Who's a good fainter?

[Chromantic Durgon <3]

It seems like I have a soft spot for feinting characters which I didn't know I had and I was wondering has anyone made any fun/powerful feints?

The obvious benefit is grabbing those sneak attack dice but one can certainly do other fun things too.

I've made a mesmerist(vexing daredevil) with one level in Swashbuckler inspired blade for Dex to damage and some rapier bonuses and parry riposte.

The idea being to use your move to feint and implant surprise strike to allow for 2 attacks at full BAB (better than full attacking for most of the career). Taking advtage of manifold stare to get multiple charges of painful stare, at 9 you can even get one to a riposte. You could layer defences with mesmeric mirror trick to basically have contingency mirror image + your AC + parry riposte. you can also land the initiating strike for sunrise strike with a painful stare boosted vampiric touch(although the painful stare won't supplement the amount of bonus hit points you get). Grab deadly stare to further boost.

The other was a Snakebite Brawler6/Devoted muse/Snake bite brawler. With fighting fans. The idea was to take advantage of brawler ability to feint on the move so you could feint get a single sneak attack strike off and boost it with piranha strike. At later levels parry riposte allowing for more sneak attack strikes with attacks of opportunity also piranha strike boosted. Using feinting flurry to get off flurries of sneak attacks and two weapon grace to get Dex to damage on the flurry as well (though this does hurt accuracy). This build benefits a great deal from haste and boots of speed are an early buy for that reason since the bonus attack from haste can be used for the feinting flurry to maintain two attacks at high BAB. The build also benefits from flanking to use the distraction artistic flurish to enable deadly strike on a single attack or inspirational strike if one is allowed to flurry or your allies are on the enemy. You need the flank for sneak attack since doing this sacrifices flat footed from feinting. Wave strike if you ever get it off is amazing to but organising it is a nightmare. (Sadly this build take about 7 million feats)

So yeah looks like the common theme for my feinting builds is making strikers that gets multiple strikes from parry riposte. So what have you guys done with feinting.

[Wonderstell]

The best fainter should be an Internal Alchemist. Their first level power Breath Mastery allows them to go unconscious as a move action.

Breath Mastery wrote:

At 1st level, the internal alchemist can control his breath and the flow of vital energy within his body. Without preparation, he can hold his breath for a number of minutes equal to his Constitution score (after this, he must begin making Constitution checks or risk suffocation); by spending a full-round action preparing himself, he can increase this duration to 1 hour per point of Constitution. The alchemist can survive twice as long as normal without food or water before he starts to take penalties. He can put himself into a state of suspended animation as a move action, and is then unconscious and appears completely dead; he awakens at a preset time or in response to a condition set by him when he enters this state.

[Chromantic Durgon <3]

>.> ah shit

[MageHunter]

Check out Swordplay style which is pretty neat.

I also think of snake bite striker brawler.

[Wonderstell]

On a more serious(?) note, here's my favourite abusive Ifrit build. The "how to kill an army at level 3" feinter.

Blistering Feint:

Your foes flinch from the heat of your weapon, giving you an opportunity to slip past their defenses.

Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Ifrit.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on feint checks made while wielding a weapon that deals fire damage. Anytime you successfully feint a creature while using such a weapon, you may deal its fire damage to the enemy.

****

Equipment Trick: Distracting Cloak (Stealth 3 ranks):

When you attempt a Bluff check to feint, you can use your cape to create a diversion instead of denying your opponent his Dexterity bonus to AC. Compare the result of your Bluff check against the feint DC of each opponent that can see you (DC = 10 + the opponent’s base attack bonus + the opponent’s Wisdom modifier, or 10 + the opponent’s Sense Motive bonus if he is trained in Sense Motive and this bonus is higher). You can attempt a Stealth check to hide from any opponent that you successfully feint against in this manner, even if that opponent is observing you. If you do not have cover or concealment against any of these targets at the start of each of their turns, they automatically spot you at that time.

Mutagenic Mauler
1. Combat Expertise, Mutagen, Brawler's Cunning

Fighter
2. Improved Feint(B)
3. Equipment Trick: Distracting Cloak, Blistering Feint(B)

And your weapon of choice is an exotic light melee weapon with 1d4 damage dice, and damage type: Fire. Which means that if it is two size categories bigger it would deal 1d8 dmg, and x1.5 your Str.

Now, before the fight begins you use your Mutagen to boost your Strength with +4 and use your once per day Enlarge Person from your racial trait. (A wand of Recharge Innate Magic could fix that)

*****

Assuming you started with 16 Str you're now at 22, and your weapon deals 2d6+9 fire damage. So just feint (twice) and deal your 2d6+9 (x2) to everyone who can see you.

Your Feint skill bonus should be around +15 if you pick up a trait for it.

And if you're worried people aren't noticing you, just equip some heavy armour for that sweet ACP, stack it with the buckler and together with the Large penalty you're sitting on Dex-12 to Stealth. Then try to hide and people will notice you. Foolproof.

[avr]

I was thinking that anyone whose eidolon or animal companion (or fellow party members) have intrepid rescue would be an effective fainter.

Anyway CD, you saw the ranged feinter I made in that mesmerist thread. Starknives, Desna's Shooting Star, Ranged Feint and all the charisma you might want to feint with.

Otherwise for action economy you might want a minion to do the feinting (even without feats, anyone with bluff can do a normal feint) and some class feature to take advantage of it. A rogue or ninja could get a familiar with feats but should worry about it getting killed. Maybe a magus would like the bonus to help their big attacks hit, and they could cast defensive spells on their familiar easily too.

Edit: feinting makes an excellent excuse to pick up the dazzling blade or mass dazzling blade spells too.

Edit 2: a minion feinting only works if they have greater feint (difficult) or if they might deliver the big punch, which negates the action economy saving. Forget that.

[ultimatepunch]

Scarlett O'Hara

[Doomed Hero]

Certain kinds of goats.

[Ryan Freire]

Probably some form of swashbuckler into that shelyn prestige class devoted muse

[Firebug]

I might have to grab that distracting cloak trick, my Blistering Feint Ifrit is based off using sacred huntsman Inquisitor to grab animal focus and planar focus for Fire (+1d6 fire damage / 4 levels to natural and melee attacks), bane, and then the teamwork feats 'out of the sun'. 1 level dip into Mesmerist for feat prereqs. Twinned Feint, Mesmerizing Feint. Also using a battle poi.
I was planning on a normal sized poi(+light shield/buckler), so 1d4+STR +3(+1 enchantment, +2 bane) +2d6(bane) +1d6(flaming/demon smith gloves) +2d6(planar focus: fire) = average 23+STR.

Move action Twinned Improved Blistering Feint - apply fire damage once, maybe to two targets
Standard action attack (no way to fit in cleave in a reasonable time) - apply fire damage once more
Swift action Out of the Sun - apply fire damage once more

It's only 80 ish damage a round, but that is decent enough.

[Wonderstell]

Firebug wrote:

I might have to grab that distracting cloak trick, my Blistering Feint Ifrit is based off using sacred huntsman Inquisitor to grab animal focus and planar focus for Fire (+1d6 fire damage / 4 levels to natural and melee attacks), bane, and then the teamwork feats 'out of the sun'. 1 level dip into Mesmerist for feat prereqs. Twinned Feint, Mesmerizing Feint. Also using a battle poi.

I was planning on a normal sized poi(+light shield/buckler), so 1d4+STR +3(+1 enchantment, +2 bane) +2d6(bane) +1d6(flaming/demon smith gloves) +2d6(planar focus: fire) = average 23+STR.

Move action Twinned Improved Blistering Feint - apply fire damage once, maybe to two targets
Standard action attack (no way to fit in cleave in a reasonable time) - apply fire damage once more
Swift action Out of the Sun - apply fire damage once more

It's only 80 ish damage a round, but that is decent enough.

A sensible GM would probably only allow you to gain the Distracting Cloak damage against targets within your reach, but even then it's like getting Whirlwind Attack without the prerequisites.

And since the stealth check is optional, using Distracting Cloak is objectively seen better than Twinned Feint since you won't take the -2 to AC.

Also, there's no reason for you to actually attack any enemy with the battle poi, since you can use your standard action to feint.

Edit: and could you link the Out of the Sun ability? A quick search didn't give me anything.

[Bennybeck Wabbittracks]

This is a great thread! I am a 3rd level PFS rogue that is trying to be built around this. I need to get Combat Expertise and Improved Feint. I am wondering if perhaps dipping one level in fighter might not be a bad idea at 5th level so that I get a bonus combat feat.

[BadBird]

The Feint-and-Bash Weapon Trick is pretty fantastic stuff.

Consider what a character using Feint-and-Bash with Disengaging Flourish and Disengaging Shot can pull - Ranger and Slayer get no-prerequisite access to Disengaging Shot.

For 'best feint', I would probably look at a character who can use enough magic to grant a continual concealment effect and cast Dazzling Blade with a decent CL. Then take Moonlight Stalker Feint...

[BadBird]

Bennybeck Wabbittracks wrote:

This is a great thread! I am a 3rd level PFS rogue that is trying to be built around this. I need to get Combat Expertise and Improved Feint. I am wondering if perhaps dipping one level in fighter might not be a bad idea at 5th level so that I get a bonus combat feat.

Dipping two levels of Lore Warden Fighter would get you free Combat Expertise and two free bonus feats...

[Firebug]

Out of the Sun

description:

Out of the Sun (Teamwork)
Source People of the Sands pg. 9
Your allies use the sun’s glare to their advantage.

Prerequisites: Bluff 3 ranks, Stealth 3 ranks.

Benefit: When you hit with a melee attack, you can attempt a Bluff check as a move action to feint. You do not gain the benefits of this feint; instead, if your Bluff check is successful, an ally with this feat who is adjacent to you or your opponent gains the benefits, so that her next melee attack against that opponent does not allow him to use his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). This attack must be made on or before your ally’s next turn. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on your Bluff check in bright light. This bonus increases to +4 in natural sunlight. You cannot use this feat in dim light or darkness.

Special: If you have the Improved Feint feat, you can feint with Out of the Sun as a swift action after you hit with a melee attack.

In this case I do want to actually standard action to attack, because it will trigger Out of the Sun.

[Firebug]

Bennybeck Wabbittracks wrote:

This is a great thread! I am a 3rd level PFS rogue that is trying to be built around this. I need to get Combat Expertise and Improved Feint. I am wondering if perhaps dipping one level in fighter might not be a bad idea at 5th level so that I get a bonus combat feat.

I would recommend 1 level of Mesmerist, you can ignore the prereqs for Improved Feint and related feats.

And in my case, using the fey trickster archetype for produce flame as a 1st level spell, magical knack, fire domain from Inquisitor with the Ifrit +1 caster level racial ability on fire domain spells to be reasonably effective until I got Blistering Feint and enough fame to buy the 3k in stone for proficiency in the battle poi.

[Scott Wilhelm]

The Moonlight Stalker Feint Feat lets you Feint as a Swift Action.

The Mask of the Stony Demeanor gives you a +5 to Feint in Combat.

The Honeyed Words Rogue Talent lets you Bluff 2X and take the better result, but only 1/day.

[mardaddy]

How about starting out 1st level with a +17 Bluff?

Asmodean Advocate uses Profession: Barrister with an 18 WIS as Bluff (added Silver Tongued +2 and Viper familiar +3.)

per "The Ultimate Lawyer" build by Travis Abshear.

[Daw]

For absolutely no help on the subject:
The finest feint is the feigned faint.

[Firebug]

Touching back on Blistering Feint + Equipment Trick(Distracting Cloak). Blistering Feint does say "Anytime you successfully feint a creature while using such a weapon,..."

Since you must be using the cloak to use the equipment trick, a GM may decide that 'No, you may not deal fire damage to the whole army'.

Aka, you may get table variation.

[Dorian Greystar]

Greater Feint, a keen rapier and Butterfly's Sting make for very happy fighter allies.