Going to play a dual class game. If you were doing a dual class, what would be the best dual class blaster? What would you build and why?
I'm figuring some kind of sorcerer, but what other class would you choose to maximize blasting power?
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I'm pretty sure that I would NOT take a second blasting class. Too much overlap. Unless you're going to have VERY long adventuring days you just won't be able to get through all your spells. Playing in Strength of Thousands this became an issue very quickly for my caster.
But if I WAS going to double down then probably psychic. Lets me use the same stat (Cha or Int) for both sides.
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Pyrokineticist + flames Oracle. Incendiary aura plays very well with thermal nimbus/flying flame and with clever use of your repertoire, you can cover for your limited damage types as a kineticist.
Your higher level slots will outperform your impulses but you can comfortably fall back on them when you're running low on gas. Ability scores might be difficult to manage though with +4 con and charisma.
I was thinking of an oracle and sorcerer for foretell harm since it stacks with Sorcerous Potency.
I was thinking of some kind of kineticist too. Unlimited blasting with spell spike damage, a con focus, would probably be pretty good.
I've done a Starlit Span before. Probably be powerful, but you get addicted to the ranged Spellstrike. I want to do be more variable and not focus so heavily on one amazing ability. Even though I can voluntarily not focus on it, it's really hard not to do it given how much damage it does.
I'm pretty sure that I would NOT take a second blasting class. Too much overlap. Unless you're going to have VERY long adventuring days you just won't be able to get through all your spells.
That is my thought too.
If you want to do all day blasting, Kineticist is still hard to beat with any class.
And if playing dual class, it is still often better to build for breadth of options than building for overlap that often just ends up redundant.
But if I WAS going to double down then probably psychic. Lets me use the same stat (Cha or Int) for both sides.
That ends up being less of a problem with dual class. You get another class boost if the two classes don't line up on the same stat, so you can end up at +4 at level 1 for both attributes.
At least, last I checked in dual class - I haven't read through those rules very often.
Best blaster would probably be a fighter/sorcerer with the eldritch archer archetype...but that'd be kinda boring as you can do basically do that without dual class.
A sorcerer / blood rage barbarian would be fun if you want to lean into attack spells. Rage damage + sorcerer potency is probably the highest damage on an attack spell.
You could also do something similar with an eldritch trickster rogue / sorcerer if barbarians aren't your thing.
I was kind of thinking of an oracle/sorcerer using Sorcerous Potency, Foretell Harm, and Explosion of Power. What would that blasting combination look like in the right circumstances?
A kineticist/sorcerer might be good too. Use a damaging aura that generates a weakness or does some damage, then sorcerous potency with explosion of power in the Kinetic aura. Go boom, blow everything around you up. Con focus for enough hit points to stay alive when you go boom.
The barbarian blood rager looks interesting, but the drained condition sucks for a barbarian.
I was also thinking maybe a bomber alchemist with a wizard for a 1 action bomb combined with a spell as a nasty combination. No sorcerous potency though.
I like the Bloodrager in part because the Barbarian chasis means that you have to get to Drained 4 before you're at the same HP you'd have if you were like a sorcerer/oracle. The fortitude penalty is easier to swallow when you consider the barb starts at expert, goes master at 7, and legendary at 13... whereas the sorc/oracle gets expert at 5 and stops there.
So you're not really that bothered by being drained relative to the alternative, you just only want to do this if you want to be a melee character. The 10th level feat Hematocritical seems pretty fun, honestly.
The Force Barrage with Annoint Ally and Explosion of Power with the Imperial Bloodline could be interesting. Wouldn't the explosion of power go off twice if you used extend blood magic for each casting?
Magical trickster thief sorcerer, if you dare use attack spells. Dragon sorcerer for blazing bolt and flurry of claws. Explosive something at L8, and don't be afraid to go into melee (improved invis of course).
I'm going to go against the consensus to use Int- or Cha-based casters and go with...
Animist (leaning toward Liturgist) and druid (likely Flame, Stone, Storm, or Wave order). Animists, through their attuned apparitions (which can be changed during daily preparations), can gain access to all sorts of "blasting" (and other damaging spells) in addition to the Divine list, as well as combine a Spell Repertoire/flexible slots with prepared slots. Druids prepare spells using the Primal list (where most of the "blasting" spells are). Both the animist and the druid have good choices for focus spells, can wear armor, and have other options outside of just blasting, also.
As a secondary benefit, being a Wis-based caster for both gives more flexibility for investing in non-save ability scores.
Lots of answers here, depending on what exactly you want to do and what you consider blasting - is it AOE damage or all kind of damage ?
Here are a few pointers:
1) Arcane or Primal Draconic Sorcerer + Oracle
That's the most common combo. Sorcerous Potency + Foretell Harm on a fireball/chain lightning is awesome to behold. Draconic sorcerer focus spells are good to hurt people, and you can get a better (read: more damaging) bloodline effect later. Like others said, Anoint Ally + explosion of power is a lovely combo.
Against solo opponents, Imperial Sorcerer is better.
If you really want to lean on Blood Sovereignty, elemental sorcerer is better.
2) Divine Draconic Sorcerer + Oracle
The divine list is surprisingly powerful now. You can get Fireball or Chain Lightning through access, you get Divine Wrath to keep blasting even when your friends are in melee, and nobody can even dream about touching your DPS when fighting undead or fiends. Oracle is there for Foretell Harm, as usual.
3) Psy + Oracle
Psychic when unleashed gets unparalleled damage - a fireball done by an oscillating wave, strengthened by unleash psyche and entropic wheel (and foretell harm) is no joke. On paper, it's probably the most damaging 2 actions in the whole game. Problem is, you cannot do it first round which is when it's usually the most useful. You also have less gas in the tank, and a lot of problems to deal with. Silent Whisper is good for its d10/lvl friendly 60 feet cone, and Tangible dream is good as a striker if you want to get up close and personal (though I wouldn't recommend it).
4) Liturgist Animist + Oracle
In terms of raw AOE damage, it's unparalleled, just because it can access fireball, has a lot of divine blasting abilities, and has Earth's Bile which is the most damaging AOE 1-action in the game. It also has the best initiative in the game by a large margin, which makes it pretty consistent on going first - and that's A LOT of damage in real situations. So if we were to set up a fictive scenario where two groups face each other, one with a sorcerer and the other with an animist, I'd bet on the animist.
It's limited in spell slots in comparison to the sorcerer though, it suffers against fire resistant targets, and its single target striking abilities are subpar.
You might notice that the second class is always Oracle. That's because Paizo screwed up by making its best abilities pilferable. Foretell Harm is superior to anything else you could hope to get with an archetype or a dual class - plus it sets you up for more spells if you want to.
I'm glad someone brought up the dragon sorcerer. I was surprised their new initial focus spell does good damage and is ranged. It tops out at 10d8 and 10d4 for up to 120 point single target damage as a focus spell. That's pretty nice.
I'm glad someone brought up the dragon sorcerer. I was surprised their new initial focus spell does good damage and is ranged. It tops out at 10d8 and 10d4 for up to 120 point single target damage as a focus spell. That's pretty nice.
Ranged, up to two two targets, on AC. That makes it compatible with magical trickster which adds sneak, so combines well with rogue, which in turn adds some survivability to the caster when dual-classed.
Just an additional comment on if you do decide on dual class kineticist and sorcerer: It may be useful to take an element as a kineticist (possibly starting with dual gate) that provides a 1st level armor impulse (Armor in Earth for earth [probably last choice because of the higher Str requirement], Metal Carapace for metal, or Hardwood Armor for wood) to reduce the reliance on Dex instead of focusing solely on the damage impulses. You may not be able to start with Con +3 and Cha +4 at 1st level, but Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2, and Cha +4 should be possible.
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I've settled on an Imperial Sorcerer and Tempest Oracle. Should give me a good mix of blasting focus spells and utility focus spells to not be completely limited to blasting.
By selecting two caster with the same main attribute (Cha), you also lose an attribute point as you can't raise Cha over +4. Also, as Oracle and sorcerer have similar profiles in saves, they'll be worse than if you choose a class which strengthens other saves. So you're now focussing your dual class on casting prowess only. But you are neglecting all other advantage a dual class could give you. A monk as second class would improve your saves, defense, movement and HP (plus a higher starting dex due to char creation). A rogue would improve perception/initiative, reflex, etc.
Dual class can make you character a lot stronger in other stuff than just spellcasting. Is it just the blasting you want optimized? As I don't think it will be the optimized character. Combining martial and caster gives you a lot of options, with little lost for spellcasting power, as you can still pick up Oracle as an archetype and grab foretell harm.
As an alternative, might I suggest the following: Undead Sorcerer + Vindicator Ranger. As a Sorcerer, you get the obvious status bonus to damage and huge spell output, and with the Undead bloodline you get drain life as a 1-action damage supplement, which deals even more damage thanks to your blood magic effect. The Vindicator class archetype adds to this with the vindication edge, granting you a constant +1/+2 status bonus to your spell attack rolls and a -1/-2 status penalty to your target's saves against your divine spells when you Hunt Prey against them. Across multiple rounds, this might lead to more damage than an Imperial Sorcerer, since despite the latter's higher modifier you'll be spending fewer actions, and can instead deal damage from an additional source that is then further increased by your various status modifiers. As an additional benefit, picking a Ranger will make your Sorcerer significantly more durable, and can let you push your damage even further while adding a good side layer of utility and skills. Because picking a Vindicator sanctifies you and several divine spells have the sanctified trait, you can push even more damage in certain situations too, particularly as the divine list has some of the best blasting spells out there (including execute, which you get from your bloodline).
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As an alternative, might I suggest the following: Undead Sorcerer + Vindicator Ranger
LOL, the vindicator, scourge of undead and other supernatural threats, with undead blood coursing through his veins....
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As an alternative, might I suggest the following: Undead Sorcerer + Vindicator RangerLOL, the vindicator, scourge of undead and other supernatural threats, with undead blood coursing through his veins....
Well, they did make three Blade movies.
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By selecting two caster with the same main attribute (Cha), you also lose an attribute point as you can't raise Cha over +4. Also, as Oracle and sorcerer have similar profiles in saves, they'll be worse than if you choose a class which strengthens other saves. So you're now focussing your dual class on casting prowess only. But you are neglecting all other advantage a dual class could give you. A monk as second class would improve your saves, defense, movement and HP (plus a higher starting dex due to char creation). A rogue would improve perception/initiative, reflex, etc.
Dual class can make you character a lot stronger in other stuff than just spellcasting. Is it just the blasting you want optimized? As I don't think it will be the optimized character. Combining martial and caster gives you a lot of options, with little lost for spellcasting power, as you can still pick up Oracle as an archetype and grab foretell harm.
I am aware of this. We have done dual class before where it was built with a martial and caster dual class. That is great and powerful.
This experiment is to try a class combo like I played in PF1 or earlier editions like a cleric wizard. I enjoyed playing a pure caster multi-class in older editions. I'd like to see how it works even though on paper it will be tougher early on.
I have noticed later in the game that casters become extremely powerful. Once you hit that 15 plus, you just want for more spells because they really start to power up. In levels 1 to 10 or so, having that martial dual class helps to deal decent martial damage and using limited spell power as opportunities present.
At 15 plus, I want to see what happens if you have immense spell power.
I wonder if the extra spells make up for the loss in defense and other options you're giving up. But it will indeed be amazing, the number of spells at high level you can turn out per fight or day.
So far I feel better using summoning spells with this many spell slots. With so few spell slots as a single class caster, you really want to fill them with high value spells. When you have an abundance of spell slots, a summon can be quite nice. A good one action activity to do a little martial damage.