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I've been tinkering with making a new character for pfs and I keep going back to the occultist. Biggest problem I feel is there is no bonuses to hit or damage. I've tinkered with many ideas and was gonna go with the kineticist but the burn kinda scared me off. I've been kinda thinking about going to the Arsenal chaplain warpriest, Honestly when you add divine favor and weapon training (along with the gloves) seems really nasty...sadly I pay for it in skills which is a big downside which is why I'm not sure on it. Currently I have a investigator/swash and a Inquisitor archer...so trying to do something different.
For the Occultist, pick Transmutation as one of your first implements. That will give you a +2 enhancement bonus to your attacking stat, which will put you on pace will full BAB classes (the full-BAB option for the Occultist is sadly not legal). Between that and Legacy Weapon, you should have enough accuracy and damage. Your main issue with being a frontliner is going to be the whole d8 HD and a significant portion of your attribute points going into INT.
If you're worried about hitting, you could always try using the panoply rules from Psychic Archive. Specifically, the Trappings of the Warrior.
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Sudden insight for when you really need to hit.
The ocultist actually gets really good defenses to cover the d8. There are a lot of good 14 con d10 builds so toughness puts you on par with them and most of them can't give themself energy resistance, mirror images or have your saves without having the have a cloak.
Legacy weapon should be used for bane whenever possible.
Access to personal haste helps.
Battle host gets extra feats and an is hight bonus to stats.
I also like a relic hunter medium dip for this build grab spirit focus +2 to attack +4 to damage and if you like you can grab legendary influence for a flexible feat.
Yeah I was really hoping to go with trappings of the warrior but it was banned. Yeah plan to go heavy with transmutation. Found that there is almost no spells for a boost. Maybe I'm spoiled with the investigator and the inquisitor
Occultists can do just fine in melee. The Haunt Collector archetype can improve that. Say you have a 16 Str and are using a Lucerne Hammer (I really like reach builds for Occultists).
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1st Level
Take the Transmutation School. The Resonant Power is boosting your strength to 18, and the Base Power will let you add a +1 Enhancement Bonus to your weapon. So you will have +5 on attack rolls (+0 BAB, +4 Str, and +1 Enhancement) and will be dealing 1d12+7 damage (+6 Str and +1 Enhancement).
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2nd Level
Select a School like Conjuration with a terrible Resonant Power and replace it with the Champion Spirit Seance Boon. Now you have an untyped +2 damage bonus on all non-spell damage rolls. That includes both your weapons and Focus Powers that deal damage. So your attack rolls are +6 (+1 BAB, +4 Str, and +1 Enhancement) and your damage is 1d12+9 (+6 Str, +2 Seance Boon, and +1 Enhancement).
You can also use the Champion Spirit Spirit Bonus as a Swift Action to boost your attack rolls, non-spell damage rolls, Strength checks, Strength-based skill checks, and Fortitude saves for that round. Using the Spirit Bonus means that your attack rolls are +7 (+1 BAB, +4 Str, +1 Spirit Bonus, and +1 Enhancement) and your damage is 1d12+10 (+6 Str, +2 Seance Boon, +1 Spirit Bonus, and +1 Enhancement).
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3rd Level
By now you should be able to afford a +1 weapon. Take Power Attack and you are looking at up to +8 on attack rolls (+2 BAB, +4 Str, +1 Spirit Bonus, -1 Power Attack, and +2 Enhancement) and damage of 1d12+14 (+6 Str, +2 Seance Boon, +1 Spirit Bonus, +3 Power Attack, and +2 Enhancement).
If your enemies in one attack are fairly homogenous then you can use Legacy Weapon to add Bane to your weapon rather than just a +1 Enhancement Bonus. That gives you +9 on attack rolls (+2 BAB, +4 Str, +1 Spirit Bonus, -1 Power Attack, and +3 Enhancement) and damage of 1d12+2d6+15 (+6 Str, +2 Seance Boon, +1 Spirit Bonus, +3 Power Attack, +2d6 Bane, and +3 Enhancement).
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Many of those bonuses will scale as you level up.
I think those are pretty good stats for a class that also gets Spells, Focus Powers, and decent Skills.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the haunt. My understanding is you store up points to get a better spirit bonus but nothing really to spend on the points. So at the very least need a decent field that doesnt have a decent resonant power but it has a really nice power i could take to funnel the points out. Personally that leaves two off the bat either conjuration or enchantment. Conjuration is pretty nice for getting the ability to use wands without a UMD but the only power I could see is flesh mend... so so healing but since the points are there I could burn it off as "free" healing. Enchantment has really blah spells but I could pick up inspired assault...which assuming i can touch myself to qualify, would give me a bonus to hit for a couple rounds.
I always take conjuration sooner or later on melee oriented occultists, since Side Step is so great. None of the other focus powers are amazing, but that one's handy.
I agree with PossibleCabbage on Side Step. I also like Servitor. There is a lot of utility gained by duplicating the Summon Monster spells.
Evocation is another possibility. The Resonant Power isn't that great. Energy Ray and Energy Blast give you some nice offensive capacity, and since they aren't spells they will benefit from the +2 damage from the Champion Spirit Seance Boon (somewhat offsetting the loss of the Resonant Power). You also have Energy Ward as a nice defensive option.
My beef with the Occultist is that most of its powers are standard actions to activate. Much like battle clerics, by the time you are buffed and ready to go the fights over.
My beef with the Occultist is that most of its powers are standard actions to activate. Much like battle clerics, by the time you are buffed and ready to go the fights over.
That's one of the reasons I prefer a reach build. If you need to you can use a Focus Power or a Spell and still have a decent chance for an AoO or two that round. If I'm caught unprepared I usually use the first round to activate Legacy Weapon, but using Mind Eye to scout ahead can enable you to buff before combat. Knowledge is Action Economy.
Focus Powers like Side Step, Mind Barrier, Energy Shield, and Sudden Insight won't use up your Standard Actions and neither will the Champion Spirit's Seance Boon or Spirit Bonus. I find it useful to have my actions planned out ahead of time for a variety of common situations.
The Talismanic Implement Spell and the Extricate Haunt ability both act a bit like Contingency and can be used to prepare spells ahead of time to improve your action economy during combat.
Thats one of the biggest appeals to the warpriest but the skills really suck. Problem with side step is it takes level 7 to get to that.
Thats one of the biggest appeals to the warpriest but the skills really suck. Problem with side step is it takes level 7 to get to that.
After playing an Investigator pretty much every class feels feat starved so Warpriest is really going to feel limited. It seems that you really aren't interested in Occultist, though. If I've heard you correctly you are looking for a melee build that can do decent DPR without needing to spend Combat rounds buffing that also has at least a medium number of skill ranks. Have you considered a Magus, Alchemist, or Bard? Some of their archetypes might suit your needs.
Problem with side step is it takes level 7 to get to that.
Is that really a problem?
You select Conjuration at level 2, you get the Servitor focus power (which can be handy) and you trade away casting focus since it basically does nothing for you. Now you have the ability to cast conjuration spells and you get access the Champion's seance bonus and spirit bonus. Then for your level 3 and 5 focus powers, you take things associated with your other two implements. If your other implement is Divination, you could take, say, Danger Sight and Mind Eye at 3rd and 5th levels (which are strong choices at those levels).
Also, 1 level dip into a rage class (barb/bloodrager) can get you LOTS of combat stuff for that 1 level and the extra rage feat. Biggest buff there is for a dip.
I like minimum buffing.. one round ideally. 4+ for skills works. I have it in my heart to go a big sword hitter this time around. Was thinking about a skald but worried he would step on my investigator toes.
Thought you lose sector focus when you go haunt
Occultists work for that requirement. 1 round buffing is just using legacy weapon as a standard, that's giving you +2 to hit once you have a magic weapon via bane, at lv6 that increases to +3. Plus the free enhancement to str that will be ahead of what you'd normally have purchased is a +1 boost most levels.
going battle host will gives you more feats.
going haunt collector gives you a pool of swift action buffs to use.
1 level of rage gives free action rage for a +2 for early levels and +3 at lv6+ when you get furious or add furious to your weapon.
Or just all Barb/bloodrager as it meets your requirement of 4+int of skills.
Hmm you can still get servitor that really is useful. To be able to summon something as a standard while i buff can be really useful
@Chess pwn.. Not sure if the extra feats are really worth it, especially for a falchion/greatsword user. I like the occultist because he has a bunch of random things that I'm hopping to pull togeather. Trying something a little outside my normal route.
I would love a bbn/bloodrager but honestly I would go with a skald. The ability to bring up the party, cast spells and kick some behind is pretty appealing
my biggest issue with skalds is their use is so low, They spend a standard to rage song, and you get you and if you're lucky 1 other to accept it. If you're thinking of skald just go bard and be better at all the things.
@Firebug Yeah my skald was built a bit like yours the combination of urban and totemic skald is really nice (although i hadnt confirmed if they are stackable or not) add in the switching yourself to strength is really nice.
But here is the catch...rules as written is very...fluid and some gms might not allow amplified rage to stack with raging song. Also skald vigor is negated by urban skald (vigor gives fast healing equal to the STR bonus given)
Spell warrior Skald is *almost* a straight upgrade to base Skald.
I like minimum buffing.. one round ideally. 4+ for skills works. I have it in my heart to go a big sword hitter this time around. Was thinking about a skald but worried he would step on my investigator toes.
Thought you lose sector focus when you go haunt
What is 'sector focus?'
Agreed if it works as you would plan. But I've seen a lot of people interpret the other way and with pfs i want to be 100% Skald vigor specifically out the str bonus
The trick with Occultists is that they have an incredible amount of tricks up their sleeve, but not enough time to use them. For to-hit bonuses, Legacy Weapon is obviously a good one, and the Transmutation Resonant Power puts you ahead in STR without spending money on a belt. Sudden Insight helps if you want to maximise your to-hit, but costs points to activate.
You'll never be as resourceful as a Wizard or have as many spells as a Sorcerer, so you have to carefully pick your focus powers to complement your build. There's tons of buffs you could throw up, but usually, starting with Bane is always a good choice. That's a +2 to hit, and 2d6+2 on damage, that's very good. You're not a spellslinger like a Magus, who can attack and cast at the same time. I recommend long-running buffs or situational spells that can save your hide, but don't go wild in combat, that's simply not what the Occultist is good at. They excel at being toolboxes while still standing their own once combat breaks out. Heightened Awareness, Liberating Command, Spider Climb, See Invisibility, and many more aren't things you'll spam in combat, but things you'll have running beforehand or use when necessary. Until then, you're going to town with your melee weapon. You have three different ways of summoning help, so you can call for flankers or meatshields when necessary, but you're right that other than Legacy Weapon, there isn't a real way of boosting your own to-hit. Bards have Performance and Heroism, Slayers have Studied Target, Druids get Wildshape, Warpriests have swift-action buffs, you'll just have to make do with Legacy Weapon. Which, as said, isn't that bad. You can still be a melee monster without it, and a single standard action is all the preparation you need.
I've made a melee Occultist and more of a support/debuff Occultist, and there are a few more builds possible. But I think melee Occultist is the easiest and the most powerful. As said, you miss the diversity in spells to be a proper spellslinger, but the entire Transmutation school (both the spell list and the Focus Powers) is ridiculously good at turning you and your team into monstrosities.