Which class would you pick with the following stats?


Advice


Hello!
My friend is building a new character, and he wanted some advice on what to play.

He rolled the stats directly (first roll STR, second DEX, and so on), and he is allowed to switch only 1 score with another. Fortunately for him, he got AMAZING rolls, so here's what he has:

- STR: 13
- DEX: 16
- CON: 16
- INT: 14
- WIS: 10
- CHA: 18

Remember, he is able to switch only one score with another one.

He was thinking Skald, but he's open to suggestions.

As for the rest of the party, they are 4 players, will begin at level 1 (after a short level 0 session), and so far they only know they have a rogue in their team. The other two players have not picked a role yet.


Skald is reasonable, but my first impression was Paladin. Either Dex-based with no swapping, or STR-based by swapping it with DEX.


What about Mesmerist? It would certainly help with the low Wisdom.

Scarab Sages

Bard, sorcerer, paladin, oracle. Could either weapon finesse or swap Dex and str.


Skald has a little too high Charisma, and you'd have to substitute the Strength and Dexterity to make your Raging Song function for yourself (as it should).

A Battle Oracle (via swapping Strength and Dexterity) would be pretty powerful, and he has the Charisma to resort to spellcasting as needed. Same goes for Paladin, since a lot of his powerful features scale via Charisma.

Swashbuckler can work, but I'd advise against it, since that Charisma is abysmally high for said Swashbuckler, and his Dexterity and stuff is meh at best.

Bloodrager would be an amazing choice by swapping the Charisma and Strength around, since Bloodragers only need ~14 Charisma for all of their spellcasting needs (which is really only for self-buffing most of the time). Bonus Points for Primalist archetype if he picks a bloodline with crappy powers, though even a standard Arcane Bloodline Bloodrager is pretty scary.

Also, is the Rogue Unchained or Classic? If he's Unchained, the Skald would also be a bad idea, since he'd be more of a detriment to the Rogue (-1 AC, Temp Hit Points, and gets nothing from Strength bonuses), and I imagine the other two would have to be a Divine Spellcaster of some type whose reception of such benefits is conditional (i.e. they're actually in the front lines fighting), and maybe a full Arcane Spellcaster (who'd want none of it).

Grand Lodge

Bard, Medium, Mesmerist, Oracle, Rogue, Sorcerer with the stats as is.

Swap the 18 Cha with the 13 Str and you have a rock solid base for any melee class.

Swap the 18 Cha with the 10 Wis and you have a very nice Cleric or Druid.

Swap the 18 Cha with the 14 Int and make a really nice Wizard or Magus.

Really, with a stat array like that, and the ability to swap 1 pair of numbers, you have a solid foundation for ANY class.


Kemuri Kunoichi wrote:
Swap the 18 Cha with the 14 Int and make a really nice Wizard or Magus.

Or swap the Charisma with the Dexterity and pick up the Eldritch Scion archetype.

Shadow Lodge

Leave the stats right where they're at, and play a halfling rogue[2]/paladin[x] multiclass with TWF and (eventually) an Oathbow

-- After racial adjustment, you're DEX:18, CHA:20.

0: traits: Freedom Fighter, Lucky Halfling
1: pal, Point Blank Shot
2. rog,
3. pal, [divine grace], Rapid Shot
4. rog, [weapon finesse]...


Swashbuckler. You'll have one heck of a panache pool and some very good survivability with that Dex and Con.

Mysterious stranger archetype gunslinger would work too.


I'd say swap intelligence and charisma, and go archanist.

Grand Lodge

18 in any mental stat he can play any 9th level caster.

18 into str and he can play any melee build that does not have Wis based casting.

Or swap Dex and strength for similar results with much better casting. But you may want to look for heavy armor proficency.

Silver Crusade

If he was looking for something different, he could swap the cha to wis and play kineticist.

But from a min/Max point of view, any 9th level caster moving the 18 to the appropriate casting stat is probably best.


Archer paladin comes to mind. You've got the stats for it, definitely. Halfling archer paladin as Sir Thugsalot suggests is REALLY good for those stats. If you really wanted, you could swap STR and INT so you have 12 STR after racial adjustments, allowing you a slight damage boost... or CON and STR, so you have 14 STR after racial adjustments. Also nice.

Hmm. Swapping STR and CHA, you could actually make a pretty wicked melee character of most any sort. 18/16/16 in your physical stats BEFORE racial adjustments? Damn, man. Just... Damn.

I'm a bard fan, personally. If you wanted to make a sick archery style bard, consider swapping INT and STR, going Arrowsong Minstrel, and playing a human (throwing the +2 in DEX) or elf. You'd be pretty well set with both support spells based off your amazing 18 CHA and some decent damage capabilities with 14 STR, Inspire Courage, and some bonuses to using ranged weapons. 18 DEX = a good chance to hit, and your 14 or 16 CON would be more than sufficient for a back row character. If you really needed to, you could pack a shield and a weapon to wade in and help your allies in a pinch.

For spellcasters... Well, since you can flip any two stats you want, you're pretty much set.

Basically, with those stats you can make most any idea work.


With those stats, pretty much every class is available. Charisma-based classes are easiest if you want to keep the Charisma and switch something else, otherwise switch your main stat with Charisma and you're done. Melee classes would kill for this stat spread.

IMHO Skald doesn't need that high a Charisma. I personally see Skalds as more "off-tanks" for social skills. 14-16 Charisma is plenty to start out with, they're also built to wade into melee. Ironically, that's pretty much the only thing this build can't really do if you want to keep the Charisma as-is. Maybe swap Charisma and DEX and go archery, though you'll need a lot of feats to support it. A pure Bard will be much better, IMHO. I'm building a Skald right now and he's just lacking the skillpoints to be the jack of many trades the Bard is, this build looks perfect for that. Loads of skillpoints, high enough INT to reliably make Knowledge checks with Bardic Knowledge, and so on.

Monk! This stat spread is perfect for Monks. Scaled Fist archetype uses Charisma instead of Wisdom. Swap DEX and Strength, put your level 4 stat point in Dexterity, done. Racial +2 can go to either Strength to start with an 18 in Strength, or in Dexterity to shore that up. Or swap Charisma and Strength, racial bonus in Charisma. 14-16 Charisma is good to start out with, IMHO. Best of all, this archetype can be Unchained.

Oracle would be sweet as well. Keep the stats as-is for a support Oracle, or swap the 13 STR with a 16 and go melee.

Druid looks good, too. Swap Charisma and Wisdom, go be a caster. Put you racial bonus in Strength, put your level 4 stat point in Strength, and you'll be a killing machine.


Straight up oracle. Take a feat to use charisma to hit/damage with a starknife or weapon finesse.

A summoner would work well too as could a scaled fist monk.

Switching stats You could have 16+ in all physical stats. ANY martial would work in that case. A lizardfolk could have Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, 3 natural attacks, natural armor bonus, swim speed: just add full BAB class.


Seconding the paladin suggestions from a stats point of view, not that I personally enjoy them. Swapping str and dex would make a good melee, while swapping str and int or cha and dex wpuld make a good archer.

swapping cha and wis would make a decent warpriest. For maximum bow explosion, swapping con and wis would make a terrifying archer with the champion of the faith archetype.

swapping str and cha would make an offensive powerhouse of a bloodrager, albeit with a poor will save. Barb might be better for that reason.

Swapping cha and wis would make a good monk/druid build.


Bard or sorcerer maybe with dragon bloodline (and that one prestige class you know the one.)


He could play the MADdest class you can find, and still do well. So I second Quentin Coldwater's Monk suggestion. How often do you have the stats to play a Monk, after all?


Shadowdancer.


Oh mysterious stranger gunslinger.


Thank you all for the answers.

To answer a couple of your questions:

- The Rogue in our group will be Classic
- I agree on the Monk, told him it's rare to have all the right stats, but he doesn't seem interested.

As for the other suggestions, I'll let him know and keep you updated :)


Rogue works with those stats and you can even be a face rogue which is pretty effective. Might want to swap con with I think of you are looking to use more skills.


Bober wrote:

Thank you all for the answers.

To answer a couple of your questions:

- The Rogue in our group will be Classic
- I agree on the Monk, told him it's rare to have all the right stats, but he doesn't seem interested.

As for the other suggestions, I'll let him know and keep you updated :)

Well, that poor Rogue is going to feel useless by the mid-game most likely. Oh well, his choice I guess.

Monk can work, though I would suggest going Scaled Fist and maintain the high Charisma. I'd also substitute your Constitution for your Strength, so as to make yourself more competent in combat. Dragon Style feat chain is going to be your bread and butter for melee prowess.

Or, you can go Master of Many Styles, substitute Charisma for Wisdom, pick up a Light/One-handed Slashing Weapon (Handaxe can work), nab the Slashing Grace feat, and go to town that way. (Your Will Saves and Ki Pool will surely thank you for it.) Either way, it's not as easy as it seems to make it work, since the stats he has aren't exactly in the proper space(s) that they should be.

My vote still goes to Bloodrager, after subbing Charisma for Strength. He has the Con for Raging Vitality, he has decent Dexterity to account for any AC loss, and his Strength will be ridiculous. He'll also have enough Charisma for any basic casting needs.


Since your friend is not interested in the monk and another player is already playing a rogue that eliminates a lot of options. A lot of people here are suggesting full casters, but I am going to suggest something different. My recommendation is to swap CHA and STR and go for something like a dwarf barbarian.

Full casters are the most powerful characters in the game. This character also has the equivalent of a 45 point buy. Combining these two factors could easily lead to a situation where the character totally dominates the game. I am assuming that the other characters are also rolling stats so chances are they are not going to be able to match this character. While it would not be a good idea to push the limit and make an overpowered character the player should also not have to play something purposely underpowered either. But it is an opportunity to play something unusual.

Having an 18 STR and CON is going to mean the character is going to be very hard to take down. The 16 DEX is going to give him a decent AC even when raging. The saving throws for this character are going to make him very difficult to affect by magic, especially if he goes the steel soul and glory of old route. The 14 INT is going to give him enough skill that he can do something outside of combat.

Another interesting idea would be to again swap STR and CHA and go with a vanilla human fighter. He actually has the stats to make use of armor training to get a decent AC. By putting his favored class bonus into skills instead of HP he would end up with 6 skill points per level. Use traits to get a couple of good class skills and you would not be completely useless outside of combat. Take Iron will to boost your will save.

A Suli Paladin would also be a decent choice. Again swap STR and CHA. Take the trait Unscathed to get 7 resistance vs all 4 primary elements. This combined with the paladins saves is going to mean you take little or no damage from most direct damage spells.

If you did not already have a rogue in the group I would have suggested swapping DEX and CHA and going for an archeologist bard. But an archeologist bard with those stats would totally overshadow any rogue.

Dark Archive

My top 5 suggestions in no particular order would be:

1. Ifrit, Paladin (Divine Hunter) 2 / Mesmerist X - Archer (No Swaps). Worship Erastil and take the Deadeye Bowman trait for a early softer version of Improved Precise Shot. Essentially ranged sneak attack by targeting down things that you use your Psychic Inception buffed Painful Stare ability. You also have some fun spells to play with and can boost DCs by debuffing with your stare.

2. Half Orc, Bloodrager 1 (With Aberrant Bloodline familiar)/ Skald (Fated Champion) X - Swap STR and DEX and get Amplified Rage as your first feat and get +8/+8 STR/CON when you and your familiar rage during raging song. Do a DEX based urban bloodrager and get +4/+4/+4 to all physical stats while using your inspired rage song. Grab Skalds Vigor next, Diefic Obiedence to Irori (for +4 to all knowledge checks). Makes you one extremely well rounded character.

3. Unchained Monk 1 / Druid X - Swap CHA and WIS. Get an Amulet of Mighty Fists (Agile) as soon as possible and take Weapon Finesse as the first feat. Shape into eagles and air elemental for flying/DEX bonuses during wild shape. Makes you a decent monk secondary front liner and good druid caster (good initiative/AC, etc.). Ultimately you can spec towards Feral Combat Training (Slams) for the elemental wildshape and flurry with your elemental slam. Makes it fun to drop in with touch attack spells (e.g., the spell vine strike comes to mind) as your AC, HP, casting stat, and ability to hit is high. Lets you throw down battlefield control from the front line safely. Consider the Storm Druid for seeing through magical fogs as well so you drop obscuring mist, jump into it, and wreck everything in it with no miss chances.

4. Shaman Build (Swap CHA/WIS)

5. Paladin (Divine Hunter) X / Oracle 4 - Swap DEX and CHA or CON and CHA. Build a ranged "oradin" who will keep his hp pool as a hp battery for the team to heal from as well as keeping hp out of melee and more safe overall. Oracle takes life mystery for channels and life link, Paladin for swift action self healing. Use a Half-elf to get skill focus in a knowledge and grab Eldritch Heritage at level 7 for a familiar (greensting scorpion for improved initiative) with the protector archetype who will take half damage delivered to Paladin (so hp battery increases by 50%). Take fey foundling feat at level 1. Worship Erastil and take the Deadeye Bowman trait for a early softer version of Improved Precise Shot at level 1. Use your level 2 Oracle spells as Shield Other and you first level 1 Paladin spell as Hero's Defiance. Become nearly impossible to kill and just dish out heals to everyone in the group via life link and shield another. Use remaining feats to slowly fill out archery feat chain (point-blank, rapid shot, many shot, deadly aim, etc.) Likely a better combatant/healer than having someone dedicate themselves to that roll (note less condition removal spells then someone dedicated). You could also do a melee version of this build by swapping DEX and STR and using the hospilater paladin archetype. If doing that go reach weapons and use the Phalanx formation feat to get AoOs and hit through from the second line.

Silver Crusade

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With those stats he had a wide range of possibilities. He should stop focusing on the numbers for a numbers for a moment, step back, and think about what kind of character he wants to play.


Swap the Cha for Dex and you have the basis of a wondrous Ninja.

Can I buy your friends dice, mine hate me.


Thank you for your replies.

I agree, he should focus on what he wants to play, and not go for the strongest build. He will already be strong enough, no need to overshadow everyone else.

Also:

Mysterious Stranger wrote:
I am assuming that the other characters are also rolling stats so chances are they are not going to be able to match this character.

That's correct, they will roll their stats. So far, the only other player who rolled has decent ones, but not that high: 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 13

Chillel wrote:
Can I buy your friends dice, mine hate me.

Ahah, he actually rolled on Roll20 ;)


Chillel wrote:
Can I buy your friends dice, mine hate me.

Not as much as my dice hate me. (Especially on this site.) 70% of the time, I get a negative point buy on typical rolling, and the other 25% is no better than a 5 point buy.


Darksol the Painbringer wrote:
Chillel wrote:
Can I buy your friends dice, mine hate me.
Not as much as my dice hate me. (Especially on this site.) 70% of the time, I get a negative point buy on typical rolling, and the other 25% is no better than a 5 point buy.

Mine are more... fickle. I tend to either have an absolutely awesome or awful character. It's rare to see one in the middle.

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