Hedge Mage! Paizo has finally given me a toy I have wanted for so long!
Time to be stupid!
So we are starting with lizardfolk, we want that sweet bonus to strength and wisdom with the free bonus. Pick a background that gives dex or wisdom, and we are building on the ranger chassis today.
Starting stats:
Strength +3, Dexterity +3, Constitution +0, Intelligence +0, Wisdom +3, Charisma +0
For our heritage grab cliffscale lizardfolk, and we want the Lizardfolk Lore ancestry feat. For our level 1 class feat we will grab gravity weapon, and our edge will be precision.
Our primary skills are going to be nature, stealth, and survival, though if you want to let nature sit at trained and boost something else it will be fine.
At level 2 we rip right into it take hedge mage dedication, we will be wisdom casters and I rather prefer primal casting for this guy. It just fits his flavor. Level 4 we will grab our basic spellcasting feat and use our skill feat to get peer past the hedge. This means we meet the requirements to take a second dedication which we will promptly do at level 6 to go Eldritch Archer. Our casting for this is of course primal.
Our class feats are basically spoken for from this point forward. We want the spellcasting feats as well level (hedge at 12th and Eldritch at 14th, hedge again at 18th and Eldritch at 20 if you get there).
The optional class feats I recommend are enchanting shot, cantrip supremacy as this gives more options.
For skill feats we follow what I think is a fairly standard ranger set: Thorough search, expeditious search, swift sneak, foil senses, and at higher level legendary sneak. I like the elemental grace, and elemental guide for their passive effects and at level 20 legendary survivalist.
For our ancestry feats I recommend gecko's grip, swift swimmer, and read the stars. Marsh runner seems to fit to me as well.
So what does this mean?
Well at in exploration we will be an excellent searcher getting critical success for success, and doing so without slowing down while detecting magic, covering tracks, and avoiding notice while giving our allies passive buffs against extreme environments.
In combat we are only shooting one arrow at a time but we are getting precision with it, the greater weapon bonus, and gravity weapon to help with damage. If you need to move enchanting arrow means you put a bit more damage on it. If you can stay still you can do an Eldritch shot instead.
Heightened low level spells from hedge mage can prop up your party and yourself while the Eldritch spontaneous slots can be used for combat and emergencies with the signature spells.
Interesting! I wonder how well it holds up at high levels when compared to say, taking Druid Dedication and the follow-up spell feats.
At level 20 you are looking at 4d6+3d8+16 (8 gravity weapon + 6 greater weapons specialization + 2 from strength)+(spell or enchanting strike 2d6) once a round for damage.
So about 14+13+16 for 43 damage + whatever for damage with a +34 to hit ignoring any circumstance or status bonuses you might have.
Saves are solid enough at F 32, R 35, W 33. The hedge mage spells really lend themselves to some nice long term buffs for self and party. It is certainly not a pure caster nor is it a pure martial, but I feel good that it would be contributing in all situations.
Interesting. I put together a partial Pathbuilder build. If you see anything you'd do differently, let me know. :-)
Also, I haven't made any spell selections yet.
I did not realize that was a possibility. Here is the level 20 bare bones original I started this with.
One of the key take aways for me in building this is just how nice the ranger class abilities outside of feats are. I have a build where I used fighter as the chassis and it is still solid, but does not feel as good as the ranger. The fact ranger gets legendary reflex and can have master proficiency in both will and fortitude with success = crit for both fort and reflex is a really nice lift to go with the rest of the package.
Hm. Gravity Weapon isn't a Class Feat, it's a Focus spell. The corresponding Class Feat is Initiate Warden.
Yeah, that seems to have been an artifact of pathbuilder.