Please help critique a reference Samurai build


Advice


Here is a rough draft of my Reference Samurai build that I hope to contribute to the Guide to the Builds. My idea was to build a very standard Samurai (Human, Order of the Warrior) and show how the class features might work together in practice instead of giving an optimized build.

Any advice is welcome, especially from those that have actually played a Samurai. Comments from actual experience with a high level Samurai are more likely to make it into the guide.

Reference Samurai build


One quick note as I give this a glance: I think your color-coding of Intimidate and Mobility chains is the opposite of what you said it is.

Thanks for this.

-Red


Redblade8 wrote:

One quick note as I give this a glance: I think your color-coding of Intimidate and Mobility chains is the opposite of what you said it is.

Thanks for this.

-Red

Thanks - I've made the fix. I've been running the numbers and am finding that while the base Intimidate build is probably sufficient for CR=APL or CR=APL+1 encounters I don't think the Intimidate modifier is enough to reliably hit CR=APL+3 encounters. Still thinking about what to do about that, either take out the intimidate chain or buttress it with something else.


Another thing I just caught, you mention picking up Weapon Specialization in your 8th level writeup, but it's not in your listed feats. Older version of he build, maybe?

-Red


Redblade8 wrote:

Another thing I just caught, you mention picking up Weapon Specialization in your 8th level writeup, but it's not in your listed feats. Older version of he build, maybe?

-Red

Thanks again - the build I played had weapon specialization but in the end I didn't think the two extra damage was worth spending a feat on.


i really like expertise > stalwart tree for Samurai.
Also pin down the best feat a fighter only feat can have....


Nice, because, if I were forced into playing a no-spells full-BAB martial without multiclassing, I'd pick a straight samurai over a straight fighter any day. They're a lot of fun.

In no particular order of emphasis....

* Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue/Violet is the standard worst->best guide color scheme.

* Class guides in general rate the applicability of various mechanics to the strength of the class. While one or more individual builds may appear in them as supplementals, they do not consist almost entirely of one build.

* All of your recommended point-buy distributions have an 8 in charisma and full-plate-bound low dexterity. This is a waste of 2 build points (Cha7>8); charisma should scrape the rocks every time in a straight-class samurai build, with traits employed to repurpose desired social skills to other attributes. My favorite one-dump 20pt arrays are 15,15,14,14,12,7 and 15,14,14,14,12,7. (I ran a dex-rage barbarian multiclass samurai TWF crit-fisher with the 17,14,12,12,12,12 array once.)

* IMO overemphasis on high strength and taking Power Attack very early (1st-level in this case, with ameliorating Furious Focus accompanying it.

* Your mount will not survive without Mounted Combat, and Indomitable Mount is also recommended.

* Given a dismounted move of 20' in plate, the Spring Attack chain isn't viable.

* Samurai do not receive the base cavalier's ACP=0 while mounted gimmick, and have very nice Eastern armor applicable to higher dexterities (especially in campaigns, such as PFS, where breastplate+kilt is not an option). Therefore, dexterity is best put to 14 and even higher at 20pt-buy and above.

* Archery should be green, perhaps even blue in cash-rich games in which a Daikyu of Commanding Presence can be picked up earlier. This dovetails nicely with moving dexterity up to a second-tier attribute in order to accommodate better eastern armors.

* Reach weapon fighting quickly becomes a "blue" tactic with an opalescent white pyramid ioun for Fauchard, and with the Accelerated Drinker trait putting Enlarge Person potions down the hatch as a move action. Again, this dovetails nicely with decent dexterity (Combat Reflexes) and fat numeric Challenge bonuses to damage in a high threat-range weapon. (A samurai's Resolve ability replenishes when he drops a Challenged opponent, so thwapping them with AoOs is an ideal means of making them dead faster.)

* Among the several reason listed above not to shirk dexterity, Ride is a dex skill, and fuels both Mounted Combat and Indomitable Mount.
_____

Example:

STR+17 (bump 4th, 12th)
DEX: 15 (bump 8th)
CON: 14 (human, 15,15,14,14,12,7 20pt array)
INT: 10
WIS:14
CHA: 7

1. Combat Reflexes, Mounted Combat

...armor (initial): scale
...weapons (initial): bardiche, lance, club, sap, sling. (Don't buy swords until you can afford masterwork special-materials. You'll pick up nonmasterwork weapons from deceased dummies who runs through your threatened zone.)

* With mount, you have an outdoors move of 50', up to four attacks and four AoOs, and a +1 higher-ground attack bonus at 1st level.

Equipment bucket list: Mithral or Noqual tatami-do, opalescent white pyramid ioun (fauchard), Fortuitous/Keen cold-iron Fauchard, Diakyo of Commanding Presence. adamantine katana, wakizashis (pair), horseshoes of speed


Note the dates. This thread is 5 years old, the author hasn't posted on Paizo's forums in over 3 years. Feedback isn't going to be useful.


Well....dangnabbitty.

Carry on, then.

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