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So I admit I've been bashing over my head ideas to my new character for pfs. I have one that just hit level 2 so I needed to make up my mind before playing it again, even skipped going to prevent being locked into place. Also I chose the Dark archive faction so it kinda kills certain ideas.
So my decision at long last is a Shaman, thinking about a witch doctor archetype with life being my main and wandering pretty much at lore. Probably human and worshiper of Pharasma. Familiar will either be lore or bodyguard. Human with 14 str, 12 dex, 12 con, 13 int, 16 wis and 13 cha. Yeah I'm a bit stretched. At level one I'd take combat reflexes and selective channeling. At 3 Power attack and at 5 fateful channel. The idea is for him to be a reach build using hexes to debuff where I can, heal when needed and finally tweak people being able to hit stuff. By level 6 I would use my wandering hex for arcane enlightenment for haste and probably heroism..after that he would be in motion and not sure on feats maybe get some more hexes.
Any ideas?
What about, instead of going into the fray, getting some summons out? You don't have stellar defensive attributes, and more bodies on the field will give you more targets for your healing.
Plus, being part of the Dark Archive, you can use Master of the Pentacles to get a longer-lasting Summon Nature's Ally out.
That should free your feats to get more things related to better summons.
Not to mention, Spell Focus (conjuration) on the way to Augment Summons will make your Harm spells deadlier.
Honestly full round summons make me a bit nervous. I've considered later on picking up summons but makes me nervous. Honestly my second choice was a cleric and going the herald caller/sacred summons route...with a single dip in fighter or another option to get my defenses up. Thought with the shaman is while he has reach I feel the 2 feats will be his max in combat and the rest in spellcasting
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Core idea is based off the reach cleric. So when It's not my turn I'm hoping to get a hit or two. I plan on my turn to get divine favor up and after that use spells as needed, by level 5 i can channel and give allies the option to roll twice. At level 6 I'll have access to 2 wizard spells from 1 to 3 thinking haste will be nice. I realized I can count on one hand how many times I've seen haste used. Also if i go bodyguard familiar the familiar by level 5 will be taking half damage. So I'm thinking maybe life link. So really I do see him doing a lot and decently. Downside is hitting level 5.
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Honestly by level 4 I would plan on a 14 cha. Mainly by level 5 I would have 3 3d6 channels and 5 1d6 channels, with fateful channel when I heal someone they can reroll 1 attack, skill or saving throw.
Also the cha is used to determine how many spells I can get from the wizard's list via arcane enlightenment.
Also I would probably have a couple other wandering spirits lined up in case we had a real wizard in the group. Battle would probably be one.
Questions i have though is if it is worth going the fateful channel/ witch doctor route or just vanilla. Also while heals aren't a huge deal I'm nervous about not having the ability to heal on demand
Of course my mind has wandered after seeing my skald reach build perform so-so. To give a idea where my mind is and the options:
Slayer with sword and shield: Basically a iconic sword and shield build with a bunch of skills he would be able to sneak attack and study to apply both when attacking with the sword and shield..I would get his umd up so he will have options. Downside is of course he is not a caster and the reliance of full attacks.
The shaman as mentioned above, I did see a new option too for bless equipment..I would probably want to get bless and improved bless..I would be able to then give bane or ghost touch for a channel for rounds equal to the number of d6s from the channel. Probably too much of a investment and reliance on channel though. Downside: This would be a heavy support build, I would probably still get divine favor and rely on the longspear to get a hit or two. I admit I don't usually do full casters or support so I'm a bit nervous but seems solid.
Warpriest archer: Honestly my favorite character is a inquisitor archer and I admit I've gotten spoiled with archery. This build would allow me to build a very nice archer along with heals as needed maybe even channel play :) Downside: Skills..might seems a small thing but I do like to know some things :) That and not sure which god would line up to dark archive..just feel he might not be a good fit.
Occultist: Honestly the hardest one to explain. I would go archery with this build. Transmutation and legacy weapon would mean I could use literally any +1 magic property..bane of course but also seeking or any number of uncommon enchants you would normally not spend gold on. If I go haunt collector my arrows would do a extra 2 damage on top of that
once I get necromancy I could get a necromantic servant to guard me and even better the soulbound puppet would give me the options of bodyguard if I know I need extra protection or sage if I really need advice..basically options lots of them. Downside: feats...if I go half elf for the extra mental focus I wouldn't get rapid shot until level 5 and if I go human I will be a bit snug on mental focus. Perhaps a dip in fighter but really except the feat the fighter wouldn't really give me much. That and accuracy has me a bit nervous.
I know this is a lot but really trying to get myself down to 1.
Sigh what is the sound of one player typing... so it comes down to the occultist or shaman, both I've never seen at a table in pfs so it should be fun. I don't get a chance to play often but I will probably just play both. The pfs here is doing a mod for some major xp (character will end at 3 or 4) So after much feedback I'll stick to the shaman. But back to the questions at hand. Is fateful channel worth it? To make it effective I would take witch doctor but I am stunted in hexes. Granted I believe I can use a couple feats for extra hexes.. the other thing with stats, is a 16 wis ok for spell caster saves? Or is the 18 mandatory? On the opposite end would a 14 str be ok for a reach build? I plan to take the luck trait to give him the bonus to divine favor (which I will pick up at 3) not sure when I will get evil eye but that is on my list. Probably slumber, evil eye, chant and misfortune. I'm worried about the 12 con if I go life link even with a bodyguard familiar taking half (with fast heal 1) probably should have put spaces but it is 5 am and need to go to work.
About the ability scores, I’d build the shaman more like a spell caster than a fighter. Having a high strength is only going to be useful for carrying your stuff.
I’m not a huge fan of the witch doctor archetype. It gives you some weak extra channels for losing precious hexes. And while you can get more hexes for a feat, you could just get more channels with a feat too.
Slumber is obviously very very powerful. I won’t even use it in a regular campaign anymore. But for something like PFS, every advantage can help.
With slumber being basically a save or suck type spell, do you think a wis 16 is good? At level 4 (cha up to 14) My main channel would be 2d6 (3x) with the witch channel it would be give me a additional pool of 1d6 (5x) at level 5 with fateful channel that would be 5x per day granting people to reroll a attack/save for 2 rounds. Also counter curse could have some uses..but hexes are hurt =/
Now a very big thing to me is the feat extra hex, hero lab says I can take it at level 1. Is that true? If so I might have to redo everything. Thinking at level 1 I could take evil eye and chant..I would still use a longspear but I would move away from the reach build and just go more of a caster route
You can’t take extra hex until you have your first hex. For a regular shaman that would be level 2.
just go unmonk
Why the unmonk secret wizard? Sigh I was worried about that melkiador. A possible option would be to retrain the feat at level 2. So maybe take selective and reflexes at 1 and then lose reflexes That would give me evil eye and chant by level 2 and at 3 get slumber finally at 5 my last channel then 7 misfortune. Downside is losing life link until way later or never