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Basically as the title says.
How can you do this you may ask?
Well its really only possible for a half elf due to them getting the ancestral arms racial trait they can switch out for adaptability.
And due to this clarification on this reddit board
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder/comments/2l7269/scorpion_whip_fixed_for _pfs_and_eventually/
And by extension makes the entire whip mastery line pointless
So by assumption its half elf with the ancestral arms trait to get scorpion whip thereby having a 15 foot lethal slashing weapon at level 1, not to bad now with the feats below
1.Steadfast Personality
3.
5.Weapon Focus(whip)
7.Intimidating Performance
9
11.
13.Dazzling Display.
How can a character make the most of the scorpion whip?
Without the scorpion whip.
I think a magus might enjoy it. 15' reach with spellstrike isn't bad, and a little reliable base damage might help when you're not using a serious spell (e.g. spell combat using arcane mark or brand as a touch attack spell).
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Does the scorpion whip give you 15' reach? I'm pretty sure it just has the reach quality and lacks the whip's specific 15' description. And does the scorpion whip threaten, or is it like the whip in that regard? It doesn't spell it out in the description either, so I'd say it does. Really, even with this change, it's still pretty poorly written.
Honestly, they should really just scrap the scorpion whip entirely and remove the non-leathal and armor problems with the standard whip. Would really keep the waters from getting so muddy. I never got why the whip was a non-lethal weapon in the first place. A good whip can shear sheet metal and cut flesh. Hell, there are accounts of Inuit who are able to hunt caribou with a whip.
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You can use it as a whip except it does lethal damage, so yes.Does the scorpion whip give you 15' reach? I'm pretty sure it just has the reach quality and lacks the whip's specific 15' description. And does the scorpion whip threaten, or is it like the whip in that regard? It doesn't spell it out in the description either, so I'd say it does. Really, even with this change, it's still pretty poorly written.
Honestly, they should really just scrap the scorpion whip entirely and remove the non-leathal and armor problems with the standard whip. Would really keep the waters from getting so muddy. I never got why the whip was a non-lethal weapon in the first place. A good whip can shear sheet metal and cut flesh. Hell, there are accounts of Inuit who are able to hunt caribou with a whip.
If you are proficient with both the scorpion whip and whip, you can use a scorpion whip in either the normal way (as a light performance weapon) or as a whip. When you use a scorpion whip as a whip, it is equivalent to a whip, but deals lethal damage and can harm creatures regardless of their armor bonus.
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You can use it as a whip except it does lethal damage, so yes.Does the scorpion whip give you 15' reach? I'm pretty sure it just has the reach quality and lacks the whip's specific 15' description. And does the scorpion whip threaten, or is it like the whip in that regard? It doesn't spell it out in the description either, so I'd say it does. Really, even with this change, it's still pretty poorly written.
Honestly, they should really just scrap the scorpion whip entirely and remove the non-leathal and armor problems with the standard whip. Would really keep the waters from getting so muddy. I never got why the whip was a non-lethal weapon in the first place. A good whip can shear sheet metal and cut flesh. Hell, there are accounts of Inuit who are able to hunt caribou with a whip.
If you are proficient with both the scorpion whip and whip, you can use a scorpion whip in either the normal way (as a light performance weapon) or as a whip. When you use a scorpion whip as a whip, it is equivalent to a whip, but deals lethal damage and can harm creatures regardless of their armor bonus.
According to the linked Reddit post, the AA version, which is now the PFS version is different, and doesn't include the text you wrote, instead having "This whip has a series of razorsharp blades and fangs inset along its tip. It deals lethal damage, even to creatures with armor bonuses. If you are proficient with whips, you can use a scorpion whip." The only reason I am unsure is I do not have access to the actual source right now to confirm whether or not it is true.
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When I ran Council of Thieves one of my group played a bard with a (normal) whip. He was very effective. I'll tell you about his build in a minute.
But first of all, the bad news: since the scorpion whip is an exotic weapon you need +1 BAB to become proficient in it. The half elven Ancestral Arms trait does not waive this requirement. Since a 1st level bard does not have +1 BAB it's my understanding that he could only select a martial weapon with Ancestral Arms. You'd have to wait until third level and buy proficiency with your third level feat, perhaps making do with a regular whip until then.
Anyway the whip wielder in my group focused on Dazzling Display and tripping.
He took Weapon Focus: Whip at 3rd level and Dazzling Display at 5th. At some point I think he also took Skill Focus in Perform Comedy which he substituted for Intimidate using Versatile Performance.
He took Combat Expertise and Improved Trip at 1st level and Greater Trip at 9th level. To ensure a good CMB he had a high STR score. His STR was 17 at 1st level, higher than his CHA, which I think was 15.
He didn't have any of the whip feats from Ultimate Combat because the book didn't exist when we began the AP.
He never inflicted a single point of damage with his whip but he set up lots of AOOs for the party fighters, some of whom took Combat Reflexes to take advantage of the situation.
In effect he used Dazzling Display and trips to support the other members of the group. Since support is the bard's main role it worked very well.
It doesnt let you take an exotic weapon? That would through the entire build out the window at that point...
Without the scorpion whip.Nice. now maybe a post that actually helps?
I was being helpful.
Between being exotic on the one hand which requires shenanigans, and the whip mastery feats on the other, which will give you the ability to do damage with a normal whip anyway..
And the requirement to be proficient with the regular whip
And then considering there are other weapons with 10 (and even 15 foot reach (sarissa).
There isn't really any space that a scorpion whip can do that a regular whip (or other weapon) can't do better.
Whips require too many feats to make it possible to make the damage count for anything. Which leaves you with three possibilities, really.
Reach builds - either for trip control (meh at high levels), or magus spell strike, or a support build either via dazzling display *or* a halfling aid other kind of build (where you are boosting your teammates).
You could also do some kind of combat patrol build. But its all better without the scorpion whip.