[PF] Character Build Advice

[Sacrieur]

Hark! So I am not new to the world of roleplaying, nor D&D and PF. I have, however, taken an extended league of absence from it, and am ready to jump back in full swing.

I had recently played a half-orc monk, and that was enough to get me thrilled. But now I'm onto something a bit more ambitious.

A gladiator. But not just any gladiator (and not that silly, oh-look-I-can-also-juggler-gladiator), a duelist and swordsman with few equals. That can also rage.

My idea starts with a humble barbarian, taken from his homeland and forced to fight in an arena. There he learns the value of swordsmanship. So barbarian/fighter, here we come. Seems like a deadly combination to me.

I haven't gotten details, but I presume the starting level is three. It typically always is in our group. Stats are rolled 4d6 drop the lowest, reroll ones. I figure my stat priority should be Con, Str, Dex, Wis, Int, Cha. If I play a human I think I may put a +2 into dex. I'm also hoping I get high numbers to throw in all three physical stats.

So I figured I would start Barbarian 2/Fighter 1, as to reflect his background, although I can flip them around if that is best suggested. The build is aiming for an agile warrior, one who eschews heavy armors in favor of being faster.

With the current build, I have the uncanny dodge benefit and rage, well enough to deal some pretty decent damage. The speed upgrades come later. For rage power, I can either go with guarded stance or swift foot.

I figure with the fighter path I can either go full on dual short swords or adjust my stats around and take up a rapier. I think the mobile fighter or dual wield fighter variants may be ideal, but I would like to hear thoughts on this.

I am unsure which path to take from there. I presume alternating fighter/barbarian levels would be ideal. The dual wield would provide me with enough hits that I don't get left behind by the party (not that they're terrific with builds anyway).

Duelist seems attractive, but not likely for me to jump in on with a low int. I may just continue the fighter/barbarian path.

Thoughts?

[Arbane]

PF rewards single-classing a LOT more than D&D does. You might be better off going straight Barbarian. Maybe just giving them a decent Charisma and maybe a rank or two in Performance? (Gladiating _is_ entertainment, after all. Being able to work the crowd makes you less-likely to be put in a hopeless fight.)

For stats, I'd nonetheless suggest Str > Con > Dex > Wis > Int > Cha. Cha goes higher if you want to have fun with Intimidate. Strength really is your primary stat, and d12 hit-dice SHOULD give you a little leeway on Con. (You'll probably eventually want to get it up to 15 or more, for the Raging Vitality feat.)

A few Barbarian guides I've found that might be helpful:
BARBARIAN AM SMASH (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ump_KFzNoD7x6aJ9ywGank5G9DzSVlef28bBbjuIq2U/edit?pli=1)
Elewan's Pathfinder Barbarian Guide (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1im9-alhmNPAIQknkclrrhLupSFb6vmMNnQmW8BuORBA)

[Sacrieur]

But can I be a swift Barbarian? I figured dual wielding would be easier with all of the feats thrown at fighters. I suppose I can level dip whenever I need to pick up some weapon feats.

[Machinekng]

What's the optimization level of the group and how high is the campaign going, level wise? Pathfinder does reward single classing with favored class bonuses and capstones, but if you're not going all the way to 20, multiclassing shouldn't be as much of a problem. As for multiclassing Barbarian and Fighter, I'd just go with the 2 level dip and then fighter the rest of the way. Once you get Barbarian rage, you can just get the Extra Rage feat, and you can't get Mighty Rage until 11th level anyway.

As for the particular fighter archetype, it really depends. If you plan to do dual wielding, the Two-Weapon Warrior is probably your best bet. Otherwise, you probably want to go Mobile Fighter.

Another note is that if you do go Two-Weapon Warrior, you can also take the Gladiator archetype, but that archetype does rely on the performance combat alternate rules (and to a degree, the piecemeal armor rules) so check with your GM first.

[Sacrieur]

We don't typically run to level 20. So no level capping really going on.

The optimization level is low. There's one other person good at optimization and minmaxing, but he usually plays a fighter type, the people who play wizards and druids and stuff usually just do silly things like buff the fighters.

[Machinekng]

We don't typically run to level 20. So no level capping really going on.

The optimization level is low. There's one other person good at optimization and minmaxing, but he usually plays a fighter type, the people who play wizards and druids and stuff usually just do silly things like buff the fighters.

In that case, you should be fine no matter what as long as the GM recognizes this and fields appropriate encounters. It really just depends on what type of character you want to play.