Level 4 Occultist PFS Playtest

[Slothsy]

Kubali Dres:

N Small Wayang Occultist 4
Init +1 Senses Perception +6, darkvision 60 ft.
DEFENSES
HP 33 (4d8+8)
AC 20 Touch 13 Flat-Footed 19 (+7 Armor, +1 Deflection, +1 Size, +1 Dex)
Saves Fort+6 Ref +2 Will +4, +2 v. shadow
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee Keen Human Bane Adamantine Nodachi +9 (1d8+4, 16-20)
Ranged Composite +3 Longbow +3 (1d6+3)
Occultist Spells Known
2nd (2/day) – Glitterdust, Resist Energy, Spider Climb
1st (4/day) – Cure Light Wounds, Enlarge Person, Shield
Knacks – Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Resistance
SLAs – Dissolution’s Child (1/day)
[b]STATISTICS
Str 16 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 18 Wis 11 Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Combat Casting, Weapon Focus (Nodachi)
Traits Pragmatic Activator (Add Int to UMD instead of CHA), The Stranger (+1 to Diplo and Know [L], one becomes class skill [Know Local])
Skills Appraise +8, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +6, Knowledge (Engineering) +8, Knowledge (History) +10, Knowledge (Local) +9, Knowledge (Planes) +8, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Perception +6, Stealth +3, Survival +2, Use Magic Device +14
Racial Modifiers +2 to Stealth and Perception
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Infernal, Tien, Wayang
Special Qualities Implements (Amulet[Abjuration], Compass [Conjuration], Weapon [Transmutation]), Focus Power(Flesh Mend, Sudden Speed) Light and Dark, Magic Item Skill, Mental Focus (11 points), Object Reading, Shift Focus
Combat Gear +1 Greatsword, Mithral Chainshirt, Cloak of Resistance +1, Composite Longbow (+3 Strength Rating), 60 Cold Iron Arrows Other Gear Alchemist Fire (5), Bladeguard (2), Chronicler’s Kit, Mapmaker’s Kit, Mask, Mule [Atticus], Pathfinder’s Kit, Reinforced Scarf, Smelling Salts, Tent, Trail Rations (5), Wayfinder, Weapon Cord (attaching Nodachi to self)

Focus power allocation:

7 in weapon
3 in amulet
1 in wayfinder

Build notes: Started new at level 4 with 9109 gold due to GM credit.

Friday, November 7th - 7:00-11:00 PM
6-05: Slave Ships of Absalom
Party Comp: Occultist 4, Bard 3, Summoner 3, Pregen Barbarian 4
Subtier 4-5 with 4-player adjustment

This was a roleplay-heavy scenario that used a lot of skills. The balance of the skills felt good; I wasn't the best at, say, diplomacy, but my knowledge skills felt rounded enough for a character focused on miscellany and investigations. I was able to invest in a few good skills and had enough back-up to feel like a well-rounded Pathfinder.

Combat 1:

On round 1, initiative go 1, I crit with the human bane keen adamantine greatsword. Took the human I crit against from full to down (30 hp). The other took 3 more rounds to go down; missed twice (5 and 9 on the die), confirmed a crit on the last round for only 13 points of damage. Total of 43 points of damage dealt.

Combat 2:

I attempted to cast enlarge person on myself. During the full round cast, gunslinger targeted me. Took 6 damage. Concentration check +8 (+4 class, +4 INT). Rolled an 15 on the die, total of 23, needed a 27. After that, focused on combat, including spending one mental focus to give my nodachi a +1. There were 6 total rounds of combat; missed two times, hit twice, confirmed crit once. 26 total damage. This was our longest combat, as our Summoner and his eidolon were out of the fight.

Combat 3/4:

This was a two-part combat. Bardic I started out on the bottom of initiative. Came into it already enlarged. On round 1, I critted against a half-orc for 30 points of damage. I hit again for 8 points, than crit for 28 points of damage. After that, my damage dealing was done. I glitter dusted an invisible foes and spent the remaining time using my adamantine nodachi to free slaves from manacles as the ship burnt. Amiri was also enlarged during this combat.

Everything felt pretty good. Of course, this class feels like it gets regular "boosts" at level 4, so I was at optimal power for the 4-7 range. The keen enchantment, however, was vital to giving me damage output at all. It made up for my misses, though my dice were definitely hot/cold all night long.

However, I didn't find myself using the mental focus points at all. I didn't feel like I needed it. It was, of course, in part to the combat-light nature of this scenario, but it was also ultimately most useful to have my focus invested in my implements. I spent a total of two points; the +1 enchantment felt pretty useless, and Flesh Mend was a good emergency healing for Amiri between combats. In the future, I will re-arrange my focus points to have more points open for Flesh Mend.

There's a big issue with full-round casting as an self-buff-focused occultist. I built this character to be a self-buffer. In one combat, I took a risk and attempted to Enlarge Person myself. A gunslinger hit me for 6 damage, I rolled a 15 on the concentration check and the spell fizzled. Doing the math, I needed a 13+damage taken (19 in this case) in order to successfully cast the spell, since I couldn't spend a move action to center for the thought component in the full-round cast. I'd hate to never be able to cast a spell with a 1-round casting time in combat. Is there a way to consider looking at adding that as a focus power option? Spend a point of mental focus to center yourself as a swift action?

My GM didn't have any particular feedback on the class or how it played.

[Slothsy]

Scheduled to play in the Voice in the Void on Sunday 11/9 and Hall of the Flesh Eaters on Sunday 11/16. Character will be level 4 for both sessions.

[Slothsy]

Sorry that I didn't do this earlier:

Voice in the Void (4-5 subtier, 5 players) was extremely easy for this character (level 4). The Caryatid Columns weren't able to get any damage past the hardness of my nodachi, and in general the fights were easy. I did find myself spending focus points this time. In the last fight, I gave up my keen enchantment for a +3 bonus to negate some of difficult in dealing nonlethal damage. My Occultist hit most of the time, and my dice were neither hot nor cold. I cast very few spells in combat and rarely used focus powers for anything interesting. Honestly, most of the time, I feel as though using the focus powers are a bad decision, as it weakens my weapons and armor long-term. This isn't because the powers are bad, but those resonant powers are, in many ways, too good.

Hall of the Flesh Eaters (4-5 subtier, 5 players): This scenario was weird. Our party was range and caster heavy, so I served as the only true melee character on the table. Kubali was able to serve in that role, but had trouble hitting at point, particularly in a fight that was water-based and filled with leeches. However, the Servitor focus power came in handy then, as I used it to summon a water elemental that managed to handily defeat the leeches in its minute-long jaunt in the material plane. In addition, I found myself using Flesh Mend and all of my 1st level spells on Cure Light Wounds as I stood in for the party healer. It was okay, in a pinch, but I'll definitely be picking up a cure light wounds wand to patch myself up post-combat.

In general, I feel as though the Occultist is a well-rounded class that is able to serve in a number of roles. I enjoy my jack-of-all-trades Occultist immensely and feel as though this class is nearly finished. My biggest issue is how my in-combat casting is hampered by the rules for thought components. If there were a "universalist" or "generic" option for a focus power, it would be to spend focus to negate the concentration check, as it makes it nearly impossible to cast a full-round spell. While I understand I can't do everything perfectly, not being able to self-buff as a self-buff caster hurts.