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Duncan_Ruadrik
2010-11-27, 06:04 PM
So, my group is reopening our most awesome home-brewed campaign setting, and we need new characters to carry the torches of our previous characters, whom we are currently attempting to rescue from a sticky situation. Heres what I got so far.

Inquisitor level 7 (human?)

STR: 12
DEX: 20 (after flexible ability boost)
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS 16 (after level 4 ability point)
CHA: 10

feats:

1?
1?
3 Finesse
5?
7?

I was thinking about maybe Combat Expertise and that Gang Up feat from the APG. seems like it would have good synergy with my chosen teamwork feats for 3rd and 6th level, respectively. They are:

teamwork feat 3rd: Paired Opportunist
teamwork feat 6th: Outflank

I took the travel Domain, btw.

As for items, I have:
Rod of Extend, lesser
Amulet of natural armor +2
Mithril Breastplate +1
+1 buckler
+1 keen rapier
Cloak of Resistance +1

My plan is to use Magic Vestments with the rod of extend every morning on my Breastplate and Buckler, giving each an additional +1 for 14 hours. First round of combat, use Shield of Faith on myself for a +3 deflection and use the Judgment of Protection, giving myself another +2 sacred bonus.

So my AC will be: 10+ 5 DEX +8 Armor +3 Shield +2 natural armor +3 Deflection +2 sacred for a total AC of 33.

So my questions:

1: What feats should i take to increase my combat effectiveness?
2: Will Magic Vestments stack with already magical armor?

fractal_uk
2010-11-27, 06:31 PM
Some points:

If you're using point buy then it's more efficient to buy yourself a 17 in dex and put the +1 at level 4 into that and use the points you have saved to increase your wisdom.

Magic vestement doesn't stack with the enhancement bonus of already magical armour, thus casting it on your +1 mithril breastplate is going to have no effect.

You could consider being an Elf and using an Elven-curved blade two-handed with weapon finesse to do some decent damage as a dex-based melee character. You would want at least 13 strength for that though (so you could take power attack). I'd strongly advise against using a rapier, especially without power attack, you're going to do so little damage enemies will quite happily ignore you.

Duncan_Ruadrik
2010-11-27, 06:51 PM
Some points:

If you're using point buy then it's more efficient to buy yourself a 17 in dex and put the +1 at level 4 into that and use the points you have saved to increase your wisdom.

Magic vestement doesn't stack with the enhancement bonus of already magical armour, thus casting it on your +1 mithril breastplate is going to have no effect.

You could consider being an Elf and using an Elven-curved blade two-handed with weapon finesse to do some decent damage as a dex-based melee character. You would want at least 13 strength for that though (so you could take power attack). I'd strongly advise against using a rapier, especially without power attack, you're going to do so little damage enemies will quite happily ignore you.

Good to know i can save the money on magic items then... Always willing to save a couple thousand gold...

I don't know how I feel about the whole power attacking thing. I have a medium attack bonus, which is at +5 at level 7. IF I can't hit my opponents either, they will also ignore me...

Also at level 8 I get my second judgment, which very well could be Destruction.

Is it really that important that i have power attack?

fractal_uk
2010-11-27, 08:58 PM
Good to know i can save the money on magic items then... Always willing to save a couple thousand gold...

I don't know how I feel about the whole power attacking thing. I have a medium attack bonus, which is at +5 at level 7. IF I can't hit my opponents either, they will also ignore me...

Also at level 8 I get my second judgment, which very well could be Destruction.

Is it really that important that i have power attack?

The good thing about being an inquisitor is you can really buff yourself up to the hilt with bonuses to hit - to this end you're better off getting the Justice judgement (to be honest, i'd go for that one first). To illustrate how important power-attacking is, if you took the Destruction judgement you would get +2 damage whereas taking the Justice judgement and power attacking would get you +6 damage at exactly the same attack bonus.

Throw in some Divine Favour (and at higher levels, Divine Power) along with some Heroism for more bonuses to hit and damage and you'll be laughing on both fronts.

If you can get up to 14 strength then you are comparing the following:

Elven Curved Blade: +15 (5 base attack, +5 dex, +1 enhancement, +2 divine favour, +2 justice, +2 heroism, -2 power attack) doing d10+12 (avg. 17.5)

to

Rapier: +15 (5 base attack, 5 dex, +1 enhancement, +2 divine favour, +2 heroism) doing d6+5 (avg. 8.5)

With a couple of rounds to buff, you aren't going to be having problems hitting, you'll probably be having an easier time of that than the fighter despite the lower base attack bonus.

Ailurus
2010-11-27, 09:36 PM
Very much agree with fractal_uk on Justice + power attack. And, from my experience with low level inquisitors (though my guy is only level 4 at the moment), I'm rather confused by your choice of Protection for your 'default' judgment.

It seems that you're spending most of your money, and some of your limited spells, on making yourself hard to hit, so why spend your judgments as well, especially since it nets going from 31 to 33 AC for 3 fights/day? Quick glance through the pathfinder SRD bestiary suggests your not going to run into much stuff which will have more than a 1/4 chance of hitting you, even with 31 AC, so using protection just seems like a waste to me. I'd suggest instead using the judgments to fuel power attack or do extra damage most of the time, or even using Smiting to bust through DR if your party is not equipped with the appropriately aligned weapons at some point.

Also, inquisitors have another very good reason to not shy away from power attack (if they're going melee). You are a (partially) physical combat oriented class with access to True Strike (note - I would highly recommend picking up true strike in one of your level one spell slots, if you have not already. Bonus points for picking up a rod of quicken spell to go along with it when you have the money). While pathfinder unfortunately doesn't let you dump your full BAB into PA like 3.5 did, you can still cast true strike, then power attack + judgment of destruction the DM's heavily armored melee boss upside the head making both the DM and the party fighter cry. What's not to love about that?

gorfnab
2010-11-28, 12:07 AM
You can take Weapon Finesse at first level since Paizo had the sense to remove the 3.5 prereq of BAB +1. Also here is a Pathfinder Inquisitor Guide (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dcrgj6j5_37fbnsmxfr).

Duncan_Ruadrik
2010-11-28, 01:37 AM
Its a decent guide, unfortunately whoever made it must be using a paladin guide as a template: Telling me to use high charisma, the spells only go up to level four, and if I'm not mistaken refers to spells not even on the Inquisitor spell list.

I am just somewhat loathe to use an Elven Curve Blade. I was really enjoying the idea of the breastplate, shield and rapier, kinda conquistador-esque. However, instead of oppressing indigenous peoples, I slay monsters.

I dunno, haha. I guess i just enjoy the idea too much.