Help me with an Oradin

[Larkas]

Hey guys! I've came up with the chassis for a character, and could use some help fleshing it out. This is a divine gish melee character, and I want to focus on buffing myself and eventually controlling the battlefield. I'm not very good on optimizing in PF, though, and I couldn't figure out how to fit in 4 attacks, for example. (Disclaimer: I'm aiming for PO, not TO)

The basis is very simple: Paladin 2/ Oracle 18. I would take Clouded Vision as my curse, and Battle as my mystery. If you're familiar with it, think Warcraft 3's Mountain King on steroids: Enlarge Person, and later Righteous Might, would pretty much be like it's Avatar ability, and Earthquake like Thunder Clap. The 9th level spells and Divine Grace would, er, be the steroids :smallbiggrin: I will go THF instead of Axe-and-Hammer TWF, however, and might dump dwarf for human both because of the dwarf's CHA penalty and because I could use the favored class bonus to shore up the Oracle's HP.

As I said, I'm fairly new to PF. I didn't really look up any archetypes in depth, though I suspect none would help me much. It would be best if there was a Full BAB/Full Casting PrC for me to invest two levels in and thus achieve a fourth attack. I would be losing out the last mystery spell, but Storm of Vengeance isn't very stellar for this type of character, I think. Alas, I don't know if there's such a class in PF. Divine Power can shore that up a little, but without 3.5's Persist cheese, I don't know if it's that good. Any help in this department would be greatly appreciated!

I could also use some ideas on the feat department. The good side is that this build isn't feat starved, the bad, is that I don't know what feats to choose :smallfrown:

As a last piece of information, this is a theoretical build (as in: I won't use it in any game right now, it has nothing to do with TO), but I want to avoid 3.5 material, since I might be joining a PF-only game in the following months and this character might come in handy.

Also, before anyone asks, yes, I know of the Inquisitor. No, I don't want to use it. =/

[Waker]

Well, if you wanted to increase your combat abilities without sacrificing your magic casting too much, you could consider going
Paladin 2/Oracle 8/Holy Vindicator 10
You would only have up to 7th level spells, but you would have better BAB (+18), HD and Fort svs, not to mention proficiency with armor and weapons.

Almost forgot, you would have to choose a different Mystery, like Life, to get the required Channel Energy ability.

[Larkas]

Well, if you wanted to increase your combat abilities without sacrificing your magic casting too much, you could consider going
Paladin 2/Oracle 8/Holy Vindicator 10
You would only have up to 7th level spells, but you would have better BAB (+18), HD and Fort svs, not to mention proficiency with armor and weapons.

Almost forgot, you would have to choose a different Mystery, like Life, to get the required Channel Energy ability.

I considered Holy Vindicator, but alas, it stops me from reaching 9th level spells, something I was aiming for. I don't think +3 BAB is worth it, and thankfully, I get pretty much all the proficiencies I need from the Paladin levels. :smallsmile: The Fort increase is certainly a plus, but again, I think I can shore that up weakness with spells, right?

[Waker]

Of course I can understand the desire to retain the caster levels. What about increasing the Paladin levels to 3? You would still get the 9th level spells, but gain access to the Fear/Disease Immunities (unless you took an archetype that replaced them.)

[Larkas]

Not really. Oracles (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/baseClasses/oracle.html) can only lose two caster levels and still reach 9ths. This makes proper multiclassing much more difficult. :smallfrown:

[avr]

Aasimar (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-aasimar) can be descended from dwarves on their mortal side as easily as humans. There's even a sidebar about it.

Agathion-blooded aasimar get +2 to CON and to CHA which should fit you down to the ground. While it's listed as a feat for oreads, you might be able to talk your GM into allowing dwarf-blooded (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/arg-feats/dwarf-blooded-oread) as a feat.

[Waker]

Man, I am bungling all of these attempts at being helpful. You take a vacation from scrutinizing over feat combination and obscure rules for a few months and you completely lose the ability to look at a table and read properly.

[Goldfly]

Inheritor's Crusader (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/i-m/inheritor-s-crusader) fits your requirements.

EDIT: Or not, as Oracles don't get Channel Energy. Never mind.

[Waker]

Inheritor's Crusader (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/i-m/inheritor-s-crusader) fits your requirements.

EDIT: Or not, as Oracles don't get Channel Energy. Never mind.

They can get Channel Energy though a Mystery, Life for example can grant it. The more annoying hurdle is that the spell progression specifically calls out increasing Cleric or Paladin, so the DM would have to allow it to progress Oracle spellcasting.

[Larkas]

Inheritor's Crusader (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/i-m/inheritor-s-crusader) fits your requirements.

Aw, heck, ALMOST. RAW, it can only progress Paladin or Cleric spellcasting, there's nothing on Oracles. It is a perfectly valid house rule, though, and one that I think any DM would roll with. Was this PrC published before APG, by any chance? Regardless, if you know of any other PrC like this, let me know!


Man, I am bungling all of these attempts at being helpful. You take a vacation from scrutinizing over feat combination and obscure rules for a few months and you completely lose the ability to look at a table and read properly.

Hey, no worries! We all have bad days. Believe me, I know XD


Aasimar (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-aasimar) can be descended from dwarves on their mortal side as easily as humans. There's even a sidebar about it.

Agathion-blooded aasimar get +2 to CON and to CHA which should fit you down to the ground. While it's listed as a feat for oreads, you might be able to talk your GM into allowing dwarf-blooded (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/arg-feats/dwarf-blooded-oread) as a feat.

Hey, nice catch! Even if the DM doesn't let me fluff the character as a dwarf-descended aasimar, this agathion-blooded variant is sweet! I guess that, regardless of fluff, we have a race :) The oread feat is house-ruling, but again, a very reasonable one. If the DM can accept dwarf aasimars, might as well go the whole way!

[Goldfly]

Aw, heck, ALMOST. RAW, it can only progress Paladin or Cleric spellcasting, there's nothing on Oracles. It is a perfectly valid house rule, though, and one that I think any DM would roll with. Was this PrC published before APG, by any chance? Regardless, if you know of any other PrC like this, let me know!

It was, actually. 2009 vs. 2010. From what I've seen, though, this is the only prestige class that has both full BAB and progresses a form of divine spellcasting.

[Waker]

Aw, heck, ALMOST. RAW, it can only progress Paladin or Cleric spellcasting, there's nothing on Oracles. It is a perfectly valid house rule, though, and one that I think any DM would roll with. Was this PrC published before APG, by any chance? Regardless, if you know of any other PrC like this, let me know!
Crusader came from

Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #26: The Sixfold Trial. Copyright 2009
Oracle came from

Advanced Player's Guide. Copyright 2010, Paizo Publishing,
So it looks like you wouldn't be insane for suggesting a slight modification. Both of the dates are listed at the bottom of their respective pages

[Larkas]

Ah, makes a lot of sense, then. They didn't put Oracle advancement because they simply didn't exist back then. I can understand them not wanting to make this a "divine-theurge light", but the way it is written is, IMHO, bad design. PrCs are supposed to enforce some skillet, not pigeonhole you into some class. So Paladin can't properly multiclass with Druid due to alignment issues. That's fine, but the way they wrote it left no place for hypothetical classes that could be used that way, like the Oracle or the Inquisitor.

Anyways, rant aside, do you guys see any other way to gain Channel Energy short of Life mystery? I really could use Battle's spells, and there's no Crossblooded archetype for the Oracle =/

[Goldfly]

The Adept Channel (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/adept-channel) feat can do so, but you need access to a familiar. At 9th level, the Noble Scion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/local-feats/noble-scion-local) feat grants you a imp servitor that acts as a first-level wizard familiar; whether this counts as a familiar for prerequisites or not depends entirely on your DM.

[Larkas]

Hmmm, Adept Channel needs Summon Familiar as a class ability. But it's sure one to present the DM. Thanks!

[Waker]

I took the time to look, only the Life Mystery grants Channel. Nor do any of the archetypes, though the Aasimar racial variant comes close since it gets an Alignment Channel ability.
At some point later, I'll try and find a PrC that might grant it.

[Larkas]

I took the time to look, only the Life Mystery grants Channel. Nor do any of the archetypes, though the Aasimar racial variant comes close since it gets an Alignment Channel ability.
At some point later, I'll try and find a PrC that might grant it.

Thank you very much, Waker, you've been a great help! :) As I said, I'm fairly new to PF, and only have the Core and APG books. However, short of the base classes, the rest of the stuff seem to be all over the place! And I feel a little stupid, but I've only been able to properly navigate the official SRD, so no Adventure Path stuff... I think that my main problem with d20pfsrd is that I don't even know where to start looking. =/