With free archetype, I have a wizard using Drakeheart Mutagen and the Mauler dedication who's going to go Evoker, lay down some suppressing fire and party buffs, and then whack stuff. However, I'm having trouble deciding on a build concept as I have not played past level 3 (in any table top RPG for that matter).
The core concept is a wizard that can evoke and wade into combat to continue doing damage as half my slots will still be used for utility and support.
Originally, I took a character flaw so as to start 14 CON (and 16 STR and 18 INT) and was also planning on using the human Multitalented to take Golem Crafter dedication at level 9 (GM approved) so with toughness I would have 268 hit points at level 20. That's about 72% of where a level 20 orc barbarian would be with 20 CON and Toughness.
However, I got to thinking that to add some bang I could use the Multitalented feat to take a Sorcerer dedication instead and grabbing Dangerous Sorcery at level 10, but to do so I would need avoid taking a character flaw and instead pump CHA to 12. In essence I'm trading 40 hit points for Dangerous Sorcery (I also get +1 to will saves for the first half of the game).
Is that worth the trade off? How valuable is 2 hit points per level if you're going to be engaged in melee combat occasionally?
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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
I’m not a huge fan of your plan to tank things with your face, as the Wizard chassis just isn’t prepped for all that great melee defence.
That said, I think I would favour Dangerous Sorcery over 40hp. 40hp is not an insignificant amount for the Wizard, but I hold to the idea that the best defence is a good offence.
I’d maybe consider taking Staff Nexus, Evo school, get a shifting rune on a staff, weapon rune it up, load up on the Weapon Storm spell, and use that setup to be a Gishy Wizard as well.
Old_Man_Robot wrote: I’m not a huge fan of your plan to tank things with your face, as the Wizard chassis just isn’t prepped for all that great melee defence.
That said, I think I would favour Dangerous Sorcery over 40hp. 40hp is not an insignificant amount for the Wizard, but I hold to the idea that the best defence is a good offence.
I’d maybe consider taking Staff Nexus, Evo school, get a shifting rune on a staff, weapon rune it up, load up on the Weapon Storm spell, and use that setup to be a Gishy Wizard as well.
I appreciate the input - that's essentially the build I'm going for (although I haven't looked at Weapon Storm yet). I don't intend on full out tanking, I just don't want to instantly die if I decide to strike instead of stride :P
The main usage in my mind for the Mauler feats are the strikes that shove (ala Clear the Way) and trip (Hammer Quake) for the purpose of creating distance and wasting enemy actions as they approach.
With legendary athletics and 20 STR (and Assurance: Athletics for when it can apply to Clear the Way) I should only be 1 behind a dedicated martial for trips and shoves.
Is your heritage fixed? Because being a half-elf would solve your charisma problem.
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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Bmj wrote:
The main usage in my mind for the Mauler feats are the strikes that shove (ala Clear the Way) and trip (Hammer Quake) for the purpose of creating distance and wasting enemy actions as they approach.
With legendary athletics and 20 STR (and Assurance: Athletics for when it can apply to Clear the Way) I should only be 1 behind a dedicated martial for trips and shoves. Have you thought about Staff Acrobat?
It can do a lot of what you want Mauler for without needing to put so much into str, or needing to cause casting restrictions by wielding a two-handed weapon.
Blave wrote: Is your heritage fixed? Because being a half-elf would solve your charisma problem. Yeah, I've considered that, but I've got to be human for RP reasons.
Old_Man_Robot wrote: Have you thought about Staff Acrobat?
It can do a lot of what you want Mauler for without needing to put so much into str, or needing to cause casting restrictions by wielding a two-handed weapon.
I've considered it. The more I think about your Weapon Storm suggestion, the more I've been considering dropping strength and Mauler altogether and leaning in on casting - I could pick up the level 6 Sorcerer feat for the extra +AC and the Tempest-Sun feats to give my blasting a supportive role - while remaining sturdy enough to be close enough to enemies to make use of the evoker's Elemental Tempest. Having my staff shifted into a bastard sword and gripping it with both hands for a D12 weapon storm sounds awesome, and will probably be more effective than any strike a wizard will ever be capable of.
Mauler sounds neat - but it is quite the expensive investment insofar that you need to dedicate both feats, skill feats, a legendary skill and attributes to essentially get use out of a multi-target shove or multi-target trip.
I just realized it's actually your guide that I've been reading, haha.
Question: Assuming Evoker and free archetype which do you see as more valuable - full Alchemist dedication or Magaambyan with Halcyon (ala Cascade for access to all schools)? The latter is so feat heavy that's basically all of the archetype feats, while Alchemist allows me to say, grab the two interesting abilities from the Tempest-Sun, Dangerous Sorcery, and even lets me fit the Golem Crafting Dedication at the end.
I hope this isn't against forum rules to triple post (it won't let me edit my post at this point).
I could trade out Dangerous Sorcery (and the Sorcerer Dedication), Overwhelming Energy, Tempest-Sun Shielding, Tempest-Sun Redirection and Safeguarded Spell for the the entire Halcyon casting line without the capstone.
It's hard to deny the efficacy of such a trade, but I have to wonder if it's worth trading out the otherwise blasting orientated feats for something which is, frankly speaking, a bit overpowered when used in conjunction with free archetype.
Hmm..
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