MihaiGt: Hi mate, want to ask for your advice as you are very knowledgeable about pathfinder.
What do you think about a holy warrior build? Smth like
7 2handed warrior/13 inquisitor
19 str 16 wis
going for feats like cleave/finishing cleave with lots of teamwork feats from inquisitor and some decent self buffing and sustain .
On paper it seems quite good.
Also thought about swapping inquisitor for paladin, though i am not sure.
Could you tell me as well what is so good about True Strike? I always tend to pick it up, because i see you having it in almost all your builds, though i have no fucking clue when to use it.

InEffect: Inquisitor should be swapped for cleric if anything. Even if you won't reach 9lvl spells with your build it will be better.
Also stacking outflank, cleaving finish and seize the moment is a bit redundant. I'd say elven curve blade, outflank and cleaving finish is enough and you don't need inq for that as outflank should be taken on every melee anyways. just grab opportunist's boots from master and you'll be fine. and you don't really need 2hf7 either. 2hf 3 will already give you 2x str on single attack which AoO are. I Would probably aim for 2hf 3/Cleric 17 With luck domain. that'd land you at 44STR give or take. Add ring of circumstances and bokkens elixir and you are sporting 48 str. 2 short from max. Then add power attack, dazzling, shatter and dreadful and you will be gucci so long as you sit in the 2nd row and are not hit. Would need some calculations to determine if you'd have to go crusader or not. Probably can fit everything just fine on a regular cleric.

MihaiGt: Luck domain sounds good, and the 3 fighter should be better for reaching higher level spells, but there is no way i want to go cleric instead of inquisitor. It might be stronger with cleric but it doesn't feel right.
I thought as well that i could make it a bit tanky with the help of lots of feats from fighter and teamwork feats from inquisitor. Not a proper tank, but smth that could stand his ground, and luck domain should help with that. Also with greater invis and good self buffs would make a proper assasin slaughtering the enemy backline. But that is what i want it to be, not sure if it can.

InEffect: Aldori Investigator (DLC required)

Role: Damage Dealer/Tank

Race: Tiefling(Shackleborn)
Alignment: Any

Stats:
Str: 17 > 22
Dex: 13
Con: 14
Int: 14
Wis: 8*
Cha: 14
*You can dump Wis to 5 and get 16 con or cha, but it’s not absolutely needed. So here it is, non-minmaxed build for a change.

Final Build: Aldori Defender 9/Alchemist(Vivisectionist) 6/Rogue(Thug) 4/Stalwart Defender 1

Main skills: Persuasion, Perception, Mobility 3, Use Magic Device
Suggested secondary skills: Whatever you fancy(19 spare points).

Detailed leveling breakdown:
Lvl 1: Fighter - Dodge // Armor Focus: Heavy
Lvl 2: Alchemist
Lvl 3: Fighter - Improved Unarmed Strike // Crane Style
Lvl 4: Alchemist - Feral Mutagen
Lvl 5: Alchemist - Weapon Focus: Dueling Sword
Lvl 6: Alchemist - Combat trick > Outflank
Lvl 7: Alchemist - Crane Wing
Lvl 8: Alchemist - Feral Wings
Lvl 9: Fighter - Power Attack
Lvl 10: Fighter - Intimidating Prowess
Lvl 11: Fighter - Cornugon Smash* // Heavy Blades
Lvl 12: Fighter
Lvl 13: Fighter - Persuasive
Lvl 14: Fighter
Lvl 15: Fighter - Improved Critical: Dueling Sword // Trained Will // Heavy Blades
Lvl 16: Rogue
Lvl 17: Rogue - Combat Maneuvers // Combat Trick > Seize the Moment**
Lvl 18: Rogue
Lvl 19: Rogue - Toughness*** // Combat Trick > Greater Weapon Focus
Lvl 20: Stalwart Defender

*Or Dreadful Carnage
**Both can be skipped if you party doesn't stack those if favor of weapon talents and whatnot..
***Optional. Can be skipped along with Stalwart in favor of Aldori 10 and Shatter Defenses. There is also an option of skipping Stalwart for an early monk level to get 2 feats from it, so you can get shatter defenses and 2 weapon specializations, but it would slow down progression and this one already is starved enough on that.

Gear: Heavy Armor, Duelist sword +Stat gear, +AC gear, Alkali Gloves, +Attack of opportunity boots from Master, Lesser Extend Rods

Weapon Specializations are skipped due to feat shortage. We get most of our damage from STR stacking.

Proof of concept build. With new Alchemist discoveries from DLC Stacks some decent AC. Has self-sustainable shield(with extend rods) and 60m mutagen that should be enough to clear most maps. Has Web for early-game.

Aldori Provides some extra Feats, AC and AB.

Thug is there to Frighten enemies, add more sneak dice evasion and uncanny dodge in one neat package. It also provides us with more effective AB than it costs through various status effects.

Stalwart is there for AC and stance, but it can be skipped along with Toughness for Aldori 10 and whatever feat you like better.

Does not care what 1h weapon he uses till midgame.

Has decent persuasion, so if you want to go for lvl 20 through Per checks - he can do it.

Aldori Swords are pretty mediocre and it would be totally insane if we could get our hands on a longsword instead, but we compensate with huge str bonuses and some sneak dice. Good AB from different sources. Totally adores Legendary Proportions cast on him.

Opted for Cornugon Smash instead of dazzling. While the latter would be more reliable our job is to poke F̶r̶e̶n̶c̶h̶ Pitaxians with a pointy thing.

Pretty RP-friendly. Takes classes and skills royal investigator(or a very nosy baron) could pick up in his career.

Hackley: Is there a way to make this a Dex base with light or no armor...RP friendly

vikigenius: Hi InEffect,

I looked at your Kalikke/Kanerah build and they make a lot of sense, considering the limitations of a dark elementalist, but I don't want to turn Kanerah into healer/buff bot because it doesn't seem right with her character, I want her to be a damage dealer. Is dual fire worth it? I heard blue flame is quite effective, especially in tough fights? Do you think this is a good idea? Do you have any suggestions? Will this change how I build Kalikke?

I don't really need a skill monkey, and I never use healing in battle, so Linzi the bard already covers everything that I would need for support, so it's not like building Kanerah as something else is making me lose something.

InEffect: Tripping Balls

Role: Off-Tank/Damage Dealer/Support

Race: Aasimar(Lawbringer)
Alignment: Lawful-Neutral
Pet: Leopard
Deity/Domain: Asmodeus/Trickery*

*Not really important, but a bit of a buffer is handy. Alternative would be anything with Travel or Plant Domain.

Stats:
Str: 17 > 22
Dex: 13
Con: 16
Int: 13
Wis: 16
Cha: 7

Final Build: Druid(Defender of the True World)15/Monk(Traditional) 2/Inquisitor(Sacred Huntsmaster) 3

Main skills: Perception, Lore: Nature, Mobility 3
Suggested secondary skills: Persuasion or Athletics. You have 30 spare points so choose whatever you want.

Detailed leveling breakdown:
Lvl 1: Druid - Dodge
Lvl 2: Druid -
Lvl 3: Druid - Combat Expertise
Lvl 4: Druid
Lvl 5: Monk - Natural Spell // Crane Style
Lvl 6: Druid
Lvl 7: Druid - Outflank
Lvl 8: Druid
Lvl 9: Druid - Trip
Lvl 10: Druid
Lvl 11: Inquisitor - Wings
Lvl 12: Inquisitor
Lvl 13: Inquisitor - Greater Trip // Tandem Trip
Lvl 14: Druid
Lvl 15: Druid - Fury’s Fall*
Lvl 16: Druid
Lvl 17: Druid - Combat Reflexes**
Lvl 18: Druid
Lvl 19: Druid - Seize the Moment**
Lvl 20: Monk - Improved Initiative

*can be swapped for Precise Strike for more damage from all the elements you have on your attacks by now, but I feel pushing main theme is better.
**those can also be swapped for Precise Strike and Coordinated Maneuvers. You need extra AoO attacks, but there are boots that can fix those for you. Seize the Moment can't be replaced so easily - you decide.

Spells by level in order of importance:
Lvl 1: Entangle, Longstrider, Faerie Fire, Acid Maw, Featherstep
Lvl 2: Aspect of the Bear, Barkskin, Frigid Touch, Restoration(Lesser)
Lvl 3: Magic Fang(Greater), Spike Growth, Delay Poison(Communal), Resist Energy(Communal), Featherstep(Mass)
Lvl4: Cape of Wasps, Thorn Body, Protection from Energy(Communal), Freedom of Movement
Lvl5: Aspect of the Wolf, Geniekind, Blessing of the Salamander, Animal Growth
Lvl6: Stoneskin(Communal), Dispel Magic(Greater), Tar Pool
Lvl7: Legendary Proportions, Heal, Creeping Doom
Lvl8: Seamantle, Frightful Aspect

Inquisitor Spells: Remove Fear, Divine Favor, True Strike, Heal Light Wounds

Gear: Staff, +AC robes, deflection ring, Bracers, +Stat items

Proper druid centered on shape-shifting and tripping enemies. Won’t break any records in terms of AC or Damage, but is solid enough on both fronts. Aspect of the wolf allows for free trips. Punishes tripped enemies hard.

Main two forms you want are bear and smilodon. Shambling mound is ok in a pinch. There is a bear form scimitar in the game. You can make use of that as well. You should start shifting the moment you get leopard.

Totally is not your healer. This is a combat character.

Extend rods are your friends

You want an alchemist in your party for shield spell.

Don't forget you have spontaneous summoning. Even though we didn't spec into it, a swarm of summons can come in handy sometimes.

Expertise and fighting defensively cut into your AB. only turn on if you are swarmed and need to tank.

Can’t be done as a merc. Can’t be done on any other race. You need dem wings. Jaethal is the closest thing to it, her alignment won't allow for monk, but it would work ok-ish, but not really.

petey488: InEffect,

Thank you for this. I have been trying to find a way to incorporate a Druid MC on Hard difficulty. Do you fill this build will have any difficulty on hard mode in regards to overcoming enemy CMD?

Also if you don't want to min/max...how would you change the stat allocation?

Str: 16 > 20
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 13
Wis: 16
Cha: 10

Thanks!

InEffect: you can use items to qualify for feats instead. so something like 17/12/14/10/16/10 (didn't calculate, just eyeballing) and some +dex and +int items will do. And as far as shifter druid goes... I'm not really sure about hard and totally no for unfair. Druid is a viable unfair solo, but that's because of ground spells, creeping doom and pet baiting. Interestingly enough he is not so nice as a party player. And for being a tank.. there is just no way to ramp the AC(on a druid) to what's needed on hard(65-ish) or unfair(70). Much the same applies to AB, sadly. If you want a shifter for hard that would be dragon sorc for a decent late-game plan of dragonforms.

upd. Now that I poked around the concept it bit it's actually possible to make a serviceable tank out of druid, with full buffs and every big item hogged. Plus an alchemist in the party would be a must it ends up with 70+AC and around 40 tAC with a lot of alignment shifting over the course of the game because it'd be better to start a neutral druid, shif to LG, grab a monk, Shift back to TN, grab 2 levels of mad dog and shift towards NG or NE for Castigator/Absolver cloak(rings slots will be taken by a ring of circumstances and dreamer's ring, as usual)

InEffect: missed it while I was redoing it. fixed now. I also made a druid shifter for a guy in the topic next door so you can take a look at that. It outlines the unfair/hard problems of druid and buff stacking in a greater detail.