Increase Unarmed Damage and not a Monk

[Rok the Shigenjo]

The question is in the title. I am a battle Shigenjo and I weapon mastery in my claws along with feral training, yet I am afraid it will not increase much from 1d3+3 which I am doing now as a level two. I would get monk robes but that won't till be for much later due to how expensive it is. How do I fix this problem without switching to a different weapon?

Also note this is for PFS.

[supervillan]

If you have Feral Combat Training you might benefit from Brawling armour but you can't afford that till level 4 or 5. If you do have FCT then you also have Improved Unarmed Strike and could take style feats like Dragon Style or Boar Style to improve damage.

If you have good Strength use power attack or if you have good dex use weapon finesse and Piranha Strike.

Static damage boosts are generally better than bigger damage dice.

[Rok the Shigenjo]

I can't take Dragon style but I was thinking Boar Style. Would any other style benefit me like Tiger?

[Deadmanwalking]

Barbarians have a Rage Power that ups Unarmed damage to 1d6 while they're raging, and Ninjas have an unarmed damage booster as well, but only at level 10...but there's not really a Feat or anything like that that ups damage dice.

But really, don't worry too much about it. damage dice become less and less important as compared to static damage enhancers as you rise in level (and the style Feats mentioned definitely work for that). Power Attack is also an excellent damage enhancer, and is highly recommended.

[Rok the Shigenjo]

So whats the best way to increase static damage?

[Deadmanwalking]

Rok the Shigenjo wrote:

So whats the best way to increase static damage?

Well, Power Attack, as mentioned, various buff spells (Divine Favor is great for a 1st level spell at 6th level plus, and there are many higher level ones), and an Amulet of Mighty Fists all leap to mind immediately, as does the Brawling armor mentioned earlier.

[Imbicatus]

Power Attack or Piranha Strike. Spells are good, Divine Favor is nice at low level and scales, Divine Power is better. Amulet of Mighty fists.

[Imbicatus]

Deliquescent Gloves also, they are good for an extra 1-6 acid on all melee attacks including your claws.

[Rok the Shigenjo]

Thank you very much for the suggestions!

[Mauril]

If your GM approves, you might also consider investing a feat in Improved Natural Attack, but the boost from 1d3 to 1d4 is almost definitely not worth a feat. However, enlarge person combined with INA gets you to 1d6 and might be worth it to you, if you have easy consistent access to the spell.

Otherwise, just pile on static damage. Amulet of Mighty Fists for static bonuses are good.

[Scott Wilhelm]

How about a little dip in monk?

3 levels in Monk, when you get Still Mind, you can take the Monastic Legacy feat, by which 1/2 your nonmonk levels will count as Monk levels for the purposes of increasing damage. That will mean you will go up to 1d8 by level 5 and 1d10 by level 13 (for Medium sized Monks).

There is the Ranger Spell Strong Jaw which bumps up your damage as if it were 2 sizes bigger.

There is Weapon Specialization, of course. There is the Amulet of Mighty Fists. There is the Belt of Giant Strength. There is Fighter Weapon Training.

It might be hard to swing this, but not impossible for non Tieflings, but there are the feats Moonlignt Stalker and Nightmare Fist, +2 damage each.

You could learn Quick, Great Dirty Trick to Blind your opponents, and then take levels in things that give you Sneak Attack.

I'm just brainstorming on this one, but if you have claws, and you gain the Vestigial Arm Alchemist Discovery, won't your new arm have claws, too? It says the new arm can use a weapon but won't give you an extra attack. But 2 claws, 3 claws, 1 claw, 4 claws they are all just 1 natural attack, right? Ask your DM. 1 level in Alchemist will give you the mutagen which you can use to give yourself +4 Strength which stacks with the Belt of Giant Strength (1 is Alchemal and the other is Enhancement).

If you take Hamatula Strike, and if your claws do piercing damage, then you can you can get a grapple with every strike. If you are wearing armor spikes, that means an extra 1d6 with every hit.

1 level in Inquisitor will give you the Judgment ability, which gives a damage bonus. 3 levels will give you a bonus Teamwork Feat, maybe Precise Strike, an extra 1d6 Precision Damage, 5 levels will give you Bane on one of your weapons.

[Zhayne]

If your GM is amenable to 3e material, check out the Superior Unarmed Strike feat.

http://dndtools.eu/feats/tome-of-battle-the-book-of-nine-swords--88/superio r-unarmed-strike--2844/

[Scott Wilhelm]

I wrote,
"I'm just brainstorming on this one, but if you have claws, and you gain the Vestigial Arm Alchemist Discovery, won't your new arm have claws, too? It says the new arm can use a weapon but won't give you an extra attack. But 2 claws, 3 claws, 1 claw, 4 claws they are all just 1 natural attack, right? Ask your DM. 1 level in Alchemist will give you the mutagen which you can use to give yourself +4 Strength which stacks with the Belt of Giant Strength (1 is Alchemal and the other is Enhancement)."

Nope, that won't work. I still like the idea, though.

http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fz#v5748eaic9rc5

[Rok the Shigenjo]

Some of these ideas may not work due to the fact that this is a PFS character. I am currently trying to get Snake Style so I can use peircing on my claws and use sense motive for AC.

[Scott Wilhelm]

I like Snake Style for PFS. I get it by taking 2 levels in Monk. Take the Archetype Master of Many Styles. I like to take Snake Style as my Monk bonus feat at level 1 Monk. Then take Snake Fang as my bonus feat for level 2 Monk. I like to take Combat Reflexes. Masters of Many Styles don't get Flurry of Blows, anyway, so you can use armor and wear a shield without much penalty.

You can take Improved Natural Attack for a PFS character if you do it as a Ranger taking the natural weapons combat style. You can get the feat at level Ranger. The Freebooter Ranger Archetype has a very flexible Favored Enemy option.