A friend and I have decided for fun, we'd play in a game as Maiden Astraea and Garl Vinland. We've managed to make Astraea fairly easily, but Garl is proving a little harder. I know i'll be using something like a warhammer and a heavy steel shield, but I'm unsure of what class to use. Originally, I was going to go with the Vanguard Slayer archetype, but I really would like to have those talents to blow on getting no-dex-required TWF.
We are building them at level 3, 20 pt buy, standard wealth. Any suggestions or tips would be welcome. He doens't have to be optimal, but the basics are some kind of big smashy weapon, a big shield, big armor, and he has to be a "defender".
Garl Vinland strikes me as more of a Paladin than any type of Slayer. I really feel he needs spellcasting of some kind, and Ranger would probably be the best bet. You get the Combat Style feats and aren't restricted to LG. Sadly most spells are very nature based rather than traditional religion.
Vanguard has the cool teamwork feats, but Witch Guard could be very cool depending on what class Maiden Astraea.
For a weapon, it's tough to get those massive "anime-style" weapons with a heavy shield, but I'm going to look through some feats and see what is possible.
Garl Vinland strikes me as more of a Paladin than any type of Slayer. I really feel he needs spellcasting of some kind, and Ranger would probably be the best bet. You get the Combat Style feats and aren't restricted to LG. Sadly most spells are very nature based rather than traditional religion.
Vanguard has the cool teamwork feats, but Witch Guard could be very cool depending on what class Maiden Astraea.
For a weapon, it's tough to get those massive "anime-style" weapons with a heavy shield, but I'm going to look through some feats and see what is possible.
Astraea is going to be an Oracle of Life.
And yeah, my plan for slayer was going to be to take the ranger feats as talents, but vanguard steals them right back from me.
Slayer is definitely a strong pick if you aren't interested in spellcasting.
I feel like an Earth breaker is the best for representing Garl's mace, but wielding that in one-hand requires a ton of feats including weapon focus (Klar) which doesn't fit the heavy steel shield.
This trait will make TWF with a heavy shield better for you, but I have a feeling you were aware of this. Just in case.
Slayer is definitely a strong pick if you aren't interested in spellcasting.
I feel like an Earth breaker is the best for representing Garl's mace, but wielding that in one-hand requires a ton of feats including weapon focus (Klar) which doesn't fit the heavy steel shield.
This trait will make TWF with a heavy shield better for you, but I have a feeling you were aware of this. Just in case.
Thunder and fang is definitely a good idea, but it's much too intensive. And yeah, I knew there was a trait that did something like this, but had forgotten the name, so that's one thing tackled! Gotta mitigate those penalties somehow
I have a feeling that Astraea is channeling Urgathoa more since she has her feet in a pool that is a concentrate of every poison,disease and toxin that pours into the Valley.
Not really, the Valley of Defilement was filthy even before Astraea came along.
And yeah, Astraea as an Oracle and Garl Vinland as a Paladin sounds pretty fitting.
An argument could be made that the Dark Silver Shield is Light Shield, just as much as the argument could be made that it is a Heavy Shield. In that case, the Thunder and Fang feat is probably the best way to go for you.
A traditional klar counts as a light wooden shield with armor spikes. A metal klar counts as a light steel shield with armor spikes.
By the mechanics, you'd just have a Light Metal Shield with spikes - it doesn't have to be a skull with a spike, you can just apply whatever flavor you want. The only real difference between a Light and Heavy shield is 1 AC, which is negligible. You don't even need to worry about attacking with the shield if you feel particularly feat-starved - or you can take a small dip into Fighter for some quick feats.
The above points are especially true if you go the way of being a Paladin, which I'd agree, fits Vinalnd more. Neither he nor Astraea are evil, in fact they both went to the Valley of Defilement in order to try toi cleanse it. But, with a light, as opposed to heavy shield, you can actually cast Paladin spells in combat - Free Action your Earthbreaker into your shield hand, cast the spell, then Free Action it back to your main hand. The Deflection bonus to AC from smiting should more than make up for the 1 AC you're missing from not going heavy shield. Here's just a quick example of how you could build out his feats:
Progress 2 levels in Paladin, 2 into Fighter, then back to Paladin for the rest of your career:
1) Weapon Focus Earthbreaker
1 - human bonus) Power Attack
3) Weapon Focus Klar
3 - fighter bonus) Two Weapon Fighting
4 - fighter bonus) Thunder and Fang
From there, decide if you want to focus on fighting Shield and Earthbreaker, or go a different path. If you decide Oath of Vengeance, Extra Lay on Hands will be a great choice, Greater Mercy is also a great feat if you want to be more tanky and make up for the dip into Fighter. Or if you wanted to focus more on protecting Astraea, you could start with the Helpful trait, pick up Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard, and enchant your armor with Benevolent, possibly pick up Saving Shield or Covering Defense as well - there's really A LOT of options from this point.
Shield and Earthbreaker:
5) Improved Shield Bash
7) Shield Slam
9) Shield Focus or Furious Focus
11) Shield Master
Protecting Astraea:
5) Combat Reflexes
7) Bodyguard
9&11) Stand Still, Lunge, Covering Defense - your choice.