I'm not an expert here, but I believe your best defensive options are miss chance related. So spells like blur or mirror image.
Although, maybe you are only interested in non-magical ways of buffing your defenses, for the purposes of this thread.
As an Arcanist->EK you probably can't spare the feats and trait for this sort of thing. Plus the Madu has a poor crit range and doesn't work with Inspired Blade class features.
It kinda depends what the rest of the group is doing and general party tactics.
If you are the main melee guy and your attack is otherwise high enough that you won't be missing that often, then I would say yes.
If there is another major melee presence (especially a tankish build) to take a significant portion of the attacks with you being more of a hit and run assistant melee, then I would say no.
If your party is already martial-heavy I would stick to Arcanist and focus on spells. And since you're in PFS, Magus is the better hybrid - The EK only ever gains a 1-2 BAB advantage over the Magus, and its spellcasting is behind until level 12. EK is the better class at 12+ purely due to higher level spells, but PFS doesn't go that high. Essentially you're spending a trait (Magical Knack) and feats (Extra Exploit) to do the same thing as a Magus.
|
As an Inspired Blade your best melee defense comes from the deeds Opportune Parry & Riposte and Dodging Panache. I would focus on increasing your crit range, AoOs, and +attack. I would steer clear of things that give you a penalty to attack. Also grab a wand of Mirror Image/Blur/Displacement so you can conserve your spells for other uses.
Just realize that if you're fighting defensively with the Madu you don't get any of the bonuses from Weapon Finesse or Fencing Grace (and can't use some of the deeds). Inspired Blade is rapier focused for a number of its abilities...
EDIT: And if you're trying to finesse while wearing/using a Madu you're taking a -1 to hit from it's ACP...
I would skip Piranha Strike. It won't work with your rapier, and with your low BAB plus the TWF penalties, the additional 'to hit' penalty will make it very difficult to strike anyone with your Madu.
To get the benefit you want from the Madu, you HAVE fight defensively WITH the Madu as a light exotic weapon. You don't fight defensively while attacking with the rapier and just have it strapped to the other arm.
The Inspiring Blade class feature that gives you weapon finesse only gives you weapon finesse in regards to a rapier. So if you're not attacking with a rapier, you do not count as having the feat. If you don't count as having finesse for your attack, you can not use another feat that requires it as a prerequisite (Fencing Grace).
|
|
Why are you so worried about AC when you have the ability to avoid melee attacks altogether? Take Combat Reflexes over Combat Expertise (and take it at level 3 in place of Arcane Exploit). For extra AoO capability, use the spell Line in the Sand to add your Intelligence bonus to your AoOs per round. At the earliest opportunity enhance your Rapier with Keen (+1) and Answering (+1). Use the Long Arm spell, Lunge feat, and/or Swashbuckler's Flair (Blue Scarf) to increase your reach.
When in melee you can declare a Parry when you are attacked and roll an opposed attack check (at your highest BAB with all your attack bonuses). If your roll is greater than your opponent's roll the attack misses. If you have a Panache point left over you can Riposte as an Immediate action. If you crit on the Riposte you get a Panache point back (Keen/Imp Critical is vital for Panache recovery). If your Panache pool is small you can augment it with the Extra Panache feat but crit fishing is your best bet for maintaining Panache throughout the day.
Now say you are fighting something with multiple attacks. You will need to maintain your spacing from the attacker for this to work. Use your reach (you bought a Blue Scarf right?) and 5' step to stay outside your opponent's reach whenever possible to force your opponent to use a 5' step to engage you. On the first attack use Dodging Panache to take an Immediate 5' step away (1 Panache). You still take the first attack (which you can attempt to Parry but not Riposte) but all iterative attacks are negated because you are now out of range. Of course if the attacker has Step Up (or the whole Step Up chain) this will not work.
Work to your strengths (Magic and Deeds) instead of focusing on tactics that diminish your class abilities.