So I am interested in making a character that wades into melee and attacks with touch attack spells.
How to make him survivable and effective. I would love basic build advice on class and feats...say level 5
Please help!
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Magus.
You get to mess with action economy, combining a full attack with a spell. And you can deliver touch spells through your melee weapon, using the weapon's critical threat range (still x2 for the spell).
One of my favorite tricks is to cast a spell (I love Vampiric Touch) as a standard action, move next to my next victim, then use Spellstrike to get a free weapon attack.
The easiest way is to be a magus. Your choice whether shocking grasp (later with intensified spell, but not at L5) or frostbite + rime spell is your touch spell of choice; take a trait to reduce the cost of metamagic on that spell. You will be best to use a scimitar or rapier; you can get slashing grace/dervish dance or fencing grace as appropriate (remember to get the prereqs) if you want to attack with dex rather than strength. If you're OK being the muscle guy then the feat build is a bit more open.
Is there anything in particular you wanted to do other than using touch spells?
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Magus is very good, but have some protective spells handy (shield, protection from evil, etc). I had two players with maguses (magi?) that were slaughtered in a fight because they had such low ACs (the boss monster walked through them without hardly slowing down). A high Dexterity and Constitution are critical. Get your character's AC and hp as high as you can get them. Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, and Toughness are good feats.
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Max out your Wis and high Dex. Work on Wis then on AC.
Monk (Sensei) 2
And
Cleric or Sorcerer (Wild Blooded Empyreal)
Now your using your Wis for Will save, AC, To Hit, Stunning Fist DC, Spell DC. Just need to decided if you want divine spells and some extra HP, or if you want arcane spells.
As a Cleric(Divine Stragest)6 Monk(Sensei)2. Normal AC 20 buffed AC 34. Normal to hit is +13 to hit. Stunning Fist DC 21. I found the only down side is needing to buff a few minutes before combat starts. I have not invested any gold in AC at this point. So I will end up with a much higher base AC.
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Problem I see with the Magus (and spell strike) is that unless I am mistaken, you are attacking the normal AC. Not the Touch AC.
I think a Rogue would benefit the most from attacking the touch AC, as it would compensate their lower BAB.
One of the best way to attack Touch AC IMO is Flame Blade.
Hope that helps.
If the "wading into melee" part is negotiable at all Cartomancer Witches are very good with touch spells. Tag someone with bestow curse by throwing a harrow card at them.
I do like the idea of actually touching rather than fighting through a weapon. The question is how to up the ac.
Any other ideas?
I do like the idea of actually touching rather than fighting through a weapon. The question is how to up the ac.
Any other ideas?
if you are going bare-handed and toe to toe you have to take some monk levels.
I think calagnar is on the right track
I see.
I guess sorcerer is the way to go then dump str, maybe go gnome...
Thoughts on feats?
Magus with Improved unarmed strike. You can still wear armor and use defensive spells. By the way Mirror Image absolutely trumps Shield as your go to defensive spell.
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Druid works well. You have a choice of going wildshape and using natural spell to deliver touch spell riders on natural attacks, or taking the Nature Fang archetype and worshiping Torag for the Blessed Hammer Feat and a divine spellstrike.
Another great option is a Spell Conduit bloodrager. I actually like it's Touch Spell deliver more than a magi's. Too bad it's a 4th level caster.
I have a Shaman I built out to 11th for PFS though I haven't got to play him above level 1 yet. Touch attacks are a large part of what he does. The concept could work with a cleric or druid as well as a shaman, possibly some other classes as well. The key is to get Heavy Armor Proficiency by 3rd level at the latest and get yourself some sweet, sweet full plate. Then grab a heavy shield and as much defensive magic as you can afford and wade into melee with a high AC and decent to good saves. Ironically you are weak against your own tactics, as your touch AC will be a big weakness.
You can afford to max out your casting stat on most point buys because you don't need high strength or dex as you target touch AC and wear heavy armor. That way you have high DC's and lots of spells/day.
My shaman has the slumber hex as plan A and will have Spiritual Weapon as plan B next level leaving his touch attacks as plan C, but he does prepare Chill Touch, Frostbite, and Cure Light Wounds x2 and all of those are touch attacks. He also has a 3/day touch attack power from his mystery that moves people without a CMB check and Hydraulic Torrent as a spirit magic spell. He is getting Toppling Spell next level to put on his Spiritual Weapon, he has Magical Lineage: Spiritual Weapon to make this work.
So is it worth going unchained monk? I would lose 3 Will save, but gain 1 BAB seems like its not worth it
If you really want to use touch spells without the magus I'd go for a cleric. Buffs (and armor, and a shield) can raise your AC if that's a particular issue, and you've got to the level where bestow curse is an option. Your deity is Irori and you'll be going for the guided hand feat.
If you're going to be using touch spells I'd avoid dipping levels in non-caster classes. The save DC is vital for many of them so you want as many caster levels as you can.
Thanks all!
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So is it worth going unchained monk? I would lose 3 Will save, but gain 1 BAB seems like its not worth itI did not think it was worth the trade off. I hade the option of a free rebuild form PFSP after unchained came out.
I did rebuild my martial artist. I had to loose the archetype, but I am quite pleased with the result. I have the same to hit all the time that I did with Exploit Weakness, and I have my swift action free to spend a ki point when needed. I lost the ability to bypass ALL DR and Hardness, bu I moved the dwarf FCB to compensate. Yes, my will save is lower than it was, but it's still good for my level thanks to being a dwarf and having an 18 wisdom.
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You have mistaken my use of the Monk. The monk is their only to provide me additional use of the Wisdom score. Two levels is all that is needed to make the following key off Wis Mod AC bonus, and To Hit. Their is no need to take more then two levels of monk ever. Your building a bad touch caster. Making it so you can hit with your fist.
Cast any touch spell. Be carful not to touch any thing until your ready. Some times this is the tricky part. First round of combat open up with a stunning fist attack, the first time you hit will discharge the touch spell. My most common spell is Bestow Curse. So when you hit with the stunning fist they must make a Fort save or be stunned, and a Will save or be cursed. All in one attack action. At higher levels you can add Forceful Strike as a swift action. Then it looks like stunning fist fort, bestow curse will, forceful strike fort as your first attack action.