Steveburger
2016-02-23, 01:42 PM
As a preface, our game uses the books as published, so there isn't a massive scouring for errata and alterations etc. Most everything is handled on a case by case basis if player choices look fishy.
Currently our party is level 3, and we are about to experience a slower progression from here out. Gold is somewhat limited, favoring loot rewards hand-picked by the GM (for the most part). When I get to play, I usually do something new to me, so that I don't get burned out on any one thing, but it also means that I'm often a bit lacking in how to go about fine tuning my characters mechanically. I'm trying to appeal to the wisdom of the members on these boards to throw me some much needed advice on how to make my concept more combat effective, though I have no interest in blowing it out of the water min/max style.
So here's the quick and dirty character details:
- Alchemist 2 (Vivisectionist / Toxicant), Investigator 1 (Sleuth)
- Changeling (its a pull-over from 3.5, not the one from Advanced Races)
- Str 15, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 9
- Feats: Weapon Prof. (Syringe Spear), Amateur Swashbuckler, Extra Panache (bonus feat for drawing our characters)
So I've been using Craft Alchemy in order to keep myself relevant in combat using the usual suspects (acid, alch's fire, Liquid Ice) and I just got my hands on a hybridization funnel (only dropped myself to -2hp once so far! =D), but my main problem has been the melee aspect of things. I usually am the one to initiate combat by using subterfuge, gaining access to somewhere, bluffing my way around, then surprise attacking before pulling back to let my party step in. It's been working well for me, but I find myself "railroading" combat by circumventing it through lies and deceit. I'm going to be cutting back on that so that my party doesn't start to feel left out, but that means I need to be able to survive in melee. I'm not too concerned with outshining our barbarian, or our ranger, but I do want to be able to position myself for flanking bonuses and to provide aid another while hindering/debuffing ememies (Toxicant poison, crafted poisons, drugs, and alchemical whatsits).
So I chose Amateur Swashbuckler to gain 1 panache point, then retrained my bonus feat into Extra Panache giving me a total point pool of 6 for use with Opportune Parry and Riposte. I know the deed was errata'd from being an option for the Amateur Swash feat, but like I said, we use published material only and my DM said it wasn't a problem. Either way, I'm primarily using it as a way to avoid some damage while I have myself stuck into melee combat, but I'm looking for ways to enhance my use of the Parry and Riposte actions.
Since the Riposte action is used in place of an AoO, does it gain the benefits of anything that affects AoOs?
I guess the long and short of it is, I'm looking for ways to help my chances of survival using the point pool (luck/panache) and making my Riposte attacks count. I'll be going with sticky poison for my syringe spear, and I think at level 5 I'll be grabbing Combat Reflexes for when things get really hairy. Any other little synergies or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Just a heads up, our gold income has been slow (I've got about 500g on the character right now) so heavy investments for ultimate gear isn't really an option at the moment. I'm more interested in something thats going to benefit my character while working towards level 5-6 when I start falling into more of my class abilities. I intend on going 4 Investigator for the Insight Talent, Studied Strike, and Sleuth goodness, then putting the rest into Alchemist for poison/alchemy/sneak attack progression.
Thanks in advance!
Currently our party is level 3, and we are about to experience a slower progression from here out. Gold is somewhat limited, favoring loot rewards hand-picked by the GM (for the most part). When I get to play, I usually do something new to me, so that I don't get burned out on any one thing, but it also means that I'm often a bit lacking in how to go about fine tuning my characters mechanically. I'm trying to appeal to the wisdom of the members on these boards to throw me some much needed advice on how to make my concept more combat effective, though I have no interest in blowing it out of the water min/max style.
So here's the quick and dirty character details:
- Alchemist 2 (Vivisectionist / Toxicant), Investigator 1 (Sleuth)
- Changeling (its a pull-over from 3.5, not the one from Advanced Races)
- Str 15, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 9
- Feats: Weapon Prof. (Syringe Spear), Amateur Swashbuckler, Extra Panache (bonus feat for drawing our characters)
So I've been using Craft Alchemy in order to keep myself relevant in combat using the usual suspects (acid, alch's fire, Liquid Ice) and I just got my hands on a hybridization funnel (only dropped myself to -2hp once so far! =D), but my main problem has been the melee aspect of things. I usually am the one to initiate combat by using subterfuge, gaining access to somewhere, bluffing my way around, then surprise attacking before pulling back to let my party step in. It's been working well for me, but I find myself "railroading" combat by circumventing it through lies and deceit. I'm going to be cutting back on that so that my party doesn't start to feel left out, but that means I need to be able to survive in melee. I'm not too concerned with outshining our barbarian, or our ranger, but I do want to be able to position myself for flanking bonuses and to provide aid another while hindering/debuffing ememies (Toxicant poison, crafted poisons, drugs, and alchemical whatsits).
So I chose Amateur Swashbuckler to gain 1 panache point, then retrained my bonus feat into Extra Panache giving me a total point pool of 6 for use with Opportune Parry and Riposte. I know the deed was errata'd from being an option for the Amateur Swash feat, but like I said, we use published material only and my DM said it wasn't a problem. Either way, I'm primarily using it as a way to avoid some damage while I have myself stuck into melee combat, but I'm looking for ways to enhance my use of the Parry and Riposte actions.
Since the Riposte action is used in place of an AoO, does it gain the benefits of anything that affects AoOs?
I guess the long and short of it is, I'm looking for ways to help my chances of survival using the point pool (luck/panache) and making my Riposte attacks count. I'll be going with sticky poison for my syringe spear, and I think at level 5 I'll be grabbing Combat Reflexes for when things get really hairy. Any other little synergies or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Just a heads up, our gold income has been slow (I've got about 500g on the character right now) so heavy investments for ultimate gear isn't really an option at the moment. I'm more interested in something thats going to benefit my character while working towards level 5-6 when I start falling into more of my class abilities. I intend on going 4 Investigator for the Insight Talent, Studied Strike, and Sleuth goodness, then putting the rest into Alchemist for poison/alchemy/sneak attack progression.
Thanks in advance!