So I've played around with Hes Strike builds in the past and apart from being tricky to get going they tend to fall flat for the most part.
But it seems with the Shaman there's some new potential.
It has the Hex class feature so it can take hex strike with anything referred to as a Hex
It has 3/4 BAB so it might actually hit something
It can wear armor and maybe not die horribly on the front line
Improved unarmed strike will probably cost a feat
So it could in theory work without multiclassing and deliver a Hex Strike by 3rd level.
Couple with Evil Eye, misfortune etc and this might have legs.
A little quirk of the Spirit Hexes leads to this from the Lore Spirit
Brain Drain 1d4/2level mind attack which is listed as a Hex so could be used with a Hex Strike to interrogate the enemy in the middle of combat in a way which could be fun.
Thoughts ? I feel like this is still doomed to fail on the front line either through lack of damage, or lack of defense.
Prehensile Hair + Feral Combat Training = adding some SADness a build like this could profit from? Rather feat-intensive that, though, admittedly. Though if you go Tengu you count as having IUS for free for the purposes of prereqs. What a tengu with Prehensile Hair would actually attack with I haven't the foggiest, though...
If done with a Battle Shaman and Evil Eye it can work nicely. Evil Eye DC is much less important if you're applying it every round with Hex Strike anyways, and you can choose what debuff suits you round-by-round - weaken AB after charging, then weaken AC before a full attack for example. If they fail save, so much the better. You also don't have to focus on Unarmed Strike to use it; you can just use unarmed once per round to work it in while using another weapon.
A Speaker for the Past Battle Shaman with a single Monk level, combining the Spirit Shield revelation with Wisdom AC and using Hex Strike: Evil Eye and Dragon Style to punch once per round - while otherwise using Power Attack with a two-handed Temple Sword - was something I was looking at.
Mmmm I like those ideas just getting them into a coherent build is tricky.
The Tengu free IUS is a trap as you can't actually make unarmed strikes you just qualify for IUS feats that might give you a benefit that doesn't involve an unarmed strike. But Hex Strike needs to come from an unarmed strike. still going forward into feral combat training and then maybe even coupling with wizard polymorph spells could be a mid level thing
still be nice to work from the get go
Taking a long, roundabout route to Hex Strike seems odd to me when you can simply pick it up at level 3 and potentially enchant a Cestus.
I'm not sure why you would want to use Hex Strike in the first place unless going into melee and wrecking stuff is the plan. It's a very complicated way to put yourself in harms way and spend multiple actions to apply a specific hex - unless you're actually built to hurt things, in which case it's a swift action debuff to add to your usual violence. Taking it for multiple hexes is incredibly feat-intensive, and you can still only drop it once per round anyways.
Feral combat training should let you apply hey strike with the chosen natural attack.
It could be I'm trying to do too many things as it would not be the first time ;)
Perhaps you are right and that damage should not be the focus and instead a survivable AC and handing out hexes on the frontline could prove to be a useful member of the group.
I guess going DEX over STR and picking up finesse could help in that goal but that's yet another feat
The only thing I worry about it getting enough attacks to ensure your landing a hex every round
Would like to purchase Witch/Monk Hybrid class plz ;), then we'll see some hex strike fun
|
Dragon Style seems like a great feat to go with this. Also, see how your GM feels about applying it with natural attacks via the Shapeshift hex. It's not RAW, but Shapeshift really helps out your offense.
Evil Eye definitely seems like the go-to hex. Since you'll need physical stats, your Wis won't be super-high like a caster shaman's, so you don't want something the enemy can just shrug off with a save.
At higher levels, you might consider going for Spring Attack or Flyby Attack, so you don't have to trade full attacks with really buff things to keep them debuffed. Also, carrying a longspear too would allow you to get AoOs on foes that get close to you.
there's really no way to scale hexes without the class levels is there....
I guess a little dip the other way, for hexes and then back full into something like monk could work since you don't care about DC's only landing blows.
AFter playing around ther may be a much better way using mostly brawler levels, pummeling strike and hex strike with only 2 shaman levels and prolific use of the extra hex feat.
For a pummeling strike with almost guaranteed hit each round to apply Hex strike evil eye, or 1 round misfortune or CHA rounds confusion or thought stealing brain drain. also hold just enough extra combat feats to stabilize the brawler side of things to hit and do some damage.
btw Accursed Hex dosen't work with the build, hex strike bypasses the save and accursed hex only triggers after a save has been made
Note the Soothesayer hex allows for hexes to 'last longer' by starting later. It's usually not that relevant, but in the case of a 1 round duration, it's enough to prolong it through your next turn...
So...anyone come up with a build? If so, how did it work out in play?
Oh, the lengths that necromancy pushes us to...
Human Life Shaman X / Unchained Monk 1 of Irori
20 Point buy:
8 / 14 / 14 / 10 / 16+2 / 12
Traits:
+ Mediator
+ Magical Lineage (Frostbite)
Hexes:
Level 3: Witch Hex (Slumber)
Level 5: Secret (Rime Spell)
Feat Progression:
Level 1 (Shaman 1): Channel Smite, Guided Hand
Level 2 (UnMonk 1): Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Level 3 (Shaman 2): Hex Strike (Slumber)
Level 5 (Shaman 4): Enforcer, Rime Spell*
Makes you pretty SAD, and a wannabe magus. Strategy? Cast Frostbite (or Rime Frostbite), depending, and gain a number of touch attacks equal to your CL. You can always just deliver touch spells by punching people rather than aiming for touch AC, which couples well with flurry of blows. Enforcer lets you intimidate people when you deal non-lethal damage (Frostbite), which again makes it more likely that they'll fail their saves versus either Slumber or Stunning Fist (or both). Couple with a Cruel amulet of mighty fists for more debuffing.
So, by level 5, if you feel like it, you can do up to (1d6-1)x2 + (1d6+4)x2 damage in one round, and make your opponent Shaken, Entangled, Fatigued, Sickened, and make them fall asleep. And, you are actually likely to be able to get some use out of Stunning Fist, since you're attacking with the stat that increases the save DC.
You're getting your main casting stat as a bonus to AC, have the option of picking up Air Shell through Wandering Hex at level 7 (and it improves at level 8) - so your AC will be pretty good. With a 14+ in all the saving-throw stats, you're likely to have at the very least decent saves - the UnMonk dip doesn't do any harm there either, and you'll be a decent face, should that be required of you.
Oh, and, you know, you are still a 9th level caster, that arguably is the most flexible class in existence. In addition to all of the above.