Can I ask for a step by step walk-through of the scenario where you end up with poison on your arrows (or sword etc)?
First off, is an Alchemist and an Archer practically required?
That is, can every character effectively create/purchase and apply poison, or only Alchemists? Conversely, can an Alchemist effectively deploy the poison or is a second character (specialized in ranged or melee) required?
Once the prereqs are detailed, what are the steps you need to take and which options should you choose. At what level do the tactic "come online"? Are magic shoppes assumed or are the character(s) self-sustained? I ideally would like a rundown of the class build choices, feats, items etc that are involved?
Thanks
PS. I have read the can you prebuff poison thread. I would like the idiot's companion to that thread. Furthermore I know of the arguments for/against "is ammo weapons" discussion. Please don't turn this thread into a rehash of those arguments. Please simply state if your outlined procedures depends on the ability to apply poison to arrows or not.
The brief answer (I know not what you asked for) is yes, you do want to be an Alchemist or MCD Alchemist. Poisons are too expensive for their firepower so you want a free source.
Yes, ammo is better to poison than a weapon since you can pre-poison many attacks. There are tricks to circumvent this that still take actions (and you likely saw them on the other thread(s).) You want the poison hitting on round one, so why not ammo?I disagree with those asserting you can only poison the crossbow, not the bolts. That's some serious rules-only idolatry. Check with your GM (and I'd likely avoid one that disallowed it because of that).
A second character would be better with your poison than an Alchemist because they are better hitting with weapons. The difference isn't extreme, but it is a difference in a system where that matters.
Nothing's wrong with being a buffer though. If there's a big fight coming, why not buff your party's weapons with poison while the Paladin has her back turned?
A warrior dipping Alchemist doesn't have these issues, though they have others, mostly having a low poison DC and having to spend several feats on MCD Alchemist. But they're still an archer, which is usually effective enough. The more you want poison to be your emphasis and not frosting, the more you need to be an Alchemist.
Your poison PC options are pretty straightforward since they're all under Alchemist except for a few (2?) under Rogue. Get as good w/ your weapon(s) as you can (likely best using Ancestry feats), and yes, ranged is better for many reasons.
PF2 has made notable strides in making poison PC-useful, yet I still find something lacking TBH.
You'll have to build your own PC. :)
(The Dagger of Venom is so-so BTW.)
The tactic begins "online", albeit maybe with too few doses. It's more that it comes "offline" as you progress. The poisons have a level cap (if you play to the highest levels) as well as gaps between poison levels where you'll be several levels above your best poisons. Also you'll face more creatures w/ poison immunity.
What are you going to be doing then? (MCD Wizard can give some emergency options, though that'd take ample investment.)
If you think of poison as an enemy debuff and not your main attack (which would be the weapon itself) then your expectations will be met.
And debuffs matter in PF2.
Note: A bomber is almost certainly "better" having better weapons and a class path that supports them. So um...sorry? You should be able to juggle that with being a poisoner too.
Magic shops are a GM question. Baseline, your PC can buy what they need in a major city. If there is one nearby. Buying poisons would be foolish. (That's universal to consumables.)
Not your ideal answer, but hopefully that helped.
Cheers.
I think being an alchemist is a requirement to do regular poisons, so if they’re an important part of your concept I’d start there. Depending on the table stance on the ammunition question I’d say daggers are a great fallback or even primary option. Few of the class feats will help you until the DC boosting one at level 8 so I would quickly go into multiclassing ranger, rogue or even fighter. The things to pick up here are actions that give you a boost to accuracy like the rangers hunted prey, or double slice to get your attacks out of the way without the MAP coming into play, or even quick draw so you can pull and stab with weapons.
If using poison is just something you want your character to be able to do but not the primary focus I would heavily suggest rogue. The poison weapon feat is excellent in that it gives you poison, which doesn’t have to deal with a save, lets you poison effectively in mid combat and is the only thing I can think of that lets you do so with contact poisons which cannot normally be used on weapons.
As mentioned, if you want the flavor of poisoner (w/o dealing w/ poisons as a consumable), Rogue works well.
An unusual way to get the flavor is the Green Dragon Instinct Barbarian. Wear a dress or ninja outfit to hide the Barbarian chassis. Meanwhile you're magically oozing poison on every weapon (at least while Raging).
MCD into Alchemist, Rogue, or whatever helps you complete the picture that suits your concept.
I won't repeat what everyone said because it's quite true. One thing is that you can poison every piercing/slashing weapons in your party, and poison will only get used on a hit, so you don't care if they are good at hitting or not, poison will be applied as long as they hit once during the fight.
Due to the reagent cost, you'll certainly need a few levels to apply poison before every fight. In the beginning, you'll last roughly 2 fights. But the tactic will work. Still, don't count only on that as your sole contribution. It's nice, but not enough to bring to a party. If I'd go for a poison based build, considering the cost in reagent, I'd certainly play a mutagenist, as they don't need much reagents to be played.