Any smart dips or points to drop out for an anti-paladin? I'm building a Vishkanya anti-paladin and I'd like to explore any possibilities to give it a different flavor. I know dips are usually bad in this game, but I thought I'd check.
Anti-paladin dips well with Ranger or Barbarian I've found.
Anti-paladin dips well with Ranger or Barbarian I've found.
Oh? What do you do with the dip and why does it work well? I know rangers scale off wisdom and don't usually have good charisma, so I don't see them working well with anti-paladin.
Well Barbarian is obvious in that it boosts Str and Con, gives a choice of rage powers, and if you focus on intimidation you'll find that the classes synch really well. Plus the two classes fit together thematically as well for the evil blood-crazed warlord crusader.
For Ranger it gives a host of fighting styles. The Infiltrator, Wild Stalker, Shapeshifter, and Skirmisher all work pretty well. Though quite honestly you won't see the power of the Ranger class until you can cast Instant Enemy. You pretty much have to do Knight of The Sepulcher Antipaladin 10/Ranger 10 to make it work as your animal and fiendish companion will suffer.
fighter for 2-3 levels can give you some feats if you're feeling starved at the cost of slowing your antipaladin progression a little (it can also give nifty abilities depending on the archetype, such as weapon training via weapon master, and the ability to use a polearm in one hand when using a shield (like a buckler) from phalanx fighter).
a 1-level dip in lore or nature oracle can give you cha instead of dex for AC and either reflex saves (might not stack with divine grace equivalent, unfortunately) or CMD, as well as granting a good amount of new class skills and various other powers if you can spare a feat for Extra Revelation.
Anti-Paladin/Barbarian is one freaking scary beast!
I know I posted a 14th level Barbarian Anti-Paladin build somewhere. He makes a terrifying BBEG.
Pounce, Saves, DR, Rage, Smite...And the bonus to Con raises the Fort save DC against a Vishkanya's venomous blood.
That guy could easily one-shot a PC if you want. It was 14th level, though, and it had more levels in Barbarian than in Anti-Paladin, but that's easily modified.
Ranger might work as well, but since it requires Wisdom, it'll make the Anti-Paladin rather MAD. (And you want at least a 13 Wis so you can cast Instant Enemy)
Lots and lots of nice things. Lots and lots of things I have to look into in a bit of depth before doing anything with too.
you'll wanna grab the magical knack trait (if you havent chosen those already). it' helps with your CL hit for paladin--even moreso if you're dipping.
Honestly, it depends on the flavor of anti-paladin you're building. Brutal followers of Rovagug and corrupting followers of Calistria are very different, while secretive, murderous followers of Norgorber are very different still. Because of the different personality styles, you can expect to find significantly different builds that will accomplish the goal and, thus, different preferred dips.
Tell us more about the character and we can help fill in the gaps better.
Tell us more about the character and we can help fill in the gaps better.
Well, the question is more general than for a particular character. Character creation isn't done yet, and I don't have a deadline. I like seeing my options, and the more ideas I get out of this thread the more I can share with others hopefully. This is what I have so far.
The only tactics so far are to put them down with sleep venom. Its likely he'll have blade of mercy and enforcer to reduce their save and to show his past life and to keep any foes alive for interrogation and extortion, and likely to kill after.
I'm leaning towards sword and board at the moment, but I may switch to a 2 handed weapon. Any character I use is loaded with adventuring equipment and likely to wear spiked armor and special materials.
I'd lean towards a Norgorber-esque character with this. Stealth, bluff, etc. As such, a dip into Rogue or Ninja is a good choice in order to get more skill points, a side of sneak attack, etc. Ninja is a good synergy dip if you go 2 or 3, giving you a little oomph on your attacks with SA and the Ki Pool feature, which is tied to your CHA.
If the character was lawful good would a paladin dip make sense? I'd us then go anti paladin?
If the character was lawful good would a paladin dip make sense? I'd us then go anti paladin?
They are an alternative class. You can't take levels in both. You can however fall as a paladin and become an anti-paladin, trading out your paladin class levels for anti-paladin levels.