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I'm planning to rebuild one of my PFS characters, with the free remaster rebuild. I've had some trouble in the past to get the stats to line up with my vision of the character. I think I'm getting there.
Character concept: Helène is a merchant by trade. As a Pathfinder, she gets by with her wits, people skills, knowledge of alchemy and some 'acquired' powers. She used to work with cutting edge alchemy and used an experimental mutagen on herself. After the initial shock wore off, it gave her a change of heart and some residual supernatural abilities.
https://pathbuilder2e.com/launch.html?build=842458
Build in short:
Human, Dragonblood Heritage. Scaly Hide ancestry feat. Merchant background.
Sorcerer with Draconic (Arcane) bloodline
Starting stats: Str +0, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +0, Cha +4
Lvl 2: Alchemist Dedication. Assurance (Medicine)
Lvl 3: Canny Acumen (Perception)
Lvl 4: Advanced Alchemy, Bon Mot
Beyond: the idea is to go for 5 Tap into blood (through Natural Ambition), 6 Advanced Bloodline, 8 Arcane Evolution. Skill increase go primarily to Arcane and Diplomacy.
Spells:
Cantrips - Shield, Needle Darts, Electric Arc, Figment, Light
1 - Fear, Force Barrage*, Summon animal, Briny bolt
2 - Blazing bolt, Dispel magic*, Laughing fit, Sudden bolt
I have no experience with Sorcerer in PF2, so I would like some advice on the build I have in mind. Bit apprehensive of using my rebuild and ending up with something that doesn't quite 'gel'. I'd be happy for any suggestions!
In no particular order;
Assurance (Medicine) is somewhat niche for the build. Without investing skill increases, The main use I'd see is that you start being able to guarantee sucess on first aid checks to stabilize at level 4. You can automatically treat wounds for the basic 2d8 HP at level 3, but that's not going to cut it except maybe to patch up a lightly injured PC while the healer handles something serious.
-Sudden Bolt is only available to characters with a chronicle sheet for the 1st book of Extinction Curse. If you have that, it's all good, but things like Pathbuilder or Guides may not warn you that access to Adventure Path options can be limited in PFS. Same for Briny Bolt and book 2 of gatewalkers.
-I'd drop summon animal unless you're just using it to summon temporary pets for RP purposes.
-What do you plan to use your alchemical items for? Buffs? Using bombs as a third action after you cast a saving throw spell? I'm not saying the multiclass is bad, but you do need a plan. I will say that mutagens can be very helpful in skill challenges.
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Good points, thank you for taking the time to look over my build!
- Assurance Medicine was originally paired with Continual recovery to provide out of combat healing. But I don't really have enough skill increases to justify expert medicine, so I stuck with just this one. It's still 'guaranteed' out of combat healing, but really slow. I think I could drop this one and pick something more useful. Bon Mot earlier seems good.
- Good catch on Sudden bolt. I'll swap it out for Acid grip. I do have the chronicle for Gatewalkers actually, so I'd be good with Briny Bolt.
- My idea with Summon Animal was to try out what kind of utility it would give me; as a distraction in combat, short-term flanker and maybe some out of combat utility like scent. I considering picking one of the summon spells as a signature spell some time down the line, to always have various options for my spell slots. I'd like for that to come out as a strength for the character, to always have some handy utility available.
- This character is currently an investigator with the alchemical sciences methodology, and I mostly use my items for healing, some utility and some buffs. If we know what to expect ahead of time, I could see myself prep a bomb or two and keep them on hand, otherwise mostly elixirs and a couple of mutagens.
Summon Animal is one of the best summon spells out there, with every rank providing good summoning options -- though I admit I haven't checked all the potential summons for PFS legality.
Your spell selection is also very heavy on AC-targeting spells and there is not a single Fort-spell. Consider taking at least Frostbite as a cantrip; you could swap out Light (holding a lantern) or Figment (whose only RAW use is with the Deception skill). If you fear encountering skeletons, then Scatter Scree could be your choice to deal bludgeoning damage, as all your damage is otherwise slashing, piercing, electricity, or fire (except for the force damage).
Remember that your Draconic focus spell is targeting AC as well. Your Draconic Breath later targets Reflex, unless you go with the Mirage Dragon that targets Will.
Briny Bolt and Sudden Bolt are PFS Limited, so cannot be taken without meeting their prerequisites.
The Forge spell requires access (from Highhelm) but is a Fort-targeting fire damage spell.
If you like the Assurance feat, consider taking it for Arcana instead so you can use it with Tap into Blood. Later you could also layer Automatic Knowledge on top of it, to get a free Recall Knowledge once per round.
Note: Tap into Blood (arcane) is RAW used instead of any skill of your choice for Recall Knowledge, even if you aren't trained in that skill. So you can use it not just instead of Religion or Nature, but also instead of Zombie Lore or Forest Lore to roll against the lower DC for a specific Lore. This also works better with Assurance, as the specific Lore effect is not a bonus but lowers the DC. You can also omit any further increases to Intelligence then and still use Arcana.
The problem is that the character does not have Summon Animal as a signature spell, so only level (-1) creatures are available. You might be able to send a monkey to steal something (Although PFS frowns upon kleptomania) or mark something with skunk musk, but the DCs of summoned creatures will not hold up against foes who could be between level 3 and 6. That's why I'd reccomend switching to a utility spell, especially once the character hits level 5.
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Thanks for the detailed feedback, very helpful.
- I'd like to keep Summon animal, and see how much use I can get. Getting it as a signature spell is a long-term goal. For now I'll pick it as the extra signature spell from Arcane Evolution if no other spell is critical. I'll be sure to make a short-list of useful animals.
- Good point on overloading on AC spells. I decided to pick Fortune dragon instead of the generic Arcane dragon, meaning my 2nd level spell changes to Invisibility instead of Blazing Bolt.
- I'll swap out Figment for Frostbite. The damage seems a bit low, but I was struggling indeed to find a spell targeting Fort. It seems like this might get more balanced at higher-level, with spells like Slow and Mercurial Stride.
- Interesting suggestion about Assurance on Arcana. I'll keep that in my mind for later skill feats.