| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So I play again tomorrow and leaning towards the skald x/bloodrager 1 route I sat down to make the character and realized I REALLY need more skill points. Doing a half orc and stats are 16 str, 14 dex, Con 12, int 13, wis 10 and cha 14... So I get 5 skill points per level (favored going to hp. But when you add the perception, perform, spellcraft and UMD I'm left with maybe one point for knowledge skills (less when you figure i need to get at least one point to climb and swim) Feats are tied up until at least level 5 (amplified rage, power attack and skald vigor) any suggestions?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Tru to ask you GM to accept to use the Background Skills from Unchained... Since I use those my players are using skills they would never have put a point in before... Like Knowledge Nobility, Liguistics, Appraise, even Perform for non bardic class... ;)
Bards should not be skill taxed to play their role, same for Handle Animal and Ranger/Druid... :p
Frankly they have done a good job separating roleplay skills and utilities skills... :)
It gives you 2 skills point/level you can use on "minor skill" whatever your class... :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sadly it is for PFS Debating on putting the con to 13 and int to 12 and then for the favor class bonus add skill
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
arg sorry you should have said so... :/
Yep for PFS no choice, int 13 is only good to take some feat... If you don't plan on taking them then CON 13 is better and losing 1HP, since you're not using the Wounds and Vigor rule, is not a big deal...
Now what's the most plausible scenario : you having to make a swim or climb check and losing a lot of HP or you being KO for 1 point (this could happen, I'm aware) and dying because of -12 instead of -13 (this would never happened, if you're that far under it's too late in any case) ? :p
(grmbl Paizo sometimes made really good optional rules like Background Skill and Action Economy, they should enforce them in PFS too so they can publish PF2 quickly :p)
Frankly, in this case, I would go with 13 CON, 12 INT (You won't go the defensive feat route) and 1 skill point...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Drop Strength a bit if you want more Int. Your song will bring the strength up.
Dropping it just one point would give you the 12 Int, and you could put your 4th level attribute point into Strength to bring it back up.
I am successfully playing a Bloodrager/Skald who has a higher Charisma than Strength. He went for Lesser Spirit Totem, which means everyone taking the song gets an extra attack.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So played through and the skills really did grate on me, especially knowledge checks. So I could give up darkvision to gain another skill point (most likely a bad idea) With a dip in bloodrager and at level one taking amplified rage I will gain +8 str and con (so 24 str) So I could go a drastic route and instead of taking power attack at 3 take deific obedience for irori to gain +4 to all knowledge skills...then at 5 take power attack and 7 skald's vigor. That would free me up some for knowledge skills but set me back a ways in combat
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Just a bump, maybe the title name isn't catchy enough. Really would like to hear what other skald did
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My Skald went with only a 14 Strength and 16 Charisma. All FCB into skill ranks. His attributes were 14/13/14/12/10/16, 4th level increased Dex.
I went Urban Skald/Urban Barbarian because it fit the concept better. Amplified Rage and Skald's Vigor, with Lesser Spirit Totem for his Rage power. Although being able to pump Dex is nice, if you are that concerned about melee power you probably don't want the urban archetype.
This is part of a paired build with another half-orc -- the other being Bloodrager/Bard. Most of the time we don't even need to use the Amplified Rage. The combined buffs of a Skald and Bard tend to be enough that it isn't needed.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah I'm aiming for a decent striker, who can cover a decent range of skills. I would like to be able to buff the party too. I feel this character meets most of what I'm looking for, except skills. Maybe I'm spoiled from playing a inquisitor and a investigator
|
Remember your actual points per level are closed to 11. 10 every other level (knowledes) you you can invest a little over half and be competitive. Next you get 1 additional for versatile performance. Some may say 2 but you would not invest in it otherwise so that nets 1.
There is not much you can do with the stats I would go 17/12/14/12/9/14
Hp and mirror image will be your defense.
FEAT
If you want to have more skills. You can take the skill racial trait. Darkvision is good but in pfs there is always someone in your party with a light your not sneaking anyway. Take the cunning feat deific obedience irori.
All you need for combat is power attack and combat reflexes (optional).
Some helpful gear for my skill monkey skald
KNOWLEDGE GEAR
Lore needle (invest fewer skill points in knowledges), pathfinder chronicles, heighten awareness wand.
FACE GEAR
Bracers of the Glib Entertainer.
You can actually buy your int headband first which should help because you won't need access to 5th level spells for a while.
Investigator, Bard and Inquisitor tend to dominate knowledge skills. Wizard can mostly keep up because they pump Int, but the Investigator tends to crush all others. Do not expect to keep up with a build from those classes that prioritized monster identification.
A Skald is better in combat than a Bard, but doesn't have quite as good a skill setup. A big part of being better in combat is having a good fortitude save along with better weapon and armor proficiencies.
I would reiterate my advice to reduce Strength, depending on your Raging Song to bring it back up. You say you only want to be a decent striker, yet your build says to me that you want to totally dominate in melee.
I don't know if it can be made to work on a Skald, but Bloodragers and Barbarians can just give up on the AC race and go full offense. In that case, you would want to go for Fortification on your armor to reduce critical hits. The problem on the Skald is the lower hit dice and you don't have quite as high a Con as most want for that type of build.
|
|
Skalds are 2 skill points behind a bard. Which the right race and cunning can make up for.
Skalds, especially with this build, have high fast healing which puts you on par with a barbarian a level 5 barbarian has 10 more hp that's less than 2 rounds of fast healing so I hard fights skalds come out ahead.
I have a level 10 skald that's does very well with skills. The better bones for melee mean you have feats to spend elsewhere. You don't have to mess around with Dex to damage. You don't have to stretch your point buy as far. Your two most important saves are way better because rage boosts both.
@BretI... honestly I already moved the str from a 18 to the 16 so I'm at the limit there. I'm aiming for a "warrior philosopher" So I plan on him hitting hard. He would at level 3 be hitting reliably at +9 to hit and 2d4+10 (crit 18-20) at 5 he would have fast healing of 2. I would probably pick up celestial totem by that point too for extra healing taking increased damage reduction too for myself and the party...granted he wont have as much of hp but i dont see him hurting too much either. BUT for the combat I would have to wait until level 7 for deific obedience which would really get him up to par with knowledge.
That said @Grandlounge, the lore needle might really help especially for little used knowledge skills (eng, geog, history,nobles especially) Take the headband on one of the main ones...Hmm that might actually bypass the need for deific obedience irori.. or at least move it down the list.I plan to stack heroism and heightened awareness later onGood point on the darkvision too... Is a 12 dex ok though? Granted I have a familiar that will give me +4 init... I plan to use a breastplate for now...almost tempted to go heavy armor and a mithril fullplate later on. BTW what did you put your fcb as in those stats? hp or skills?
I just discovered advanced versatile performance for some reason hero lab doesnt like it but it is valid...could always add bluff into the same perform skill saving a lot of skill points there. Need to do more research on martial performance.
|
|
If you have a familiar + reactionary and play agressivly with a wand of heightened awareness you will be fine.
The skald saga which you can get with a Fcb will help with out of combat knowledge checks.
If you want you can get the full plate. I think you still have asfp too deal with. So I would say it's not worth it. (I think that is how that rule works)
Fcb human spells and masterpieces every time once I had second level spells.
Thanks Grandlounge, so far plan on the traits Fate's favored and Maestro of society. I would prefer a higher dex but might be workable. I'll lose the darkvision but I think with light and dancing lights will help. +1 str at 4 and +1 wis at 8.A bit of a gold investment at first but he would be pretty rounded out by the time I get to needing the fcb i think I could have a point in almost all the knowledge skills I'll have to roll it up to see where i stand by lvl 7 if deific obedience is needed or not
|
|
I think you need to be a bard to take maestro of society. So you can switch that out. Consider community-mined. It's lingering performance in a trait. It will give you way more rounds than Maestro and it makes your best spells more viable, the finale set of spells.
Just buy an Ioun torch after your first mission.
Build it out and see how it looks, post it here or DM me any questions.
Obviously it will take me a bit of time to do this but in case others like this idea.
Level 1 Bloodrager Feat Amplified rage Familiar Arctic hare or scorpian
Level 2 Skald FCB Skills For 3 levels to round out knowledge
Level 3 Skald Feat Power attack
Level 4 Skald Rage Superstition
Level 5 Skald Feat Skald's vigor Masterpiece Lay of scholar king
Level 6 Skald
Level 7 Skald Feat not sure Rage Witch hunter
Originally I planned to go with Celestial totem but that is banned in PFS
Gear is gonna be really tight between the needle, head gear Bracers of glib etc. Also eyeing a +1 Bloodsong Furious Falchion
I do not recommend Superstition on a Skald. It prevents the people who accept your song from taking spells from you.
Things like Saving Finale, Timely Inspiration, Haste, Heroism, Remove Fear or Jester's Jaunt would potentially be blocked by Superstition.
Hmm didnt take into account fast spells and condition removal. Hmm With celestial totem out what would be another good route?
Tough call, Beast doesnt really match the flavor but I think for what it gives I could adjust (first ability I probably wouldnt use for claws...maybe in a pinch when the party doesnt have weapons? But extra AC and pounce cannot be denied) Not seeing the appeal of Spirit totem, am I missing something?
Lesser Spirit Totem gives an attack based on your Charisma to everyone accepting the song. All they have to do is stand next to an enemy and that enemy gets attacked by a spirit.
Spirit Totem comes in just as a lot of monsters have reach. It gives a miss chance to any attacks that aren't right up close. Sure, it isn't a huge chance but still it can be nice.
The other thing to consider is that the attacks are negative energy attacks. It is a lot tougher to protect against negative energy than other forms of damage.
I like it because it starts as a small force multiplier and later also becomes a defensive buff.
|
|
Greater lets say you have three people in melee aginst 3 other if you position correctly each person will be adjacent 2 or three people. That is between 6-9d8 free damage around plus that spirit attacks.
If you get jumped by mooks 4 on each of your 2 from liners thats 8d8 total damage per round.
Now it is not amazing damage but it requires no actions and adds up in long fights. 30ish damage free around works out to a free enemy dead.
Also if you do you damage before the other PC attacks you often drop enemies limiting overkill and letting them focus on healthier enemies.
At a 14 cha and med bab I'm a bit worried it will hit. Also wouldn't Dr 5 or more pretty much negate it? Don't get me wrong, it sounds very cool just feel meh due to effectiveness
|
|
I hit regularly especially at low levels. Once it loses some effectiveness you start giving out concealment. Dr does not apply as it is negative energy damage. And the d8s for great having no roll at all.
A song that gives out 20% miss chance >5 ft, gives out fast healing 4, boosts 2 saves, and increases everyone's HP. And it can pump out some low but consistent damage works really well. Add discordant voice +D6 per attack.
7d8 perturb + 1d6 per attack (8+ most likely) whatever attacks land. That is really going to wear down enemies.
It's all about tipping the scales. Make everyone 20% harder to kill make the enemy 10% easier to kill. Is it the best. Is it useful I think so.
I admit I like the idea of having like spectors fly around him and envelope the party. Really need to confirm I can't use heavy Mithril armor to cast. BTW thanks guys for the advice, I was gonna give up on him