fighter dip for inquisitor??

[dwayne germaine]

I am making a human inquisitor (conversion inquisition) of Asmodeus for PFS and I'm having a bit of a problem deciding if I should keep him straight up inquisitor or dip into fighter for first level.

I like the idea of a fighter level to start for heavy armor proficiency, martial weapon proficiency, defender of the society trait, and being able to start with the weapon focus and dazzling display feats right off the bat, but I usually stick to single class characters and have an aversion to cross classing. I also don't like the idea of having to wait until 5th level to use dazzling display, and then ninth to get cornugon smash.

Is a single level dip into fighter with an inquisitor going to pay off or will I regret it?

[Gilarius]

For PFS where you can only reach 12th level you are probably better off sticking with inquisitor. If you want to be better at fighting, then why play an inquisitor at all?

[Mysterious Stranger]

Don’t dip with an inquisitor you give up more than you gain. Instead of using dazzling display look at the spell Blistering Invective. It only takes a standard action instead of a full round action and does some minor damage as well, and can cause the target to catch on fire. This means you also do not have to take weapon focus so save a feat. Weapon focus is not a bad feat, but an inquisitor does not really need it.

Too many of the inquisitors class features are level dependent to make dipping worthwhile. I would rather have bane at 5th level than dazzling display any day. As for the heavy armor that also interferes with Stalwart.

[nate lange]

i'll give a minority opinion... i think it depends on what you want to do, and how you want to do it. a 1 level fighter dip will make you a better melee combatant than a straight inquisitor, pretty much always (with the possible exception of right at 5th when a straight inquisitor has bane and you don't), but you will be a level behind on spells and when judgments improve. if you want to be primarily be a melee combatant take the dip. though, it is a better prospect for some races than others... dwarves, for example, gain a bunch of good exotic weapon proficiencies from it (thanks to their weapon familiarity) and can use heavy armor prof. to wear mithril fullplate (which doesn't slow them down and doesn't interfere with stalwart); humans don't gain quite as much (though you could take adoptive parents[dwarf] for the sweet exotic weapons)

[XMorsX]

You have a better deal if you dip two lvls of standard bearer honor guard cavalier with order of the cockatrice for dazzling display.

However I recommend to avoid it, you have no special need for dazzling display as already mentioned. I suggest going at least inquisitor 5, then dipping 4 lvls in weapon master fighter for the feats and the weapon training + gloves of dueling. Then continue with inquisitor and you will still have second judgement as a capstone.

If you go 12 lvls of Inquisitor you will access your great class features faster and you will have greater bane as a capstone.

If you start as a fighter, go weapon master 4 / inquisitor 8. You will delay your class features anyway, you might as well make the most out of the fighter dip.

I would probably prefer the inquisitor 5 / weapon master 4 / inquisitor 3 build.

You can still take advantage of stalwart with a mithral full-plate. It is expensive though, as gloves of dueling are. This is why the fighter dip is better at higher lvls.

[Drogos]

I dipped one level on my inquisitor, but really only for the heavy armor prof and to get precise shot at level 3. Stalwart comes at the end of a pfs career, so I wasn't too worried about it. I agree though that the dazzling display choice is sub optimal. As an inquisitor, blistering invective is a much better option. On my barbarian with dazzling display, I think I've used it twice cause that full round action is a killer and the only times I've used it is when I basically had no other option, which is always a bad place to be. Unless you are a melee inquisitor, the dip isn't really worth it, and even if you are, I would not do it until after 5 inquisitor levels. Bane plus judgment is a game changer for an inquisitor.

[Deylinarr]

For my RL game melee inquisitor I did a 2 level ftr dip for the bonus feats/armor/hp/etc. He's the 'big gun' in the party so having those extra things up front was a very powerful advantage.

BUT after finally hitting Ftr2/Inq5 and getting Bane, I do wish I'd gotten it earlier because it is without doubt a game changer.

If you are going to dip, feats like Judgment Surge and Extra Bane can help you mitigate some of the disadvantages of the dip as well.

[Mage Evolving]

I would stick with a pure inquisitor. The things you gain are not worth what you are losing in terms of spells, abilities, skills, bonuses.

[cnetarian]

I agree with Drogos, better to get the signature abilities from one class (judgement & bane) before dipping because they add so much to the class. I'm not certain I'd go for 4 levels of weapon master as Mors suggests (but the weapons specialization feat, weapon training with gloves of dueling as well as 3 bonus feats for the feat starved inquisitor is very tempting). As for the capstones they aren't an issue, greater bane hits so late in the game that it isn't much of a factor and stalwart is useless if you are in heavy armor, which is why you want to take the fighter level. Taking the dip after level 5 does raise the character level before getting 2nd judgement, spells, and judgement3-4/day lowers the rate of progression on judgements but none of those are "game changers" (2nd judgement is awfully nice though).

[Renegadeshepherd]

Ah the age old question... Answer is dont dip unless u want both tower shield AnD heavy for ur combat. At that point it's wise to ask y u want to be an inquisitor but some characters that use sword and really big board can justify it. Otherwise straight inquisitor.