Funny, the Technic League encounter didn’t hardly register in my memory, difficulty wise. I did chunk the main bad guy right away though (but for his plot armor ofc), I remember that. Must be the difference there.
Slayer PC is pretty absurd though. I chunk a lot of things right away, heh.
Not missing Amiri at all. Much prefer Regongar. She probably does more consistent damage over time, but having the additional utility plus the burst on demand (empowered shocking grasp is gross) plus actual defenses is way, way better so far.
Bateau
2043
This is my exact experience, 1:1. I ditched her for Ekundayo two levels ago and haven’t looked back since. Maybe I’ll slot her in with a few more level ups but at level 7-8 Ekundayo does about 5x as much damage, and more reliably too. And that’s not counting the pet dog which on its own outdamages Octavia by a factor of 2.
@inactive_user
What’s your experience with persuasion checks by having a non-CHA focused PC? Also I’d love to see your build if you don’t mind, I’m tempted to start a parallel run with a different party because I’m curious how well Regongar and Harrim perform.
Ya win some, ya lose some. I certainly haven’t lost as many as my godawful Persuasion score would suggest, so I am pretty sure it’s like every other check where it takes the highest score in the party.
To be clear, my Slayer knows nothing but murder. Just murder murder murder, all the time. And stealth. But mostly murder. Discourse search is failing me, but I posted the general idea upthread. It’s really the obvious stuff to just focus entirely on high STR and dual wielding. 20 STR Human lets you dump INT while still getting Mobility + Athletics + Stealth. IIRC I had 14 DEX / 14 CON at creation, minimum INT and CHA, and I think 10 in Wisdom so as to not fuck over my Will save any harder.
Feats: Don’t bother with Weapon Focus; it’s really not worth it unless you’re a fighter and investing in Specialization + Greater Focus + Greater Specialization. Pick the dual-wielding ranger style when you get it and you can get the improved/greater DW talents without meeting the crazy DEX requirements. Iron Will is highly recommended. Around 4 or 5 I had PC + Valerie pick up Outflank, which is delightful. Don’t bother with any ranged feats, you won’t ever do anything but get up in faces and then chop them off. Will probably pick up Coordinated Defense with Val at some point because hell if Trip and Sunder don’t just absolutely ruin my (well, Valerie’s specifically) day.
Gear: I started out in medium armor (Breastplate) and later switched to light when I found a Chain Shirt +1 or something. Boy, do I vastly prefer the mobility on a character who mostly doesn’t get attacked anyway. Just recently I found a Mithral Breastplate that is just perfect for him. Whatever 1H weapons you find that murder the hardest, use those. Just remember to keep the offhand “light” (you’ll see the keyword in the weapon description) so you don’t take extra dual-wielding penalties.
Enlarge Person is an absolutely fantastic spell to cast on this PC. Extra damage, yes, hooray, but reach! Stand literally behind Valerie and murder things! Highly recommended.
Bateau
2045
Thanks! Would the build also work focused on finesse (dex) or are there better options for that, like pure rogues?
Finesse builds are reliant on what weapon you want to make work, mostly surrounding the best crit ranges and work well on things like Magi. However you will be susceptible to Combat Maneuvers. Typically a build like that is either a hybrid mage or hybrid rogue. You might want to find Nok-nok first just to see a basic and incredibly effective example.
If I were building a DEX focused pure fighter type I’d aim for Duelist or Swordlord prestige. Dump STR in that case; pick up the thing that lets you use DEX for damage instead (Duelist gets for free, IIRC). Swordlord should be a fighter base for sure since you want to specialize in the Dueling Sword as deeply as possible. Duelist can go a couple different ways, on paper. Haven’t messed with either in practice.
Bateau
2048
Thanks, looking forward to trying him out.
Also, another question regarding stat modifiers - my Ekundayo for example has +6 to strength right now, and if I give him a medium armor with Max Dex bonus of 2 his +6 on the stat screen does not change - is this just a tooltip error or is his proficiency in medium armor somehow circumventing that limit? A lot of these stats should really be more transparent.
I’d have to see the screen to be sure, but I’m pretty sure that he starts with a composite bow that allows you to add your Strength modifier to your damage. Though if you are talking to-hit I’m not sure.
Bateau
2050
No I’m talking about his stat screen. He’s at 21 dex +6, and if I equip a medium armor with max dex 2 it’s not reflected on the stat screen. The modifier stays at 6.
NI1
2051
Max dex only applies to the dex bonus to armor. Not to e.g. the ranged attack bonus.
Max dex is only used for Armor Class, you still receive full bonus for anything else it is used for like initiative, etc.
Edit: Though just to be sure I cover my bases encumbrance also affects armor class, so you might want to look a that if things are not adding up right.
Doesn’t max dex also nerf skill bonuses and reflex save?
I basically never undercut a character’s dex bonus except for in unusual circumstances.
Edit: looks like I’m wrong and it’s just AC. Still, it’s rarely worth the speed, encumbrance, and armor check penalties.
Bateau
2054
Ah thanks, that makes sense. So despite having medium proficiency as ranger it’s not really worth using most of them since the AC stays the same on a high dex char, from what I can tell.
Yes, that cave is very hard. Go there later.
Octavia can one-shot end-game bosses.
Bateau
2056
Question regarding this since we’re on the subject of mechanics (thanks for all the info so far btw, really appreciate it):
I had a look at the formula and it says this:
Each character and creature has a Combat Maneuver Defense , or CMD, that represents its ability to resist combat maneuvers . A creature’s CMD is determined using the following formula: CMD = 10 + BAB + Strength mod + Dexterity mod + special size mod + miscellaneous mod.
So what about this would make a finesse character more susceptible to combat maneuvers, other than likely being one of the classes that get 3/4 of BAB per level?
So most finesse builds will want reduce person as well as dumping strength a little (or leaving at 10). Also most finesse will be using non-full bab classes like you said. So overall your maneuvers mod is significantly lower than if you went with a similar str type build. Typically this is offset by having most of your attacks Crit and for high modifiers or having access to great self buffing.
fdsaion
2059
Octavia needs to be built very specifically to be of any use, since if you take levels in rogue to get sneak attack to go arcane trickster she’ll be behind in spell levels breakpoints.
L3 wizard, feat needs to be +sneak attack so that she can go arcane trickster L5 and not lose spell progression
L4 wizard
L5 arcane trickster, precise strike to remove the -4 debuff
She’ll be useless damage wise except for spell utility (grease/web/glitterdust are all good CC even at -1 progression) until then. Now she actually can do middling damage with sneak attacks on perma-flanked enemies (since in this game 2 melee = flanked) while having decent utility on spells. Fireball & Haste comes in next at L6 and now she’s super useful. At L8 she gets the second ray of scorching ray which means double sneak attacks due to how this engine treats it and it gets better from there.
Now imagine you went 3 levels into rogue and all those spells were delayed for 2 more levels (no fireball/haste until L8, etc, etc). And while the utility CC are still useful at -1 level, not so much at -3 levels. Yeah don’t do that. Take the sneak attack feat L3
Alternately I guess you could go full rogue & derivatives and have the 1 level in wizard be a useless appendage, but Nok-Nok exists so…
I seem determined to force myself to like this game. By starting over. I created a neutral good human grenadier (20 Int, 22 Dex when mutagen’d) that I’m enjoying quite a bit, and I’m choosing a lot more crowd control for spells and bombs (tanglefoot). Grease has been a life saver. Killed the treant bear at the temple at 3rd level without it inflicting a single point of damage against the party (grease, bomb bomb bomb, America. . .f(ck yeah, more bombs, ranged attacks during bombardment, oh shit it’s up and clear of the grease area, Amiri rages, charges in, crit, monster dead).
I took Amiri into 2-handed fighter after that first level of barbarian. She’s pretty effective if you keep your healer nearby.
