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Been a while since I was inspired to build a new character, and inspiration has once again struck.
Been watching a lot of monster hunter/slayer movies and TV shows lately (Supernatural, Buffy, Charmed, Van Helsing, The Last Witch Hunter, etc) and I want to make a character who hunts down and kills monsters.
There are a ton of ways to go about making a character like this, I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts.
I was leaning towards either a heavy martial or maybe switch hitter, decent knowledges for IDing various monsters and their weaknesses, maybe some low grade magic.
I play almost exclusively PFS currently, so things like favored enemy are slightly less attractive unless I meta-game a bit and only play the character in scenarios that lean towards those types of encounters.
Slayer feels like a fairly natural fit, except they lack knowledge skills for supernatural monsters (demons, undead, etc.) Investigator and Inquisitor both also seem like interesting options. Of course just going something like Fighter and investing in a couple skills is always an option.
Anyone done a character like this and got any thoughts or input?
It is for PFS, so standard 20pt buy, only approved official Paizo products, etc.
Really I think Slayer should cover it. I mean you can get skills pretty high, but Studied Target seems like something they all use.
You can use traits to get class skills for some of the Knowledge Skills you want.
I mean thinking about it, you could argue that some of the Monster Hunters are like Occultists. They have some spell capability, are very knowledgeable, and derive power from mystical objects; I'm particularly thinking of something like Constantine but even in Supernatural they use a lot of summoning circles and mystic artifacts.
If you go Occultist, the Battle Host archetype is excellent for melee builds.
"I was leaning towards either a heavy martial or maybe switch hitter, decent knowledges for IDing various monsters and their weaknesses, maybe some low grade magic."
You've looked into Slayer, Fighter, Investigator and Inquisitor. But have you considered a Ranger?
Rangers are great switch hitters with their free combat style feats (arguably the best, IMHO), and they're built around hunting certain creature types. They even have some low grade magic that can solve a lot of problems and/or be potent combat buffs.
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You hit the big three. Slayer is a martial with better than average skills on a full bab class. Inquisitor very powerful, lots of great archetypes (including one that make you slayer like), better than average skills for the 3/4s bab class. And investigator king of skills powerful martial.
Slayer blank slate flavor however you want. Go stygian for a touch of magic. There are some great dirty trick builds if you like the throw dirt in the eye style of fighting.
Inquisitor are holy warriors so some of the Vanhelsing depictions come to mind. Super powerful archery options, melee (sanctified slayer, rage domain, divine favor, bane combo). Or fight werewolves while riding a wolf.
Investigator have the Victorian feel, extracts to give you the powers of the monsters you fight. Turn in to a gargoyle, power up with mutagens, study their every movement then finish them with a devastating blow.
You can't go wrong. I favor the latter two because they have more fun class features.
Inquisitor would be my #1 choice. It ticks all of the things you want. Solid class, great archetypes, definitely one of my favorites.
Investigator is great too. Granted I played this class after I acquired Studied Combat... so it's up to you if you're willing to wait for its full strength. Regardless Empiricist Investigator is best.
Although I haven't played it (but I am playing a Skald currently), I bet an Archaeologist Bard is just as good as the ones I mentioned. Bardic knowledge is boss.
Also if you really want to ID those monsters, worship Irori. His Deific Obedience feat gets you a +4 to all Knowledge skills. Be the perfect monster hunter.
Notably these three can switch hit but you know the drill with archery feats yeah? Also making yourself more MAD. But add Weapon Finesse and you're golden.
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I had thought about Ranger, but PFS is kinda limiting on favored enemies (unless you metagame, which is frowned upon)
I'm kinda flip-flopping between Slayer, Investigator, and Inquisitor.
Slayer ticks off all the combat boxes, and most of the skill boxes.
Investigator ticks off some of the martial, all the skills, and a touch of magic.
Inquisitor definitely has a Constantine/Van Helsing/Last WitchHunter feel to it.
Inquisitor is probably the most different from anything I've currently got in my PFS character roster, maybe I'll go that route for something new and fresh.
Anyone got any solid Inquisitor builds? And any suggestions on deities to follow? I know Pharasma would be a good one for an undead hunter...any of the other deities have a hate on for monsters?
Ranger has the Guide Ranger Archetype, which basically throws out Favored Enemy for Smite Whatever (Ranger's Focus). Ranger's Focus has limited uses/day, but is twice as strong as Favored Enemy - personally, I would take x/day destroy the boss over Study, but both are good stuff. For TWF style, Ranger's Focus is just... so great. And at higher levels, I think Inspired Moment has to be one of the best combat abilities in the whole damn system, hands down - "hey, have a free move action to pounce for two rounds!". Skirmisher Ranger (works with Guide) replaces spellcasting with Hunter's Tricks, which are really fantastic too, if you want to switch-out spellcasting. I've been 'around' as it were, and Guide/Skirmisher Ranger is maybe my favorite martial.
Quick shout-out to Shaman/Monk1, Enemies' Bane is just stupidly good. Close to Inquisitor, but with 9-level casting, Flurry of Blows, and Crusader's Flurry.
I would say either ranger or inquisitor. Both have advantages and limitations.
The ranger is probably the best monster slayer, but is more focused. A ranger with maxed out favored enemy undead will often walk through lesser undead and still be able to go toe to toe with the boss. They do not do as well vs other types of creatures but are still a full BAB martial class with a lot of special abilities.
The inquisitor is the much more versatile, but most of his abilities are limited use. He is probably better at taking down the boss than the ranger but may have more trouble along the way. If for example he burns up his use of special abilities in earlier encounters he is at a big disadvantage when facing the boss without the ability to go nova.
If your character is focused on one or two types of monsters the ranger may be a better option. Typically undead and evil outsiders covers a lot of monster that you will go against.
Anyone got any solid Inquisitor builds? And any suggestions on deities to follow? I know Pharasma would be a good one for an undead hunter...any of the other deities have a hate on for monsters?
Desna hates pretty much all the monstrous races (especially gnolls) ever since Lamasthu killed her mentor for his power over beasts.
If you want an interesting build, consider the following:
Half-orc, for the favored class bonus to knowledge checks to ID monsters and intimidate. Sacred Tattoo and fate's favored are optional, but appropriate.
Use a quick draw light (wooden or steel) shield, a one handed weapon, and the quickdraw feat. Now on your turn you can stow your shield as a free action, either cast or grip your weapon to make two-handed attacks, then redraw your shield at the end of your turn to benefit from the extra AC. Alternatively you can do this with a buckler but you'll be taking a -1 to attack rolls when 2-handing.
Erastil is a God of hunting and I believe he is the ultimate tracker in the cosmos.
He also hates demons, undead, and the like.
Many years ago I wanted the same thing and went with the inquisitor and when the sanctified slayer came out I retrained that in. I went with Erastil for the "god of the hunt" also since he leans towards family and community I see a inquisitor hunting down the monsters to save people to be a pretty decent fit...I also decided to go archer so that helped :) I took the feather domain and now have a animal companion to cover my back. I think the archer route is by far the best way to go...if you decide to go with a weapon though studied target, divine favor and bane will switch over with no issue. Also you could switch out a teamwork archer feat for a melee one in a pinch...not sure how much you want to go melee but I have a level 10 that destroys in range and is "nice" in melee... but I usually send my companion into combat while I shoot in the back.
If you go archer the first 3 levels will be the hardest but then it ramps up quick. My build probably could have been better but eh many years later he is still going Str 14, Dex 18, con 10 (yeah avoid that) Int 12, 15 wis and 7 cha. Human traits: Fate's favored and Reactionary.
Lvl 1 Point blank and Precise Divine favor will give you +2 hit and damage and studied is +1 hit and damage
Level 3 Rapid shot and friendly fire maneuvers
level 5 Deadly aim (or boon companion if you go with a AC) At this point divine favor will give you +3 hit and damage, studied will be up to +2 hit and damage and you should pick up the spell bloodhound and give pheromone arrows (for a untyped +2 hit and damage) So by this point with a +1 composite longbow (+2str) 2 arrows in the air at +8/9to hit 1D8+11 damage (not counting point blank) also not counting if you want something really dead you bane them for +2 hit and damage and 2d6 damage for each arrow
If you want another melee: swashigator.
If ranged: inquisitor. Perhaps for low level survivability zen archer multiclass.
This dude's guide is pretty detailed.
Inquisitors are my favorite class so I would throw in a vote for them.
Half orcs have great synergy with inquisitors, they get proficiency with falchions to help the inquisitors less than stellar proficiencies, or you can trade that out for a longsword if you want to go with a sword and board melee style.
Dwarves are also really solid picks to get a good martial weapon and their favored class option buffs the judgement ability.
As far as picking a deity, I like the abilities granted by the Travel and Liberation domain so I will usually pick a deity that has those. That gives you options like Cayden, Desna, Abadar, Milani, Kurgess, and Feronia who are all solid picks I'd say and there are probably some other ones I missed.
Another solid option instead of a domain though is the Conversion inquisition which gives you wisdom to the key social skills so you can more easily dump CHA if you want to.
I would advise against taking the Sanctified Slayer archetype, personally. It does have good benefits but I'm a big fan of the adaptability that judgement provides. That's very much a personal choice though, I like to build inquisitors that generally aren't the best at anything but are almost always able to do something.