I could really use some help making my character Decent

[Nosta]

I am going to Start playing a level 6 Half-elf with 1 level of Inspired blade (Swashbuckler) and 5 levels of Investigator and I want to Be Decent inside of battle as well as out of it

Race and classes Are set in stone but its the feats

and Talents I am unsure about

I know one of my feats will be Fencing grace
and one of my Talents will be Mutagen

but after that i'm left with a blank

My stats after Race and level from a 20 point buy look like

STR 10
Dex 16
CON 12
INT 16
WIS 8
CHA 14

[Kyrell1978]

I am going to Start playing a level 6 Half-elf with 1 level of Inspired blade (Swashbuckler) and 5 levels of Investigator and I want to Be Decent inside of battle as well as out of it

Race and classes Are set in stone but its the feats

and Talents I am unsure about

I know one of my feats will be Fencing grace
and one of my Talents will be Mutagen

but after that i'm left with a blank

My stats after Race and level from a 20 point buy look like

STR 10
Dex 16
CON 12
INT 16
WIS 8
CHA 14

Well, since fencing grace requires weapon focus rapier, and weapon finesse, do you have any feats left? Also, for your talents think about expanded inspiration, combat inspiration, and underworld inspiration. Having that extra d6 to a bunch of skills for free makes you a super versatile skill monkey, while combat inspiration helps with.......GASP combat.

[Nosta]

Well, since fencing grace requires weapon focus rapier, and weapon finesse, do you have any feats left?

why yes ^^ I get them both from Inspired blade

[Nosta]

Well, since fencing grace requires weapon focus rapier, and weapon finesse, do you have any feats left?

I think so cause i get those two feats you mention from my Dip in swashbuckler (Inspired blade)

so I took Fencing grace at 1st level

so I think I have one and 3rd and 5th level

[Kyrell1978]

I think so cause i get those two feats you mention from my Dip in swashbuckler (Inspired blade)

so I took Fencing grace at 1st level

so I think I have one and 3rd and 5th level

Cool, I'm not super familiar with swashbuckler and don't have my books right this second and didn't feel like googling it. You could always go with extra investigator talent to pick up some pretty quick, or extra inspiration to be able to use that mechanic more times per day.

[Nosta]

Cool, I'm not super familiar with swashbuckler and don't have my books right this second and didn't feel like googling it. You could always go with extra investigator talent to pick up some pretty quick, or extra inspiration to be able to use that mechanic more times per day.

True.
I Just was not sure if there was some way to increase my Damage a little.

[Kyrell1978]

True.
I Just was not sure if there was some way to increase my Damage a little.

Make good use of studied combat (you could take the quick study talent to make it a swift action rather than a move action) and make sure on the round it ends (or as a death blow) to terminate it with a studied strike. Other than that, buy a magic weapon and remember that keen is particularly good on weapons with a naturally high threat range (like your rapier). Also, buff yourself with cat's grace as one of your formulae to nickle and dime both your offense and defense in combat.

[TheFamilarRaven]

There's always the Piranha Strike feat. Basically a power attack for light weapons. Note the text does say light weapons (which the rapier is not) but I wouldn't be surprised if your DM allowed the use of the feat for finesse weapons if you asked. Although Investigator BaB is low relative to say, a barbarian, so YMMV.

You should define decent. That varies table to table. If you want to help out in combat though, I think you'll do best by taking the Alchemist Discovery talent to grab the Infusion discovery so you can pass out your extracts. The investigator chassis is not built for sustained DPR, so you'll often get more bang for your buck by boosting the dedicated damage dealer than by stabbing a dude, even if you poisoned your weapon. (Poisons are too expensive to be a sustainable combat style). Studied Combat is a decent boost, but to get the most out of it you'll have to time it so that you use Studied Strike on the last possible round, unless you think the you can drop an opponent with the additional sneak attack dice.

Plus you'll have to spend a move action to activate Studied Combat, and the either take a double move (and promptly eat a full-attack from the opposition on their next turn), or spend your standard action using an extract or mutagen. The Quick Study talent mitigates this, making Studied Combat a swift action.

Critical hits don't help you all that much, since most of your damage is going to be coming from precision attacks. They're nice of course, but don't make your build around them.

Hope that was helpful.

[Nosta]

well good I get some advice on my items

wealth as a 5th level character 10500

Rapier (+1) of course but not sure what else

[Prince Gimli]

Ring of Protection +1 (2.000 gp) is always good.
Cloak of Resistance +1 (1.000 gp)
Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone, Cracked - 500 gp for +1 initiative is a good deal :)
Since you're a Dex-based Investigator, a Mithral Chainshirt (1100) is very solid, as is giving it a +1 enchant for another 1.000.

Other than that, maybe some potions that you can re-use with Alchemical Allocation (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/a/alchemical-allocation), such as Heroism (awesome buff that lasts quite a while), or Fly.

I was wondering, what do you need the 14 charisma for? Since Investigators don't rely that heavily on Charisma, you could take more Constitution instead, for example, to remedy your sorta-squishy d8 Hit Die frame, and pump up that fortitude save a bit more.

If you're interested in learning more, N-Jolly's guide is an excellent resource:
www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?384824-The-Investigator-s-Grand-Turnabout-N-Jolly-s-guide-to-the-Pathfinder-Investigator

And finally, while guides are awesome, most important is that you'll end up playing a character you enjoy playing - and sometimes that might be different than the guides would suggest :smallsmile: But all this should get you started nicely!