Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[Desiderius]

That’s... not all the buffs.

 

[Yosharian]

I made Harrim into a druid (dotw libertarian guy) and this little robed dumb ass and his cat now have the best BAB and AC in the party. Unbelievable.

With all of our per minute or longer buffs going, when he is in smilodon,
BAB: Cat 24, Dwarf Cat 20, Paladin 19
AC: Cat 36, Dwarf Cat 31, Paladin 28

We are level 11

Edit: Oh I forgot to cast shield.
AC: Cat 40, Dwarf Cat 35, Paladin 30

That's some super high AC, well done!

 

[Cleric of Asmodeus]

Hey give me a break, we are level 11. You are right though, I don't have a cleric currently and am missing Magical Vestment.

 

[razvedchiki]

mage battles ala scs can only be possible with mods in kingmaker. the people enjoying such mechanics are too few for owlcat to spent man hours to create them and use them as a selling point.

 

[Cleric of Asmodeus]

Right now, a per-minute or longer loadout for my party is something like:
Barkskin
Shield
Shield of Deflection
Blur
Mirror Image
Cat, Dog, Bear, Eagle crap
Good Hope
Angelic Aspect
Magical Vestment
Blessed Weapon
Expeditious Retreat
Enlarge
Mutagens
Divine Weapon Bond
Animal Growth
Magic Fang
Long strider
Aspect of Wolf
Protection from Arrows
Delay Poison
See invis Communal
Stoneskin Communal
Feather step, Mass
Sometimes: Protection from Energy Communal, Freedom of Movement, Death Ward


Then before big fights I will use:
Haste
Greater Invis
Displacement
Prayer
Divine Power
Sense Vitals
Dirge or Courage

The Paladin has Blessed Path full plate and so he's getting nothing really from Dex yet. AC could be a lot higher if I did defensive modal and feats but I'm from the school of beatdown

 

[Yosharian]

I'm just poking fun, your AC is fine bro

 

[Cleric of Asmodeus]

I'm just poking fun, your AC is fine bro

Right now the cyclopes are usually something like a 17+ to hit (on hard) so I could use a few more points but it seems OK. Really the biggest difference between getting randomly chunked vs being mostly unkillable seems to be mirror image and displacement, though. My Bard val doesn't have great AC but with those spells it usually doesn't matter. My cleric usually has the trickery domain for poverty mirror image, too.

 

[Desiderius]

Hey give me a break, we are level 11. You are right though, I don't have a cleric currently and am missing Magical Vestment.

Probably on the gear side.

 

[Desiderius]

Lvl 11 Pal

10
11 Blessed Plate
1 DEX
4 Nat Armor
3 Deflection
4 Shield
=
33

2 Sacred vs Undead/Outsiders

Should be 35 minimum. You’ll get 2 more next level, another 3 if you want Vestment.

Mirror Images will last longer if you have higher AC yeah but Pal will never be a tank.

 

[Cleric of Asmodeus]

Hmm, you are right. I must have fucked something up. I’ll check my work next time I’m smothered in buffs. I uhh even have wings too lol

 

[Desiderius]

Don't forget to buy Giantslayer's Clasp from Bart. It's a life saver. There's also some gloves from the Skeleton and Harbinger also has AC vs undead so that you can have an easier time in V Tomb.

 

[Trashos]

OK, after some advice that I received here and some experimentation, here is the Eldritch Knight build I am planning for my next playthrough. Ideas and criticism are welcome.

The point of the build is to be a Wizard first, and an off-tank secondarily. I also considered Sylvan Sorcerer6/EK10/Sylvan Sorcerer4, but I am leaving that for a future try. I am thinking of dual wielding with a Dueling Sword in my primary.

The build: Human Aldori Defender1/Enchanter5/EK10/Enchanter4
STR 7 DEX18 CON12 INT18++ WIS10 CHA10
The point of the Enchanter is the Persuasion bonus. There are also satisfactory enchanting spells on almost all levels to fill the specialization slot. Viper familiar for the Persuasion bonus again.

Opposition schools: Divination, Necromancy
Divination is obvious, Necromancy is going to be covered by Harrim.

Lvl1: Aldori Defender(1) Weapon Focus(Dueling Sword) / Point Blank Shot / Precise Shot
Lvl2: Enchanter(1) Spell Penetration / Opp Schools:Necro-Divin
Lvl3: Enchanter(2) Allied Spellcaster
Lvl4: Enchanter(3)
Lvl5: Enchanter(4) Weapon Finesse
Lvl6: Enchanter(5) Greater Spell Penetration
Lvl7: EK(1) Outflank / 2 Weapon Fighting
Lvl8: EK(2)
Lvl9: EK(3) Improved 2 Weapon Fighting
Lvl10: EK(4)
Lvl11: EK(5) Shake it Off / Blind Fight
Lvl12: EK(6)
Lvl13: EK(7) Improved Citical(Dueling Sword)
Lvl14: EK(8)
Lvl15: EK(9) Gr. Weapon Focus(Dueling Sword) / Weapon Specialization (Dueling Sword)
Lvl16: Ek(10)
Lvl17: Enchanter(6) ?
Lvl18: Enchanter(7)
Lvl19: Enchanter(8) ?

Not sure if I need Slashing Grace somewhere in there, I will have to try it. Not sure if I need Double Slice either. The last 2 feats are probably going to strengthen one of the schools, possibly Illusion.

Penetrations were taken early because I didn't have better options at those early lvls.

 

[Desiderius]

This is kind of all over the place.

Dueling Swords aren't light so dual wielding not great. Typically you go with empty off hand and use that with Aldori Dueling Mastery or Monk splash or Spellstrike or what have you.

There's an Agile one behind the Big Owlbears at Swamp Hut, so you could use that after taking Finesse.

But if you're principally casting what is the EK really for here? Check out what else you're getting with Enchanter:

Neither one of those says anything about saves or resistance. That Aura is sick! A stacking Archon's Aura with no save or resist? Of course doesn't work vs undead or vermin but otherwise? How about just go Wiz20 and try to figure out how to wreck shit with that Aura?

 

[Haplo]

Or golems. Fey are also resistant. In general I'm not a fan of enchantment. Like half the enemies are immune - including some of the toughest enemies.

 

[Üstad]

I'm starting to Varnhold DLC for the first time and decided to create an unholy lawful evil eccleiuesurerergee (I don't care how it's spelled) mercenary nuker, any advices? I think fire domain is a must but I'm clueless about the other domain, also I want to use negative channel.

 

[Desiderius]

Or golems. Fey are also resistant. In general I'm not a fan of enchantment. Like half the enemies are immune - including some of the toughest enemies.

Fey are resistant to the Aura? Why?

 

[Haplo]

Aura might work. But I think they are resistant to enchantments.

 

[Trashos]

This is kind of all over the place.

Well, it has to be all over the place, because it has to do 2 different things. Not saying that it cannot be improved.

Dueling Swords aren't light so dual wielding not great. Typically you go with empty off hand and use that with Aldori Dueling Mastery or Monk splash or Spellstrike or what have you.

Dueling Swords are Finessable, so why wouldn't they be great for dual wielding?
I checked out Aldori Dueling Mastery, and I wasn't thrilled by it. The off-hand will be there for weapons that provide a bonus or for the occasional crit. It does not even need to be a Dueling Sword.

But if you're principally casting what is the EK really for here?

Because I am principally casting, and I am secondarily off-tanking! Octavia won't be in the group (not Linzi either), so the build will have to be able to fully replace her magic. But the actual role will depend on the location.

That Aura is sick! A stacking Archon's Aura with no save or resist? Of course doesn't work vs undead or vermin but otherwise? How about just go Wiz20 and try to figure out how to wreck shit with that Aura?

I have played a full Enchanter before. That aura can be good for boss fights, yes. You do not have it for long, so it is not to be used in casual fighting. The problem with my full Enchanter was that he was not very exciting outside boss fights (Octavia is better for casual fighting with her sneak attacks). So I am trying to increase his flexibility and make him more useful in different types of situations.

But the main point for Enchanter in this build is the Persuasion bonus.

 

[Trashos]

Or golems. Fey are also resistant. In general I'm not a fan of enchantment. Like half the enemies are immune - including some of the toughest enemies.

Yes, I have played a full Enchanter before. A lot of enemies are immune to enchantments. But the specialization slots will have the Heroism buffs and Sleep is OK in the beginning. Feeblemind is also great (at least below Unfair). So Enchantment is perfectly able to fill 1 slot/lvl.

 

[LannTheStupid]

I fail to undestand how a wizard or a sorcerer is not the best class if any casting directed towards enemies is required.

 

[Desiderius]

EK lets you have your cake and eat it too. Sort of.

Caster level and fast spell progression continue, while you trade your crappy caster feats for real feats and get 5 more BAB, so looks like a no-brainer.

Caster pro I got in an argument with on Steam finally agreed to try my R4/AT10/W6 Octavia build and came away recommending full caster with weapons instead. It's doable with all the buffs and equipment. Same applies to a lesser extent to EK vs Full Caster.

By midgame you really do have enough spells for that to be your action economy when it matters and EK doesn't help you tank since you can't cast in armor anyway so just fight as full caster.

But the extra BAB is nice to have and those extra feats can make up for the one you lose going elf (elf does get an extra spell pen for free). I think you're better off just biting the bullet and burning the feat instead of splashing Fighter.

I'll try something later today.

 

[LannTheStupid]

Well, as I see it, a pure caster has to beat saves and, as such, solve the encounters. So what an EK is going to do: try to replace AT (Octavia) while keeping the damage potential of AT? Is it possible?

 

[Trashos]

EK lets you have your cake and eat it too.

One of my favorite things about EK (well, I have not actually played it yet, I am playing a Sword Saint right now), is that it allows for a lot of different ideas and experimentation.

I think you're better off just biting the bullet and burning the feat instead of splashing Fighter.

I indeed considered not taking the Aldori Defender lvl. I was not very happy with having to delay some useful feats, and that's why I ended up with the build above. The added possibility of using Dueling Swords kinda sealed the deal for me.

But yes, a similar build without the fighter lvl is certainly possible, and purely in terms of casting it is going to be better. Another thing for me to try in the future.

 

[Desiderius]

Seriously, respec an old save and try the double Swords. I don't think you'll like it and you really don't have the feats to blow for two-weapon. Just go Elven Curve Blade or STR-based two-hander Human reach.

 

[Desiderius]

Well, as I see it, a pure caster has to beat saves and, as such, solve the encounters. So what an EK is going to do: try to replace AT (Octavia) while keeping the damage potential of AT? Is it possible?

Doesn't need to. He's casting control when it matters, not damage. He wants to do decent damage the rest of the time.