Alchemist Beastmaster Trick Build - How does it sound?

[Plane]

Go bomber.
Far Lobber L1.
Beastmaster L2. Pick up a bird for your companion.

Bird Support Benefit wrote:

The bird pecks at your foes’ eyes when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature that your bird threatens also deal 1d4 persistent bleed damage, and the target is dazzled until it removes the bleed damage. If your bird is nimble or savage, the persistent bleed damage increases to 2d4.

Combat:

Move your bird into position threatening foes. A 60' fly speed makes this easy to pick your foe. Far Lobber means only a -2 range penalty at 60' if you are really out that far. Throw a bomb with persistent damage (fire or acid). Even if you miss, as long as it isn't a critical miss, you do damage thanks to splash. Thus you meet the requirement of your Bird Support Benefit and automatically do 1d4 bleed damage and dazzle your foe.

On a hit, your foe is now: Burning, bleeding, and dazzled. That's almost nonfunctional as the foe scrambles to deal with multiple persistent damage types. If your foe is engaged with an ally, your bird can flank as well. You've only used two actions so far, and the build comes online at L2.

How does this sound?

[Plane]

Support Action wrote:

Your animal companion supports you. You gain the benefits listed in the companion type’s Support Benefit entry. If the animal uses the Support action, the only other actions it can use on this turn are basic move actions to get into position to take advantage of the Support benefits; if it has already used any other action this turn, it can’t Support you.

Next question. If your bird threatens multiple adjacent foes and your splash damage affects all of them, do they all take bleed and become dazzled?

[cavernshark]

Plane wrote:

Go bomber.

Far Lobber L1.
Beastmaster L2. Pick up a bird for your companion.

Bird Support Benefit wrote:

The bird pecks at your foes’ eyes when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature that your bird threatens also deal 1d4 persistent bleed damage, and the target is dazzled until it removes the bleed damage. If your bird is nimble or savage, the persistent bleed damage increases to 2d4.

Combat:

Move your bird into position threatening foes. A 60' fly speed makes this easy to pick your foe. Far Lobber means only a -2 range penalty at 60' if you are really out that far. Throw a bomb with persistent damage (fire or acid). Even if you miss, as long as it isn't a critical miss, you do damage thanks to splash. Thus you meet the requirement of your Bird Support Benefit and automatically do 1d4 bleed damage and dazzle your foe.

On a hit, your foe is now: Burning, bleeding, and dazzled. That's almost nonfunctional as the foe scrambles to deal with multiple persistent damage types. If your foe is engaged with an ally, your bird can flank as well. You've only used two actions so far, and the build comes online at L2.

How does this sound?

Sounds pretty clever, honestly.

For the bird doing this against multiple targets, it sounds 'too good to be true' to be able to potentially apply that many debuffs against every target hit by splash and also threatened by the bird. That said, I think any time you'd be doing this, you're also functionally hitting your bird with splash and that same bird is still in direct melee proximity of a bunch of opponents.

[Plane]

cavernshark wrote:

sounds 'too good to be true'

Thanks. I agree. It leans heavily into too good to be true territory. It does explicitly say 'strikes,' however, so your 3rd action attack could bleed and dazzle another foe.

[siegfriedliner]

So interestingly the bird support action states each time you damage an enemy with a strike and the bears says each time you hit. I thought they had errata this but I can't find it.

If it is damaged by a strike, we'll then throwing a bomb is a strike action so any damage done by that strike triggers the birds support ability when in the correct range even splash.Your almost certainly going to hit your bird with the splash damage and to make great use of this your probably leaving your bird surrounded by more than 1 enemy which is not a healthy position for it.

[Plane]

siegfriedliner wrote:

You're almost certainly going to hit your bird with the splash damage and to make great use of this your probably leaving your bird surrounded by more than 1 enemy which is not a healthy position for it.

Bomber Alchemists can turn off splash for everyone but their target if that's desired to keep from splashing the bird. As for putting the bird in an unhealthy position, are you recommending this build be saved for when your GM is an unabashed animal-lover? And create a profile of your bird so cute, the GM will never want to harm it? That's devious! But I like it.

[shroudb]

RAW it is all enemies in the splash, but you certainly will find GMs that will overule it as being "too good to be true/cheese"

[Plane]

Yeah, fair. I would be satisfied seeing the conditions stack on just one foe per strike.