Basically I'm looking to build a fighter(ish) character who controls the who, where, and when in combat. I'm wanting to capitalize on as many "mobility and placement" abilities as I can. I want to be able to get to any enemy in combat range and put them where myself and my party need them (into spell range, remove them from cover, stop them from teleporting, shift them to flanking, etc...) I'd like to minimize incoming and maximize outgoing AoO while doing this since I won't often have "full attack" actions.
Feat Examples:
Spring Attack
Teleport Tactician
Pin Down
Step up and Strike
Stand Still
Greater Reposition
Combat Patrol
Strike Back
I have found 19 feats that center on this concept, and I'm sure there are more. Which is why I originally thought Fighter would be best suited. Barbarian and Monk also get nice movement bonuses, and a wildshape druid has excellent mobility, but I don't think they'd be able to keep up with the feat requirements...
Parameters: Looking for Level 20 progression build using any combination of Pathfinder source material race/class/abilities/weapons etc...if it's written down somewhere, it's a viable candidate.
There are so many ways of going about this that I'm hesitant to offer a single build. I have a few suggestions, though.
This is sort of a weird idea to suggest right off the bat, but Ki Throw with a reach weapon and Lunge is a great way to reposition enemies with extreme precision. On a successful trip (mind you: only against opponents of your size or smaller, so find ways to get big) you can throw an opponent prone in any square you threaten. Thus, the bigger your threatened area, the more options you have for tripping people. Picture hoisting someone with a polearm, flinging them through the air, and slamming them down on their face right where you want them. This works even better if you have Improved Ki Throw, of course.
The Phalanx Soldier archetype offers the neat option of TWFing with a polearm and a shield. This allows you to threaten adjacent tiles, which is handy; also, I like to take the Shield Slam feat to push opponents back into my polearm's range.
The Polearm Master is also obviously a good choice; gives you a nice bonus on AoOs. The dwarven boulder helmet can help you attack into adjacent tiles, too.
Speaking of dwarves, they have an alternate racial ability that grants a +2 bonus on bull rushe and overrun CMBs, which helps make up for the lack of Str bonus. The low movement rate might hurt, though, as it will probably also be important to position yourself correctly.
If you're less interested in doing the reach thing, the Brawler fighter archetype is good for repositions, bull rushes, and drag maneuvers, and they have some abilities that help keep opponents adjacent to you. Works well with the Step Up chain of feats.
Hmmm, perhaps a dwarven monk with a reach weapon, lunge, and combat patrol? He'd have better mobility than a normal dwarf, and might be able to get to flying enemies with high jump and slow fall....
You might want to look at the shield tree from the core rulebook. Shield Slam allows you to make a free Bull Rush vs. any enemy you hit with a shield bash and if you can push them into something that impedes their movement, like a wall, it knocks then PRONE.
I'm less interested in bashing people to the ground than being able to take enemies from one square and placing them into the square my party wants them in.
The Ki Throw with Reach Weapon and Lunge idea above is very much more tailored to my intent. And monks get plenty of bonus feats and abilities that I can take advantage of.
You need a DC 120 Acrobatics check to jump 30 feet in the air, and any flying enemy worth his salt will be more than 30 feet up.
Indeed, you are correct. I would want to have the ability to get to them and pull them to the ground. Part of the idea of the build, which is why a wildshaped druid also came to mind. Or use the Abundant Step class feature of the monk to dimension door up to him. Either way, I want to be able to place them where my party needs them.
However, your point is well taken. So let's help build in the ability to not only move an enemy horizontally across the field of combat, but vertically as well, to a threatening height (let's say, what, 120ft?) If they're too high, they're likely not that big a threat anyways."On a successful unarmed trip attack against a target your size or smaller, you may throw the target prone in any square you threaten rather than its own square. "
- ki throwYou could be large with lunge and get 15' reach though.
Hmmm, ok, good point. Gotta be unarmed. Which archetype is it that makes me one size class larger while performing combat maneuvers? Or was that just for grapple? So, large sized PC race (or treated as large if I can manage it) with Lunge and Combat Patrol is still the best idea I see so far...
I would say naginata wielding lore warden with
Pushing Assault, improved trip, lunge and wirhlwind attack. you will trip everythin in a 15 ft circle (or more if the wizard friend cast enalarge person). plus combat refelxes, greater trip and (eventually) a good dex would mean an AoO against each target.
Again, missing the intent of the build. It's not about tripping everything into prone. It's about taking this enemy from this square and placing him into that square, either forcibly or by clever movement. This is not a classic "crowd control" build.
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Which archetype is it that makes me one size class larger while performing combat maneuvers?
I know underfoot adept let's you treat your size as progressively larger for trip as you level. You need to be a halfling, or have the racial heritage (halfling) feat as a human or scion of humanity aasimar (note: this WONT work for non-halflings in society play as Mike Brock clarified in a post, to my dismay).
If you are a human with underfoot adept at level 4 with access to enlarge person (a potion would work), you can trip gargantuan creatures. I briefly skimmed through the beastiary and it seems like there isn't much to trip that is gargantuan or colossal, so it would cover most of your tripping needs. You can bail out of monk, and take levels in fighter afterward for more feats. It's a great dip for this type of build, you just lose 1 bab and get a ton of monk goodies.
Since you are treated as if you were larger from the underfoot adept archetype at level 4, (and depending on if you are drinking a potion) you probably won't use much ki to actually ki throw enemies that are bigger. So you can don't have to focus on wisdom, and build the character like a fighter.
I totally had something like this stat'd out for PFS until i came across the post by Mike Brock that said racial heritage will not allow humans / assimars access to race specific archetypes. The Pathfinder FAQ specifically says you can, but society is a bit more strict with rules interpretations.
EDIT:
The more I think about it, this could be a really awesome battlefield control build. Amulet of mighty fists (dueling), get a party member to greater magic weapon/fang you, take fury's fall, all the trip feats, Lore warden fighter archetype, combat patrol. I'm gonna have to look more into the exact build for this.
Oh poop, I swear I checked the text to make sure it didn't say unarmed. How did I miss that? Sorry! This is what happens when I post right before bed. T___T
But I'm glad this is starting to come together. The underfoot adept dip followed by Lore Warden or Brawler with Ki Throw, Lunge, and Combat Patrol would work really, really well. But getting in as a human would be really important, as getting that extra 5' reach with Enlarge Person would be super useful.
Flowing Monk has ridiculous battlefield control. You can reposition (or trip!) any creature that attacks you (and eventually your allies) to any square within your reach+1 1/day per level. This even goes off before the creature attacks, so you can move it outside of its reach and it cant attack you at all. Combine that with lunge, and enlarge person, and you can move people around willy nilly.The action goes off before the attack? Where does it say that?
I don't think this is explicitly spelled out, but I feel it's implied by the use of the word "attacks" in the ability's description:
"At 1st level, as an immediate action, a flowing monk can attempt a reposition or trip combat maneuver against a creature that the flowing monk threatens and that attacks him."
It doesn't say "that attacks and strikes him" or "after being struck" or anything about taking damage. The attack is what triggers the ability. I can see both interpretations, but this is what my gut tells me, at least.
Also, just bear in mind that this ability can only be used once per day per monk level. This isn't the sort of thing you'll be doing every round.
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Which archetype is it that makes me one size class larger while performing combat maneuvers?I know underfoot adept let's you treat your size as progressively larger for trip as you level. You need to be a halfling, or have the racial heritage (halfling) feat as a human or scion of humanity aasimar (note: this WONT work for non-halflings in society play as Mike Brock clarified in a post, to my dismay).
If you are a human with underfoot adept at level 4 with access to enlarge person (a potion would work), you can trip gargantuan creatures. I briefly skimmed through the beastiary and it seems like there isn't much to trip that is gargantuan or colossal, so it would cover most of your tripping needs. You can bail out of monk, and take levels in fighter afterward for more feats. It's a great dip for this type of build, you just lose 1 bab and get a ton of monk goodies.
Since you are treated as if you were larger from the underfoot adept archetype at level 4, (and depending on if you are drinking a potion) you probably won't use much ki to actually ki throw enemies that are bigger. So you can don't have to focus on wisdom, and build the character like a fighter.
I totally had something like this stat'd out for PFS until i came across the post by Mike Brock that said racial heritage will not allow humans / assimars access to race specific archetypes. The Pathfinder FAQ specifically says you can, but society is a bit more strict with rules interpretations.
EDIT:
The more I think about it, this could be a really awesome battlefield control build. Amulet of mighty fists (dueling), get a party member to greater magic weapon/fang you, take fury's fall, all the trip feats, Lore warden fighter archetype, combat patrol. I'm gonna have to look more into the exact build for this.
An alchemist buddy with fluid form and alchemical allocation giving you the potion would give your large monk/fighter a 20' unarmed reach, (25') with lunge.
Fast drinker
Potion of enlarge person
Combat reflexes
Improved trip
Reach weapon
Dwarven Boulder helmet