A couple of years ago, I appealed to the Hive Mind to come up with a Gestalt character idea that had good synergy for a new campaign we were about to start. The Results was an Exploiter Wizard/skald, which I have to say was an extremely enjoyable character to play. So much so, that I have fallen in love with the exploiter wizard.
Now, once again I am asking for suggestions for a Gestalt character for our next campaign, I would love to start with the Exploiter Wizard and pair with something that had similar synergy to the Skald, but I really don't want to replicate the same character, so Skald and Bard are off limits.
What are your recommendations?
Thanks!!
While it may sound simplistic, a vanilla hunter would mesh well... A companion in place of a familiar... I mean, the usual purpose of the gestalt is to mix combat prowess with utility capabilities, so obviously a combat class is ideal, and this fills the gaps most adequately imho.
if you have the attributes to run it, a monk (unchained preferably) and a wizard can be overwhelmingly resourceful. both classes are built to overcome problems in different ways and heaving the options to use both spells and monk abilities can give you an edge.
the wizard spells can augment the monk in so many ways that if you don't have enough attribute points to go around, i'll recommend to go with minimum int to gain the spells to cast and use spells to ether buff or ones that don't offer a save to begin with (touch attacks\smart illusions and battle ground spells like walls\pits).
Oh... boy do I have a synergistic combo that fits right up your alley... Intelligence based, with a similar chassis as the Skald but with divine magic.
Living Grimoire Inquisitor with the Rage (Destruction subdomain). Intelligence based, weaponized spellbook, ability to rage and get rage powers at higher level, 6th level casting, and just some good inquisitor abilities (solo tactics and teamwork feats).
Consider Furious Spell for spells you want to be able to cast while raging at higher level. Also, consider if VMC (variant multiclass) is an option because picking up Magus and Broad Study at 7th level will let you eventually Spellstrike (11th level) with all your (touch) spells, rather than just the wizard ones that appear on the Magus list. Plus, the arcane pool will pull double duty with the Sacred Word, more than making up for your BAB.
Blade adept arcanist combines very well with swashbucklers and similar archetypes, like daring champion Cavalier or virtuous bravo Paladin. Also the inspired blade swashbuckler pairs very well with the blade adept arcanist, and gets easy dexterity to damage at level 1 with fencing grace.
One combination I have found that works very well is a witch/slayer. You get full BAB, d10 HP, all good saves, 6 + INT skill points, 9th level casting and lots of class abilities from both classes. Exploiter Wizard would also work instead of witch. Most slayer abilities use INT as the stat, so this synergizes with INT being the casting stat.
You don’t get as many arcane exploits as a witch gets hexes, so your class abilities are fewer. Some of the hexes are also very strong, so the exploiter wizard is probably slightly weaker on class abilities than the witch. The wizard has better damaging spells, and can add sneak attack to spells requiring an attack roll. This probably makes up for getting less class feature than a witch.
Because INT is going to be your primary stats you will have tons of skills, and most skills will be class skills. Studied Target gives you a scaling bonus to quite a few skills. Slayer talents allow you to pick up trapfinding to get even more bonuses to skills.
Oh... boy do I have a synergistic combo that fits right up your alley... Intelligence based, with a similar chassis as the Skald but with divine magic.
Living Grimoire Inquisitor with the Rage (Destruction subdomain). Intelligence based, weaponized spellbook, ability to rage and get rage powers at higher level, 6th level casting, and just some good inquisitor abilities (solo tactics and teamwork feats).
Consider Furious Spell for spells you want to be able to cast while raging at higher level. Also, consider if VMC (variant multiclass) is an option because picking up Magus and Broad Study at 7th level will let you eventually Spellstrike (11th level) with all your (touch) spells, rather than just the wizard ones that appear on the Magus list. Plus, the arcane pool will pull double duty with the Sacred Word, more than making up for your BAB.
VMC is not an option, so can't pick up the spellstrike. I like everything about this inquisitor build, except for losing all the judgements, that seems like it's taking away the big thing that Inquisitors get. We'll most likely be doing 25 point builds.
I'm guessing you cast "rage" to rage, as I'm not seeing anything else in the domain that grants it...
Slayer really is the bog standard thing to combine with a wizard. All good saves. Good BAB and HD. Good skills. Dexterity and Intelligence synergy.
And don't discount a well built fighter half. Advanced Weapon Training can make you good at everything and dangerous at a lot of things, while not eating into your swift actions.
VMC is not an option, so can't pick up the spellstrike. I like everything about this inquisitor build, except for losing all the judgements, that seems like it's taking away the big thing that Inquisitors get. We'll most likely be doing 25 point builds.
Bummer, but you still get to pump your weapon up with Sacred Word, its just for less rounds per day. You can always take Arcane Weapon exploit instead.
As for losing judgements, its not that big a deal. Especially because you become a prepared caster and aren't locked into a limited spell selection. One thing a lot of people miss is the Blessed Script class feature. Getting the ability to cast spell-like abilities opens up uses for the metamagic feats specifically made for them: Bouncing, Disruptive, Empower, Fearsome, Intensified, Lingering, Quicken, Reach, Scarring, Sickening, and Traumatic.
I'm guessing you cast "rage" to rage, as I'm not seeing anything else in the domain that grants it...
Negative. See below.
Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the destructive aura power of the Destruction domain.
Rage (Su): At 8th level, you can enter a fearsome rage, like a barbarian, for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. At 12th and 16th level, you can select one rage power. You cannot select any rage power that possesses a level requirement, but otherwise your barbarian level is equal to 1/2 your cleric level. These rounds of rage stack with any rounds of rage you might have from levels of barbarian.
VMC is not an option, so can't pick up the spellstrike. I like everything about this inquisitor build, except for losing all the judgements, that seems like it's taking away the big thing that Inquisitors get. We'll most likely be doing 25 point builds.Bummer, but you still get to pump your weapon up with Sacred Word, its just for less rounds per day. You can always take Arcane Weapon exploit instead.
As for losing judgements, its not that big a deal. Especially because you become a prepared caster and aren't locked into a limited spell selection. One thing a lot of people miss is the Blessed Script class feature. Getting the ability to cast spell-like abilities opens up uses for the metamagic feats specifically made for them: Bouncing, Disruptive, Empower, Fearsome, Intensified, Lingering, Quicken, Reach, Scarring, Sickening, and Traumatic.
I'm guessing you cast "rage" to rage, as I'm not seeing anything else in the domain that grants it...Negative. See below.
Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the destructive aura power of the Destruction domain.
Rage (Su): At 8th level, you can enter a fearsome rage, like a barbarian, for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. At 12th and 16th level, you can select one rage power. You cannot select any rage power that possesses a level requirement, but otherwise your barbarian level is equal to 1/2 your cleric level. These rounds of rage stack with any rounds of rage you might have from levels of barbarian.
I did like the blessed Script ability, So, I was looking deep into that, but I still missed the rage stuff. I'll go look again.
So additional information that I just found out.
This character will be for the Wrath of the Righteous AP. (4 players total)
Wrath of the Righteous is a Mythic AP. Will you be gaining Mythic tiers as well as gestalt?
Wrath of the Righteous is a Mythic AP. Will you be gaining Mythic tiers as well as gestalt?
I think that's the current plan - but we're still a ways out from starting, so it may change
The thing about Mythic is that it can magnify the "rocket tag" built into Pathfinder. Where the first to act is often the last to act. You may want to consider options that really pump up your initiative. For instance, a Vanguard Slayer added to your Exploiter wizard would give you half level to initiative and at level 7 allow you to always act in the surprise round.
Mythic can really alter the nature of the game and if Mythic is going to be in play that needs to be taken into account.
Under Mythic rules spontaneous spell casters are a lot less limited. Wild Arcana and Inspired Spell mean that a caster has access to every spell on their spell list. This is a limited resource, so it has to be managed correctly, but it does eliminate the biggest drawback of a spontaneous caster. Mythic Bloodline and Mythic Domain increase the power of your bloodline or mystery abilities so can also be very helpful.
Since this is also a gestalt game dual path could be very useful and allow for better blending conflicting classes. The Champion path ability Armor Master allows you to ignore the ACP, arcane spell failure, and maximum dexterity bonus of armor. This allows a DEX based full BAB class to blend with a full caster while still using armor.
Wrath of the Righteous is very heavy on evil outsiders and undead, so a paladin will do very well in this AP. A DEX based paladin combined with phoenix bloodline sorcerer would be a very powerful character. Virtuous Brava would get you a lot of swashbuckler abilities at the cost of your spells and mercies. Technically you have poor reflex saves, but a high DEX and CHA to saves means it will actually be very good. At 9th level you can fly at 60 feet with good maneuverability. You will also be able to use fire spells to heal instead of damage.
In a bit of a different direction, the white haired witch is a full caster with reach and grappling. But she just doesn’t work with low hp and 1/2 BAB.
But if you pair the white haired witch with a top tier grappling class (tetori monk, strangler, abyssal bloodrager) you get an overpowered grappler with massive reach and 9/9 spell casting.
If you can use VMC Magus and take their Maneuver Mastery arcana (selecting grappling), you can pull this off without gestalt. I have a character in a Giantslayer game that does this, though I deviated from spell casting some levels in Sylvan Trickster Rogue to get hexes back.
ok, I have spoken with the GM and it looks like that for Wrath of the Righteous we are NOT going to do Gestalt, but just Mythic.
So I apologize to everyone for wasting their time on Gestalt build, I have seen some great ideas, that I have filed for future characters.
So, what's the best Mythic build for an Exploiter Wizard, I know I want to pick up School Understanding (Admixture) and Dimensional Slide. As well as Spell Penetration (Evocation) and Varisian Tattoo (Evocation). What else do people recommend, especially on the Mythic side?
Thanks
I'm not sure if Mythic changes a lot for the exploiter. It downgrades one of my favorite exploits, Quick Study, because Wild Arcana outclasses it by a lot.