Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[Incendax]

Any suggestions?

She rocks as a Fighter1/Knife Master or Water Kinetic Knight.

 

[archaen]

So im using the respec mod to respec the party into shape, keep aligments, attribute rolls and class selection more or less in place. Maybe ill turn a cleric into an inquisitor but with the same deity.

Ive ran into a fucking wall with this cunt valerie tho. No idea what to do with her. Turning her into a pure fighter seems objectively better, tower shields are just not worth the hassle. She obviously cant be a spellcaster. Thinking of just giving her some rogue levels, changing her to finesse character and praying the sneak attack makes her not suck. Mithril full plate plus finesseable longsword seem like the way to go.


Any suggestions?

If you have the wild cards dlc, go kinetic knight. She can fill the same niche, but can get some better CC options and can target touch AC.

 

[Haplo]

If you have the wild cards dlc, go kinetic knight. She can fill the same niche, but can get some better CC options and can target touch AC.

That's a pretty good idea.
However note that if you're are somewhat melee focused, a KK will suck in relation to Attack of Opportunity and melee combo building with feats like Outflank and Seize the Moment.
On the other hand, with Earth and Bouldering, she could aoe trip, providing plenty of AoOs for others with reach.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I wanted to make a magus Eldritch Scion with Abyssal bloodline since I've noticed that many of the abilities would be very useful in melee. However later on I've noticed that Magus spellist has no summoning spells (previously I though that magus just uses Arcane spellist), which means that Abyssal summoning bonuses (DR, and Added Summoning) will be wasted until I get free Summon Monster spells later on - is that a huge issue?

 

[Seari]

You take the abyssal bloodline for the strength bonuses not for summoning.

 

[Haplo]

IMO skip Abyssal. Go for dragon for a little more power on elemental spells, later on wings and some Str and AC bonuses. Perhaps better yet, Arcane, for 3 extra spells from Wizard lists.

Or just skip ES and go with one of the superior Magus archetypes: standard Magus for more casting focus and spammable spells or Sword Saint for more martial focus and tanking capability, particularly dex based.

 

[Yosharian]

I wanted to make a magus Eldritch Scion with Abyssal bloodline since I've noticed that many of the abilities would be very useful in melee. However later on I've noticed that Magus spellist has no summoning spells (previously I though that magus just uses Arcane spellist), which means that Abyssal summoning bonuses (DR, and Added Summoning) will be wasted until I get free Summon Monster spells later on - is that a huge issue?

Scion is only really good if you multiclass to make use of the Cha bonus to other abilities. Otherwise, standard Magus is probably the better option. Probably.

Abyssal is not a good Bloodline for Scions.

 

[Seari]

Abyssal is not a good Bloodline for Scions.

Disagree with that. You gain 6 STR by staying a pure scion with abyssal by lvl 17, while a draconic has to take 4 dragon disciple levels for 4 STR and loses progression. How is 6 STR for free a bad bloodline for a melee focused class?

Also magus is just strictly worse than scion and sword saint is better than both.

 

[Lhynn]

Also magus is just strictly worse than scion and sword saint is better than both.

You are really underestimating the value of charisma in a game about being a king.

Other than that, str offers a lot more flexbibility than dex, so scion still has its advantages.

 

[Haplo]

Also magus is just strictly worse than scion

Not if you actually want to use spells. Improved Spell Recall may mean like 16 more Shocking Grasps / Frigid Touches / Mirror Images per rest or 8 additional Vampiric Touches / Displacements / Stoneskins / Improved Invisibilities / Hastes / Fireballs / Ice Storms. Or indeed, 5 more Sciroccos.
Also even better spell flexibility then what a spontaneous caster has (as you can actually learn additional spells from scrolls, but if you prepare 1/day, you can add any number via Spell Recall on-the-fly).

 

[Western]

So im using the respec mod to respec the party into shape, keep aligments, attribute rolls and class selection more or less in place. Maybe ill turn a cleric into an inquisitor but with the same deity.

Ive ran into a fucking wall with this cunt valerie tho. No idea what to do with her. Turning her into a pure fighter seems objectively better, tower shields are just not worth the hassle. She obviously cant be a spellcaster. Thinking of just giving her some rogue levels, changing her to finesse character and praying the sneak attack makes her not suck. Mithril full plate plus finesseable longsword seem like the way to go.


Any suggestions?

I like giving her some thug levels, it combines well with dazzling display, Cornugon smash, etc and gives her some extra sneak attack damage. She simultaneously tanks and debuffs, with brutal beatdown and debilitating injury.

 

[Haplo]

So im using the respec mod to respec the party into shape, keep aligments, attribute rolls and class selection more or less in place. Maybe ill turn a cleric into an inquisitor but with the same deity.

Ive ran into a fucking wall with this cunt valerie tho. No idea what to do with her. Turning her into a pure fighter seems objectively better, tower shields are just not worth the hassle. She obviously cant be a spellcaster. Thinking of just giving her some rogue levels, changing her to finesse character and praying the sneak attack makes her not suck. Mithril full plate plus finesseable longsword seem like the way to go.


Any suggestions?

I like giving her some thug levels, it combines well with dazzling display, Cornugon smash, etc and gives her some extra sneak attack damage. She simultaneously tanks and debuffs, with brutal beatdown and debilitating injury.

Good suggestions. Although Cornugon Smash is kinda redundant with Dazzling Display. I'd rather have the latter, which aoe scares in a large radius. And Shatter Defenses to capitalize on the shaken condition and make your target flat-footed.

 

[Western]

So im using the respec mod to respec the party into shape, keep aligments, attribute rolls and class selection more or less in place. Maybe ill turn a cleric into an inquisitor but with the same deity.

Ive ran into a fucking wall with this cunt valerie tho. No idea what to do with her. Turning her into a pure fighter seems objectively better, tower shields are just not worth the hassle. She obviously cant be a spellcaster. Thinking of just giving her some rogue levels, changing her to finesse character and praying the sneak attack makes her not suck. Mithril full plate plus finesseable longsword seem like the way to go.


Any suggestions?

I like giving her some thug levels, it combines well with dazzling display, Cornugon smash, etc and gives her some extra sneak attack damage. She simultaneously tanks and debuffs, with brutal beatdown and debilitating injury.

Good suggestions. Although Cornugon Smash is kinda redundant with Dazzling Display. I'd rather have the latter, which aoe scares in a large radius. And Shatter Defenses to capitalize on the shaken condition and make your target flat-footed.

Your way is objectively better but I sometimes find myself forgetting to micro Valerie, so I like the fact Cornugon smash runs on autopilot.

Edit;

Relating to the original post, if you get the annoyingly talkative crafter she makes a +5 bastard sword with +6 Charisma, it's not even an ultimate weapon, synergises really well with this type of Valerie build (dazzling display, thug, etc).

 

[Haplo]

Oppressor, its +4, +6 Cha. But yeah, real nice. Particularly at the end of Chapter 2 / beginning of Chapter 3.

 

[Yosharian]

Abyssal is not a good Bloodline for Scions.

Disagree with that. You gain 6 STR by staying a pure scion with abyssal by lvl 17, while a draconic has to take 4 dragon disciple levels for 4 STR and loses progression. How is 6 STR for free a bad bloodline for a melee focused class?

Also magus is just strictly worse than scion and sword saint is better than both.

You're giving up excellent abilities from the other Bloodlines.

Not to mention that it forces you to be Str-based.

That thing you get at 17? It's right at the end of the game. If you don't multiclass.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

+6 STR is not given in bulk at 17, you get +2 at +4 at 13 before that. I'm currently split between continuing on or restarting as pure-sorcerer since there are no pure casters in the game and I'd rather get a char-based sorcerer than int-based normal scion since up to this point persuasion was the most useful skill of all.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[santino27]

can someone share a bit on usefulness of various skills?

made my midget archeologist, picked lore arcana over world and it feels like in first 2h of a game 1st isnt used while im failing 2nd in dialogues. Is arcana even useful for bard? Im max cha enchantment caster, rogue extra talents are used to pick those archery feats.
Now I'm thinking about starting over with higher int(after lvling up and realizing difference between 12 and 14), potentially human to have both lores. Would be helpful if someone could shed some light, preferably on all the skills. I'll have in my party another bard npc, barbarian girl and oldman cleric.

extra question: how useful hiding is? Is there any point in game where I need to disarm traps while in shadows? If so can I get away with single point and spell boost?

I've definitely gotten a fair number of knowledge arcana checks in chapter 2, in addition to knowledge world. In addition, arcana is used for identifying items.

 

[Yosharian]

+6 STR is not given in bulk at 17, you get +2 at +4 at 13 before that. I'm currently split between continuing on or restarting as pure-sorcerer since there are no pure casters in the game and I'd rather get a char-based sorcerer than int-based normal scion since up to this point persuasion was the most useful skill of all.

So? Do you know how fucking insignificant +1 to hit and damage is at level 13? It's a drop in the fucking ocean, dude. A Bard can grant that kind of Bonus at level ONE.

You need to reflect on what +2 and +4 Strength actually mean, because it's really not that good at that kind of level. It's NICE, sure. It's not worth choosing that Bloodline just for it. Other Bloodlines grant far more bonuses.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

Would necromancy be a viable specialization as a wizard?

 

[Yosharian]

Did they patch out the Exp alteration trick via the savegame zip? Getting someone saying it's not working for them.

 

[Yosharian]

Would necromancy be a viable specialization as a wizard?

Sort of. The best Necromancy spells are probably Enervation and Energy Drain, which don't have a save anyway.

Is Horrid Wilting in this game?

Edit: ok yeah there are a ton of decent spells. Horrid Wilting, Finger of Death, Wail of the Banshee. Could definitely work. It's gonna be weak against some enemy types, though.

See this Reddit post for the full list of spells:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_Kingmaker/comments/9kpwtk/full_sorcerer_wizard_spell_list/

 

[ColonelTeacup]

That's fine, so long as i've got a chance. I don't care too much about being overpowered. Also, thanks for the help.

 

[Sykar]

Would necromancy be a viable specialization as a wizard?

Sort of. The best Necromancy spells are probably Enervation and Energy Drain, which don't have a save anyway.

Is Horrid Wilting in this game?

Edit: ok yeah there are a ton of decent spells. Horrid Wilting, Finger of Death, Wail of the Banshee. Could definitely work. It's gonna be weak against some enemy types, though.

See this Reddit post for the full list of spells:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_Kingmaker/comments/9kpwtk/full_sorcerer_wizard_spell_list/

According to the PFKM wiki, yes.

Would necromancy be a viable specialization as a wizard?

The special abilities are weak but if you like debuffing, some CC, summons and some nice damage at higher levels then go for it.

 

[Yosharian]

That's fine, so long as i've got a chance. I don't care too much about being overpowered. Also, thanks for the help.

Np, it'll be a fun character.

Just watch out for Friendly Fire with some of those spells.