Help me out finding A fun melee build

[petitPoucet]

I'm reading the Advice topic for months but still, haven't found what I'm looking for. I know little information is provided but I will try to give some hints about the kind of character I would like to play.

The party I'm playing with is composed of standard vanilla classes e.g. ranger, druid, fighter, sorc , rogue and myself an inquisitor sanctified slayer.. (all level 8)

It is no bad but somehow I was prepared to try something new and checked some builds made for Pathfinder:kingmaker to see the optimized stats. But not sure that the videogame uses the same rules as we have (for instance the Eldtrich scion and scaled fist monk have other perks)

The idea of this character is to be a front-liner purely doing DPR (dps) since the fighter is our tank. we have no healer except an oracle which is good, just to say.

The second feature I would like to see is fun. I saw builds with the Alchemist or Magus. The GM is open-minded since he accepted damphir Inqui and now a proposal of death knight I had. To play a death knight would be great but perhaps without the undead component, which in this case is a kind of mandatory. I also checked the vindictive bastard which is not bad but somehow limited for my intentions.

The classes I would like to play would be something like the death knight with 2H weapons, some magic both to self-buff and in circumstances help the party, e.g. control the battlefield, and it could be interesting to have some spells nobody expects for controlling the BF. Or a kind of vivisectionist/XXXmorph, but I must admit I have some reluctance to play a Master chymist its hideous or ugly morph could be an issue to the party..

Those are some outlines so if you have any kind of pieces of advice would be glad

[Slyme]

Warpriest is a solid damage dealer, with a little bit of divine magic for self buffs and minor healing (or harm if evil). They make amazing Vital Strike focused 2 handed builds.

[Melkiador]

When I think of 2-handed DPR, I think of barbarians or bloodragers. But "fun" is a very vague target. Personally, I can't enjoy a character unless they have a lot of out of combat utility, but that may not be a factor for you.

Maybe it would help if you could explain what you don't like about your sanctified slayer.

[DeathlessOne]

Personally, I find versatility to be the most 'fun'. When applied to purely melee combat, I try to figure out the most amount of debuffs I can stack on top of the opponent without sacrificing adequate damage potential. To clarify that statement, as long as I am doing a decent amount of damage, I dont care if I am not doing the MOST POSSIBLE damage. Debuffing the enemy helps EVERYONE perform better.

So, towards that end, I would suggest 4 levels of Unchained Rogue (Sylvan Trickster) with the Hex Strike feat and Debilitating Injury, combined with your choice of unarmed focused fighter class (Brawler sounds fun with its Martial Flexibility). You can then focus on Dirty Tricks, Improved Dirty Tricks, or some other martial maneuver you want to pull off.

Or, if you still want to go 2-handed with spell support, Druid (Nature Fang) has plenty of options for customizing your fighting style.

[Dave Justus]

It seems to me that your party would benefit with either a bard or a skald. Neither are super focused DPR characters, but both can be quite adequate and have a lot of the versatility you seem to be looking for.

Personally, I'd probably go with an arcane duelist Bard with at least 14 STR and a long sword that I would often wield with 2 hands. With inspire courage and arcane strike you would be dealing pretty good damage personally, and also enhancing all of the other attackers.

[Scott Wilhelm]

When I think of 2 handed weapons, I think Vital Strike, Great Cleave, and Attacks of Opportunity.

I'm kind of thinking Paladin/Inquisitor. Take the Holy Tactician Paladin Archetype. Take Broken Wing Gambit. That way, when any of you get an Attack of Opportunity, all of you do. Use that Butchering Axe.

[keerawa]

I think you would enjoy playing a melee occultist. Make sure you take a Transmutation implement for buffs, and then Abjuration for protection and either Necromancy if you like that undead-controlling aspect or another implement for a completely different type of caster abilities.
Evocation for some blasting? Enchantment for mind control? Restoration for healing and CC? You can add more implements as you level, becoming more and more flexible over time.

You're a 3/4 caster in heavy armor (if you spend a feat on it) using martial weapons, with a small spell list but a long list of intriguing daily abilities. Trappings of the Warrior Panoply would make you full BAB. Very useful in and out of combat, and you have those spells no one would ever expect from you!

[petitPoucet]

Melkiador wrote:

Maybe it would help if you could explain what you don't like about your sanctified slayer.

nothing wrong with it, it is solely that my conception on how to play this toon will not be fully realized in this campaign

[petitPoucet]

Thanks all for your answers.

I also had the Occultist on my list and I was also pointed to the [i]Path Of War[\i] subsystem and the Zealot class... Both are interesting suggestions, now I must check with the GM if PoW is an option. The Occulist offers also diversity and allows to play a little bit more unconventional.

@Keerawa can you point me to any available (starter) melee occultist build?

[Syries]

petitPoucet wrote:

Thanks all for your answers.

I also had the Occultist on my list and I was also pointed to the [i]Path Of War[\i] subsystem and the Zealot class... Both are interesting suggestions, now I must check with the GM if PoW is an option. The Occulist offers also diversity and allows to play a little bit more unconventional.

@Keerawa can you point me to any available (starter) melee occultist build?

I have another thread discussing my recent occultist for PFS. I made him so he touches on a bit of everything- gave him Clever wordplay trait for int to diplomacy bonus. I went necromancy and transmutation for my first two implements and will eventually get Animal Dead spell at 7th so I can be an undead controller. Plus necromantic servant adds an extra body on the battlefield to soak up attacks. and soul bound puppets can add utility. Need to pass a random skill check, or don’t have a party face? Soul bound puppet with the figment+sage archetypes with the skilled evolution. Or a mauler King Crab makes for a decent combat minion. Full ranks+8 in whatever skill needed, and you can refresh it as many times as you have mental focus in necromancy.

If you take necromantic servant you can outfit your skeleton with armor, shield and a weapon.

A melee occultist needs the transmutation implement. With legacy weapon focus power you can start adding Bane to your weapon, which is a great boost to damage.

Elf has the best favored class bonus for occultist so I would recommend half-elf to gain access to that, or human with racial heritage (elf) feat. A 16 Str and int is what you should shoot for, after racial modifiers, but if you roll high or have a 25 point buy I’d bump Int to 18. Shoot for 12-14 Dex and 14 Con. And be sure to dedicate your fcb to extra mental focus at every level.

Occultists aren’t super feat heavy, I find. I took Heavy Armor proficiency as my first feat for my occultist and Extra Mental Focus as my 2nd. I’ll be picking up power attack and Combat Reflexes and that’s it for combat feats. You obviously can go into the usual martial feat chains like step up or whatever else floats your boat.

As far as implements go, if you’re focusing mainly on damage and frontlining, I’d take these implements: 1st) Transmutation, Abjuration, 2) Necromancy, 6) Illusion, 10) Conjuration, 14) Divination 18) Trappings of The Warrior or double up on Transmutation

Transmutation provides offensive buffs like the Lead Blades spell and Legacy Weapon, Abjuration has defensive abilities and spells, necromancy adds minions, illusion has (in my opinion) terrible focus powers but Mirror Image and Displacement are illusion spells that are MUST HAVES for any frontliner able to cast them. Conjuration has mobility through Dimension Door spell and Side Step, divination has scouting options through Mind Eye, and Trappings of the Warrior can increase your BAB, though it locks you in to using weapon and shield when you do so, so no 2H weapons.

[EstabanDeLaFerroVenté]

This is a little outside your desired recommendations, but have you considered playing a mounted paladin?

Heres the build and some of the stuff it can do:

Paladin 8 (Shining Knight)
Human (really any race works)

Stats (15 PB)
18 (16+2 racial)
10
12
8
10
14

Feats
H Mounted Combat
1 Trample
3 Ride By Attack
5 Spirited Charge
7 Power Attack

Traits
Blessed Touch
Accelerated Drinker

The Combo
Saddle Surge+Charge attack
3(1d8+6+6+[0 to 4]) = 3d8+32 to 48 damage/charge

Mount Feats
Power Attack
Improved Overrun
(choice)
(choice)

This lets your mount get a free attack when your mount successfully overruns a target and knock its target prone. You can then move to your preferred target. The build gets lil bit shaky off your mount, but that's what smite and liturgy of rightness are for.

Alternatively you might want to look at bloodrager/hell-knight combos, which would be closer to your death knight vibe