Few things:
1. How high of level do you anticipate playing this character?
2. What kind of stat array do you have to work with? You mention a Dex based fighter; do you mean pure Dex for hit & damage?
3. Make sure you're on the same page with your GM over how mobile fighting works. The common consensus is that the bonuses last for a round, but you might want to get clarification from your GM just to be sure.
Hi!Just wondering if anyone has any practical advice on playing a human Mobile fighter archetype. I have in mind a DEX based fighter using two short swords. Kind of like a dimachaerus; a kind of gladiator who fought only with two swords.
Any advice would be cool and appreciated!
Thanks!
Mobile Fighter:
Ive played Two.
One was a Drow who was a switch hitter and used ECB (obviously dex based) and had the panther style feat chain,
The other was a dwarf who had the dwarf racial feats from ARG so basically a really long cleave chain. As long as he kept moving and there were goblins to behead it was cool.
He might have worked better as a cavalier… mobile fighter takes too long to get extra movement (WAY too long)
The Drow was pretty fun… I played a surface infiltrator…took feats nimble moves, acrobatic steps and light step…basically an elf …I didn't have any spells or paragon anything. Just took grow from the mechanics.
I personally prefer the Dawnflower Archetype, it's basically the same thing except I get Weapon Training now.
Don't Finesse dual wield unless you have high static damage bonus.
Which you don't. So I'd recommend against it unless you know for a fact you are getting agile weapons.
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Few things:
1. How high of level do you anticipate playing this character?
2. What kind of stat array do you have to work with? You mention a Dex based fighter; do you mean pure Dex for hit & damage?
3. Make sure you're on the same page with your GM over how mobile fighting works. The common consensus is that the bonuses last for a round, but you might want to get clarification from your GM just to be sure.
Hi there!
1. Wanted to start as level 1, as a PFS character sort of thing.
2. I was thinking high DEX: good for AC and things like two weapon fighting, Weapon Finesse, and all that.
3. I was thinking of the good old in-and-out and hit-and-run sort of fighting, rather than just a typical dungeon slog to see who runs out of HP first.
Might be on the wrong track. Just wanted to try a fighter who wasn't all brawn.
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Hi!Just wondering if anyone has any practical advice on playing a human Mobile fighter archetype. I have in mind a DEX based fighter using two short swords. Kind of like a dimachaerus; a kind of gladiator who fought only with two swords.
Any advice would be cool and appreciated!
Thanks!
Mobile Fighter:
Ive played Two.
One was a Drow who was a switch hitter and used ECB (obviously dex based) and had the panther style feat chain,
The other was a dwarf who had the dwarf racial feats from ARG so basically a really long cleave chain. As long as he kept moving and there were goblins to behead it was cool.
He might have worked better as a cavalier… mobile fighter takes too long to get extra movement (WAY too long)The Drow was pretty fun… I played a surface infiltrator…took feats nimble moves, acrobatic steps and light step…basically an elf …I didn't have any spells or paragon anything. Just took drow from the mechanics.
That drow thing you did sort of sounded like what I had in mind. I wanted him to be handy with two swords at once. Maybe not as much damage per hit, but able to make a lot more hits fighting two handed, that sort of thing. So I was thinking Weapon Finesse and Two-Weapon Fighting to start out with...
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Don't Finesse dual wield unless you have high static damage bonus.
Which you don't. So I'd recommend against it unless you know for a fact you are getting agile weapons.
Hadn't thought of that. Any other suggestions as to how to start and then work up to being nasty with two weapon fighting sort of thing?
I personally prefer the Dawnflower Archetype, it's basically the same thing except I get Weapon Training now.That's a cool looking archetype too.
Aren't they expected to be (stodgy) worshippers of Sarenrae? Generally speaking anyway...
Nothing really mandates they are... You could simply be someone who picked up their methods without actually being a worshipper of Sarenrae.
Regarding the build:
I think there's basically four options:
1. Go Strength, and dip into Slayer for TWF feats, but this is a late bloomer...
2. Go pure Slayer, but you lose your mobility (not really, there's always Slayer's Advance, but you know).
3. Go Strength with high Dexterity, which is less optimal but has good damage and doesn't lose levels.
4. Go full Dexterity and suffer early on from lower damage and get feat taxed.
The decision is yours.
Here's a version of the Mobile Fighter going Strength + Dexterity:
Mobile
Male Human fighter 12 Archetypes Mobile Fighter,
None Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5, Senses Perception +17
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DEFENSE
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AC 27, touch 16, flat-footed 22 (+10 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural, )
hp 98 ((12d10)+24)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +11
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee kukri +3 (keen) +23/+18/+13 (1d4+13/12-20)
Melee kukri +2 (keen) +22/+17/+12 (1d4+12/12-20)
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STATISTICS
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Str 22, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 7,
Base Atk +12; CMB +18; CMD 35
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Double Slice, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Weapon Focus (Kukri), Greater Weapon Specialization (Kukri), Improved Critical (Kukri), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Mobility, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (Kukri), Weapon Specialization (Kukri)
Skills Acrobatics +14, Climb +7, Perception +17, Stealth +12, Swim +7,
Traits Eyes and Ears of the City (Abadar), Indomitable Faith,
Languages Common
SQ agility, armor training, bonus feats, dual talent, leaping attack, rapid attack, weapon and armor proficiency, weapon training,
Combat Gear
Other Gear amulet of natural armor +1, kukri +3 (keen), kukri +2 (keen), ring of protection +1, belt of giant strength +4, o-yoroi +2 (ghost touch), cloak of resistance +3, 1534.0 gp
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Agility (Ex) At 2nd level, a mobile fighter gains a +1 bonus on saving throws made against effects that cause him to become paralyzed, slowed, or entangled. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd. This ability replaces bravery.
Armor Training (Ex) You are more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever you are wearing armor, you reduce the armor check penalty by 2 and increase the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by your armor by +2
Bonus Feats At 1st level, and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement (meaning that the fighter gains a feat at every level). These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats, sometimes also called "fighter bonus feats." Upon reaching 4th level, and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, and so on), a fighter can choose to learn a new bonus feat in place of a bonus feat he has already learned. In effect, the fighter loses the bonus feat in exchange for the new one. The old feat cannot be one that was used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability. A fighter can only change one feat at any given level and must choose whether or not to swap the feat at the time he gains a new bonus feat for the level.
Dual Talent Some humans are uniquely skilled at maximizing their natural gifts. These humans pick two ability scores and gain a +2 racial bonus in each of those scores. This racial trait replaces the +2 bonus to any one ability score, the bonus feat, and the skilled traits.
Eyes and Ears of the City (Abadar) Your religious training involved serving in the city watch of a large city, the primary duty of which was standing sentinel on a city wall. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks, and Perception is always a class skill for you.
Indomitable Faith You were born in a region where your faith was not popular, yet you never abandoned it.
Leaping Attack (Ex) At 5th level, when a mobile fighter moves at least 5 feet prior to attacking, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 5th. This ability replaces weapon training 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Rapid Attack (Ex) At 11th level, a mobile fighter can combine a full attack action with a single move. He must forgo the attack at his highest bonus but may take the remaining attacks at any point during his movement. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. This ability replaces armor training 3.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).
It's pretty respectable. Your saves look about average, but you are much mobile than anyone else.
Remember to forgo your off-hand attack to use Rapid Attack!
See how I try to focus on crits here. Maybe what you want next is Improved Iron Will, Piranha Strike (once your attack gets obscene), Two-Weapon Defense (get that AC pumping), maybe Two-Weapon Rend (but I don't like it), or some utility like Disruptive/Spellbreaker or Dizzying Attack.
For items, when you finally get that +6 STR/DEX belt, you probably want to switch to a Mithral Oo-Yoroi.
There's no weapon training bonus, that's an error with PCGEN.
You can see that the 13/12 damage on each kukri is STR (6) + WS (2) + GWS (2) + Enhancement bonus (3 and 2).
The keen stacking thing I just realized, I added the enhancement and later, readjusting the feats, took Improved Critical. It shouldn't be there.
Few things:
1. How high of level do you anticipate playing this character?
2. What kind of stat array do you have to work with? You mention a Dex based fighter; do you mean pure Dex for hit & damage?
3. Make sure you're on the same page with your GM over how mobile fighting works. The common consensus is that the bonuses last for a round, but you might want to get clarification from your GM just to be sure.
Hi there!
1. Wanted to start as level 1, as a PFS character sort of thing.
2. I was thinking high DEX: good for AC and things like two weapon fighting, Weapon Finesse, and all that.
3. I was thinking of the good old in-and-out and hit-and-run sort of fighting, rather than just a typical dungeon slog to see who runs out of HP first.
Might be on the wrong track. Just wanted to try a fighter who wasn't all brawn.
The best way I've seen to make a high dex TWF is to take 1 level in then take the rest of your levels in Fighter, Ranger or Slayer. Pick up the feats EWP (Sawtooth Sabre), Slashing Grace (Sawtooth Sabre), Weapon Focus (Sawtooth Sabre) and TWF. Doable by level 3 if you are human, half elf or tengu.
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I personally prefer the Dawnflower Archetype, it's basically the same thing except I get Weapon Training now.That's a cool looking archetype too.
Aren't they expected to be (stodgy) worshippers of Sarenrae? Generally speaking anyway...
Nothing really mandates they are... You could simply be someone who picked up their methods without actually being a worshipper of Sarenrae.
Regarding the build:
I think there's basically four options:
1. Go Strength, and dip into Slayer for TWF feats, but this is a late bloomer...
2. Go pure Slayer, but you lose your mobility (not really, there's always Slayer's Advance, but you know).
3. Go Strength with high Dexterity, which is less optimal but has good damage and doesn't lose levels.
4. Go full Dexterity and suffer early on from lower damage and get feat taxed.
I'm glad to hear you don't have to be a worshipper of Sarenrae to be a Dawnflower Dervish. That is a rather cool Fighter archetype. As a player I gravitate to the Chaotic Neutral alignment. So, I find things like Monks, Paladins and "thou must be good" to be a bit stodgy.
I was thinking along the lines of high dexterity with strength as an add on. Just as Level 1 for now for a PFS character sort of thing. I was thinking high DEX with Weapon Finesse, since DEX is good for your AC too, and the 20 point buy thing kind of limits how much you can do in the way of really high stats and all that.
Pretty good build you had there. Definitely formidable when it comes to "slice and dice!"
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The best way I've seen to make a high dex TWF is to take 1 level in then take the rest of your levels in Fighter, Ranger or Slayer. Pick up the feats EWP (Sawtooth Sabre), Slashing Grace (Sawtooth Sabre), Weapon Focus (Sawtooth Sabre) and TWF. Doable by level 3 if you are human, half elf or tengu.
Those are interesting. Thanks for that. I was thinking that, at level 1 at least, those might work best for a human just because of the extra feat those breeding-like-rabbits humans get:
And then fighting with a Kukri in the off-hand for its improved critical range.
I hadn't looked at that Sawtooth Sabre. That sure looks like it can be some nasty! Thanks for pointing that one out to me!
I just realized that part of my post was fragmented.
It should read as '1 level in Swashbuckler' then the rest in fighter, ranger or slayer.
Also realize that half-elves and tengu are just as viable if not moreso then humans if you go this route. Half-elves can pick up EWP as an alternate racial trait and tengu have Swordtrained as a default racial trait. Both of these act as the bonus feat from human that would essentially become EWP (sawtooth sabre).
The reason that Sawtooth-Sabre is attractive is because they count as light for the purposes of TWF, and can be chosen for the Slashing Grace feat (dex to damage). This makes dex to damage come online earlier then if you had to wait for agile weapon enchants (painful if you play through the levels instead of using credit).
Pretty good build you had there. Definitely formidable when it comes to "slice and dice!"
It's on 20 point buy too! I'm using the racial trait that allows Humans to get +2 to two attributes.
Honestly, I'd rather have the feat and the money (from getting two agile weapons) rather than going full Dex but that's just me.
Going full Dex irks me, I hate having low flat-footed AC.
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I just realized that part of my post was fragmented.
It should read as '1 level in Swashbuckler' then the rest in fighter, ranger or slayer.
Also realize that half-elves and tengu are just as viable if not moreso then humans if you go this route. Half-elves can pick up EWP as an alternate racial trait and tengu have Swordtrained as a default racial trait. Both of these act as the bonus feat from human that would essentially become EWP (sawtooth sabre).
The reason that Sawtooth-Sabre is attractive is because they count as light for the purposes of TWF, and can be chosen for the Slashing Grace feat (dex to damage). This makes dex to damage come online earlier then if you had to wait for agile weapon enchants (painful if you play through the levels instead of using credit).
I like the look of the Swashbuckler class too. I'm partial to high dexterity and charisma characters (just because). The Slayer lass looks interesting too.
I haven't played a Tengu before. They do look interesting, though.
Hmmm... A Tengu swashbuckler⁈ That could make things lively lots of fun!
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Pretty good build you had there. Definitely formidable when it comes to "slice and dice!"It's on 20 point buy too! I'm using the racial trait that allows Humans to get +2 to two attributes.
Honestly, I'd rather have the feat and the money (from getting two agile weapons) rather than going full Dex but that's just me.
Going full Dex irks me, I hate having low flat-footed AC.
Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't thought of the human racial subtypes. But that's just because there's so many of them out there (rumour has it they breed like rabbits)!
I need to pay more attention to those human subtypes, obviously!
Myself, I like characters with high DEX and CHA. But that's probably because I often meet players who thing those are both dump stats. But, oh well. Just so long as you can survive adventures and get lots of dosh, swag and bling in the process, it's all good!
I have a question regarding the mobile fighter's Rapid Attack (Ex) ability.
As I am relatively new to the PF gaming commuity please answer on the belief that i do not fully understand the mechanics of the maneuver/ability in question.
Rapid Attack allows the character to sacrifice their attack at their highest BAB in order to "full-attack" at any point during a move action.
"Rapid Attack (Ex) - At 11th level, a mobile fighter can combine a full-attack action with a single move. He must forgo the attack at his highest bonus but may take the remaining attacks at any point during his movement. "
Double Move allows players to spend their "standard?" action in exchange for another move action on the same turn ie. 5 foot shift or another full movement.
Could a mobile fighter double move and use rapid attack twice in one round? or is rapid attack limited to once per round ending the characters turn after he resolves the action?
Sorry but I'm trying to find this out and haven't found any posts regarding the issue in question. Thanks in advanced for any help clearing this up.
The question is understandable, I used to ask stuff like that too.
You can't do the double move thing because Rapid Attack says you can combine FULL ATTACK with a move action. So you are basically full attacking + a move, not move + full attacking.
The question is understandable, I used to ask stuff like that too.
You can't do the double move thing because Rapid Attack says you can combine FULL ATTACK with a move action. So you are basically full attacking + a move, not move + full attacking.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
been playing on and off for 2 years now but the encounters have always been vanilla.
Just started looking at archetypes and the wording more often than not is confusing to me. Usually you can find the issue on the message boards but this one seems elusive.
Reason I was asking is because we just started rotating GM responsibilities so everyone could get a taste and I'm making an optional encounter verse a Mobile Fighter to give the party a little shake up. The fighter is trip attack based (using a Scythe with improved trip feat tree) and I needed to know this classes limitations.
Hey, whatever you try, to to give him a flanking partner, it will help.
Also, go for Whirlwind Strike trips!
3. Go Strength with high Dexterity, which is less optimal but has good damage and doesn't lose levels.
Why every thinks this is hard is beyond me. With a decent point by (20 pts), you can easily get beginning stats like these
STR 16 DEX 16 CON 14 Mental stats- 10/ whatever (dump and move points as you please)
One of those 16's is a 14 raised by racial modifiers (it is not hard to find a class with +str, +dex, or + to whatever). After that, use the 4th level ability score adjustment to raise dex to 17.
BAM. You qualify for all the good TWF feats. I can only think of one that needs higher requirements, and that is greater TWF (an attack at BAB-12 is not really worth the effort though).
After that, you just bump strength like normal. You lose maybe 1-2 attack and damage, and honestly- fighters aren't in need for much more attack (they are already one of the most accurate classes) and you are grabbing TWF to get a ton of nice static bonus damage anyway.
My wife played one in legacy of fire -- she went with 14's in strength, dexterity, constitution and wisdom, and used a falcatta and buckler. She did fine with no issues.
3. Go Strength with high Dexterity, which is less optimal but has good damage and doesn't lose levels.Why every thinks this is hard is beyond me. With a decent point by (20 pts), you can easily get beginning stats like these
STR 16 DEX 16 CON 14 Mental stats- 10/ whatever (dump and move points as you please)
One of those 16's is a 14 raised by racial modifiers (it is not hard to find a class with +str, +dex, or + to whatever). After that, use the 4th level ability score adjustment to raise dex to 17.
BAM. You qualify for all the good TWF feats. I can only think of one that needs higher requirements, and that is greater TWF (an attack at BAB-12 is not really worth the effort though).
After that, you just bump strength like normal. You lose maybe 1-2 attack and damage, and honestly- fighters aren't in need for much more attack (they are already one of the most accurate classes) and you are grabbing TWF to get a ton of nice static bonus damage anyway.
Did you see the build I put below that? It's exactly that. Human with Dual Talent for high STR and DEX. Except it has a 12 in WIS so it doesn't TPK the party.
A better option is an Oversized Goblin (sweet +STR/+DEX/-CHA with +4 to Perception or Acrobatics/Climb or a bite attack. But then you are an Oversized Goblin.
Hey, whatever you try, to to give him a flanking partner, it will help.
Also, go for Whirlwind Strike trips!
I don't know about adding any more stats. but roleplay wise he was going to be a homebrew ghost using the stats of a mobile fighter but with decreased AC, no armor training bonuses, stuff like that. Then have them fight him on haunted ground. As it is an Optional Encounter I am worried that the haunted ground might be drifting dangerously close to TPK territory.
The encounter is designed to be a 1 vs Party encounter but i was considering adding an incorporeal template young dragon just for the story wise.
Any advice to keep the mobile fighter from becoming to dangerous for the encounter?