Need help with build Antipaladin/Sorcadin?

[Icefrosty171]

I'm going to be starting a new campaign soon, Way of the Wicked, a campaign built around the idea the PCs are evil. I was thinking of character ideas and Anti-paladin seemed like a strong enough choice (House rule to let Anti-Paladins be any kinda of Evil) but then I saw some people talking about Sorcadins and all sorts of strange builds, I was wondering exactly how does a build like that work? Is it worth it? If not then what kind of anti paladin do you recommend? I was thinking either Two handing or sword and board, Could use some help with things like ability scores for some of the stranger builds, Race choice, and overall play style, let me know what you think. We are using rules strictly from the Pathfinder Core rulebook and The Anti-Paladin from the APG, 25 point buy I believe, I know this is quite a lot to ask but I am fairly new to working on advanced builds like these. Thanks!

[Dread_Head]

I believe Sorcadin to be more of a 3.5 thing than Pathfinder but the basic build will go something like Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / X8 where X is full casting and as close to full BAB as possible. Sorcadin is basically a Sorcerer who goes into combat backed up by buff spells with a hint of Paladin flavour. This sounds like it might not necessarily be what your going for as it plays rather differently to a normal Paladin. I don't know how well this will work in PF as all of those prestige classes are from 3.5 but if you can use them then it will work fine. If not then one of the more gishlike base classes from PF might be better like Oracle or Magus.

Two handed fighting is better than sword and board in general. Your ability scores should look something like Cha > Str > Con > Dex > Int / Wis if playing a Sorcadin or dropping Cha down to between Str and Con if playing straight (Anti)Paladin.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A Sorcadin has two things going for it: high Cha synergy, and good alignment synergy, the latter of which is actually the most important part of the build. Allow me to explain.

The standard Sorcadin uses Paladin (good) for Cha synergy, (Greater) Luminous Armor (good) with Abjurant Champion, Ancestral Relic (good) for a custom Runestaff to get around their limited number of spells known, and Sacred Exorcist (good) to get decent BAB without losing spellcasting. Of all these things, the only one with an evil or even nongood equivalent is Paladin.

Without the good alignment, you lose the only armor-bonus spell that benefits from Abjurant Champion, you have no reliable method of superseding the limited number of spells known, and you'll have to choose between having a +16 BAB or having 9th level spells by 20th level. You miss out on three of the four things that make it a good build. A nongood Sorcadin just doesn't work.


This Paladin build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?275093-its-a-villain-sort-of#5) could use an evil paladin variant, as long as you remove the Nymph's Kiss feat and get an evil adaptation of Harmonious Knight.

If you like that but want more spellcasting, this fear-based Bard build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?252815-3-5-Evil-Campaign#4) may be worth considering.

If you would prefer an arcane gish, a Wizard-based gish would probably be your best choice. You'll still miss out on Luminous Armor, but that's all it uses that needs a good alignment. Something like Human Paragon 1/ Fighter or Crusader 1/ Martial Wizard 2/ Human Paragon 2/ Spellsword 1/ Incantatrix 4/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Eldritch Knight or Knight Phantom 4 will get a +16 BAB and 9th level spells by 20th level. The Abjurant Champion and Incantatrix levels are interchangeable, depending on whether you want persistent buffs or BAB/HP earlier.