[PF] Mage slaying in Pathfinder

[rypt]

I recently had the opportunity to build a character for a 12th level Pathfinder game. The game was to be based in the Forgotten Realms, and I drew inspiration for my character from the magehounds of Halruaa.

For those unfamiliar with the Realms, Halruaa is an isolated nation where almost everyone is is a wizard. The country is ruled by a Netyarch, meaning 'Wizard-King' in the local dialect, and a governing body known as the Council of Elders comprises 400 of the nation's most powerful wizards. The magehounds are religious inquisitors who serve as Halruaa's elite law-enforcing agents. As their name suggests, they specialize in the locating, tracking, and slaying of mages.

My first instinct was to go with the Inquisitor class. The magehounds are all worshippers of Azuth (a lesser god of magic, and in particular, wizards), so it seemed a pretty straight-forward fit. The Inquisitor has a number of archetypes and ACFs that seem suited to the concept, including Spellbreaker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/inquisitor/archetypes/paizo---inquisitor-archetypes/spellbreaker) and Witch Hunter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/inquisitor/archetypes/paizo---inquisitor-archetypes/witch-hunter) archetypes, as well as the Spellkiller Inquisition (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/inquisitor/archetypes/paizo---inquisitor-archetypes/inquisitions/spellkiller-inquisition).

These seemed great at first, but the more I played with different builds, the more I realized that neither of the archetypes are all that great. The Spellkiller Inquisition seemed reasonably effective, but I was frustrated by the fact despite receiving the Disruptive feat (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/disruptive-combat---final) for free, I wouldn't be able to take either of the Spellbreaker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/spellbreaker-combat---final) and Teleport Tactician (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/teleport-tactician-combat) feats without investing heavily into Fighter levels.

This ultimately lead me to the Eldritch Knight, which would allow to combine spellcasting and melee proficiency a la the Inquisitor, while still enabling me to qualify for Pathfinder's only true mage slaying feats.

I ended up settling on an Elf Fighter 1/Abjurer 6/Eldritch Knight 5.

For my Fighter level, I took the Lore Warden archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/lore-warden), and for the Wizard levels, I took the Spellbinder archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/elf/spellbinder-wizard-elf) and the abjuration school's counterspell specialization (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/classic-arcane-schools/abjuration/counterspell).

For traits, I elected to go with Magical Knack (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/magic-traits/magical-knack) (to make up for the 2 lost caster levels) and Magical Lineage (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/magic-traits/magical-lineage). For Magical Lineage, I selected dispel magic.

Feats were as follows:

Level 1: Step Up
Fighter 1 bonus: Following Step
Wizard 1 bonus: Scribe Scroll
Level 3: Combat Reflexes
Level 5: Dispel Synergy
Wizard 5 bonus: Disruptive Spell
Level 7: Spell Focus: Abjuration
Wizard 6 bonus: Improved Counterspell
Eldritch Knight 1 bonus: Disruptive
Level 9: Step Up and Strike
Level 11: Destructive Dispel
Eldritch Knight 5 bonus: Spellbreaker

Disruptive and Spellbreaker make it very difficult for enemy spellcasters to cast defensively when they are in your threatened area, and the Step Up, Following Step and Step Up and Strike feats make it very difficult for them to ever leave your threatened area. In the event they do manage to cast a spell, you can always counterspell it as an immediate action 1/day.

With this build, you can prepare disruptive dispel magic as a 3rd level spell thanks to Magical Lineage and anytime you manage to successfully dispel at least one buff from an enemy, that enemy cannot cast spells for 1 round without making a Will Save of DC = the save DC of your dispel magic + the spell level of the spell to be cast (Spell Focus was primarily taken to raise this DC). Additionally, they'll have to make this save with a -2 penalty thanks to the Dispel Synergy Feat and at least another -2 penalty thanks to the sickened effect from Destructive Dispel.

You'll probably find yourself casting dispel magic a lot, but thanks to the Spellbinder archetype, you don't have to worry about how many times you will prepare it. At 5th level, you can select dispel magic as a bonded spell.

So, how could I make this build better? How would you build a mage slayer in Pathfinder? Assume any non-3rd party material from the Pathfinder SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/) is fair game.

[grarrrg]

This ultimately lead me to the Eldritch Knight, which would allow to combine spellcasting and melee proficiency a la the Inquisitor, while still enabling me to qualify for Pathfinder's only true mage slaying feats.

I ended up settling on an Elf Fighter 1/Abjurer 6/Eldritch Knight 5.

...

Feats were as follows:
...
Eldritch Knight 1 bonus: Disruptive
...
Eldritch Knight 5 bonus: Spellbreaker[/INDENT]

Eldrtich Knight doesn't quite work that way.
Its level stacks with Fighter for Fighter-only feats.
And its level stacks with "wizard" for the purpose of Casting feats.
It does NOT allow you to count your Wizard level towards your Fighter feats or vice versa.
So a Fighter 1/Wizard 6/EK5 has a "Fighter" level of 6, and a "wizard" level of 11.

There are 2 better options though:
Magus can use their Arcana to gain Disruptive at 6th and Spellbreaker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/magus-arcana/paizo---magus-arcana/spellbreaker-ex) at 9th.
And there are a variety of Archetypes, one is bound to fit your needs.

Arcane Duelist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-archetypes/arcane-duelist) Bard automatically gets Disruptive and Spellbreaker as Bonus feats at levels 6 and 10.

[Occasional Sage]

As a bonus, magus wrecks action economy; full attack and a spell in the same round equals win. Check especially the 4the level magus-only spell Arcana Theft which uses dispelling to transfer an opponent's buff to you!

[rypt]

Eldrtich Knight doesn't quite work that way.
Its level stacks with Fighter for Fighter-only feats.
And its level stacks with "wizard" for the purpose of Casting feats.
It does NOT allow you to count your Wizard level towards your Fighter feats or vice versa.
So a Fighter 1/Wizard 6/EK5 has a "Fighter" level of 6, and a "wizard" level of 11.

There are 2 better options though:
Magus can use their Arcana to gain Disruptive at 6th and Spellbreaker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/magus-arcana/paizo---magus-arcana/spellbreaker-ex) at 9th.
And there are a variety of Archetypes, one is bound to fit your needs.

Arcane Duelist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-archetypes/arcane-duelist) Bard automatically gets Disruptive and Spellbreaker as Bonus feats at levels 6 and 10.

You are absolutely correct. I did not read the Diverse Training feature correctly the first time.


As a bonus, magus wrecks action economy; full attack and a spell in the same round equals win. Check especially the 4the level magus-only spell Arcana Theft which uses dispelling to transfer an opponent's buff to you!

The more I look at the Magus, the more I like it. Coming from 3.5, I've always thought of the Magus as being akin to the Duskblade. There's nothing really wrong with the Duskblade itself, but anything in 3.5 that isn't one of the big 4 casting classes misses out an ENORMOUS amount of supplemental support, particularly in terms of new spells. I've come to realize that in Pathfinder, this isn't much of an issue (at least not this early in its development cycle).

I can pretty much do everything I wanted to do before with a Magus instead of an Eldritch Knight, the only downside I can see is that I would lose out on a lot of out-of-combat utility spells.

[Axier]

For magus, if you are in any way thinking about using firearms, a dip in School of The Gun Wizard will give you a couple extra 1st level spells, and the ability to cast spells through your gun with improved DCs and to hit bonuses, as well as enchanting your amunition. This way, you can fire spells at your enemy, and then pistol whip spells into them too.

You lose cantrips from the wizard though, but they are not needed, as you have your own anyway.

I also like the concept of using scrollmaster wizard, because a magus that fights with swords made of scrolls sounds neat. Completely lo-op, but entertaining none-the-less.

As for the utility of a magus, yes it isn't as good as a wizard, but it is more combat oriented. You can always try to stock up on scrolls and such from the mages you hunt.

Have you also looked into Inquisitor (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/baseClasses/inquisitor.html)? You can also find the Ultimate Combat (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/inquisitor.html) and Ultimate Magic (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spellcastingClassOptions/inquisitor.html) archetypes and inquisitions here. You can build a solid mage hunter out of the class. Especially with the Spellbreaker Inquisition, and the archetypes like Spellbreaker and Witch Hunter. Witch hunter is pretty neat for that mater.

[rypt]

For magus, if you are in any way thinking about using firearms, a dip in School of The Gun Wizard will give you a couple extra 1st level spells, and the ability to cast spells through your gun with improved DCs and to hit bonuses, as well as enchanting your amunition. This way, you can fire spells at your enemy, and then pistol whip spells into them too.

You lose cantrips from the wizard though, but they are not needed, as you have your own anyway.

I also like the concept of using scrollmaster wizard, because a magus that fights with swords made of scrolls sounds neat. Completely lo-op, but entertaining none-the-less.

As for the utility of a magus, yes it isn't as good as a wizard, but it is more combat oriented. You can always try to stock up on scrolls and such from the mages you hunt.

Have you also looked into Inquisitor (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/baseClasses/inquisitor.html)? You can also find the Ultimate Combat (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/inquisitor.html) and Ultimate Magic (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spellcastingClassOptions/inquisitor.html) archetypes and inquisitions here. You can build a solid mage hunter out of the class. Especially with the Spellbreaker Inquisition, and the archetypes like Spellbreaker and Witch Hunter. Witch hunter is pretty neat for that mater.

With all due respect to Paizo, I never want to see guns in my D&D.

I actually discuss the Inquisitor and all the archetypes you mention in the opening post. Spellbreaker and Witch Hunter are thematically appropriate, but in terms of their effectiveness, I think they actually harm the Inquisitor more than they help it. The Spellkiller Inquisition is good, but it really should allow your Inquisitor levels to count as fighter levels for the purposes of qualifying for the Spellbreaker feat.

[jmelesky]

Back to Inquisitor for a moment. Spellbreaker is, if nothing else, an excellent dip. You get to roll twice for all mind-affecting saves, access to an Inquisition (take Spellkiller, get Disruptive for free, very early), and, incredibly usefully, you get the spell Litany of Sloth (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/litany-of-sloth).

Litany of Sloth is a swift action to cast, gives no saving throw, and prevents the target from 1- taking any AoOs, and 2- casting defensively. It only lasts one round.

Cast it on the meat shield on the first round, move past it to the squishy (without taking AoOs, naturally). Second round, cast it on the mage and watch it die of frustration. If it casts, it provokes (can't cast defensively). If it five-foots away, you Step Up to it. If it tries to engage you in melee, well, you don't mind that at all. And even if he does get a spell off, if it's a charm or a dominate, you're well-protected (since you can roll twice and take the better). Plus you potentially have the Spellkiller staggered effect to hand out.

I still like Inquisitor for later levels, but realize it's a preference, and not optimal. But I do encourage it at least for that one-level dip.

[TheTick]

It's too bad this game isn't happening now, I really wanted to play my monk.

And I really enjoyed building a character at this level. :/

[rypt]

Back to Inquisitor for a moment. Spellbreaker is, if nothing else, an excellent dip. You get to roll twice for all mind-affecting saves, access to an Inquisition (take Spellkiller, get Disruptive for free, very early), and, incredibly usefully, you get the spell Litany of Sloth (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/litany-of-sloth).

Litany of Sloth is a swift action to cast, gives no saving throw, and prevents the target from 1- taking any AoOs, and 2- casting defensively. It only lasts one round.

Cast it on the meat shield on the first round, move past it to the squishy (without taking AoOs, naturally). Second round, cast it on the mage and watch it die of frustration. If it casts, it provokes (can't cast defensively). If it five-foots away, you Step Up to it. If it tries to engage you in melee, well, you don't mind that at all. And even if he does get a spell off, if it's a charm or a dominate, you're well-protected (since you can roll twice and take the better). Plus you potentially have the Spellkiller staggered effect to hand out.

I still like Inquisitor for later levels, but realize it's a preference, and not optimal. But I do encourage it at least for that one-level dip.
You make a pretty compelling case for the dip. I hadn't looked over the Inquisitor spell list all that much, but that one is fantastic. It's unfortunate that you'd only get a single 1st level spell with 1 Inquisitor level. The Magus does get UMD as a class skill though, so I guess at later levels you could grab it in a wand.


It's too bad this game isn't happening now, I really wanted to play my monk.

And I really enjoyed building a character at this level. :/
Agreed, but assuming we get back to it in a couple weeks, I'd gladly trade the delay for a game that actually lasts.

And yes, for Pathfinder, I almost never see games on this board that start at mid or high levels.

[jmelesky]

You make a pretty compelling case for the dip. I hadn't looked over the Inquisitor spell list all that much, but that one is fantastic. It's unfortunate that you'd only get a single 1st level spell with 1 Inquisitor level.

You do get 2 known (and 4 cantrips, including the very handy Sift (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/sift)), but, yes, only 1 plus any Wis bonuses to cast per day (a 12 Wis is cheap enough, though, and doubles that spell output as well as upping your Will save).


The Magus does get UMD as a class skill though, so I guess at later levels you could grab it in a wand.

Sadly, once enshrined in a wand, it's a standard action to cast, rather than a swift. A Magus might make it work as part of Spell Combat, but it's still far less than its original utility.

[Occasional Sage]

Speaking of Magus features, can the spells obtained with Knowledge Pool be scribed into your spellbook? There's nothing preventing it that I can see, but then you essentially get the whole class spell list for pocket change and a month of down-time.

[avr]

Speaking of Magus features, can the spells obtained with Knowledge Pool be scribed into your spellbook? There's nothing preventing it that I can see, but then you essentially get the whole class spell list for pocket change and a month of down-time.
Look up the Pathfinder rules on adding spells to a spellbook (here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Adding-Spells-to-a-Wizard-s-Spellbo) or under class descriptions) . They all talk about having a written copy to work from, not about having the spell prepared.

[Axier]

With all due respect to Paizo, I never want to see guns in my D&D.
Duely Noted, and completely understood. Just as you never wish to see them, I have always enjoyed technological advances clashing with magic, so I kinda ALWAYS want to see them. I can dig it though.


I actually discuss the Inquisitor and all the archetypes you mention in the opening post. Spellbreaker and Witch Hunter are thematically appropriate, but in terms of their effectiveness, I think they actually harm the Inquisitor more than they help it. The Spellkiller Inquisition is good, but it really should allow your Inquisitor levels to count as fighter levels for the purposes of qualifying for the Spellbreaker feat.

True, true. That being said, you could discuss that last bit with the DM, should he be the adaptive type. I kinda was thinking form over function I suppose.

I do like the dip reccomendation though.

[Occasional Sage]

Look up the Pathfinder rules on adding spells to a spellbook (here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Adding-Spells-to-a-Wizard-s-Spellbo) or under class descriptions) . They all talk about having a written copy to work from, not about having the spell prepared.

Yeah, but look a bit further down your link:



If he already has a particular spell prepared, he can write it directly into a new book at the same cost required to write a spell into a spellbook. The process wipes the prepared spell from his mind, just as casting it would.


ETA:

With all due respect to Paizo, I never want to see guns in my D&D.


2e introduced them in the PH. Think of this as a throw-back to the old days. Not that I wanted them THEN, but hey.

[Lord_Gareth]

A question that hasn't been addressed yet: how do you intend on CATCHING your mage so that you might slay them?

[rypt]

A question that hasn't been addressed yet: how do you intend on CATCHING your mage so that you might slay them?

Do you mean catching them while in combat? Or getting them into combat to begin with?

[herrhauptmann]

A question that hasn't been addressed yet: how do you intend on CATCHING your mage so that you might slay them?

Air genasi Sylph, for the price of 2 feats, can get flight. I think tieflings and aasimar can get flight for a single feat.

Beyond that? Well, the OP is part of a party, so should probably rely on the rest of the party for part of it. Wizard killers don't have to go it alone. Besides, not every DM has their wizards using Astral Projection from their private demiplane. Especially at this level.

To the OP:
Is there any ranger ACF that helps against wizards/casters? 3.5 had it from Favored Enemy: Arcanists.

[rypt]

Flight shouldn't be an issue as even the Magus has fly on his spell list. Consider that I only need to get in close enough to cast a disruptive dispel magic to be able to deny them their spellcasting and their escape. And that's assuming that they've passed their fortitude save from Destructive Dispel. If I manage to dispel their fly spell, or catch them on the ground, then they're going to have to survive spell combat and bladed dash, which is effectively a pouncing charge with an extra attack. If they survive that, I'm in melee range at that point, and it is going to be very difficult for them to get away.

[herrhauptmann]

Flight shouldn't be an issue as even Magus has fly on his spell list. Consider that I only need to get in close enough to cast a disruptive dispel magic to be able deny them spellcasting and their escape. And that's assuming they passed their fortitude save from Destructive Dispel. If I manage to dispel their fly spell, or catch them on the ground, they're going to have to survive spell combat and bladed dash, which is effectively a pouncing charge with an extra attack. If they survive that, I'm in melee range at that point and it is going to be very difficult for them to get away.

Sir, I like how you think.
Also, didn't realize that Magus got fly...

[Lord_Gareth]

Do you mean catching them while in combat? Or getting them into combat to begin with?

Getting them to combat to begin with; how are you going to force a confrontation in the first place?

[rypt]

Getting them to combat to begin with; how are you going to force a confrontation in the first place?
I've never found this to be much of an issue. It's one thing for casters to flee once combat begins, but rarely have I encountered wizards and sorcerers who completely avoid confrontation. They tend to be rather confident in their abilities.

If you're suggesting that my character is effective enough that the enemy's spellcasters are completely unwilling to confront him -- that they're fleeing the field at the first word of my presence -- well, I suppose that's a victory. A boring victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I mean, let's not forget what game we're playing here. I'm going to have a party with me, almost certainly with a full caster of my own. If the enemy caster is scrying, teleporting, etc. to try and avoid us, well we can scry, teleport, etc. to pursue him.

[Lord_Gareth]

I've never found this to be much of an issue. It's one thing for casters to flee once combat begins, but rarely have I encountered wizards and sorcerers who completely avoid confrontation. They tend to be rather confident in their abilities.

If you're suggesting that my character is effective enough that the enemy's spellcasters are completely unwilling to confront him -- that they're fleeing the field at the first word of my presence -- well, I suppose that's a victory. A boring victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I mean, let's not forget what game we're playing here. I'm going to have a party with me, almost certainly with a full caster of my own. If the enemy caster is scrying, teleporting, etc. to try and avoid us, well we can scry, teleport, etc. to pursue him.

Not necessarily true. Pathfinder didn't do much to nerf a whole lot of spot-solutions to problems; in particular, mages that choose to summon or traffic with outsiders and/or constructs and/or undead are going to be problems for you. The longer they can avoid you, the more time they have to come up with a solution to the problem that you represent. Being able to force a confrontation will be important. May I suggest looking into teleportation and seeing what your DM thinks of you porting in Weirdstones?

[ThiagoMartell]

Not necessarily true. Pathfinder didn't do much to nerf a whole lot of spot-solutions to problems; in particular, mages that choose to summon or traffic with outsiders and/or constructs and/or undead are going to be problems for you. The longer they can avoid you, the more time they have to come up with a solution to the problem that you represent. Being able to force a confrontation will be important. May I suggest looking into teleportation and seeing what your DM thinks of you porting in Weirdstones?

But he just mentioned he'll be in a party with someone able to cast teleport. :smallconfused:

[Lord_Gareth]

But he just mentioned he'll be in a party with someone able to cast teleport. :smallconfused:

Ah crap, left out part of that. Allow me to rephrase:

"May I suggest looking into teleportation prevention?"

Plus the various and sundry other forms of defense available, each one needing its own counter (Prismatic Sphere being a prime example)

[grarrrg]

Is there any ranger ACF that helps against wizards/casters? 3.5 had it from Favored Enemy: Arcanists.

Not really.

The closest to Favored Enemy you'll get is the spell Instant Enemy (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/i/instant-enemy), 3rd level Ranger spell, for 1 Minute/level you treat _1_ target as a Favored Enemy using you best F-Enemy bonus.

For Archetypes, going Wild Stalker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger/archetypes/paizo---ranger-archetypes/wild-stalker) and taking the Superstition line of Rage Powers.
Superstition is a +2+ 1/4-level Bonus on ALL Saves, you can take Rage Powers that grant you the Disruptive and Spellbreaker feats while Raging.
Witch Hunter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/rage-powers/paizo---rage-powers/witch-hunter-ex) gives you +1+ 1/4-level damage vs. those with Spells or Spell-likes.
And Eater of Magic (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/rage-powers/paizo---rage-powers/eater-of-magic-su), which is...odd.
Of course, you count as level-3 for Barb level, so you're pretty much better off as a straight Barb for this anyway.

[Blyte]

I agree about barbarians barbarians, and also fighter(brawlers) are good at shutting down casters.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Going with the Barbarian suggestion...

Human has a favored class alternative to boost superstition. Dwarf has +2 racial bonus to saves, a trait ("Zest for Battle"?) makes it +3, and Steel Soul feat makes it a +5. Or play a race that can fly.

The entire Superstition line with Ghost Rager and Witch Hunter is good for this, as is Eater of Magic.

Add in Strength Surge and Spell Sunder to dispel their spell effects.

You will need to dip Oracle for 1 level to pick up the Lame curse, so you get Fatigue immunity and can cycle into a new rage each round to continue using strength surge + spell sunder and the eater of magic rage powers.

At 13th (Barb 12 / Oracle 1) level, you should pick up Dazing Assault feat. (I like the idea of taking Come and Get Me as your Barb 12 rage power, and along with the Combat Reflexes you'd have taken earlier...completely crushing other melee foes, but that is fairly unrelated to the task of mage slaying).

You can use Strix as your race for Ex winged flight, right from first level, if that is important for reaching the mage. Other races can get winged flight w/ feats, but the only one that boosts Str iirc is some of the variant blooded Aasimars, and that's a 3-4 feat chain.

[Slipperychicken]

I've never found this to be much of an issue. It's one thing for casters to flee once combat begins, but rarely have I encountered wizards and sorcerers who completely avoid confrontation. They tend to be rather confident in their abilities.


Because a DM isn't likely to stat up a Wizard's entire spells known, memorization list, buff-stack, and statblock, only to have it not interact with the PCs at all?

[Blyte]

Going with the Barbarian suggestion...

Human has a favored class alternative to boost superstition. Dwarf has +2 racial bonus to saves, a trait ("Zest for Battle"?) makes it +3, and Steel Soul feat makes it a +5. Or play a race that can fly.

The entire Superstition line with Ghost Rager and Witch Hunter is good for this, as is Eater of Magic.

Add in Strength Surge and Spell Sunder to dispel their spell effects.

You will need to dip Oracle for 1 level to pick up the Lame curse, so you get Fatigue immunity and can cycle into a new rage each round to continue using strength surge + spell sunder and the eater of magic rage powers.

At 13th (Barb 12 / Oracle 1) level, you should pick up Dazing Assault feat. (I like the idea of taking Come and Get Me as your Barb 12 rage power, and along with the Combat Reflexes you'd have taken earlier...completely crushing other melee foes, but that is fairly unrelated to the task of mage slaying).

You can use Strix as your race for Ex winged flight, right from first level, if that is important for reaching the mage. Other races can get winged flight w/ feats, but the only one that boosts Str iirc is some of the variant blooded Aasimars, and that's a 3-4 feat chain.


alternatively, the brawler can close with the mage and prevent any form of egress (no escape+stand still) as well as better hamper their ability to cast defensively with their menacing stance ability.. coupled with disruptive, there is no casting under threat of the brawler. I would suggest a dwarven pure brawler, with the anti-magic racials and feats StreamOfTheSky mentioned.. perhaps a dip into barbarian for fast movement and superstition. Winning initiative is always key, but sadly a wizard specced for that, is very hard to beat.

taking improved initiative and reactionary is a must. also having the party wizard buff you with anticipate peril whenever you anticipate a big fight, will help as well.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Dipping for Superstition is a complete waste. Losing the ability to accept friendly spells w/o saving is not worth a measly +2 to saves, and by RAW...the will save bonus (ie, the one you actually care about) does not stack with the bonus from Rage itself, since both are morale (thanks, paizo! :smallfurious: ).

Superstition is only worth it if you go full Barb and max the ever loving hell out of it so it's actually sure to make a difference.

[Blyte]

Dipping for Superstition is a complete waste. Losing the ability to accept friendly spells w/o saving is not worth a measly +2 to saves, and by RAW...the will save bonus (ie, the one you actually care about) does not stack with the bonus from Rage itself, since both are morale (thanks, paizo! :smallfurious: ).

Superstition is only worth it if you go full Barb and max the ever loving hell out of it so it's actually sure to make a difference.

agreed, but fast movement for a dwarf isn't bad at all, as well as the ability to rage.. so a 1 level dip isn't bad. it would give +10 movement and rage (+4 str, +4 con, and +2 will saves)

edit: you could take barbarian of the society trait for 3 extra rage rounds, and it wouldn't be hard squeezing in the feat extra rage as a nearly pure fighter. allowing you to rage for 9 additional rounds per day.