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So I want to make a quarter staff user for my next PFS character and I'm having difficulty choosing a class. I am thinking of brawler, weapon adept monk, hexcrafter+staff magus, hunter, Druid, wood oracle, or warpriest. Help me narrow it down.
Brawler: pros: I've never played one, brawlers flurry, close weapon mastery. Cons: no spells, bad will save.
Monk: pros: flurry, good saves, perfect strike helps with crits. Cons: I've played a lot of monks, and perfect strike is limited.
Magus: pros: good action economy, spells, hexes, free quarter staff master, spell combat, spell strike. cons: takes a while to get all abilities going.
Hunter: pros: best animal companion class in the game. Access to Druid and ranger spells, including shillelagh. Cons: it's More about the AC than Your staff.
Druid:pros: shillelagh, nature fang or urban Druid archetypes are staff friendly. Very few cons.
Oracle: almost the same as the Druid, exct you have access to both divine favor and shillelagh. Cons, I have a reach wood oracle already.
warpriest: pros fervor, sacred weapon. Cons skills, have a great sword wariest already.
So far Im torn between the magus and the Druid.
Brawlers and monks- they can flurry with a single weapon in 2 hands for all attacks during flurry. This means
- You only have to enhance one end of the staff
- You can get 2 handed power attack damage on each hit. x1.5 over 2 'hands' so to speak- a total of x3 accumulated power attack damage.
An interesting fact- unlike the flurry of blows, the brawler's flurry works like regular TWF for the purposes of qualifying for TWF feats and using them.
So you could, for instance, just take a 2 level dip into brawler, and take all the other TWF could be taken normally. And thus you have a powerful use of a staff, but you can take most of your levels in a class with more pleasing qualities.
Also, for the hunter- have you considered primal companion hunter? One of the most appealing aspects of that archetype is what happens when you DON'T have an animal companion.
Normally, the primal companion hunter can apply eidolon evos to their animal companions for minutes/level/day. But in the event that the animal companion dies... you can horde all those sweet, sweet evos for yourself. Even just taking ability score increases and natural armor increases means that this mechanics is on par with things like inquisitor judgments, but it lasts much, much longer (since most fights are less than a minute, it is like fights/level). You can also take interesting things like flight or extra senses.
I'd honestly be really interested in playing a Brawler.
I'd run an Exemplar or a Shield Champion, shield Champion is actually pretty neat since as soon as you hit level 5 you can use your Quarterstaff one handed and have your shield in your other hand. Then you can Flurry with your Staff and your unarmed strikes, plus the Shield Champion gives you a ranged option in terms of using a throwing shield. Of course you can't use a shield as a Shield champion (outside of a Buckler) until you hit level 5 since until you get Quarterstaff Master you won't have a free hand.
Exemplar is another neat option for a Quarterstaff Brawler since it will give you limited ability as a Bard and a Tactician, which is pretty cool. It will give you that "Badass martial arts dude calling the shots sensei" feel. Of course you can't get a shield here but you do feel pretty cool.
Anyway, if this wasn't PFS I'd look into a permanent Shillelagh item for a non-druid early game. A command word Shillelagh would only cost you 1800gp which is cheaper than buying a +1 Quarterstaff. Heck a Continuous Shillelagh item would only cost 4k which is the same cost as +1ing each side of the Quarterstaff and just better.
If you're actually aiming to be dangerous with a quarterstaff, the problem with the Druid is that there's an extremely limited set of things that will make your staff-fighting better, unless perhaps you're thinking of shifting into an earth elemental that swings a large quarterstaff around.
A Cleric X/ Monk 1 with high strength and wisdom can do a lot of interesting things with a Monk weapon. A Cleric has a ton of potential combat ability through the usual buffs plus domain spells and powers, and having spell buffing adding damage to your quarterstaff strikes means that flurry has far less of a downside than if you were relying on strength alone. A level of Kata Master and one Extra Panache feat will give anything the ability to parry and riposte with quarterstaff, though it's a pity about the crappy critical rating.
You can even grab a deity with favored weapon quarterstaff and pick up Guided Hand, using wisdom for AC, spell DC, and flurry of blows power attack. Say, a separatist cleric of Nethys with the Reformation inquisition and the Deception subdomain, so that you can dominate social situations with your wisdom and access Mirror Image and Confusion through domain slots...
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/waits until "Spin", puts a stick into the staff...
Redblade
I'm going to go off the deepend here, and actually suggest fighter. I know, I know, shocking with all of the cleric/monk/magus/brawler/druid spellcastery types out here. If you don't want spellcasting, this can be a fun route to take. Take the two weapon warrior archetype as a human (to get the extra feat and a +2 to strength), use said extra feat on quarterstaff master, the other two you get on two-weapon fighting and weapon focus quarterstaff. Then take combat expertise, improved trip, greater improved trip, weapon specialization quarterstaff, improved two-weapon fighting, improved critical, double slice (this can come before combat expertise if you want full damage on both ends), tripping staff, two-weapon rend, tripping strike, maybe lunge and if PFS goes up to 12th level (I can never remember if it does or goes only to 11th), than improved disarm. That gives you a +3 to attack and a +4 to damage not counting str or magic weapon damage, trips on any critical hit plus trips on regular hits or full attacks, or all around you, plus the ability to do double strike when you have to advance on enemy and can't do a full attack action. Also with improved hand, you can wield two quarter staves as two double weapons, one in each hand, since quarterstaff master lets you wield a quarterstaff in one hand.
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Okay, there are some good ideas here that are helping my refine my own.
Nature Fang Druid: Studied Target to help with accuracy/damage, Shillelagh, Ranger combat styles to pick up twf, Access to channel via Swamp domain if I want to go guided hand. Better skills than the cleric, and not loosing a point of BAB for the monk dip. The tiny bit of SA damage is a nice little bonus.
Hexcrafter/Staff Magus: Gets a very nice boost to AC late, hexes, spellstrike, spell combat. All the curse spells via spell combat, delivered via spell strike. Ability to use a staff as a weapon. Closest Harry Dresden you can make in game (until OA comes out anyway).
Sacred Fist of Aspu: The benefits of a Monk/Cleric without the multiclass, and allowing full flurry progression. Travel blessing to ignore all difficult terrain (including magical), Artifice to bypass construct dr/hardness, and quicken blessing for dimensional pounce at 11th level. Fervor lets you get by action economy issues for buffing.
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I'm going to go off the deepend here, and actually suggest fighter. I know, I know, shocking with all of the cleric/monk/magus/brawler/druid spellcastery types out here. If you don't want spellcasting, this can be a fun route to take. Take the two weapon warrior archetype as a human (to get the extra feat and a +2 to strength), use said extra feat on quarterstaff master, the other two you get on two-weapon fighting and weapon focus quarterstaff. Then take combat expertise, improved trip, greater improved trip, weapon specialization quarterstaff, improved two-weapon fighting, improved critical, double slice (this can come before combat expertise if you want full damage on both ends), tripping staff, two-weapon rend, tripping strike, maybe lunge and if PFS goes up to 12th level (I can never remember if it does or goes only to 11th), than improved disarm. That gives you a +3 to attack and a +4 to damage not counting str or magic weapon damage, trips on any critical hit plus trips on regular hits or full attacks, or all around you, plus the ability to do double strike when you have to advance on enemy and can't do a full attack action. Also with improved hand, you can wield two quarter staves as two double weapons, one in each hand, since quarterstaff master lets you wield a quarterstaff in one hand.
I don't like the skill points from fighter, but its not bad. I could go Lore Warden instead of two-weapon warrior and get most of that.
With a title like that, this should totally be a rapier-build. C'mon, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. C'moooooooooooooooooooon.
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AHHHHHH!!! oooooo..... owie.... the puns....
I'd look into a permanent Shillelagh item for a non-druid early game. A command word Shillelagh would only cost you 1800gp which is cheaper than buying a +1 Quarterstaff. Heck a Continuous Shillelagh item would only cost 4k which is the same cost as +1ing each side of the Quarterstaff and just better.
That is not how magic item pricing works.
The first rule is to find an equivalent item and use that as a precedent to set the price. So a continuous Shillelagh item would cost much more than 4k in exactly the same way as a continuous Mage Armor item would cost more than 4k.
With a title like that, this should totally be a rapier-build. C'mon, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. C'moooooooooooooooooooon.It's got to be a staff. :)
Ah! I was getting the wrong reference*! Objection officially withdrawn!
* And an incorrect quote while I was at it! Memoryyyyyyyyy~! *shakes fist*
The best equivalent I can think off for a cheap Shillelagh item is a charged +1 quarterstaff (2,000 or 1,000 with Master Craftsman standard featage for the weapon), and 750 or so for a 50 charge wand equivalent of shillelagh similar to a ring of the ram or a wondrous item with charges. Or buy lots of oil of shillelagh (or soap of the shillelagh Oh wonderful clean Irish Spring!).
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Ranger isn't on your list. With your bonus feats you don't need a high Dex score, and you still have access to shillelagh along with lead blades.The only ranger that gets access to Shillelagh is the Nirmathi Irregular.
Ah, true. Still, lead blades makes up for that after a bit. Alternatively, bowstaff.
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I have to put my vote in for the Magus (Hexcrafter/Staff Magus). I play one and always have something to contribute to the game.
AC was never a problem
-Shield Spell
-Mirror Image
Hitting stuff was never a problem
-Arcane Pool
-True Strike
-Evil Eye Hex!
Controlling the battlefield was never a problem
-Grease
-Trip (quarterstaff)
-Frigid Touch (staggered!)
Damage was never an issue
-Yeah, shocking grasp
-Few crits, but not needed, really
-Pearls of power (level 1) are cheap! (Make 'em yourself!)
Mobility was never an issue
-Fly Hex (feather fall at will!)
-Get Acrobatics as a class skill (trait!)
Witch Hexes! (Did I mention those already?)
-Healing hex (backup healer)
-Misfortune/Cackle (Ruin someone's day!)
Sacred Fist of Aspu: The benefits of a Monk/Cleric without the multiclass, and allowing full flurry progression. Travel blessing to ignore all difficult terrain (including magical), Artifice to bypass construct dr/hardness, and quicken blessing for dimensional pounce at 11th level. Fervor lets you get by action economy issues for buffing.
The Sacred Fist is a definitely a more streamlined package, though it lacks a lot of the casting power and some interesting abilities of a Cleric/Monk1. An Apsu Evangelist/ Kata Master 1 is quite similar in combat potential, lacking a second flurry offhand but gaining extra party-wide buffing and better access to Divine Power. Cornugon Smash can stack with Aura of Doom for spreading shaken and frightened simply by moving up and attacking things (Instrument of Agony is a bonus as well). Hurtful puts swift actions to good use and makes charging a mini-pounce. Travel domain and Longstrider gives exceptional speed, and Dimensional Dervish 3/day is possible by 13.
Come to think of it, a Spirit Guide Oracle/ Sohei with a mystery that allows charisma to AC would work very nicely with a quarterstaff fighter, since you could use charisma for initiative (noble scion), saves (divine protection), casting (including arcane spells with lore spirit), and AC, pairing your charisma AC with a Sohei's armored flurry. Being able to throw around things like Enlarge Person, Mirror Image, Heroism and so on along with cleric spells definitely makes life as a staff fighter more colorful.
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Come to think of it, a Spirit Guide Oracle/ Sohei with a mystery that allows charisma to AC would work very nicely with a quarterstaff fighter, since you could use charisma for initiative (noble scion), saves (divine protection), casting (including arcane spells with lore spirit), and AC, pairing your charisma AC with a Sohei's armored flurry. Being able to throw around things like Enlarge Person, Mirror Image, Heroism and so on along with cleric spells definitely makes life as a staff fighter more colorful.
Hmmm, I was almost decided on the magus, but this is really tempting.
The main question is are you using a "quarter"staff or a "buck and a quarter" staff
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My suggestion: Weapon Adept Monk, screw the whole multiclassing thing...you get Perfect Strike which is insane. You get it way early and you get uses per day equal to your Monk level. It can be used as part of a Flurry so burn uses on your last or 2nd to last attack in a flurry. Screw trying to pick classes with certain spells on them just so you have access to key spells. Expand your selection by taking Dangerously Curious (+1 & +3 class skill to UMD) then pickup either Focused Study as a Human....or Skill Focus: UMD if another race. You can still tank Charisma if you want or leave it at 10 but you'll either have a +6 or +8 UMD at level 1. Not super great but slowly it'll get to auto succeed status and the whole time you'll have access to use ANY wand (Paladin, Wizard, Cleric, Ranger, etc, etc). Honestly you could drop your Dex a little and start with Charisma at 10 or 12. You'll have access to Mage Armor, Shield, and more to keep your AC up.
It also helps since you're not multiclassing with a bunch of stuff and having to write a million things down and keep track of. Not sure if that is an attractive option for you or not, but it's not a bad one by any means as it lets you go full Weapon Adept Monk without losing access to certain useful spells that others get.
