I am wanting advice on how I should go about making my replacement character for the Barbarian I just lost. We just saved a village of goblins(long story, but they are "good" guys allied with the Barbarian) and though the brute died in the battle, I would like to have the champion of the goblins come forward to offer his services since the party lost their ally.
I'm not positive on what mount I would like to go with for him, but I do know that the scouting and primary DPR roles are where he is needed. I don't really care whether he is a Strength or Dex build but I think it would be safe to assume Dex would be the smarter option. I would prefer to not go with a lance, but instead would like him to use a two handed weapon, I just am unsure of any that would be Finesseable. Ideally I would really like to incorporate a couple levels of Alchemist for a shamanish vibe and a single level of Witch for hexes. Primarily looking at the Swamp Hag hex and the goblin hex that allows turning into mud(I have my reasons, mainly for scouting). I would also like to take Evolved Companion go make my mount more efficient. I was thinking the rest of my levels as Barbarian for their nifty RAGE powers.
I'm coming into the game at 10th level, with a stat array of 18, 16, 16, 14, 14, 12, assigned as we see fit, and adjusted for racial modifiers. Any and all suggestions are more than welcome!
Ok so looks like you want a couple different things here. Witch for the mud hex, alchemist for shaman feels and barbarian because he idealized the old barbarian (and you want to smash people). So I definitely recommend dex build (stealth is dex based after all). For the alchemist level I would suggest the winged marauder which is a goblin only archetype where you get a flying animal companion. Unfortunately you give up the mutagen which is useful in a dex-centric build, but a flying companion greatly helps with the scouting. For barbarian there is an AMAZING goblin archetype called feral gnasher, but for a dex barbarian you probably want the urban barbarian (can apply rage to str, con, or dex but only 1 at a time). For DPS you want to focus on how to get dex to damage. At 10th level the agile weapon enchantment is going to be your best bet. Weapon-wise you have a good number of options of 2 handed finessable weapons but I think the real stand out one is the elven branched spear which is a reach weapon. A recent FAQ said that dex to damage abilities apply 1.5 on 2 handed weapons.
Is the Feral Gnasher archetype really that good? I've never really looked too deeply into it but I'm very much open to the idea of building the goblin as a straight Barbarian instead of a mounted combatant.
The concept of a little ball of fury charging in and tearing someone apart appeals to me.
Would it be a purely natural weapon based build or does it require weapons to work well? Would the Witch mesh well with this for giving him a scouting ability as well?
I really like the idea of maximizing on the natural attacks and getting as many as possible for the character. Would it be viable to dip into Synthesist Summoner to get as many natural attacks as possible or is it not worth the dip because the "Eidolon" will be weakened?
I'm just tossing around ideas, I will have to check on the Feral Gnasher archetype as soon as possible.
Goblins are functionally invisible due to their massive stealth bonuses: size, race, dex boost, and class bonus (take a trait if your class doesn't have stealth). I started my goblin alchemist with a +16 stealth bonus at first level. You don't need to take a level in witch for scouting and the hex saves aren't going to be good enough to be very strong. If things get hairy, that's what Brew Potion and invisibility potions are for.
I would recommend going with a Mr. Hyde approach to your alchemist and going straight alchemist. Triple classing rarely works out in this game.
My favorite build:
Roughrider Fighter
Stats: S18 D14 C16 I14 W16 CH12, before racials of course.
Feats:
1. TWF, Mounted Combat
2. Double Slice
3. Nature Soul
4. Power Attack
5. Animal Ally
6. ITWF
7. Boon Companion
8. Improved Critical
9. Critical Focus
10. Trick Riding
---------------------
11. Two-Weapon Rend
After that whatever.
The real price is level 15 when you get to full attack while moving on your mount.
You can also do a fast dismount and full attack after moving on the same turn from level 9 onwards.
I said feral gnasher is an amazing archetype more for the flavor than anything else. On a small sized creature with a str penalty it is less than optimized. The archetype is best for humans/half orcs who take the racial heritage (goblin) feat. With a potion of enlarge person you can bite gargantuan creatures and grapple them with your teeth. It is fun as hell, but that route isn't exactly applicable here.
I second roguerouge. You don't want to triple class. Duel classing isn't ideal but it is hard to give a barbarian shamanistic flavor. It is easier to give the alchemist rage like flavor but I was under the impression you wanted to be actual barbarian because this guy worshiped the old barbarian right? The best route for that would be chirurgeon vivisectionst alchemist and urban barbarian. You get infusions for heal spells without wasting a discovery (thus shamanistic feel) and you trade out the bomb damage which wouldn't do well on a barbarian build for sneak attack. But if you go that route you do not get a mount. The question becomes how badly do you want a mount? Between racial, urban rage, and mutagen you are getting +12 to dex. Start with an 18, grab a +4 item and you have 34dex for a +12 MODIFIER. You are then applying this to initative, AC, attacks, damage, and stealth. If you want a mount that can actually survive you need to give up some of these bonuses. Winged marauder trades out the mutagen for a dire bat (great scout), while burn rider trades out dex rage for some VERY goblin flavored things and a mount. If you are set on having a mount, I think I would talk to your DM about allowing burn rider to stack with urban barbarian (and you only getting one of their fast movement swaps) and taking winged marauder. If he says no, take one of the 2 archetypes and boon companion to somewhat mitigate the levels in the other class.
You don't need to be Finesse based with that set of stats.
I'm perfectly fine with losing the mount in favor of doing the most damage possible. That +12 to practically everything is just tasty, I'm completely okay with going that route instead of the mounted route.
Bad call IMHO.
Any particular reason why you think it's a bad call?
Well...
1. Multiclassing is an exercise in diminishing returns. By level 10, it is very rare that you'll obtain a lot from dipping into another class. For example, a Unchained Rogue 9/Urban Barbarian 1 will not have Double Debilitation nor higher penalties on its Debilitating Injury, in exchange for +4 DEX for about 10 rounds a day, tops (+2 attack/damage and AC). Once you level up, now you are 1d6 behind on Sneak Attack and so on.
2. The Chirungeon Vivisectionist/Urban Rager build is an exercise on futility with your stats. You are going to spend a ton of resources (feats, weapon enchantments, limited rage rounds, extracts) and you still wouldn't deal as much damage as a pure Unchained Rogue, plus it'll give you a ton more work as a player to keep track of many resources.
2b. The Vivisectionist was strictly better than the Rogue... until Debilitating Injury and Finesse Training came along.
2c. The DEX mutagen penalizes your Will saves, which will already be low enough.
3. Again, you have ridiculously high stats. You are beyond the point where Weapon Finesse is a good idea unless it's for free (like in the case of the Unchained Rogue or the Swashbuckler). In any other case, it's better to take the hit to STR because you'll still deal more damage (particularly because TWF Finesse builds DO NOT benefit from Double Slice and Two-Weapon Rend and fall behind if they don't have the attack steroid of the UnRogue.)
4. If you like the idea of Vivisectionist... go for it! Just don't build it around Finesse though. Straight up STR-based TWF Vivisectionist will deal great damage and it will benefit from Enlarge Person, Monstrous Physique and such effects much more than if you went with a Finesse-based skillset.
5. You didn't even comment on my build 3: Unlike the ones mentioned here, mine has pounce, a mount and good damage too! Without magic or masterwork items, it'd be dealing +13/+8 (1d3+12, 15-20/2x. +4 to confirm) +13/+8 (1d3+9, 15-20/2x. +4 to confirm) plus whatever damage your mount deals, and all of it while moving (thanks to Leap from the Saddle). But it is my favorite build so I might be viased towards it.