Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[kelkorkesis]

The reason that I have chosen Scimitar so far is that it has a smooth progression throughout, as evidenced in my previous playthroughs. In my current (Wizard) playthrough, I am taking down detailed notes for the progression of all weapons throughout the game. If the weapons you are mentioning prove to progress smoothly, I may rethink it. (This is also why I am not considering Estocs, for example. Terrible progression.)

You are a magus, you are not really bound by weapon progression. Also, you will get Lion's Claw right after dealing with Vordakai iirc, it is a 18-20/x3 weapon. You won't be needing any weapon after that.

- Fundamentally, I will be a 1-handed DEX melee. Do DEX melees attack with both hands? I know STR melees do, but DEX?!

Game adds 1.5 times your damage stat modifier if you are striking with two hand. Yes, this works for slashing grace for some reason. All your need is an empty hand. Prime eurojank, but I have a suspicion that these divergence from pnp ruleset are actually intended. If there were, congrats Owlcat on sensible changes.

- Also, Power Attack needs STR, which I am planning to neglect.

Even if you dump STR, a stat item fixes it. Even if you have 7 STR you will get an +6 stat belt sooner or later. Before stacking to hit modifiers I wouldn't rely on Power Attack anyways. However, if you equip the belt, get the feat, and later remove the belt you won't be able to use the feat. You will still qualify for things that require Power Attack though.

- I did not expect to hear that Power Attack works in combination with Slashing Grace. Are we sure about this?

Slashing Grace is completely separate thing from Power Attack.

- Even if I did not completely neglect STR and could take Power Attack, I would still have much greater DEX than STR, since DEX is my main attribute. Is Power Attack still superior?

Power attack is something independent from STR and DEX. It doesn't matter if you are DEX or STR or (CHA, see Desna's Shooting Star) based . It is also prereq for some neat stuff (Cornugon Smash, Dreadful Carnage if you want to that route) compared to completely irrelevant Piranha Style.

Edit:

Parabalus, I know Dueling Swords have a very good progression, but their other bonuses look underwhelming to me (unless I failed to pay attention to a really good one somewhere). +5 where?! I have not used them this far and I do not remember it. Are you sure?

If you cheese your path to Lonely Barrow Boss fight you can get Bloodhound. I assume he is talking about it

 

[Parabalus]

Parabalus, I know Dueling Swords have a very good progression, but their other bonuses look underwhelming to me (unless I failed to pay attention to a really good one somewhere). +5 where?! I have not used them this far and I do not remember it. Are you sure?

The lich in LB, you can get it without killing him. It's the best one there is.

I considered running the same SS19/TM1 (also Lawful Evil heh) build, betting on getting bloodhound early, but decided on Kineticist instead.

 

[Trashos]

Ah, I had forgotten about the Lonely Barrow Dueling Sword!

Game adds 1.5 times your damage stat modifier if you are striking with two hand. Yes, this works for slashing grace for some reason.

OK, this cleared up the source of my confusion, and suddenly I can make sense of the whole situation. Cheers!

Still, the needed belts come later and there are plenty DR enemies before that, so I may have to redesign my stats and increase STR a little bit. I will have to think about this.

 

[GamersRiseUppp]

Hey guys I want to create a chaotic good slayer (GUTS like) character. Are there any good builds you can refer me to ?

 

[Lawntoilet]

Hey guys I want to create a chaotic good slayer (GUTS like) character. Are there any good builds you can refer me to ?

Haven't played it but NerdCommando has a 2-handed Slayer build on his channel and he's usually pretty good.

 

[h00jraq]

Hi,

I need some help with building
Well ideally I wanted to have Druid but I can try with Inquisitor and pet but before I will create it I have some questions and would appreciate some help here. I've tried to find some not ranger builds for Inquisitor but I could not. If you know some build example, I will be grateful for posting theme here.

My current setup is:

Me (SS)
Amiri (Mad Dog with dog)
Valerie (Tank, TSS but maybe I will change her build a bit to be tankier or add some support from kinetic knight)
Octavia
Tristian
Linzi

Amiri has a dog companion but I can change it of course. I guess the Inquisitor pet and Amiri pet should be different to get most of them.

I've found a Glaive+1 and this is reach weapon I believe. I also heard that the best selection of 2h weapon is actually among Greataxes so not sure about Glaive for example. My understanding is that to have the use of teamwork feats from Inquisitor I should be close to my pet. I do not think having ranger Inquisitor is the best idea since I already have 3 ranged characters.

So when it comes to building Inquisitor:
- I need to choose Deity with Magic as I understand(or I don't need magic really?), there are only 3 with magic and Favored weapon for them are: Quarterstaff, Mace and Scythe. Not sure how important Favored weapon is here
- I need to choose Domain but again I understand this depends on which Deity I choose
- Animal Companion: Since Amiri has dog(again, this can be changed) I was thinking about something more tanky so either boar or bear but I've also heard that cats are best because of trip

 

[Nerevar]

Animal companions you either take the Smilodon for 5APR fist of the north star cat man gang or you take the Leopard for slightly tankier cat man that is medium size with 1 less attack.

Reach weapons are good unless you are buffing embiggen personoid every fight so it makes the great axe into a reach weapon (you should do this). Glaves have a good progression and so do Greataxes reach is important for standing behind your tanks and not getting hit.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Animal companions you either take the Smilodon for 5APR fist of the north star cat man gang or you take the Leopard for slightly tankier cat man that is medium size with 1 less attack.

Reach weapons are good unless you are buffing embiggen personoid every fight so it makes the great axe into a reach weapon (you should do this). Glaves have a good progression and so do Greataxes reach is important for standing behind your tanks and not getting hit.

I like dog for the trip attempt on attack.
Fauchard is also good but requires exotic proficiency.

 

[Haplo]

Animal companions you either take the Smilodon for 5APR fist of the north star cat man gang or you take the Leopard for slightly tankier cat man that is medium size with 1 less attack.

Reach weapons are good unless you are buffing embiggen personoid every fight so it makes the great axe into a reach weapon (you should do this). Glaves have a good progression and so do Greataxes reach is important for standing behind your tanks and not getting hit.

I like dog for the trip attempt on attack.
Fauchard is also good but requires exotic proficiency.

Yes, canines are good for the trips. They have much higher CMB compared to leopards, also eventually they develop 2 extra attacks, so match leopards at that - but all of their attacks are Bites, with higher damage and potential to Trip (leopard only makes 1 trip attempt per round).

Otherwise - yeah, smilodon for the furry carnage with 5 APR and Pounce.

If you're on good terms with artisans (Sahiya specifically), fauchards handily beat glaives. In particular the Serpent Prince +3 Acid Destructive 18-20/x3 that can be gotten by end 2nd Act/3rd Act - if you're lucky.
Also Mastery is great - but mainly for Combat Maneuver builds.

 

[Nerevar]

In my current playthrough I've got Jaethal as a Vivi she's using Fauchards and Amiri is using Glaves.

I will most probably reroll artisan rewards for this serpent prince looks good.

 

[h00jraq]

Well I was trying to figure out if I can take Erastil Domain because it has Animal & Community and use bow but I'm not sure how teamwork feats work if I will stay far away from my pet.
I don't want to take half-orc for GreatAxes. Was thinking about human race.
Is Favored Weapon really important? Shelyn has Glaive as favored weapon but she does not have community. Maybe if I choose human I can just take Martial Proficency and stick with Erastil because of Animal & Community Domains?

Any tips about Stats & Feats Distributions?

 

[Chippy]

Just a general inquiry - I'm aware of all of the feats, stats, builds and all that - but doesn't TWF miss a lot?. I've always played around with builds like this for the APR, but I'm getting a bit fed up with it in this game. As predicting dealing and recieving damage is so important in this game (particularly early), so missing is a great liability.

I'm trying a build in Varnhold's Lot. My character has 22 STR, is wielding x2 bastard swords (mod installed with fighter feats to bring medium weapons down to -2 hit each) and at level 5 he's struggling with the goblins.

 

[Haplo]

Eh, there are some non-trivial bonuses to hit certain classes have access to - for example Fighter Weapon Training, Slayer Studied Target, Barbarian Rage + powers, Ranger Favoured Enemy, Rogue Debilitating Strike (big AC malus on current target), Vivi bonus stats, magus bonus enchantments + arcana.
Plus there's CC and buffs - can work huge bonuses there. Freeboter ranger alone can provide like up to +7 AB.
But the best source of accuracy IMO remains Shatter Defenses feat + an active character who aoe Intimidates enemies and makes them Shaken (bard is best with Dirge of Doom).

 

[User0001]

So, I was browsing Nexus for mods and saw this mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/96

This mod allows you play gestalt characters. What is gestalt you might ask. It is an alternative level progression which you pick 2 classes on a single level up. You get abilities of both classes and highest of the skill points, BAB and saves. It is very similar to ad&d multiclassing. Check following link for more info
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/gestaltCharacters.htm

I want to start a gestalt campaign with only part of 3 (mc and 2 companions). I have several build ideas but I wonder if anyone has interesting concept that couldn't fit a vanilla playthrough.

Some simple examples:

Druid 20/ Monk 20 : Wildshape suddenly become very very dangerous
Cleric 20/ Fighter 20: This is what you actually want from Crusader Cleric Archetype
Wizard 20/ Monk 20: This is a classic from pnp, it gives a pretty good chasis upgrade to Wizard and increases potential form of the dragon spells very much.

Or you can channel your inner InEffect and slap Vivsectionist 20 to any build you use.

Great for an unfair solo Last Azlanti mode

 

[Tacgnol]

Just a general inquiry - I'm aware of all of the feats, stats, builds and all that - but doesn't TWF miss a lot?. I've always played around with builds like this for the APR, but I'm getting a bit fed up with it in this game. As predicting dealing and recieving damage is so important in this game (particularly early), so missing is a great liability.

I'm trying a build in Varnhold's Lot. My character has 22 STR, is wielding x2 bastard swords (mod installed with fighter feats to bring medium weapons down to -2 hit each) and at level 5 he's struggling with the goblins.

TWF is better for sneak attack classes (rogues or vivisectionists) as they can use light weapons with lower penalities and take advantage of the sneak dice applying to every attack shenanigans.

In tabletop play TWF is usually considered inferior to 2h for full martials. It just requires too much investment and damage wise is usually worse than a properly built 2h character.

 

[Sykar]

Just a general inquiry - I'm aware of all of the feats, stats, builds and all that - but doesn't TWF miss a lot?. I've always played around with builds like this for the APR, but I'm getting a bit fed up with it in this game. As predicting dealing and recieving damage is so important in this game (particularly early), so missing is a great liability.

I'm trying a build in Varnhold's Lot. My character has 22 STR, is wielding x2 bastard swords (mod installed with fighter feats to bring medium weapons down to -2 hit each) and at level 5 he's struggling with the goblins.

TWF is better for sneak attack classes (rogues or vivisectionists) as they can use light weapons with lower penalities and take advantage of the sneak dice applying to every attack shenanigans.

In tabletop play TWF is usually considered inferior to 2h for full martials. It just requires too much investment and damage wise is usually worse than a properly built 2h character.

Still fun to see a berserker type fighter dual wielding axes to make mincemeat out of the opposition.

 

[Tacgnol]

Just a general inquiry - I'm aware of all of the feats, stats, builds and all that - but doesn't TWF miss a lot?. I've always played around with builds like this for the APR, but I'm getting a bit fed up with it in this game. As predicting dealing and recieving damage is so important in this game (particularly early), so missing is a great liability.

I'm trying a build in Varnhold's Lot. My character has 22 STR, is wielding x2 bastard swords (mod installed with fighter feats to bring medium weapons down to -2 hit each) and at level 5 he's struggling with the goblins.

TWF is better for sneak attack classes (rogues or vivisectionists) as they can use light weapons with lower penalities and take advantage of the sneak dice applying to every attack shenanigans.

In tabletop play TWF is usually considered inferior to 2h for full martials. It just requires too much investment and damage wise is usually worse than a properly built 2h character.

Still fun to see a berserker type fighter dual wielding axes to make mincemeat out of the opposition.

Also TWF is amusingly one of the very few situations that the unchained barbarian is better than the regular one.

Unchained flat bonuses to damage and hit apply far better to two weapon fighting than they do with the regular barbarians rage bonuses to strength.

 

[h00jraq]

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out the right SS build for my MC. Have to choose between Str or Dex and each of them have pros & cons.

- Str have bigger overall damage but it's less Tanky compared to Dex because we have more AC from Dex stacking. Not sure how big the difference is but if I remember on lvl 8 I had 32 AC as Dex SS and as Str based I have 29 AC(or even 28c) so it is just 3 points but those 3 points my matters.
- As Str SS we do not have to choose feats like fencing grace to get bonus dmg from Dex so we can chose more useful feats actually.
- We have better touch AC as Dex SS but in order to actually have this AC bonus from Dex, we can't be flat-footed so we need high initiative so we probably need to take some initiative feats
- I'm not sure which weapons are better but probably one with better crit range so Estoc, Falcata, Fauchard, Bastard Sword, Dueling Sword? Not sure about other weapons. First 3 I believe are the best because they have best crit range. Fauchard is probably the best one because of reach and trip but there are not so many Fauchards. At the beginning of chapter III I have just one Fauchard +1, nothing special. I don't want to count on uber Artisan Gear as maybe I will not get weapons which I want so I focus on something that I can get either from Varnhold DLC or from Beneath the Stolen Land DLC or from main campaign.

So in general because my MC will stand next to Valerie I would like him to be tanky but of course, I don't need 70+ AC (or I need it actually?)
I just feel lost . I would like to be tanky but I do not know how much I sacrifice using Dex version.

 

[Haplo]

Are you going the 1 level Monk dip route? If so, a Strength based SS is plenty tanky enough. I'd consider a Dex SS only for a purist build.

I wouldn't recommend the Fauchard. Its a two-handed weapon, so Spell Combat won't work with it. And while late game you may rarely use it, its a potent tool till midgame at least.
Also while pretty good, its not the heaviest hitting 2 handed weapon. That'd be the greataxe, so I'd go with that if I insisted on going 2-handed. Falcata (with the 2nd DLC!) and estoc are top picks, yes. Longsword can be pretty good - but you wrote you don't want to rely on artisan and here you would. Or go for bastard swords and get the best of both worlds (due to the presence of oversized, two-handed bastard swords which use the same proficiency/feats as the regular 1-handed versions while dealing very high base damage).

You may get some ideas here:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...nd-strats-thread.124160/page-114#post-6121550

 

[The Reflex]

(Can't seem to find my usual login so new account it is, here we go)

A few questions from someone starting this soon and obsessed with character builds:

1) Any role in this game essential? Like "you must have a healer" etc?

2) Any suggestion of melee based STR builds...
a) preferably TWF, 1H, or 2H in this order (no 1H+shield)
b) preferably including Paladin, or Inquisitor, or Cleric, in this order

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Guys, a foolproof Druid Defender build for turn based mod?

Can't decide if going Ranged, mele or focus on spells&summons.

I'm trying a somwhat min-maxed melee build, high strenght (physiscal attributes stack with shifting?), so-so wisdom. Not sure what to expect.

 

[Shadenuat]

Max transmutation, spam entangle, see enemy walk to you 1 by 1 in tb mod and kill them with party.
Max fire DC, use obsidian flow and sirocco. kill everything.
feed melee bosses to your own summoned swarms.
during endgame fill all slots with Elemental Swarm and see endgame enemies trying to chew through them all and laf.

minmaxing druid for melee ends with 1 level of monk > rest druid and going around in elemental form with immunity to critical hits. if you want extra evil go feyspeaker and also slap mirror image on yourself. walk around unfair and see enemies failing to do anything.

 

[Shadenuat]

(Can't seem to find my usual login so new account it is, here we go)

A few questions from someone starting this soon and obsessed with character builds:

1) Any role in this game essential? Like "you must have a healer" etc?

2) Any suggestion of melee based STR builds...
a) preferably TWF, 1H, or 2H in this order (no 1H+shield)
b) preferably including Paladin, or Inquisitor, or Cleric, in this order

ima not sure twf is that phenomenal in this game, although it does make some sense for paladin since you add bonus from smite to left hand.

honestly I'd just use gigantic two hander and smash everything with str 20 aasimar.

for inquisitor, sacred huntsmaster is p strong - use reach weapons

for cleric, honestly just 1 level of fighter or barbarian or whatever to get weapons armor and then

use gigantic two hander and smash everything

I played barb 1/cleric of gorum aka Muscle Cleric who prebuffed with everything using domains to get super enlarge and smash things.

 

[Desiderius]

If you're on good terms with artisans (Sahiya specifically), fauchards handily beat glaives. In particular the Serpent Prince +3 Acid Destructive 18-20/x3 that can be gotten by end 2nd Act/3rd Act - if you're lucky.
Also Mastery is great - but mainly for Combat Maneuver builds.

Heroic Invocation on Petal is the shit.

 

[Desiderius]

Any role in this game essential? Like "you must have a healer" etc?

Bard
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Freebooter, Cleric
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Alchemist
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Everything Else