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Okay... okay. So I have seen all the hate for the TWF Inquisitor, with people saying that the Bane ability is too inefficient when it is placed on two weapons. I admit that it does run out, much more quickly than if it was only on one weapon. However, Bane is not the only piece of an Inquisitor used to make a viable Martial build. Thus I would like to present a TWF Inquisitor I have built. I personally think it is a rather decent character, who can hold his own in melee. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to improve him, but please keep needless TWF hate out of here. The build is based off of Kirito, from the anime Sword Art Online.
Kazuto Kirigaya CR 10
Male Human Inquisitor (Zeal Inquisition) 10
CG Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +11; Senses Perception +18
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DEFENSE
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AC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 17. . (+7 armor, +6 Dex)
hp 65 (10d8+20)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +12
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OFFENSE
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 Agile Shortsword +18/+13 (1d6+12/19-20/x2) and
. . +2 Agile Shortsword +18/+13 (1d6+12/19-20/x2
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STATISTICS
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Str 10, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 8
Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 23
Feats Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Extended Bane, Extra Bane, Double Bane, Weapon Finesse, Outflank, Precise Strike, Paired Opportunists
Traits Heirloom Weapon (Proficiency in Shortswords), World Traveler
Skills Acrobatics +16, Diplomacy +12, Disable Device +7, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (Arcana) +11, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +11, Knowledge (Local) +12, Knowledge (Nature) +11, Knowledge (Planes) +11, Knowledge (Religion) +11, Perception +18, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +13, Survival +15, Use Magic Device +0
Languages Common, Tian
Combat Gear +2 Agile Shortsword (2), +1 Mithril Breastplate; Other Gear +2 Belt of Incredible Dexterity, +4 Headband of Inspired Wisdom
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Zealous Surge - Once per day, when you are reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, you heal a number of hit points equal to your inquisitor level + your Wisdom modifier. This equates to 15 HP once per day.
Scourge of the Enemy - You treat members of this religion ( My selected religion is no religion. If you are non-religious, you are my enemy ) as if they were your favored enemy (as the ranger class ability), gaining a +2 bonus on the appropriate rolls. At 13th level, these bonuses increase to +4, and at 18th level, the bonuses increase to +6. These bonuses do not stack with other favored enemy bonuses (use the highest bonus that applies).
Judgement - An inquisitor can pronounce judgment upon her foes as a swift action. An inquisitor can use this ability four times per day.
Destruction: The inquisitor is filled with divine wrath, gaining a +4 sacred bonus on all weapon damage rolls.
Justice: This judgment spurs the inquisitor to seek justice, granting a +3 sacred bonus on all attack rolls.
Bane - An inquisitor can imbue one of her weapons with the bane weapon special ability as a swift action. She can maintain this weapon quality for a number of rounds equal to her Inquisitor level + her Wisdom modifier + 3. By expending two rounds of Bane, an Inquisitor can extend the bonus to two of her weapons simultaneously.
Detect Alignment - At will, an inquisitor can use detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, or detect law.
Discern Lies - An inquisitor can discern lies, as per the spell, for a number of rounds per day equal to her inquisitor level.
By activating Double Bane, and activating my Judgement (using the Destruction and Justice Judgements), on a non-religious enemy (which consists of the majority of enemies you will face), and flanking the enemy, I am able to manage an attack sequence that ends up looking like this:
+2 Agile Shortswords
+24/+24/+19/+19
4d6+14
(1d6 is precision damage, and thereby, may be subject to negation, depending on the foe)
Assuming the average BBEG (as opposed to hordes of weaker foes) scenario, we are looking at facing a monster of CR 12-13, let's say, a Young Adult Red Dragon. Now this creature has an AC of 26. A little high for a CR appropriate creature, but relatively standard. This means that if we are able to get in our full attack, on the first two strikes, we are able to hit by rolling a 2+ on the die. On the second two strikes, we hit on a 7+ on the die. Now speaking strictly in probability, we have a ~44% chance of landing all of our strikes on the beast. This is really good for a TWF character. Assuming all strikes hit, and average damage, we are looking at 4d6+14 x4, or 112 damage. That is strictly average damage, no critical hits. With 4 attacks, each at a 10% chance to crit, you have a decent chance to land one each round. Assuming best conditions, for crits at max damage, you are looking at 182 damage at 10th level. Admittedly, this is unlikely to happen ([1.5676x10^-15]% chance of it ever happening). However, in the chance it does, you just one-shotted the red dragon, bringing it down to -10 HP. However, keep in mind, that with the AC that she has, she is likely to get hit by every attack of the dragon's, and with average damage, would be dead in a single round.
I personally am not seeing what the hate is for in the TWF Inquisitor. It seems perfectly viable to me.
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I love the Inquisitor, and I like what thought you've put into a TWF version of it.
I'm usually shot down when I suggest a melee version, since everyone I know is going "It has proficiency with the "best" ranged weapon in the game!", so seeing this is really nice to see.
One thing I would question is the time spent getting those feats, since the requirements for a few of those might be out of reach by the time you are supposed to get them in certain scenarios.
Funding could also be a problem, since all the equipment you suggested is quite expensive and sometimes hard to get. An easy way to avoid having to spend a trait for proficiency with the shortswords would be to choose Norgorber as your deity, since his favored weapon is the longsword
Lastly, the whole non-religion thing. Depending on the GM, that might not work. Were it me, I wouldn't allow it, since that phrase could be stretched a little. If the deity was Norgorber, on the other hand, it could be considered those who use honor in combat or something.
Otherwise, I may have to steal this build and use it for a character myself. You don't mind, do you? :D
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Of course, I would love you to use the build. I admit, the equipment is a bit expensive (note however, that all the equipment can be purchased by the WBL standard for a 10th level PC, and none costs more than 50% of that WBL, so is technically legal), and is best with a Magic Emporium type GM. The Norgorber idea is a good one. Somehow, I completely glanced over him as a deity. And it is true that the feats take a while to get perfect, but by dropping Improved TWF and either Extra Bane or Extended Bane (depending on your Wisdom score), as well as Paired Opportunists and maybe Outflank, you can have a still extremely viable build, with two attacks, by level 5. As for the religion thing, I agree, it is kinda cheese, but the veneration of no deities (Agnosticism or Atheism or even Animism - a legitimate Golarion religion) is indeed a religion, and should all fall into this category. However, replace it with whichever deity is most commonly worshipped by the adversaries in your campaign, and you will have just as much (typically) of a boon.
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Actually, I find that the bonus to the knowledge skills, the bonus rounds to bane, the bonus HP to heal, the bonus to Will saves, the bonus on Perception and Sense Motive, and the bonus to initiative,all make up for the the drop in Con. The character is indeed a striker, and anything to make the character a better striker (going first in combat, knowing which creatures to Bane, and the ability to not die from SoS/SoL spells, all do this exceptionally well. But thank you for your input, ChainsawSam.
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There is also the fact that the Inquisitor is by this point entirely reliant on Dexterity and Wisdom, so maxing both out seems the obvious choice. Also, for the TWF, Two Weapon Fighting is best suited on characters that gain large bonus damage on each attack, such as Sneak Attack or Bane. Coincidentally, we have both (via the Precise shot feat), so gain the bonus 3d6+2 damage on each hit.