Hi all,
I am starting a new campaign and I wanted to try a smart warrior build. As well, make him a two weapon warrior like a gladiator. Therefore, I was thinking the student of war would fit the bill.
Here are the stats. As well, all pathfinder content is avaliable.
Level 2 human Slayer
Str 18
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 16
Wis 12
Cha 7
My plan is to go as the following slayer4/brawler1/SoW10.
Slayer 1 - skill focus(Knowledge), combat expertise
Slayer 2 - slayer talent(ranger style[two weapon fighting])
Slayer 3 - iron will
Slayer 4 - slayer talent(combat trick[artful dodge])
Brawler 1 - toughness, improved unarmed strike(free)
Student of war 2 - improved two weapon fighting, bonus feat(kirin style)
Student of war 4 - kirin strike
Student of war 5 - double slice
Student of war 6 - two weapon rend
So basically im going to focus on my abiltiies to boost my attack and damage with studied target and combat feats from martial flexibility.
As well, focusing on knowledges for know your enemy ability and for the kirin style chain. As well i took focused study for the alternate race trait.
I will be using two Gladius as my weapons or should i go longsword and Gladius instead? What are your thoughts on the build? Is it efficient enough to do the job as a frontliner?
Thanks for any input, i appreciate it.
What is the brawler level for?
And while on the topic of brawler.... are you tied to having two weapons, or just getting the number of attacks coming from two weapons?
This is important, since a second level of brawler gives you its flurry attack. This is a weird upgrade to TWF as long as you meet the rles- you can flurry with a single weapon two handed, which can give two handed power attack (x3 power attack total across both 'hands').
A consideration in the opposite direction comes from the fact that slayers can do study target as a swift action at level 7. This would both allow you a decent and consistent attack bonus, as well as bonuses to a lot of social skills.
What is the brawler level for?
Probably for the Brawler's Martial Flexibility class feature.
What is the brawler level for?
And while on the topic of brawler.... are you tied to having two weapons, or just getting the number of attacks coming from two weapons?
This is important, since a second level of brawler gives you its flurry attack. This is a weird upgrade to TWF as long as you meet the rles- you can flurry with a single weapon two handed, which can give two handed power attack (x3 power attack total across both 'hands').
A consideration in the opposite direction comes from the fact that slayers can do study target as a swift action at level 7. This would both allow you a decent and consistent attack bonus, as well as bonuses to a lot of social skills.
The reason why I am going into brawler is to get improved unarmed strike to qualify for the kirin style chain.
As well, i want the character to use two weapons but any combination works i suppose for the character. However, i have read the brawlers flurry and i think you are mistaken. The brawlers flurry works only with unarmed strikes and the close fighting weapon group.....which I have read not to have any two handed weapons in the group.
As well, i want the character to use two weapons but any combination works i suppose for the character. However, i have read the brawlers flurry and i think you are mistaken. The brawlers flurry works only with unarmed strikes and the close fighting weapon group.....which I have read not to have any two handed weapons in the group.
Well, there are heavy shields and bayonets in the close weapon group. Which are.... yeeeeeah.....
But more importantly, the flurry can also work with monk weapons. Since you are grabbing a class with martial weapons, you get a handful of them, including the nine ring sword and the Sansetsukon (a nunchuk staff thing; mostly notable for being a 1d10, 19-20/x2, bludgeoning weapon).
As well, i want the character to use two weapons but any combination works i suppose for the character. However, i have read the brawlers flurry and i think you are mistaken. The brawlers flurry works only with unarmed strikes and the close fighting weapon group.....which I have read not to have any two handed weapons in the group.Well, there are heavy shields and bayonets in the close weapon group. Which are.... yeeeeeah.....
But more importantly, the flurry can also work with monk weapons. Since you are grabbing a class with martial weapons, you get a handful of them, including the nine ring sword and the Sansetsukon (a nunchuk staff thing; mostly notable for being a 1d10, 19-20/x2, bludgeoning weapon).
Thanks for that information, but I won't be able to qualify for the other two weapon fighting feats down the road.
Also this character will be an ex Roman soldier/gladiator. That is the reason I went Gladius, but maybe I could do a longsword and treat it as a spatha.
Does it have to be human? An elf (or half-elf with an alt racial trait) could go for Elven Battle Focus and get int to damage that way. The advantage is that it doesn't take 3 swift actions to set up like ki-rin strike. To use TWF with that feat would probably require you to get Possessed Hand & Hand's Autonomy admittedly.
If you're going to go with ki-rin strike you probably want Combat Style Master so that you can cut the number of swift actions required to set it up down to 2.
Str 18
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 16
Wis 12
Cha 7My plan is to go as the following slayer4/brawler1/SoW10.
Slayer 1 - skill focus(Knowledge), combat expertise
Slayer 2 - slayer talent(ranger style[two weapon fighting])
Slayer 3 - iron will
Slayer 4 - slayer talent(combat trick[artful dodge])
Brawler 1 - toughness, improved unarmed strike(free)
Student of war 2 - improved two weapon fighting, bonus feat(kirin style)
Student of war 4 - kirin strike
Student of war 5 - double slice
Student of war 6 - two weapon rend
Couple small problems:
Your dex is too low to qualify for Double Slice and Two Weapon Rend. While you can get the TWF feats with Ranger Style and bypass their requirements you still need to qualify to take the other feats.
Int 16
....
Slayer 4 - slayer talent(combat trick[artful dodge])Couple small problems:
Your dex is too low to qualify for Double Slice and Two Weapon Rend. While you can get the TWF feats with Ranger Style and bypass their requirements you still need to qualify to take the other feats.
That is because he has artful dodge. It an additional clause that lets you use int instead of dex for qualifying for feats.
Not useful to most people (since they are more likely to pump a bit of dex than int, since dex affects so many things), but this is a build focused on getting int to other things, so it is fine.
Honestly I wouldn't go slayer unless I was going with 7 levels Swift study is just that good. Also going to be super awkward to spend two move actions in a row to study on top of the three swifts for kirin style.
Right, I agree that my action economy will be a challenge to work with. However, I believe my DM will allow me to use standard and move actions in place of swift actions.
Also, if I went for slayer 7. It would be nice to have a swift action studied target, but that would push my level progression quite further down.
Couple small problems:
Your dex is too low to qualify for Double Slice and Two Weapon Rend. While you can get the TWF feats with Ranger Style and bypass their requirements you still need to qualify to take the other feats.
As lemeres has pointed out. I will be taking Artful Dodge feat for the prerequisites for the prestige class, but it also helps me with my two weapon fighting feats.
Does it have to be human? An elf (or half-elf with an alt racial trait) could go for Elven Battle Focus and get int to damage that way. The advantage is that it doesn't take 3 swift actions to set up like ki-rin strike. To use TWF with that feat would probably require you to get Possessed Hand & Hand's Autonomy admittedly.
If you're going to go with ki-rin strike you probably want Combat Style Master so that you can cut the number of swift actions required to set it up down to 2.
I agree, if I can fit room for Combat Style Master then that would be helpful for the actions. However, I would stick with human instead of elf. Since the Elven Battle Focus feat replaces your existing damage modifier with Int and does not add to it.
Slayer studied target goes to +2 at level 5. Seems like a shame to stop at level 4.
I agree :(. However, I believe the dip into Brawler will benefit me more in the long run, right?
There is really no reason to go into student of war. It's a downgrade from single classed slayer.
Interesting. Can you elaborate in more detail? I appreciate the insight.
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There is really no reason to go into student of war. It's a downgrade from single classed slayer.Interesting. Can you elaborate in more detail? I appreciate the insight.
Slayer's dish out a lot of damage via studied target and sneak attack plus can get nice ranger fighting style feat trees and some very cool talents. Student of war seem lackluster in comparison.
Slayer's dish out a lot of damage via studied target and sneak attack plus can get nice ranger fighting style feat trees and some very cool talents. Student of war seem lackluster in comparison.
I agree damage wise, the slayer will gain more with the sneak attack damage and the ranger fighting style feat tree assists with the feats.
However, I wouldn't agree on the talents besides the ranger style tree. I feel most of the talents are mediocre at best. I wish there were more unique talents.
As well, I think its interesting the student of war is able to use intelligent in its class features. As well, shrugging off magical effects is helpful, and the stances provide different bonuses. But, I do agree they should have done a better job at the higher level abilities like Telling blow. I feel that ability was slapped on lol.
I have a character headed for Student of War for one and only one reason: the substituting of Int for Dex to AC. It's a long story, but this martial character has a +5 to Int and a -1 to Dex, so it's worth the feat tax to get into the prestige class . . .
That is because he has artful dodge. It an additional clause that lets you use int instead of dex for qualifying for feats.
Not useful to most people (since they are more likely to pump a bit of dex than int, since dex affects so many things), but this is a build focused on getting int to other things, so it is fine.
Thanks. Thought I was missing something in there when I typed it. Now I know what! :)