I've got an idea for a character, but can't really see a way to make it very effective.
I was going to try a Picaroon Swashbuckler/ Pistolero Gunslinger for PFS play, but the more I plot it out, the less effective it seems.
I can deal with the twf penalties, and reloading issues, but I just dont see this build shining at either of its aspects.
Rough build was Pistolero at level 1, Picaroon at level 2, then back to gunslinger for the rest.
Feats and basic crunch:
1 Rapid Reload
3 Point Blank Shot
5 Precise Shot/ Bonus Extra Grit
7 Piranha Strike (or likely power attack to go with rapier.)
9 Deadly Aim /Bonus Opening Volley
(Only building to level 10 right now)
Half Elf with Dual Minded starting at level 2 from a PFS rewrite.
Starting Stats are STR 13, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
Bumps are Dex at level 4, STR at 8
Gear was start with Pistol and Short Sword (light off hand), then work up to a pepperbox and rapier.
Am I missing something?
Am I better going all levels of either gunslinger or all Picaroon without a dip?
I'm not the greatest optimizer, but I can't really see this working as I'd like it to.
(i.e. doing decent damage, and not crippling the character with penalties for the sword and pistol flavor.
Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.
The biggest fault of the Picaroon archetype is that it doesn't work with Precise Strike, while giving you nothing to make up for it.
And the archetype itself gives you no way to reload while dual-wielding, making it a dead concept from the start.
You'd need a ludicrous amount of feats to make a sword-and-pistol build come online, and the Swashbuckler is simply a bad chassis for that.
I'd recommend you to take one level of vanilla Swashbuckler or Picaroon and then Trench Fighter for dex-to-damage and combat feats.
Gear was start with Pistol and Short Sword (light off hand), then work up to a pepperbox and rapier.
Also, the Pepperbox requires "one free hand" to operate the barrel mechanism. Meaning that you still can't reload while wielding your rapier.
I'd fight with a gauntlet until you can afford the Shadowshooting property on your firearm.
Could the kick up feat help in anyway?
Could the kick up feat help in anyway?
Only if there are one or more loaded one-handed firearms laying around on the ground. Once per round you could drop your fired gun, use the kick-up feet to kick up an "unattended" weapon to your free hand where it will be ready to use for the following attack action.
I don't know; there's a period in there where you have a free hand and you can bring the Precise Strike deed into play, but it still seems overly complex and finicky for the concept.
I can see where the designers only intended for a Picaroon to usually only have one off-hand firearm attack per battle, thus not worrying about reloading. But the lack of using Precise Strike (because you won't have a free hand while also holding a gun) seems like an oversight.
They could have added a bonus chance to parry (using the spent firearm to turn aside weapons) in return for losing Precise Strike. Weapons that hold multiple shots could help offset the reloading difficulty.
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Ugh. I've really tried to make the Picaroon work, either through Gun Twirling to holster the gun between attacks, or by using a Buckler Gun to qualify for Precise Strike.
But there's just not enough feats for it to come online before you retire.
You'll want:
Weapon Focus
Weapon Specialization
Point Blank Master
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Rapid Shot
Deadly Aim
Gunsmithing
And then all the melee feats.
The class/archetype isn't exactly throwing combat feats at you, while doing away with the ever attractive Opportune Parry and Riposte.
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Melee Shooter (Ex): At 1st level, as a swift action when wielding both a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon and a one-handed firearm, the picaroon can spend 1 panache point to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity with the first ranged attack made by the one-handed firearm during her turn. This deed replaces opportune parry and riposte.
So we'll use our limited resource of Panache to make one attack without getting smacked in the face, while archetypes such as Savage Technologist gets this ability 24/7.
Imagine if they had done something cool expected with the deeds instead, and given us abilities that actually helped us achieve Sword and Pistol.
Opportune Parry and Execution (Ex): Upon performing a successful parry and if she has at least 1 panache point, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action make a ranged attack with her firearm against the creature whose attack she parried, using her melee weapon's critical hit range for this attack. The picaroon must still threaten an opponent to be able to make this attack.
This deed alters Opportune Parry and Riposte
Nimble Fingers (Ex): At 1st level, a picaroon can reload their firearm even when wielding a melee weapon in the other hand.
At 3rd level, a picaroon is treated as having their firearm hand free for the purpose of Precise Strike.This deed replaces Dodging Panache and Menacing Swordplay
Bolstering Bravado (Ex): At 3rd level, while the swashbuckler has at least 1 panache point, her firearm attacks does not provoke attacks of opportunity from opponents she has hit with her melee weapon. This effect lasts for 1 round. She can get this benefit without having hit enemies by spending 1 panache point as as swift action.
This deed replaces kip-up.
There! Done!
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I assume combat juggling doesn’t work with precise strike?
Is that a feat, ability, or something else? I can't find it to check.
Ah, okay. I found it.
So, it requires a two-level bard dip to gain the following:
As long as he is juggling fewer than three objects, the juggler is considered to have a free hand (for the purposes of drawing a weapon, using somatic components, using Deflect Arrows, and so on).
Yeah, I guess RAW it will allow Precise Strike. It hardly seems worth the cost, though.
Ugh. I've really tried to make the Picaroon work, either through Gun Twirling to holster the gun between attacks, or by using a Buckler Gun to qualify for Precise Strike.
This is the problem with "sword-and-gun" builds in general. Using guns is so incredibly feat intensive that it consumes basically your entire build to do it, and that means you have nothing left for anything else. The Picaroon archetype in particular gives very little that you can't get from a few levels of dips in other classes, and with feats at such a premium you really do need to be dipping if you want to make an unconventional firearm build.
Juggler Bard is a pretty cool option, but again it falls into the same trap: sure, you can dual wield a firearm and weapon combo now, but you're still so heavily invested in firearm that you'll be way better off going with firearm and firearm.