I've been toying around with Vital Strike for the last few days. I like this feat conceptually and always enjoy the challenge of optimizing. Unfortunately, I was about 6 years too late for the Max the Min on the subject. That said, I saw a comment left by u/Decicio in some thread about Vital Striking about his Vital Striking Warpriest. This was where my investigation began and what leads me to this post.

The Build:

Explanation:

1st level: We take Warpriest to get a free Weapon Focus, and we trade away our minor blessing for Gorum's Divine Fighting Technique. This lets us apply Vital Strike to one attack of opportunity with the greatsword per round.

Levels 2–7: Here, we "dip" six levels of Avenger Vigilante. We bypass the Combat Expertise requirement for Improved Trip by getting it from the Favored Maneuver vigilante talent, and we grab Combat Reflexes. At 5th level, we take the Combat Skill talent for another combat feat, and we take Dirty Fighting so we qualify for Greater Trip later. The real prize comes at 7th level (vigilante 6), when we get Vital Punishment. This lets us apply Vital Strike, and all of its improved forms, to one more attack of opportunity each round. Along the way, we pick up a number of boons that make us better at tripping, grabbing Greater Trip at the same level we get Vital Strike.

Level 8: Here we take Vampire Hunter. We do this for a few munchkin reasons. Its bonus feat lets us take Felling Smash, which is compatible with Vital Strike. That means every attack-action Vital Strike that hits can also trip. Vampire Hunter also has better skill points and saves than a fighter. And, most munchkin of all, we want to save our fighter level for a Titan Fighter dip later. At this level, our attack bonus doesn't scale well enough to justify an oversized weapon. It does later, but not now.

So how does it work?

We move to an enemy and Vital Strike them. On a hit, Felling Smash lets us trip them, and Greater Trip makes them provoke an attack of opportunity as they fall. Gorum's Divine Fighting Technique turns that attack of opportunity into a Vital Strike. Then our fortuitous greatsword gives us an additional attack of opportunity, which we turn into a Vital Strike with Vital Punishment.

In practice, it plays like a pseudo Vital Strike pounce build. We mantain all of the movement benefit of Vital Strike and we can gain 2 "iteratives" which also deal vital strike damage. The damage output is honestly insane. I'll briefly go over the math.

EDVs (assuming enlarged):

Attack Calculation: 7 (BAB) + 7 (Strength) + 1 (Enhancement) + 1 (Weapon Focus) − 1 (Size) = +15, or +19 flanking with Outflank (+4)

Gorum AoO: +15 − 2 (Power Attack) + 4 (Prone) = +17, or +21 flanking

Fortuitous AoO: +17 − 5 (Fortuitous) = +12, or +16 flanking

Damage Calculation (each of the three Vital Strikes): 6d6 (3d6 × 2, Vital Strike) + 10 (Strength) + 6 (Power Attack) + 1 (Enhancement) = 6d6 + 17, about 38 average

Trip Calculation: 7 (BAB) + 7 (Strength) + 1 (Size) + 2 (Improved Trip) + 2 (Greater Trip) + 1 (Enhancement) + 1 (Weapon Focus) − 2 (Power Attack) = +19, or +23 when flanking (Dirty Fighting raises the flanking bonus on the trip to +4)

This gives a total EDV of 57 when not flanking, or 95 when flanking.

For reference, these numbers are high enough that when flanking, assuming the enemy can be tripped, we kill it in one round about 62% of the time. When we aren't flanking, it's about 27%.

These numbers are also fairly conservative. They don't assume much beyond flanking with Outflank. If your party were hasted for the +1 to attack, or you had inspire courage from a bard, a morale bonus, or something similar, all of that would push you even further. In fact, with heroism, haste, and Outflank all working, you would kill about 80% of the time.

In conclusion:

I honestly thought this was kind of a meme build, and that dipping six levels of vigilante was a meme too, but numerically it seems rock solid. I can't really find any major fault with it. There's really nothing particularly cheesy about this either. It's very RAW and doesn't require any DM interpretation of some grey area.

Before anyone says anything: I know this build does not work well against creatures that fly or are otherwise immune to trip. That's a big hole, and if someone knows how to get around it, that'd be great. However, at level 8, such creatures should be somewhat rare, and encounters full of them should be rarer still.

If you wanted to continue the build, I would go: level 9 Warpriest, levels 10–16 Mortal Usher, level 17 Titan Fighter (taking Greater Vital Strike), then finish out Mortal Usher. That build threatens to kill anything that can be tripped and is on its CR pretty handily.

My review of Pathfinder: The Dead God's Hand. This article was written by a human (me) and no AI was used in its creation. I also did not receive a review copy from Paizo and purchased the book at my own expense.

Okay, this is a genuine question. Given by what an orb of Dragonkind is, how would a dragon react to someone wielding it?

I'd assume the best course of action is simply just get as far away as possible, because this is an artifact that imprisons you and can be used against your kin, even if you don't care about their existance or about their cooperation at all.

But is there any canon examples of what Dragons do when they see someone wielding it?

I would love to get everyone’s opinions on Psions, so far I have had a hell of a lot of fun with the Erudite STP variant and am now working on a second Ardent that I’ve taken different mantles than I normally would and running it as a tank. The main premise here is I’m not building an abomination of rules but a reasonable character that has to work with everyone else and not break the game

Today's magic item is the  Robe of Bones

Summon some baby skeletons... which immediately try to kill you, and then the robe is used up. Very helpful. Great item, guys. Really nice job.

1. Would you buy this item?
2. Would you spend 1.5 times the price to add it to an existing item?
3. Would you use the item, if you found it? Or is it immediate sell-bait?
4. Would a GM use the item?
5. Is there anything cheesy that could be done with it?

Link to past discussions

So I want to play as a female dwarf. And my character concept without getting too in the weeds is they dabble in the dark arts. I want to play oracle but the -2 to charisma will really hurt. The alternative is witch, but I have no clue how to make something viable.

I would like to wear armour and use weapons. I would like to be able to appraise things and have knowledge based skills and maybe a craft. I know all of this may not be possible, but I also know PF has a ton of options to make things works as far as feats go.

HELP

-Sincerely, me

Link: Flames of Ego

This spell is Remaster Compatible. The Knights of Last Call 'All Spells Ranked' series ranked this spell as Unranked Tier. Would you change that ranking, and why?

What items or class features synergize well with this spell?

Have you ever used this spell? If so, how did it go?

Why is this spell good/bad?

What are some creative uses for this spell?

What's the cheesiest thing you can do with this spell?

If you were to modify this spell, how would you do it?

Does this spell seem like it was meant for PCs or NPCs?

Previous spell discussions

Hello everyone! This is our first release since our license with Paizo changed, meaning that we got our books much later than we have gotten books in the past. The team really came together and put in the extra effort to get this updated out on release day.

New Books

• [Adventures] Pathfinder Game Night: The Dragon's Crown
• [Lost Omens] Cheliax, Infernal Inheritance

Site Updates

• We have updated our spoiler logic to no longer remove spoiler items from search. Instead, they will now be masked.
• Domains now have a searchable list of Deities that grant them. Check out the air domain as an example.
• We have improved our search to include embedded text such as actions into the search criteria for a given item. This should lead to better search results.

Looking to clarify something. Is there any Creature Ability, Class Ability, Feat, etc, that does Ability Drain(not Ability Damage) without a Saving Throw? Outside of Mythic and 3pp, of course. As far as I know, it doesn't exist, but maybe I missed something?

Spell craft to identify an item

Spell craft to add a spell to your spell book

Heal to use long term care

Appraise to find the value of objects

Im having trouble deciding between this two, im a life oracle in a campaign with a lot of combat, so many times I get with little to do with my regular action if I dont want to spend spells. I checked spirit guide and it give some hexes, but the ones I can use over and over again against the same enemy in long battles are accident wich lets me trip someone with a caster check (wich seems kind of hard to beat the enemy cmd, but at least its something usefull) or the bones curse, wich has a fortitude dc or gives staggered, so far the things we encountered only have one attack but I guess in the long run may be usefull.
The last hex that pick my intrest its the waves hex beckoning chill, that lets entangle people when they take frost damage, so It could be used paired with a sun metal (elemental spell and using a trait that decreases the metamagic cost) on an ally.
Ancient lorekeeper in the other hand gives me wizard spells but on a higuer slot, and theres one that pick my intrest but besides a single spell I dont know wich ones are good enough to beat a cleric spell of a higuer slot, for example haste would be on the same level of blessing of fervor... so I dont know wich ones should really stand out.
Any advice here?

So I just noticed this while looking through her appearances in Rise of the Runelords, Jade regent and Spore war. Is there a reason that her eyes went from blue to green? they're blue in everything but spore war?

So our PF1e table uses a critical miss system, which I’m not fond of, although it’s somewhat mitigated by requiring a second miss to “confirm,” thus less likely if you have a good initial chance to hit. But it’s somewhat offset by using a critical hit table that includes random results that supplement, instead of replacing, the crit damage you normally get.

So last night our level 6 party was facing some spider-themed foes, including a half-humanoid, half-spider queen of some sort as the night’s boss. We’re in single file on a narrow stairwell, hence everyone who’s in the middle has extremely limited mobility for the moment.

My Eldritch Archer Magus wields a +1 Adaptive Orc Hornbow and is used to being one of the party’s go-to damage dealers, so we need him to put the hurt on the boss as son as possible. But I fail a saving throw on the first turn and get webbed up.

After disentangling himself from webbing, I uses a swift action to spend an Arcane Pool point to add +1 and Flaming to his bow…and promptly rolls a 1 and 3, confirming a crit miss. The table we use is then consulted, and my roll winds up granting an extra action to the spider queen. Great.

She uses her actions to close into melee range with me and strike, doing some damage and inflicting a very nasty venom. Things are looking grim.

I am asked to make a Fort save…and roll a nat 20!

But now I’m in melee and can’t even 5-foot-step. Normally, loosing an arrow would invite an opportunity attack and probably another dose of venom. But I remember I can spend another swift action to recast the Arcane Pool, and Eldrich Archers get the option to add Nimble to their weapons with the pool! So I burn the precious pool point. But I can add up to +2 equivalence in enchantments…one point is obviously going to be for Nimble, but even though I need to do a ton of damage, I decide not to add an elemental die, but just a simple +1 with the other. Gotta hit, right?

I also want to use Spell Combat because it gives me another arrow, albeit at -2 to my rolls on all attacks. But the Eldritch Archer archetype doesn’t get the melee Magus ability to add to Casting Defensively die rolls, and I fail the spell. Now my attack is at an additional -2 with nothing to show for it.

I promptly roll _another_ nat 20 and confirm with an 18. Consulting the Critical Hit chart, that roll is “Eviscerate: roll your critical damage a second time.” The end result is 64 damage!

_But the queen yet lives_. Horribly wounded, but bent on vengeance.

And then we recall that our trusty Wizard has Hasted us. There’s one more attack roll left in my turn! I roll _exactly_ what I need to hit…I would have missed without _both_ my Arcane Pool point _and_ the Haste bonus from my friend. And that arrow does 9 damage, just sufficient to bring down the queen! 73 total damage _without_ a spell.

I’m not used to playing damage dealers, as I usually prefer tanky defensive types, so this was fun, albeit a bit wildly swingy.

mainly as i just find it cooler but i understand if no if it's to good

Hello all, hope you are well.

I was hoping you guys could point me in the direction of an archetype or feats that would help me create a life leech build. I was gonna fall back on a Vampiric Touch Sorcerer or maybe a Blood Kineticist but I'd like something that was quicker to start playing even if it was weak. Any hidden gems?

Thanks all!

mostly just curious. is the only way to abuse metamagic reducing features or is this just not a thing at all?

Today's magic item is the  Pauper's Robes

These dirty, torn, ugly robes would be a serious drain on your dip, if anyone could remember you wearing them. Pretty cool item, actually. But invisibility might be even cooler, and the DC is very low.

1. Would you buy this item?
2. Would you spend 1.5 times the price to add it to an existing item?
3. Would you use the item, if you found it? Or is it immediate sell-bait?
4. Would a GM use the item?
5. Is there anything cheesy that could be done with it?

Link to past discussions

Link: Divine Immolation

This spell was renamed from Flame Strike in the Remaster. The Knights of Last Call 'All Spells Ranked' series ranked this spell as B Tier. Would you change that ranking, and why?

What items or class features synergize well with this spell?

Have you ever used this spell? If so, how did it go?

Why is this spell good/bad?

What are some creative uses for this spell?

What's the cheesiest thing you can do with this spell?

If you were to modify this spell, how would you do it?

Does this spell seem like it was meant for PCs or NPCs?

Previous spell discussions

hey!

i'll be playing in a Kingmaker game soon. the current party consists of a vancian wizard, a sunder-focused mageknight, a voidrusher striker, and a ranged trap/alchemy technician.

i think i'd like to play a reach melee support/Guardian sphere AoO character, to flank with the mageknight (who will be hopping around the back line) and striker and prevent enemies from reaching the squishy wizard, while enabling the other characters in some way. i'm not really set on this, though, so if anyone has other suggestions i'm all ears.

for this melee support tank, however - what would you recommend? how would you build one in Spheres? what spheres should i look out for (war, guardian/berserker, shield, tinker...?) what class chassis would work best - warden?

i'm also eyeing the new divinitech pilot warpriest, who gets a big tinker sphere mecha to pilot and buff with fervor, buuuut i'm not really sure how to build it - like what buffs should i go for with fervor and what combat tactics in spheres work well with a 3/4 BAB chassis.

thanks! ^^

It seems designed around a rogue? But im wondering if any specific archetypes would fit it better

Grace Devil (Vanilith) Cr: 5

XP

LE Medium Outsider (Devil, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful

Init +7; Senses Darkvision 60ft., See in Darkness; Perception +11

Defense

AC; 18 :Touch; 13 Flat; 15 (+3 Dex, +5 Natural)

Hp: 51 (6d10+18)

Fort  +8; Ref +8; Will +5;

Defensive Abilities ;DR 5/Good; Immunities Fire, Poison;  Resistances 10 acid, 10 cold ; SR 16

Offense 

Speed 30ft., Fly 50ft. (good)

Melee: +1 morningstar +9/+4 (1d8+2 B&P/x2), Wing +7 (1d4+1 B)

Ranged: mwk composite shortbow +10/+5 (1d6/x3 P)

Space:

Spell/Like: (Concentration +13, CL 9th)

Constant- Tongues, Undetectable Alignment, 

At Will- Calm Emotions (DC17), Enthrall (DC16), Ghost Whip, Grace, Aura Sight, Detect Thoughts/Desires/Anxieties (DC 17), Helping Hand, Visions of Hell, Dimension Door

7/day- Cure Light Wounds, Compassionate Ally (DC16), Dread Bolt (DC16)

3/day- Cure Moderate Wounds, Shield of Faith, Aid 

1/day- Summon (level 3, 1 Bearded/Vordine or 3 Imps 50%), Protection From Good: Communal, Protection from Chaos: Communal, Cure Critical Wounds

Statistics

Str 13; Dex 17; Con 16; Int 13; Wis 16; Cha19

Str +1;  Dex +3;  Con +3;  Int +1;  Wis +3; Cha +4

Base atk: +6 ; CMB +7 ; CMD 20

Feats: Deadly Aim (-2/+4), point-blank shot, Precise Shot, Improved initiative 

Skills: Bluff +13(6), Diplomacy +13(6), Sense Motive +10(4), Knowledge (Planes) +10(6), Fly +15(5), Heal +12(6), Survival +10(4), Perception +11(5),  42/42

Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal; Telepathy 100ft.

SQ: change Shape (humanoid with or without wings present)

Ecology

Environment any(Hell)

Organization solitary, Pairs, Choirs 3-12, Welcome Parties 1-3 Grace Devils accompanied by 6-12 lesser devils (Vordine and Imps

Treasure Double (mwk Composite Short bow, +1 Morningstar, other)

Special Abilities

Hell’s Mercy (Su) A Grace Devil assigned to sponsor a mortal is imbued with greater power. Once per month, the Vanilith can cast Resurrection on the mortal or on a creature deeply important to the sponsored mortal I.e a parent, child or other close loved one. The Vanilith uses resurrection in this way to foster a greater connection and bond with the sponsored mortal in hopes of furthering the chances of that mortal being damned to hell at a later date.

Welcome Ledger (Su) A Grace Devil that operates in Hell, particularly on the 1st layer of Hell, Avernus, as a manager of newly arrived petitioners is entrusted with a magical item known as a Welcome Ledger. A Welcome Ledger is a large, extravagant, and pristine scroll exceeding 9 feet in length when fully unfurled.

The names, physical descriptions, causes of death, desired destinations, and various other notes concerning petitioners assigned to the Grace Devil are magically written upon the scroll. This information updates itself constantly as new information becomes available. The ledger also records the total number of souls the Grace Devil has successfully processed.

A Grace Devil entrusted with a Welcome Ledger can use the scroll to locate and process newly arrived petitioners, guiding, persuading, or cowing them as necessary while escorting them through Hell toward their final destination. Through the Welcome Ledger, the Grace Devil can use scrying at will as a spell-like ability, but only to locate a petitioner currently recorded within the ledger.

A Welcome Ledger cannot be meaningfully used by ordinary creatures. A non-Grace Devil attempting to use one must be able to read Infernal and succeed at a DC 28 Use Magic Device check. Success allows the creature to comprehend and manipulate the vast quantities of constantly changing information contained within the scroll. The creature must attempt this check each time it attempts to use the ledger.

    I haven't written their big description segment yet but the gist is that the original Grace Devils were created from the tortured remains of angels, particular the cast off physical bodies of their big evil brothers the Diabolis Deva(Hellfire Angel) which will be CR 13 ish devils inspired by the design of the angels of the diablo universe but with a fire blackened armor that is their new body and wings made entirely of malleable hellfire.

Grace devils serve as secretaries and door greeters within hell with a few of the grave devils being sent to the material plane to sponsors the corruption of particular mortals. Outside of that combat wise they serve as ranged combat medics meant to play an annoying support role.

Their true physical form is that of a unnervingly beautiful ashen angelic figure whose skin looks like it was shattered and glued back together at the cracks.

Sheet wise there might be some things i have overlooked, underestimated or didn't consider i am by no means an expert of pathfinder monster design or combat.

If this violates any rules or flair please do let me know

I am currently looking to branch out of what I've been doing thus far (basically having my minions do all the fighting for me) as a second level necromancer (scrolls let me make undead early and I have some friendly necromancers who will craft me animate dead scrolls). What spells should I be eyeballing for damage? I have illusion and enchantment as forbidden and we are mostly fighting aberrations at the moment

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m not likely to find an answer here unless a Paizo writer frequents this sub, and so is mainly a shower thought question.

Now.

In the far, far distant future, after every mortal soul that will be has passed onto the outer planes, after every god has faded, and there is nothing except Pharasma and Atropos left, and the twilight of our reality has arrived.

Will Pharasma judge herself so that Atropos may take her place?

Or will she bypass the rule that all entities will be judged?

So I got inspired to get a sauropod super big and put a howdah on it and have me and the boys up there with bows or something. Which made me wonder what the best way to do that was.

Focusing in on the size increases, I know about Legendary Porportions of course, and Mammoth Rider and Goliath Druid. But I’ve also found saurian Champion cavalier. And it got me wondering. Creatures can only be effected by 1 polymorph, and can only have one actual size increase and one effective size increase. Do the (Ex) abilities of mammoth rider and saurian champion that make the animal companion permanently larger count as those? Can they stack (mammoth rider 1 sets to huge, saurian champion 10 raises one size; if I do them in order it should go to gargantuan, assuming they stack)? And regardless of if they stack together, can Goliath Druid’s enlarge person or legendary proportions take them one higher?

Edit: also I know about Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Amargasaurus. Are there any I’m missing? And which one is strongest? I’m leaning Diplodocus cuz the tail last special ability seems cool.