Need advice on feats for antipaladin

[Cynicalpleb]

I have got to build a level 12 antipaladin half orc for our homebrew game, the problem is that have I no knowledge on how to build a class which doesn't involve throwing spells from the other side of the room.
So here are the guidelines :it has to be a half orc and be the standard antipaladin archetype.
After rolling the dice here our his initial attributes
Force 15
Dex 15
Cons 15
Wis 14
Int 14
Cha 17

After reading the wonderful bohdi guide to paladin and antipaladin I wish to make a build based on dishing out dmg and intimidating the enemy. Any advice would be appreciated especially when it comes to feats and which fiendish boon to pick.

[Alric, Paladin of Hunger]

I am playing Way of the Wicked and we have just hit level 13. My feats are:

Lvl 1: Power attack, Necromantic Affinity (Human)
Lvl 3: Hurtful
Lvl 5: Unsanctioned Knowledge
Lvl 7: Cornugon Smash
Lvl 9: Intimidating Prowess
Lvl 11: Outflank
Lvl 13: Innocent Blood

The important feats here are Power Attack, Hurtful, Cornugon Smash and Intimidating Prowess. Your attack routine would be:

Power attack, free Intimidate roll (Cornugon Smash), Extra attack (Swift action Hurtful), Second Attack (BAB), Third attack (BAB).

You have two attacks if you have to move and four if you can full attack. Buy a Conductive weapon and you can add some extra damage and also debuff the enemy (Paralysis, please!). With intimidate and Aura of Desperation you can apply a -4 to his Saving Throws! (I also have a witch in the party XD)

And that is without applying Smite Good and Profane Bond. So far, no enemy has survived a full attack.

The final boss of the third book (we have just started the fourth one) failed his ST against my cruelty (Paralysis) while he was flying, so he crashed down. The barbarian proceeded to coup-of-grace him.

EDIT: Bonded weapon and you can add some free enchants to your weapon. Unholy can help with DR whenever you are not smiting. Keen and a weapon with good Crit such a Falchion AND smiting is a killer. Nothing survives.

[deuxhero]

Two suggestions for feats, not entirely incompatible at level 12.

Power Attack+Cornugon Smash is good for any melee with decent charisma, but Antipaladins have Aura of Cowardice that makes it even better.

Crusader's Fist is actually pretty neat on an anti-paladin if you aren't fighting undead all the time. As a swift action after you hit you can add Touch of Corruption and, more importantly, Cruelty (At level 12 this is fort save or be paralyzed/stunned). To get the most out of this (read: make the Amulet of Mighty Fists you'll not terribly overpriced) you want as many natural attacks as you can+multiattack to make your attack routine +12/+10/+10/+10/+7/+2 (or more +10s if you can find the limbs for it, that's just unarmed strike+claw+claw+bite+unarmed strike+unarmed strike).

Toothy or tusked will give you a bite as a half-orc pretty easily, just costs Orc Ferocity or a trait. Eldritch Heritage can give you a few natural attacks, but the best way is Ghoul for claws with a rider (and the other abilities are worth taking further Eldritch Heritage feats for). I don't know of any other way to get more natural attacks as an straight classed half-orc antipaladin beyond that except for magic items. A quick search on the SRD says Talons of Leng, Demon Armor and Abyssal Amulet of the Blooded (plus some prosphetics, which aren't totally off the table for an antipaladin) can get you claws that have no duration.

As for other class features, take the Fiendish Companion 100% of the time if you're CE. At level 12 you select your companion from Summon Monster 6 and they gain the Advanced template. You know what's on the Summon Monster 6 list and meets the requirements? Succubus. A succubus under your total control is amazing. Just look at Profane Gift:

Quote:

Once per day as a full-round action, a succubus may grant a profane gift to a willing humanoid creature by touching it for 1 full round. The target gains a +2 profane bonus to an ability score of his choice. A single creature may have no more than one profane gift from a succubus at a time. As long as the profane gift persists, the succubus can communicate telepathically with the target across any distance (and may use her suggestion spell-like ability through it). A profane gift is removed by dispel evil or dispel chaos. The succubus can remove it as well as a free action (causing 2d6 Charisma drain to the victim, no save).

In other words you can give every player character (and any ancestor eidolons) +2 to their greatest attribute, and give telepathy between them. While you can't use the teleport, ethereal jaunt or summon due to it being based on Summon Monster, the other SLA are also great to have on tap. It also hides itself pretty well.

Even if abusing Profane Gift isn't allowed, Shadow Demon or even a Babau (from summon monster 5) is pretty nifty.

[master_marshmallow]

I have a really old guide out there somewhere.

Ask your DM how this feat works. RAW it only works on cure and inflict spells, but otherwise you can get access to some self healing. I remember reading that there's an FAQ somewhere clarifying that cure spells and inflict spells use channeled energy which could mean you can use Touch of Corruption for self healing. If this is the case, always take the Diseased cruelty since you can carry the disease around with you and use it to debuff people who touch you. Typically I would recommend using the option from Blood of Fiends that gives tieflings Negative Energy Affinity like the Dhampir. Or a Dhampir as my second choice. Half-Orcs and Humans are tied for third when it comes to racial selection.

Gotta look into how useful Smite Good is going to be. If you are going to play a villainy game where you have to fight a lot of good people, then it'll work great, but if the majority of your enemies are going to be N or even more E, then you'll need a new source of damage. I recommend Channel Smite for damage. Remember to also nab a Conductive weapon to also deliver your Touch of Corruption and Cruelties through your weapon. It'll cost 3 uses of ToC, but you'll get an extra 12d6 of negative energy damage added onto your swing that'll stack with smite good if it applies.

Power Attack is a great feat because it's Power Attack.

[Lady-J]

would recommend putting the 17 into a the stat you use to hit with your weapons(str for melee or dex for ranged) then with the half orc +2 you should have 19 in that stat, trust me that +2 to hit( and possibly damage) will help a lot

[Cynicalpleb]

After reading all your advice and master marshmallow excellent guide here is what I have come up with for the moment.

At level 12
feats :
lv1 power attack
lv3 cornedgon smash
lv5 intimidating prowess
lv7 furious focus
lv9 hurtful
lv11 ???

Attributes without equipment
For 17
Dex 15
Con 15
int 14
wis 14
Cha 17

I am thinking a conductive falchion would be my best bet as my weapon since as a half orcs I already have profecient with it and apparently is very good for crit. (using Bodhi's Guide to the Optimal Paladin and Antipaladin)

What do you think so far ?

[deuxhero]

Antipaladin are proficient with the falchion regardless of race. I'd actually replace the Weapon Familiarity with Fey Thoughts (UMD, Perception) if you aren't using an Orc weapon.

[Alric, Paladin of Hunger]

It looks solid, but Cornugon Smash requires 6 ranks in Intimidate, so you can't take it before level 7. Take Furious Focus at level 3 and Cornugon Smash at 7 and everything will be ok.

I second master_marshmallow. If your GM rules that Necromantic Affinity works with Touch of Corruption (My GM ruled it), then it becomes a very strong choice.

With your Int, Unsanctioned Knowledge is also a strong choice. For example, Windy Escape has saved my ass a lot of times by protecting me against happy-crit paladins.

[master_marshmallow]

I wrote that guide years ago before the class got love.

[Bodhizen]

Cynicalpleb wrote:

After reading all your advice and master marshmallow excellent guide here is what I have come up with for the moment.

At level 12
feats :
lv1 power attack
lv3 cornedgon smash
lv5 intimidating prowess
lv7 furious focus
lv9 hurtful
lv11 ???

Attributes without equipment
For 17
Dex 15
Con 15
int 14
wis 14
Cha 17

I am thinking a conductive falchion would be my best bet as my weapon since as a half orcs I already have profecient with it and apparently is very good for crit. (using Bodhi's Guide to the Optimal Paladin and Antipaladin)

What do you think so far ?

Greetings!

So, looking over your antipaladin, I'd make the following recommendations:

Level 3 Feat: Intimidating Prowess (Because you can't take Cornugon Smash at that level.)
Level 5 Feat: Furious Focus (Because you can't take Cornugon Smash at that level.)
Level 7 Feat: Cornugon Smash
Level 11 Feat: Why don't you try Bullying Blow? Make a melee attack as a standard action to get a free action Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent, which would dovetail nicely with Hurtful and Cornugon Smash.

Also, please don't forget that you get a +1 to your Attributes at levels 4, 8, and 12. I recommend putting a point each into Strength, Charisma, and Constitution.

Best wishes!

[Lady-J]

would adding greater mercy and ultimate mercy be workable in your build? they can both be taken on an anti paladin and they could allow you to cheaply bring back allies from death

[SmiloDan]

Can you take Divine Interference at 11th? Do antipaladins use their spells a lot?

What traits did you choose? Magical Knack (antipaladin) might be worth taking if you use spells a lot, and Fates Favored, of course, if you take Sacred Tattoo (Profane Tattoo for antipaladins???).

An alternate to Magical Knack is Magical Lineage (divine favor), combined with Quicken Spell at 13th level might be interesting, especially when combined with Fates Favored.