[Spheres Of Power] Favorite Mage Knight and Armorist builds?

[fafnir_bane]

Hello all! I need to make a new character for a friends Pathfinder game and he has given the okay on characters from SoP. I love gish characters but I don't have a ton of on hand experience with the new magic system. I come to the fans of 3PP and humbly ask your advice on this matter. What are your favorite builds with the Mage Knight and the Armorist? Which spheres do you think fit them best? Do you prefer one over the other and why? I'm not asking for a full build, just some ideas. We are going to be second level, 3d6 for the stats, and starting gold. I can take any race to the GM for a case-by-case approval. Thanks in advance!

[Lirya]

As a Mageknight, consider getting Mystic Maneuver and later Time Shift to use your favorite combat maneuver as a swift/free action with a large bonus to your CMB. This becomes amazing at 11th level, as you can spend a few spell points to reliably shut down enemies using Dirty Trick Master, but it is always a good ability to have.

As a 1/2 caster, you want to focus on spheres that give you a nice benefit without requiring a high caster level. Alteration Sphere + Size Change talent allows you to grow large, or huge at 10th level while Illusion Sphere + Invisibility + Lingering Illusion gives you 1 min/caster level greater invisibility (except with a very limited bonus to stealth). Divination Sphere, Fate Sphere, and Warp Sphere are also great for grabbing a few talents that open up really good abilities regardless of CL.

You should probably use some sphere specific drawbacks to front load your magic talents, and some general drawbacks to get more spell points to fuel your magic and combat maneuvers.

[CalethosVB]

Half-elf Mageknight 12
Focus Casting (Ring), Magical Signs, Material Casting, Somatic Casting, Verbal Casting Drawbacks (+1 Spell Point/level)
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 15
Wis 10
Cha 12
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Scorpion Whip)
1) Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Whip)
Resist Magic +1
(CL 1), Warp Sphere, Emergency Teleport, Life Sphere
Spell Points:4
2) Mystic Combat (Mystic Adaptation, 1 feat)
(CL 1), Telekinesis Sphere
Spell Points: 6
3) Extra Mystic Combat (Raging Combatant)
Stalwart
Spell Points: 8
4) Combat Feat (Weapon Focus Whip)
(CL 2) Flight
+1 Int, Spell Points: 11
5) Resist Magic +2
Extra Mystic Combat (Time Shift)
Spell Points: 13
6) Mystic Combat (Mystic Maneuver)
(CL 3) Dancing Weapon
Spell Points: 15
7) Marked, Mystic Adaptation (2 feats)
Quicken Spell
Spell Points: 17
8) Combat Feat (Whip Mastery), Mystic Adaptation going toward Improved and Greater if I think I can grapple
(CL 4) Flair
Spell Points: 19
Str +1
9) Resist Magic +3
Extra Magic Talent (Revitalize)
Spell Points: 21
10) Mystic Combat (Vengeful)
(CL 5) Revitalize
Spell Points: 23
11) Mystic Defense +5
Extra Mystic Combat (Arcane Strike)
Spell Points: 25
12) Combat Feat (Improved Whip Mastery)
Mystic Defense +6
(CL 6) Distant Teleport
Spell Points: 27
Str +1

Ideas for feats to use with Mystic Adaptation:
Bolstered Resilience
Combat Reflexes
Combat Expertise
Improved Unarmed Strike and Style Feats
Teamwork Feats
Improved/Greater Combat Maneuvers you can use with a Whip
Power Attack
and Much More!

[Michael Sayre]

When I built my Armorist, I focused on the Alteration sphere to grab abilities that I couldn't easily snag with my armor, but then refluffed them as armor modifications (things like wings, gills, etc.). I took the lycanthrope drawback to reflect that these abilities were specific to my character.

It made for a really fun character who kind of did the transformation thing at the start of most fights, selecting the forms and gear best suited to the situation. It was pretty anime, but really fun, and was the best "magical fighter" build I've ever played.

[Shiroi]

I haven't gotten to play SoP, but I've done some theory building with mage knight, with a focus on flavor not power. I loved getting the most warp and dark sphere talents I could, with the base healing sphere and base destruction. This gave me the ability to control and dominate a battlefield by blinding all of my foes, to stride into battle skipping great swaths of the field to approach, and deal aggressive amounts of damage through full attacks against flat footed touch ac.

I don't know if it was rules legal to take my preferred battle talent as the one that reduces the time of the other battle talents, but I did. In theory it's the best move for me since I can use a lot of different talents in a day for 1 point each... and now they're all reduced time for free. As opposed to being locked into a choice of free battle talent, and paying 1 to reduce its time anyways.

[fafnir_bane]

Thank you for the suggestions everyone! I'm really leaning more towards Mage Knight at this point. I assumed self buffing was the way to go with the either case but it's always good to hear it. It looks like the popular consensus is to go with a control build. I'll start looking at it more in depth this weekend. Thanks again!