Hello Everyone.
Me and my friends are playing Carrion Crown. We just started the second module, and our characters are all 4th level.
I'm playing a human paladin, and am very happy with the work he's doing (mainly deleting undead from the adventure), and I have more or less figured out what kind of character he will become (the sort that deletes more undead from the adventure), but after reading some threads here and there about feats I'm becoming unsure about which to take.
01. Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (scimitar)
03. Power Attack
05. Cleave
07. Greater Cleave
09. Lunge
11. Improved Critical (scimitar)
13. Critical Focus
15. Vital Strike
17. Improved Vital Strike
19. Greater Vital Strike
What do you think about this feat progression? Should I change something? Are there better feats to take than the ones I chose?
Thank you for your time :)
Can we get a bit more information? What are your stats like and who is in your party?
Garridan
Male Human (Varisian) paladin 4 Archetypes Undead Scourge,
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5, Senses Perception +0
Aura aura of courage, aura of good,
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DEFENSE
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AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, )
hp 36 ((4d10)+8)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +6
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OFFENSE
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee scimitar +1 +10 (1d6+7/18-20)
Melee dagger +8 (1d4+4/19-20)
Ranged dagger (thrown) +5 (1d4+4/19-20)
Ranged holy water (flask) +5 (2d4)
Special Attacks Channel Positive Energy (2d6, DC 14), Smite Evil,
Class Spell-Like Abilities detect evil (at will)
Prepared Spells
Paladin (CL 4th; concentration +3)
1st-divine favor(DC )
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STATISTICS
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Str 19, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14,
Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 19
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
Skills Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (Religion) +7, Sense Motive +7,
Traits Blade of Mercy, Honest, Subject of Study (undead),
Languages Common, Varisian
SQ aura of courage, aura of good, bonus feat, detect evil, divine health, improved initiative, lay on hands, power attack, mercy (shaken), skilled, weapon focus,
Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds (2), potion of lesser restoration, rations (trail/per day) (5), torch (10), holy water (flask) (7); Other Gear scimitar +1, masterwork chainmail, outfit (traveler's), backpack, common, bedroll, flint and steel, holy symbol (wooden), holy text (cheap), mess kit, pot (iron), belt pouch, rope (hemp/50 ft.), soap, waterskin, dagger, 398.0 gp
My other companions are a half-elf oracle of time (buff), a tiefling witch (buff/debuff), and a dhampyr slayer (ranged dps).
Hmm, well if you're taking cleave I suggest not taking vital strike. With a scimitar it's not going to be that helpful for you. Grabbing something like Staggering Critical in their place might be worthwhile. Otherwise your feats should work well enough. Not completely optimal but they'll do...assuming this game isn't a game where you need to be super optimized to survive.
Side note put a bonus attribute point into con next time you get one and make sure that half-elf gets Speed or Slow Time. Seriously, haste is really, really good and you want it in your party.
The Improved Initiative and Vital Strike feats are pretty bad feats for a paladin. You don’t really need to go first and Vital Strike is not that good. Personally I would have gone for the Oath against Undeath instead of the Undead Scourge. Having your armor get Ghost Touch for free is very useful vs. undead.
Fey Foundling is the single best feat for a paladin. If your GM will allow you to change your character then by all means take it. If you can do this then you may want to pick up some lay on hands feats. Greater Mercy gives you an extra d6 of healing. Spending a few feats for extra lay on hands is always useful especially with fey foundling and greater mercy. Choose your mercies so that they remove conditions you may gain during combat like fatigued, sickened, etc. . Use your swift healing to keep yourself going.
You may also want to switch to a Falchion instead of a scimitar. It is basically a two handed scimitar. The extra damage from your STR and power attack will be a big boost.
If you don't upgrade to a 2-handed weapon (which is the best way to use Power Attack), pick up a heavy shield to improve your AC by +2.
I also second trading Improved Initiative for Fey Foundling.
If you are allowed to use 3pp feats, Mystical Healer is a great way to boost healing. It scales with level, and synergizes very well with Fey Foundling.
Uh, guys, read the OP more carefully. This character is already in action. It's too late for fey foundling and that feat probably wouldn't fit the character anyway considering the honest trait.
Diaz, don't worry about missing out on the feat. It's honestly kind of cheesy on a paladin. You can do fine without it.
I can't change Improved initiative for Fey Foundling, even with the retrain options, and it would make no sense with my background anyway.
I'm already using my scimitar two-handed, and I won't change it because it's the sacred weapon of my deity.
There's always the "buy two traits with a feat" option, if you can find two that are good? Does the don't get two from the same sublist still apply though? (I'm sure others would be able to supply a better list than I could by only looking for a few minutes...)
You might be better retraining Blade of mercy for Cleansing Light maybe? Reroll ones on Channelling LoH damage (although that's still better for a cleric than a paladin). Another trait is Flame of the Dawn, especially if you ever get a keen scimitar
or Undead Slayer remember this doubles when you crit as well...
I second TheOrcnextdoor:
Furious Focus and Extra Lay on Hands work wonders. You might consider Nimble and Step Up. Personally, I like Lunge, too.
Ruyan.
Have you considered the defiec obedience feat and the evangelist/sentinel prestige class's
Given you seem to be the sole frontliner, I would probably recommend favouring the abilities boosting your Lay on Hands, including Greater Mercy and Extra Lay on Hands (the latter especially given your modest Charisma). Swift action heals on yourself will be a key way for you to stay healthy and in the fight.
I would similarly look at picking up Hero's Defiance as your first level spell, which is a great way to stave off disaster (just remember to always keep one LOH in the tank to use with it).
In terms of the selections you have outlined, I agree that Vital Strike might not be the best fit for you given the weapon choice. I've also never been a huge fan of the Cleave line of feats, and they seem more useful at lower levels than higher levels (where access to iterative attacks diminishes the value of the extra Cleave attack... in the limited situations where it actually applies).
In terms of more offense-minded feat, I think Furious Focus has merit, and definitely Lunge for when/if you start dealing with larger creatures with reach. Step Up can also be a fun surprise for enemy casters :P
Having just GMed Carrion Crown I would say great cleave probably won't get used all that often, but cleave will probably see plenty of use.
I've seen Lunge used to great effect with reach weapons before, but what's the goal if you're using a scimitar? Just to let you hit other guys with reach without an AoO? Might be a little lackluster in this path if that's the only goal.
Also, critical focus isn't super necessary for a Paladin since bless weapon automatically confirms crits. That's the only level 1 paladin spell I bother with for the most part. You can have it up pretty much constantly by around level 9-10. Whether it still confirms if you take Improved Crit (scimitar) is probably subject to GM discretion, but we let it work that way in our group. Our Falcata Paladin was a beast even tough he used it one handed and used a shield.
Have you considered the defiec obedience feat and the evangelist/sentinel prestige class's
No, I'm not interested in PrC, sorry.
The GM also told us that the campaign will end around level 15, then we will move on to another AP. Thus of the three feats you have recommended me I have to choose one.
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I was also going to comment on the fact that you probably won't see levels above 15 in CC, but you've realized that. Also I'll note that not every chapter is as undead heavy as the first one, so you'll want to be able to fight other things.
Great Cleave suffers because adventures tend to have fewer mobs of foes at higher levels. You can usually threaten two foes at once but it gets tricky past that.
I don't hate Vital Strike like some others, but if you're going to leave it until level 15 you honestly won't get much use from it.
You might consider the Greater Mercy/Ultimate Mercy feat chain. Being able to raise the dead without a material component is pretty nice.
You might consider the Greater Mercy/Ultimate Mercy feat chain. Being able to raise the dead without a material component is pretty nice.
I won't be able to take Ultimate Mercy ever, since I can't reach 19 Charisma. But Greater Mercy is quite useful, I think I'll take that.
I would suggest cleaving finish over greater cleave.
Lunge + Cleave lets you cleave another adjacent enemy 10ft away.
Interesting. I'd still probably drop it in this AP. I think Cleave alone will get you most of what you want. Even with the dwarven feats that let you cleave non-adjacent enemies our fighter only got to make use of greater cleave a few times.