Class advice Abomination Vaults

[mamutito]

Hello everyone, the other day we suffered a near TPK on floor 4, only our cleric survived. So we have been making new characters to continue the adventure. My new group are(we are lvl 5):

Cloistered Cleric

Maestro Bard

Thief Rogue (He has told me that he can change to accommodate my choice.)

Me ???

What characters do you think would go well for this group, we intend to continue with the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix campaign.

Thank you guys =D any build or tip is appreciate.

[Porridge]

The party needs another martial (to flank with the thief), and a tank of some kind. So a Champion would be the natural choice. (As well as an excellent class to pick for this AP.)

[gesalt]

You are one fighter away from having one of the ideal party compositions.

[Ventnor]

Porridge wrote:

The party needs another martial (to flank with the thief), and a tank of some kind. So a Champion would be the natural choice. (As well as an excellent class to pick for this AP.)

Champions are pretty good at keeping other people from dying.

[Dorian 'Grey']

Anything that you want, of course. All you need is Beastmaster Dedication.

[Ganigumo]

another frontliner would be good to set up the rogue. Thief rogue in particular is one of the weaker rogues in terms of setting up their own sneak attacks (they can still do it, but they don't get any special bonuses like scoundrel).

Others have mentioned champion, but I'm going to suggest ruffian rogue. Athletics can set up both you and the thief rogue, and if the bard picks up dirge of doom, and the rogues pick up dread fighter your party can basically make everything flat-footed.
Ruffian can spec into bastion for heavy armor pretty easily, as none of the level 2 feats are particularly important for them.
Some tips if you plan on doing ruffian: Unless you're using a longspear, invest in some gauntlets, they're easily one of the best weapons for them. agile + free-hand means you can make all your MAP attacks with the gauntlet, and the MAPless ones with a "main hand" weapon, while still being able to do combat maneuvers. Assurance athletics is really good, its only 10+proficiency, but its often enough to hit enemies weaker DC, and it ignores the MAP.

If you wanted to do something a but less standard, an animal companion, eidolon, or summoned creatures could fill that frontliner job (note: summoned creatures are generally bad at dealing damage, but are pretty good at utility stuff like athletics). Which opens up ranger, summoner, conjuration wizard, and druid (which can also be a frontliner with a wild form build). As a disclaimer conjuration wizard is a bit complex to play because of managing what to summon and when.

I've been playing through abomination vaults as an alchemist, and I'm not as far as you (we're in the process of clearing out the 4th floor) but I do not recommend it at all. Alchemist is a bad fit for a dungeon crawl.

[Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich]

Magus with divine witch dedication.

[Travelling Sasha]

I can see any primary martial doing great in this composition, really. Champions are incredibly durable and their AC scales very, very nicely — which is even more relevant since you guys will play Fists of the Ruby Phoenix next. If you would wrap it up at the end of AV though, you'd only enjoy the AC difference in the last module, I think.

A pretty great alternative is going Fighter and picking up Champion's Dedication and Champion's Reaction at levels 2 and 4 respectfully! Champion Dedication can be kind of a not that great of a feat for a Fighter, that's true, but you do get training in Religion out of it and more importantly, access to Champion's Reaction.

A more offensive approach would be going with the Paladin's Reaction, which Fighters really enjoy thanks to their better weapon proficiencies. The Redeemer's Glimpse of Redemption is a great conservative and defensive reaction, and the Liberator's Liberating Step is a little more circumstancial but, depending on the occasion, can really shine! If the Thief isn't planning on taking that feat that allows them to sneak attack whenevear an ally is also adjacent to the target, then I'd consider going with a reach weapon.

Ganigumo already mentioned it but, going with the Ruffian racket is a pretty good option too. You can pick up Sentinel if you want to be a little more tanky, and honestly, I'd also maybe consider the Champion Dedication because the champion's reactions work great for any rogue, even though rogues do have a surplus of reaction options down the line. Plus, rogues in general perform great at those levels, you'll be dealing some nice damage with the Thief. If both were to pick... Uh, Gang Up, I think? At level 6 if I'm not mistaken, I mean...That's pretty much just giving free sneak attack die for both of you. Though it will always be awkward deciding who goes first.

Any martial class is going to work, though. What may really sell your survival is your guys' in game tactics! Try to always go after the Bard inspires courage or... Dirges of dooms, I guess, so you can enjoy it's benefit (if doable), never go too out of the reach of the Cleric, flank if useful, bottleneck enemies's against doorways if able, etc etc. Good luck and, most importantly, have fun!