Divebombing charge Fly build

[Lord Phrofet]

So back in 3.5 I had a Raptoran that focused on massive damage charges from above with fly-by attack and power attack. I am thinking of maybe duplicating the build style for an up and coming "Skulls and Shackles" game.

So I am looking for any advice on race, feats, class archetypes, etc. that could enable this style of build. Thank you all in advance.

[Lord Phrofet]

So doing some research and thinking of using a strix as the race and probably some sort of reach piercing weapon.

[Lord Phrofet]

Does pathfinder have the dive rule as 3.5 did or was that removed between the two?

[My Self]

Strix
Fly-By Attack
Vital Strike chain
Arcane Strike
Blooded Arcane Strike
Bloodrager

[Lord Phrofet]

My self: That is an interesting idea. If I went that path I have no idea what bloodline I would take though.

[My Self]

Arcane, Abyssal, and Destined are all good choices. Arcane has some of the best defensive and abilities. Destined will turtle up your AC and saves, and give you some free rerolls. Abyssal will kick your strength through the roof and into the upper planes, as well as give you increased size. Aberrant will get you some extra reach without the AC penalties that Abyssal gets, and some cool resistances, but you also don't get the strength boost.

The Primalist archetype is pretty awesome, as it lets you drop your less useful bloodline powers to get rage powers instead. Reckless Abandon is an amazing rage power for accuracy, especially if you don't plan on actually getting in enemy range. The Beast Totem power will net you a bunch of natural armor AC, which is good, but the real winner is the Greater Beast Totem, the pounce totem.

Furious Finish is a possibility for raging vital striking, although you should pay attention to the fatigue penalties.

Remember to take Raging Vitality sometime, so you don't die when you go unconscious while raging.

If you have any space in your build, Furious Focus and Death from Above will be nice to have.

[Lord Phrofet]

My self: Yeah one of the issues I am having is a charge does not work with flyby attack so I can't use things like death from above or the pounce totem.

The other issue is that no matter how I build this it is going to be feat intensive which keeps making me look at fighter a bit but fighter (+archetypes) doesn't offer any abilities that really mesh well with the concept. I am starting to get behind the bloodrager idea unless someone comes along with something that works better.

[My Self]

Death from Above wrote:

Benefit: Whenever you charge an opponent from higher ground, or from above while flying, you gain a +5 bonus on attack rolls in place of the bonuses from charging and being on higher ground.

Don't see the problem with it. Greater Beast totem will have a problem, though.

Edit: Whoops, bad reading. Still, you can do non vital-strike type stuff on a charge, and you can full attack at +5 on a flying charge if you take the Greater Beast Totem.

Bloodragers get a few feats, but yeah, you'll need to be pouring most of what you have into it.

You get feats at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc. from regular advancement, and feats at 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 from Bloodrager. Arcane Strike is only available at level 4 or later. Power Attack or Death from Above is something you can have at level 1. Same with Raging Vitality. Vital Strike is at level 6 or later. Blooded Arcane Strike happens at 4 or later, when you have Arcane Strike. Furious Focus can happen anytime after you get your Power Attack.

Just another recommendation: Abyssal will increase your damage die size. This is important for Vital Strike.

[Lord Phrofet]

Yeah I will probably have to do away with charge if I want to do the whole "hit and run" tactic.

So looking something like this:

Strix Bloodrager Primalist (Abyssal)
1. Flyby Attack
3. Power Attack
5. Arcane Strike
6Bonus: Cleave or retrain power attack to something else
7. Vital Strike
9. Blooded Arcane Strike
9Bonus. ??
11. Improved Vital Strike

Cleave could be useful for hitting multiple opponents if the GM lines them up for me.

Traits:
Abendego Pilot: Reduce wind penalties for flying (Pirate based campaign is probably going to have some storms I assume)
Wisdom in the Flesh: Only way to get fly as a class skill.

Equipment: ? This one is a bit hard as I have never played a bloodrager. Done Barbarian and Sorcerer but never bloodrager. Need something two handed with reach and maybe some magic items to increase my flight capabilities.

Also debating on draconic or destined as a possible bloodline.

[Lord Phrofet]

And crap....started doing the 20 pt buy (I hate point buy, haven't used it in a while) for this and realized I need pretty much all stats. Anyone have some thoughts for a stat array?

Part that is killing me in the Stix -2 Cha.

[My Self]

Abyssal will increase your damage dice for free at 4th level, so I'd hang on to that. Draconic lets you turn into a dragon, which is awesome, but that only kicks in at higher levels and at lower levels, you just end up being a "meh" blaster with elemental resistances and claws. Destined will make your AC and saves pretty awesome and will give you some rerolls, but will not increase your damage dice like Abyssal will.

For weapons, just play it like a barbarian. Abyssal bloodline will net you some free claws in a rage, but weapon is the way to go. You're right on point with thinking about a reach two-handed. Strix will be a bit cramped in stat distribution, because you want at least an 11 Charisma to cast your 1st level spells, and you'll need to end up with a 14 to cast your 4th level spells later, and you have a -2 penalty to Charisma.

[Ellioti]

My Self wrote:

Strix will be a bit cramped in stat distribution, because you want at least an 11 Charisma to cast your 1st level spells, and you'll need to end up with a 14 to cast your 4th level spells later, and you have a -2 penalty to Charisma.

headband will do.

Strix do have a rather nice Fighter Archetype (nets you Fly as a class skill among others) that stacks with Dervish of Dawn. I wonder if Dervish's Rapid attack could be combined with Flyby Attack (or Ride-By Attack for that matter, certainly not Spring attack)

[Lord Phrofet]

Stat Array:

15, str
12, dex +2
12, con
12, wis
12, int
12, cha -2

At 4th I can up cha by 1 at lvl 4 to qualify for the minimum and then toss some money its way for an enhancement bonus. Probably go for a Lucerne Hammer which turn into 4d6 when made large.

[Ellioti]

there are other ways to get flight btw. Just not from lvl 1.
Tengu (lvl 5), Aasimar (lvl 11), VMC Wizard (Air Elemental Arcane School) (lvl 10), ...

[Blakmane]

Why do you need such a high INT and WIS? Will saves are nice but you desperately need the points elsewhere.

[Lord Phrofet]

Ellioti: Yeah but they require both more feats (already feat starved) and the build is designed around the concept of flyby attack and the other ways get it much later then I would want.

Blakmane: I am used to rolling stats and usually never have a stat less then 12 so the point buy is bugging me a bit. Second I want high wis since my flight will use it as the stat plus all the other reasons its good for to have high wis (perception, will save, etc.). INT I could probably drop a little. How does this array look:
STR: 17 DEX: 14 CON: 12 INT: 9 WIS: 12 CHA: 10 (after racial mods)

Could put lvl 4 into cha, lvl 8 into str and lvl 12 into int. Since Strix do not have a favored class bonus for bloodrager I could use the extra skill point so that I would have my 3 important skills (perception, fly, swim) and one extra to throw at random skills.

[My Self]

It gives you the option to use WIS for flight. You don't need to exercise that option, and you don't need WIS at 12 unless you want a better will save. Also, there's very little difference between an INT of 9 and an INT of 8. See if you can squirrel that point away somewhere else.

[Lord Phrofet]

My self: You are correct! When I fist read it I thought it was obligatory. How does this look:

STR: 16 DEX: 14 CON: 14 INT: 8 WIS: 10 CHA: 12 (after mods)