Have a Paladin in one of my groups, saw how devastating Smite could be. Saw posts on here for Smiting at a distance and, of course, recently watched the Avengers so I decided to try my hand at a Captain America build.
This is my replacement character. For the game I intend to put him in we roll the stats, get one trait and characters come in at -1 wealth per level. We're allowed to use most of the Pathfinder Books and no 3.5.
Here's the Build
Human Oathbound Paladin of Vengeance
Trait: Family Heirloom (Throwing Shield)
Stat:
Str 17 (+2 Racial) = 19
Dex 14
Con 16
Wis 14
Int 9
Cha 17
Feats/Stat Bonus:
1. Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot (Human)
3. Weapon Focus (Throwing Shield)
4. Str+1
5. Dodge
7. Close Quarter's Thrower
8. Cha+1
9. Deadly Aim
11. Distance Thrower
Relevant Treasure/Items:
Throwing Shield with Distance and Seeking
Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling
Spiked Gauntlet
I didn't take the Divine Hunter Archtype because I wanted convert my Lay on Hands to more Smite with the Oath of Vengeance more.
I want to smite, and smite a lot. I have the spiked gauntlet so that I can have a free hand for removing and throwing my shield and still count as armed for the purposes of threatening and flanking when engaged in melee.
Now my questions:
1. Close Quarter's Thrower allows me to throw my shield and not provoke an attack of opportunity. Can I throw my shield at someone right next to me and still get the bonus to damage from Deadly Aim and similar feats?
2. At level 11 what is the range I can throw the shield before I start incurring distance penalties? By my calculations:
Base 20 x 2 (Distance) = 40 + 10 (Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling) = 50 + 50 (Distance Thrower) = 100 ft.
3. Anything else I'm missing or any changes/suggestions?
No called special ability? That way as a swift action you can get it back.
The Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling gives it the Returning property; so it's already back in my hand after a full round of attacks. It also allows my to use Strength for damage and Hit, so I don't have to pump up the Dexterity for my accuracy.
The Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling gives it the Returning property; so it's already back in my hand after a full round of attacks.
You need to be careful with the Returning Weapon Property. The weapon doesn't fly back to you until just before the start of your next turn, so you throw the shield once and it's out of your hands for the rest of your current turn. Also, the shield only flies back to the square you were in when you threw it, so if you move after throwing it, it won't come back to you.
What you want for a throwing build is a Blinkback Belt and Quick Draw, though then you won't be able to use Strength to hit while throwing. Maybe talk to your GM about combining the effects on to one item (and increasing the price appropriately).
Thank you Honorable Goblin, that's the catch I was looking for...I knew there had to be a big one.
Thank you Desolate Harmony. I looked at the Captain Andoran Builds and did end up adding two levels of Monk and Equipment Trick. Plus it made my fist a weapon so that he can flank and it can be used with his full attacks. I also gained the ability to Ricochet the shield which was one of the things I was looking for.
One Ranged Attack per Round with Strength to Hit
or
Full Attack with Dex to Hit (I have a good Dex due to my high rolls and with Smite it's not so bad)
Still a tough choice.
Well; that certainly changed everything.
Paladin 9 / Monk 1
Trait: Family Heirloom (Throwing Shield)
Stats:
Str 17
Dex 17 (+2 Racial) = 19
Con 14
Int 9
Wis 14
Cha 16
Feats:
1Pal1 Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2Mnk1 Dodge
3Pal2 Quick Draw
4Pal3
5Pal4 Weapon Focus (Throwing Shield)
6Pal5
7Pal6 Close Quarter's Thrower
8Pal7
9Pal8 Deadly Aim
10Pal9
11Pal10 Distance Thrower
Relevant Treasure/Items
Throwing Distance, Seeking Light Steel Quickdraw Shield +1/+1
Blinkback Belt
Less damage and accuracy as I no longer have a belt that adds to my core stats. It no longer adds 10 to the range increment either so the farthest I can throw it is 80 ft. I should be staying in the 30 ft range anyway so not so bad.
I only take a single level of Monk for the Unarmed Strike and the Dodge bonus feat. I decided to not take the Throw Anything and Equipment Trick as the only thing that would give me now is the ability to Ricochet the shield around stuff. Cool but situational.
The upside? Full attack with the shield and the ability to don it again afterwards to take advantage of the shield bonus because I now use a Quick Draw shield. From what I can tell it still does 1d6 damage regardless of whether it's a light or heavy shield.
Thanks for all your help guys :)
In looking at this in further detail it looks like Family Heirloom may not get you the proficiency in the Throwing Shield as it is an Exotic Weapon. Am I missing something or would you need to take Exotic Weapon Proficiency to get over the -4 penalty?
You didn't miss anything. The fluff text mentions simple or martial, the actual Trait doesn't. Flurry of Arrows is still something I don't want, so no Zen Archer...but that means losing stunning fist which might have come in handy...
OK never mind....when was I going to use Flurry of Blows anyway, right?
Paladin 9 / Monk 2
Archtype: Zen Archer
Stats:
Str 17
Dex 17 (+2 Racial) = 19
Con 14
Int 9
Wis 14
Cha 16
Feats:
1Pal1 Point Blank Shot, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Throwing Shield)
2Mnk1 Dodge, Perfect Strike
3Mnk2 Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Throwing Shield)
4Pal2
5Pal3 Quickdraw
6Pal4
7Pal5 Close Quarter's Thrower
8Pal6
9Pal7 Deadly Aim
10Pal8
11Pal9 Distance Thrower
Relevant Treasure/Items
Throwing Distance, Seeking Light Steel Quickdraw Shield +1/+1
Blinkback Belt