Intimidation feats for a Dhampir?

[Voidstar01]

Right so I wasn't originally intending to make a Intimidate character, but with a 20 in charisma, a +2 trait bonus, and the hellknight PrC's ability to upgrade shaken straight to frightened on creatures within 10ft, I am now. I need some feats but I have trouble with knowing what pathfinder feats do because their names make no sense to me (Dazzling Display is intimidate? really?) what are some good feats to use? Skill focus intimidate is obvious, numerical increases are preferred because at hell knight 9 (ECL 14) I can get a discipline to use intimidation rolls as bluff and diplomacy, but ways to intimidate people in the course of regular combat (as opposed to taking an action/full round off of attacking to do it) are also appreciated.

My stats:
Str:18
Dex:15
Con:14
Int:13
Wis:11
Cha:20
Thanks for the help

[legomaster00156]

For a really good Intimidate build, IMO, you need two things: Dazzling Display, and the skill unlock for Intimidate. The latter can be achieved with the Signature Skill feat or 5 levels in Rogue.

[Andry]

Cornugon Smash Prerequisites: Power Attack, Intimidate 6 ranks.
Benefit: When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.

[JerichoPenumbra]

Intimidating Prowess (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/intimidating-prowess-combat) if it's not already in your feat selection can be good for another bonus.

Soulless Gaze (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/damnation-feats/soulless-gaze-damnation/) +2 other damnation feats will improve your bonus and ability to create greater fear.

[upho]

Right so I wasn't originally intending to make a Intimidate character, but with a 20 in charisma, a +2 trait bonus, and the hellknight PrC's ability to upgrade shaken straight to frightened on creatures within 10ft, I am now. I need some feats but I have trouble with knowing what pathfinder feats do because their names make no sense to me (Dazzling Display is intimidate? really?) what are some good feats to use? Skill focus intimidate is obvious, numerical increases are preferred because at hell knight 9 (ECL 14) I can get a discipline to use intimidation rolls as bluff and diplomacy, but ways to intimidate people in the course of regular combat (as opposed to taking an action/full round off of attacking to do it) are also appreciated.First off, combat demoralization can be made extremely powerful in PF, so much so it can break most games, so I really recommend you don't go for an all-in "Intimidatomancer" build (in higher levels you'll simply end a majority of encounters in your first turn) unless perhaps if you play in an explicitly high power game. And of course, don't forget to get the approval of your GM - after you've made certain they understand the net effects of your planned combo - before you start investing in more powerful related build components.

That out of the way, the first thing you want is to be able to make multiple Intimidate checks every round without also hampering your other actions in combat. For melee oriented builds, this means Dazzling Display is at best a feat tax which should never actually be used, while either Cornugon Smash (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/cornugon-smash-combat/) (with Power Attack) or Enforcer (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/enforcer-combat/) (with some means to reliably deal nonlethal, like Bludgeoner (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/bludgeoner-combat/)) is practically a must. Either is in turn usually most easily further boosted simply by adding cruel (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/magic-weapon-special-abilities/cruel/) to your weapon (+1 enhancement cost), making attacks against targets already suffering from a fear condition more worthwhile. If you need to further boost your Intimidate skill bonus, the most effective options for you are likely to get any +5 competence item and then the Intimidating Prowess feat (allowing you to add both your Str and Cha mod to Intimidate).

If you'd like to go further than this, things become a bit more complicated. This is mainly because the two options which may allow you to increase the fear condition of targets are pretty far towards the opposite ends of the power scale:

Skill Unlock (Intimidate) unfortunately grants the target a Will save against a low DC which cannot be effectively improved, so together with the fact that bonuses to saves vs fear are very common and the increased Intimidate DC you first have to beat, this feat is very rarely useful in combat against anything but the least dangerous mooks.
Soulless Gaze (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/damnation-feats/soulless-gaze-damnation/) and one other Damnation feat (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/damnation-feats/) (I recommend Fiendskin (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/damnation-feats/fiendskin-damnation/)) has none of issues of Skill Unlock and only requires you to hit the same target more than once to increase the feat condition, which means it can easily enable you to reliably make at least any one non-immune enemy panicked every turn. It also happens to come with some pretty darn fitting flavor for a dhampir Hellknight IMO, although the prerequisite and story implications may of course also be problematic, so ask your GM.

On top of this, the one combo IMO most worth considering allows you to use Hero's Display (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/hero-s-display-combat-performance/) as a free action multiple times per round, which not only requires several performance combat feats, but also increases the risks of making you OP even further. (And then there are several interesting related options if your game includes DSP material such as Path of War (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/path-of-war/) initiators and/or psionics (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/).) Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you further details.

HTH!


For a really good Intimidate build, IMO, you need two things: Dazzling Display, and the skill unlock for Intimidate. The latter can be achieved with the Signature Skill feat or 5 levels in Rogue.Oh please no, this combo is absolutely awful in terms of both action economy and effect (see above).


Soulless Gaze (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/damnation-feats/soulless-gaze-damnation/) +2 other damnation feats will improve your bonus and ability to create greater fear.You actually only need 1 additional Damnation feat to get the important benefit of Soulless Gaze.

[JerichoPenumbra]

You actually only need 1 additional Damnation feat to get the important benefit of Soulless Gaze.

I was factoring in that the OP also wants to boost their modifier as much as possible, so 3 Damnation feats total for Soulless Gaze to give +4.