Transmuter Conversion

[Ravingdork]

Can anyone help me rebuild my 1e transmuter, Haylannar, as a 2e Remaster character? It's something I've been meaning to do for a while, but I'm not really sure where to begin, or how best to go about it.

He's supposed to be a powerful merchant wizard who accidentally absorbed some of the powers of an artifact when it was absorbed into his very being while using polymorph magic.

In 1e this was accomplished by increasing his polymorph forms' Base Attack Bonus to far greater heights than even fighters. Then he would simply tear his enemies apart with as many powerful natural attacks as possible.

[Dragonchess Player]

Regarding your last paragraph, battle forms in PF2e will not be able to attack "to far greater heights than even fighters." However, some suggestions on "where to begin:"

1) The School of Protean Form is probably closest in PF2e to a PF1e wizard specializing in polymorph magic. Not sure which arcane thesis you would prefer, but Improved Familiar Attunement might work well with the next suggestion.

2) You may want to consider taking the MC witch archetype with a patron that grants primal spells and focus on preparing primal battle form spells in the archetype spell slots.

3) To simulate the "absorbed some of the powers of an artifact," you may consider using the rules for Relics and Soul Seeds.

[Dr. Frank Funkelstein]

My first thought would be the Gelid Shared item/archetype, maybe taking that as a casting component and use a martial class for the rest.

[Ryangwy]

Polymorph... the druid gets to cast functionally infinite max rank battleform spells, and can cast many kinds of buffs, but not the attack boosting ones. You could go with Trick Magic Item into Religion for Heroism? Similarly, you can use Animist with Darkened Forest Form (which admittedly has a higher action tax but only costs 1 action upfront so you can combo it with spells and has fewer feats required), who naturally get Heroism and Bless anyway. It'll be Wis based but polymorph lets you neglect your Dex and Str so you can pump Int skills if you want.

... hmm, Animist might fit better than I thought? Instead of being spirits, reflavour them as the power of the artifacts. And you benefit from extra Lore too.

[Ascalaphus]

I'd look at Ooze Form. It's not always going to be a good idea, because PF2 just isn't PF1. But there are some moments when it really does work well.

A friend of mine is fond of using it in PFS whenever we get into one of those "and then they drop a bucket of rogues on you" encounters. Turn into a large ooze that can't be critted, doesn't take precision damage, resists piercing and slashing damage, and gets a bag of temporary HP. Sure, they'll hit almost every strike they try against you, but they might not get through all of your temporary HP before the encounter is over. And any strike they're doing for pitiful damage on you, is a strike they're not doing efficiently with sneak attack and possible crits on another party member.

Ooze form makes for a remarkable tank, in the kind of encounters where it matters. But this being PF2, that won't be all encounters. PF2 just goes out of its way to make sure the same trick doesn't always work.

Keep in mind that as a wizard you can juice up ooze form quite a bit. Tailwind is a status bonus so it'll work fine to increase your bad battleform speed. Haste works too. So would Heroism if someone puts that on you.

It would be a bit more of a "wizard with tricks" build; you'd want to pick up some other spells for other occasions too. It's more a playstyle of "what does THIS encounter need" instead of "how can I make sure my standard plan is reliable in every encounter".

[Chovihano]

I would second Ryangwy's Animist suggestion and add that you should also take a look at Devouring Dark Form in addition to Darkened Forest Form. While you won't surpass a Fighter in offense or defense, the Class has a few perks in regards to the Form Vessel Spells.
- Animist has access to Bless, Heroism (also already mentioned by Ryangwy) and Protection Spells
- Liturgist synergizes well with the Form Vessel Spells at 9th level (Leap, Step, or Tumble Through > Sustain Vessel Spell)
- Devouring Dark Form (Sustain > Grapple and later Strike)
- Darkened Forest Form (Sustain > change to a different shape, unless there is a ruling I have missed, I believe you gain the Temporary HPs each time you change to new form)

[Dragonchess Player]

As an alternative to MC witch archetype and Relic soul seeds, start the wizard at Wis +2 and grant free archetype in MC druid for the "absorbed some of the powers of an artifact" bit.

Free archetype feats:
2nd- Druid Dedication (Untamed Order)
4th- Basic Wilding (Untamed Form)
6th- Basic Druid Spellcasting
8th- Advanced Wilding (Rip and Tear)
10th- Primal Breadth (or another druid feat via Advanced Wilding)
12th- Advanced Wilding (Insect Shape)
14th- Expert Druid Spellcasting
16th- Advanced Wilding (Ferocious Shape)
18th- Advanced Wilding (Soaring Shape)
20th- Advanced Wilding (Elemental Shape or Plant Shape) or Master Druid Spellcasting (for 8th rank dragon form as a prepared spell)

Leverage the untamed form order spell to pick a battle form without needing to prepare it in advance, although the options lag a bit behind even the archetype spell slots.

[The Raven Black]

If you really want to get the highest attack bonus AND can convince your GM that an Ape form's Fist attack is in the Brawling group, go Fighter MC Druid.

Otherwise,if you play level 8 and above, go Dragon Barbarian MC Druid. With Form Control as your level 8 feat.

In both cases, take Trick Magic Item for Heroism.

And use scrolls for all the nifty spells you will cast when not polymorphed.

[Chovihano]

And now a quick adventure in the the Plane of Cheese...
- Elf Step also comes into play at Level 9 (1 Action, Step twice) synergizing with Liturgist
- Level 1 Devouring Dark Form is a Morph meaning it can potentially be used while Polymorphed
- 1 Action > Step twice > Sustain both Devouring Dark Form and Darkened Forest Form > Grapple and Change Shape (gaining Temporary HPs)