Sister-in-Arms Cavalier

[Brolof]

So, I decided to take a closer look and build something out of the Sister-in-Arms archetype, partly because I find the Gray Maidens cool. But as I looked at it I realized, I wasn't really sure how one would go about building it. It's kind of odd.

Thanks to the dual order ability, it gets a steady bonus to attack and AC, making it seem like it could function in a similar vein to a paladin in some ways. It gets Bodyguard for free, which leads me to think they'd want you to do something with that, but then you get the mixture of order ability that make it seem very 'martial support/tactician' kind of archetype. So honesty, it leaves me at a loss on how to build it. I know I could do your basic damage dealer build, but that seems almost wasting its potential. Anyone got any ideas for what a good build for it could possibly look like?

Sister in Arms link.

[Cavall]

I ran a game where I made characters for the players for a one shot.

Best way to run a sister in arms?
SisterS in arms.

Get 2. Choose different teamworks. Wreck everything.

Some of the best synergy in the game was 2 ladies roflstomping every encounter. And I mean best synergy ever. Just incredible.

[Cavall]

I'll sum up a little better since I have time. If you have 2, your group is essentially immune to fear and panic, as the sisters can just double team aoe fear removal.

As for front line, you can bottle neck anything with a sword and board combo pushing targets back and away. You're in plate (of a sort) and so is the person beside you. If they try to attack one, you throw down an order of the Dragon booster AoO aid another. That's min 3 ac and very easy to boost up.

The sisters get teamwork feats and can share them. Choose different ones, and double up.

The rest of the party? Go ranged and crowd control. Keep them where they are and punish them for being there. You can even add a skald or bard or both as second line buffers with reach.

It's very viable, and a wonderful duo team. It's very rare to get an archtype that doubling up makes it better and better but here it is.

Only waste is banners do not stack.

[Isabelle Lee]

"Martial support/tactician" was definitely what I was going for, for the record. ^_^

How best to build a sister-in-arms is heavily dependent on party composition and teamwork choices. If I recall, the one I planned to play was building for Sisterhood Style as well, with emphasis on using Shield Wall to keep the team safe... but that depends on having a team who like shields.

[TheMonkeyFish]

If you are alright with a "few" levels of dipping, 3-5 levels of Exemplar Brawler gives you more supportive options along with even more Teamwork Sharing abilities with the class. Martial Flexibility makes sharing Teamwork Feats far better than most classes, and you aren't giving up any vitality as Brawler is also a d10 class.

Basically, your goal is to be like Oprah, and scream out "YOU HAVE A FEAT, YOU HAVE A FEAT, AND YOU HAVE A FEAT!" and the best way to actually have those feats to give is Martial Flexibility. This is very similar to the Paladin/Brawler Teamwork build but with less tank defense and more global support.

Sisterhood Style is actually really good, but you also need Teamwork Feats for that. Unfortunately, for a feat-starved class like Cavalier, I don't think that Style feat and all its prerequisites are available without heavily impeding aspects in other areas.

[Isabelle Lee]

My build got the full Sisterhood Style chain by level 6, though admittedly by going all-in (including a human bonus feat). ^_^

[RAuer2]

Isabelle Lee wrote:

My build got the full Sisterhood Style chain by level 6, though admittedly by going all-in (including a human bonus feat). ^_^

I was thinking about this concept today for a character and came across this thread. I can't quite figure out how to get the full Sisterhood Style chain by 6th if I go straight Cavalier with the Sister-In-Arms archetype, even using a human bonus feat. Am I missing something easy?

1 - Shield Focus
1 (Human) - Shield Wall
3 - Weapon Focus (longsword)
5 - Sisterhood Style
6 (Cavalier Bonus) - Sisterhood Rampart
7 - Sisterhood Dedication

[Isabelle Lee]

Shield Wall is the bonus feat granted by the tactician class feature, if I recall correctly. ^_^

[RAuer2]

That was it. I missed that Tactician gives the first level Cavalier a bonus teamwork feat. Thank you, and also thank you for the archetype. I found it creative and promptly began thinking of possibilities when I read it, both in games set in Golarion and other settings. Very nice :)

[Isabelle Lee]

I'm very glad you found it so enjoyable and useful! ^_^

[Cavall]

As another plus, my only downside for having a duo of them is now a non issue.

You can have 2 banners now, just of different types.

Making them even better.