Path of War Zealot (specifically Void Prophet Archetype question) ?

[Ramza00]

Double checking my logic :smalltongue:

Void Prophet Zealots have 3 ways to recover maneuvers.

Part A
Standard Action recover 1 maneuver.
Free Action. If the target is in your Collective via any method and is reduced to Zero or less Hit Points, recover maneuvers equal to your Initiation Modifier (normally Charisma.) There are many methods to add creatures to your collective (more on this later)
Add an unwilling enemy to your collective. With the Unwilling Participant feat this is a standard action. Void Prophet's 1st level class ability can make this as a move action for no cost, and a swift action for your psionic focus. (more on this later)

Part B
Radiant Dawn's 4th level boost Sunstroke allows you to give you or an ally a gift. The next melee or ranged attack or maneuver that uses an attack roll they make has long range (400+40 feet per ML) and can be precise or a mini-fireball based on how much essence invested. The duration of Sunstroke is similar to true strike being 1 round or until discharged. Once you use the swift action that maneuver is used and can be recovered.

Now here is the trick with Part C and looping back to A and B.

Part C
Void Prophet's 3rd level ability Endless Hunger allows any strike you make with a reflex, will, or fort save to add the enemy to your collective. If the strike does not have a save than the save DC is 10+Strike Level+Void Prophet's Initiation Modifier (Cha if traditional VP Zealot)

Thus you can use maneuvers from other classes but also get to pick the Save Type by choosing the right maneuver. Endless Hunger says if the Save DC succeeds you now get to recover 1 maneuver per Part A but it can't be the strike maneuver that triggered Endless Hunger. We choose to use Sunstroke as our recovered maneuver. Endless loop with caveats triggered. Big Bang Attack Mode Activated.

In Sum you can use Sunstroke once every round, looping endlessly as long as you have Strikes to use and the Save DC triggers on the enemy. The Save DC is likely to trigger if you invest essence in Sunstroke allowing you a 5-ft burst, or a 10-ft burst at HD07, and 15-ft burst at HD12. If you use a feat on Enhanced Capacity you can get a 5-ft larger burst for individual maneuvers are class features, but none of the other Akashic Expanded Capacity Tricks work since they do not call out maneuvers.

If you use kill any of the enemies you are targeting you recover all your maneuvers if you have used less than your Cha mod of maneuvers on your Zealot Side.

Also you can choose to remove enemies from your collective as a free action before Big Bang Attack 2nd round. Thus it is quite easy to always have a new Sunstroke available as a free action each round.

So yeah this works right?

[Castilonium]

Yes, it works.

But it's not as incredible as you think.

Normal Zealots can already do that "endless loop." They can recover all of their maneuvers every round with a move action that doesn't require any caveats, successful checks, enemy save failures, or enemy deaths. They can use their best strike and boost/counter every round and don't have to permanently consign their swift actions to Sunstroke. A Void Prophet Zealot needs enemies to fail saves or die in order to use Sunstroke every round, and still has to alternate between at least two strikes.

[Rynjin]

Zealots being able to Aid themselves is such a fun feature for even more reasons than that.

[Kaouse]

Sunstroke does not have a reflex save. You make a single attack roll, and then compare it against the AC of all creatures within the AoE.

[Ramza00]

Sunstroke does not have a reflex save. You make a single attack roll, and then compare it against the AC of all creatures within the AoE.

Yeah Sunstroke does not have a reflex save, it is merely a boost.

The strikes though have saves that trigger Endless Hunger. If you use Chain of Doubt (sg) it would be a will save, Piercing Thunder Hammer (ph) would be ref. save, temporal fury (rh) would be fort, and lastly steel flurry strike has no save so it would be Endless Hunger’s adding a new Will Save to see if they are added to your Collective, thus triggering maneuver recall.

———

Adding to this not PoW but 3rd Party expansions of PoW, Excruciator* (Warder/Zealot Class Archetype) from City of 7 Seraphs allow you to invest essence so when you recover 1 maneuver you add +X essence more. Which is enough to trigger Cooperative Recuperation where your allies recover 1 maneuver when you recover two or more maneuvers. Of course this above works with normal zealot doing an aid another as a move action, but Void Prophet does it as a free action allowing you to use your move for other things like Path of Dedication.

*Note Excruiator specifies Zeal which Void Prophet at the same levels trades for Preach the Silence giving a moral bonus to Attack and Saving Throws. It would be a reasonable house rule since we are dealing with integrating different companies third party to make Excruiator trade out the equivalent feature.

Likewise Zealot is awesome as a single class due to how convictions and FCB work on even levels. That said dipping 1 level of Mystic, Noetic Mystic, Parasite, or Epilektoi with Practiced Initator followed by using a PoW Prestige Class works well too. Those 4 classes recover maneuvers as a free action, and PoW says their prestige classes advance the IL of all classes if you have Two or More classes you are advancing.

I love Path of War can’t you tell 💕


Zealots being able to Aid themselves is such a fun feature for even more reasons than that.

Of course Rynjin and Castilonium, normal Zealot is the bees 🐝 knees . I am just trying to think of alternative builds with different mechanics and flavor. Perhaps a Buddhist type of Initator who sees that reality is ineffable and language can not describe it correctly. Thus they embrace the void and how reality exists but it is beyond words, the power of seeing things as [ empty] yet still existing and present.

Sidenote thanks for the 200 page Zealot guide Castilonium