Hey fellow RPGers!
I was wondering about some really solid 1-2 level dips? I know it greatly depends on how we want to RP our characters, but can you think of any that would bring some added strong benefits to the characters?
I'm considering a 2 level dip in Maneuver Master/Weapon Adept Monk for my Staff Hexcrafter Magus i'm looking at.
Originally I was looking at a 4 level dip including 1 level of MM monk and 3 levels of Lore Warden for the flavor the Lore Warden adds in the area of combat Maneuvers. The only issue is that's a huge dip and really puts me behind the ball in spells, magus abilities, etc.
So now i'm thinking thi MM/Weapon Adept monk, here's the breakdown:
Level 1: monk bonus: Dodge
Level 1 maneuver master monk: Improved Trip
Level 1 weapon adept monk: Perfect Strike
Level 2 maneuver master monk: Combat Reflexes
Level 2 weapon adept monk: Weapon FocusThat's 5 feats all pretty useful ones to for a staff magus in 2 levels!
Can you think of any other good dips for flavor for a staff magus?
You'd have to take Improved Trip as your bonus monk feat, because you don't have the prerequisites (Combat Expertise). Also, be very careful when combining archetypes: several of them replace the same capstone ability at level 20, and even if you never plan to get that high in monk, those archetypes would still conflict.
My favorite martial dips are:
Master of Many Styles/Monk of the Iron Mount combination: 2 levels get you nice saves, +1 natural armor, toughness, and 2 style feats with no prerequisites.
A 1 level Brawler dip is almost a must for any maneuver build. If you have Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, and Power Attack, you can pick up any maneuver feat on the fly. If you have the Improved maneuvers, grab the Greater Maneuver when you need that extra boost. Honestly, it's a great dip for any martial, really. ("I may not always get blinded, but when I do, I learn Blind Fight as a move action.")
A barbarian dip is awesome for that extra 10 feet of movement and the free action strength boost that stacks with Bull's Strength. Access to the Furious weapon enhancement alone is well worth it. A second level gets you Uncanny Dodge, and there are some awesome rage powers. (Although Bloodrager is quickly replacing Barbarian as my favorite: rage, movement, and a spell list? Yes, please!)
Freebooter Ranger you've already mentioned, but that is one of my favorites as well.
For dex-based characters, Swashbuckler is quickly becoming the new dip of choice.
And any time you absolutely need that bonus feat, there are a whole lot of awesome fighter archetypes to dip into. Lore Warden is my most common dip, but 3 levels of Weapon Master get you weapon training, which opens up Gloves of Dueling (untyped +2 attack and damage bonus--expensive, but they stack with everything).
Brawler 2- lets you use TWF with a single weapon (which means you only have to buy a single weapon- saves on costs), and possibly get 2 handed power attack. It is slightly different from the monk's flurry, since it works with outside TWF feats.
Perfect for classes that can get TWF without prerequisites, such as ranger or slayer. It only works with close weapons or monk weapons, but that includes the cestus, shields, butterfly swords, or 9 ninged swords- no need for anything exotic, martial weapon proficiency covers plenty of great options.
It also allows you to wear armor through all this, and you can also have a shield. So non shield bash sword and board.
I made a fun dwarf barbarian 1/magus X. Used a dwarven waraxe, so I wasn't crit-fishing, but I did a lot of damage while enlarged and raging and two-handed power attacking. I mostly took the barbarian level for the speed, but the extra hit points and rage (especially with the Berserker of the Society trait) were nice too, as were the extra skill points and class skills, like Acrobatics, Perception, and Survival.
I was probably eventually going to take a 2nd level in barbarian for the uncanny dodge (or DR 1/- if I went invulnerable) and especially for the rage power Moment of Clarity or whatever, so I could pause my rage to cast. But we only got to 8th level. Now I'm rebuilding him as a Mountain Dwarf Wizard with the Abjuration Arcane Tradition and the Outlander background and the Tough feat in 5th Edition. Pretty boss.
Gunslingers get guns, Grit, Gunsmithing, and Deeds at lv1.
Swashbucklers get Swashbuckler's Finesse, Panache, and Deeds at lv1, and with Weapon Focus lets you take Slashing Grace at lv1 as well. Opportune Parry & Riposte is probably also the most awesome Deed they have, and is a 1st level Deed at that.
Both are fantastic dips if you plan to either be a gun wielder or finessing fighter.
Taking both together with Combat Reflexes lets you create a crazy-awesome Gun-Kata master almost instantly.
Fighter is just a great 1-2 level dip for any Martial that isn't concerned about hitting either the lv11 soft-cap or lv20 capstone ability, or if you're going lv21+.
Rangers and Slayers are great 2-level dips because you can take Ranger Combat Style at lv2 for both.
Taking 2 levels of Ranger, 2 levels of Slayer, and 2 levels of Fighter get you absurd amounts of Feats, and allow you to bypass the prerequisites of many of those.
Barbarian: Rage is super strong and not too hard to keep up with a feat or two spent on Extra Rage, save it for special occasions.
Or use it all the time, you only need to spend 5 feats to have the Rage of a 15th level Barbarian. That's a 5 level savings.
Fighter 2, Paladin 2 get my vote - depending on build.
For me Barbarian dips were replaced by bloodrager dips. For 1 level dip more return for the investment and no alignment issues.
What I like is hunter (most feral hunter) dips for the permanent animal focus. That's +4 perception when you do not need something else or +2 to one physical stat, evasion, scent, or other cool goodies.
Sleeping is a -10 on perception checks. With this its only a net -6 because you will not need most of the other stuff at night.
Apart from that I like cavalier dips. For some builds the teamwork feat is as good as a combat feat, you get heavy armor so everything a fighter dip nets +1 challenge (weak at level 1 but it's there), can share your teamwork feat 1/day and either you get a mount or a banner (banner nearer archetype).
Other archetypes net full movement in med armor or other goodies.
In fact there is no class I have dipped as often as cavalier and samurai.
i always liked the one level crossblooded orc/draconic sorcerer dip than into evocation/admixture specialist. changing elements on the fly and crazy +2 per die damage on spells. you're whole concern is raising the caster level of evocation spells at that point
Just from personal experience, and I'm not much of an optimizer,
but I found a 1-level dip into Cavalier (Musketeer) to be well worth it for my (then) 4th level Summoner (mounted eidolon build).
Musketeer traded out the redundant mount feature, got me a pistol which was thematically appropriate, all the weapon profs I needed, free escape route and the ability to slap that on an ally within my great-big-reach.
It was a tough call to make at the time, but I'm really glad I did it.
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I was recently re-reading Ultimate Combat, and thought that this would be a nice combo for human barbarians.
Gunslinger (gun tank*) 2/barbarian (armored hulk) with the ghost rager** rage power.
* A set of full plate +5 adds a +9 deflection bonus vs non-siege firearms and splash weapon attacks (including alchemist bombs).
** Deal normal damage to incorporeal creatures even while using nonmagical weapons, but more importantly, gain a morale bonus to touch AC equal to her saving throw bonus from her superstition rage power.
Laugh at bullets! :) Very useful in a certain AP!
You have Army. We have Hulk!
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Depending on what you are looking for, really.
I love a one level dip into Cleric of Desna, with Travel & Liberation domains. An extra 10' of movement, the ability to just say no to Black Tentacles, and the ability to take 5' steps or charge through difficult terrain?
I strongly advise against any dips into Barbarian-type stuff, mainly because, if you aren't paying serious attention, especially at higher levels, it is the easiest way to commit suicide I know of. Rage also kills most spellcasting ability, so, for a Magus, not. Urban Barbarian is the only one I might consider, since it doesn't give as much in the way of negatives for the Controlled Rage...
Ranger or Paladin, depending on alignment, since they allow the use of certain Divine spells in wands, even before they gain spell slots.
Laugh at bullets! :) Very useful in a certain AP!
Would that be Iron Gods?
I strongly advise against any dips into Barbarian-type stuff, mainly because, if you aren't paying serious attention, especially at higher levels, it is the easiest way to commit suicide I know of. Rage also kills most spellcasting ability, so, for a Magus, not. Urban Barbarian is the only one I might consider, since it doesn't give as much in the way of negatives for the Controlled Rage...
Rather than Urban my new go to is Savage Technolgist
No downside, +4 Str/Dex during rage and you keep the +2 to will. Not to mention it also keeps fast movement which I like to have rather than crowd control. Bonus of firearm proficiency.