Mithril brawler opinion

[benwin007]

I tried finding proper area to discuss this build this was closest one sorry if its not.

I had an idea around a brawler who used and wore all mithril and everything is spiked like medium armor gauntlets and shield. I thought taking 1 level of fighter would be beneficial for the extra feat and went human for the use of martial versatility. Do you think there could be a good build for this? I was thinking to focus on one weapon then martial versatility after to make it work for all close weapons I'm using.

[Magda Luckbender]

Mithril armor works well. Take the Armor Expert trait and wear a Mithril Breastplate (~4300 gp). You need not be proficient with Medium Armor, because your ACP is zero. Counts as Light Armor, which is great.

Here's a Guide to Martial Flexibility. The one-level fighter dip works well. Many good builds start with the foundation you propose.

Given how awesome is the brawler at close-range attacking, perhaps take a lesson from Chinese martial art Wing Chun. Wing Chun was Bruce Lee's base martial style. Wing Chun is all about close range trapping and attacks in confined spaces. Wing Chun teaches the longspear (qiang) as primary weapon, to compensate for limited reach of all other techniques. The longspear was historically "the king of the battlefield" or "the king of weapons". This is true both in real life and in pathfinder, where spears are better than swords.

Longspear is a really effective weapon for a brawler. Use reach tactics to bolster defensive power and to inflict extra damage via AoOs. Brawler's close range unarmed attacks perfectly complement wielding a reach weapon. Longspear will hit for considerably more damage, due to math. It's a very effective combination.

A lot of Pathfinder foes are 'icky' and you don't want to be adjacent to them. Burning skeletons are an obvious low level example, but there are many others. Wielding a primary reach weapon lets you keep not-adjacent to this sort of [common!] foe.

Weapon spikes don't actually have much effect in Pathfinder, especially on a brawler. But they look cool! Maybe fluff all your gear as 'spiked'. Actual spiked armor and spiked shield may not be worth the extra weight and bother. Maybe don't carry a shield, as your reach screen provides far more defensive value than does a shield.

P.s. One related build starts with Fighter (Spear Fighter), then one level of Brawler, then any class you desire. This approach can get you Whirlwind Attack with just a three feat investment and low Intelligence, instead of the normal five feat chain and 13+ Int requirement.