After trying to figure out where to go with my Swashbuckler I've decided to go 19 Swash/1 Evangelist (Don't have the Herolab book so left it out), I kinda need help with my feats and such and ways to make myself the stronkest boi. I also meant to take Signature Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte but wouldn't let me.
Cpt Dirk Diggler
Male rakshasa-spawn tiefling swashbuckler 19 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends 23, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 264)
N Medium outsider (native)
Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 42, touch 23, flat-footed 29 (+9 armor, +8 Dex, +5 dodge, +5 natural, +5 shield)
hp 232 (19d10+114)
Fort +16, Ref +25, Will +10; +4 vs. effects that cause you to lose your grip on weapons
Defensive Abilities charmed life 7/day, evasion, fortification 25%, improved uncanny dodge, nimble +5; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee (L) +5 holy shock shocking burst mithral bastard sword +38/+33/+28/+23 (2d8+18/17-20+19 Precision plus 2d6 vs. evil and 1d6 electricity and 1d6 electricity)
Special Attacks deeds (bleeding wound, cheat death, deadly stab, derring-do, dizzying defense, dodging panache, evasive, kip-up, menacing swordplay, opportune parry and riposte, perfect thrust, precise strike, stunning stab, subtle blade, superior feint, swashbuckler initiative, swashbuckler's edge, swashbuckler's grace, targeted strike), panache (11), powerful build, swashbuckler weapon training +4
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 28, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 28
Base Atk +19; CMB +28; CMD 43 (47 vs. disarm, 47 vs. sunder)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Extra Panache[ACG], Signature Deed[UC], Slashing Grace[ACG], Weapon Focus (bastard sword)
Traits dangerously curious, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +22, Bluff +15, Climb +6, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +11, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (local) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Perception +10, Sense Motive +9, Sleight of Hand +16, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +23; Racial Modifiers +2 Disguise, +2 Sense Motive
Languages Common, Draconic
SQ swashbuckler finesse
Other Gear celestial armor, +4 arrow catching arrow deflection light fortification mithral buckler, +5 holy shock shocking burst mithral bastard sword, amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical might +6 (Dex, Con), boots of speed, gloves of dueling[APG], headband of alluring charisma +6, plume of panache[ACG], ring of resistance +5
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Charmed Life +9 (7/day) (Ex) Choose to add Charisma bonus to save before roll is made.
Combat Reflexes (10 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deeds
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Energy Resistance, Fire (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Evasion (when Panache left) (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Fortification 25% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Lv >= 23) (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 23+.
Nimble +5 (Ex) +5 dodge bonus to AC.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Powerful Build Can function as one size larger where advantageous.
Signature Deed (Deed: Dizzying Defense [Signature Deed] [Ex], 1/round) Perform chosen deed for 1 less grit (min 0). Must have at least 1 grit to use.
Slashing Grace (Bastard sword) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can add Dex instead of Str to dam.
Swashbuckler Finesse Use Dex for att with light/1-hand pierce wep. Use Cha instead of Int for combat feat pre-reqs.
Swashbuckler Weapon Training +4 (Ex) +4 attack and damage with swashbuckler weapons.
You don't need Agile Maneuvers for any combat maneuver you're performing with your weapon, since Weapon Finesse covers those.
Ok, why are you going Swash 19/Evangelist 1? As opposed to
Swash10/Evan10, given Evangelist has :
"Aligned Class (Ex): Evangelists come from many different backgrounds, and they show an unusual range of diversity. At 2nd level, the evangelist must choose a class she belonged to before adding the prestige class to be her aligned class. She gains all the class features for this class, essentially adding every evangelist level beyond 1st to her aligned class to determine what class features she gains. She still retains the Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, and skill ranks of the prestige class, but gains all other class features of her aligned class as well as those of the evangelist prestige class."
Thus the 10/10 distribution gets you a lot more...
Further, for optimization, I might consider adding some Virtuous Bravo Paladin into the mix for Divine Grace and Lay on Hands, as it stacks with Swash & Evangelist for Panache and Deeds.
S10/E6/VB4 (not in that order, of course), gets you Divine Grace (huge for saves), Lay on Hands for a 11X2d6 swift action healing (and there are cheap items to make this even better), Detect Evil, Aura of Courage, Smite Evil, and Divine Health (oh yeah, and Channel Energy, although that is not that useful), medium armor proficiency, and strong fort and will saves. At the cost of 19th level deeds (which are generally considered weak), 1 use of charmed life (superseded by Divine Grace anyway), a bonus feat, and +1 worth of weapon training.
Further, you can't take Opportune Parry and Riposte as a signature deed, because it's not allowed : " This deed's cost cannot be reduced by any ability or effect that reduces the number of panache points a deed costs.", as making OP&R free is pretty damn close to broken.
I would consider Dodging panache rather than dizzying defence as your signature deed - given your charisma bonus is >> +4, and the potential to turn someone's full attack into a single attack, I think it is a better choice. It also comes on line earlier by 4 or so levels...
Why are you using a bastard sword & why is it doing 2d8? A falcata is a better choice of exotic weapon (if you really want one - a plain rapier with the largest crit range might be the best choice, especially as it frees up several feats), and I would recommend Improved Critical in place of Agile Maneuvers.
PS for equipment, look up Effortless Lace...
pad300 wrote: Why are you using a bastard sword & why is it doing 2d8? A falcata is a better choice of exotic weapon (if you really want one - a plain rapier with the largest crit range might be the best choice, especially as it frees up several feats), and I would recommend Improved Critical in place of Agile Maneuvers.
PS for equipment, look up Effortless Lace...
I have the Tiefling Race Trait that allows me to use a large weapon. And improved critical doesn't stack with the weapon as the threat range is already increased by double.
pad300 wrote: Ok, why are you going Swash 19/Evangelist 1? As opposed to
Swash10/Evan10, given Evangelist has :
"Aligned Class (Ex): Evangelists come from many different backgrounds, and they show an unusual range of diversity. At 2nd level, the evangelist must choose a class she belonged to before adding the prestige class to be her aligned class. She gains all the class features for this class, essentially adding every evangelist level beyond 1st to her aligned class to determine what class features she gains. She still retains the Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, and skill ranks of the prestige class, but gains all other class features of her aligned class as well as those of the evangelist prestige class."
Thus the 10/10 distribution gets you a lot more...
Further, for optimization, I might consider adding some Virtuous Bravo Paladin into the mix for Divine Grace and Lay on Hands, as it stacks with Swash & Evangelist for Panache and Deeds.
S10/E6/VB4 (not in that order, of course), gets you Divine Grace (huge for saves), Lay on Hands for a 11X2d6 swift action healing (and there are cheap items to make this even better), Detect Evil, Aura of Courage, Smite Evil, and Divine Health (oh yeah, and Channel Energy, although that is not that useful), medium armor proficiency, and strong fort and will saves. At the cost of 19th level deeds (which are generally considered weak), 1 use of charmed life (superseded by Divine Grace anyway), a bonus feat, and +1 worth of weapon training.
I was just told it was a half decent idea, that's why I put the sheet here in the advice, so I could get some help. This idea is much nicer to be honest though.
So, first thing I'm noticing is that herolab didn't calculate your damage correctly. You're missing the 2 from gloves of duelling, first of all.
But that's probably just the medium at fault. Onto build advise. I'm a little confused in why you took that level of evangelist; neither the cleric archetype nor the prestige class really added anything. A mechanically superior choice would be one level of rogue (thug). You'd pick up a die of sneak attack, and every time you intimidated someone with menacing swordplay you could send them running with a high roll, provoking AoO.
Your choice of weapon makes little sense to me as well. You're building one of the most efficient crit-fishers in the game, but took a feat to wield an inferior weapon. Drop EWP,and pick up a scimitar. While we're at it, drop extra panache and agile maneuvers. You've got no maneuver feats, it's a waste. There's three feats freed up. You also seem to be missing a number of feats. Like, three from base progression and all your bonus feats. I'll assume you have taken the tiefling alternate bloodline feat, leaving me 9 feats to play with. With that breathing room, we can do some work. A lot of work.
The options are a matter of personal preference, really. You could try to maximize the utility of intimidate, taking skill focus, persuasive, dazzling display, shatter defenses, giving you a full round action that sends people running if you want, or makes them flat footed if you hit them. Tack on dodge and mobility, so you can get into optimal position to do so, and you've got three feats to spare. Say, greater weapon focus, critical focus and a free feat for added punch.
Or you could go hard striker, taking GWF,WS,GWS,CF, bleeding critical, disruptive and spellbreaker, +2 feats for +1 attack, +4 always there damage, +4 to confirm your now 15-20 crits, 2d6 stacking bleed damage, and the chance to ruin a caster's day.
Or let's explore the maneuver options. Lunge, combat expertise, GWF, improved trip, greater trip, tripping strike, critical focus, improved disarm and disarming strike. That gets you +5 to trip foes, +3 to disarm, which stacks with all your bonuses to attack with your weapon (since weapon finesse already adds your Dex to weapon reliant maneuvers, and all relevant bonuses to attack with it besides), an additional 5 feet of each to do so, and +4 in top of all that if you do it as part of a crit. You don't care about the AC dump because you're gonna parry anything that comes your way anyway.
Let's explore weapons though. If you're interested in never running out of panache, like I am on my swashbuckler, you want the most crits for your buck. In that light, your best weapons are kukri, scimitar, rapier, wakazashi, katana, and urumi. With slashing grace, all of the slashing options work for our needs, and fencing grace (ultimate intrigue) gets us Dex to damage with our most classic weapon. Inspired blade archetype kicks in an additional point of damage, at very little cost. You lose bleeding wound deed, but you were taking bleeding critical anyway, right? All great options, and if you're determined to get that Powerful Build bonus, urumi and katana both go up to 2d6.
If we're looking for some really devastating results, the falcata has the unique 19-20 ×3 crit stats, and a number of unique options that play to our style. The feat Taldan duelist bumps the AC we get with our buckler by one, which stacks with shield focus and greater shield focus, putting us equal to an equally enchanted tower shield carried by most everyone else. The weapon masters handbook also has an archetype geared towards the falcata and buckler. Free proficiency, and neat alternate deeds, but it tanks charmed life. That one is your call. This is as good a place as any to mention called shots. If you can take the feats for them, do it. While yes, we already have an amazingly similar ability, this is flat better. Ability damage, debilitating debuffs, or instant kills can be yours, with no more effort than an attack, for three little feats. All with statistically impossible to make saves attached. As in, your attack roll, or confirmation roll on a crit. This is the martial equalizer.
Two minor things to end on. First, you need a swordsman's flair. All but the white are useful, and the blue is especially so. 1 panache to extend your reach by 5 feet, without taking anything off of your attack bonus is amazing. Spend your own panache on it, get that panache back the first time you crit. Make crowds of mooks cry for mercy.
Second, as much as I love tiefling, they're not good for swashbuckler. Gnome, halfling, or a human race all work better. Your weapon die isn't where your damage is really coming from. And all of those races can use one of your best buffs: reduce person. Two points of attack and AC, and an extra point of damage for a minute. Extra bonuses if you took mouser on a small race, since now medium is two categories bigger than you. While being immune to charm person is nice, I think you're losing more than you gain.
Polysanity, out.
I forgot one thing in my feats section. A lance is a one handed weapon on horseback. Agile weapon enchant gives you Dex to damage. Ride is a class skill. Spirited charge hilarity is one of your options.
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