Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[Incendax]

guyz, i feel muh party is weak as shit.
Current composition:
Valerie (stalwart def 2 - Tower shield specialist 7) - melee
Amiri (9 barb) - melee
Jaethal (9 inq) - melee
Harrim (9 cleric) - melee
Octavia (4 arcane trickster - 2 rogue - 3 wiz) - ranged
me (9 wiz - conjurer) - ranged

Valerie - Abyssal Magus, Undead Magus, Knife Fighter, or even Sorcerer.
Amiri - Sacred Huntsman, Tactical Leader, Defender of the True World, or even Two Handed Fighter.
Jaethal - Mad Dog, Defender of the True World, Cleric, or even Freebooter.
Harrim - Fine. He will always be a little frumpy.
Octavia - Only one level of rogue. Give her lots of buffs. She is a force multiplier.

 

[Andnjord]

Just a question Yosharian , but how do you intend to tank mobs with your planned party? Because in my experience while playing on hard anything with less than 40 AC gets shredded pretty damn quickly when reaching Chapter three.

 

[ga♥]

How do I stop Octavia from spamming acid splash and use her fucking bow?

 

[Reinhardt]

Sexist shitlord. How dare you!

 

[hell bovine]

How do I stop Octavia from spamming acid splash and use her fucking bow?

Her ai is bugged and has acid splash set on default. To get her to switch to weapons, she has to run out of automatic casts (which she can't with a cantrip). So just set any spell she has memorized (even her telekinetic ability) to automatic cast instead. Once she has run out of that spell(s), she will switch to whatever weapon she has equipped.

 

[Jarpie]

How do I stop Octavia from spamming acid splash and use her fucking bow?

Right click on "Charge" ability to make it automatic, she'll use the bow then.

 

[Reinhardt]

In cRPGs Sorceror is the better option for the convenience.

If you are game journalist and can't find spellbook button - yes.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Maybe i should grab save editor from nexus and make 32 points monk character to mess with the game while waiting for patches...

I grabbed cheat engine to change my alignment when I picked the wrong one. There's a ton more options than the save editor.

Interestingly btw, if you use it to lower your level, you can then pick more levels in other classes, effectively bypassing the level limit, though only if you want all those levels instantly.

 

[Sykar]

Wizard: I can change whenever I want and can highly specialize for encounters in ways Sorcerers can only dream of.

Sorcerer: Damn half of the enemies are resistant or immune to my shit, wish I could change my spell selection.

Don't know man, I like having a sorcerer in my party as buffer-in-chief. Having tons of Heroism, Haste, Displacement or Stoneskin on tap is pretty damn convenient.

Wizard gets those buffs a level earlier. Specialist is only 1 cast per spell level behind and that is only at even levels. Outside of buffs the wizard maximizes spell focus and spell penetration earlier and can even afford to get spell focus for two schools. Metamagic spells are cast normally where they cost a full round action for Sorcerers making Quicken useless. Niche spells like sleep can actually be used and once they become useless can be discarded.

 

[Reinhardt]

Maybe i should grab save editor from nexus and make 32 points monk character to mess with the game while waiting for patches...

I grabbed cheat engine to change my alignment when I picked the wrong one. There's a ton more options than the save editor.

Interestingly btw, if you use it to lower your level, you can then pick more levels in other classes, effectively bypassing the level limit, though only if you want all those levels instantly.

How this works? So i can start as a monk, on lvl 2 grab vivisectionist, rogue, fighter for extra feat, and still be lvl 2?

 

[Serus]

Not really. If you actually understand the system and the game then you know what spells to pick.

Yes but on the first play-through, even assuming you know Pathfinder and its spell selection very well (which isn't a given for everyone) you still need to consider that you don't know what enemies to expect (and what nasty bugs with spell mechanics to expect!). Wizards might still be the safer choice. On the second and consecutive plays on the other hand...

 

[Sykar]

In cRPGs Sorceror is the better option for the convenience.

If you are game journalist and can't find spellbook button - yes.

Not really. If you actually understand the system and the game then you know what spells to pick.

Not really since for that you need to know all the encounters. But even granting that, there are niche spells a wizard can easily use and then discard like control undead which a Sorcerer will probably never pick outside of certain niche builds.
Oh and just a quick comparison, Sorcerer gets his first level 3 spell at level 6 and cast that one spell three times. Wizard at that point already had his level 3 spells since level 5 and can cast it the same amount of times as a specialist, more if he has picked bound object and not familiar.
So it is not even strictly true that Sorcerer can cast more spells at every level.

Sorcerers are for lazy people who like casting the same shit over and over.

Not really. If you actually understand the system and the game then you know what spells to pick.

Yes but on the first play-through, even assuming you know Pathfinder and its spell selection very well (which isn't a given for everyone) you still need to consider that you don't know what enemies to expect (and what nasty bugs with spell mechanics to expect!). Wizards might still be the safer choice. On the second and consecutive plays on the other hand...

It will still hardly be a significant difference.

 

[Serus]

I was actually asking our lovely theorycrafter there

I would actually say as a spellcaster it is a lot easier, because you do not depend on RNG. At least for me on Hard it felt simplier, as our trio of master Daze'rs of me, Linzi and purple toad could reliably turn off multiple enemies, and magic missiles/force missiles (Evoker gets what, 8 of them?) do not depend on RNG/armor class.

I have a separate Unfair playthrough as paladin dwarf just for when I want to actually feel miserable (fucking Smite, does it ever work? even banditos are all NOT evil); on the other hand Wizard (especially Controller) is a god early game.


pick Bonded Object for +1 spell.

I haven't played past chapter 1, how the situation is for Paladin/smite evil in later chapters? Are there many evil enemies and are the most difficult ones evil or not?

 

[Andnjord]

I haven't played past chapter 1, how the situation is for Paladin/smite evil in later chapters? Are there many evil enemies and are the most difficult ones evil or not?

Spoiler

Yes



Smiting Evil with style

 

[Reinhardt]

I think she's pretty balanced. Not the strongest - that's for sure, but will suffice for now.

 

[Reinhardt]

Maybe i should grab save editor from nexus and make 32 points monk character to mess with the game while waiting for patches...

I grabbed cheat engine to change my alignment when I picked the wrong one. There's a ton more options than the save editor.

Interestingly btw, if you use it to lower your level, you can then pick more levels in other classes, effectively bypassing the level limit, though only if you want all those levels instantly.

How this works? So i can start as a monk, on lvl 2 grab vivisectionist, rogue, fighter for extra feat, and still be lvl 2?

Answer is - yes. You can.

 

[Yosharian]

Also a level 1 Alchemist's Mutagen only last ten minutes. Meh.

10 min is a plenty for any boss fight or for a number of difficult encounters. And it's still better than anything the first level of Rogue gives you unless you require Weapon Finesse for a melee char.
1 level vivisectionist seems to me like a no-brainer class dip for pretty much any melee char or ranged char who doesn't require WIS, especially at low levels that buff is huge.

Also, the ability score penalty from Mutagen interferes with your casting, if it reduces your main casting score.

The DEX mutagen doesn't reduce your casting stat which is INT.

I know it's enough for a boss fight. I was simply pointing it out. I personally decided that I didn't like having a buff that I could only cast once, and whose Nat AC bonus should get overwritten by other spells/abilities. Although it isn't right now, but..

Yeah I know it lowers Wis, I was just mentioning it.

I wasn't criticising your build so much as pointing these things out mostly for others who might not know.

 

[Yosharian]

except that +4 dex mutagen lowers your WIS

you going to beat those 3 assassins in prologue soon?

I know that! =p

And no, not touching the game til the big patch

 

[Yosharian]

Bear in mind that the Natural AC bonus you get from Mutagen isn't supposed to stack with other Natural AC bonuses you can get from spells. It is stacking right now, though.

Actually, if you go by PnP rules, the alchemist's natural armour bonus does stack with the natural AC bonuses you receive from spells and items. The distinction is that spells and items give a natural armour enhancement bonus, where the alchemist's mutagen ability just gives a natural armour bonus.

I'm aware that enhancement stacks, but only Barkskin gives enhancement.

I was referring to spells like Transformation or Legendary Proportions, sorry I didn't make that clear.

 

[Yosharian]

Nope, wizords are best

And sorcerers are fairytail anime trash
lol look at me 20 subclasses I can have claws ears tails and wings
hurr

Wizard: I have 200 spells in my spellbook, most of them are useless and I don't have the right one memorized for this situation that I couldn't predict would happen

Sorcerer: I picked all the best spells from every level and I have more of them per day, and I get to apply metamagic on the fly

Wizard: I can change whenever I want and can highly specialize for encounters in ways Sorcerers can only dream of.

Sorcerer: Damn half of the enemies are resistant or immune to my shit, wish I could change my spell selection.

I think we're both right...

 

[Yosharian]

Can anyone suggest a good build for a character idea I have:
Angelic Celestial Eldritch Scion.

Angelic Asimaar and an Eldrich Scion with a Celestial heritage.

Basically an arcane alternative to the Paladin.

Any ideas off the top of your heads as to stats/feats/spell selection?

I have a scion build in my sig, but it's draconic. Celestial sucks. But, you could adapt it =p

 

[Yosharian]

Just a question Yosharian , but how do you intend to tank mobs with your planned party? Because in my experience while playing on hard anything with less than 40 AC gets shredded pretty damn quickly when reaching Chapter three.

1) not playing on hard, playing core rules
2) pretty much every character I have is gonna have 35-40 AC except my archer... meh, we'll see

Don't mistake my party for being too min-max, honestly it's not THAT good, they're just for fun mainly. Also I haven't finished tweaking yet.

 

[Reinhardt]

Ended with 17 16 12 7 10 20 monk with 32 points.

 

[vazha]

playing on unfair and having a blast with... save/load button.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

save/load button.

reload: the game

cure light wounds for 2 HP... awesome
Where my lesser vigor wands?