Siege Gunner or Gun Tank? Construct Rider Build

[Alchemist 23]

I freaking love the idea of a Construct Rider Alchemist with a gun but I can't decide if I should go Siege Gunner or Gun Tank. Both have allot of potential. Gun tanks are tough as hell to put down and with a mount your armor wont slow you down. On the other hand with the Craft Construct you can modify your mount to pull/carry/be a Cannon. You can also make constructs to act as a siege crew/ pack mules to carry more heavy firepower. Which would be better?

[avr]

Those are gunslinger archetypes. Gunslinger won't advance the alchemist's construct. How are you thinking of combining these?

[Alchemist 23]

avr wrote:

Those are gunslinger archetypes. Gunslinger won't advance the alchemist's construct. How are you thinking of combining these?

Multi-classing Alchemist level 1 Gunslinger level 2. Over all I'm looking at a 4 level dip into Gunslinger to get the basic benefits of the for mentioned Archetypes. The dip would be at levels 2,6,13,15 (Roughly) for the following reasons:

By offsetting the level by 1 early on and you can take Monstrous Mount the same level you qualify for it (Alchemist 4 Player level 5).

Gunslinger as a class synergizes really well with an Alchemists combat.

They overlap feats since you're going to want to take the mounted archery to toss bombs from horseback anyway.

The Craft Construct feat doesn't really do anything until about character level 7-8 due to money restrictions. That said caster level verses player income is doesn't reach a good state until about level 12 at which point your caster level should be about CL 10.
At CL 7 you can make Homunculi to reload your guns. (and maybe have guns of their own.)

Fighter types (Alchemical golem, Clockwork Solider) and utility units (Clockwork Spy, Clockwork Servant) are not available until around level 10-12 because they are very expensive with high Dc's.

The question I'm asking is should I go Gun Tank for Durability (Be on the battle field with my constructs) or go Siege Gunner and make Artillery units that can haul and help operate siege weapons (AKA Cannons)

[avr]

You neither qualify for nor would benefit from the Monstrous Mount feat. If there's something like Boon Companion which would work for a construct rider that makes some sense though. I think I saw such a feat once but I can't remember the name.

Affordable constructs tend to be more fragile for your level than you'd like. The gun tank idea seems better to me.

BTW, the Explosive Missile discovery combines gunslinger & alchemist abilities very well, if you're using a one-handed firearm.

[Alchemist 23]

avr wrote:

You neither qualify for nor would benefit from the Monstrous Mount feat. If there's something like Boon Companion which would work for a construct rider that makes some sense though. I think I saw such a feat once but I can't remember the name.

Affordable constructs tend to be more fragile for your level than you'd like. The gun tank idea seems better to me.

BTW, the Explosive Missile discovery combines gunslinger & alchemist abilities very well, if you're using a one-handed firearm.

Why would you not benefit from a construct Griffin?

[marcopico]

Hello, sorry for reviving this thread but I'm working on a Construct Rider with guns as well. Did you take a look at the Mechanist archetype, if your GM allows 3pp materials?

To me it looks like Construct Rider and Mechanist synergize very well...

[Scott Wilhelm]

It occurs to me that a Construct Rider Alchemist should be able to take levels in the Mammoth Rider Prestige Class and ride a giant robot Animal.

[Scott Wilhelm]

It also occurs to me that the impressive thing about what an Alchemist Shoots is not the base damage of any projectile, but rather the explosive power of his Bombs.

I think Riding on your Robot Arsinotherium with a Flintlock Pistol firing bullets charged with the Explosive Missile Discovery will be just as effective as if you mounted a cannon on it.

[Derek Dalton]

A wild suggestion but one to consider is this. Cavalier instead or with Alchemist. A few archtypes keep Expert trainer which you need. At sixth level take Horse Master feat. Now your mount goes by you total level not class level. Reread Construct Rider you lose most of your abilities as an alchemist to have a construct which is a mount and not much else for a long time. And it's limited by level. You are considering multiclassing which will hurt your construct at higher levels.
I like the concept of it but I don't think it will ever be a viable one long term. My suggestion of a Cavalier is after fourth you can leave the class and at sixth spend a feat and the mount continues to go up. The feat Monsterous mount becomes viable as well. You could take Gun Chemist instead and get most of the abilities of both a Gunslinger and alchemist.

[Scott Wilhelm]

I noticed that an Alchemist who wants to create magical servants/companions/mounts does not need to take Construct Rider. He can just take the Simulacrum and Promethean Disciple discoveries instead. What Construct Rider does is gives you a Mount in exchange for losing out on (some) Extracts and Brew Potions.

I'm not sure the Construct Rider Archetype is the best way to be a Construct rider.

[Derek Dalton]

I played a combination Gun Chemist and Winged Marauder combination which does stack. He was an absolute blast. Resembled a World war one pilot in looks. The mount instead of a Bat or Vulture was a Giant Owl no noticeable difference. He lost a few abilities but he could gain them back with feats and discoveries. You permanently lose Mutagen with Construct Rider. Yes he was a goblin.