Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker Builds and Strats Thread

[razvedchiki]

a scroll savant casting lead blades at his lvl from scrolls would be just sweet.

 

[Sykar]

And truth be told a bard is a must and probably a freebooter as well. I believe Valerie, Linzi, Amiri, Tristan and Jubilost are all great for a party composition just need my main to make it stick to them.
I have to admit as well that Debuffs and Combat Maneuvers are out of my league for now. I have been focusing more on buffing that debuffing. Maybe I should look more into that.

Freebooter isn't a must, but it definitely gives you an advantage because it stacks and is irresistible. Bard has unique effects that are hard to replace. Debuffing isn't that hard if you just keep Archon's Aura up and in range and set things up so that Dazzling Display can fire on time. There are some foes where you will need to attack their saves one way or another but Jewb is pretty handy for that.

CMs are a fun alternative angle of attack but aren't really very well supported or necessary.

I guess a FB is a "must" at the highest difficulty but Normal, Challenging and maybe Hard do not need one.

 

[NJClaw]

And truth be told a bard is a must and probably a freebooter as well. I believe Valerie, Linzi, Amiri, Tristan and Jubilost are all great for a party composition just need my main to make it stick to them.
I have to admit as well that Debuffs and Combat Maneuvers are out of my league for now. I have been focusing more on buffing that debuffing. Maybe I should look more into that.

Freebooter isn't a must, but it definitely gives you an advantage because it stacks and is irresistible. Bard has unique effects that are hard to replace. Debuffing isn't that hard if you just keep Archon's Aura up and in range and set things up so that Dazzling Display can fire on time. There are some foes where you will need to attack their saves one way or another but Jewb is pretty handy for that.

CMs are a fun alternative angle of attack but aren't really very well supported or necessary.

I guess a FB is a "must" at the highest difficulty but Normal, Challenging and maybe Hard do not need one.

I finished the game multiple times on Unfair without a Freebooter. An extra bonus to hit rolls is nice and all, but you can stack plenty of them even without Freebooter's Bane and Bond.

 

[Sykar]

Well I did put "must" in apostrophes for a reason.

 

[Desiderius]

FB lets casters use weapons. Wrath has Abundant Casting.

 

[Desiderius]

Crusader of Torag with Serpent Prince would be Sweet.

 

[Desiderius]

FB Bane also gives xtra damage. With InEffective destroying builds chasing a Sneak Die a little of that for the whole team goes a long way.

 

[Tazar]

The problem with FB is that there are like 3-4 enemies in the game where it's actually better to use it on than just full attacking, at least on hard.

 

[Desiderius]

It’s a Move Action. You combine it with Standard Actions. Full Attacking doesn’t happen that much for nonranged characters.

Bane + Charge is a common turn, which is why FB10/Barb10 on Amiri is so good since it turns on Pounce.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Yo what's a good stats spread for a Lawful Good Scaled Fist Monk with 4 dips on Vivisectionist. Asamir (Angel Blood)
I was doing a 18 STR, 14 Dex, 14 Con , 11 INT , 9 WIS and 16 Chars but my Monk seems like wet paper and now that i got to Sycammore , she becames blind and can't hit a fucking Stunned Kobold for 5 rounds. Feats i don't need, already have something in mind (Dazzling display with Dreadful carnage.) Just needs a heads up for Stats spread.

 

[Yosharian]

> with 4 dips on Vivisectionist

Please stop

 

[NJClaw]

Nothing wrong with those stats, they are fine. The point moved from WIS to INT is a bit strange since it does nothing for you while giving a -1 to Will Saving Throws, but everything else is okay.

If you're getting hit too often, you probably just need to buff a bit more. Mage Armor, Magic Vestment, and Barkskin have long durations and usually last for an entire area, while Shield of Faith, Cat's Grace, and Eagle's Splendor can be used to clear a couple of encounters (or even whole maps at high levels). Blur and Displacement are also great ways to avoid dying. Just avoid stacking bonus types that you already have.

While blind you have a 50% miss chance against everything, so there isn't much stat-wise you can do to avoid becoming less useful in combat.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

> with 4 dips on Vivisectionist

Please stop

What you suggest then.

While blind you have a 50% miss chance against everything, so there isn't much stat-wise you can do to avoid becoming less useful in combat.

Oh i know that. I was just joking about my character not hitting shit for no reason.

 

[Desiderius]

Blind also makes you flat-footed (unless of course you have Blindfight) costing you your Dodge Bonuses.

Just play the class. The dips make you actively worse since so many Monk abilities scale/unlock with Monk level. If you want to mix things up with Scaled Fist taking a level of Sorc into Dragon Disciple to turbocharge Dragon Style is a nice one but probably a little more advanced than you're ready for until you've just played Monk20 to learn the ins and outs of the class.

 

[razvedchiki]

Damage wise, archer fighter or archer ranger is better?
Fighter has weapon training against everyone but ranger has favored enemy which can get pretty high (8-10) plus instant enemy.

 

[Desiderius]

Archer fighter is dumb - you waste half the class at range. Double Throwing Axe Point Blank Snap Shot Tank Fighter is viable.

Options for Archer are Hunter, Zen, Slayer, Eldritch, and Ranger and they’re all good in their own way.

 

[Delterius]

> with 4 dips on Vivisectionist

Please stop

when i played arcane trickster i avoided the vivi dip because it felt cursed somehow

 

[Desiderius]

At least for Arcane Trickster you had an excuse (since you needed the Sneak - in Wrath you can get it from Mythic).

 

[Nikanuur]

If you consider cheating an option, there's always the possibility to have an infinite army of animal followers of animall followers. Where's your build god now, huh?

 

[Tomasety]

Well I finally finished the game thanks in part to Haplo's Sword Saint post/build from 2019. I must admit how wrong I was playing the class because I had no clue of it but Haplo's post was generous enough to explain certain things that I didn't notice the first time I tried a Sword Saint main character playthrough like casting Touch of Fatigue.

In the end the class played as much as I wanted it to be, tanky and much more fightery than spellcaster. I liked it very much but didn't reach lvl 20 just 19 and barely. I noticed horrible fps drops during the last chapter and the optional ending chapter battles. Like the final battle I managed to see 5-6fps on screen which was certainly unpleasant and unexpected. I really want to try another character, maybe something that can't be achieved with default companions such as a Paladin but the game is so long I'm not sure about this. Also no proper full guide or walkthrough I can find on the Internet makes this double hard.

Another small question. Is there a thread or post for companions builds? I certainly got lost with Tristian and the vast amount of spells available to select and cast. That and the fact I felt he was playing like a heal bot. I definitely didn't understand how to play him.

Once again, thank you Haplo for your excellent guide/post. I really appreciate it and noticed the difference between your build and InEffect's on it. I only wished I had discovered it sooner.

 

[Desiderius]

Is there a thread or post for companions builds?

There is, but if you've already played the game all the way through you've probably got ideas of your own you'd like to try out now, which is the fun of the game. No need to play it all the way through for that, although learning how to play a class goes smoother if you start from the beginning.

One thing to understand when looking at "builds" in Pathfinder vs 3.5 is the unique mechanics that Pathfinder uses to make single-classing competitive with multi-classing. The two most important questions to answer are:

(1) Will I need to beat saves/penetrate spell resistance

(2) What abilities does this class have that scale with class level

If the answer for (1) is yes and (2) is alot then you want to work hard to stay single-classed.

And then for companions:

(3) How do the unique abilities of this companion fit with (1) and (2)

For Tristian the answers are:

(1) Yes, his specific archetype includes Nukes, and (3) his companion quest enhances them*. You CAN use nukes without Spell Pen or worrying much about DC to clear out chaff but Tristian also wants to buff Evocation DC for his best spell (Archon's Aura) and there's a good Rod that also boosts Evocation DC so you're better off helping him own with his nukage. Nukes are very handy to balance out a buff-heavy strategy (and Cleric has some great buffs too) to help you survive ambushes.

This was my Unfair Tinman (minimal reload) playthrough so you can see Tristian really saved the day here.

So bottom line is keep Tristian single-classed and take Feats like Spell Focus Evocation to help his nukes reach their full potential.

* -

Spoiler

But that's only 1/3 of the story.

 

[Desiderius]

The middle part is very short.

Touch of Good is the best ability in the game. It scales with Cleric level. Stay Cleric.

On a related note the Ecclesitheurge Blessing of the Faithful ability is also Sacred so pretty much stacks with everything. It also boosts AC so don't waste it on ranged characters. Using it strategically early is good action economy once your play gets good enough not to need any healbotting.

 

[Desiderius]

The third part is highly counterintuitive given Tristian's stats. I leave you to figure that out for yourself with some illustrations here if you need some motivation. (Divine Power also scales with Cleric level)

Spoiler

Reach weapon gives you AoOs while you cast

Characters who can cast Frightful Aspect should be in melee and attacking

Fauchard fits well since he starts with basically no weapon proficiencies so you're not wasting them by taking an Exotic

Improved Crit kind of good with 18-20 x3 weapon

Find Traps spell

Comes with Extend Metamagic which goes well with buffs.

Not great from range but it's a thing you can do. Same principle with the Exotic as above.

Or he can Haplo it up (here he had a couple Ranger levels before I knew what I was doing).

Best gaming moment of a lifetime. That's Unfair (they all are).

 

[Desiderius]

As for other companions Val and Amiri are good for playing around with a variety of classes since their starting level (or two in Amiri's case) is valuable whatever class you play. You should try Inq20 first before multi-classing Jae. It gets stupid around midgame (again with Divine Favor/Power). Okbo is Jewb's companion and Linzi is your most essential party member (unless you make Val a Bard, which does work).

Octavia is another hidden melee beast.

 

[Sarkile]

Octavia is another hidden melee beast.

I admit, I never thought of trying that one.