So my party dynamic has changed, but it's still falling upon me to be the primary melee damage. Right now, we're an archery focused ranger, a rogue with a greataxe, and a sorcerer. I want to pick a class that will be able to do some decent damage, as well as remain relevant outside of the battlefield. Any suggestions?
I'd bring a melee focused cleric or oracle to that group.
I like the barbarian for damage. They have survival, perception, and a few other skills that make the useful out of combat. Ontop of that, spell sunder age power for removing magical effects both in and out of combat, and smasher to bypass hardness, including doors/walls.
Melee ranger with some archetype to make you different to the other ranger.
Other options: Wild shape druid, inquisitor, melee alchemist or any melee class with a 1 level dip into some caster class for utility.
I second either Barbarian or Ranger.
Barbarians get a decent number of skills, great damage and survivability, and their Rage Powers are versatile and useful both in and out of combat, the aforementioned Spell Sunder especially. Be an Orc or Human with Racial Heritage: Orc and grab Trap Wrecker and you could actually be the main trap dismantler of the group.
Rangers do solid damage and get a lot of skills,a s well as some useful class features and an Animal Companion that can be used as a scout or an extra body on the field.
I'd stay away from Fighters.
Hexcrafter Magus. Can add to party healing with healing hex if you like. The number of non-combat things that could be done with this char's hexes/spells/skill points is pretty solid. Can even get a familiar if you like.
That would be my first pick. Second would be melee ranger as well. I am a big fan of both infiltrator and spirit ranger archetypes. (they can be combined.) These would both help you to feel very different for the other ranger.
Umbranus: I think both work actually.. just different emphasis (one on the original ranger, the other on the new char)
Thanks. I always try to improve my english.
|
Alchemist or Magus could both be good, as it seems the primary group of skills your party is lacking is knowledge. (Rogue should have trapfinding, ranger should have survival, sorcerer should have diplomacy or another social skill). If you want something a little beefier, you could try Eldritch Knight, too. If your sorcerer isn't the party face for whatever reason, a Paladin could excel in that area.
|
I vote paladin. Your group needs a frontline that is durable, and none beats the paladin for that. Out of combat yes they're a but short on skills but diplomacy is a big social one, making you a party face (because unless I'm remembering poorly diplomacy is not a sorceror class skill). This also gives you the ability to use the ever useful wand of CLW. After that I vote battle oracle or CoDzilla.
Off topic: with oracle now can we just call it CODzilla?
Alchemist will probably work well. I've yet to see a melee build alchemist in action though, so I can't really give any promises.
Magus will definitely bring the hurt in melee, but they can be a little squishy if you use Spell Combat on offense instead of defensive spells. High Int translates to high skill points and they have a decent class skill list.
Dervish Dancer Bard might do the trick, though it might overlap a bit with the rogue and the sorcerer. Dawnflower Dervish archetype is optional - if you take it you'll be absolutely brutal in melee, but the rest of the party misses out on the IC bonuses.
A melee build Inquisitor is a solid addition to any party, really.
All that said, I'm going to have to second Cleric. A cleric with the right build can be very respectable in melee and the cleric list is full of the utility spells you'll want to have but the sorcerer won't be able to pick up. Channel Energy is handy for downtime healing, and it really does pay to have someone able to cast the little things that makes life easier without buying expensive wands and scrolls - like lesser restoration, remove disease and so on.
I would go with melee inquisitor or a....baaarrdd....
I'd lean towards the inquisitor myself. They have most of the healing and recovery spells such as restoration on their spell list, so wands or scrolls should not be a problem. They have plenty of spells with social and investigative utility, and they have abilities such as at will detect alignment and bonuses to intimidation, sense motive, and survival for tracking. They also get wisdom to knowledge checks in a fight. The fact that they can easily hit like a full BAB class using their judgments, and later add extra damage per hit at the same time, means they are also solid melee characters with access to medium armor, shields, and bows.
Also thinking about it, how about a druid? Once you get big into wildshaping, you can easily assume forms for various non-combat purposes, such as scouting or heavy lifting.
Human fighter with 16 or 17 Str (or more, depending on ability score generation), 13 Int, Combat Expertise, Fast Learner, and Improved Trip. Probably a polearm for reach (hooked lance is one of the better options); for extra tanking, the phalanx soldier archetype, the Quick Draw feat at 3rd level (Power Attack at 2nd), and a quickdraw shield make it easy to switch between using a polearm two-handed or one-handed with the shield on gaining Phalanx Fighting. Counting the extra skill ranks for Skilled, +1 Int mod, and favored class (since Fast Learner gives both +1 hp and +1 skill rank per level), you've got 5 skill ranks per level to play with for "out of combat" utility.