Attack Routine

[siegfriedliner]

So I was looking at some of the more common attack patterns for this class and I was wondering would most people risk getting the -5 penalty to their finisher or go for the more likely hit with their higher damage attack and do more movement and demoralizing and bluffing with their extra action.

So Tumble, Finisher, Demoralize/step or Strike, Tumble, Finisher?

I suppose at level 6 and onward's the feat that lowers the MAP penalties and wielding a short-sword (agile) does reduce the penalty to -3 and assuming flat-footed that still leaves a good chance to hit a lot of foes.

[Claudius16309]

My opinion only - Attack routines in PF2e show a lack of vision. With so many actions, especially for a mobile character like a Swashbuckler or a Monk, you will probably change your actions every single turn depending upon the circumstances. The 3 action economy, coupled with so many good actions you can make (including moving away and forcing your foe to spend an action closing with you) mean you shouuld NEVER have a set routine.

[BellyBeard]

Claudius16309 wrote:

My opinion only - Attack routines in PF2e show a lack of vision. With so many actions, especially for a mobile character like a Swashbuckler or a Monk, you will probably change your actions every single turn depending upon the circumstances. The 3 action economy, coupled with so many good actions you can make (including moving away and forcing your foe to spend an action closing with you) mean you shouuld NEVER have a set routine.

I do think that assuming you can always use the same three action routine is not a strong assumption to make, but a good sense of what tactics work best for a character doesn't hurt, which seems to be the intent for the OP. Knowing whether using finisher this turn with MAP or waiting and using finisher next turn is better in a general case is useful information.

[Martialmasters]

Turn 1.

Gain panache. attack twice gaining precision damage for both. Times where it's ok to run a finisher is for confident finisher with precise feat. This is just likely vs mooks who you expect to kill. Otherwise just attack and hold onto your finisher.

Turn 2. Use perfect finisher when you get it. Double dipping for critical and at 15 a wider critical range. Then gain panache and attack once.

This imo is better than simply every round being. Gain panache. Attack. Confident finish.

Then you have twin finisher. Doesn't add map until after both hits.