The cavalier class looks interesting, but I play mostly PFS when it comes to pathfinder. Much of my experiene with PFS has also led me to realize there are a lot of battles that take place in dungeons or tight places, thus rendering part of what a cavalier does useless.
So curious what the thought in general is around Cavaliers in PFS, viable or not?
Thanks in advance.
as long as your cavalier is a small creature riding a medium mount or a medium creature riding a medium mount with that one feat i cant remember the name for it atm. you should be ok
What about when the mount levels up to a large size - abandon it for a medium?
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A cavalier does not have to be mounted to be useful in a fight. You've got a lot going for you on two feet. You can also use your mount as a druid would use their animal companion (Well, without the magical stuff.)
Also, all of the archetypes that replace or significantly alter the Mount feature are PFS-legal (except for the Musketeer. Heck, be a Ghost Rider and store your mount in a pokeball whenever it gets inconvenient.
as long as your cavalier is a small creature riding a medium mount or a medium creature riding a medium mount with that one feat i cant remember the name for it atm. you should be okWhat about when the mount levels up to a large size - abandon it for a medium?
a. You don't have to allow them to get large. Animal companions (and by extension mounts) have an additional option where they stay the same size, and just get a bit more dex/con. You might loose out on special abilities that come from properly advancing... but not much of an issue for mounts.
b. That is easy for mounts on small characters with the mount class feature. The default mount is a wolf. You can later pick a dog. So just pretend it is your original mount's child (a wolfhound; not an uncommon hybrid, and often done purposefully to encourage tougher dogs). That way, you can just say you sent your mount back to your family home/order base to chill and act like a stud. So this isn't just minmaxing and abandoning your close ally: it is world building with clear connections to your character.
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I play 2 cavaliers in PFS... one is retired @ lvl 12 and the second is lvl 7.
Both are medium sized and ride horses. I get a ton of fun out of both of them. Various tricks I've used:
How to get your horse through dungeons where you can't ride it?
1) Invest in UMD. Then you can use scrolls of Carry Companion, Spider Climb, and etc to handle logistical challenges until you can afford Hosteling Armor.
2) Hosteling Armor ;)
How do you get a charge off at a table full of non-teamwork oriented comrades?
1) Wheeling Charge is a feat from Cities of Golarion and pretty much so good to be a must-buy if you qualify (your PC is from Lastwall). What's so good about it? You can charge through allies, AND you're allowed to make one turn of up to 90° during the charge. That feat alone solves 80%+ of problems with getting a charge off. However, see also:
2) It's not that big a deal to get a charge off. I consider myself happy to get one such charge in the entire night. Other players, the GM included, are here to have fun too and usually watching you solo the fight isn't much fun.
3) Related to 2: you can fight without charging, you know. If you stand still/5 foot step, you get all your attacks PLUS your horse's 3 attacks. And players in my area call my Cavaliers' mounts Murderhorses. It's an apt and earned nickname. Also don't forget your higher ground bonus to hit vs many opponents on foot, too. A cavalier on horseback can be super dangerous even without a charge that turn.
So what do you do when you can't fight from horseback?
1) pick feats that work whether you're mounted or not, so you can always use them. Power Attack chain is a great option, esp for 2h cavaliers. This is the route my seeker cavalier went; he never even picked up Mounted Combat!
2) variant on 1. My 2nd cavalier is a sword/lance and shield TWF combatant. While mounted, I get to dual wield a 2h reach weapon (lance) AND a bashing shield. On foot, that PC still TWF's but with sword and shield, and gains the ability to double up on challenge bonus damage!
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if you would rather focus on the Teamwork aspect, there is the Drill Sergeant [Fighter archetype] and Vanguard [Slayer archetype] that deal with Tactician part of Cavalier.
I personally like the Constable- he gets another use of Tactician with his Squad Commander ability.
Though, Ghost Rider seems pretty good- as it takes care of the Mount conundrum.
I'm building a mess of a character that's going to be a Brawler/Cavalier/Fighter/U.Rogue- that will be using Distracting Cloak/Improved Feint Partner for some interesting combat tactics. not to mention Order of the Penitent's Expert Captor ability.
and a Grippli... imagine that scene.
I have a level 1 wayang ninja that I've been playing and i'm not loving it. I thought about trying somethign that I hadn't before, which is the cavalier. I don't mind the wayang and their small size and smaller mounts gives advantage to the spelunking that often happens. Plus they don't take strength penalties as a race. So potentially a wolf riding wayang cavalier of maybe the sword. I guess if he's not on his mount he could still serve a stealthy roll for some recon and without the str penalty deal some damage in combat.
I'd have to look into it a bit more,but maybe work in some dervish dance so he can put that good dex score to use. I'm not sure yet as that could be waste on the class as it has the ability for heavier armor anyway which will negate the dex bonus to ac to some extent.
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The cavalier class looks interesting, but I play mostly PFS when it comes to pathfinder. Much of my experiene with PFS has also led me to realize there are a lot of battles that take place in dungeons or tight places, thus rendering part of what a cavalier does useless.
So curious what the thought in general is around Cavaliers in PFS, viable or not?
Thanks in advance.
I played a Mounted Halfling ranger in PFS who rides a Giant Gecko. I had no problem taking my mount everywhere. Only 1 time did I have to dismount due to design of a scenario and I had 1 fight while not mounted. Power attack + Favored Enemy I still did very well in that fight.
A Small Cav would do about the same. The only downside is that you don't get the best mount choices. Giant Gecko's come with Natural spider climb. So I could transverse walls and ceilings that a typical mount can not. A climb check usually keeps mounts out of places. So you may want to look for something that can fly. Sadly by RAW which PFS uses there is no option for a Cav to get a Flying mount or a Gecko by taking an archetype. You could grab monstrous Mount and have a Flyer by level 7 however. For PFS you could probably get by with just buying a Wartrained mount like a Gecko for dirt and ride it till the wheels fall off as the say goes. (Till it dies). I know you could easily get to about Level 5 with a War trained Gecko Mount, Use your real mount for Levels 5 & 6, and then get your monstrous mount @ 7 and be in the air on a griffon or Hippogriff.
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My experience is similar to Deusvult's, though I focused more on mounted combat and didn't have a problem. I have a human cavalier with a horse who has completed Eyes of the Ten. He is amazingly effective when he gets to charge, and reasonably effective when he can't.
Order of the Sword, Wheeling Charge, Narrow Frame, Sure Footed, scrolls of Carry Companion. Good social skills, no dump stats, great saves. I made it a point to never take the horse anywhere it would be impolite.
Teamwork feats took some retraining to be useful (should have had Escape Route from the beginning).
It would have been boring and annoying if he could charge in every combat. Really agree with Deusvult that you are not there to solo everything.
Human cavalier on a horse is absolutely viable and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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Really agree with Deusvult that you are not there to solo everything.
This is the reason I stopped playing Fruian at level 8. I was 1 Hitting bosses and killing everything with a charge every round. There were quiet a few scenarios I could have soloed and Bored some players. So I switched PFS characters and then pretty much dropped out of PFS scene all together. I prefer Home groups myself.
if you would rather focus on the Teamwork aspect, there is the Drill Sergeant [Fighter archetype] and Vanguard [Slayer archetype] that deal with Tactician part of Cavalier.
My own Cavalier is of this variety. Most of his adventuring has occurred on foot. I have a slew of teamwork feats & group effect abilities going on - though I have spent some resources on mounted combat. He's effective enough.
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I play a halfling cavalier with an axebeak mount.
No problems so far, and I am already level 9 I think. But then again since I knew the local PFS GMs at that time I normally ask them to advice me when they know my cavalier will be useless so I can pick another PC.
But there are always charging opportunities.
What Archetype gets you an Axebeak?
What Archetype gets you an Axebeak?I play a halfling cavalier with an axebeak mount.
No problems so far, and I am already level 9 I think. But then again since I knew the local PFS GMs at that time I normally ask them to advice me when they know my cavalier will be useless so I can pick another PC.
But there are always charging opportunities.
I think it is a PFS boon if you meet certain conditions
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I think it is a PFS boon if you meet certain conditionsWhat Archetype gets you an Axebeak?I play a halfling cavalier with an axebeak mount.
No problems so far, and I am already level 9 I think. But then again since I knew the local PFS GMs at that time I normally ask them to advice me when they know my cavalier will be useless so I can pick another PC.
But there are always charging opportunities.
Ahh a quick google looks like it is a boon for a 3 part series. Anyone who is a small mounted character should probably look to get this boon ASAP.
I no longer play PFS so I did not know about the individual boons all over the place.