Why go Inquisitor when you could go Not-Inquisitor?

[ThurlRavenscrof]

Seems like anything you want to do as an inquisitor, you could do as a ranger or fighter better.
What builds work best as an inquisitor? What am I missing about this class?

[T.G. Oskar]

Inquisitors are, in essence, something of a "divine bard", but in terms of chassis only. Mechanically, they fulfill the same chassis of a bard (3/4 BAB, lots of skill points, magic up to 6th level, and specialization in certain skills), but with a divine twist. Fluff-wise, they are hunters and assassins for a faith, and their skills allow them to specialize in such.

Compare to a Ranger or Fighter. A Ranger gets better combat skills, but at the expense of spell access, and their skill sets are slightly different: whereas the Ranger gets to focus on a specific set of enemies and gains bonuses against them, the Inquisitor focuses on a specific enemy at a time through their Judgment and Bane, but with freedom of choice. Furthermore, while some of their skills overlap (Survival, Stealth), the Ranger is attuned to nature while the Inquisitor is attuned to the divine. A Ranger can make a good Bounty Hunter on the Wilderness, whereas the Inquisitor does better on the city. A Fighter, on the other hand, is purely a fighting class; the Inquisitor does well in combat with its weapons and armor selection, but can't ever match a Fighter in combat. The Inquisitor, however, can buff himself to be comparable and at times even superior to a Fighter; thus, while it *can* be powerful in combat, the Fighter is more consistent in that regard, particularly if it's well-built.

As for builds...Inquisitors make pretty solid Archers, what with their skills being pretty suitable for them. They can do melee quite well, being able enough for 2H builds, but it's on Archery where they excel, as they can use their Judgments against an enemy at a distance, take advantage of their implied focus on Dexterity (and/or Wisdom), and they can buff themselves to deal quite a bit of damage, while staying on range. They don't do TWF very well, as their Bane ability only affects one weapon at once, and the feats that enable Bane on both weapons can be prohibitive, but they can do solid TWF combatants in a pinch. They also do some decent off-healing (they can get Wands, at the very least, and IIRC they get access to Heal - might be wrong, tho, since I'm going by memory), they're solid at buffing, they can use teamwork skills admirably, and they are solid skill-monkeys that can either specialize or diversify quite well. Their focus on Intimidate (demoralization, interrogation, angry-style face), Sense Motive (lie detectors, pretty much; they get Detect Lies as a class feature eventually), Survival (which makes them solid trackers) and Knowledge (well, they can use their better Wisdom in any case) covers a lot of bases while still feeling like a specialization by itself, but they can get enough skill points to invest in a proper skill specialization build (Bluff, Diplomacy and/or Intimidate for Faces, Perception and Stealth for Scouts, a variety of Knowledge skills for Erudites, and so on).

Try not to compare the Inquisitor to a Fighter or Ranger; rather, compare it to a Bard, and their utility. Or, even, a Magus, though Inquisitors rely more on buffs and less on sword & spell shenanigans. They're a pretty flexible and solid class on their own, working oftentimes as a 5th wo/man while still being capable of specializing well enough.

Just to mention: there's a PrC that makes you a Not-Inquisitor (Gray Warden, though that's the name given by the d20 PF SRD), which gives you a handful of the Inquisitor's skills but alters the fluff significantly.

[legomaster00156]

As mentioned above, compare the Inquisitor to a Bard. However, with the Solo Tactics ability, a focus on self-buffing, and abilities like Judgment and Bane, it's more of a selfish Bard: there will be very little party support from an Inquisitor.

[ThurlRavenscrof]

This is so helpful - thanks! I'm drawn to the flavor of the inquisitor but I was having a hard time justifying it to myself mechanically. Thinking of it as a divine bard makes a lot more sense.

Since we're on the subject, would you go crossbow or bow?

[Florian]

Since we're on the subject, would you go crossbow or bow?

I wouldn't go ranged with an Inquisitor. The have some very powerful class-specific feats and the best teamwork feats for using solo tactics are either focused on melee or movement.

Edit: For funsies - H-Elf Umbral Stalker archetype, Butchers Axe, Favored Judgement, Instant Judgement, Vital Strike. Add Wrath and Decapitate for fun.

[Jormengand]

The main draw of the inquisitor for me is that they can do everything. They can use their divine buffs to fight, they have good skills (and can change the key score for some of them to WIS, allowing you to face with no CHA), they have a fairly diverse spell list for a six-level caster, and they almost always have an appropriate response to the situation, whereas the fighter mainly has responses to situations which can be solved by hitting them with a stick until they go away, or some advance on that. If you're in a situation where a fighter can't do something helpful, you're probably not in combat. If you're in a situation where an inquisitor can't do something helpful, you should probably be reconsidering the choices that led up to this point.

[Grod_The_Giant]

This is so helpful - thanks! I'm drawn to the flavor of the inquisitor but I was having a hard time justifying it to myself mechanically. Thinking of it as a divine bard makes a lot more sense.

Since we're on the subject, would you go crossbow or bow?
Probably a bow, just to save on feats.

[Barstro]

I wouldn't go ranged with an Inquisitor. The have some very powerful class-specific feats and the best teamwork feats for using solo tactics are either focused on melee or movement.

I begrudgingly have to agree on this. I absolutely loved my ranged Inquisitor and there were some very fine teamwork feats that helped him. However, some of the ones that I took really relied on him getting AoO with Snap Shot. That was nerfed a bit.

I still think Ranged is great for getting full attacks each round. That means you get more mileage out of your Judgements. But it was hard to find a useful Teamwork Feat towards the end of the campaign.

[Fouredged Sword]

At early levels a ranged inquisiter is very powerful as bane shots at range are crushing as you can frequently pull of one round kills on any target even out to large distances.

[Psyren]

I begrudgingly have to agree on this. I absolutely loved my ranged Inquisitor and there were some very fine teamwork feats that helped him. However, some of the ones that I took really relied on him getting AoO with Snap Shot. That was nerfed a bit.

I still think Ranged is great for getting full attacks each round. That means you get more mileage out of your Judgements. But it was hard to find a useful Teamwork Feat towards the end of the campaign.


I wouldn't go ranged with an Inquisitor. The have some very powerful class-specific feats and the best teamwork feats for using solo tactics are either focused on melee or movement.


You two are selling ranged Inquisitor short, it's very strong. Just dump the useless Teamwork stuff by taking an archetype like Preacher or Spellbreaker instead.

Archery is strong on Inquisitors because they can get huge amounts of bonus damage (Judgment, Greater Bane, Litanies, Exploit Weakness) which then synergize with ranged's ability to full attack every round.

[Barstro]

At early levels a ranged inquisiter is very powerful as bane shots at range are crushing as you can frequently pull of one round kills on any target even out to large distances.

Let me rephrase;

I love my ranged Inquisitor and would probably only use an Inquisitor for ranged. But most teamwork feats are lost on them.

[Psyren]

Let me rephrase;

I love my ranged Inquisitor and would probably only use an Inquisitor for ranged. But most teamwork feats are lost on them.

See above, archetypes to the rescue.

[Hackulator]

You two are selling ranged Inquisitor short, it's very strong. Just dump the useless Teamwork stuff by taking an archetype like Preacher or Spellbreaker instead.

Archery is strong on Inquisitors because they can get huge amounts of bonus damage (Judgment, Greater Bane, Litanies, Exploit Weakness) which then synergize with ranged's ability to full attack every round.

I like this idea. I think my next pathfinder character will be a ranged inquisitor, thanks!

[Geddy2112]

You two are selling ranged Inquisitor short, it's very strong. Just dump the useless Teamwork stuff by taking an archetype like Preacher or Spellbreaker instead.

Archery is strong on Inquisitors because they can get huge amounts of bonus damage (Judgment, Greater Bane, Litanies, Exploit Weakness) which then synergize with ranged's ability to full attack every round.
Second this. A preacher inquisitor with all the ranged feats, bane, and judgement is a utter terror and will gun down BBEG's with ease. Ranged also works well if you want to focus on spellcasting and avoid melee altogether.

Melee is a very strong build for an inquisitor though, and most melee builds will have a compound longbow on their back to switch hit. The problem is proficiency with only simple weapons plus their deity's weapon. When your deity's favored weapon is a 2 handed melee weapon, you have a strong melee build. When it is something like a longbow, whip, or dagger, not so much.

For example, I once ran a grippli inquisitor of pharasma. Being small with a strength penalty and favored weapon:dagger I stuck to hanging back with a repeating crossbow and a net, using full round ranged attacks or casting.

[Barstro]

You two are selling ranged Inquisitor short, it's very strong. Just dump the useless Teamwork stuff by taking an archetype like Preacher or Spellbreaker instead.

I happen to like the teamwork feats. Melee simply gets more love.

Teamwork feats allowed my ranged Inquisitor to;
Get a +4 on attack rolls if my party was flanking
Get +4 (or so) on saves
Get attacks of opportunity all the time
Then some wasted one about running away because I took all the ones that applied to my character.

[Waker]

Melee is a very strong build for an inquisitor though, and most melee builds will have a compound longbow on their back to switch hit. The problem is proficiency with only simple weapons plus their deity's weapon. When your deity's favored weapon is a 2 handed melee weapon, you have a strong melee build. When it is something like a longbow, whip, or dagger, not so much.
Elves, Half-Elves (Ancestral Arms), Half-Orcs... There are plenty of races that grant proficiency with weapons.

[Psyren]

I happen to like the teamwork feats. Melee simply gets more love.

Teamwork feats allowed my ranged Inquisitor to;
Get a +4 on attack rolls if my party was flanking
Get +4 (or so) on saves
Get attacks of opportunity all the time
Then some wasted one about running away because I took all the ones that applied to my character.

Yeah, but they need more love because they're full-attacking less. So even with all those one-off bonuses, ranged generally wins. This is without taking into account the more tactical benefits - able to hit flyers, able to stay out of grapple, able to stay away from bad-touch enemies, able to stay away from sunder and disarm, and so on.

I like melee too but losing teamwork feats (especially when you get cool stuff in return - free action rerolls? immediate action touch AC/CMD boosts? Yes please!) is not really much of a drawback.

[T.G. Oskar]

I happen to like the teamwork feats. Melee simply gets more love.

Teamwork feats allowed my ranged Inquisitor to;
Get a +4 on attack rolls if my party was flanking
Get +4 (or so) on saves
Get attacks of opportunity all the time
Then some wasted one about running away because I took all the ones that applied to my character.

So, basically, you got Outflank, Shake it Off, and...whichever one I'm missing? You're selling ranged teamwork feats short.


Coordinated Shot is another +1 (if ally is adjacent) or +2 (if allies are adjacent AND flanking) to ranged attack rolls as long as they don't cover you, but between Precise Shot and another teamwork feat, that's basically a free bonus.
Enfilading Fire adds a +2 bonus to attack rolls if enemy is flanked, and stacks with Coordinated Shot...in fact, it requires one teamwork feat, so might as well make it Coordinated Shot?
Friendly Fire Maneuvers...well, remember that teamwork feat I mentioned? Say goodbye to soft cover from allies, which makes Coordinated Shot essentially a free bonus to ranged attack rolls.
Target of Opportunity requires an immediate action, but nets you a free ranged attack if your ally also succeeds on a ranged attack.
Volley Fire is so-so, but it grants even more bonuses to attack rolls if all your allies choose to make ranged attacks.

Those are 5 teamwork feats pretty much specifically designed for ranged Inquisitors, all of them boosting attack rolls or negating penalties, and aren't those which you mentioned, meaning you have at least 8 options. Half of the feats benefit you if your allies prefer melee, the other half if your allies prefer ranged attacks. Take your pick, and note that you still have access to the three feats you mentioned, so that's basically all your teamwork feats. +4 to attack rolls essentially for free, on a class that can do quite a bit of damage, isn't a slouch (though, not as oomph-worthy as on a Bounded Accuracy system).

That said, it can seem boring, because it's mostly an accuracy increase, not a damage increase or a "do something cool" thing like the trip maneuver teamwork feats, for example. Furthermore, on the wrong group, it's even messier (no flanking or ranged attacks; i.e., a full caster team? Yup, teamwork feats are hosed!), so I can get your point, but that's mostly it. And yeah - nerfing Snap Shot to 10 ft. maximum really sucks.

[Barstro]

Mine were;

Coordinated Shot (+1 or +2 if flanking)
Enfilading Fire (+2 if flanking)
*Sadly, my team hardly flanked
Target of Opportunity (but often switched because rest of the party rarely did ranged)
I may have had Seize the Moment (not sure).



a) Friendly Fire; my character would never carelessly fire at an ally. It also requires a Standard Action. Seems a waste. The only benefit is "soft cover", but I simply used Deadeye Bowman.

So, of your list (at least for my character's personality), only two had any real use and a third if the rest of the party felt like making ranged attacks.

Still, fun for ranged.