The main thing I am wondering right now is which archetype? I play with a regular group and wish to mainly focus on knowledge and investigation skills. I am willing to listen to suggestions of other classes. Start by assuming that I have every legal source book. I would rather avoid adding another pet, especially one that will be used in combat.
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I like 1 level dip into inspired blade swashbuckler. The Swashigator.
It gives the early game a stronger fight and does very well in the mids. Also gives him a buckler which is nice. Parry and ripose is very nice combat trick.
The first 4 levels of straight Investigator is harsh for a dex build. There is always the STR reach route as well. It too is strong choice.
Empiricist. Always go Empiricist.
When I created a character like this, Investigator didn't exist, so I used Inquisitor, and went into Sleepless Detective. I absolutely love the abilities this has given me. If I were to do it over again, I probably would go Empiricist.
Mine is sort of a Batman and has a lot of gear and neat tricks. He's init is usually another +2 due to Blood-Boiling Pills. He'll always have Barkskin and Bloodhound spells on, and he opens up combat firing Pheromone bolts giving him another +2 to hit and damage due to Bloodhound, and Arcane Strike gives him more hitting power. There's also adding Bane to his attacks which helps in combat.
Male human (Varisian) inquisitor of Zohls 7/sleepless detective 4 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38)
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +10; Senses Perception +30
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Defense
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AC 29, touch 19, flat-footed 23 (+7 armor, +3 deflection, +6 Dex, +3 shield)
hp 80 (11d8+22)
Fort +13, Ref +15, Will +16; +1 vs Poisons and Disease, +1 When Flat-Footed or During Supris, +1 vs Transmutation
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 keen adamantine rapier +16/+11 (1d6+7/15-20) or
. . dagger +14/+9 (1d4/19-20) or
. . mithral light mace +15/+10 (1d6)
Ranged +1 seeking repeating heavy crossbow +12/+7 (1d10+7/19-20)
Special Attacks bane (11 rounds/day), judgment 3/day, sneak attack +2d6
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +11)
. . At will—detect alignment, discern lies (7 rounds/day)
Sleepless Detective Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +3)
. . At will—detect magic
. . 3/day—residual tracking[APG]
Inquisitor Spells Known (CL 9th; concentration +13)
. . 3rd (2/day)—invisibility purge, communal resist energy[UC]
. . 2nd (4/day)—bloodhound[APG], cure moderate wounds, invisibility, perceive cues[APG], tongues
. . 1st (5/day)—comprehend languages, cure light wounds, fallback strategy, lend judgment[UM] (DC 15), petulengro’s validation, shield of faith
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect poison, guidance, light, read magic, stabilize
. . Domain Conversion inquisition
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 8
Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 27
Feats Alertness, Arcane Strike, Deadly Aim, Extended Bane[UM], Fencing Grace, Paired Opportunists[APG], Precise Strike[APG], Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits child of the streets, magical knack
Skills Bluff +8 (+10 vs Dwarves, +10 in Magnimar and Allied Towns, +9 vs Andoran Citizen), Climb +4, Craft (alchemy) +11, Diplomacy +18 (+21 to gather information, +20 with Absolom guards and city officials, +20 to Gather Info when in Riddleport, +20 in Magnimar and Allied Towns, +20 vs Dwarves, +22 vs Pathfiders of my level or lower, +19 vs Andoran Citizen), Disable Device +22, Heal +9, Intimidate +16 (+18 when in Riddleport , +20 vs Pathfiders of my level or lower, +17 vs Andoran Citizen, +18 in Magnimar and Allied Towns, +18 vs Dwarves), Knowledge (arcana) +10 (+12 when in Riddleport), Knowledge (dungeoneering) +10, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (planes) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Linguistics +17 (+19 when in Riddleport), Perception +30, Ride +10, Sense Motive +28 (+30 vs Pathfinders past and present), Sleight of Hand +11, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +10, Survival +8 (+10 in Pillars of the Sun area), Swim +4
Languages Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, Jistka, Osiriani, Ancient, Polyglot, Skald, Sphinx, Thassilonian, Tien, Undercommon, Varisian, Vudrani
SQ canny sleuth, eye for detail, follow clues, forensic thaumaturgy, monster lore +4, solo tactics, stern gaze +3, track +3
Combat Gear potion of barkskin (CL 6th), potion of darkvision, potion of fly, potion of gaseous form, wand of cure light wounds, air crystal (5), alchemist's fire (5), bladeguard[APG], blood-boiling pill (2), caltrops, pheromone arrow (20), scent cloak[UE], smoke pellet[APG] (4), smoke pellet, smog (5), sneezing powder[APG]; Other Gear +3 mithral chain shirt, +2 mithral buckler, +1 keen adamantine rapier, +1 seeking repeating heavy crossbow, dagger, mithral light mace, repeating crossbow bolts (25), bag of holding i, belt of incredible dexterity +4, cloak of resistance +5, eyes of the eagle, feather step slippers[UE], gloves of reconnaissance[UE], gloves of shaping[UE], golembane scarab, handy haversack, headband of mental prowess +2 (Int, Wis), ring of protection +3, swarmbane clasp[UE], backpack, bandolier[UE], bandolier[UE], bedroll, belt pouch, belt pouch, candle (10), charcoal stick, cold weather outfit, earplugs[APG], flint and steel, grappling bolt[UE], holy text[UE], ink, black, inkpen, jetcaster, journal[UE], magnet[APG], manacles, masterwork snorkel[UE], masterwork thieves' tools, measuring cord (10 ft.), musk kit[ACG] (4), parchment (2), periscope[APG], piton (5), silk rope (50 ft.), soap, spell component pouch, string or twine[APG], tattoo holy symbol of Zohls[UE], torch (10), waterskin, wire saw, adamantine[UE], wrist sheath, spring loaded, 13,360 gp, 4 sp, 6 cp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bane (+2 / 2d6, 11 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Canny Sleuth +3 (Ex) +3 on Diplomacy checks to gather information.
Cold weather outfit +5 Fort save vs. cold weather.
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (7 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Earplugs +2 save vs. hearing effects, -5 hearing-based Perception.
Eye for Detail (Ex) Immediate Perception check to notice hidden traps, doors, and clues.
Feather step slippers Ignore difficult terrain as though affected by feather step.
Fencing Grace Add Dex instead of Str to rapier damage. +2 CMD vs. disarm if you have at least 1 panache point.
Follow Clues (Ex) Can use Perception to follow tracks as per the Survival skill.
Forensic Thaumaturgy (Su) Lingering Auras are 1 category stronger, and can concentrate to learn exact age.
Gloves of reconnaissance (10 rounds/day) Can see and hear though up to 15 ft of solid materials.
Golembane scarab Can combat golems with weapons, unarmed attacks, or natural weapons as if those golems had no damage reduction.
Inquisitor Domain (Conversion Inquisition) Deities: Any deity.
Granted Powers: You are a powerful persuader. A honeyed tongue empowered by divine argumentation sways the indifferent and adversarial to your side.
Judgment (3/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Magical Knack (Inquisitor) +2 CL for a specific class, to a max of your HD.
Monster Lore +4 (Ex) +4 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
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The Favor of Cartahgen - 10% Discount on mundane items in Garund
Tapestry Fast Travel - Use Boons from Absolom or Garund
you either go str based empiricist or dex based empiricist with a level dip into inspired blade swashbuckler. The empiricist is so good because it makes you more SAD(single ability dependent) because it makes almost all the skills you'd ever want to use based off of INT instead of the normal wis, char, dex. So if you have a high int you get more bonuses to your skills.
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If you go with a DEX-based Human Empiricist Investigator with the alternate human racial trait Adopted Parentage (Tengu: Weapon Focus: Rapier), you can get to Fencing Grace at 3rd level (DEX to damage). You would have to limp through first and second levels doing just a d6 of damage (assuming you dump your STR), but that route doesn't dilute your Investigator levels - and every level is important to an investigator.
I would also suggest looking at the Student of Philosophy Social Trait: it allows you to use INT (rather than CHA) for both Diplomacy and Bluff in some common situations.
First of all, thank you everyone for your feedback. Secondly, I am curious, mainly because it is a new shiny, but what is the Lamplighter Archetype good for?
I recently retrained my empiricist 3 with Dirty Fighting and picled up Improved Dirty Trick for PFS, and he's a blast. Multiple extracts of Enlarge Person, blinding and entangling everyone he can reach. He doesn't do much damage, but he sets up the rogues for huge strikes like nobody's business.
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When I created a character like this, Investigator didn't exist, so I used Inquisitor, and went into Sleepless Detective. I absolutely love the abilities this has given me. If I were to do it over again, I probably would go Empiricist.
Mine is sort of a Batman and has a lot of gear and neat tricks. He's init is usually another +2 due to Blood-Boiling Pills. He'll always have Barkskin and Bloodhound spells on, and he opens up combat firing Pheromone bolts giving him another +2 to hit and damage due to Bloodhound, and Arcane Strike gives him more hitting power. There's also adding Bane to his attacks which helps in combat.
** spoiler omitted **...
So I'm no the only one :)
Fortunately, mine was only 3rd lvl when the ACG came out so I've multiclassed into to that, still planning on going Sleepless Detective with it.
Mine's inspired by Sherlock Holmes though. Which reminds me, I need to go digging through the Vanities for a Watson :)
So I'm no the only one :)
Fortunately, mine was only 3rd lvl when the ACG came out so I've multiclassed into to that, still planning on going Sleepless Detective with it.
Mine's inspired by Sherlock Holmes though. Which reminds me, I need to go digging through the Vanities for a Watson :)
I just went through to see what would happen if I went Investigator instead, and I'm happier with Inquisitor. My skills aren't nearly as good, but still extremely high, I like the spells better, and the Spell-Likes Detect Alignment at Will, and Discern Lies. Having Bane, is also pretty cool when combat comes around.. All in all, I don't think I would change it even if I could.
EDIT: The +4 to identify monsters helps a little to balance the lack of Inspiration. Still not as good, the other other benefits outweigh that in my opinion.
Mine is sort of a Batman and has a lot of gear and neat tricks. He's init is usually another +2 due to Blood-Boiling Pills. He'll always have Barkskin and Bloodhound spells on, and he opens up combat firing Pheromone bolts giving him another +2 to hit and damage due to Bloodhound, and Arcane Strike gives him more hitting power. There's also adding Bane to his attacks which helps in combat.
** spoiler omitted **...
How are you able to get Arcane Strike?
Like I said it's an old character, SLA's used to qualify, Sleepless Detective has SLA's. I guess I'd have to change that out now.