BlueMajere1: I know you don't play much anymore, or do this, but do you have any thoughts on the viability/build of jaethal as a tank?

InEffect: Not very. Only benefit would be that she can't "die". Sustaining her is rather hard and her alignment doesn't offer any easy outs to ramp AC. So, while it's technically possible to use her inqisitor levels for seize the moment or something, it's ultimately better to keep her somewhere in the second row. She still will get glorious opportunities to take oneshots instead of the party, but won't be such a hassle to keep alive. Also, her stat destribution kinda forces you to go into cleric if you want to make use of all her stats. Ecclesi or herald caller is debateable as both have merits. I prefer the latter, but converting channel into sacred bonus on an evil cleric is nice as well.

If you have to have it that way you would likely want something with decent AC ramp. With that in mind Vivisectionist 3 or 4 is nice, as usual... Arcaeologist2/DD4 won't be wasted either as it will give further AC ramp and mirror image that tanks have to have. So, Inq3/Arch2/DD4/V3 would be core build achievable by 12 with 8BAB to get to 16BAB by 20 you would obviously have to fill the rest with full bab classes, preferably something that would give more AC and maybe finishing V4 for an extra feat. I'd probably mostly abandon the damage prospects and went for Inq3/Arch2/DD4/V4/TSS5/Stalwart1 +1 whatever.
Another feasible option would be Inq3/Bard6/DD4/EK5+2(likely fighter for feats. Maybe 1 more bard for the song) not unlike valerie bard, but it will end up with a tad less AC, so idk about viability of that. That's generally the problem with jae tanking. She doesn't do anything better than Valerie would in the same role and will make you worry about sustaining her for most of the game.

InEffect: buffing pets on unfair is a waste of time. They are not reaching 70 AC and, most importantly, they don't have mirror image, so they would die even if they did. So, don't waste time and effort into buffing a pet and use them as a free fodder they are.

Saying your proposed build is bad is not an insult. It's the truth. Your action economy is bad, your damage output is bad and your idea about tanking is bad.

Let me put some things straight:
1. Action economy. You are almost always at a disadvantage, so wasting time on anything that doesn't take out things out of the play is bad. So, dazzling is ok on a few people, but you use it for shatter, debuff is just a bonus on top. With that in mind, Duration spells that force loads of checks are the way. Same goes for damage delers. Here come your 500+ DPR saints and vivisectionists(who also can tank for ages with AC/Invis/mirror). All soft-CC is useless for unfair, all single-save spells are mostly too. Lingering is not great for most of the game for that reason as well as it costs you actions in combat that could be used on something better. And when you actually get the chance to use lingering with greater effect... you don't really need it. By endgame you will have like 30 rounds of song(which you don't even need in half the fights). You will sooner run out of spells than out of songs.
2. Casting. Only decent way of attacking will is Arcane illusionist gnome. That thing at least reaches decent DC's and actually takes out things with it. That, and illusion does have useful spells, much unlike enchantment. Also, any prep you do to CC delays said CC. That's bad. Reality of casting on unfair is just ramping DC's high enough to blow through any saves the enemy might have. Conjuration has both reflex and fort, so it's an obvious choice. Also stinking cloud that is party-friendly and solves most trash encounters.
3. Tanking. To tank unfair you have to drop enemy chances to hit. By a lot. Even 5% is not good enough. 2.5% with displacement effect slapped on is not good enough either. Slap mirror on top and now we're talking. That drops the chances to 1.25%, which is acceptable. Anything with mirror is by default 2 times tankier than whatever without it. And this is why pets suck at it.
4. Damage. There is no point in half-assing it. Just have a few guys who can push 500+ damage a round and it will be fine.
5. Your time. IDK about you, but I like not wasting time. So, fights must be quick and light on resources. 90% of fights in the game look like: "buffed party casts haste and stinking cloud and wipes the floor with everything". No looting till you finish the floor/area or the shorter spells run out either. That ups your rest efficiency. On the topic of time - buffing pets is a waste of it. They are twice as likely to be one-shotted. It's bad investment. And even if you buff them the damage past act 1 in negligible. Sit em back instead and use them to plug holes for a few rounds and to prevent flanks. And when the enemy is hard-CC'd you can move them in. They might even hit something once in a while(for a pathetic damage, because pets are like that).
Also regarding time, the more you have to click - the slower you go. Another reason why Duration CC and heavy phys damage is the way.
6. Unfair in general is about hedging your bets. You don't rely on something that can fail - you use things that are guaranteed to work. So why use a pet that has 2.5%+ to be hit, when you can use literally any competent melee that has 1.25%? Why roll the dice with one-and-done spells, when you can use duration ones? Stack odds and you will rarely load(if at all).

Bezhukov: You're playing unfair+ because you're not using all the tools at your disposal. I can see how that would happen if you're running six solo builds concurrently, but there are team dynamics that work well and happen to be more fun. I don't use Stinking Cloud since it exploits the borked implementarion of Delay Poison and don't use haste much until I get the amulet that extends it because it's round per level. I do use Bond before combat, start with lingering Dirge when I get it, make use of difficult terrain (not entangle or web, actuall difficult terrain) and keep Archon's Aura on with maxxed Evocation DCs on that toon.

destroyermaker: * What should my stats be if I take human? I have all DLC. I've gone with 7/18/13/10/7/19 but want to make sure it's optimal.

destroyermaker: * What stats should I increase after adjusting the above?

destroyermaker: * There's a third feat that can be taken at level 1 which messes up the entire level progression.

destroyermaker: * What should my third skill be? I have free points.

destroyermaker: So I should play the DLC before I make the character if I want the best version of it? Is the build meant for a later playthrough? I'm confused on how to take advantage of it. I may only play through the game the once.

destroyermaker: Great, thanks.

Another question: the merc 2 build for Varnhold doesn't let me take Crane Wing at level 7. What should I do instead for that level (and any others, if they should be altered)?

Libita: I'm playing with the idea to start a first go towards Unfair and I think about including a raycaster Wiz or Sorc/Vivi/AT. You do have a build like that up (AT sorc). Do you think that kind of character will manage on Unfair? Because I had a lot of trouble hitting anything with Octavia rays on Hard, so I imagine Unfair merc could have some difficulty too.

Also, would picking a Divination Wizard instead of a Sorc be okay? Less damage per Ray, less spells, but I imagine the rest of the party will like the aura a lot, and I get spell levels earlier.