grarrrg
2014-12-05, 12:21 AM
Alright, time for another off-beat build.
The focus of today's build will be "hammertime".
This will be a level 20 Dwarf build.
We start with 9 levels of Foehammer Fighter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/dwarf/foehammer-fighter-dwarf)
There are 2 handy abilities here. The first is good old Weapon Training (hammers only), at 9th level this is good for +2 to-hit and damage.
The second ability is NOT Hammer-exclusive:
Rhythmic Blows (Ex)
At 9th level, each time that a foehammer hits a target, he gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls against that target. This bonus stacks with each hit against that target, but lasts only until the end of the foehammer's turn.
So the more time we hit a target, the easier it is to hit a target.
Now normally this is pretty ho-hum, as to get the most out of it, we would have to go TWF. Even assuming everything went perfectly, you are still looking at a -11 to-hit on that last iterative (-15 for iterative, -2 for TWF, +6 assuming ALL previous attacks hit). But we have a plan for that.
Since "more hits > more hits that land" Hammer the Gap (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/hammer-the-gap-combat) seems like a swell idea.
Note: Both Rhythmic Blows and Hammer the Gap only give bonuses on hits against the SAME opponent. If you hit someone 'new' the bonuses reset.
Also note: Rhythmic Blows ALWAYS gives a bonus when you hit, Hammer the Gap only gives bonuses on CONSECUTIVE hits.
We only have 11 levels left to play with and ALL of them are going Synthesist.
We'll be a high enough level to get Multiattack for free, so Natural Attacks will only take a -2 to-hit (and remember, they still count for Rhythmic Blows).
Multiweapon Fighting lets us attack with as many hands as we can get our...hands...on.
The end result is that due to both Multi-X feats ALL attacks are at Bab-2!
Level 11 also allows up to 5 Natural Attacks, and 15 Evo-points.
Pounce being what it is, Quad will be the base form. We don't start with any arms, but...Pounce (14 points left).
We cannot use the same limb to make Weapon and Natural attacks. Which rules out using the Dwarven Boulder Helm for +1 attacks, as we start with a Bite attack (1 Natural), and we can puts Claws on our feet once (+2 Natural, 13 points left).
Since we need to afford a LOT of arms, we are looking to pick up 2 attacks on the cheap. Options are 2 Tentacles for 1 point each, or Flight+Wing Buffet, it costs 3 points total, but still gives us 2 attacks. Since arms costs 2 points per pair, we may as well spring for Flight (10 points left).
End is Bite+Claw+Claw+Buffet+Buffet
Now comes the tricky part.
We can either sink all 10 of those points into Arms for 10 attacks, OR we can spend 4 points on Large for +8 STR, but only get 6 arms.
There is also the possibility of spending feats on Extra Evolution points for another couple arms.
5 Naturals + 10 hammers would have a possible +14 on the last attack
1+2+3+...+14= 105 total possible bonus
5 Naturals + 6 hammers would have a possible +10 on the last attack, BUT all attacks get +3 to-hit (+4 STR -1 Size) and +5 damage (+4 STR +1 weapon size).
1+2+...+10 + 4*11 = 99 > 88 total possible to-hit, 110 total possible damage.
Another point in favor of "go large" is that we would need to pay to enchant 4 fewer Hammers.
Medium Eidolon-suit STR is 20 (14 quad +4 STR/DEX bonus, +2 level ups)
Weapon-wise, "Light" and "Hammer" are the key terms, the first so we can Multi-weapon fight with minimal penalties, the latter to take advantage of +2 Weapon Training.
Battle Aspergillums are strictly better than Light Maces, but Light Mace is a LOT easier to spell. 1d6
Light Hammer, 1d4 They can also be thrown, but we probably won't be needing that feature.
Aklys are Exotic, but do 1d8 damage, throwable
So, question time:
To Large? Or not to Large?
Is it worth it to get proficiency with Aklys? Or are Light Maces where it's at?
What should we do for feats? For the "medium" build, Weapon Specialization actually seems like a solid investment.
Should we both with Extra Evolution?
Thoughts?
The focus of today's build will be "hammertime".
This will be a level 20 Dwarf build.
We start with 9 levels of Foehammer Fighter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/dwarf/foehammer-fighter-dwarf)
There are 2 handy abilities here. The first is good old Weapon Training (hammers only), at 9th level this is good for +2 to-hit and damage.
The second ability is NOT Hammer-exclusive:
Rhythmic Blows (Ex)
At 9th level, each time that a foehammer hits a target, he gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls against that target. This bonus stacks with each hit against that target, but lasts only until the end of the foehammer's turn.
So the more time we hit a target, the easier it is to hit a target.
Now normally this is pretty ho-hum, as to get the most out of it, we would have to go TWF. Even assuming everything went perfectly, you are still looking at a -11 to-hit on that last iterative (-15 for iterative, -2 for TWF, +6 assuming ALL previous attacks hit). But we have a plan for that.
Since "more hits > more hits that land" Hammer the Gap (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/hammer-the-gap-combat) seems like a swell idea.
Note: Both Rhythmic Blows and Hammer the Gap only give bonuses on hits against the SAME opponent. If you hit someone 'new' the bonuses reset.
Also note: Rhythmic Blows ALWAYS gives a bonus when you hit, Hammer the Gap only gives bonuses on CONSECUTIVE hits.
We only have 11 levels left to play with and ALL of them are going Synthesist.
We'll be a high enough level to get Multiattack for free, so Natural Attacks will only take a -2 to-hit (and remember, they still count for Rhythmic Blows).
Multiweapon Fighting lets us attack with as many hands as we can get our...hands...on.
The end result is that due to both Multi-X feats ALL attacks are at Bab-2!
Level 11 also allows up to 5 Natural Attacks, and 15 Evo-points.
Pounce being what it is, Quad will be the base form. We don't start with any arms, but...Pounce (14 points left).
We cannot use the same limb to make Weapon and Natural attacks. Which rules out using the Dwarven Boulder Helm for +1 attacks, as we start with a Bite attack (1 Natural), and we can puts Claws on our feet once (+2 Natural, 13 points left).
Since we need to afford a LOT of arms, we are looking to pick up 2 attacks on the cheap. Options are 2 Tentacles for 1 point each, or Flight+Wing Buffet, it costs 3 points total, but still gives us 2 attacks. Since arms costs 2 points per pair, we may as well spring for Flight (10 points left).
End is Bite+Claw+Claw+Buffet+Buffet
Now comes the tricky part.
We can either sink all 10 of those points into Arms for 10 attacks, OR we can spend 4 points on Large for +8 STR, but only get 6 arms.
There is also the possibility of spending feats on Extra Evolution points for another couple arms.
5 Naturals + 10 hammers would have a possible +14 on the last attack
1+2+3+...+14= 105 total possible bonus
5 Naturals + 6 hammers would have a possible +10 on the last attack, BUT all attacks get +3 to-hit (+4 STR -1 Size) and +5 damage (+4 STR +1 weapon size).
1+2+...+10 + 4*11 = 99 > 88 total possible to-hit, 110 total possible damage.
Another point in favor of "go large" is that we would need to pay to enchant 4 fewer Hammers.
Medium Eidolon-suit STR is 20 (14 quad +4 STR/DEX bonus, +2 level ups)
Weapon-wise, "Light" and "Hammer" are the key terms, the first so we can Multi-weapon fight with minimal penalties, the latter to take advantage of +2 Weapon Training.
Battle Aspergillums are strictly better than Light Maces, but Light Mace is a LOT easier to spell. 1d6
Light Hammer, 1d4 They can also be thrown, but we probably won't be needing that feature.
Aklys are Exotic, but do 1d8 damage, throwable
So, question time:
To Large? Or not to Large?
Is it worth it to get proficiency with Aklys? Or are Light Maces where it's at?
What should we do for feats? For the "medium" build, Weapon Specialization actually seems like a solid investment.
Should we both with Extra Evolution?
Thoughts?