Hi. There are so many classes I still want to play in Pathfinder but none fits into this setting.
Our party has a horrible composition, with everyone trying to be as piraty as possible we ended up with 3 roguish characters, one fights with a harpoon... the other atleast dualwields knifes and the third our captain some useless gunslinger archetype does aproximately 2 dmg per round.
We also got a skald, but the most powerfull character is by far the druids companion...
I was playing a cleric but I m pretty tired of it, since i play alot of support characters and this one doesn t mash well with aquatic or naval combat, let alone skill checks.
Currently I have a witch and an oracle so I rather not play those. I m also not so keen on a bard, altough the party could certainly do with one.
What I m looking for is a full caster, that can also handle and support others in aquatic encounters, has some decent skills and while I want to prioretise on battlefield control he must also be able to deal some nasty dmg.
I have the occult classes book and would like to use one of them. But I ve never seen one in action and find it hard to imagine their power by just going through the book.
What class and archetype would you recommend?
Thanks in advance
Psychic classes are very fun, but you may be disappointed to see their damage output via casting. The Psychic is the only full-caster in Occult Adventures, so if that's what you're looking for, it's a pretty easy choice. The Psychic has some decent damage options, but they're almost always single-target spells. They do their best work "gathering information", supporting the party, and de-buffing enemies. Based on which discipline you pick, they can make outstanding party faces as well.
The Occultist is probably going to be your only other choice when looking for a Psychic-caster that can deal damage. I'd say they have better damage output than the Psychic (much easier access to AoE's), but you'll still be under-performing if compared to an optimised arcane caster. Also, their overall versatility is significantly lower - even among 3/4 casters - because you can only cast spells of your chosen spell schools, which really limits your options. That said, if you enjoy being hyper-focused in spell casting, it's a really fun class. You can also build it to have great martial-potential.
The Kineticist isn't a caster, but pretty much everything they do is through a spell-like ability. They're also your single-best option for damage output in Occult Adventures by a mile and a half, whether you're looking for single-target damage or AoE damage. They're also very utility-friendly; based on which element you choose (particularly Air and Water), you could basically change the game with how helpful your character becomes.
The Medium is probably the least-favorite of the classes in Occult Adventures, but I really like it. You're not going to be a strong caster (you can only cast up to 4th-level Psychic spells), but you can channel 3/4 Arcane- and Divine-caster spirits (from the Wizard and Cleric spell lists), giving you easily the most diverse pool of spells in the game. I played a Medium with Scribe Scroll and made use of these spirits during down time to have an arsenal of magical solutions. Beyond that, the only really optimized option on your average adventuring day is to channel the Champion spirit and build yourself a martial character. The Trickster is another fun spirit, giving you Sneak Attack and you pick a skill for the day and treat it as if it was a class skill that you had max skill ranks in. Again, though, the only spirit that's going to let you do your job as well as the other classes that do it well is the Champion spirit.
This is all from an optimization viewpoint, which I try to ignore when making my characters; each class from Occult Adventures is extremely flavorful and fun, but if you're looking to optimize, that's my 2c. Hope some of this info helps you make a decision :)
If you're willing to compromise a little on the full caster front an alchemist can do damage with bombs, battlefield control, 4 + Int skill points with an int-focus, and with the infusion discovery they can do some support. Either the beastmorph archetype or a grippli with the bogborn alchemist archetype should be able to function well underwater.
Thanks everyone for their suggestions so far. I ve looked at the Psychic and couldn t find anything that would mash well with water. ok airbubble is in it s spelllist but on the other side I couldn t find much dmg.
I guess when I asked about the Occult classes I was kinda thinking about the Kineticist.
The others classes look more like guishes or bards to me. Which I normaly love, but we ve got plenty of melee in this group and lack a ranged specialist.
Thank you for the suggestion of an alchemist. I ve played one and he was an absolute highlight in the campaign. But I don t think bombs work that well under water and I want something new.
Kineticist it shall be: Any suggestions on the build? What are feats or abilitys I must have?
Take Toughness at level 1 and never look back. Burn will add nonlethal damage faster than you might expect, so anything you can do to increase your Con score and/or HP is your friend. Water and Air are two obvious choices in this setting - maybe a bit TOO good, though - if you choose Water, make sure to show your GM how you can get Control Water at-will at level 6; I'm still considering completely disallowing Hydrokineticists in my upcoming S&S game simply because of that. If he's cool with it, lucky you! You can always check out N. Jolly's Kineticist Guide for more direction.
Yea I m thinking of a Hydrokineticist so I can add slick to the blasts to add our frontline to do sneak damage.
As a Race I m thinking Hobgoblin or a female Merfolk. I ll start at lvl 4. I m not to keen on Toughness but since we roll stats I should have atleast an 18 con after racials. We have no dedicated healer in the group, Sandara channels in the evenings normaly and the druid does the ocasional emergency heal. What do you people think of the kinteic Chirurgeon archetype? or am I better off just taking kinetic healer as an infusion
The details I have to figure out later, I m on holidays and don t have the book with me. The information on the d20pfsrd site is very limited.
but any help, build ideas are very much apreciated. I ve looked at several class guides, but a concrete idea what infusions and feats to take at which level is are beyond my current understanding.
I don't have much knowledge regarding Kineticist archetypes. I played a Telekineticist (no archetype) with the Kinetic Healer Infusion, and it made for excellent end-of-day and emergency healing. I'd avoid playing a Merfolk; there's a lot of land-based adventuring to be had, and even if you take the Strong Tail Alt Racial Trait, you only have a 15' move speed. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure a Hydrokineticist has fairly easy access to a Swim Speed, which would likely be 30', which is the same swim speed as the Strong-Tailed Merfolk. You might as well stick with a race that also gets a 30' move speed.
undine aquatic bloodline sorcerer
Any caster w/Haste will significantly increase everyone's output.
[Divine Fervor, I think it the best a divine caster gets.]
I think Witch is great as you get healing, debuffing, AoE spells, and hexes. Since you are already playing one, why not look into an archetype that changes things around?
If you are a Samaratin Wizard & Sorcerer, you can grab off list spells to cover the healing. Likewise, the off list spells can give missing AoE or control spells to another caster.
If you have high Charisma, you can grab Flagbearer to give a combat bonus to your party no matter what class you are. But you do have to keep your standard raised to have the bonus, so a melee class does not work as well.
For buffing the party, I ask what the Skald is up to. They should be helping with their inspired rage and other stuff.
If you have someone who can UMD healing, then playing a wizard gives you lots of control and AoE.
/cevah