I'm in some serious need of direction. I'm really interested in the Knight of the Sepulcher archetype for my Antipaladin, someone please fill me in on the archetype. I'm also wondering if I should dip a level into Oracle for the Lore mystery. That way I can gain access to *Sidestep Secret (Su)which adds your Charisma modifier (instead of your Dexterity modifier) to your Armor Class and all Reflex saving throws. Your armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus applies to your Charisma instead of your Dexterity. I do know for a fact that I will be taking Leadership and I will definitely be the face of the party. Any advice you have throw at me.
Attributes (with Racial Modifier):
I haven't decided on a point build yet because I don't know the play style yet.
15 Point Buy
STR:
DEX:
CON:
INT:
WIS:
CHA:
20 Point Buy
STR:
DEX:
CON:
INT:
WIS:
CHA:
25 Point Buy
STR:
DEX:
CON:
INT:
WIS:
CHA:
Traits:
Feats/Class Choices:
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
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20:
What lvl will you start playing? Is it for a specific adventure path?
Starting at level 3 and the adventure path is a custom one.
I haven't gotten to the Prestige and Multiclassing section yet, but Knight of the Sepulcher gains you basically nothing as a Dhampir, as you are already healed by negative energy, and most of the Sepulcher's abilities involve replacing class abilities with augmented versions of that ability that you already have, and imo the vanilla antipaladin is a better class.
Dhampir favor the Dervish Route, taking Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance, while having high DEX for good stealth checks which actually matter to you.
Lerkz,
If you want solid advice, I recommend that you go to the Guide to the Guides and look for an Antipaladin guide. master_marshmallow has linked you to his as well, though you may search for a second opinion.
To answer your questions, the Knight of the Sepulcher archetype primarily grants you defensive capabilities, and it is not one to be ignored. As the face of the party, it doesn't specifically grant you any assistance to that end, and so you may want to stick with the standard Antipaladin, mostly due to the effects of their auras, which may serve you in your role as the party face.
I normally would recommend against the level dip into Oracle, but in this case, so long as you dump Dexterity, you'll be fine. The standard antipaladin can power-turtle well enough without the level dip, and your saving throws are already going to be quite high. At 3rd level, if you dip, your saving throws will be +7 Fort, +5 Ref, +7 Will with the recommended point buy for a 20 point build found here. If you do not dip, your saves are +5 Fort, +5 Ref, +4 Will. Not huge changes. With a complete Dexterity dump, your saves if you dip would be up around +7 Fort, +10 Ref, +9 Will.
Your base AC (before armour) if you dip will be 13/13Tch/10Fl, while your base AC if you don't is the same. You'd have to ditch Dexterity altogether to see any change, and you'd only get up to 15/15Tch/10Fl. It's not a huge boost, but respectable. Ranged attack rolls would suck, as would some of your skills, but it's a price you pay.
I wish you the best of luck in determining what you would like to do with your character. Best wishes!
Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated. Depending on whether or not I end up being the face of the party or not will determine which route I end up going. By the way thanks for informing about those guides, strongggg help. It's possible that I may end up being in the tank and if that's the case I will consider a new race for the Knight of the Sepulcher archetype. Otherwise I will role the standard antipaladin dhampir. Once I get it figured out I will post the build and if you guys could critique it that would be awesome. Do you guys have any suggestions for the Knight of the Sepulcher route?
Do you guys have any suggestions for the Knight of the Sepulcher route?
My only suggestion really is don't use it. I would rather see a human who burned a feat on Necromatic Affinity and was able to use all of his auras than see someone give up so much utility on one ability.
A Bones Oracle level dip would even be better imo for access to negative healing.
If party facing is really what you wanna do, then Human with Necromatic Affinity is where I would go, if for nothing else, for the extra skill point per level.
Best trait to pick up is Extremely Fashionable, as it gives you a +1 on Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate, and lets you pick up Diplomacy as a class skill. All 3 of these are important for party facing, as is Sense Motive. And that doesn't even include other skills useful to non party face roles like stealth, knowledge, and spellcraft.
Tieflings (pitborn) take a negative on INT and would make bad party faces because of it, but amazing tanks considering the favored class bonus, and even more so if your DM lets you swap out your SLA in favor of option 49 (healing by negative energy).
If you can get some more info on the rules set by the DM on aspects of character building we would be able to help you more.
If you can get some more info on the rules set by the DM on aspects of character building we would be able to help you more.
He basically leaves it entirely to us, he's not much of a nazi when it comes to building characters. Not really any restrictions or anything. I do know that we will be doing either the 20 or 25 point buy. Right now I'm having a problem deciding on my race, although I do like the idea of dipping bone oracle as human. But I'm pretty sure he would let me swap out the SLA if I were to play a Tiefling. I'm probably just going to end up following your guide.
Depending on weapon choice, I would say go STR based, two handed weapon style. Power Attack and Channel Smite are the really important feats to pick up as far as DPR is concerned. Intimidating Prowess, Cornugon Smash, and Dreadful Carnage are also good battlefield controlling feats.
The Lord of Darkness archetype is the way to go. It's also my personal favorite because it's the most similar one to the D&D 1e Antipaladin like I played when I first got into RPGs.