[PF] Help with a PFS Oradin

[Hashiel_Dammit]

Hey playground,

I'm going to start doing PFS (since I can't find a reliable group in the Bay Area - if you've got one, hit me up) and I think I'm going with an Oradin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=257365) but I'd like to incorporate some elements of this (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pbf5?I-need-a-good-fighter-build#17) as well.

My rationale is this: it's PFS so I'm not sure that I'll be with the same people every week so I want a character that works with any group. Everyone loves healing, everyone loves being buffed, I'm a pretty nasty beatstick and can be the party face.

I like the idea of pumping the crap out of LoH to fuel both defense (with life link and shield other) and offense (PALLY SMASH) since the best way to mitigate damage is to smite it.

I'm thinking Paladin (Oath of Vengeance) for two levels to get LoH online, then 3 levels of Oracle (Life Mystery) to get three life links and 2nd level spells (Lesser Restoration from Mystery + a couple of buffs) then back to Pally the rest of the way (Holy Vindicator relies on channeling a bit too much).

For fighting style, I'm thinking THW. I know ranged is the most optimal (more smite attacks, and I won't be taking a lot of damage on my own, just soaking up the party damage from LL and SO) but I like the idea of a bit of a martyr character, shielding his allies with his body as well as abilities.

I'm on the fence about the second revelation - channel helps with out of combat healing but it's pretty useless otherwise without significant investment in feats (quick channel and selective channel) which will lower my LoH uses; nothing else seems that usefull (I suppose Battle Healer will give me another way to self-heal with a swift action). I also considered Warrior of the Holy Light to give me another use for LoH (Buffing, but it's not much of a buff and spells wiill let me do the same thing better - looking at you, Blessing of Fervor).

I guess I'm asking for advice on the second revelation and any other tricks for LoH. FYI for race, I'm going Human since its PFS and I'm not sure whether or not Fey Foundling is allowed.

Thanks.

[Karoht]

First off...
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=257365
Oradin guide.

Second...you're basically doing a small dip into Oracle and then progressing as a Paladin. Okay. Cool. Let me point some things out.

1-Bestow Grace of Champion. It's a spell, look it up, but long story short it gives you a bunch of Paladin levels for free. Until you reach 7th level cleric spells, it is totally worth carrying a scroll or two of. Requires a Lawful Good alignment to be a recipient of this spell. If you already have paladin levels, then it has no effect at all.
2-Bestow Grace. If you want the Charisma to saves, get a wand with this spell in it. Require any Good alignment to be a recipient of this spell.

With those two things, one could go straight Oracle (thereby having access to things like 9th level spells) and not need to touch Paladin. If your goal is to progress as a Paladin with some Oracle perks, that is totally your call. Easier to optimize if we know which of the two you are aiming for.

Cheers, look forward to building this with you.

[Vastly]

What I did for mine was the following:
Race:
Tiefling [Kyton-Spawn (Shackleborn)]
This is the most optimal choice, there are few better or equivalent to this, especially due to the paladin favored class bonus.

Feats:
Fey foundling (which is PFS legal)
Armor of the Pit (+2 natural armor)
Selective Channeling
Greater Mercy
Extra Channeling
Only Fey Foundling is critical

Revelations:
Life Link
Channel
2 channeling pools is nice

Archetypes:
I took Hospitaler and Warrior of Holy Light for Paladin
None for Oracle
This nets you a channel pool separate from your lay on hands, and some additional healing and such in place of your weak paladin spell selection.

Gear:
Phylactery of Positive Channeling
This significantly boosts each of your channeling pools

He wielded a shield and longsword and wore full plate armor. He stood on the front lines like a wall, a wall that heals his allies and refuses to die. He also used intimidate instead of diplomacy (traited as a class skill).

He was a ton of fun to play I must say.

[Hylas]

Cool high level stuff
Unfortunately this is for PFS, which only goes to level 12. Level 7 spells appear on 13th level at the earliest, 14 for oracles.


Bay Area - if you've got one, hit me up
All of my groups are full, but if we suddenly need more players I'll let you know. One of my friends, last I asked, was doing PFS over in Castro Valley. It didn't really mesh with me though.


FYI for race, I'm going Human since its PFS and I'm not sure whether or not Fey Foundling is allowed.
During my one session stint as a paladin I was allowed to use fey foundling, but I was required to bring any books that I wanted to use for my characters. This became problematic because I didn't bring any books (I didn't know!), so the DM didn't let me buy anything with gold since, after all, I didn't have anything official to check the prices with. :smallsigh: Really, I think he just didn't like paladins and was taking it out on me.

You're also allowed (or so I'm told) to change your build around as much as you want between sessions until you reach level 2. A lot of people recommend making a barbarian since they're pretty strong level 1 characters.

[Hashiel_Dammit]

Kahrot: Read the guide (linked it in OP, actually). I like the concept but to me, then money maker is effectively getting group healing for a swift action, thus allowing me to do damage in combat on top of healing and some buffing. Granted, at higher levels, LoH won't mean much, but this is PFS - high levels aren't going to happen. That also means I'm not dipping - 3-4 levels of Oracle is 25-30% of my build, so I want to get the most out of it. Based on the suggestions I've seen my options are thus:

Healing focus

4 Levels of Pally Hospitaller (to get that second channeling pool)
4 Levels of Life Oracle (2nd level spells and channeling as 2nd Revelation)
4 Levels of Holy Vindicator (Nets another 4 BAB and adds to Oracle Channeling and Spellcasting)

This strays too far from the initial concept in that it uses too many actions to heal during combat. I like the Oradin because he's a frontliner who doesn't sacrifice actions to heal.

Damage Focus

Oracle 4 (again, 2nd level spells for Shield Other but no higher to avoid the BAB loss, pick up Channel as the 2nd Rev)
Pally the rest of the way to maximize LoH - go ranged (maybe Divine Hunter), giving me more smite attacks and keeping me out of melee so I only have to soak the party's damage, not damage done to me as well.

Keeps the swift action healing and with Quick Channel, lets me get off a Channel as a move action, allowing for Manyshot with the bow, but again - not fitting the concept

The Double Threat

4 levels of Oracle (see above)
8 Levels of Oath of Vengeance Pally (and loads of extra LoH) - Maybe with Divine Defender to have another use for LoH (although between healing and Smiting, I think I'll have plenty to do) and a bit more tankiness) - the idea is to have a pretty limitless font of smites and LoH to provide (effectively) constant group healing. Warrior of the Holy Light probably doesn't work with OoV since that adds a spell per spell level and WoHL removes spellcasting. RAW I think that means I can't take both (and in PFS, it's all RAW, as it should be).

Really, if you were a Paladin and saw a feat that gave you one extra smite per day, you'd take it without a second thought. Extra Lay on Hands is pretty much that, except you can use it to heal yourself (and this the whole party, too).

Maybe take Channel as 2nd revelation (none of the others look that great - Energy body *does* give some nice immunities and move action healing but won't last long with only 4 levels of Oracle and takes a standard action to start). The plan is to wade in with Life Link on most of the rest of the party and eventually (right when it gets serious) to use Shield Other on front line squishies like rogues (note correct spelling:smallcool:) or impulsive touch spell casters. I should be healing a good amount of damage for a swift action (esp with PFS legal Fey Foundling) and still be able to bring some pain of my own

I like the double threat mainly because a) high CharOp is not needed in PFS - take a look at some of the modules and b) it's a character that everyone at the table (including me) will find fun to play with. I get to be a life saver, life taker and heart breaker while keeping glass cannons on their feet and being a buff target/hp battery for squishy wizards. Now I'm looking for neat tricks with feats or Archetyples that I've overlooked and maybe some ideas on non-feat intensive (since I want LOTS of LoH) Combat styles. I'm open to THW or Sword and Board (iconic and tanky) ideas. Full defense and Divine Defender or Greatsword of Truthiness and Power Attack? Skirmish style with Cleave and Furious Focus (I'm looking at BAB +11 at 12th (where PFS caps) so I'll only have two iteratives or TWF Sword and Board (MAD and feat intensive but covers the Dual Threat idea).

Thoughts?

Edit: Vastly: Tiefling is an awesome choice (and I kind of like the flavor) but I'm a little fuzzy on what is or isn't PFS legal for a first-timer. I wouldn't want to base my build on a race to find out I can't play them because I didn't go to GenCon. Also, I'd rather spend standard actions punk smacking fools than channeling (out of combat, I could use a wand of CLW - unless that's not PFS legal - damn you, lack of easily accessible guide).

Hylas: If you ever need an alt, I'm your guy (based in SF but I can go anywhere, as long as there's a BART station. :smallbiggrin:). I'm aware of the book limitation but I plan on buying splatbook PDFs as needed as I level. Thanks for the heads up on changing before 2nd level but I'm trying to avoid *too* much cheese.

[Hylas]

Yeah, I looked around for what was PFS legal and what wasn't back when I was first going to play, but I didn't find any obviously laid out information for newbies. I did play an Aasimar, but I was told blood of angels was a no-no, but I've seen other people online talk about using blood of angels alternate race features. Hopefully your PFS group is more accommodating than mine was with regards to information.

[Vastly]

Edit: Vastly: Tiefling is an awesome choice (and I kind of like the flavor) but I'm a little fuzzy on what is or isn't PFS legal for a first-timer. I wouldn't want to base my build on a race to find out I can't play them because I didn't go to GenCon. Also, I'd rather spend standard actions punk smacking fools than channeling (out of combat, I could use a wand of CLW - unless that's not PFS legal - damn you, lack of easily accessible guide).

From Pathfinder Society Additional Resources

Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends

*Note: Tieflings may only be half-human. Other races, including but not limited to dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, half-orc, tengu, and any other race, are not legal in PFS.

Bloodlines: daemon bloodline is not legal for Pathfinder Society; Feats: all feats on pages 24–25 are legal; Heritages: all heritages, and associated traits, on pages 18–23 are legal; Magic: bard masterpieces are legal; Other: variant tiefling abilities are not legal for Pathfinder Society; oracle curses on page 26 are legal; Inquisitons on pages 26–27 are legal; Subdomains: all subdomains on page 15 are legal; Traits: all traits on pages 30–31 are legal

You need this in either in pdf form or the actual book, but by having it makes the tiefling heritages legal for you to use. Tieflings, Aasimars and Tengu were all recently made legal for standard play, though I'm less than 100% certain on the tengu.

You need to search through here in order to see whats legal for from each source material.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/about/additionalResources

As for build, personally, I'd go your damage focus build, either go Oracle 3/Paladin X or Oracle 4/Paladin X. I'd also highly recommend both the Warrior of Holy Light and Hospitaler if you go this route. The spells you lose as the paladin will be rather minute compared to the extra 2 uses of LoH you get, plus the aura you get (+1 attack, damage, save vs fear) and a free lesser restoration at paladin lvl 8. With fey foundling, Greater Mercy, and your favored class bonus, your LoH will heal you for 5d6+18, as a swift action! If you have Quick Channel, you could channel as a standard action, channel as a move and LoH as a swift, for a total of 15d6+38 in one round. It's rather ridiculous how much healing you can put out. The above is assuming you have the Phylactery of Positive Channeling.

I believe Divine Hunter stacks with both of those archetypes if you decide to go the archer route. Either way, the best part of this build is its action flexibility. Depending on feat choice you can channel as move and attack, full round attack and heal with a swift, cast a spell then channel then heal with a swift, so on and so forth. Its fun to play. :smallsmile:

[Karoht]

I'm going to second the vote for Double Threat.
Channel as second revelation is also recommended over Energy Body. But, the defensive aspects of Energy Body can't be ignored. If you suddenly find yourself surrounded by Rogues, it can be a real lifesaver. Be that as it may, I still recommend the Channel, even if it will only be 2D6.

[grarrrg]

Good...good...Oradin has reached critical mass and I no longer must directly post in every thread...good...good....
*rubs hands together maniacally*

[Blyte]

@Hashiel - it's unnecessary to go 4 levels in oracle for the purposes of gaining shield other. shield other is a paladin spell as well.

** also if you worship the dwarven goddess Folgrit, you can take "watchful eye", a level 1 pally/cleric spell that is a poor man's shield other.

[grarrrg]

@Hashiel - it's unnecessary to go 4 levels in oracle for the purposes of gaining shield other. shield other is a paladin spell as well.

It may be on the Paladin list, but Oracle gets 2nd level spells quicker.
While we're on the topic, Paladin's Sacrifice (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/paladin-s-sacrifice) is a "one use Shield Other". 2nd level Paladin spell, used as an Immediate Action, for all intents and purposes you become the target of whatever attack/spell instead of the intended victim.

I try to escape, but they keep sucking me back in!
And I've been debating adding a "useful spells" section to the guide thingy...

[Hashiel_Dammit]

Okay, here's the build I've settled on, with some commentary. Thanks for all your suggestions.


I haven't named him yet (I always do that last)
Lvl 1 Human Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
I know everyone is shouting 'but Tiefling is just better', and you're right. However, this is for PFS and going human means a) Fewer splatbooks to buy (I have to optimize my wallet, too) and b) going full Char-Op is really not necessary and Tiefling just seems a little over the top.

Stats
20 Point Buy

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 8
Wis: 10
Cha:16

Lvl 1- Paladin 1 - Feats: Fey Foundling (H) Power Attack (1) - Smite 1/day
Lvl 2 - Paladin 2 - LoH (1d6+2, 2/day)
Lvl 3 - Oracle 1 - Mystery: Life -- Revelation: Life Link - Curse: Lame, Spells: 0:Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize, 1: Divine Favor, Protection from Evil - Feat: Extra LoH
Lvl 4: (+1 STR) - Oracle 2 - Spells: 0: as above but add Guidance, 1: Add Hide from Undead (Life Mystery)
Lvl 5: Oracle 3 - Revelation: Channel (2d6, DC 14) - Spells: 1: Add Divine Favor, Feat: Toughness
Lvl 6: Oracle 4: Spells: 0: Purify Food and Drink, 2: Lesser Restoration (Mystery Spell), Shield Other
Lvl 7 - Pal 3 - Mercy: Fatigued - Feat: Greater Mercy
Lvl 8 (+1) Str - Pal 4 - Channel Wrath (2 uses of LoH for an extra smite) LoH: 3d6+6 (2d6+4 if fatigued), 8/day
Lvl 9 - Pal 5 - Divine Bond: Weapon, Feat: Extra LoH
Lvl 10 - Pal 6 - Mercy: Staggered LoH: 4d6+8 (3d6+6 if fatigued or staggered), 12/day
Lvl 11 - Pal 7 - Feat - Vital Strike
Lvl 12 (+1 Con) - Pal 8

Comments

First two levels are pretty standard Pally beatstick stuff. The important thing is LoH and early survivability. Toughness is an option in place of PA.

The build gets going once we hit Oracle. The Lame Curse really doesn't have a downside, since I'll be wearing the heaviest armor I can get and won't get any fancy armor training like the fighter so 20 is going to be my movement anyway. With Life Link, we're now online and the Extra LoH is there to see that we get some use out of it. Can only link with one character at a time - front line glass cannons like rogues and magi get priority. Spells are pretty standard fare that can help the party or me. A neat extra wrinkle.

Oracle 4 and Shield Other is the reason we're here. Lesser Restoration ain't too shabby, either. We'll take channeling at 3 since we won't have enough levels to look at energy form (but take a look for yourself - there are some *nice* immunities that may not be obvious at first). Channeling is some nice out of combat healing and could see some use against undead at lower levels.

Now we're back to Pally. We pick up Greater Mercy for more benefit from touching ourselves. Pally 4 (Char Lvl 8) is where we really start to shine. Thanks to Oath of Vengeance, we can now trade Loh for smite. I looked at Warrior of the Holy Light for two more uses of LoH but in the end, a single feat (spread out) and what amounts to a weak 2nd level spell (that doesn't scale) aren't worth 4 levels of being able to draw from the entire spell list. Yeah, at 8th WoHL acts like Lesser Restoration, but we get that from the Life Mystery. There are one or two nice general spells (resist energy, litany of righteousness) and some situational stuff that might come up.

The last few levels are a bit lackluster, granting one more feat, a couple 2nd level Pally spells and another stat point (into Con just to stave off death a little longer) and that's it.


Overall, I think it's fun but I'm open to suggestions on how to refine it, especially the last two levels. Holy Vindicator has a feat tax and nets a bit more channeling and Oracle casting while keeping BAB and HD but nothing else grabs me.




Also, grarrrg: Thanks for the guide, I like the concept a lot. It's fun and useful but not game-breaking. I'd love to see anything else you come up with.

Cheers, guys.

[Vortenger]

I have to optimize my wallet, too


Thats real gaming :smallcool:

[Firest Kathon]

Fewer splatbooks to buy (I have to optimize my wallet, too).

You can also bring a printout of the relevant pages (or show the digital version on your laptop/tablet/phone) of a PDF you bought from Paizo (they are watermarked with your name). Still means to spend some money, but the PDFs are of course significantly cheaper than the physical books.

[Karoht]

@Oracle Curse
Lame? On a melee focus character? I think I'm going to have to re-read Lame. It's great for being a pack pony though.
Your Paladin is already Lawful Good. Have you considered Legalistic? The once per day bonus you can get from it is pretty good+4 Morale Bonus, on any one roll involved in keeping a promise, the promise is pretty open ended.

Vital Strike but no Power Attack? Well, you aren't going to get a lot of attacks, so that makes some sense. What weapon do you plan on using?

Greater Mercy is an excellent feat choice. I totally forgot about it. And at the level you are operating at, that extra D6 is pretty good.

Consider (when you can afford it) a Conductive Weapon. In a nutshell, it will allow you to do things like use your Channel or your Lay on Hands as part of an attack at no action cost. Costs 2 uses of the ability. It's more for Clerics with Domain powers activated with touch, but if you find yourself fighting anything else that is affected by our Lay on Hands, it can be rather convenient.
It's only a +1 upgrade, so 8K + MW Weapon cost.

[Blyte]

It may be on the Paladin list, but Oracle gets 2nd level spells quicker.
While we're on the topic, Paladin's Sacrifice (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/paladin-s-sacrifice) is a "one use Shield Other". 2nd level Paladin spell, used as an Immediate Action, for all intents and purposes you become the target of whatever attack/spell instead of the intended victim.

I try to escape, but they keep sucking me back in!
And I've been debating adding a "useful spells" section to the guide thingy...

@Hashiel- alternatively, you can buy a wand of shield other, it should be afforable by the time your build plans to be able to cast the spell at 6th. then you could be 4 pally/2 oracle.

[Karoht]

If the spell doesn't scale from level or stats, typically it is a good candidate for a wand. However, WBL might make it harder to squeeze in a wand when this character will still require all the necessities of a front line melee.

So plans to pick up Shield Other without using money are a good plan too.
Especially if you can get it as an Immediate action via Paladin casting.

[Hashiel_Dammit]

Kahrot: Power Attack was my lvl 1 feat: no beatstick should leave home without it. Having said that, I'm not married to Vital Strike. Furious Focus was attractive and one of the manuever feats could be useful as well.

RE: Lame Curse: As a human, my speed is 20 in heavy armor anyway - Lame doesn't reduce it further and, in fact, means it can't be lowered by any other means (i.e. encumberance - which is in full effect in PFS - or a slow spell or something). Without armor training from fighter levels, I don't lose anything and gain a very situatiuonal immunity. The not losing anything is more important. I liked legalistic but again, splatbooks. Even the pdfs add up and I'm poor and live in SF.:smallfrown:

Firest: Worth considering but I really have no idea what to expect from PFS, loot-wise. I can change my plans once I have a better idea what kind of gear I'll be able to get.

[Karoht]

Kahrot: Power Attack was my lvl 1 feat: no beatstick should leave home without it. Having said that, I'm not married to Vital Strike. Furious Focus was attractive and one of the manuever feats could be useful as well.Whoops, missed the Power Attack.
Furious Focus is kind of cool, do you plan on using a 2h weapon? If so, have you considered Pushing Assault? It's a flexible and low risk version of Bullrush. Fantastic for keeping things away from the rest of your party. You can choose to deal the extra damage from Power Attack or push the target back 5 feet (10ft on a crit). You choose after the hit roll is made but before damage is rolled. Pushing Assault you can get pretty early too. Ditch Toughnes maybe?
If you are going to be hitting BAB +11, Dazing Assault might be worth it. Maybe. If you can spare a feat that late.
Both options are in APG.


RE: Lame Curse: As a human, my speed is 20 in heavy armor anyway - Lame doesn't reduce it further and, in fact, means it can't be lowered by any other means (i.e. encumberance - which is in full effect in PFS - or a slow spell or something). Without armor training from fighter levels, I don't lose anything and gain a very situatiuonal immunity.Yeup, good thing I re-read that curse then. Awesome.

[Hashiel_Dammit]

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to ditch Vital Strike for either furious focus or pushing assault. Vital Stike only works on standard action attacks but FF helps with FA or SA. Pushing Assault gives me something to do besides just whack fools.

Won't hit +11 Bab until 12th level and won't have a feat to spare. It's better for reach fighters anyway.

[Karoht]

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to ditch Vital Strike for either furious focus or pushing assault. Vital Stike only works on standard action attacks but FF helps with FA or SA. Pushing Assault gives me something to do besides just whack fools.

Won't hit +11 Bab until 12th level and won't have a feat to spare. It's better for reach fighters anyway.The only downside of PA is that it requires a Two-Handed Weapon. Just a reminder.
I recommend a reach weapon if possible. Brace property helps but is not required.
Enjoy!

[grarrrg]

RE: Lame Curse: As a human, my speed is 20 in heavy armor anyway - Lame doesn't reduce it further and, in fact, means it can't be lowered by any other means (i.e. encumberance - which is in full effect in PFS - or a slow spell or something).

Almost, not quite.
Lame:

...reducing your base land speed by 10 feet if your base speed is 30 feet or more....Your speed is never reduced due to encumbrance.
...
At 10th level, your speed is never reduced by armor.

Your movement speed would be 15ft.
Lame is a different Movement penalty than Armor, and thus they would both apply. Thankfully, they apply based on 'current' movement speed (I think), so you're not stuck with a 10ft. movement speed.

Lame curse does not ignore Armor penalties until effective-Oracle 10.
Non-Oracle count as 1/2 towards effective, so with only 4 levels of Oracle, you wouldn't be able to ignore Armor penalties until level 16. This, of course, does you no help.


List of alternate Curses:
Legalistic: Minor penalties, minor bonuses. 5th level gives Social skill bonuses in 1-on-1 conversations.
Tongues: Minor penalties, minor bonuses. Can cause potential combat issues unless the rest of the party takes your 'penalty' language.
Wasting: Penalty on Charisma based skill checks, which isn't a problem, because you don't have the skills to be the Party-Face anyway. At 5th you are Immune to Sickened.

Bonus Round!
Dual Cursed Oracle with Deaf and Wolfscarred > FREE BITE ATTACK! (note: the Deaf/Silent Spell stuff applies to your Paladin casting as well)

[Hashiel_Dammit]

Blimey, you're right. Shame about that. Oh, well. Tongues it is. I guess it fits the concept to have my character start babbling in Celestial when he starts pumping out the divine power. I like legalistic but don't want to pay for the pdf (especially since I'm not sure if PFS is going to be for me). Still, it'll take six sessions before it's an issue so I have time to change my mind.

Do you know if you need to declare archetypes at the beginning of your career, or only when they start changing class features?

[Karoht]

Archetypes are perminant I think?

Haunted is a pretty fun curse too. Limited benefits though. And you have to take time to swap weapons or pull out other goodies. Tongues is pretty solid.

[Claudius Maximus]

Swapping weapons with Haunted has the same action cost. Only retrieving goods like a potion or a wand or some rope would take longer.

[Firest Kathon]

Firest: Worth considering but I really have no idea what to expect from PFS, loot-wise. I can change my plans once I have a better idea what kind of gear I'll be able to get.
You can expect around 500gp per adventure for the first few levels, later it becomes more. However, you need to buy any and all items you want to use, you cannot keep loot that is found during the adventure (it's automatically sold and you can buy it back). You also get 1-2 Prestige Points per adventure, which you can use (among other options) to buy an item worth 150gp (1PP) or 750gp (2PP). Check out pages 20 ff. of the Guide to PFS Organized Play (http://paizo.com/products/btpy84k4?Guide-to-Pathfinder-Society-Organized-Play) (it's free).


Do you know if you need to declare archetypes at the beginning of your career, or only when they start changing class features?

You only need to declare it when the first class feature change comes around, and in PFS you can change anything about your character (including archetypes) until you hit 2nd level.