I am new to pathfinder (Have played 3.5 in the past) and wanted some help with a build for pathfinder society. I was given a nudge towards an Aastanar who could become an EK do this at level 3.
My main idea was to control the battlefield without always being directly in melee combat while still having good utility and spells. using combat reflexes to punish those coming after me.
Part of the problem being a built a balance of armor / str / dex / con / int and spell failure.
I'm actually ok with doing less damage overall, but i would want to hit things as power attack / Arcane Strike can (help) make up the difference. This led me to finesse weapons, keeping dex up, armor and spell failure down.
The elven curved blade caught my eye, and still does, but doesn't offer as much control and i would be a little worried about being directly next to an enemy. enlarge person (esp wands) do help fix this to some extent.
This lead me to polearms, alas spiked chain was changed and the only one that remains is the whip (please correct if i am wrong), which i immediately rebuked until i saw the feat chain for them. But what an expensive feat chain it would be!
This would lead to an overall path looking something like:
1-
power attack - (fighter - 1)
combat reflexes - (1st level)
3-
arcane strike - (EK - 1)
weapon finnese - (3rd Level)
5-
Exotic Weapon - whip (5th level)
7-
Weapon Focus (whip) (7th level)
8-
Whip Mastery (EK - 5)
9-
Improved Whip Mastery (9th level)
11-
Weapon Specialization (whip) (11th Level)
Greater Weapon Specialization (Whip) (EK 9)
Any suggestions? Is this viable? I would start off with a polearm/sword and switch to a whip at level 9. What i don't like about this are the essentially "dead" feat levels between 5-8. The advantage to that path too, damage dice become less important then the modifiers so by the time the whip comes into play the modifiers are decently high.
saving wealth on weapons wouldn't be too bad until the whip comes into play, a masterwork weapon with arcane strike with Greater Magic Weapon soon enough.
Could i be survivable enough with the just the curved blade? The whip part does look intriguing and fun though.
Well one ive been mulling around is an Aasimar(scion of humanity) picking up racial heritage orc and blending scarred witch doctor and either fighter or urban barb, though probably fighter. Go dervish build and dont slack on the constitution and you should (in theory) tank a little better.
where is racial heritage orc found?
its a human only feat in the APG. Aasimars can qualify with the scion of humanity alternate racial trait.
EDIT: and its just racial heritage, i was just specifying orc.
After looking into it, scion of humanity is certainly a trait i want to have. I want to be able to enlarge person myself!
Any other advice best as to how to make this work? Maybe i should just stick with the curveblade, but being directly in front line melee scares me. I could also ditch the whip feats and take feats to help with the curveblade as well.
Spell-like abilities do not help you qualify for EK - daylight doesn't cut it.
You need at least 5 spellcasting levels (or 6 if a sorc)
Might just try Magus, with emberkin racial heritage. Much of the same flavor.
Foxdie, I certainly understand.
My problem with that is now i need to worry about Str, then armor (and spell failure that goes along with it), while still keeping a decent ammount of dex.
Not sure of the best way to resolve that issue. (where is my 3.5 spiked chain... heh or ANY reach weapon with finesse.
I like the idea of the lucern hammer,
My current plan will probably be along the lines of:
Levels 1-2
Lucern Hammer / great axe
Levels 3-8
Lucern Hammer / Rapier
Levels 9-12
Whip
What i do not like about this build is takes so long to play how i would "want"
I could switch the feats around, go for whip first, but then i would be doing pathetic damage, this way my damage would actually be decent.
The FAQ has been updated to clarify that they do. You can enter EK at character level 3.Spell-like abilities do not help you qualify for EK - daylight doesn't cut it.
You need at least 5 spellcasting levels (or 6 if a sorc)Might just try Magus, with emberkin racial heritage. Much of the same flavor.
Dang! I assume you are referring to this FAQ
That's a really interesting choice on their part. I guess the eldritch knight is the only class with a real issue - skill ranks prevent too early of advancement by most other prestige classes.
A couple of ways to turn dex into damage (in place of strength)
Piranha strike - power attack without the the strength requirement; light weapons only.
Dervish dance - Dexterity 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar; use dex for damage when one-handed wielding a scimitar
Agile weapon enhancement - +1; use dex for damage; weapon finessable weapons only
So a +1 agile kukri starts to become a rather terrifying weapon (or, more disturbingly, a pair).
FWIW, my first PFS character is a Fighter 1/Transmuter 5/EK 6 - his solution to staying alive was to be an archer. He turned out pretty well, IMHO.