Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[Daidre]

Did a very similar char once without crazy killer part.

Only advice I can give is to take a look on Eldritch Arcana for magus goodies. Orc Bloodline there is pretty good if you are in the mood for orcish chaotic evil larp.

power attack+ intimidating prowess (and your obscene str) + corrguan smash

Weapon Focus - Dazzling Display - Shatter Defenses will be nice addition here also to attack flat-footed AC after Cornugon Smash.

 

[Jarpie]

I'd avoid eldritch arcana, haven't been updated for a while and it's impossible to remove from the saves.

 

[Haplo]

So it hasn't been updated. But what's the problem if its still working perfectly fine?

Eh, another player charmed by a Scion's brute strength. It's really not a very good archetype IMO. Of course, Charisma focus can be kinda nice.

 

[Daidre]

I like Scions. As RP concept among maguses I prefer Sword Saints - they are all pretty, elegant and romantic but heavy micro for Shock Grasps gets old fast. And spontaneous casting is always attractive to me - I forget to adapt my spell books for dungeons bit too often and can drag useless spells in 2/3 of my slots.

 

[Shadenuat]

Aw they fixed Holy Sword stacking with everyting. Although you can still cast it on pets.
Honestly now if I wanted to play Paladin I'd pick one which can't cast spells but gains extra feats, Guardian or something, so bad Paladin spells are. I was interested and went through ~20 Paladin archetypes and they all kinda look meh or specialized for some roleplay. So uninspired. I only liked one (as suited for CRPG) - which bonds with armor instead of weapon, but to be in game there have to be armor enhancements for it. For example, he can make his armor grant full AC against incorporeal creatures. And yeah there are no mounts.

I don't think Paizo likes Paladins much especially when I look, yeah, at classes like Sword Saint which make old me used to HEAVY penalties to combining martial might and spells go lolz I add int to dodge and to initiative and I aoo and cast spells and stuff class for modern I guess

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Haplo
a grimm spawn tiefling sword saint works fine too. but he is a sissy dancer. not a strong charismatic chad who doesn't give a shit about memorising spells.

Shadenuat
Because Paizo's sjw librul infestation doesn't want a strong man who lifts dedicating his life to God's glory to be an inspiration.

On the other hand, a sissy faggy naked dancing fencer fits their agenda very well so make them more OP. so retarded shit loke int to dodge ac from Sword Saint stacks with that same feature from duelist.

 

[Haplo]

Well, after a long time, recently I have been showered with great scimitars.
Earlier there was only Slicer (+2 Runic Mageblade) and long time nothing.

But recently Nazrielle brought me Divine Intervention, a +4 Holy Fire that also casts Divine Power, so pretty cool.
And yesterday in early Act V I have found:
Thundercrack: +5 Shock Agile Runic Mageblade
Thundering Scimitar of the Bear God: +4 Shock, Sonic, casts Call Lightning on crit, provides Shock & Sonic damage to natural attacks of the wielder and its animal companion (more bonus damage if AC is bear or if wildshaped into one).

Well, guess scimitars are really a decent choice for 1-handed arms. Too bad their base damage dice are low.

 

[Cael]

Well, after a long time, recently I have been showered with great scimitars.
Earlier there was only Slicer (+2 Runic Mageblade) and long time nothing.

But recently Nazrielle brought me Divine Intervention, a +4 Holy Fire that also casts Divine Power, so pretty cool.
And yesterday in early Act V I have found:
Thundercrack: +5 Shock Runic Mageblade
Thundering Scimitar of the Bear God: +4 Shock, Sonic, casts Call Lightning on crit, provides Shock & Sonic damage to natural attacks of the wielder and its animal companion (more bonus damage if AC is bear or if wildshaped into one).

Well, guess scimitars are really a decent choice for 1-handed arms. Too bad their base damage dice are low.

Base damage is generally better than a larger crit range. I can't recall if there is a point when the expected damage of a weapon with a larger crit range beats that of a larger base damage (e.g., d6, 18-20/x2 vs d8, 19-20/x2).

 

[Daidre]

Crit is much more important in the game. AOO procs from Outflank and Seize the Moment so good that I barely look at anything with 19-20 or 20 crit range before Keen and feats. I only know one weapon in the game (godly 2h axe) that is worth using despite 19-20 crit range (better than generic axe and x3 damage).

Incorruptible Petal +5 Glaive is good too despite 20/x3, but I usually try to give it to feat starved builds.

Pity that Falchions are so badly represented. Only one good unique in the end of ch 7 is ridiculous. Everything else for endgame is generic +4 - 5 Keen.

 

[Cael]

Crit is especially useful for maguses because spells also crit.

Thunder God scimitar is thus the best weapon in the game. And the most lulzy too.

Spells with a rolled attack only crit on 20/x2. But, you want to see something hilarious? 3.5 has the Spellsword with the Channel Spell ability, which allows him to channel any spell he can cast (and has memorised, if wizard based) into his opponent on a successful attack.

"I will Channel a lightning bolt and slap him."*roll vs touch AC and crits*

 

[Cael]

Spells use weapon crit range for maguses with spellstrike.

I know. Dumbest thing ever.

They had a very, very mild version of that in 3.5 with the spell Spiritual Weapon. It always did d8 (+1 per x caster level) damage, but its crit was dependent on the weapon it is emulating. The weapon is the favoured weapon of your diety. You better hope your deity's weapon is a rapier or something similar...

To then apply that to any spell a magus can cast...

 

[Daidre]

To then apply that to any spell a magus can cast...

It is melee touch only. In P:K most powerful compatible spell before metamagic applied is Vampiric Touch level 3, but you are stuck with lvl 1 Shock Grasp for almost all game because it competes with Haste and Stinking Cloud. In most cases it is easier to hit them in the head with club then even try this spellstrike shenanigans.

One of the most disappointing class features.

 

[Cael]

To then apply that to any spell a magus can cast...

It is melee touch only. In P:K most powerful compatible spell before metamagic applied is Vampiric Touch level 3, but you are stuck with lvl 1 Shock Grasp for almost all game. In most cases it is easier to hit them in the head with club then even try this spellstrike shenanigans.

One of the most disappointing class features.

Chill Touch doesn't exist? Touch of Idiocy?

 

[Daidre]

Chill Touch doesn't exist? Touch of Idiocy?

Not included. Lake any other melee touch on spell lvl 4-6.

Eldritch Archer is actually more attractive to use with Spellstrike thanks to Scorching Ray and Hellfire Ray. No problems with move action eating their full attack too.

 

[Daidre]

That gives you all the benefits and no problems.

There is huge downside that magus with a charged spell moves with the speed of dying snail. When you cast it out of aggro radius everything will be destroyed long before he gets into fray.

 

[Daidre]

Shock Grasp with a nice flavor of suicide. Damage definitely worth it

Sorry, I just imagined him trying to deliver it into the pack of Wild Hunt alone.

 

[Cael]

Chill Touch doesn't exist? Touch of Idiocy?

Not included. Lake any other melee touch on spell lvl 4-6.

Eldritch Archer is actually more attractive to use with Spellstrike thanks to Scorching Ray and Hellfire Ray. No problems with move action eating their full attack too.

Chill Touch is level 1. 1d6 damage (+1 Strength damage, Fort negates). Number of touches = caster level. Fun interpretation: number of attacks = caster level. Level 20 = 20 touches that round, with a potential of 20d6 damage + 20 Str damage. Usual interpretation: you get to attack number of times as dictated by your BAB per round, but you get to use it over multiple rounds until the attacks are used up.

Touch of Idiocy is level 2. 1d6 penalty to all three mental stats, but never below 1. Crit with this and it is game over for casters.

 

[Cael]

In most cases it is easier to hit them in the head with club then even try this spellstrike shenanigans.

And we returned back where we started)

Welcome to the Codex. Here's your anti-nausea medication.

 

[Daidre]

Late game the spellstrike is almost useless, because of the danger of getting AoO's unnecessarily. The surest way to success is buffs, and staying out of range of most attacks by using large weapons. It is only useful midgame and that too very sparingly because you get too few uses. In early game, it is too hard to pull off without getting hit in the face.
I would rather depend on Mirror images, enlarges and weapon enchants to stay alive and let die, thank you.

In most cases it is easier to hit them in the head with club then even try this spellstrike shenanigans.

And we returned back where we started)

 

[Haplo]

Chill Touch doesn't exist? Touch of Idiocy?

Not included. Lake any other melee touch on spell lvl 4-6.

Eldritch Archer is actually more attractive to use with Spellstrike thanks to Scorching Ray and Hellfire Ray. No problems with move action eating their full attack too.

Chill Touch is level 1. 1d6 damage (+1 Strength damage, Fort negates). Number of touches = caster level. Fun interpretation: number of attacks = caster level. Level 20 = 20 touches that round, with a potential of 20d6 damage + 20 Str damage. Usual interpretation: you get to attack number of times as dictated by your BAB per round, but you get to use it over multiple rounds until the attacks are used up.

Touch of Idiocy is level 2. 1d6 penalty to all three mental stats, but never below 1. Crit with this and it is game over for casters.

Yeah, not included.

Frigid Touch is in though. On crit stagger for a looong time, no save.

Also the basic Shocking Grasp is fun with the Eldiritch Arcana mod and some metamagics (and non-ES magus): Get Magical Lineage and Metamagic Master traits and at level 10 cast level 2 Intensified, Empowered, rod maximized 90 damage Shocking Grasps (180 on crit) - plus your usual attacks. A standard Magus with Improved Spell Recall can even do this 20+ times per day (well, there probably aren't that many maximize rods available and you probably won't get multiple copies of Leviatan's Robes either, but still, pretty good even without that).

 

[Cael]

Chill Touch doesn't exist? Touch of Idiocy?

Not included. Lake any other melee touch on spell lvl 4-6.

Eldritch Archer is actually more attractive to use with Spellstrike thanks to Scorching Ray and Hellfire Ray. No problems with move action eating their full attack too.

Chill Touch is level 1. 1d6 damage (+1 Strength damage, Fort negates). Number of touches = caster level. Fun interpretation: number of attacks = caster level. Level 20 = 20 touches that round, with a potential of 20d6 damage + 20 Str damage. Usual interpretation: you get to attack number of times as dictated by your BAB per round, but you get to use it over multiple rounds until the attacks are used up.

Touch of Idiocy is level 2. 1d6 penalty to all three mental stats, but never below 1. Crit with this and it is game over for casters.

Yeah, not included.

Frigid Touch is in though. On crit stagger for a looong time, no save.

Also the basic Shocking Grasp is fun with the Eldiritch Arcana mod and some metamagics (and non-ES magus): Get Magical Lineage and Metamagic Master traits and at level 10 cast level 2 Intensified, Empowered, rod maximized 90 damage Shocking Grasps (180 on crit) - plus your usual attacks. A standard Magus with Improved Spell Recall can even do this 20+ times per day (well, there probably aren't that many maximize rods available, but still, pretty good even without that).

Could be worse. Could be Shivering Touch.

Lesser Shivering Touch. Cle/Sorc/Wiz 1. 1d6 Dex damage on touch. No save.
Shivering Touch. Cle/Sorc/Wiz 3. 3d6 Dex damage on touch. No save.

Crit with the level 3 version and it is good game.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Late game the spellstrike is almost useless, because of the danger of getting AoO's unnecessarily. The surest way to success is buffs, and staying out of range of most attacks by using large weapons. It is only useful midgame and that too very sparingly because you get too few uses. In early game, it is too hard to pull off without getting hit in the face.
I would rather depend on Mirror images, enlarges and weapon enchants to stay alive and let die, thank you.

In most cases it is easier to hit them in the head with club then even try this spellstrike shenanigans.

And we returned back where we started)

That is why full strength Demonic Scion focusing on self buffs is more fun than trying to use melee spell combat which has so shit implementation in this RTwP version. remember metamagiced spells no longer cost a standard action so cannot be used effectively in spell combat (i.e. full round attack).

I too was super excited with metamagic master and magical lineage traits but after testing turned out that it costs full round action so no more spell combat with metamaxed spells (unless bug?)

Why cannot I get spell perfection though? I meet the pre-reqs of spell perfection of the EA mod but cannot get it on my str magus (should theoretically turn shocking grasp into a lv0 spell when stacking with traits...)

 

[Daidre]

I too was super excited with metamagic master and magical lineage traits but after testing turned out that it costs full round action so no more spell combat with metamaxed spells (unless bug?)

All casters with spontaneous casting waste full round with metamagic by P&P rules. So not bug. Among maguses only Scion hit with this disadvantage. Price for having all your spell list available without preparation.

Only way to negate it is Arcane Apotheoses (?) - lvl 20 Arcane bloodline ability is buffed in the mod.

 

[Haplo]

I too was super excited with metamagic master and magical lineage traits but after testing turned out that it costs full round action so no more spell combat with metamaxed spells (unless bug?)

Why cannot I get spell perfection though? I meet the pre-reqs of spell perfection of the EA mod but cannot get it on my str magus (should theoretically turn shocking grasp into a lv0 spell when stacking with traits...)

The fact the Eldritch Scions can't effectively use metamagic is one of the reasons I consider them a sub-par archetype.

As for Spell Perfection... you really took at least 3 metamagic feats on a character that can't effectively use them? Also regarding skills, there is no Spellcraft in P:K, so I'd guess Knowledge Arcana? You sure you have 15 RANKS of that?

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

I too was super excited with metamagic master and magical lineage traits but after testing turned out that it costs full round action so no more spell combat with metamaxed spells (unless bug?)

Why cannot I get spell perfection though? I meet the pre-reqs of spell perfection of the EA mod but cannot get it on my str magus (should theoretically turn shocking grasp into a lv0 spell when stacking with traits...)

The fact the Eldritch Scions can't effectively use metamagic is one of the reasons I consider them a sub-par archetype.

As for Spell Perfection... you really took at least 3 metamagic feats on a character that can't effectively use them? Also regarding skills, there is no Spellcraft in P:K, so I'd guess Knowledge Arcana? You sure you have 15 RANKS of that?

oh you need THREE metamagic feat? mind blown.
I thought it was one just like the description says ingame.