbarian 3 attacks, then 40+ points of damage would be common for those fights.
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I didn't include Power Attack purpossfully as it is too variable and I didn't want to confuss him/her.
Power attack does not vary in pathfinder (though it did in 3.5).
I Pathfinder you trade a +1 to hit for +2 damage (x1.5 if two-handed) at a BAB +1. At +4, +8, +12. +16. +20, it goes up another -1 to hit for +2 damage. so at BAB +8, you're -3 for +6 damage (+9 two handed).Another way to increase damage is fighter weapon training (bonus +1 and more to hit and damage with a group of weapons) this can be magnified by gloves of duelling.
I'm not familiar with the Bracers of Might mentioned above and I don't see it in the PFSRD.
Having a Bard in the party is great as well...their inspiration plus a good hope spell is good for another +4/+4 hit and damage, and more later.
bracers of might are an old 3.5 item.
Was given to me by the DM, and he stated a price and such, so I thought it was from the official book, like the APG or something. Guess it was a houserule item (we do use the old 3.x+ books). I apologize since that's the case; though you can easily substitute that in for something like a Scabbard of Vigor/Keen Edges or something, since their price range is about the same, and might give you the benefit you need.
Feats I grabbed: Out Flank, Coordinated D, Expanded Arcana, Power Attack, Marital Weapon Prof, Enforcer, plus one to be filled still.
What am I missing? Any advice on how to do more melee damage would be welcomed.
Weapon Focus, to get that bonus to hit. Seriously, +1 to hit is worth +2 to damage on every attack, because you don't do damage unless you hit in the first place, and if you are using a two-handed weapon get Furious Focus for the same reason.
Why bother with the expanded arcana? If you are the melee guy then I would put that feat into a melee or defense ability. Between the Inquisitors bane, judgements, and spells known you are probably never going to be saying "darn I wish I had one more 1st level spell". Besides you can just buy a Pearl of Power.
Also drop the martial weapon proficiency. I'm not sure why you need it. You are using a bastard sword so you need to have an exotic weapons proficiency or better yet worship a God whose weapon is the Bastard Sword. I believe there is a lawful good God who is Bastard Sword guy.
If you take the god route you can then replace the proficiency slot with weapon focus Bastard sword or furious focus. Now when you power attack you can use the furious focus ability and take no minuses to your first attack.
Why bother with the expanded arcana? If you are the melee guy then I would put that feat into a melee or defense ability. Between the Inquisitors bane, judgements, and spells known you are probably never going to be saying "darn I wish I had one more 1st level spell". Besides you can just buy a Pearl of Power.
Also drop the martial weapon proficiency. I'm not sure why you need it. You are using a bastard sword so you need to have an exotic weapons proficiency or better yet worship a God whose weapon is the Bastard Sword. I believe there is a lawful good God who is Bastard Sword guy.
If you take the god route you can then replace the proficiency slot with weapon focus Bastard sword or furious focus. Now when you power attack you can use the furious focus ability and take no minuses to your first attack.
Power Attack + Furious Focus + Vital Strike (and its upgrades) + Devastating Strike = insane amounts of damage.
Besides you can just buy a Pearl of Power.
Pearls only work for Prepared Spellcasters, as far as I know.
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bracers of might are an old 3.5 item.Was given to me by the DM, and he stated a price and such, so I thought it was from the official book, like the APG or something. Guess it was a houserule item (we do use the old 3.x+ books). I apologize since that's the case; though you can easily substitute that in for something like a Scabbard of Vigor/Keen Edges or something, since their price range is about the same, and might give you the benefit you need.
yeah, there aren't as many bracers under pathfinder. I haven't found a really good one I like for my fighter.
I am not sure the barbarian in your party plays things the right way, seems awfully lot to me, that damage he does, even if he would rageRaging Strength 22
2d4(Falchion)+9 for a two handed weapon
Power attacking gives him 2d4+15 which averages to about 20 points of damage if he hits.
At level 7 he gets two attacks. That penalty for the 2nd attack might be an issue, but if the party likes to use buffs it can be pretty much negated, and if the uses haste which would give the barbarian 3 attacks, then 40+ points of damage would be common for those fights.
still nothing close to the mentioned 90's on critical, especially as most modifiers don't get multiplied
still nothing close to the mentioned 90's on critical, especially as most modifiers don't get multipliedI am not sure the barbarian in your party plays things the right way, seems awfully lot to me, that damage he does, even if he would rageRaging Strength 22
2d4(Falchion)+9 for a two handed weapon
Power attacking gives him 2d4+15 which averages to about 20 points of damage if he hits.
At level 7 he gets two attacks. That penalty for the 2nd attack might be an issue, but if the party likes to use buffs it can be pretty much negated, and if the uses haste which would give the barbarian 3 attacks, then 40+ points of damage would be common for those fights.
I think that's a bunch of hyperbole crap. 90 damage critical...I was lucky to get exactly 100 damage on my 8th level Battle Oracle with a Maximized Blade of Blood Critical strike, on a shadow copy of myself.
You lost me at about the point of "...was lucky to get exactly 100 damage"
I don't get anything after it
You lost me at about the point of "...was lucky to get exactly 100 damage"
I don't get anything after it
I had an 18 Strength 8th level Battle Oracle with a custom Sword of Retribution (+2 Greatsword with the Divine Favor activation at 3/day), and also had the 3.x+ spell Blade of Blood from the Spell Compendium, which allowed me to sacrifice 5 HP to deal an extra 3d6 damage on my next swing.
There was a "boss fight" we were doing, which forced us to face a Shadow Copy form of our group, and all of our attacks dealt half damage against anybody other than ourselves (it's a fight mechanic).
I was close to death, and I swung at my "doppelganger" with a Maximized Critical strike, which was worth 82 damage (41 x 2), plus 3 6's from my Blade of Blood, which is equivalent to 100 points of damage. It was a complete Max Damage critical, and they're saying a level 5 Barbarian can deal 90 damage? With a x3, perhaps. But with base weapon damage, that's only maybe 70, and that's including modifier multiplying.
Pearls only work for Prepared Spellcasters, as far as I know.Besides you can just buy a Pearl of Power.
Interesting... I'll have to have a talk with my parties bard about this one.
However, my feelings on it being a wasted feat stands. Lower level inquisitor spells are cool but not really needed to succeed as a tank.**
**That was my optimizer speaking. If there is a cool story reason behind taking the feat then go for it.
Edited.
90 points on a crit sounds high but we have no idea how the character was built (22 str pre-rage?). What items they may have had (). Spells that were in effect. Or weapon that they were using (acid bursting Scythee?). Not everyone (myself included) play using the wealth by level chart.
My 95 points of damage came at 12th level after the DM had given me 4 rounds to prep my attack (The Bodak had fallen down a pit). A lot can get done with 4 rounds of buffing.
still nothing close to the mentioned 90's on critical, especially as most modifiers don't get multipliedI am not sure the barbarian in your party plays things the right way, seems awfully lot to me, that damage he does, even if he would rageRaging Strength 22
2d4(Falchion)+9 for a two handed weapon
Power attacking gives him 2d4+15 which averages to about 20 points of damage if he hits.
At level 7 he gets two attacks. That penalty for the 2nd attack might be an issue, but if the party likes to use buffs it can be pretty much negated, and if the uses haste which would give the barbarian 3 attacks, then 40+ points of damage would be common for those fights.
I was just addressing the normal damage. As for the crit damage, I don't know how he got that.
He would still need a weapon with a x4 crit mulitplier, unless he has another ability that adds on to damage.
4.5+9(str mod)+9)power attack)+2(weapon enchancement)=24.5 x3 =about 75
Back to your question though: Furious Focus is not a bad feat to take.
The highest any stat can start at is 20 (18 + 2 racial). By 8th level with stat increases this could be 22.