Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[FriendlyMerchant]

So classes with full BAB are better off dual wielding?

Classes with full BAB are better off at attacking in general.

 

[Yosharian]

So classes with full BAB are better off dual wielding?

No

2H is better in Kingmaker

 

[Haplo]

This is not taking into consideration effect of size increases in one-handed vs two-handed weapons. Or the special effects on two-handers vs one-handers (two handers tend to have more damaging effects).

Then again bonus damages that apply to both hands, for example Mythic Charge, Elemental Barrage, sneak attacks and such favour dual wielding.

 

[Yosharian]

This is not taking into consideration effect of size increases in one-handed vs two-handed weapons. Or the special effects on two-handers vs one-handers (two handers tend to have more damaging effects).

Then again bonus damages that apply to both hands, for example Mythic Charge, Elemental Barrage, sneak attacks and such favour dual wielding.

Bruh this is the Kingmaker thread

 

[Haplo]

Right. But lately people tend to mix those games. And Friendly Merchant already mentioned Mythic Feats.

Anyway, two handers can also have the reach advantage - which might be preferable to having more iterative attacks. Also stronger blows are preferable to take advantage of Attacks of Opportunity. Or Vital Strikes.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Anyway, two handers can also have the reach advantage - which might be preferable to having more iterative attacks. Also stronger blows are preferable to take advantage of Attacks of Opportunity. Or Vital Strikes.

I tend to think the 2H vs. dual wielding question tends to be more nuanced than most people give it credit for. As a result, I usually pick one or the other based on character concept and if I'm going to run scenarios based on calculations, it'll be based on specific scenarios for the path I've chosen to give a more apples to apples comparison.

Occasionally, I might run a table to broadly compare two options, but with things like abilities to modify crit ranges and multipliers, flat damage (that doesn't crit), regular damage (that does crit), strength damage, etc. there are enough variables that it becomes a pain in the ass unless you're comparing specific weapons or just taking a general lesson out of it in terms of what sorts of things you want to prioritize. I suppose a turbo autist might push things further, but I can't be bothered. It's not like the games require that level of granularity and optimization anyway.

 

[mondblut]

Throw in effortless dual wielding, and a pair of bastard swords suddenly looks more appetizing than one greatsword.

 

[Yosharian]

In Kingmaker there is this thing called VANQUISHER and it is more powerful than any dual-wield setup even with 10d6 sneak dice, like way more powerful it isn't even close

And considering that 2H is 'i have power attack and now i win' while TWF needs like 3 feats minimum...

 

[Haplo]

Throw in effortless dual wielding, and a pair of bastard swords suddenly looks more appetizing than one greatsword.

If its still Kingmaker we're speaking of... one handed bastard swords are decent but nothing to write home about. Same deal with greatswords, really. Now two-handed oversized bastard swords, greataxes or fauchards on the other hand...

 

[Bloodeyes]

So I've been playing Beneath the Stolen lands. Getting pretty far. Lat run I beat the Captor and the Captive on level 30 something. I got to level 39 and ran into enemies that had a regeneration ability that wasn't listed on their character sheet. Couldn't kill them. Cold iron, fire acid. Didn't work. Lost 4 of six party members, ran and resurrected them. Then retired them. I had no idea what to do.

This time the same boss I already beat showed up again only with the mystery regeneration that the deep enemies had before. This was only level 29. All the enemies in the room had it. It said "cold iron" on their character sheet but I hit them with cold iron and nothing happened. So there must have been more than one type of regen. I TPK'd and it didn't feel fair at all. I don't think this game is winnable if every run I'm eventually going to run into that.

Is there some way I can detect the regen type or some strategy for dealing with this? Or am I just destined to randomly TPK sometimes no matter what I do? Also, is it normal for bosses you already beat to show up again? The captor and captive are listed as beaten in the journal, so the game didn't forget I killed them.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

So I've been playing Beneath the Stolen lands. Getting pretty far. Lat run I beat the Captor and the Captive on level 30 something. I got to level 39 and ran into enemies that had a regeneration ability that wasn't listed on their character sheet. Couldn't kill them. Cold iron, fire acid. Didn't work. Lost 4 of six party members, ran and resurrected them. Then retired them. I had no idea what to do.

This time the same boss I already beat showed up again only with the mystery regeneration that the deep enemies had before. This was only level 29. All the enemies in the room had it. It said "cold iron" on their character sheet but I hit them with cold iron and nothing happened. So there must have been more than one type of regen. I TPK'd and it didn't feel fair at all. I don't think this game is winnable if every run I'm eventually going to run into that.

Is there some way I can detect the regen type or some strategy for dealing with this? Or am I just destined to randomly TPK sometimes no matter what I do?

Try rolling a rogue or anything that uses advanced rogue talents and taking crippling strikes. Attribute damage from that will kill anything.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Use coup de grace when they're down. It forces a fort save or die.

 

[Bigg Boss]

I want to play some kind of Inquisitor but I am unfamiliar with this setting. He has ranged weapons and a mace which makes my head spin a little but makes sense. I want to go Necromancy on the magic if possible. Is Persuasion and Charisma useful? Are there any companions locked by stuff like that? Is there a better Inquisitor companion that will make me regret doing this build? Trying to go in blind but this system is pretty involved and I don't want to do a restart 10 hours in.

 

[LannTheStupid]

It's funny how people want to rob themselves not only of parts of the game they paid for (or downloaded for "free" from Epic), but from the first ever experience of the game as well.

 

[Bigg Boss]

I just want a manual to read but all that exists in 2022 are wiki's that spoil everything.

 

[LannTheStupid]

I just want a manual to read but all that exists in 2022 are wiki's that spoil everything.

1. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/
2. In-game class progression window.
3. In-game encyclopedia (yes, there is one).

In Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (2) is much more useful than in Kingmaker, but the sources remain.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Ok that helped a lot. Thanks man.

 

[Haplo]

Ranged weapon + mace is just picture flavor I guess. I strongly suggest you specialize in 1 of these things. Not necessarily maces if going melee.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I want to play some kind of Inquisitor but I am unfamiliar with this setting...

Inquisitor is a good class. I'm not an expert on optimization but I know how to make a solid, fun to play character. I'll try to help.

]I want to go Necromancy on the magic if possible.

I think you'll feel a bit let down by that character to be honest. First of all you don't get very many necromancy spells as an inquisitor. You get some cool stuff. Some very cool stuff. But it's a mix of everything so having a theme to your magic doesn't really work. Unless you go with enchantment, but that can be frustrating a lot of the time due to immunities. You need a maxed out stat + best WIS item + 2x spell focus and items to boost DCs before it stops sucking. Even then many things are immune. I'd suggest going with an eclectic mix of magic used for healing, protectives and support and dealing big damage with your bow. If you want to be a necromantic archer, cleric (ecclesitheurge) is better because it's got a better spell list (later on. Early game isn't great but it gets amazing). Your archery wouldn't be as good but your necromancy would be much, much more satisfying at high levels. A cheeky one level traditional monk dip could give you AC too, if you're into that kind of thing. But you don't need it if you mainly play turn based and being behind on spell progression is gay. I say keep it single class.

I tend to avoid combining archery with DC based casting (all the inquisitor necromancy spells haves saves afaik) just because archery needs STR for damage, DEX to hit and WIS for spells per day and spell DCs. That being said judgements help with a lot. At high levels judgement justice can make up for a middling DEX score, and judgement destruction + your bane weapon will help out with your damage. You'll want to have high DEX and wear items to boost your STR to get your damage up as priority. DEX items would be secondary because your judgements and feats should get the job done there, at least on hard DIFF.

Here's something I put together just now. Never play tested this so don't take it uncritically. This is just to give you an idea of some of the feats you may want to take.

Race: Aasimar - Plumekith (Garuda blooded) gets +2 to DEX and +2 to WIS. It's a good choice for an archer/caster. Human is good for everything. I'd suggest not playing against your racial strengths. You just end up wishing you were stronger. So pick something that fits.

Stats (For stinky DC casting build)

STR 12
DEX 18
CON 12
INT 7
WIS 19 (All points on levelup here)
CHA 12

Stats (For awesome ranged combat with buffs and healing build)

STR 16
DEX 17 (All points go here)
CON 14
INT 7
WIS 16
CHA 12

I left some CHA in there because you have an iquisitor class feature that adds your class level to intimidate checks.

If you decide to go cleric dump CHA for more of something else (Like DEX or more CON) and go with 19 WIS increasing to 24. Forget about channel energy (it's poo in the base game) and forget persuasion too because you don't have enough stats and feats to run three things (with modded domains though, you can do a lot more).

Anyway, you said inquisitor. The poor man's cleric (JK. Sorta). So lets go back to that. You get three skills with this character. I went trickery, perception and persuasion. Perception is really good for an inquisitor, because of the high WIS. If you want to do more archery than magic your character would probably be more satisfying to play. Inquisitors are better martials than mages TBH, but they can be a load of fun to play. Never done one ranged but I am playing a melee crit build inquisitor right now in beneath the stolen lands and he is epic. All the skills are useful in story mode and all are class skills for your inquisitor. Pick 3 that use DEX or WIS.

Possible feat progression (check AB requirements yourself to make sure this works. It should).
1. Point blank shot

3. Precise shot

5. Weapon focus longbow or spell focus necromancy (enchantment gets more spells for this class).

7. Rapid shot

9. Clustered shots

11. Manyshot

13. Improved critical - Longbow

15. Hammer the gap (good for archers and better at high levels. A nice boost to damage). Greater spell focus is mandatory if you're going DCs. You kind of do have to choose which you will be best at. Your judgements will mean you can still hit with your bow if you go for DCs, but if you don't put everything into your DCs your offensive magic will be all but useless. I'd still go for combat skills in this class, because of the spell list.

17. Optional. You could take a metamagic. I like quicken spell for even more clickable round/level buffs in combat. You could also empower or maximize your boneshaker to give you more offensive spell output, or heighten your favorite save or suck enchantment spells.

Spell penetration is also an option but you have a judgement that helps with that. My choice however would be critical focus. I love that feat. It often gets overlooked because it does its work in the background but I just took it on my rapier using inquisitor and holy shit he's critting like crazy now. Quickened true strike or quickened divine favor are tempting, but I think I like crits more. It's a close thing though.

19. If you're lucky enough to reach this level just take anything. The game is basically over anyway. Take something that sounds fun to you, but that you will be ok with missing if you finish the game before reaching this level.

If you decide to go with more archery (you should) then drop the spell focuses entirely. Extra bane weapon (I think that feat is in the base game) and critical focus. I prefer rapid shot to deadly aim but opinions vary on that one. I like hitting stuff over missing for big damage. But there is an item that gives you +4 to hit with ranged. If you have the DLC you will find it from a boss. You don't need to look for it. So maybe when you get that you could take deadly aim? Yeah that would work I think.

Is there a better Inquisitor companion that will make me regret doing this build?

Well she's not an archer but kinda... yeah. She's a necromancy themed inquisitor in a way your PC can never be. Without spoiling too much yeah, she's a better necromancer than you (still the wrong class to be a great one though). You don't have to use her though. There are lots of companions and you pick the ones you like best to make up your party.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Mine looks more like that ranged build so far. I won't go full Necromancy because yeah not much to work with. I found that Inquisitor with the scythe but she is different enough so I am good to go. Thanks a lot brother! Glad I skipped persuasion too because your assessment seems to be accurate. Glad to hear there are lots of companions. That is what I loved about BG 1 over 2. So far the only thing I don't love about the game is the portrait art style. I do have it on TB since the past few games have been RTwP, so I want a little slower pace without so much auto pause.

Oh and I have no DLC.

 

[Haplo]

Inquisitor kinda sucks, TBH.
If you really want to play one, I'd recommend Wrath of the Righteous. There you can at least mount a pet as Sacred Huntsmaster and the mystic path powers would strengthen and complement the character.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Do they not transfer over?

 

[Haplo]

What do you mean? Transfer? Between what?
If you're asking about transfer of characters between Kingmaker and Wrath - then no.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Mine looks more like that ranged build so far. I won't go full Necromancy because yeah not much to work with. I found that Inquisitor with the scythe but she is different enough so I am good to go. Thanks a lot brother! Glad I skipped persuasion too because your assessment seems to be accurate. Glad to hear there are lots of companions. That is what I loved about BG 1 over 2. So far the only thing I don't love about the game is the portrait art style. I do have it on TB since the past few games have been RTwP, so I want a little slower pace without so much auto pause.

Oh and I have no DLC.

Beneath the Stolen Lands is worth getting the DLC for. It's a roguelike mode and it's better than the story. There's a portrait pack called heroes of the stolen lands you should get. It's on nexus mods.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Inquisitor kinda sucks, TBH.
If you really want to play one, I'd recommend Wrath of the Righteous. There you can at least mount a pet as Sacred Huntsmaster and the mystic path powers would strengthen and complement the character.

Not really. Mine is awesome. He kills something every round with his rapier and has more clickable powerups than he knows what to do with. With all his crits he's shitting all over my barbarian for damage per round and his judgements and WIS make his saves at least as good as my cleric and paladin. Not to mention the fact he casts lifesaving spells spontaneously, so he he's your guy when someone has insanity and needs a heal to cure their insanity. Judgement piercing means he'd be able to cast offensive spells if I'd specced him that way. Judgements mean you can fill any couple of roles with your inquisitor and be good at what you do. They excel in smalll parties like in the DLC. An inquisitor can be good at anything so if your one sucks it's because you built them wrong.