[PF] Front Liner Required? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

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Man With Dog

2013-01-30, 05:48 PM

Hey Guys,

So here goes, we recently lost one of your front rankers and the character needs replacing. My initial idea was to go with a Cleric wh beats on more than heals up or a Pally/Cleric (or maybe more so Pally/Oracle)
I had a few idea's tossed about by a friend that got my mind working both around a solid cleric archetype and a pally oracle build.

Was hoping some people in the playground had some idea's?
Pathfinder - Most PF books available - Lvl 7 - Lvl 5 starting gold. 20pt buy.

All idea's greatfully received

DonDuckie

2013-01-30, 06:08 PM

Archetypes I like:
Undead Scourge(pal - APG): always deals 2*lvl extra damage when smiting undead.
Phalanx Soldier(fgt - APG): Use spear and polearms as one-handed weapon with shield, reduce penalty from buckler and tower shield.
Invulnerable Rager(brb - APG): DR 1/- per 2 levels.
Synthesist(summoner - UM[iirc]): Merge player and eidolon, player's mental stats, eidolon physical stats, evolutions, temp hp.

Gunslinger(or gun archetypes - UC): touch attack, x4 crit multiplier.
Summoner: There's a good guide to make an eidolon into a charging pouncing damage dispenser. (EDIT: the Kali build)

And Druid and Cleric are of course always competent...

doko239

2013-01-30, 06:31 PM

Acanous

2013-01-30, 06:37 PM

Druid is better at low levels, cleric at high in PF. (Clerics lose armor prof: Heavy in PF, so worse at low levels. Druid Animal Companions start the same, but get hit with the nerfbat beginning at lv 6 and by 12 you might as well not have one)

Edit: Clereics DO get zombies and skeletons a level lower now, though.

Man With Dog

2013-01-30, 06:43 PM

Couple questions...

1. What's the tone/theme of the game? May influence your decision, depending on what level of RP is being used.

2. What's the rest of the party look like?

3. What kind of alignment spectrum do you have going right now?

Hi there:

1) Its a pre-written. A death does occur every now and then so rp and combat is level. Its very enjoyable so far.

2) Synthesist, Rogue-Fighter, Cleric (healer), Inquisitor (i think) Barbarian has gone.

3) Were neutral to good. We havent got permission to go along the evil route.

Thats how we are at the minute :smallsmile:

doko239

2013-01-30, 06:53 PM

You have two skillmonkeys, a healer/buffer and a tank. What you need isn't really a meatstick so much as a battlefield control caster. If you have your heart set on it though, the previous posters have pretty much laid out your options. I'd add Alchemist to the list, as Mutagen is basically a Barbarian Rage in a bottle; but that's about it.

Just my $0.02.

Man With Dog

2013-01-31, 04:36 AM

Xerxus

2013-01-31, 06:13 AM

Rage Prophet.

Bearlock

2013-01-31, 12:30 PM

What are the common views on paladin, oracle builds? I have seen a couple that look very interesting but my experience with any oracle is currently zero.

Paladin on Vengeance with Oracle of ....

Something along these lines

Not sure how optimized you group is, but conventional wisdom says do not multiclass with full caster classes, ie Oracle. Also, multiclassing with a Vengeance Pally cuts into you lay on hands usage, which then cuts into your smiting, which is why we take OoV and love it dearly.

Single class options

An Oracle with the Heavens mystery opens up the Dazzling Display revelation. With a few other things it can get pretty sickening for controlling the battlefield.

Or, you could go straight Paladin with Oath of Vengeance, and be an archer. Paladin archers can put out some crazy damage combined with smite evil, and full attacks with rapid shot, deadly aim and smite evil from a holy composite longbow could offer a pretty good semblance of control. Also, you could be the back up healer and the back up tank.

All of that aside, chiming in my own 2cp, I will agree with some of the others, not only do you lack a BC caster, you kind of lack a real... caster. Not overly familiar with the Synthesist, but from what I recall that's an archetype mainly for powering up the summoner personally. Has he given any thought to dedicating some spells for BC? He could, summoners generally get some pretty good spells even earlier than wizards do to them only having 6 levels of spells anyway.

Anyway, you seem to have a pretty melee heavy party, but play what you want to play man. Imo, playing a full caster like a wizard or an archer paladin could work, if you go oracle just try to work with the cleric as far as spell selection goes, you can focus on buffs and open them up for more utility spells.

Person_Man

2013-01-31, 02:13 PM

You don't really need a dedicated front liner if you have good battlefield control. So you could easily add a Druid (spontaneous Summon Nature's Ally) or Summoner instead of your standard meat shield.

If you do go with front liner, here are a few options to consider, all of which can be found online (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/) (note that it's separated out by book, so not all of the archetypes are in one place):

Sacred Shield Paladin: When you Smite, attacks the target makes against allies within 10 feet of the paladin deal half damage. Plus you get a bunch of other defensive bonuses. Having seen this in action in a dungeon, it's definitely one of the best protector options out there.

Flowing Monk: As an immediate action, you can reposition or trip a creature that attacks you, and they must Save or be sickened. Reposition can spoil an attack (if you move them beyond their reach) and Trip forces a To-Hit penalty on them and can give you 1 or 2 AoO (depending on your Feat selections). Also, your AoO render enemies flat footed (the Rogue will love you), you gain an additional AC bonus, and you can spend Ki to reduce damage from any attack against you by 50%. I like combining this with Master of Many Styles. And there are some awesome Monk Feats now.