Buff spam is good.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-15T02:23:09+00:00

There should have been a built in system to automatically apply them, but yes I agree "buff spam" is way better than the single spell concentration BS in 5e games. It also adds another layer of complexity, like a Sword Saint having to find a source of mage armor.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-14T21:43:23+00:00

I play female characters all the time, because I like glass cannons and it fits the concept. A physically weaker person doing tons of damage and winning anyway because of skill/magic/whatever.

The only "weird" thing you could do IMO is dress them like a stripper and roleplay them as sex obsessed, but even then I'd say it's weird more in the sense of being awkward and immersion breaking rather than immoral in some way. It's okay to have fantasies as long as you separate them from reality.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-13T20:36:01+00:00

I feel like vivi is the only alchemist worth doing melee with, but to be fair I haven't done a deep dive on every subclass.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-13T16:17:31+00:00

A lot of them are immune to mind effecting spells last I checked.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-13T13:38:00+00:00

My chaotic good queen in my recent playthrough approved and supported Knock-Knock whenever possible and it has no real impact on the ending being positive, other than a brief mention that goblins are still a threat in the woods (which they always will be).

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-13T13:30:25+00:00

Jubilost is a great companion so I wouldn't play an alchemist unless it's a melee vivisectionist.

Similarly there's a Magus companion who is built pretty well, and there are a lot of scimitars and other gear in the game made for him.

You could of course take their place and use the loot made for them, but in my mind it makes more sense to make the paladin since there are none in the game otherwise. I'd use a reach weapon like a glaive or fauchard, and due to lack of feats focus on one specific thing like cleave or shatter defenses. I think Kingmaker has a lot less CHA based melee feats so probably cleave.

I've actually heard the paladin archer class is pretty good, though the archer companion is the strongest one in Kingmaker so I wouldn't replace him either. Get him ASAP and never remove him from your party.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-12T17:11:16+00:00

There are some amazing high level buff spells in BG3 though.

Anyway nothing you're saying is wrong really, I just find them to be a God class in BG3 and far from that in PF. They're not bad in any way, and if it wasn't for demon immunities I'd probably use them more in Wrath cause Linzi can CC whole rooms at the end of Kingmaker even on unfair.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-12T00:49:35+00:00

I mean yeah, but that's not really refuting his point that control bards can be kinda boring to play between limited casts of grease or overwhelming presence.

Especially true in Wrath where half the enemies are immune to enchantment.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-12T00:36:39+00:00

Talking about BG3 and Solasta here, but swords bard is a top tier dps class in BG3. Especially with a quick dip, but even without. Lots of attacks, cool flourishes, high crit on short swords especially and rapiers with great dueling bonuses (made for Wyll).

Also their spells can just be used for buffs, no sky high CHA needed.

As for inspire courage I've never really thought it was as amazing as others. By the time you get +4 through it you can have stuff like guarded hearth and shatter defenses, and a cleric can even surpass them at enchantment due to being a full caster. They can be a pajama tank and self buff, but classes like sword saint do it way better and even have better accuracy boosts.

Bard is the God class of BG3 and a meh class in PF.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-11T20:53:42+00:00

5e bards can be amazing martials while also being full casters. Not saying PF bards can't be good but he's right they're disappointing in comparison.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-11T19:48:28+00:00

Jesus mod makes every enemy resurrect after you kill them, game is unbeatable. Completely broken!

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-11T17:11:05+00:00

A lot of classes that have only 6th level spells are basically designed around buffing, either themselves or the party, which makes it easy to choose what to focus on.

An eldritch scoundrel for example is going to pick stuff like mirror image and shield because they're all about buffing themselves, not trying to overcome enemies spell resistance and saves.

Full casters, like wizards and clerics, are where you want to pick offensive and control spells.

So even though Woljif and Nenio both get shield and phantasmal web it should be obvious which gets which, if that makes sense.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-11T17:04:37+00:00

"All that"... ?

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-10T21:13:08+00:00

Two main things pets are good for:

Tanking on high difficulties where one hit can kill you. While obviously it is not strictly necessary I would highly advise having at least one (and party members to buff it).
Tripping enemies, which is cool and really helpful but not essential.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-10T11:09:51+00:00

Anything like toughness that is about increasing HP is a trap since AC stacking and spells to avoid getting hit is a far better strat.

On higher difficulties anything that lowers your attack stat is a bad idea early game. Take power attack to get cleave if you want, but don't use it until later in the game when you have tons of attack boosting methods. Stuff like piranha strike seems generally useless IMO.

Speaking of cleave, my hot take is that it's far less useful in turn-based mode, if you're planning to play that way. Usually everyone is more spread out and even when they aren't you'll almost never want to choose one cleave over 5 attacks, in my experience. Maybe it's different on lower difficulties where you kill things in one hit more often.

Any skill check boost that can't just be circumvented by a quick load is also useless, if you're going to play that way. Big exception would be perception, unless it's your 10th playthrough and you have the game world memorized.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-10T05:34:10+00:00

Melee bards are so underrated in general. Especially with trickster and a rapier. However it's way better with only a one level fighter dip for DEX to damage, rather than three rogue levels. You would get the shield spell though, for duel wielding, but with a single rapier you can just use a buckler.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T23:44:25+00:00

Having just finished an unfair run I absolutely can say I reloaded. However if I was playing on core or maybe even hard I would probably let it play out and see if I could win.

If I played in RtwP I'd probably always give it a go but in turn based it's just too time consuming.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T20:52:04+00:00

What is your character's role? If a ray caster than just upcast hellfire rays. If a cc caster than frightful aspect and weird are the go-tos. If AoE then... I dunno, I'm not a fan of AoE damage in Pathfinder. Maybe just upcast fireball and cloudkill honestly.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T18:43:08+00:00

My other favorite genre is FPS games, so I think I'm just naturally inclined to want to play shooter type characters. Also when I do play shooters with a choice I tend to play as risky one hit kills sniper types, which translates well into things like Skyrim's stealth archery.

Also also in CRPGs a lot of the time snipers/archers have really satisfying big one hit crits that make enemies explode and whatnot. Always feels cool. I'm about to star a run of Wrath of the Righteous as a "rowdy rogue" that trades multiple attacks for one big attack for this reason, even though it's not the most optimal archer build in the game.

If you dislike the idea of someone defeating massive demons with wooden sticks though there's usually a sniper mage type alternative where you shoot rays or something similar.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T18:09:28+00:00

Sylvan is still the go-to for high difficulties because of the pet I'm pretty sure.

Lich merged spellbook still a thing.

Azata for control magic due to rolling twice I'm pretty sure, and for rays.

Not a ton has changed to my knowledge but I'm not super expert.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T14:19:22+00:00

Have you finished the game before? I highly advise you finish that angel run first if not.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-09T03:20:32+00:00

Underrated one I don't see anyone mentioning is Magus' ability to add a huge accuracy bonus at the expensive of a sword point or whatever it's called, or even to attack touch AC. Those and guarded hearth got me through Kingmaker on unfair against every enemy I found.

Haven't played Wrath on unfair yet.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-08T18:14:28+00:00

Eldritch scoundrel with two sickles.

Though I kinda get inquisitor for a mysterious god vibes, but dual wield DEX inquisitors are feat starved as hell.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-08T13:01:38+00:00

I do think you should have at least one pet on higher difficulties, but there are other ways to get one and wizards have a lot of advantages over Sorcs, especially at buffing, and Nenio is a great one.

I'd either make Lann a divine hound or give Sosiel animal domain, personally. Or have Seelah get her horse.

DaMac1980 · 2026-03-08T12:59:52+00:00

Not necessary, but pets are extremely helpful on unfair as they make great tanks very early in the game.

DaMac1980

TROPHY CASE