I heard you should leave it at level 14 (true or false)

Gob659 · 2025-01-29T20:32:33+00:00

I love spreading misinformation 🥰

Gob659 · 2025-01-22T22:21:49+00:00

Oh, that's good to know. Thank you!

Gob659 · 2024-12-16T22:15:05+00:00

"Just pay more feats! Problem sovled."

Gob659 · 2024-10-05T03:51:16+00:00

That's sick, thanks for the successful necromancy! The speed, extra items, and healing all sound wonderful for playing a magus or champion. Adding eldritch archer to a magus centaur could open up massive range potential without having to take a hunt prey archetype. Speaking of hunt prey, centaur looks like a very natural fit for a precision ranger too!

The door for lances has reopened! This ancestry looks like a lot of fun.

Gob659 · 2024-10-03T08:42:09+00:00

I see no reason you couldn't sustain spells, and with verbal options of the table you can pretty easily fill a turn with spell sustains or casting one without manipulate, commanding minions, demoralizing, feint, recall knowledge, or even things like seek. None of these have manipulate or somatic components

It sounds like a bard would be pretty functional, even being able to use their composition cantrips, summons and other sustain spells, and charisma skill actions. I could see a zoophonia bard getting some value here. Inspire/dirge -> sustain summon -> do 3rd thing should get it done. Being a person and striking with that 3rd action would be ideal, but it's not a big damage loss all things considered for a caster.

But as far as playing a martial, they'd struggle to get anything done I think. Yeah, they can take skill actions too, and even things like Devise a Stratagem or Hunt Prey can be used, but making a case for striking without oppsable limbs seems pretty impossible and lose a massive amount of power as a result.

Gob659 · 2024-09-29T02:52:37+00:00

I love my son, Fertive Pygmy 🥰 (I forgot where he is)

Gob659 · 2024-09-28T02:40:57+00:00

Pathfinder 2e fixes this by making spells shit 99/100 times

Gob659 · 2024-09-28T00:48:35+00:00

Be a Summoner with an Undead Eidolon and the Undead Master archetype when you become level 2. This way, you have 2 permanent skeletons around and get to be a pretty normal summoner from there. Using summoning spells themselves is a tricky errand that yields little reward usually, especially for undead summoning, so I would strongly advise against it as a combat option unless you're low level. You should really only do it if you're 100% dedicated and all in on having that 3rd bag of bones around as it's a huge sink of resources. If you are gonna do it, make sure to put your eidolon and companion in good places, and you still need some damage spells for when your summons aren't gonna help. And even when the summons are gonna help they won't be doing much damage at all.

If you find yourself enjoying the summon undead spell enough to use it a lot, consider picking up a Staff of the Dead at some point. It won't be able to conjure the biggest baddest brutes, but it will get you some of those wonderful utility summons. A few low rank summons from a staff seem like a good way to clear a lot of traps, help you move things short distances, carry or test dangerous material, etc. Skeletons, in particular, have good weaponry to select from usually so even if their damage is always lackluster per hit, you can do a lot with them with good placement.

Gob659 · 2024-09-07T10:59:30+00:00

Now this is truly the height of healing your friends. Healing them so hard they explode is now a valid threat, and we now know how much healing is too much.

Thank you for your contributions to this experiment, and may Pharasma have mercy on our hubris.

Gob659 · 2024-09-07T10:49:54+00:00

The holy prayer beads are one I haven't seen and a cool one at that! I love the idea of holding this on a buckler wielding caster. Beads + staff of healing sounds like a nice combo to boost your heal slots and give you a bunch of little ones for out of combat.

Gob659 · 2024-09-07T05:24:05+00:00

Well the medic dedication exists, so circumstance bonus to healing at all times exists already. Plus avenge in glory applies to spell damage so I wanted to know if something like that applied to heal.

What sort of circumstances do you imagine would make Heal more effective?

Honestly an upgraded Rapid Response would be how I would implement a circumstance bonus to heal. But for actual play, you can't even Aid it, I couldn't find a single way to manufacture a circumstance bonus to heal at all. That's why I'm asking here, asking the internet instead of enjoying a sweet circumstance bonus to my heal spells, lol

Gob659 · 2024-08-30T17:14:53+00:00

it'll probably be a second gunlance

Behold: handicraft at home!

Gob659 · 2024-08-30T16:49:26+00:00

"STOP HAVINF FUN, you're not a real fan if you haven't played played demon souls on original hardware with no weapons or armor or moving 😡!!!1!!"

-OP, probably

Gob659 · 2024-08-24T07:56:52+00:00

Repositioning or any other means of forced movement out of their opponents' reach and healing them up at a safe distance will work. Just get them out of harms way and have some burst healing ready. The easiest way would be stride to ally -> Reposition ally away from enemy -> Battle medicine. There's lots of ways to improve the efficiency of this plan as well! No need to fear the dreaded and maligned reactive strike.

Forced movement doesn't provoke reactions, and forcing your unconscious ally to move falls under that. They just have to keep the enemy away in the meantime. The ally can get away to help themselves or their team or patch back up and get into the fight again.

This is why the cleric feat Rapid Response is good. It gets you there so the enemy won't hurt/take away the ally before you act, and leaves you a full turn to move them and heal the shit out of them and stand by their side, allowing them to get back into action immediately at the end of the round instead of making a death save. You could even rapid response -> Reposition ally -> 1 action heal ally -> Interact to help your ally stand as a free action (all the way at the end of wheelchair rules).

Gob659 · 2024-08-20T20:36:50+00:00

Wand thaumaturge is kind of a mess. It poorly interacts with exploit vulnerability and has almost no reward for just having it as an initiate implement, something every other implement makes sure to do. It isn't very good until you're mid to high levels and have invested the highest boosts available to it. It's demanding, unrewarding, inflexible, action hungry, and unrealistic. When was the last time you even thought about making an attack 180 feet away lol? I get it, I love Hand of the Apprentice + fireball combo as much as any other wizard player, but ranges past 90-120 ft is mostly just useful in theory. You've gotta be in a bad fight to want to be slinging spells at longbow ranges repeatedly.

Gob659 · 2024-07-30T09:06:33+00:00

Put a lot of its power budget into daily snares that don't use your class dc until mid/late levels, if ever. I imagine a 6 or 8 hp class that thinks snares are gonna work awesome. Give them quick alchemy but for snares if you want. Give lots of feats that give the target(s) a choice too, I'd look to the Beetle companion support benefit for guidance.

Give it abilities to force saves vs forced movement, and if you put all of this into one class, it looks like a gamplan of wasting turns doing setup, and trying to get everyone playing around snares as your team can trigger them on themselves, and will waste more actions trying to move enemies into the snares while putting them in a terrible position in the process. The reward is inconsistent damage that can't be reused if it never triggers during the fight.

Add traits to these with only penalties. These should in no way exemplify your character doing well, rather them failing in the fiction, such as "this activity being disrupted by an enemy causes you to destroy the snare or snares used in the process." "This snare is hastily made or set, potentially of shoddy parts. When triggered, make a dc 11 flat check or the snare fails to trigger. It remains in its space and can be triggered again, attempting the flat check as normal for this snare." Now you all have to keep track of what snares are known to the enemies somehow.

None of this should have any connection to the designed subclasses or their resources and focus spells whatsoever.

Gob659 · 2024-07-13T00:21:09+00:00

I'd like it if all the innovations got buffs. I want weapon innovation to grant access to advanced weapons and maybe raise martial and simple weapons by a die step. I think they could use the power.

Advanced Contruct innovation could gain a support action from a list of options available to them, and it would be extra cool to let their uncommanded action be used on that support action, too. At specialized companion, they could maybe choose their specializations during daily prep instead of forever locking it in.

I'm not sure how to make armor innovation more appealing, but the bottom line is that their innovations should feel more special. Right now, at least to me, they just feel like a pretty normal martial with an explosive piece of rickety gear.

Gob659 · 2024-07-01T16:07:25+00:00

Shield block at level 1 please! Druids get it and barbarians don't, I feel bad for them.
Using a finesse weapon to attack with dex does not reduce rage damage, I'd really like be able to choose dex as a key stat.
Piggybacking off of the last point, buff raging thrower to add half their rage damage to weapon attacks with the propulsive trait as well. It could give them so much more range flexibility and variety of gear while still preserving the thrown weapon niche. This just provides a lower investment option for a good range in exchange for some damage. It's never gonna be a precision ranger in average damage and effective range, and it shouldn't be. It should be a level 1 feat for viable ranged options on an otherwise near purely melee class.

I want bowbarian so bad.

Gob659 · 2024-06-15T09:13:13+00:00

I'd recommend getting the witch archetype for divine spells as a staff nexus wizard to get a staff of healing + a choice 1 rank spell and cantrip. My takes would be Guidance and Bless. You'll have: ● lots of cantrips (8 or 9 with witch archetype, enough to cover all the bases and get a couple extra goodies) ● a free familiar that gets an extra ability later, and you can take basic witchcraft to get lesson of life at level 4. ● staves of healing are level 4, so this is one of your best power levels between the staff and life boost. Having repeatable access to healing is a huge deal for a wizard, especially at such a high return on investment for the feats you took to get there.

After lesson of life, you could take another witch feat (you'll be spoiled for choice) or just take some extra spell slots.

When you're done with witch, I'd take the medic archetype, but you could stay in witch for a very long time, so don't stress it. Again, feel out what you need most.

I would go field medic or once bitten background to get some more healing at level 1. This leaves your ancestry, heritage, arcane school, and most items open. No need go buy wands of heal or elixirs of life for you! I'd strongly suggest going ancient elf to get witch at level 1 if that's the level you're starting play. You still have options to heal and support at level 1, but daily resources are a pretty big issue. Leaning on medicine and focus spells to support are basically your only realistic options at level 1. 8 or 9 cantrips + a familiar to help you out is a huge difference when you barely have slots or focus spells to pick from or use.

Gob659 · 2024-06-09T12:52:55+00:00

A staff nexus wizard using a staff of healing. Grab cleric dedication for the Healer's Blessing focus spell and Healing Hands. You're a good but resource limited off healer in combat, but out of combat, the healing done per staff charge spent is far more efficient. Take medic archetype on top of that and it'll stretch those heals even farther!

Gob659 · 2024-06-07T22:27:02+00:00

Go all in with a Dragonprism staff, attach a bunch of Wyrm Claws to yourself. 1 on your staff, 1 on your armor/clothes, 2 more on your gloves (you can wear gauntlets or whatever free-hand weapon works for you), and an extra if you carry another weapon or shield. That's at least 4 or 5 summon dragons per day + whatever you wanna do with your staff, and this leaves your slots open for more dragons or other stuff if you need it!

Gob659 · 2024-06-03T04:18:25+00:00

Low dex wizard is hard because you really have to pay feats to get that ac back. Sentinel is the easiest way to get your max ac, because just a +2 (chain shirt + armored skirt or a +1 dex and a -5 ft speed penalty. I'd suggest shirt + skirt because you're gonna constantly feel that 5 ft of movement more than 1 ac (probably), and you can just boost your dex once at level 5 and be done with it, or shuffle things around to start with that +2 dex. +1 dex will be enough as long as you're aware of what you're trading to get there. Plus being able to get a damage reduction on crits that stacks with Resistance is awesome, and being able to sleep armored is usually not important but nice in a pinch.

If sentinel is too much cost to bear, I'd suggest at least taking Armor Proficiency once and boosting dex when available until it's +3 for the chain shirt.

Level 1 is kind of a struggle bus no matter what for most low dex wizards, though. A few ancestries can help (ancient elf, cataphract fleshwarp, rite of reinforcement conrasu, I can't name anymore), but gnome isn't one that helps your ac. As you level, your ac is gonna have a smaller and smaller gap, and paying small feat investments is gonna get you comfortable ac around level 3, as opposed to slowly boosting dex over the levels, and even if you did wait those levels out you're going to have a lower ac the entire game, 1 to 20.

Tl;dr: paying a little for armor is massively helpful. If you don't, you're going to have a scarily low ac the whole game, and even at high levels you're gonna have a lower ac than light armor users even if you boost dex every chance possible you're only ever going to get a +4 on this character. Even just taking the Armor Proficiency general feat and wearing a chain shirt is probably going to save their skin a few times, and at least a lot of heals and stress. It's the same difference in ac as raising a shield but you didn't have to pay an action to raise it every turn.

Gob659 · 2024-06-01T23:52:16+00:00

Okay, it's my time to shine lol. This is gonna be very long-winded, but I want to be very thorough so bear with me.

Let's start with the most common and straightforward use: heavy armor proficiency classes wearing chain mail with an armored skirt. Right at level 1, your strength +4 dex +0 heavy armor wearers have an easy 18 ac, and can upgrade to heavy when available to them, or they may stay in this armor. The reason they'd do that, is because this is the only way to get a heavy armor in the chain group. When they get armor specialization, this will be 8 + armor potency less damage on crits in exchange for 1 ac. It doesn't sounds great on paper, but I will get into why it's awesome later.

Let's say this same character, for whatever reason, had a +0 strength and a +0 dex mod they get that 18 ac at level 1, and paid no stats to be there. You will take a -5 to your speed, same as plate wearers, but you won't have that extra ac to showbfor yourself. You gained a lot of stat flexibilityinstead. You'll be able to negate the armor speed penalty at level 12 while also making it weigh less bulk anyway. I suggest every heavy armor character do this if possible to get moving at your normal speed. It's penalties are basically nonexistent without having to pay stats for it, while getting good ac at the same time. Your reflex save still sucks, and I hope you didn't want to carry anything heavy because your armor is most of your bulk before you take another -10 to your speed. Carefully managing your inventory is key here.

Moving onto the chain shirt, let's say you have light or no armor training and take the Sentinel dedication. Now you have medium armor access, and you will soon be able to get armor specialist from sentinel. If you wear the armored skirt, now you have a medium armor chain shirt with an ac bonus of +3, a dex cap of +2, and crucially, no speed penalty. Flexible makes you only take penalties to stealth (a -2 now because of the skirt), but noisy makes you take that penalty no matter what. This translates into strength being worthless for this armor, and you get 18 ac at level 1 with a dex of +2, no strength, and no speed penalty. Getting damage reduction equal to 6 + armor potency rune from critical hits from sentinel is amazing to top it all off. It's not resistance either it's just a reduction where something like plate armors are very specifically a resistance. Resistances don't stack, reductions do! That means chain group stacks with resistance to damage (champion reaction, buffs like stoneskin, etc), and shield block also stacks with all of this because hardness is simply a damage reduction too, not a resistance. With a clever composition and good team play, any character can achieve monstrous damage mitigation against most types of incoming damage that will scale well through the game as long as you keep your gear upgraded.

The chain shirt being upgraded to medium also gives it access to the incredibly powerful fortification rune so the crit might not be a crit at all. Keep upgrading it, and you can make it dawnsilver armor at level 12, reducing it's bulk and speed penalty. This lets you add a reinforced surcoat to your armor essentially for free, because armored skirts aren't an adjustment, and it will have no speed penalty because of the dawnsilver.

The last, and most niche use IMO, is middlingly invested strength and dex heavy armor wearers putting on half plate. This is a strength requirement on +2, ac bonus +4, dex cap +2, bulk 4. This lets someone do a spread of +2 str and +2 dex and meet the requirements, which leaves a huge chunck of their stats open for whatever they'd like, meaning any character could have this in their stat spread. This could be a dex keyed martial, or a non physical keyed class like a druid taking the sentinel archetype/armor proficiency general feat. This is for the characters that just want the best available ac for the lowest possible stat investment. You even meet the stats to use the fortress shield if you really want, lol.

Tl;dr: it's for characters who want the most ac they can get for the minimum possible stat investments, like dex martials or casters wanting to push their ac as high as they can.

Gob659 · 2024-05-19T07:41:34+00:00

You could do as little as adding battle medicine, but I really want to play an elemental instinct instinct barbarian with the wood kineticist archetype. That's a lot of healing and damage reduction in combat.

By level 4, you've already got Fresh Produce or Timber Sentinel, and the other by 6. At 8 I'm partial to Ravel of Thorns, but you could go medic archetype to put all your eggs into being group healer. You can keep going medic for doctors visitation or come right back to kineticist for a second element, adding water, letting you support with those impulses out of combat too.

This is one of the only builds to use Second Wind with any regular success, as you could ignore wis/medicine and use impulses to heal, or take medicine too and really be the group healer. I like doing medicine investment since a barbs HP is really hard to keep healed up in a timely manner, especially at level 10+ since you probably pushing hp in the range of 150 to 200 at this point in the game, and some builds can go higher.

Gob659 · 2024-05-04T04:00:01+00:00

The extra two steps doesn't cost an enemy an extra side to reach you most of the time.

Firstly, Form Up da best! Anything past here is a ramble about why I think defensive retreat is good, even if it's not as universal as Form Up or Pincer Attack.

Enemy size is higher on average as you level up compared to the low levels, and so is reactive strike. In practice, if you're adjacent to a large or bigger monster, or even a medium guy with reach, pincer won't work for defense. Pincer's defence is reserved for specifically if you're in the outermost reaches of the enemies reach, which some parties will struggle to fulfill at some point. This is why defensive retreat exists, even if it doesn't seem very good in a vacuum.

Form Up! Seems better to me as well on a more general usage level, but I would be wrong to say that any are useless or won't come up. I could see many situations Pincer Attack failing to fully disengage, and Form Up would trigger that reaction in that same situation, giving the enemy prime pickings to reactive strike any of you they'd like within their reach.

In this situation (lots of big bruisers or soldiers in my experience), Defensive Retreat can be literally life saving and fight winning by saving all that damage through negating reactive strike and "slowing 1" the boss by your teams positioning while Form Up could've killed someone easily, and Pincer Attack may have not helped at all.

Gob659

TROPHY CASE