I'm assuming you're using the Alternate Natural Attacks for Shifter? You can always pick a different aspect with different attacks. Unless it would break flavor too much.
So the question is, are there any other bloodlines or archetypes worth dipping into that would support Weretouched Shifter or DD?
"If the character has sorcerer levels, he must have the draconic bloodline."
Crossblooded would be possible, if one of the bloodlines is draconic. Sadly, empyrical is a wildblooded bloodline and thus can't be combined with crossblooded (otherwise it would be perfect).Since draconic's 1st level bloodline power is utterly useless for you, archetypes replacing it become interesting. Tattooed Sorcerer, Seeker, Razmiran Priest, or Eldritch Scrapper should be worth looking at.
I might take Tattooed Sorcerer
My only concern is that I lose breath weapon.
Though I'm not sure how useful that would actually be to me.
I was having a look at Sylvan as well. The animal companion seems like a cool touch, but maybe I'd be better off with a familiar.
You'd still gain the breath weapon at 8th level from the DD ability, you'd just never get a second use per day. But yeah, with four lost levels, the breath weapon will be rather weak anyway - might be useful when fighting the random swarm, but not something to use in ordinary combats. If you want some fallback direct damage at range, take the Magical Knack trait and just cast Fireball or something (the best spell might depend on your choice of dragon color).
Note that your familiar will be stuck at 1st level. Not a deal breaker, but it can't deliver touch spells, for instance. You still qualify for Improved Familiar, though. Of course, just using the familiar as a tattoo for the passive bonus (e.g. +4 initiative) is totally fine.
You can't take Sylvan bloodline. It would be pretty powerful (with Boon Companion feat, it'd be at full character level), but alas, Dragon Disciple says a Sorcerer must have the draconic bloodline.
I am playing a Weretouched shifter in PFS, so I'll give you what I've done. I didn't go into Dragon Disciple, my idea was to go kind of crazy with natural attacks and some other weirdness...so take this for what it's worth :)
Like the others have said (I only read a bit of this thread), past level 4, there is no reason to stay in the class.
Deinonychus is the way to go. Bite and 2 talons, then 2 claw attacks via Shifter claws.
From there, I did a few odd things. I really liked the idea of using Style Feats, so I took 2 levels of Monk of Many Styles, grabbing Snake Style (use Sense Motive for AC once a turn as an immediate action) and Shark Style (to add bleeding damage to my bite attack). If I had to do this over, I probably wouldn't take both styles, but Snake Style is TOTALLY worth a feat and some skill points in Sense Motive.
I next went into Bloodrager (Urban) to get Controlled Bloodrage for a +4 boost of Str. Elemental bloodline, so 3/day I can add shocking to ALL my attacks for one round.
Then I went into White Haired Witch, to gain a Hair attack, because, well, it's just silly to go Bite/Claw/Claw/Talon/Talon/Hair (I added Gore in there with a magic item...see below). And, well, Hair is another primary attack (even if you don't get to add your Str to the damage). This also added a familiar for a bonus (rabbit for +4 init).
I'm finding, that sometimes I have a low attack bonus, so I plan on taking one level of Medium (Champion) next, with the Spirit Focus feat (giving me +2 to hit, +4 damage).
After that, I'm possibly looking at a level of Swashbuckler (for opportune parry (don't care about the riposte part), and can use Plumes to make up for the Panache) and possibly Ranger - Guide for Rager's Focus (but that starts to really push the Swift actions).
I would certainly recommend two feats: Shifter's Rush (shift as part of movement or charge action) and Planar Wildshape (getting fiendish template and adding DR /good is amazing for keeping you alive, plus 10 fire/cold resist).
The race is Skinwalker - Wolf, to get the +2 to all saves. Then using a Pelt of the Best to add a Gore attack all the time (you can do it with an animal mask, but it takes a swift action, and is a damage die less).
It's a blast to say "I get 7 attacks per round, all primary" and people are like "WHAT?!" Bite/Claw/Claw/Talon/Talon/Gore/Hair. One player just kept saying "You are an abomination to man and the gods" Fun times :)
You can't take Sylvan bloodline. It would be pretty powerful (with Boon Companion feat, it'd be at full character level), but alas, Dragon Disciple says a Sorcerer must have the draconic bloodline.
Is there anything stopping me from taking Crossblooded, getting the Draconic and Fey bloodline, then taking Sylvan?
Because last I heard, you can take multiple archetypes as long as they aren't both replacing the same stuff.
Wildblooded and Crossblooded both alter your bloodline. They just don't spell it out because the "this alters <class feature x>" language didn't yet exists then.
This FAQ may be relevant.
Ah ok, righto
Surely having both Crossblooded and Wildblooded/Sylvan isn't super game breaking.
I might chat to my GM and see if he'll allow it.
Update:
He isn't allowing it.
Also won't allow DD to level up stuff via Crossblooded.
So I'll probs just take Tattooed Sorcerer instead.
An Animal Companion would've been cool, but oh well
I do also like the sound of that White Haired Witch idea
Might take a proper look and see how well it stacks with Shifter, Sorc, and DD
It's a single natural attack for the cost of a level. You could decide to have DD advance your Witch spellcasting rather than your Sorcerer spellcasting, but you'd have to manually teach your familiar every new spell (via scrolls or another Witch's familiar), and the Witch's spell list is generally weaker anyway.
Oh true
Tbh I'd rather have DD progress my Sorcerer spellcasting.
Gonna work out better in the long run.
Another natural attack would've been pretty fun but its probs not worth losing that level to it.
I wonder how viable your build would be if you went Weretouched Shifter4/BrawlerX and did a Dirty Tricks Master build. With Quick Dirty Trick, you could substitute one of your attacks for a Dirty Trick, and you get a bunch of them with all those Natural Attacks.
If you're not keen on doing a Dirty Tricks build, then maybe Greater Trip build?
I have been considering brawler
But thematically, DD suits better.
I might dip a couple levels into brawler at some point though.
I'm only taking 4 in Shifter, 1 in Sorc, and maybe 10 in DD.
Even then, I've still got 5 levels left over, and its honestly not worth putting too many more into Shifter or Sorcerer.
You could still do a DD build but invest a few feats into Greater Trip, Vicious Stomp, and Combat Reflexes. Pick up an Amulet of Mighty Fists and enchant it with Fortuitous and you'd wreck faces.
Oh true! I'll look into all that.
Thanks!
Its probably more worth investing 3 feats in that than it is investing 3 feats in getting an animal companion haha
Here's a weird question
I'm going for Tattooed Sorcerer, so I'll get a level 1 familiar. Though I would have preferred an animal companion.
Here's what I wanna know though.
Is there any real benefit in having both?
Coz I can get an animal companion via Animal Ally, but that'll be 3 feats before its at character level, and I'm not super sure its worth the 3 feets.
I'm about to hit level 3, so if I do it, I'm gonna be grabbing Nature Soul next, but I just wanna know if something else might be more worth it.
Another natural attack would've been pretty fun but its probs not worth losing that level to it.
As I've said before, "If your six-primary-attacks character is able to land a full attack against a given enemy with no DR, you won't have any problems with that enemy, anyway; additional attack would merely be a "win more"." The same could be applied to trip shenanigans, by the way.
its honestly not worth putting too many more into Shifter or Sorcerer.
*blink blink* putting more levels into Sorcerer is not worth it? Come again? Spell levels on a full caster are just about the strongest thing you can get in this game. Want something better than your breath weapon? With another level in Sorcerer (character level 16), you can learn Cold Ice Strike, 12d6 damage (Ref half) as a swift action.
Of course there's literally no reason to decide now. You can (and should) wait until the 15th level to decide.
You could still do a DD build but invest a few feats into Greater Trip, Vicious Stomp, and Combat Reflexes. Pick up an Amulet of Mighty Fists and enchant it with Fortuitous and you'd wreck faces.
That's a lot of feats. Seven, if I didn't miscount.
Its probably more worth investing 3 feats in that than it is investing 3 feats in getting an animal companion haha
Actually, no. Tripping is very strong if it works, but with increase level, more and more enemies are immun, or have a CMD so high you can't really trip them anyway.
An Animal companion can provide extra damage (might seem small at first, but once it gets pounce at 7th level, it's quite noticable), body block (which might be counter-effective if you're often fighting in enclosed spaces), and be an all around meat shield (it's usually cheaper to revive). Your familiar, on the other hand, is notn somethign you ever want to use in combat. It's basically only there for the passive bonuses (Alertness and the bonus it grants it's master based on the type). If you want to improve the usefullness of your Familiar, you should take Improved Familiar, you can get a permanently invisible flying creature to scout, for instance.There are plenty of alternatives. Help with skills (e.g. Cunning), improving defenses (e.g. Toughness, Iron Will), or metamagic feats (Extend, Quicken, and some third feat so you can take Spell Perfection at 15th level).
Of course, since you definitely want Favored Prestige Class, Prestigious Spellcaster (thrice!), and probably Mutated Shape, you don't really have that many feats to spare.
Honestly, I'd take Favored Prestige Class at 3rd level, so that you can take Prestigious Spellcaster at 5th level and never lose a sorcerer level, or Mutated Shape at 5th level and Prestigious Spellcaster at 7th level.
Considering I'm running a more martial build though, is taking Prestigious Spellcaster 3 times worth it?
Like it'll help, sure, but wouldn't I be better taking something more martial focused?
Like martial wise, and flavour wise, putting 3 feats into an Animal Companion seems pretty viable.
So maybe Favoured Prestige Class, 2 feats in Prestigious Spellcaster, Nature Soul, Animal Ally, Boon Companion, Mutated Shape.
Still leaves me with 3 feats that I can decide on further down the track.
Also Mutated Shape needs a BAB of +6 so I can't take it till at least 8th level.
I also grabbed Weapon Focus at level 1, but I might end up retraining that. Haven't decided yet.
Also to clarify, we have another Sorcerer.
I'm mostly taking it to qualify for DD.
That's why I said it probably wasn't worth putting too many more levels into it.
That's a lot of feats. Seven, if I didn't miscount.
If he takes a level in Brawler (which it sounds like he will), it will satisfy the Imp Unarmed Strike requirement for Vicious Stomp automatically, and now he'll have MF so he can plug in Vicious Stomp whenever he needs it.
So that leaves Dirty Fighting (or Combat Expertise), Imp/Grt Trip, and Combat Reflexes, which I think is completely worth it.