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As the title asks. I have finally decided to hunker down and play PFS, but due to my lack of willingness to run pregens, DM a game or two or play a fighter-type character for level 1 and then abuse the "free rebuild prior to level 2" ruke, I will be making my character a fullcaster, that will be forced to start out at level 1. As a result, I am looking to all of you for ideas on -which- fullcaster will be most survivable/best to take from level 1 on up? Preferably, I would like a fullcaster that is NOT gish/partial melee, and would instead be focused on being more of either an anvil or an arm rather then a hammer, for those familiar with the "forge of combat" idea. Also, while it dosen't need to be a cha-primary class, I will be having at least 14 cha for RP reasons, so keep that in mind when recommending classes as for classes that need a lot of stats(reach cleric or wildshape druid, for example), I won't have the wiggle room to get that 14 cha...but I am fine with non-cha casters who don't have as strenuious stat needs(Such as wizards and arcanists who basically just need int and a little bit of dex/con.)
So if anybody has recommendations on what would be both the "most survivable" fullcaster from level 1 on up, as well as what fullcaster would be most liked/welcomed at PFS tables I'd be grateful!
a wizard, arcanist or sorcerer. All of them are fine for what you're wanting. Or you can go cleric or oracle or shaman if you're wanting divine. I guess witch is an option too
Sorcerers are totally fun; don't let the talk of wizards being supreme get you down. There are non-melee oracle options as well. Cha is great for PFS, as you'll be using Diplomacy aplenty.
Most survivable, depending on what attacks you, probably belongs either to Scarred Witch Doctor or Cha-to-everything Oracle.
All full casters are liked and welcomed at pfs tables. If you're set on 14 charisma at the outset, pick a charisma caster: oracle or sorcerer.
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Cackle Witch. Your hexes allow you to have something to do even if you're not willing to commit the resource of your spells slots. I played one in a home game, it was as fun as when I play my monk or when I played a Barbarian pre-gen.
And yes, you're on the right path to have some charisma. Always make sure your character can tackle a few skills, be they face skills or knowledges.
Clerics are the most survivable full caster, because they have healing spells and channels, medium armor and shields, and d8 HD, as well as good saves for the two important saves. (Fort and Will protect against save-or-die and save-or-lose effects. Reflex for the most part protects against HP damage and inconvenience.)
Druids, oracles, shamans are nearly as good as clerics. All have healing, all have medium armor (although druids are restricted in a lot of ways, in PFS you can spend 2 PP to get a dragonhide breastplate). They also have more variety than clerics, as each has a way to have a unique theme to the character that is more tied into the whole class mechanics than cleric domains. Also, druids have an animal companion which can be very helpful in keeping them alive.
If you prefer arcane, Sorc, Wizard, Arcanist, and Witch are all roughly equal, each having different advantages. The Sorc has more spells than the others, and you're planning to have high CHA anyway. The witch has unlimited spell-level effects in her hexes. Divination wizard has the advantage of always going in surprise rounds, which can avoid suprise attacks. Arcanists have an advantage in that their arcane pools can make their spells have a high enough save DC that 1st-level opponents will have a great difficulty making. Sorc, Wizard, and arcanist have access to spells like color spray that are super effective at level 1 (and quickly lose effectiveness at higher level)
A support cleric makes a great arm. While Charisma isn't something to stress over for most cleric builds, at the very least you have Diplomacy as a class skill and will get more channels per day for healing/buffing depending on if you want a variant channel. Tark's guide is a great place to learn the Cleric builds. The best part of the Support build is that while you provide a lot of benefits to your group that they will appreciate, the way you play is actually very straightforward and easy to learn. You will also be very durable.
Shaman. It does... everything. Admittedly you are weakest at level 1 (but you are still plenty strong), but level 2 sees you picking up Slumber Hex, at which point you basically Witch++ with more HD, BAB, Spells per day, and abilities, (you are down a hex, but you get flexible hexes that you can change every day).
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My three cents:
1) Arcanist is a lot of fun, even my completely un-optimized gnome. You have the versatility of a wizard + additional versatility since you spontaneously cast from the memorized list.
I personally think this is a wonderful option.
This is substantial lower in power than Cleric or Oracle depending on the build.
Heavens Oracle with Awesome Display coupled with whatever Cha to X you can pick up, like Noble Scion of War, can be really powerful, but you will be using the same old trick time after time after time.
- 12 Levels
- 3 Scenarios per Level
- 3 combats per Scenario
- = 108 uses of the same trick . . .
Daze Cleric is largely the same, max Cha, enough Wis to cast spells, Improved Channel, Selective Channel, and Sacred Conduit (trait). You take a neutral domain, to get negative channel, along with a god with the Nobility Domain, and force high DC saves or all enemies within 30' of you get no actions. Again, this leads to the same trick, every time, 100 and some odd times over the course of your career with little variation.
I don't really like Oracles or Clerics along these lines just because it seems like it would be boring as heck. Efficient and powerful, yes; but boring as heck.
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Yeah, I did read tak's cleric guide a while back and was -considering- a support cleric, though I am not into -good- deities and the support cleric really wants to channel positive energy. I did, however, have a negative-channeling cleric of disparter build which was most definitely PFS legal, but I feel that the rulership variant channeling, while PFS legal, may be -TOO- powerful and actually make tables angry by just flat out ending encounters before they get good. About the only deity that allows me to channel positive that I find even remotely palatable fluff-wise is abadar, since his worshipers can still be LN elitist dicks who have disdain for the poor(They are a drag on the resources of civilization that really should be working instead of standing in the streets looking for handouts.) and don't care to end slavery(Hey, it's a legal, societal institution that has been a tradition for generations!)
So far I am leaning towards..
Human Cleric of Abadar- Typical support build as per tak's guide, but LN and with a LN deity instead of a good one because good-aligned is not my definition of fun. Less cha then my other ideas, but 14 is all I need for RP and 14 cha on the support build is actually a good thing as it means more channels, as well as stronger diplomacy for the prevalent skill checks in PFS. Luckily, Abadar not only lets me play an enjoyable randian capitalist ******* who has not a charitable bone in their body, but has some decent domain choices for a support cleric in nobility and law, and lets me channel positive, too. Probably the most basic/simple of my builds, but fun none the less.
Human Cleric of Disparter- Channeling focused build using the rulership daze-. Literally checks EVERY box I wanted to hit. Survivable? Check. High cha? Check. Some dark/sinister stuff in their fluff? Check...and a prepared caster, to boot, which is really nice since despite my love of cha as an ability score I am one of the crazy folk who actually enjoy spell preparation over spontaneous casting. While I like this character a lot(high cha due to channeling focus, evil deity.), I would like advice on whether or not the rulership variant channel is just too ****-ish a move for PFS? If not, this will definitely be what I go with, but I want -imput- before I commit to this build...
Kitsune Spirit Guide Oracle- I LOVE the Kitsune race...it's actually, along with human, my favored race to play as in pathfinder. In addition, the spirit guide archtype, IMO, is pretty darn awesome. Mystery choice will be either outer rifts(anvil), Life(Arm), or Lunar(Just plain cool)...some input here would, IMO, be nice as I like all three, but they all have vastly different playstyles, with outer rifts being probably one of the two best mysteries for battlefield control, life being a primary healer and buffer who can do "other things" by virtue of being a spirit guide and having some battlefield control options from the cleric list and Lunar being able to be built as an anvil OR arm, to my liking, as most of the "caster-frendly" revelations for it are ether survivability boosts or utility.
EDIT: Occultist Arcanist (Human or Kitsune)- I like minions. I will state that outight. Necromancy is, without a doupt, my favorite thing to do in pathfinder, but PFS sadly nerfs it. Summon monsters are the next best thing, and other then a summoner which is more of a really oddball martial class with a smattering of casting then a true "fullcaster" in my eyes(Except for master summoners, which are totally awesome but sadly not PFS legal), the occultist arcanist is a fullcasting petmaster. Human is best race here as I can get that 14 cha without having to sacrifice int, dex or con(int is still 18 post racial, even with that 14 in cha and dex and con are respectable at 14 and 12, and con can go as high as 14 if I tank str all the way down to 7 and go with lower wis.), but I can still get 18 int and 14 cha on a Kitsune with decent dex and con, as well as the 14 cha if I totally dump strength to 7 post racial and go with lower wisdom. Not all that -optimal- but a Kitsune monster summoner? Heck yeah! Either way, more of an anvil then an arm, but the pets go a long way to survivability, and as stated this is a nice option that others presented, so I thank you for the suggestion!
So, out of these four, which do you think would work best for PFS?...any advice on, say, mystery choice out of the three mentioned for the Oracle?...or on whether or not rulership variant channel is just -too- powerful for PFS?
PFS still comes down a lot to table variation. I've played at tables that will look down on you for a single 16, and I've played at tables where if you're not playing a Zen Archer, people look at you like one of their poor relations. Find out who GMs the group you want to play with and ask that guy. If you don't know, then find that out first before investing hours into your character build.
All 4 sound perfectly viable, but I haven't committed the PFS legality list to memory. Play the one that sounds the most fun.
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I will recommend you play what you find interesting. The cleric will be more survivable then most others. However their spell list is no where near as good as arcane casters. As a full caster I feel I can do much more as a wizard(7) then as a cleric(8) or oracle(7). Just due to the fact I have more options open to me then a few good spells. The number of good divine spells is small and gets smaller as you level. The number of good arcane spells is large and gets larger. You will see very little vernation in focused divine caster spell list as their is not much there. The arcane spell list on the other hand gives you greater options.