CryptBreaker Alchemist for Carrion Crown. Viable?

[ArmouredMonk13]

Hello all!

For a character in Carrion Crown that I recently learned will be the only way to deal with traps and the only source of AoE damage, I thought CryptBreaker might be nice. Only issue is that unless you are certainly going to fight undead and/or constructs, you probably are going to spend a bunch of resources or suck [no mutagen, lower bomb damage, no brew potion, no persistent mutagen].

So, I was wondering, could a CryptBreaker alchemist be viable in Carrion Crown? Probably would be a switch-hitter alchemist, using ranged bombs and Feral Mutagen tripping for main combat styles, so it wouldn't need to be a bomb-focused character.

[Dragonchess Player]

As Carrion Crown has a gothic horror theme, a cryptbreaker alchemist (a member/potential member of the Palantine Eye?) can fit in fairly well. There will be instances where using one of your discoveries to gain Mutagen (in addition to the Cryptbreaker Draught) will come in handy, though. As long as one of the other party members is strong in ranged combat and another can provide some battlefield control, the limited AoE damage is probably survivable.

[Insain Dragoon]

No spoilers.

Almost everything you fight are undead or constructs.

[ArmouredMonk13]

What might be a good way to go for a switch-hitter Cryptbreaker? There is a lot of emphasis on going either all melee or all range, but how well could a more general build function?

Also, could trip-focusing be good? I kinda want to go for it because of an idea that we had to try and get as many people in the party to get Greater Trip and Combat Reflexes to try and maximize tripping potential, but I don't know if an alchemist could do this well.

[XMorsX]

CryptBreaker indeed seems fitting, but it limits its area of expertise too much without having particularly interesting abilites.

That, and the fact that the best controller alchemist makes heavy use of mutagens, makes me hesitant to suggest the archetype. Also, Alchemists greatly benefit from natural attacks, so the Beastmorph archetype is preferred. The fact that eventually grants Pounce is just gravy.

The Trap Finder trait is all you need for traps.

[Mystically Inclined]

If any AP was appropriate for a Crypt Breaker, it would be Carrion Crown. With that said, there are enough non-undead things in it to challenge you. I think the class would be viable the whole way through, but if you want to excel then you are right not to depend on using bombs the whole time.

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

The Carrion Crown AP and the Ustalav setting in general are both quite hospitable to alchemists. An alchemist with a connection to Osirion would be especially well suited to the adventure, whether he’s an Ustalavic scholar of that nation, an archeologist of the sands, or a native Osirion come to visit old friends and associates in Ustalav.

And yes, Alkahest bombs will be extremely useful in many encounters, and if you go Crypt Breaker I’d recommend going with a full-on rapid shot bomb-dropping machine, with archery as your back-up plan. It’s not an archetype well suited to switch hitting, however. For that you’d probably want Beastmorph.

[Mystically Inclined]

Keep Calm and Carrion, that is one of the best names I have yet to see on these forums. Awesome!

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

Thanks! But I kind of wish I could go back in time and choose “Carrion My Wayward Son”--credit to shadowlodgemember for that genius pun.