I'm working up a halfling cavalier with the beast rider and emissary archetypes. Other than Spirited Charge and Power Attack, what are some good feats to pick up? I plan on grabbing Boin Companion at some point and switching out my wolf for a Tyrannosaurus rex at level 4.
Also I don't think it's PFS Legal anymore if that matters.
Escape Route (Teamwork) while mounted means you and your mount never provoke when moving. I'm on mobile and can't check but look for the Horse Master Saddle, I believe it allows you to always share Teamwork feats with your Mount (despite the name).
Chain Challenge definitely looks awesome. It's PFS legal according to AoN, but I don't have the book for it yet. My cavalier is still a brand new character, so I've got time to pick up the Monster Codex.
Also, won't my mount get feats? Can't I just give him Escape Route as one of his feats?
Skill Focus (Ride). Yeah, yeah, boring and all that -- but you really want your Ride skill to be as high as possible so you can beat enemy rolls and protect your mount.
Although you may disagree with this, I would consider picking up a level in Sohei and grabbing Mounted Skirmisher for free, ignoring pre-requisites. This lets you Full Attack with a Charge as long as the movement is equal to or less than your mount's speed.
Vraxim 12
Halfling cavalier (beast rider, emissary) 11/monk (sohei) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 32, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 36, 36, 60)
LN Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +2; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 110 (12 HD; 1d8+11d10+35)
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +11; +2 vs. fear
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +3 lance +16/+11/+6 (1d6+29/×3) or
unarmed strike +13/+8/+3 (1d4+21+2 flurry) or
unarmed strike flurry of blows +11/+11/+6/+1 (1d4+21+2 flurry)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with +3 lance)
Special Attacks cavalier's charge, challenge 4/day (+11 damage, +3 to hit while riding mount), flurry of blows, mighty charge
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +11; CMB +11; CMD 26
Feats Boon Companion, Golden Legion’s Stayed Blade, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Mobility, Mounted Combat, Mounted Skirmisher[APG], Phalanx Formation, Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Skill Focus (Ride), Spirited Charge, Trick Riding[APG]
Traits eyes and ears of the city, indomitable faith
Skills Acrobatics +3 (-1 to jump), Climb +5, Diplomacy +16, Handle Animal +22, Knowledge (religion) +15, Perception +3, Ride +22, Sense Motive +0 (+5 when opposing a Bluff check); Racial Modifiers +2 Acrobatics, +2 Climb, +2 Perception
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ devoted guardian, exotic mount (tyrannosaurus named Fang), mounted acrobatics, mounted mastery, order of the sword
Other Gear +3 mithral breastplate, +3 lance, 64,490 gp
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Special Abilities
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Animal Companion Link (Ex) Handle or push Animal Companion faster, +4 to checks vs. them.
Boon Companion (Animal Companion) +4 levels to calc familiar/animal comp abilities (max of your HD).
Cavalier's Charge (Ex) Mounted charge grants +4 to hit and -0 AC rather than +2/-2.
Devoted Guardian +0 (Ex) At 1st level, a sohei can always act in a surprise round even if he does not notice his enemies, though he remains flat-footed until he acts. In addition, a sohei gains a bonus on initiative rolls equal to 1/2 his monk level. At 20th level, a sohei's
Exotic Mount (Ex) gain access to new companion races and can increase their size.
Fearless +2 bonus to save vs. fear (stacks with halfling luck).
Flurry of Blows +10/+10/+5/+0 (Ex) As full-rd action, higher BAB and combo unarmed/monk wep as if two-weapon fighting.
Golden Legion’s Stayed Blade Instead of killing enemy, deal enough damage to reduce HP to -1, and leave it stable.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Mighty Charge (Ex) Double weapon's threat range while charging and execute a maneuver if you hit.
Mobility +4 to AC vs. AoO provoked by moving out of or through a threatened area.
Mounted Acrobatics (Ex) At 9th level, an emissary is even more adept at hopping on and off his steed, and even dropping alongside its flanks mid-gallop. He gains Trick Riding as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. The emissary can employ this feat even
Mounted Combat (2/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Mounted Mastery (Ex) +4 AC against attacks set against your charge, add mount's STR mod to mounted charge damage.
Mounted Skirmisher You can take a full-attack action if your mount moves only its speed.
Phalanx Formation Allies don't provide soft cover to opponents when wielding a reach weapon.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Ride-By Attack You can move - attack - move when charging mounted.
Spirited Charge Double damage when making a mounted charge (triple with a lance).
Sword's Challenge +11 (4/day) (Ex) +11 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, +3 to hit while riding your mount.
Trick Riding No penalty for riding bareback, and in light armor no Ride checks needed for DC 15 or less.
I took the sohei dip at level 5, after I get the T. rex mount.
How does Mounted Skirmisher interact with Spirited Charge? Is it a one or the other thing, or can I use a charge and as long as the mount is within a move action, I can full Attack and all of the get Spirited Charge bonus?
Chain Challenge definitely looks awesome. It's PFS legal according to AoN, but I don't have the book for it yet. My cavalier is still a brand new character, so I've got time to pick up the Monster Codex.
Also, won't my mount get feats? Can't I just give him Escape Route as one of his feats?
Your mount will gain feats but why spend feats when you get them with Tactician anyway? Its a matter of gold and prestige versus a feat slot for the mount, so its your call.
How does Mounted Skirmisher interact with Spirited Charge? Is it a one or the other thing, or can I use a charge and as long as the mount is within a move action, I can full Attack and all of the get Spirited Charge bonus?
They stack.
Mounted Skirmisher lets you Full Attack on a Charge.
Spirited Charge lets you deal Double Damage (Triple with Lance) on Charge Attacks.
All attacks from Mounted Skirmisher (assuming you're within the proper range) are Charge Attacks.
Therefore, you'd get a Full Attack, each attack doing 3x Damage.
Unfortunately, I don't think you can use Flurry of Blows with it.
That's really wierd as a number of the mount options have only 2 legs. I guess they count for limbs as legs. So you would have to drop the archetype and pick up the feats.
I can certainly drop the beast rider archetype, although it grants a free feat that's probably worth keeping it for. I can always take the archetype and the feat.
