Circling Mongoose Build Advice


Advice


So I Recently found The Circling Mongoose Feat and want to create a strong melee build using it.

I am trying to choose Between the slayer class

or Knife-Master / Scout Unchained Rogue

I saw online some one said scout unchained rogue would pair well with
circling mongoose.

i am unsure about this but I don't understand the finer Details of the rules so i'm unsure about this.


Circling mongoose is a great way to use sneak attack, which can be tricky in pathfinder. The earliest you can get it on a rogue is 8th level, I think. That’s a long time for everything to come together and you spend pretty much all your character resources on the pre-reqs, but it is powerful if you’re patient.


The problem with this is that you don't get SA on your first attack, the one that is most likely to hit. You still provoke AOOs, you have to have room to 5 foot. Obviously it's a good choice for a solo rogue but a rogue shouldn't be solo and after the first round you should have a flank to help you. That being said.. I REALLY like the mechanical idea of this feat. I think it shouldn't provoke and it would be great.


Also can you not use two weapon fighting with this? It seems like this is it's own action? So you can't? I don't know how they interact...if not you only have two attacks..

Edit: nevermind, looks like you should be fine to use it based on the wording.

You'll be feat starved though for taking twf.


I’d suggest taking the Slayer class to make this character, as you can pick up Ranger Combat styles with Slayer Talents, helping with the feat requirements, and the BAB is higher (so the feat is acquired sooner). You can always multiclass into rogue after level 6.

For myself, I am tempted to build a Nature Fang Druid around this concept...

Anyway, using your first attack to perform a combat maneuver, such as with Quick Dirty Trick (though it has requirements of its own), can set you up for the extra attacks nicely. Looks like you could easily get all of these on 6th level Slayer (including weapon finesse) with a human.


If you go rogue, have a few extra tools. Stealth and flanking come for free, so use them. Mobility makes flanking easier (position yourself at full speed), while Spring Attack works well with the level 8 scout ability (both require you to move 10+ feet). So the prerequisite feats of Circling Mongoose are not just a feat tax.

For a pure rogue, Circling Mongoose can be picked up at level 8, via the combat trick rogue talent. Taking 3 levels of one (or multiple) full BAB classes improves that to level 7 - maybe barbarian 1 + fighter 1 + slayer 1? This would also save you the rogue talent, but delay your access to advanced talents (hmm). The loss on sneak attack can be (mostly) compensated by the Accomplished Sneak Attacker feat.

Two-Weapon Fighting is a good boost at low level - just be aware you will use it only half the time. It works well with knife master, but not with scout which encourages moving around (unless you have pounce from somewhere). Either way, it's good enough to be added to the toolbox.

To get more out of Circling Mongoose, take Outflank. Since you flank with yourself, the feat works more reliably for you. And you need the +2 attack bonus.

Finally, there is the Dirty Fighter combat trait for +1 damage on flanking. It doesn't win battles for you, but it scales with getting more attacks.


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Well I was building this as a back up.
I lost my current character to plot.

so Gm is Letting me play a 3 party path of war class.
called Stalker and I am taking the Archetype that gives me sneak attack
and Investigator Inspiration

Found a post Detailing Circling mongoose and panther style

so i'm going with that

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