I was talking to a friend the other day and we decided to have a little pvp challenge. No classes with 9th or 6th level spell progression allowed.
I'm not sure which classes would work good there, probably ZAM and Barbarian would be decent, but maybe you have other ideas what classes could make strong PvP choices.
Important is that they will have to fight ~6 encounters first to qualify for that all of them CR 10 - 13, some single bbegs, some larger groups of weaker enemies.
Now I'm open to any kind of advice, I'm curious to get to hear your ideas. Also - I am curious about specific builds as well!
What are the rules around this. Any prep time? Knowledge? is it 6 encounters then PvP no rest time in between? How much gold do we get (I saw 2000gp for consumables, is that it?)
haha. I like the bolt ace 11 with a double xbow. but that works on the assumption of modified release version (since it doesn't seem complete)
I like it since it relies on vital strike'd one shot with some hopes for criticals (with right choices, the modifier is a x4. baring GM's reading things differently). So a bit hard to catch. Though I gues a BARB could run him down (unless your first move is to target his leg with the full round shot)
Not the strongest build but I just find it so neat.
If we're using regular level 11 WBL for building the characters, I feel like a Dex-based ranger or slayer two-weapon fighting character could do pretty good. The ranger is going to have an AC and a better will save, but the slayer is going to do more damage overall.
I think rangers will do very well. Between choosing enemies well, and favored enemy for what they do not choose, most baddies will go down in 2 rounds barring bad rolls.
As for defense they can go TWF sword and board or archery. If they go with the dwarf they can take steel soul to up their saves(will).
You don't have to care too much about saves in this scenario. A paladin/antipaladin would be strong. Barb is fine, fighter might even be your best bet here. All those feats, very low concern about saves.
Any intuition on what build your opponent might choose?
If they go Dex based TWF they will also have insanely high AC and touch AC. Although, let's be honest, a well built, true neutral, save or suck caster is going to dominate this competition.
A mounted archer ranger is a really strong option. Being mounted and ranged is a really strong advantage. You can just avoid your enemy and kite them to death.
Bigdaddyjug wrote:
If they go Dex based TWF they will also have insanely high AC and touch AC. Although, let's be honest, a well built, true neutral, save or suck caster is going to dominate this competition.
Wasum wrote:
I was talking to a friend the other day and we decided to have a little pvp challenge. No classes with 9th or 6th level spell progression allowed.
He can craft and get double gold as well as self hasting and having crazy defensive abilities most importantly he also gets defensive abilities vs archery.
A mounted archer ranger is a really strong option. Being mounted and ranged is a really strong advantage. You can just avoid your enemy and kite them to death.
Bigdaddyjug wrote:
If they go Dex based TWF they will also have insanely high AC and touch AC. Although, let's be honest, a well built, true neutral, save or suck caster is going to dominate this competition.
Wasum wrote:
I was talking to a friend the other day and we decided to have a little pvp challenge. No classes with 9th or 6th level spell progression allowed.
D'oh! I read that and remembered it for my first post, then forgot about it for my next one.
Well, I whipped up a couple guys for you to compare!
Ranger Man:
Ranger Man
Human ranger 11
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +12; Senses Perception +20
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Defense
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AC 24, touch 18, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +6 Dex, +2 deflection)
hp 113 (11d10+43)
Fort +13, Ref +16, Will +9
Defensive Abilities evasion; Resist fire 30
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Ranged +3 adaptive composite longbow +16/+16/+11/+6 (1d8+12/19-20/×3)
Special Attacks combat style (crossbow), favored enemies (humans +6, magical beasts +2, monstrous humanoids +2)
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +11):
3rd—darkvision, instant enemy{super}APG{/super}
2nd—barkskin, stone call{super}APG{/super}
1st—gravity bow{super}APG{/super}, longstrider, resist energy
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 17, Cha 7
Base Atk +11; CMB +14; CMD 32
Feats Boon Companion, Clustered Shots[UC], Deadly Aim, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Manyshot, Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
Traits dangerously curious, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +14, Handle Animal +12, Perception +20, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +20, Use Magic Device +13
Languages Common
SQ favored terrains (plains +4, urban +2), hunter's bond (hunter's bond [animal companion]), quarry, swift tracker, track +5, wild empathy +9, woodland stride
Combat Gear potion of fly, scroll of protection from chaos, communal, protection from evil, communal, protection from good, communal, protection from good, communal; Other Gear +1 mithral kikko armor, +3 adaptive composite longbow, belt of physical perfection +2, bracers of falcon's aim, cloak of resistance +3, headband of inspired wisdom +2, ring of protection +2, 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Boon Companion (Animal Companion) +4 levels to calc familiar/animal comp abilities (max of your HD).
Clustered Shots Total damage from full-round ranged attacks before applying DR
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Diehard You are stable and can choose how to act when at negative Hp.
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Energy Resistance, Fire (30) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Favored Enemy (Humans +6) (Ex) +6 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Humans) foes.
Favored Enemy (Magical Beasts +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Magical Beasts) foes.
Favored Enemy (Monstrous Humanoids +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Monstrous Humanoids) foes.
Favored Terrain (Plains +4) (Ex) +4 to rolls when in Favored Terrain (Plains).
Favored Terrain (Urban +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls when in Favored Terrain (Urban).
Improved Precise Shot Ignore AC bonuses and miss chance from anything less than total cover/concealment.
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Potion of fly Add this item to create a potion of a chosen spell.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Quarry +2 to hit and other bonuses vs. designated quarry.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Scroll of protection from chaos, communal, protection from evil, communal, protection from good, com Add this item to create a scroll with spells on it.
Share Spells with Companion (Ex) Can cast spells with a target of "you" on animal companion, as touch spells.
Swift Tracker (Ex) Tracking penalties when moving at normal speed or faster are reduced.
Track +5 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Wild Empathy +9 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
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Cat Dog
Cheetah
N Small animal
Init +12; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +13
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Defense
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AC 31, touch 17, flat-footed 25 (+4 armor, +6 Dex, +1 size, +10 natural)
hp 67 (+27)
Fort +9, Ref +14, Will +4 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects)
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 50 ft.
Melee bite +13 (1d4+12) and
2 claws +13 (1d2+12)
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Statistics
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Str 15, Dex 26, Con 16, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Spell Sponge, Weapon Finesse
Skills Perception +13, Stealth +12 (+16 in Tall Grass); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in Tall Grass
SQ devotion, multiattack / extra attack
Other Gear mithral chain shirt, agile amulet of mighty fists
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Devotion +4 (Ex) +4 morale bonus on Will Saves vs. Enchantments.
Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Multiattack / Extra Attack Multiattack or second attack with primary weapon at a -5 penalty.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Spell Sponge Double duration when master targets you with a harmless spell with a target of "you".
Trip (Ex) You can make a trip attempt on a successful attack.
Vs
Zen Archer Fellow:
Zen Archer Fellow
Human monk (zen archer, qinggong monk) 11 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 115; Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 51)
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses Perception +24
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Defense
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AC 30, touch 26, flat-footed 28 (+2 Dex, +4 natural, +3 deflection, +11 untyped)
hp 102 (11d8+44)
Fort +15, Ref +12, Will +17
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Offense
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Speed 60 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +10/+5 (2d8+2)
Ranged +3 adaptive composite longbow +17/+12 (1d8+13/19-20/×3)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, ki flurry, ki speed, ki strike, cold iron/silver, ki strike, lawful, ki strike, magic, trick shot, zen archery
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; concentration +9)
—barkskin (self only, 1 ki)
—restoration (self only, 2 ki)
—true strike (self only, 1 ki)
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 25, Cha 7
Base Atk +8; CMB +10; CMD 39 (36 vs. awesome blow, 36 vs. bull rush, 36 vs. dirty trick, 36 vs. disarm, 36 vs. drag, 36 vs. feint, 36 vs. grapple, 36 vs. overrun, 36 vs. pull, 36 vs. push, 36 vs. reposition, 36 vs. steal, 36 vs. sunder, 36 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Defensive Combat Training, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Unarmed Strike, Perfect Strike[APG], Pinpoint Targeting, Point Blank Master[APG], Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (longbow), Weapon Specialization (longbow)
Traits life of toil, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +16, Climb +6, Fly +4, Perception +24, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +10, Swim +6
Languages Common
SQ fast movement, ki archery, ki arrows, ki defense, ki pool, monk vow (vow of cleanliness, vow of truth), reflexive shot, unarmed strike
Other Gear +3 adaptive composite longbow, bracers of falcon's aim, cloak of resistance +3, headband of inspired wisdom +4, monk's robe, ring of protection +3, 2,600 gp
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Special Abilities
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Barkskin (self only, 1 Ki) (Sp) Self Only. Costs 1 ki point to activate.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Fast Movement (+30 ft.) The Monk adds 10 or more feet to his base speed.
Flurry of Blows +9/+9/+4/+4/-1 (Ex) As full-rd action, higher BAB and combo unarmed/monk wep as if two-weapon fighting.
High Jump (+11) +11 to Acrobatics checks made to jump.
Improved Precise Shot Ignore AC bonuses and miss chance from anything less than total cover/concealment.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Ki Archery (Su) 1 Ki point: +50' range increment for bows.
Ki Arrows (Su) 1 Ki point: bow deals the same damage as unarmed strike.
Ki Defense +4 (Su) Use 1 ki as a swift action, to gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 rd.
Ki Flurry (Su) Use 1 ki as a swift action to gain an extra Flurry of Blows attack.
Ki Pool (Su) You have a ki pool equal to 1/2 your monk level + your Wisdom modifier.
Ki Speed (Su) Use 1 ki as a swift action to increase speed by 20 ft for 1 rd.
Ki Strike, Cold Iron/Silver (Su) If you have ki remaining, unarmed strikes count as cold iron and silver to overcome DR.
Ki Strike, Lawful (Su) If you have ki remaining, unarmed strikes count as lawful to overcome DR.
Ki Strike, Magic (Su) If you have ki remaining, unarmed strikes count as magic to overcome DR.
Perfect Strike (3d20, 11/day) With certain weapons, roll twice, higher is attack, lower is confirmation roll.
Pinpoint Targeting Standard action (may not move this round): target of your ranged attack loses armor, natural armor and shield bonuses to AC.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Reflexive Shot (Ex) Make AoO with bow.
Restoration (self only, 2 Ki) (Sp) Self only. Costs 2 ki points to activate.
Trick Shot (Su) 1-3 Ki points: ignore varying amounts of cover or concealment.
True Strike (self only, 1 Ki) (Sp) Costs 1 ki point to activate.
Unarmed Strike (2d8) Extra unarmed strike dam, no off-hand dam reduction and don't need free hands to att.
Vital Strike Standard action: x2 weapon damage dice.
Vow of Cleanliness (+2 Ki) A monk undertaking this vow must wash daily. He must change into fresh clothes daily or shortly after his robes become dirty. His appearance must be kept immaculate, including either neatly braiding or shaving off his hair (and, for male monks, maint
Vow of Truth (+2 Ki) The monk is not allowed to deliberately speak any lies, including bluffing, stating half-truths with the intent to deceive, exaggerating, telling white lies, and so on. This applies to all forms of communication. If presented with circumstances where
Zen Archery (Su) Use WIS instead of DEX for ranged attacks with a bow.
It seems pretty close to me. The ranger does so much more damage but the monk has much better defenses and can also ignore things like invisbility with trick shot. Tough to say! I would go with the ranger I think
TWF would lose really hard, especially if anyone has a reach weapon and takes lunge. The main thing is to NOT five foot step away, but to MOVE away, so they cannot full attack
Thing about archery is that you can easily shut it down by consumables... I like the bloodrager idea though....
tough decision....
I do think TWF is a bad idea as well. Mobility will be important and that is what you just dont have when TWFing.
Unless you are talking about a wand of Wind Wall I'm unsure of what you mean. The unfortunate problem with Wind Wall is that it is not mobile. A ranger's mount enables him to stay out of even charge range of most characters, especially with horseshoes of speed. Melee characters will have a hard time making an attack against a mounted ranged character.
No actual numbers here but the build I would go is along the lines of.
Human Arcane metamagic, blood conduit, blood rager
STR: 18(+2 level) DEX: 15(+1 level) CON: 14 INT: 7 WIS: 10 CHA: 14
Favored class + 1 rage round
Traits: Reactionary, Magical lineage Enlarge person
Rage: 42 rounds, assume no combat goes more than ~3 rounds gives you -18 rounds of rage
Feats
H: Power attack
1: Reckless Rage
1B: Improved Trip
3: Extra Rage
5: Craft Wondrous item
6B: Improved initative
7: Craft arms and armor
9B: Combat Reflexes
9: Quicken spell
11: Dazing Spell
Use a reach weapon with +X furious, courageous, and fortuitous.
Craft to save on your +X stat items.
Craft some PoP 1's to spam quickened enlarges.
Buy wands for healing and use UMD.
EDIT: For the above poster your charge range is 160 feet.
Dont forget you will have to defeat 5-6 encounters first to even qualify for PvP. You need to be able to kill a CR 11 dragon and other stuff forcing saves and so on....
Dont forget you will have to defeat 5-6 encounters first to even qualify for PvP. You need to be able to kill a CR 11 dragon and other stuff forcing saves and so on....
Fortunately my extra 70k effective gold or so will help with that. It's a lot easier to afford a cheap +5 cloak and 4k ioun stones for resonant powers. Your saves should be good on account of higher gold allotment.
You can also get boots of speed for 6k to have the delightful power to have rounds of displacement + Blur.
The ability to have arcane crafting is far more powerful than the non crafters.
No actual numbers here but the build I would go is along the lines of.
Human Arcane metamagic, blood conduit, blood rager
STR: 18(+2 level) DEX: 15(+1 level) CON: 14 INT: 7 WIS: 10 CHA: 14
Favored class + 1 rage round
Traits: Reactionary, Magical lineage Enlarge person
Rage: 42 rounds, assume no combat goes more than ~3 rounds gives you -18 rounds of rage
Feats
H: Power attack
1: Reckless Rage
1B: Improved Trip
3: Extra Rage
5: Craft Wondrous item
6B: Improved initative
7: Craft arms and armor
9B: Combat Reflexes
9: Quicken spell
11: Dazing Spell
Use a reach weapon with +X furious, courageous, and fortuitous.
Craft to save on your +X stat items.
Craft some PoP 1's to spam quickened enlarges.
Buy wands for healing and use UMD.
EDIT: For the above poster your charge range is 160 feet.
Unless I'm missing something you cannot cast quickened enlarged person spells. Enlarge Person is a 1st level spell, while Quicken Spell adjust the level by 4. Making it a 5th level spell. When using a quickened enlarge person it would be a 5th level spell, including for the purposes of recalling it with a Pearl of Power. Also, spontaneous spellcasters can't use pearls of power. They require prepared spell casting, not spontaneous. If you are allowed to use the PFS setting books they have Runestones of Power which are the equivalent for spontaneous casters. However, you still cannot cast a quickened enlarge person because you cannot cast 5th level spells. Quicken spell is literally useless to you because it increases the required spell slot by 4, and as you only have 4th level spell you can never cast a quickened spell without a way to reduce the metamagic cost. I could be missing something about the Bloodrager class, but I don't think I am.
Also, are you saying this bloodrager can charge 160 ft or that a mounted archer could charge 160 ft? Because I can tell you a mounted ranger wont be charging at all, he would however possibly double move to avoid melee characters getting close to him.
No actual numbers here but the build I would go is along the lines of.
Human Arcane metamagic, blood conduit, blood rager
STR: 18(+2 level) DEX: 15(+1 level) CON: 14 INT: 7 WIS: 10 CHA: 14
Favored class + 1 rage round
Traits: Reactionary, Magical lineage Enlarge person
Rage: 42 rounds, assume no combat goes more than ~3 rounds gives you -18 rounds of rage
Feats
H: Power attack
1: Reckless Rage
1B: Improved Trip
3: Extra Rage
5: Craft Wondrous item
6B: Improved initative
7: Craft arms and armor
9B: Combat Reflexes
9: Quicken spell
11: Dazing Spell
Use a reach weapon with +X furious, courageous, and fortuitous.
Craft to save on your +X stat items.
Craft some PoP 1's to spam quickened enlarges.
Buy wands for healing and use UMD.
EDIT: For the above poster your charge range is 160 feet.
Unless I'm missing something you cannot cast quickened enlarged person spells. Enlarge Person is a 1st level spell, while Quicken Spell adjust the level by 4. Making it a 5th level spell. When using a quickened enlarge person it would be a 5th level spell, including for the purposes of recalling it with a Pearl of Power. Also, spontaneous spellcasters can't use pearls of power. They require prepared spell casting, not spontaneous. If you are allowed to use the PFS setting books they have Runestones of Power which are the equivalent for spontaneous casters. However, you still cannot cast a quickened enlarge person because you cannot cast 5th level spells. Quicken spell is literally useless to you because it increases the required spell slot by 4, and as you only have 4th level spell you can never cast a quickened spell without a way to reduce the metamagic cost. I could be missing something about the Bloodrager class, but I don't think I am.
Also, are you saying this bloodrager can charge 160 ft or that a mounted archer could charge 160 ft? Because I can tell you a mounted ranger wont be charging at all, he would however possibly double move to avoid melee...
At 5th level, a metamagic rager can sacrifice additional rounds of bloodrage to apply a metamagic feat he knows to a bloodrager spell. This costs a number of rounds of bloodrage equal to twice what the spell’s adjusted level would normally be with the metamagic feat applied (minimum 2 rounds).
At 5th level, a metamagic rager can sacrifice additional rounds of bloodrage to apply a metamagic feat he knows to a bloodrager spell. This costs a number of rounds of bloodrage equal to twice what the spell’s adjusted level would normally be with the metamagic feat applied (minimum 2 rounds).
So you spend 10 rounds of 42 rounds of Bloodrage to cast a quickened enlarged person? You still can't use a pearl of power 1 to recall it.
At 5th level, a metamagic rager can sacrifice additional rounds of bloodrage to apply a metamagic feat he knows to a bloodrager spell. This costs a number of rounds of bloodrage equal to twice what the spell’s adjusted level would normally be with the metamagic feat applied (minimum 2 rounds).
So you spend 10 rounds of 42 rounds of Bloodrage to cast a quickened enlarged person? You still can't use a pearl of power 1 to recall it.
It's 8 with lineage and yes you can recall it. It doesn't effect the spells level. It's a level 1 quickened enlarge person.
Statistically you'll get 3/day during the long 6 encounter day. After thinking about it I'd actually recommend a normal 2 handed weapon but to be honest a more effective build would be along the lines of.
It doesn't effect the spells level. It's a level 1 quickened enlarge person.
There is a general FAQ about this sort of thing, which implies the opposite of your position. I'll see if I can find it again. There's no way you'll recall a quickened enlarge person with a PoP 1.
1) Pearls of Power don't work for you. In order to recall it you would need a Runestone of Power 4 (because of magical lineage).
Metamagic: At what spell level does the spell count for concentration DCs, magus spell recall, or a pearl of power?
The spell counts as the level of the spell slot necessary to cast it.
For example, an empowered burning hands uses a 3rd-level spell slot, counts as a 3rd-level spell for making concentration checks, counts as a 3rd-level spell for a magus's spell recall or a pearl of power.
In general, use the (normal, lower) spell level or the (higher) spell slot level, whichever is more of a disadvantage for the caster. The advantages of the metamagic feat are spelled out in the Benefits section of the feat, and the increased spell slot level is a disadvantage.
Heighten Spell is really the only metamagic feat that makes using a higher-level spell slot an advantage instead of a disadvantage.
If you wanted to cast an additional enlarge person using quickened you're going to need to spend another 8 rounds of rage or cast it as a 4th level spell or use a Runestone of Power 4.
It doesn't effect the spells level. It's a level 1 quickened enlarge person.
There is a general FAQ about this sort of thing, which implies the opposite of your position. I'll see if I can find it again. There's no way you'll recall a quickened enlarge person with a PoP 1.
1) Pearls of Power don't work for you. In order to recall it you would need a Runestone of Power 4 (because of magical lineage).
Metamagic: At what spell level does the spell count for concentration DCs, magus spell recall, or a pearl of power?
The spell counts as the level of the spell slot necessary to cast it.
For example, an empowered burning hands uses a 3rd-level spell slot, counts as a 3rd-level spell for making concentration checks, counts as a 3rd-level spell for a magus's spell recall or a pearl of power.
In general, use the (normal, lower) spell level or the (higher) spell slot level, whichever is more of a disadvantage for the caster. The advantages of the metamagic feat are spelled out in the Benefits section of the feat, and the increased spell slot level is a disadvantage.
Heighten Spell is really the only metamagic feat that makes using a higher-level spell slot an advantage instead of a disadvantage.
If you wanted to cast an additional enlarge person using quickened you're going to need to spend another 8 rounds of rage or cast it as a 4th level spell or use a Runestone of Power 4.
So you're saying if I use a metamagic rod of quicken on a level 2 spell I'd need a level 6 recall item? I'm pretty sure that's not the case. It's also besides the point. That was more of a gimmic which was intended to give him a free win in the 1v1 arena. In a more rounded build metamagic rager isn't really needed.
So you're saying if I use a metamagic rod of quicken on a level 2 spell I'd need a level 6 recall item? I'm pretty sure that's not the case. It's also besides the point. That was more of a gimmic which was intended to give him a free win in the 1v1 arena. In a more rounded build metamagic rager isn't really needed.
No, I'm saying if you use a metamagic rod on a second level spell it doesn't modify the spell slot use spent, only how the spell was cast. If you use a Pearl of Power to recall it you will recall only the normal version of the spell, without any metamagic adjustment. Even if you had a PoP 6 you couldn't recall a spell that was enhanced with a metamagic rod.
The Metamagic Bloodrager's ability works in a similar way, but expends rounds of rage instead of uses out of a rod. However, whenever using a pearl of power it is only concerned about the you could normally cast the spell. Using metamagic rods or the bloodragers special ability to help cast the spell doesn't mean you can use a PoP to recall it that way.
Please keep in mind, my earlier arguments were before I realized the Metamagic Bloodrager had an ability to do this, so it changes the situation slightly.
If no dips are allowed and you can't choose to not cast.... Invulnerable rager is the only choice. DR8/- is too much for any martial to compete with and he has more hit points than the other classes as well. Theoretically a ZAM could kite him along and shoot (not flurry) but this would require huge area and a LONG time to at out. Even then it might not work.
If casters were allowed without spells there is room for discussion. Paladin could self heal, monks could get guided hand and be defensive beasts, a warpriest is respectable, a sorcerer/DD hits his stride and has near 40 strength by now, etc.
EDIT: There are many ways to get enlarge on yourself quickly as a Bloodrager (greater bloodrage anyone?). However Claxon is correct in that a PoP will never help a bloodrager. They only assist prepared casters.
Granted but like I said you can't flurry or full attack on the barb or he gets in your face and murders you. Overcoming DR is nice while your shooting five arrows but when the barbarian gets 2-4 attacks at near full BAB, 30 strength, power attack, and who knows what else, the barbarian is going to win simply because he has 50 % more health and DR. I could even argue that the barbarian has more constitution to make the hit points even more lopsided.
I would even advocate my barb build as having a dip in monk just because then you can get deflect arrows for free, better saves, and potential wisdom to AC. Sorry but the ZAM one on one will not stand up to top tier martials. In group tactics where he isn't the ONLY being attacked he becomes top tier. But he's not a dueler.
A runestone of power would allow that quickened enlarge tactic. I would recommend the brawler archetype that can trade spell slots for healing and trades damage reduction for fast healing. Mix with primalist and get the dragon totem rage powers for a decent amount of fast healing while raging.
