After taking a break from Pathfinder due to my playing group leaving school and my car going to the parking lot in the sky I'm looking to get back into the game and hopefully find a local GM or do the online society events that have been popping up on these forums lately.
The character was inspired by the likes of Prince Oberyn from GoT and Lancer from Fate/Zero. Someone who, instead of being a big stupid fighter, is an agile combatant able to stay out of harms way due to the reach of their preferred weapon.
Favored Class: Fighter (Loremaster)
*As of Level 1
Str 18
Dex 13
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 10
Cha 10
HP: 14
AC: 18
Base Movement: 40 ft
Traits: World Traveler, Weathered Emissery
Level 1 Barbarian 1 Power Attack, Dodge
Level 2 Loremaster 1 Mobility
Level 3 Loremaster 2 Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus Guisarme
Level 4 Loremaster 3 Maneuver Mastery, Spring Attack, +1 Int
Level 5 Loremaster 4 Improved Trip, Weapon Specialization Guisarme
Level 6 Loremaster 5 Weapon Training Polearms
Level 7 Loremaster 6 Bravey +1,Greater Trip, Lunge
Level 8 Loremaster 7 Know Thy Enemy, +1 Str
Level 9 Loremaster 8 Dazzling Display, Shatter Defenses
Level 10 Loremaster 9 Weapon Training Bows
Level 11 Loremaster 10 Bravery +2, Deadly Stroke, Iron Will
Level 12 Loremaster 11 Hair's Breadth, +1 Str
I didn't plan past 12 as society ends there and I have yet to be in a campaign where we go any further than the early teens as PC's power levels just get ridiculous by then. So is there anything that should be done differently with this build? The Deadly Stroke feat chain seems very enticing but I just wonder if it'll even be worth picking up the first 2 feats so late into the game. As for skills obviously I'll try to spread the love between the Knowledges since this'll be a Lore Warden, Perception is always important, and otherwise I'll focus on Intimidate or Acrobatics to help out the capstone abilities when the time comes. As I said in the title comments and criticisms are more than welcome since this is the 1st time I've made a fighter who isn't just big and stupid.
I've mentioned this a couple times in threads where people are looking to build Oberyn -
I'd do it by going Phalnax Fighter 3/Swashbuckler X
Swashbuckler being one of the new classes in the upcoming Advanced Class guide.
You couldn't use a Guisarme but there are several other polearms that do piercing damage to choose from, and by using a buckler you make the polearms one-handed weapons.
Combat Exertise requires 13 intelligence, and in the build provided you take the feat before you meet that requirement (it appears you attempt to meet the requirement the level after you take Combat Expertise).
Other then that, the build is sound. I'm not a huge fan of Spring Attack in general but pairing it up with Improved Trip makes it a lot more attractive. Maybe instead of the Shatter Defenses line you could instead explore Combat Patrol, that seems very in line with the kind of skirmisher-build you are aiming for and syngerizes well with any reach weapon.
You actually get the feat for free from the lore warden class at level 2. Also thank you fir the quick responses everyone. I am currently at work but once I get home I'll post a revised build taking into account the suggestions you guys made. I may be swapping some of the ability scores around to.
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Are you willing to increase your dex via a dump stat, in this case cha? Are you locked into the lore warden route? You can do some wicked fun things if you consider going at it a different way...
My retiring half elf pole fighter was an alchemist 4/fighter 8 so it is a little bit different, but he destroyed pretty much every PFS scenario he was in, certainly after level 6 when all the synergy started to work. I did an alchemist based build for access to enlarge, alchemical allocation to break wealth by level in terms of consumables (only need to buy the potions and elixirs once for permanent access to buffs), and the ability to use smoke bombs in conjunction with scent and blind fight to allow for strategic bonuses via sight based debuffs.
I will give you his rundown below at level 12:
str 22, dex 18, con 14, int 14, wis 12, cha 7
Base defenses before buffs - ac 29, touch 17, flat footed 25, self buffed ac 35. +1 ac v AoO
Base saves - fort 14, ref 13, will 9 (clear spindle ioun stone socketed into wayfinder to overcome compulsion effects), immune to sleep, +2 v poison, +2 v enchantments, +1 v fear/confusion
Base atk mod 17, range 15, cmb 17, cmd 34 - buffed cmd vs trip 41, cmd vs disarm 38
Attack line self buffed without flank was +22/+14 (inclusive of power attack, he always power attacks) and hits for 2d8+29, crits for 6d8+87. He threatens out to 15 feet when enlarged but can shorten grip to hit close up with a penalty if needed. +2 to hit on AoO and readied actions (most of his attacks).
Feats - blind fighting, combat expertise, combat reflexes, extra bombs, felling smash, furious focus, fury's fall, greater trip, improved trip, power attack, shorten grip, throw anything, weapon focus horsechopper, weapon specialization horsechopper- next feat in chain will be greater blind fight if he ever does EoTT
Gear - 4/4 con/str belt, feather step slippers, amulet of nat armor 2, ring of prot 2, ring of evasion, cloak of resist 3, horsechopper +3, mithral breastplate +4, cash on hand to enchant chopper with dueling property (PSFG version) but never did out of respect for my GMs, he already has the local title Demoralizer after all. ***Important to note, this character has the Master of Trade faction bonus but has not been played since the retcon/clarification on how it works, he might need to lower this armor enchantment by one level, I am too lazy to redo all that math unless he is going to play again***
Had I chosen to go with the PSFG dueling enchantment, with flank I could hit a trip over 60 (64 to be exact) with this build, ignore 25% of crits on myself, and can fly, see invisible, go invisible, apply heroism, enlarge, shield, stone skin, and ignore 100 points of elemental damage as needed. I have some difficult to acquire scenario and module boons, as well as some no longer available convention boons to get the numbers that high and allow for some of those self buffs, not going to give a full list of them as there is some contention over that on the boards (simply pointing that out for those trying to math this all out). You could still make this character but the bonus to trip would be lower.
This build is three years old, there might be something more efficient now, but my old VC kindly asked me to consider not bringing him to open PFS events any more due to trivializing encounters because of the stat scaling, it made for some party imbalance.
Maybe there are some gems in there for you to consider? At any rate, people say trip fighters can be one sided, but I would gladly play this guy up from level 1 all over again if I ever needed to... combat control trip builds are in my experience quite awesome in PFS. I like your mobile concept, I feel that I achieved similar results via enlarge and was able to hit harder at the same time, not knowing the reference to the characters you posted I don't know if that would meet your character concept needs. NOG is not a genius, but his tactical acumen swayed many a battle and he stood ground that many fighters would have relinquished. Either way, dive in at it!
Alright a few things before I post the edited build.
1: I meant the Lore Warden fighter archetype. I'm not sure why I called it Lore Master but I apologize for any confusion.
2: I am a player who tries to avoid any stat below 10 so this is even further into new territory for me.
3: Once again I appreciate all of the comments and advice you guys have provided. I have certainly gotten rusty at build since the group I played with has broken apart.
Favored Class: Fighter (Lore Warden)
*As of Level 1
Str 18 [4]
Dex 14 [2]
Con 14 [2]
Int 12 [1]
Wis 10 [0]
Cha 8 [-1]
HP: 14
AC: 18
Base Movement: 40 ft
Traits: Armor Expert, Indomitable Faith
Level 1 Barbarian 1 Power Attack, Combat Reflexes
Level 2 Lore Warden 1 Iron Will
Level 3 Lore Warden 2 Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus Guisarme
Level 4 Lore Warden 3 Maneuver Mastery, , +1 Int
Level 5 Lore Warden 4 Improved Trip, Weapon Specialization Guisarme
Level 6 Lore Warden 5 Weapon Training Polearms
Level 7 Lore Warden 6 Bravey +1, Dodge, Lunge
Level 8 Lore Warden 7 Know Thy Enemy, +1 Str
Level 9 Lore Warden 8 Mobility, Combat Patrol
Level 10 Lore Warden 9 Weapon Training Bows
Level 11 Lore Warden 10 Bravery +2, Greater Trip, Disorienting Maneuver
Level 12 Lore Warden 11 Hair's Breadth, +1 Str
So with this new build the character will be advancing (at a pretty even rate) between Trip Maneuvers and Attacks of Opportunity. The big thing that I'm considering swapping around the Weapon Focus/ Specialization feats for Dodge/ Mobility so I can get Combat Patrol sooner. Thoughts? I'd be giving up only points of damage per hit but those 2 points can add up.
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I have not used combat patrol, but it seems like a bit of a trap feat to me. A savvy monster would likely fall for it once, and then you would be wasting full round actions waiting for them to spring the trap a second time.
I would be interested in hearing from someone that has used it a lot how frequently they are able to make use of it as I have been tempted by it myself, but I generally shy away from things that take full round actions... in most cases I am charging, power attacking, using my free trip attempt, and then taking my aoo (and giving one to everyone else in range) or full attacking... rarely do I find it useful to sit back and hope things come to me to aoo them.
With fighter damage output it seems to me that missing even one round of full attacks and allowing casters to throw spells at the party can be disastrous.
My living monolith could really have fun with that feat though if it proves to work consistently in games!
I'm not a huge fan of Weapon Focus, especially for a martial who's fully invested in his primary attribute. But Weapon Specalization is the reason to play a Fighter, so I can't disagree with taking those feats first.
And you wont even notice the negative charisma, and if you can be convinced I'd even take it to a seven. I've found that by moving to a point buy system and actually accepting negative stats that those tend to be the most memorable aspects of a character (nobody really caares that a Wizard was really smart but they'll remember that he was an unfriendly scrooge with a constant scrowl across his face). It can be a big part of how you approach the character and can bring a lot to the roleplaying at a board.
Pouring through the feats there's a few I feel quite silly for missing and could compliment this build nicely I think.
Felling Smash *On a Power Attack I can choose to make a single attack and if it connects I can make a Trip maneuver as a swift action.
Furious Focus *Was going to ignore this but the synergy with Felling Smash is too good not to be acknowledged.
Disrupter *From what I've been hearing it sounds like spell casters are the big source of TPKs in Society play so if I can make it harder for them to cast their spells I'm not seeing any downsides.
Dazing Assault *A very impressive capstone that, up until now I've been ignoring for the end of feat chains.
What do you think Pyralisa? I've never used combat patrol and the few society missions I've played aren't the most open of encounters so I'm somewhat doubtful I'd need a 20 foot threat range.
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Combat patrol is an amazing tanking feat, it's great for defensive builds and for demolishing casters. When used in conjunction with teleport Tactician you can lock down demons devils and high level casters once they enter into you threatened space. For a pole arm fighter is a brutal combo, just be sure to max you movement speed and take lunge to capitalize on you mobility provoking radius.