So, on my Oracle of bones … would I be better off prioritizing dexterity as a secondary bonus for ac and reflex or constitution for hit points and fortitude?
Which priority is better for ‘survivability’?
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If you're starting at level 1, AC is more of a priority if you're trying to stay alive.
Basically, it's a choice between maxing AC at level 1 or level 5. If you can manage to make it to level 5 or you're starting later than 1st level, it's better to have started with higher constitution. It'll be +3/+1 or +2/+2. Lower AC will hurt you more than a few less hitpoints but by 5th level, it's a payoff
Start with studded leather either way. Personally, I would take the gamble to be more effective later on
There's a cap on how much Dex will help AC, but not on how much Con will help h.p., so it depends on if you'll be playing to the levels where you'll reach that cap (which depends on armor proficiency). (Though do note that having high Reflex saves matters a lot too.)
A hefty amount of which is preferred depends also on what type of campaign you're in. In one where you face a lot of AoEs (dragons & blaster casters), then you'll want more Dex than if facing poisons & diseases in an undead campaign. Are you underground and indoors a lot where it's easy to cut enemies off from reaching you or outdoors where you'll get attacked nearly as much as the warriors?
And are you taking Reach Spell so you can safely stay back? Is there a Champion who can defend you well vs. melee, but not so much vs. ranged? Or are the melee PCs skirmishers leaving you to fend for yourself? Is there another healer?
In a low-level one-shot, I'd go Dex, maybe leave Wis a little low instead of Con. But as Power128 pointed out, if going to higher levels I'd likely favor Con if I had to choose. On casters (light or no armor), I prefer 14 in each, but I am thinking long term and relying on defensive positioning/teamwork.
Which priority is better for ‘survivability’?
Overall, they are extremely close. AC is better at level 1 (because the Ancestry hp bonus makes hp less interesting) but goes down very quickly until at some point Constitution becomes more interesting.
For Reflex saves, hps are actually more interesting than Dexterity, as the HP gain is significantly higher than the bonus to the save (a +1 to Reflex is 7% reduction of damage, when a +1 hp per level is higher than that on everything but a Barbarian).
So the question boils down to: What level do you intend to play?
If you want the best low level experience, then Dexterity is the safest bet. But if you expect to reach at least level 5 and potentially level 10 then Constitution will be more interesting.
There's a cap on how much Dex will help AC, but not on how much Con will help h.p., so it depends on if you'll be playing to the levels where you'll reach that cap (which depends on armor proficiency). (Though do note that having high Reflex saves matters a lot too.)
A hefty amount of which is preferred depends also on what type of campaign you're in. In one where you face a lot of AoEs (dragons & blaster casters), then you'll want more Dex than if facing poisons & diseases in an undead campaign. Are you underground and indoors a lot where it's easy to cut enemies off from reaching you or outdoors where you'll get attacked nearly as much as the warriors?
And are you taking Reach Spell so you can safely stay back? Is there a Champion who can defend you well vs. melee, but not so much vs. ranged? Or are the melee PCs skirmishers leaving you to fend for yourself? Is there another healer?
In a low-level one-shot, I'd go Dex, maybe leave Wis a little low instead of Con. But as Power128 pointed out, if going to higher levels I'd likely favor Con if I had to choose. On casters (light or no armor), I prefer 14 in each, but I am thinking long term and relying on defensive positioning/teamwork.
Well. Since it is a port of Age of Worms I highly suspect undead will be a significant factor. There should be some distributed healing available, both in a battle medicine et al, and the witch tells me that there will be some healing capacity coming from that direction as well.
If there's going to be a reliable source of in-combat healing (and that healing isn't temp-HP-based), then Con gets even juicier, as you have a "bigger battery" to hold more potential "charge" and you theoretically waste less potential HP.
By the time that in-combat healing becomes relatively cheap, you should have an armor that maxes out your AC for your level or comes really close, anyhow, so any extra Dex will only help you with your various Dex-related checks and DCs (Acrobatics will be impacted if you don't have the Strength for some potential armor choices).
If you plan on going +1 Dex, +3 Con, you also might look into Sentinel Dedi for scaling Medium armor proficiency. The Strength requirement isn't really achievable for your stat allocations, but hopefully you wouldn't be doing the checks your Armor Check Penalty affects anyways? And the Speed reduction can be mitigated by being a Dwarf or a Wand of Tailwind, among other methods.
That's awesome, I've long wanted to adapt Age of Worms (though can't expect to with my limited time). Yeah, that'll take you all the way to 20th I'd think and Con should serve better vs. the thematic threats (though all of your defenses will be challenged at some point so you'll want an 18-20 in all of your save stats by the end if not 10th/15th). Your warriors should be able to protect you from melee enemies through the earliest adventures and sounds like the Witch can cover you in an emergency (and vice-versa...since I suspect the Witch will be significantly more vulnerable than you, and maybe more than their players suspects.)
That's awesome, I've long wanted to adapt Age of Worms (though can't expect to with my limited time). Yeah, that'll take you all the way to 20th I'd think and Con should serve better vs. the thematic threats (though all of your defenses will be challenged at some point so you'll want an 18-20 in all of your save stats by the end if not 10th/15th). Your warriors should be able to protect you from melee enemies through the earliest adventures and sounds like the Witch can cover you in an emergency (and vice-versa...since I suspect the Witch will be significantly more vulnerable than you, and maybe more than their players suspects.)
One of our goals was some distributed healing ability to make it harder to ‘crash out’. It is with free Archetype so that should help a bit early on in that area.
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From my experience, healing on casters is rare.
Being attacked as a caster happens mostly in 3 cases:
- Surprise attack: An unforeseen attack targets the caster but then the party reposition themselves and the caster can safely get to the backline. The goal in that case is just to survive the round it takes for you to escape the nasty situation.
- The frontline is crumbling: The enemies are hitting hard and your martials start to get down, leaving gaps in the frontline that enemies start to exploit. And in that case, the healing (if there's any left) tends to favor the martials so they can get back on their feet and resume their defensive tasks.
- Everyone's hit: Enemies use AoE attacks that target the entire party. In that case, healing is needed on everyone. It's the case where casters may receive healing, especially if they fail their saves more than anyone else. But it's mostly a high level thing, so there's no need to take it into consideration right away.
Yah. Just figuring out which way to plan for.
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The other thing to consider is skills and Archetypes. Dex has quite a few useful skills. If nobody else in the party is handling disabling traps then going dex over con and maxing out thievery is an attractive option. And EVERYBODY wants kip up if they can manage to fit it into their build.
Probably not an issue since Oracles tend to go all in on social skills but worth at least giving a bit of thought to.
As to archetypes, there are lots of interesting archetypes that need dex to get into. Again, likely not an issue for a bones oracle but I ALWAYS give at least some thought to the rogue dedication (I love skills :-))
The other thing to consider is skills and Archetypes. Dex has quite a few useful skills. If nobody else in the party is handling disabling traps then going dex over con and maxing out thievery is an attractive option. And EVERYBODY wants kip up if they can manage to fit it into their build.
Probably not an issue since Oracles tend to go all in on social skills but worth at least giving a bit of thought to.
As to archetypes, there are lots of interesting archetypes that need dex to get into. Again, likely not an issue for a bones oracle but I ALWAYS give at least some thought to the rogue dedication (I love skills :-))
Well. Yes. The thought of ‘going rogue’ and being an oracle skill monkey had occurred as one branch.
I would prioritize both Dex and Con for an oracle. Get your charisma maxed, then dex, con, wis. You don't really need str and intelligence.
Calculate what you want for end stats based on the 4 ability bonuses you'll get every five levels.
Probably want to start with something like S 10 D 14 C 14 Int 10 Wis 12 or 14 Cha 18.
You have the option of light armor at level 1. So you're likely to start with a 13 + 1 or 2 + 2 or 3 from dex for a 16 or 17.
Then build up stats from there stacking them on.
Dex is nice for stealth and acrobatics. You should be able to build up the main 4 while leveling up.
You get a lot of ability boosts in PF2. Main choice for dex or con is how high you start at level 1 and how fast you want to get each to max.
I tend to focus on dex and con equally because high level AOE spells are pretty brutal, so are high level fort spells. You can keep wisdom moderate because you will get a high will save from the oracle class.