The Top 10 Special Team: Glass Walker

This is that time of the year and so I wanted to underline it in my own way. And what better way than present to you, dear readers, a team composed of my ten favorite builds in Pathfinder? They will be presented in order and an explanation of why will follow.

So, without further ado, let me present to you, the Ten Gentlemen, an adventuring party who are the highest graded member of the Gentlemen’s Club, the official and international Adventurer’s Guild in the World of Re’Ach besides the Guild’s mysterious headmistress.

But. Before we begin. Here’s a surprise six additional builds that are Honorable Mentions who didn’t quite make my top ten, but almost did, of which I will detail the reasons why in their descriptions. Enjoy!

Many builds and characters have almost gotten a spot on this list, some have received an Honorable Mention earlier. But only a select few are getting on this list.

Here are a short list of my criterias for these builds:

• Must be playable from level 1 all the way to 20 without being what amounts to a cripple for a few levels by jumping classes to get exactly what we need and suffering by being dead weight for the rest of the party.
• Builds must limit shenanigans and be both RAW and RAI as much as humanly possible. Some amount is tolerated, especially if said shenanigan doesn’t break the game or give you access to an ability that is okay ish at best.
• Must be strictly Paizo Official, no 3PP.
• Flavor is a must. These builds must be more than the sum total of their mechanics, they must tell a convincing story!
• These builds must, above everything else, be fun to play. Sure they must be at least somewhat powerful, but ultimately they must add to the table and to the enjoyment of both yourself, but also to the rest of the table.

Now that you know my criterias, let us no longer tarry and begin all the way down the top ten and climb our way up!

The Apatrid Knight

The assassin climbed his way up the rooftops, the guards were hot on his tail, but with their armors, they would not catch him he thought, confident in his escape. His smile disappeared as he noticed a cloaked figure, also clad in armor was waiting for him on the roof.

The helmet of the figure masked his face, but his drawn longsword clued the assassin that he was facing one of the knights of the Inheritor. Fighting would be suicide. He jumped across to another rooftop, using a rope to balance his way mid air. As he turned around to taunt the figure, a shiver ran up his spine. The figure was walking midair, as red ribbons seemed to appear to support her. Her voice suddenly rang from under the helmet.

-Assassin, it would be wise to surrender.

Yeah…probably, he thought, drawing his own blade.

I have always loved the idea of a vigilante knight, or a knight whose face is unknown to the public and only very few are privy as to their real identity. Knights have been a concept very close to my heart for a long, long time in general, and they still are! Which is why you will find at least one knight build on this list. A Knight that fights people from the shadows, and who is not afraid to hunt in those places where daggers in the back abound.

Race

Human

Class

Vigilante 6/Shadowdancer 4/Heritor Knight 10

Traits

Armor Expert is a necessity for this build. The second Trait is pretty much up to you.

Ability Scores

We need at a minimum a Dexterity of 13. Otherwise, we are focusing on Strength, Charisma and Constitution in that order.

15Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 13/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 14

20Point-Buy

Str 17/Dex 13/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 15

25Point-Buy

Str 18/Dex 13/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 15

Favored Class Bonus

Depends on your Constitution Score. If you have it fairly high, you can afford to put those in Skills. However, if your Constitution is under 14, then those go straight in HP.

Skills

So…yeah, we need Stealth. We also need to invest at least 2 ranks in Perform(Dance) and at least 5 ranks in Knowledge(Religion). Beyond that? Perception, Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Bluff, Disguise, Intimidation, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hands. What you would expect from a Vigilante really. You should also invest in Handle Animal starting when you first take levels in Heritor Knight, along with Ride.

Feats by Level

1-Dodge

Human Bonus-Mobility

3-Combat Reflexes

5-Weapon Focus(Longsword)

Bonus 6-Power Attack

7-Iron Will

9-Skill Focus(Knowledge-Religion)

11-Nature Soul

13-Animal Ally

15-Mounted Combat

Bonus 16-Vital Strike

Bonus 16-Improved Vital Strike

17-Spirited Charge

19-Trample

So, from the get go we can see the evolution of the Character through its feats and a story emerges.

You start as a skirmisher, agile combattant, despite going around in metal armor. But slowly, you start becoming more and more stalwart, with feats such as Weapon Focus and Iron Will.

Once you embrace your destiny as a Heritor Knight, you grab yourself an Animal Companion (go for a Horse) via Animal Ally and you get yourself some of the best mounted feats, such as Spirited Charge and Trample, emerging from your shadowy past into a glorious knight and herald of the Inheritor herself!

Social, Rogue and Vigilante Talents by Level

1-Renown

2-Armor Skin

3-Celebrity Discount

4-Rooftop Infiltrator

5-Celebrity Perks

6-Shield of Blades

9-Fast Stealth

Your Social Identity is that of a minor noblewoman of some renown, who likes to party, yet remains lawful and observant of the established social norms. You enjoy some Celebrity Perks when in that persona. And as a Vigilante, you can climb on walls, stealth around even with your armor on and you are capable of using your Power Attack to defend yourself, making you an opponent not to be underestimated.

Equipment

Get yourself your Longsword and the best medium armor you can afford. In the longer term buy yourself a Lance for once you get your Horse companion.

Final Thoughts on the Build

This build does a little bit of everything that I love. It’s a fairly mobile melee combattant, it has tons of skills, can take a few hits in melee just fine, can be both a great face and a great scout, it has a shadow companion that drains Strength, a horse companion that it can ride into battle, and can deal some decent damage too (until it gets Improved Vital Strike and Spirited Charge at which point it deals some surprisingly good damage.) Not only that, but the flavor of the build is downright amazing, and is just overall a very fun character to play with. As a final thing, this build works regardless of which type of Vigilante you choose, be it a Stalker or a Avenger so feel free to choose whichever. I personally prefer the Stalker but ultimately both work fine.

Level	Class	HD	Feat	Special
1	Vigilante	8+Con	Dodge, Mobility	Dual Identity, Seamless Guise, Vigilante Specialization(Avenger), Renown
2	Vigilante	1d8+Con	–	Armor Skin
3	Vigilante	1d8+Con	Combat Reflexes	Celebrity Discount, Unshakeable
4	Vigilante	1d8+Con	–	Rooftop Infiltrator
5	Vigilante	1d8+Con	Weapon Focus(Longsword)	Startling Appearance, Celebrity Perks
6	Vigilante	1d8+Con	Power Attack	Shield of Blades
7	Shadowdancer	1d8+Con	Iron Will	Hide in Plain Sight
8	Shadowdancer	1d8+Con	–	Evasion, Darkvision, Uncanny Dodge
9	Shadowdancer	1d8+Con	Skill Focus(Knowledge-Religion)	Fast Stealth, Shadow Illusion, Summon Shadow
10	Shadowdancer	1d8+Con	–	Shadow Call, Shadow Jump 40ft.
11	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Nature Soul	Skill and Heart as One, Saviour of the Swallowed
12	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	–	Heritor’s Honor, Witches’ Woe
13	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Animal Ally	Skyreaver
14	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	–	Wraithwall
15	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Mounted Combat	Mohrgbreaker
16	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike	Mighty Strike, Reforged Heart
17	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Spirited Charge	Image of Divinity
18	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	–	Redeemer of Undeath
19	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	Trample	Freed by Blood
20	Heritor Knight	1d10+Con	–	Sky Stride, Unveiling Mistress

The Putrid Lord

A disgusting stench arose from the half-orc as he rose his bloodied axe from the corpse it just carved through a moment ago. The smell was so pungent some of the hardened men at arm, who had seen the horrors of the battlefield, could not keep the content of their stomach. That’s when the half-orc transformed into a mass of crystal and the stench ceased. The mass of crystal began moving towards the soldiers, and as one came close to strike it with his sword, he suddenly got engulfed and turned into fine meat paste by a simple contact with the mass of living crystals.

And now for the complete opposite of our Apatrid Knight comes this absolutely unsubtle piece of smelly meat. This is my personal take on a somewhat infamous build in Pathfinder whose goal is to deal a ridiculous amount of damage with Vital Strike. Now, usually, the build multiclasses into Barbarian to be able to use Furious Finish and deals maximum damage and immediately becomes fatigued. I find that boring and predictable, and I wanted to do something else funny with this. So here we are. This build places 9th because it is my personal spin on a fairly well known build (The Conqueror Ooze) which is somewhat less shenanigany, doesn’t focus solely on its Carnivorous Crystal Wild Shape, but does a fair few different things too.

Race

Half-Orc, take the Sacred Tattoos Alternative Racial Feature.

Class

Cave Druid 10/Mammoth Rider 10

Traits

Take Fate’s Favored, and Tusked for a natural bite attack.

Ability Scores

We need a Wisdom of minimum 15 and a Constitution of minimum 15. Otherwise, Strength is our priority.

15Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 15/Int 10/Wis 15/Cha 7

20Point-Buy

Str 18/Dex 10/Con 15/Int 10/Wis 15/Cha 7

25Point-Buy

Str 18/Dex 10/Con 16/Int 9/Wis 16/Cha 7

Favored Class Bonus

If you struggle with skills, put those in there. Otherwise strictly going into HP as we will be in melee a lot.

Skills

You need Handle Animal and Ride at 9 each, and Survival at 5 all that by lvl 10. That should be fairly easily attainable. We also need Knowledge(Religion) at 3, but we won’t need it higher than that so feel free to switch to something else after that.

Feats by Level

1-Racial Heritage(Ogre)

3-Fiendish Obedience(Szuriel)

5-Damned Soldier

7-Corrupted Flesh

9-Power Attack

11-Vital Strike

Bonus 12-Lightning Reflexes

13-Improved Stench

15-Improved Vital Strike

Bonus 16-Great Fortitude

17-Ability Focus(Stench)

19-Greater Vital Strike

So, you are probably extremely confused by those feats so let me explain. Racial Heritage(which we can take as a Half-Orc as we are considered both orc and human for all purposes) and we choose Ogre (giant is a subtype in Pathfinder, and giants are humanoid.)

Which allows us to get Corrupted Flesh to get the Stench ability, which we can further increase via Improved Stench and Ability Focus to get its DC up in the lower stratosphere. Now, Corrupted Flesh doesn’t give us a duration for Stench so I would ask your GM. I personally would rule a duration of 1 Round/HD, but ultimately it will be up to your GM so if he rules heavily against it, just play something else.

Via Fiendish Obedience and Damned Soldier we eventually get Proficiency with every single weapon in the game. Hello Butchering Axe and Orc Hornbow, both thematically appropriate and both having a massive base damage. Just be sure to be Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil.

Finally, we get the Vital Strike line of feats which means ridiculously high damage with the right form.

Animal Companion

Just take an Yzobu and give it Improved Stench and Ability Focus so you get double stench action. Your Yzobu will become Huge Sized via Mammoth Rider and will be able to deal some crazy damage by itself. Give it (Improved) Vital Strike too to further push that damage up. Improved Natural Attack too while we are at it.

Equipment

Start the game with a Scythe, and as soon as you become proficient, switch to a Butchering Axe and pick an Orc Hornbow for ranged support. Get yourself a Dragonscale Armor asap to get the best armor you can get. Have it enchanted to Wild Shape with you.

Final Thoughts on the Build

So, all that looked nice and all, but what is all the point of this build? Well, we chose the Cave Druid archetype for a reason. So that we can wildshape into Oozes. Specifically, at lvl 10, into a Carnivorous Crystal. First, we cast Strong Jaw on our Tusks, then we wild shape into said Carnivorous Crystal. We then proceed to absolutely massacre everything with our Greater Vital Strike.

Essentially, casting Strong Jaw before turning into a Carnivorous Crystal makes its slam attack’s basic damage into 16d6.

Which means that with Greater Vital Strike we hit for 64d6+Strength+Power Attack per hit. Even if we are out of Wild Shape, we still have our Butchering Axe (12d6+Str+Power Attack) and our Hornbow(8d6+Str at ranged). If we have time to set up, Strong Jaw on our Yzobu means its gore will deal some 12d6+1 and ½ Str and Power Attack.

Everything combined, we reach an average dpr, between ourselves and our Yzobu, and assuming a starting Str of 20, of about 308 before magic items.

There is also something extremely satisfying in throwing 64d6 of damage attained without true shenanigans as the build is pretty straightforward in that regard.

Add to that double Stench at the beginning of battle, the ability to wield any weapon, the ability to cast up to 5th level druid spells and a very powerful animal companion, and we cannot say we aren’t golden. Now, builds that reach that amount of damage are usually labeled as a one-trick poney, but we are anything but between all these abilities really.

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Druid	8+Con	Racial Heritage(Ogre)	Nature Bond(Animal Companion-Yzobu), Cavesense, Orisons, Wild Empathy
2	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Tunnelrunner
3	Druid	1d8+Con	Fiendish Obedience(Szuriel)	Lightfoot
4	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Resist Subterranean Corruption
5	Druid	1d8+Con	Damned Soldier	–
6	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Wild Shape 1/Day
7	Druid	1d8+Con	Corrupted Flesh	–
8	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Wild Shape 2/Day
9	Druid	1d8+Con	Power Attack	Venom immunity
10	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Wild Shape 3/Day
11	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Vital Strike	Gigantic Steed(+2 Str, +2 Con), Steed, Wild Coercion
12	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Lightning Reflexes	Born Survivor, Colossus Hunter
13	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Improved Stench	Gigantic Steed (+4 Str), Rugged Steed +1, Rapid Straddle
14	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	–	Mistrust of Magic, Undaunted
15	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Improved Vital Strike	Gigantic Steed(+6 Str, +4 Con), Rugged Steed +2, Valiant Devotion
16	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Great Fortitude	Born Survivor, Hunter’s Instincts
17	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Ability Focus	Gigantic Steed(+8 Str), Rugged Steed +3, Steed’s Reach
18	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	–	Combined Might
19	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	Greater Vital Strike	Gigantic Steed (+10 Str, +6 Con), Pulverizing Assault, Rugged Steed +4
20	Mammoth Rider	1d12+Con	–	Mammoth Lord

The Vizier

The blast of colors sent the entire strike team into unconsciousness. No one had warned the mercenaries that the king’s vizier was a spellcaster. As the captain of the mercenaries drew his sword, the vizier smiled, and one of the iron golems, which was armed with a glaive, came to him and clad itself on the man as would an armor.

-Fine, I will deal with you personally, said the vizier in his calm tone, the entire courtroom silent. And yet, their stares at the captain did not burn like the stare of this golem-clad man, something in his stare was entrancing, burning, painful to bear even.

Now this build plays directly into my trickster side. Illusions and tricks up one’s sleeve are my bread and butter, and this build excels at both. It’s a build full of surprises which is why it ranks 8th on my favorite builds for Pathfinder. Let me show you why.

Race

Reptoid

Class

Fighter 1/Mesmerist 5/Oracle 1/Veiled Illusionist 10/Mesmerist +3

Traits

Reactionary is always nice and with our fairly low Dex, we’ll need it. The other one you may pick and choose whichever you feel like.

Ability Scores

This time it is fairly simple. Here’s your list of priorities:

Cha>Str>Con>Dex>Int>Wis

15Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 16

20Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 18

25Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 19

Favored Class Bonus

HP to be honest. Always useful.

Skills

We need 5 ranks in both Bluff and Disguise, and 2 ranks in Knowledge(Arcana), we otherwise want Stealth, Perception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Use Magic Devices, the whole package for a standard skill monkey specialized for being a face really.

Feats by Level

1-Improved Initiative

Bonus 1-Power Attack

3-Spell Focus(Illusions)

5-Greater Spell Focus(Illusions)

7-Craft Magic Weapons and Armors

9-Craft Constructs

11-Spell Focus(Enchantments)

13-Greater Spell Focus(Enchantments)

15-Spell Penetration

17-Greater Spell Penetration

19-Intense Pain

So, we start as a Fighter. The reason is simple: We don’t want to spend a feat to get Heavy Armor and Martial Weapons.

Plus it lets us grab Power Attack from the get go which is nice. We then hyper focus on Illusion and Enchantment spells via Spell Focus and Spell Penetration.

We also grab Craft Constructs as this is a special item that will help us later. We finish with good old Intense Pain for more Painful Stare effects from being a Mesmerist, which is always welcomed.

Oracle Mystery and Curse

We are taking the Heavens Mystery and the Powerless Prophecy Curse.

Mesmerist Tricks, Bold Stare and Revelations by Level

2-Trick (Fearsome Gaze)

3-Trick (False Flanker)

4-Bold Stare (Oscillation)

5-Trick (Linked Reaction)

7-Revelation (Awesome Display)

18-Trick (Reflection of Weakness)

19-Bold Stare (Disorientation)

20-Trick (Unwitting Messenger)

The tricks we can implant in people are really fun. We can link with another creature so that if either we or they can act in the surprise round, the other does too, we can create false flankers, create illusionary disguises that transform into monsters, and return ability damage to sender.

Our Bold Stares make the target of our Hypnotic Stare have a miss chance and an attack penalty on top of what it already does which is crazy good.

And our Awesome Display makes our Color Spray spell endure in the higher levels and stay extremely useful even in the later game.

Spells

Your big spell for the majority of your career is Color Spray, but the Mesmerist has several incredibly good spells on it’s list that you can pick and chose such as Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern, Hold Person, Ill Omen, 3rd Level Scrying you get the gist. Pick according to your Campaign.

Equipment

Pick a Glaive. Normally I would tell you to also pick a Spiked Gauntlet, but as a Reptoid, you have natural claws and bite attacks, so even if someone gets past your polearm you can still beat them up. Also, your Mesmerist spells(and your Oracle spells for that matter) aren’t affected by armor so pick the best armor you can. Aim to get a set full plate armor.

Eventually, build yourself Golems with the “Armor” Special Property so you can wear them as armor.

Final Thoughts on the Build

Assuming a Tome of Charisma +5, a Belt +6 all your Ability Score Bonuses in Charisma from leveling up and a starting Charisma of 20, you can render Unconscious via Color Spray creatures that have 17HD. That’s a lot and makes Color Spray reliable even in high levels.

And that is but one of your many, many tricks. More damage via your Painful Stare, implanted tricks, melee combat via your Golem Armor and Glaive, or you can have your golem go around and beat people up while you do something else entirely, buffs, debuffs(lots of debuffs).

And that’s on top of your many Illusions being able to fool even Supernatural Senses, and your many forms via Veiled Illusionist, making it exceedingly hard to pinpoint what you are at all, let alone what you can do.

And we aren’t even talking about being by default a fantastic face and a great skill monkey to top it all off. This build is the definition of Skill-Monkey and you always have just one more trick up your sleeve. I love, love this build, and the fact that it only scores eight place goes to show just how fun these builds are.

Level	Class	HD	Feat	Special Abilities
1	Fighter	10+Con	Improved Initiative, Power Attack	–
2	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	–	Consummate Liar, Hypnotic Stare, Knacks, Painful Stare, Fearsome Gaze
3	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	Spell Focus(Illusion)	Towering Ego, False Flanker
4	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	–	Touch Treatment(Minor), Bold Stare(Oscillation)
5	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	Greater Spell Focus(Illusion)	Linked Reaction
6	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	–	Manifold Tricks (2), Mental Potency
7	Oracle	1d8+Con	Craft Magic Weapons and Armors	Curse(Powerless Prophecy), Revelation(Awesome Display)
8	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	–	Veil Pool, Goddess’s Veil(Human)
9	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	Craft Constructs	Goddess’s Veil(Halfling),
10	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	–	Veil Pool(Auditory)
11	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	Spell Focus(Enchantment)	Goddess’s Veil(Elf)
12	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	–	Quick Veil(Move), Veil Pool(Tactile)
13	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	Greater Spell Focus(Enchantment)	Goddess’s Veil(Gnome)
14	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	–	Quick Veil(Swift)
15	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	Spell Penetration	Goddess’s Veil(Cyclop)
16	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	–	Veil Pool(Extraordinary Senses)
17	Veiled Illusionist	1d6+Con	Greater Spell Penetration	Goddess’s Veil(Naga), True Veil
18	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	–	Touch Treatment(Moderate), Reflection of Weakness
19	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	Intense Pain	Bold Stare(Disorientation)
20	Mesmerist	1d8+Con	–	Hypnotic Stare(-3), Unwitting Messenger

The Undefeated Duelist

Ten pretenders on the floor, and yet the old man hadn’t even drawn his sword yet. He stood calmly amongst the wave of aggressors, his hands crossed behind his back, staring all of them down.

-Don’t waste my time.

It was both a warning, and an invitation. Ten more bit the dust when one of the attackers finally made the old man move his feet from where they previously were planted as hard as would an oak tree.

A smirk appeared on the man’s face.

-Finally, someone worth using you my old friend, he said, drawing his blade. Now let us see if this one has the potential to learn and become a student of ours.

Our seventh place goes to the Undefeated Duelist build. I love this build. I love this build a lot because it does something that is very counterintuitive in most ttrpgs like D&D/Pathfinder who are somewhat combat focused. Which is fighting defensively. And still beating the everliving…err…you know, of your opponents.

Race

Human

Class

Swashbuckler 1/Monk(Master of Many Styles) 2/Swashbuckler 4/Aldori Swordlord 10/Monk +3

Traits

Sword Scion is a no-brainer for this build. Pick Reactionary for your other trait.

Ability Scores

So, this build is going to have a lower spread, as it is especially MAD(multiple attribute dependent), but honestly, high stats are not particularly needed with this build. You need at least a 13 in Str and Cha, and your highest stat is going to be Dex, but you also need Con, Wis and Cha, and you can’t really afford to drop Int too low either.

15Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 16/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 12/Cha 13

20Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 17/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 14/Cha 13

25Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 18/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 14/Cha 14

Favored Class Bonus

Hit Points will be at a premium as usual, but if you do find yourself short on skills, don’t hesitate.

Skills

So we want Acrobatics and Intimidation, no questions asked there. We also want at least 3 ranks in both Knowledge(Nobility) and in Sense Motive. Otherwise, it really is up to you. I like grabbing Stealth and Perception myself.

Feats by Level

1-Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Dueling Sword)

Human Bonus-Weapon Focus(Dueling Sword)

Special Swashbuckler 1-Count as having Weapon Finesse

Monk 2-Improved Unarmed Strike

Monk 2-Crane Style

Monk 2-Stunning Fist

3-Dazzling Display

Monk 3-Crane Wing

5-Quick Draw

Bonus 6-Power Attack

7-Crane Riposte

9-Combat Reflexes

Bonus 9-Aldori Dueling Mastery

11-Snake Style

13-Snake Sidewind

15-Snake Fang

17-Combat Expertise

19-Improved Trip

Bonus 20-Cornugon Smash

So, as a Master of Many Styles Monk, we can fuse two Styles together. As such, we will combine Crane Style with Snake Style. We will also need Combat Reflexes as we will be using Attacks of Opportunity a lot.

See, by combining these two while taking the Total Defense Action, our AC gets up in the higher stratosphere, and we can substitute it for a Sense Motive check to push it even higher. We also completely automatically nullify the first attack we receive each turn, and whenever an attack misses, we can make an Attack of Opportunity(even with Total Defense) and Two attacks of opportunity with our unarmed strike. So we can attack three times each time someone misses us. That piles up fast. Add to this Improved Trip, Aldori Dueling Mastery and late game Cornugon Smash and we are a terrifying force on the battlefield.

Equipment

An Aldori Dueling Sword, that you do get for free, an armor at first level that you are leaving behind immediately starting level 2. Now, if you want to make full use of your earlier Swashbuckler powers, get yourself a Rapier until lvl 8. By level 8 though you can drop it and fully commit to your Dueling Sword.

Final Thoughts on the Build

We are turning one of the worst mechanics of the game (Total Defense) into a powerful combat style, and we combine it with no small amount of Intimidation, and eventually Trip attacking too. The build is simple yet very effective at what it does. And even when you don’t take the Total Defense action and only fight defensively, all your stuff still works which means you can still do all your attacks which is ridiculously good. The style of the build combined with its surprising simplicity makes it steal the seventh place as it remains a flamboyant yet effective build that does have its place in pretty much any Campaign.

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Swashbuckler	10+Con	Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Dueling Sword), Weapon Focus(Dueling Sword)	Deeds, Panache, Swashbuckler’s Finesse
2	Monk	1d8+Con	Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Crane Style	Fuse Style, Unarmed Strike, AC Bonus
3	Monk	1d8+Con	Crane Wing, Dazzling Display	Evasion
4	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	–	Charmed Life 3/Day
5	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	Quick Draw	Deeds, Nimble +1
6	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	Power Attack	–
7	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	Crane Riposte	Swashbuckler Weapon Training +1
8	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Aldori Dueling Mastery	Deft Strike, Quick Draw
9	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Combat Reflexes	Display Weapon Prowess
10	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	–	Defensive Parry +1
11	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Snake Style	Adaptive Tactics 1
12	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	–	Shatter Confidence
13	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Snake Sidewind	Saving Slash
14	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	–	Defensive Parry +2, Dexterous Duelist
15	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Snake Fang	Adaptive Tactics 2
16	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	–	Greater Saving Slash
17	Aldori Swordlord	1d10+Con	Combat Expertise	Confounding Duelist
18	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	–	Charmed Life 4/Day
19	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	Improved Trip	Deeds, Nimble +2
20	Swashbuckler	1d10+Con	Cornugon Smash	–

The Mysterious Case of Miss C

As the pale young woman got out of the train, a simple luggage and a parasol in hands, she raised a hand to hide the sun from her eyes and take a look around. Finally seeing the controller, she walked up to him to inquire as to the object of her visit.

The old man, learning that she was to become the caretaker of the city’s notorious haunted house, urged her to reconsider.

-My young lady, no one ever entered this house without leaving half-dead, if alive at all, I beg of you to reconsider!

Her smile, unveiling fangs that were surprisingly proeminent, surprised the controller as she answered

-This is precisely why I am needed over there.

Final build before entering my top five builds, and if you’ve been reading all of them so far, you know that it is going to be very difficult to top the last four. And yet, there’s still this one, which isn’t even in the top five yet, and trust me they only keep getting better and better.

This build is actually a fun idea I have had in the past based on a multitude of classical female characters in fiction (Nanny McPhee, Mary Poppins, Mina Harkers being the most prominent ones, but also Miss C, Dorothy Gale and even Jo March amongst many others). It is sort of an ode to a character type from older fiction that seems to have disappeared from today’s movies, tv shows and books, which saddens me quite a lot, and this build is to honor them in my own way.

Race

Dhampyr (Sacred Ancestry).

Class

Occultist 20 (Extemporaneous Channeler)

Traits

Pragmatic Activator lets you key Use Magic Devices off Intelligence and we definitely want that. After that, it is up to you, but I would recommend good old Reactionary for a bump on your Initiative.

Ability Scores

Your main stat is Int, followed by Str. Here is how you should prioritize your stats:

Int>Str>Con>Dex>Wis>Cha

15Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 13/Int 16/Wis 10/Cha 10

20Point-Buy

Str 16/Dex 10/Con 13/Int 18/Wis 10/Cha 10

25Point-Buy

Str 18/Dex 10/Con 13/Int 18/Wis 10/Cha 10

Favored Class Bonus

As your main stat is Intelligence, you can afford to safely put these in Hit Points without looking back.

Skills

Linguistics, Use Magic Devices, Spellcraft, various Knowledges, Perception, Sleight of Hand are what we are looking at with this build.

Feats by Level

1-Skill Focus(Linguistics)

3-Orator

5-Shikigami Style

7-Shikigami Mimicry

9-Shikigami Manipulation

11-Natural Charmer

13-Catch Off-Guard

15-Dirty Fighting

17-Improved Disarm

19-Improved Steal

Simple, elegant, and surprisingly lacking in shenanigans. with our Shikigami Style we consider Improvised Weapons as three size category larger, on top of getting several fun bonuses with them.

Orator lets us roll Linguistics instead of our social skills, which combines with Natural Charmer to let us take 20 on those checks meaning downright massive numbers.

We finish this build by actually getting Catch Off-Guard as this makes fighting creatures using natural weapons and unarmed strikes only an actual breezer, and with Improved Steal and Improved Disarm we make sure our Catch Off-Guard is always on.

Implements by Level

1-Abjuration

1-Transmutation

2-Trappings of the Warrior

6-Necromancy

10-Enchantment

14-Illusion

18-Ferryman’s Slug Sacred Implement

Focus Powers

1-Planar Ward

3-Loci Sentry

5-Quickness

7-Mind Over Gravity

9-Telekinetic Mastery

11-Necromantic Servant

13-Psychic Curse

15-Shadow Beast

17-Mind Slumber

19-Obey

Abjuration and Transmutation are not only two excellent Schools for an Occultist to begin with, they also are the two schools prerequisites for Trappings of the Warrior which lets us get the equivalent of a full BAB. As we are a Dhampyr, Necromancy comes next for fairly obvious reasons, and both Enchantment and Illusion come naturally next. We finish with Ferryman’s slug sacred implement to further increase our social rolls and potentially Daze opponents in combat.

As for your Focus Powers, you can ward areas, fly(like Mary Poppins, yall), get Telekinetic Powers, Summon Illusionary Creatures, send creatures into slumber, and raise undead minions. Very vampire-like and very thematic.

Equipment

A Parasol and some nice clothes. Eventually try to get a magic parasol of flying or something >.>

I guess armor would be great too (let’s be honest here though, we’ll get Bracers of Armor for the aesthetic)

Final Thoughts on the Build

Your Parasol will hit for immense damage, will be considered enchanted for even more damage, and when you fight creatures not using a manufactured weapon, you consider them flat-footed. That is on top of your spells(which I leave up to you to pick and choose!), implements, your immense social bonuses and various other shenanigans you can pull from your Implements. This build is simply crazy fun to use and is surprisingly effective and versatile at what it does. The best part? No multiclassing, we achieve all of this as a monoclassed build!

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Occultist	8+Con	Skill Focus(Linguistics)	Improvisational Combattant, Fleeting Focus, Transformative Resonance, Knacks, Implements (Abjuration, Transmutation), Planar Ward
2	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement (Trappings of the Warrior), Magic Item Skill, Object Reading
3	Occultist	1d8+Con	Orator	Loci Sentry
4	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Withdraw Focus
5	Occultist	1d8+Con	Shikigami Style	Aura Sight, Quickness
6	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement(Necromancy)
7	Occultist	1d8+Con	Shikigami Mimicry	Mind Over Gravity
8	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Improvised Spell
9	Occultist	1d8+Con	Shikigami Manipulation	Telekinetic Mastery
10	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement(Enchantment)
11	Occultist	1d8+Con	Natural Charmer	Necromantic Servant
12	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	–
13	Occultist	1d8+Con	Catch Off-Guard	Psychic Curse
14	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement(Illusion)
15	Occultist	1d8+Con	Dirty Fighting	Shadow Beast
16	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	–
17	Occultist	1d8+Con	Improved Disarm	Mind Slumber
18	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement(Ferryman’s Slug Sacred Implement)
19	Occultist	1d8+Con	Improved Steal	Obey
20	Occultist	1d8+Con	–	Implement Mastery

The Wendigo Caller, Revisited

As the blizzard roared through the night outside the cave where the survivors took refuge they were desperately trying to warm themselves with the small campfire they had scrambled together. Two of them were missing limbs. One was in critical condition from that gigantic beast that had attacked them, and was unlikely to make it through the night. Four of them were missing. It was supposed to be a simple hunting expedition, why was it that they were the ones being hunted.

In the blizzard outside, a man was watching them, out of view, smiling, his teeth as sharp as any carnivore would be. It was time to summon the Wendigo once again to finish his prey.

We will be revisiting our Wendigo Caller Build, but this time, we will not be pulling any punches. Our Wendigo will be a terror to behold and our summoner will be as vicious a combattant as its beast he calls in a Blizzard to utterly destroy his quarry.

Race

Half-Elf

Class

Summoner (Blood Summoner/Wild Caller) 20//Druid Variant Multiclass

Traits

None

Ability Scores

As a Charisma-based caster, we want to focus on that stat primarily, followed by Constitution.

15Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 10/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 18

20Point-Buy

Str 14/Dex 10/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 18

25Point-Buy

Str 14/Dex 14/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 18

Favored Class Bonus

We are taking the Half-Elf’s Summoner variant Favored Class Bonus which will grant us +1/4th of an Evolution Point each level. Which means a full +5 Evolution Points by level 20 which is huge.

Skills

Use Magic Device is a good one.

Feats and Variant Multiclassing by Level

1-Extra Evolution

1-Druidic Code

Half-Elf Bonus-Skill Focus(Use Magic Devices)

3-Wild Empathy

5-Extra Evolution

7-Companion

9-Improved Initiative

11-Improved Companion

13-Extra Evolution

15-Wild Shape

17-Extra Evolution

19-Greater Wild Shape

20(Retrain Improved Initiative for Extra Evolution)

So, the feats (well, multiple instances of the same feat) are pretty much self-explanatory. +5 Evolution Points is +5 Evolution Points. We get a free Animal Companion(which at lvl 11 becomes fully leveled) and the Ability to Wild Shape.

That is insanely powerful. Oh, we also get Skill Focus on Use Magic Devices. Not bad, not bad at all in fact!

Animal Companion

Just pick a good old Tiger and let it pounce-grab-rake everything in sight. For its feats pick the usuals: Power Attack, Improved Natural Attack, the like.

Eidolon Evolutions by Level

Base Form: Biped

1-Bite, Improved Damage(Bite, Claws), Scent

3-Gore

5-Improved Natural Armor, Supernatural Flight

6-Reach

8-Large

9-Grab

10-Improved Damage(Gore)

13-Huge

14-Rend

15-Bite(+1 ½ Str to Damage)

16-Blindsense

17-Sickening

18-Ability Score Improvement +2 Str

19-Trip

20-Ability Score Improvement +2 Str

Eidolon Feats

Follow the same formula as Animal Companion: Power Attack, Improved Natural Attacks and the like.

Equipment

A Component Pouch.

Final Thoughts on the Build

So not only do we have a powerhouse of an Eidolon with 41 Evolution Points, which in itself is crazy, we can summon it from a wounded creature, offer it blood to give it bonuses on top of our spells, but once buffed we can Wild Shape to get into melee with our Wendigo and Tiger. Yeah, that gets ridiculous fast in terms of damage potential. And with two additional bodies on the board, that adds up fast in terms of action advantage, let alone the fact that both are extremely capable walls of damage by themselves.

And if your Eidolon is not up?

Summon Nature’s Ally…

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Summoner	8+Con	Extra Evolution, Skill Focus(Use Magic Devices)	Druidic Code, Cantrip, Eidolon, Life Link, Summon Nature’s Ally I
2	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Bond Senses
3	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Wild Empathy, Summon Nature’s Ally II
4	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Blood Offering
5	Summoner	1d8+Con	Extra Evolution	Summon Nature’s Ally III
6	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Maker’s Call
7	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Companion, Summon Nature’s Ally IV
8	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Blood Travel
9	Summoner	1d8+Con	Improved Initiative	Summon Nature’s Ally V
10	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Fiendish Calling, Aspect
11	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Improved Companion, Summon Nature’s Ally VI
12	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	–
13	Summoner	1d8+Con	Extra Evolution	Summon Nature’s Ally VII
14	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Life Bond
15	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Wild Shape, Summon Nature’s Ally VIII
16	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Blood Possession
17	Summoner	1d8+Con	Extra Evolution	Summon Nature’s Ally IX
18	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Greater Aspect
19	Summoner	1d8+Con	–	Greater Wild Shape, Gate
20	Summoner	1d8+Con	Retrained Improved Initiative for Extra Evolution	Twin Eidolon

The Wild Hunt

The hunter aimed his crossbow at the raptor across the small pond from where he was hiding. The dinosaur was unaware of his presence, and that beast had hunted the sheeps from the village’s farm once too many times. One bolt and it would be over.

That’s when the raptor raised its head and looked at him in the eyes.

And then he felt it. A warm breath on his neck. That’s when he realized the mistake he had made. Raptors hunt in packs.

I love wolves. I really, really do.

But darn it do I love dinosaurs tho. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by Jurassic Park, and even today, it remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I also loved The Land Before Time, and one of my main MtG decks is a Commander deck of Dinosaurs.

In short, I really, really love dinosaurs. I also love the idea of darker druids, the shadows in the woods, summoning beasts from the dark past to protect the sanctity of the land from civilization. This is how this build first came to life. Sort of a Necromancer Druid(yes) that is the leader of a pack of Allosaurus(I used raptors because Jurassic Park reference and before any of you make the comment, yes, I am aware that those aren’t actually Velociraptors, the technical term is Deinonychus. Raptor is in reference to the subfamily Velociraptorinae of which the Deinonychus is part of. You cannot out nerd me on dinosaur lore, I have had paleontologists telling me I knew more on dinosaurs than them, I am using the term for vulgarization. Thanks for your comprehension, moving on.) and raising undead fossils and even having a phantom Allosaurus as part of the pack.

So this build is for all you dinonerds like me. And yes, it somehow is only 4th place, which should tell you a lot about the top three builds.

Race

Human

Class

Totem Spiritualist 1/Dinosaur Druid 19

Traits

We want Silent Hunter to get Stealth as a class skill. The second one is up to you, although I do recommend Reactionary for more Initiative.

Ability Scores

We need Wisdom as high as we can. Otherwise we can pretty much focus on our physical abilities.

15Point-Buy

Str 12/Dex 11/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 18/Cha 10

20Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 11/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 19/Cha 10

25Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 12/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 20/Cha 10

Favored Class Bonus

If you feel like you really need the extra skill points then do so, but otherwise, you should put those in HP.

Skills

Stealth, Perception, Handle Animal and Survival are pretty much our go to, with Ride if we have extra points to spare.

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

Human Bonus-Improved Initiative

3-Shade of the Uskwood

5-Natural Spell

7-Craft Wondrous Items

9-Craft Weapons and Armor

11-Craft Construct

13-Power Attack

15-Mounted Combat

17-Spirited Charge

19-Trample

So, we start fairly hard to kill and with a good initiative, and as soon as we multiclass into Druid we pick Shade of the Uskwood which gives us some necromancy spells along with a few other very fun ones(Invisibility on a Druid can lead to some hilarious combos).

Natural Spell is the largest “duh” for any druid character, being able to cast spells while in Allosaurus form is kind of an obvious “yes, please, don’t mind if I do” kinda non-choice.

We eventually pick Craft Construct to build ourselves a Fossil Golem(yup, those are a thing) to add a gigantic skeletal dinosaur to our pack of (mostly ghostly) Allosaurus.

We round up the build with Mounted Combat feats that we can take advantage of while riding one of our Allosaurus when not in wild shape form.

Totem Spiritualist’s Phantoms

So, this Archetype gives us a sort of crossbreed between a Phantom and an Animal Companion, but remaining a Phantom for the specifics of the rules. It also gives us more Phantoms later on, and that ability specifically lets druid levels count as Spiritualist levels for the purpose of leveling our phantoms.

Which means that at lvl 20 we count as a full lvl 20 Totem Spiritualist, netting us four phantoms. Have a bunch of ghostly Allosaurus in your mind that you can conjure(one at a time) meaning a lot of outch power sitting nicely in the recesses of our character’s mind. As for their builds, follow the same metric we will use for our Druid Animal Companion.

Animal Companion

Pick an Allosaurus. Give it feats along the lines of Power Attack, Improved Natural Attack and the like.

Also, why Allosaurus? A few reasons.

1-Allosaurus is my favorite dinosaur. That alone is good enough for me.

2-Allosaurus gets Grab and Pounce. They get large and have a massive Strength Score. I will let you do the math yourselves where that leads.

Now apply all of this not only on your regular animal companion, but on each of your four phantom allosaurus.

See? See what I mean yet?

Equipment

Use a Longspear for reach and a Spiked Gauntlet for if someone gets close. Grab a Hide Armor, eventually the best armor you can get made of Dragon Scales as Druid doesn’t let us use metal armor. We will also invest a fair amount of gold in our Fossil Golem

Final Thoughts on the Build

So, we can shapeshift into a spellcasting Allosaurus, with four ghostly Allosaurus, a regular Allosaurus, A fossil golem allosaurus, and with Animate Dead we can get Bloody Skeleton or Fast Zombie Allosaurus. That is on top of our regular fact of being a full spellcaster.

We can stomp most encounters by ourselves starting as soon as level 2 and it keeps on getting more and more savage as we level up (try applying Strong Jaw on your Phantoms/Animal Companions for example).

We are a full Allosaurus pack and that alone should be terrifying by itself, let alone the undead/phantom nature of half said pack.

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Spiritualist	11+Con	Toughness, Improved Initiative	Phantom Animal, Shared Instincts, Knacks, Etheric Tether
2	Druid	1d8+Con	–	Summon Dinosaur, Dinosaur Bond, Nature Sense, Orisons, Wild Empathy
3	Druid	1d8+Con	Shade of the Uskwood	Woodland Stride
4	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	Trackless Step
5	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Natural Spell	Dinosaur Shape 1/Day, Primeval Voice
6	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	–
7	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Craft Wondrous Item	Wild Shape 2/Day
8	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	–
9	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Craft Magic Weapons and Armors	Wild Shape 3/Day
10	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	Venom Immunity
11	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Craft Constructs	Wild Shape 4/Day
12	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	–
13	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Power Attack	Wild Shape 5/Day
14	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	A Thousand Faces
15	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Mounted Combat	Wild Shape 6/Day
16	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	Timeless Body
17	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Spirited Charge	Wild Shape 7/Day
18	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	–
19	Druid	1d8+Con+1	Trample	Wild shape 8/Day
20	Druid	1d8+Con+1	–	–

The Iron Fox

The Ball Room fell suddenly silent as the herald announced the next guess coming to greet the King on his birthday.

-Her Arcane Excellency, Lady Vixen Vis’Arkhana, Duchess of Vis’Arkhana, the Iron Fox Archmage and Arcane Protector of our Kingdom.

Whispers rose as the kitsune woman walked into the room. The Vis’Arkhana has always produced the Archmage of the country for over five hundred years. Yet, Vixen was unlike all common ideas of an archmage. Covered in spiked full plate, her helmet in the shape of a fox, her nine tails, undeniable proof of her arcane mastery, were also covered in armored plates and at the tip of each, a vicious bladed hook was attached. Her gauntlets also ended in vicious claws, earning her the title of the Iron Fox Archmage.

So, this build is actually a mix of two builds I have played in the past independently from each other, but figured out were compatible stats wise. It is my personal take on the Iron Caster Build, adding a Kitsune to the mix and specializing on Natural Weapons for combat, utilizing the Magical Tails fact that we literally grow more tails to get more and more attacks.

Race

Kitsune with the Superior Shapeshifter Alternative Racial Feature.

Class

Fighter 6/Brawler 1/Fighter +9/Brawler +4

Traits

We need Nine-Tailed Scion which lets us substitute our Fighter’s Bonus feats for instances of the Magical Tail feat, we also want Dangerously Curious to grab Use Magic Devices as a Class Skill.

Ability Scores

So, we will need some Strength to be able to carry our Full Plate. Otherwise, we focus on Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma. For our leveling, round up Dex if it is odd, otherwise throw everything in Constitution and Charisma as these are your “Spellcasting” Abilities.

15Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 15/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 14

20Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 17/Con 13/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 15

25Point-Buy

Str 13/Dex 17/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 16

Favored Class Bonus

Yep. HP it is. You got me

Skills

Use Magic Devices is always great, otherwise, Perception and or Acrobatics.

Feats by Level

1-Human Guise

Kitsune Bonus-Fox Shape

Fighter Bonus 1-Weapon Finesse

Fighter Bonus 2-Piranha Strike

3-Racial Heritage(Ratfolk)

Fighter Bonus 4-Magical Tail

5-Multiattack

Fighter Bonus 6-Magical Tail

7-Advanced Weapon Training

Brawler Bonus 7-Improved Unarmed Strike

Fighter Bonus 9-Magical Tail

9-Magical Tail

11-Magical Tail

Fighter Bonus 11-Magical Tail

13-Magical Tail

Fighter Bonus 13-Magical Tail

15-Swift Kitsune Change

Fighter Bonus 15-Vulpine Pounce

17-Weapon Focus(Armor Spike)

Brawler Bonus 17-Dirty Fighting

19-Extra Martial Flexibility

Brawler Bonus 20-Improved Trip

So, Human Guise let us count as Human, which lets us get Racial Heritage to count as a Ratfolk so we can use Tailblades. Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike let us use dex to attack and add some fairly decent damage to our many natural attacks. We get all Magical Tail feats meaning some great spell-like abilities and more tailblades, Vulpine Charge lets us…well…Pounce in our Fox form and Advanced Weapon Training, combined with the Brawler’s Martial Flexibility, will let us grab whichever Item Mastery feat we need to cast Spell-Like Abilities.

Equipment

Armor Spikes count as manufactured weapons for iterative attacks, meaning we can add a full attack iteration on top of all our natural attacks(which each tailblade count as). Speaking of which, we want as many tailblade as we have tails. Add a Full Plate Armor to the mix and we are pretty much good to go. We definitely want to invest in Constitution and Charisma boosting items, and as we have Use Magic Devices, Wands, Staffs and Scrolls will add neatly to our Fakecasting.

Final Thoughts

We can easily pass off as a Spellcaster with all our Spell-Like Abilities that we get from our Item Mastery+Magical Tail feats. Plus we get a full attack action that does 4 attacks of Armor Spikes, one bite, two claws and nine tail attacks for a total of 16 attacks per round, meaning we are not only great with spellcasting, but we also are a terror in melee. The ability to do so based on Constitution and Charisma means we can also tank fairly well, and doubly so with our full plate, but also can support social fairly well although nowhere near as good as dedicated social characters.

I love this build so much because I always love tricksy characters and fakecasters are the epitome of that concept, and a fakecaster in full plate armor is just too much for me to pass on. Add on that the whole Kitsune passing off as a Human then turning into a nine bladed-tailed melee monster is just amazing to me. The fact that we don’t even really need weapons at all is just extra gravy on top of a build that already touches on so many aspects that I just love and here we are. Third favorite build in Pathfinder ever.

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Fighter	10+Con	Human Guise, Fox Shape, Weapon Finesse	–
2	Fighter	1d10+Con	Piranha Strike	Bravery +1
3	Fighter	1d10+Con	Racial Heritage	Armor Training 1
4	Fighter	1d10+Con	Magical Tail	–
5	Fighter	1d10+Con	Multiattack	Weapon Training 1
6	Fighter	1d10+Con	Magical Tail	Bravery +2
7	Brawler	1d10+Con	Advanced Weapon Training, Improved Unarmed Strike	Brawler’s Cunning, Martial Flexibility, Martial Training, Unarmed Strike
8	Fighter	1d10+Con	–	Armor Training 2
9	Fighter	1d10+Con	Magical Tail(2)	–
10	Fighter	1d10+Con	–	Weapon Training 2
11	Fighter	1d10+Con	Magical Tail(2)	Bravery +3
12	Fighter	1d10+Con	–	Armor Training 3
13	Fighter	1d10+Con	Magical Tail(2)	–
14	Fighter	1d10+Con	–	Weapon Training 3
15	Fighter	1d10+Con	Swift Kitsune Change, Vulpine Pounce	Bravery +4
16	Fighter	1d10+Con	–	Armor Training 4
17	Brawler	1d10+Con	Weapon Focus(Armor Spike), Dirty Fighting	Brawler’s Flurry
18	Brawler	1d10+Con	–	Maneuver Training 1
19	Brawler	1d10+Con	Extra Martial Flexibility	AC Bonus +1, Knockout 1/Day
20	Brawler	1d10+Con	Improved Trip	Brawler’s Strike(Magic), Close Weapon Mastery

The Witch Slayer

The Mayor was sitting in his chair, staring at the two captains of the gendarme guards sitting across his desk, slowly letting his cigar burn. For three weeks they have had a coven of witches raising the dead in the city’s graveyard and attacking civilians. And the Gendarme were completely incapable of dealing with the problem. But now, the two captains had come to him with a third person who was standing father away in his office, his back turned to them, looking at a portrait on a wall, judging by his look, a butler of some sort, though quite pale almost sickly so.

-So you are telling me that the person this gentleman is representing is an expert witch slayer or something?

The two captains looked at each other before one answered

-Lord Mayor, with all due respect, we did not asked for help, this man volunteered help and asked to meet with you.

The mayor let out a groan before barking in reply

-And who besides the clergy could deal with such a vast attack of undeads AND a trio of witch?

The man across the room turned around to face the mayor.

-I assure you Lord Mayor, my mistress is this land’s foremost expert in dealing both with Witches and with Necromancy in particular.

The mayor gave him a suspicious glare before asking

-Yeah? Do you have any proof.

The man smiled, before giving a reply that chilled both the captains and had the mayor drop his cigar as his mouth gaped.

-Of course, see, I am myself an undead of her creation. To combat a Necromancer, you need a better necromancer, and to defeat a witch, you need a stronger, more powerful witch…

The Witch class is by far my favorite in all of Pathfinder. There is something about the mythos of the Witch, it’s aesthetic that is both pleasant and attractive to me. Add to that Necromancy and you have what could normally only be my absolute favorite build of all time…normally.

Now, a small disclaimer, the original version of this build had some amount of GM fiat for homebrew, as I was allowed to take the Gravewalker Archetype on top of the Winter Witch one, and they normally do not cumulate. So this build is going to approximate the original build via an alternative method.

Race

Samsaran with the Mystic Past Life Alternate Racial Feature. We are of course grabbing Animate Dead, but we can also pick other fun necromancy spells missing from our regular spell list. The truly important one however is Animate Dead as it is a prerequisite for one of our Prestige Classes.

Class

Witch(Winter Witch/Hex Channeler) 5/Winter Witch 3/Agent of the Grave 5/Winter Witch +7

Traits

Magical Knack to regain the two missed Spellcaster Levels we lose from both our Prestige Classes. Reactionary because Initiative wins battles.

Ability Scores

As you probably imagined, we need Intelligence. Otherwise, we really only need Constitution and Charisma.

15Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 19/Wis 10/Cha 11

20Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 12

25Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 12/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 14

Favored Class Bonus

Hit. Points.

Skills

We want Spellcraft without question. We also want both Knowledge(Arcana and Religion) at 5 Rank each. Everything else is up to you.

Feats by Level

1-Extra Hex

3-Command Undead

5-Extra Hex

7-Accursed Hex

9-Extra Hex

11-Spell Focus(Necromancy)

13-Undead Master

15-Extra Hex

17-Extra Hex

19-Extra Hex

So, naturally we are taking Extra Hex a bunch of times to compensate for our loss from taking levels in Agent of the Grave. Undead Master lets us raise more undeads per casting of Animate Dead(RAW not more controlling, but frankly most GM will just assume this goes without saying).

Accursed Hex makes our hexes even meaner somehow.

Finally, we have a Channel Energy from Hex Channeler, meaning we can take Command Undead to get even more undeads under our control.

Hexes by Level

1-Slumber

1-Evil Eye

5-Cackle

6-Flight

8-Deathcall

9-Misfortune

15-Ice Tomb

15-Hoarfrost

17-Numbing Chill

17-Animal Skin

19-Restless Slumber

19-Harrowing Curse

Slumber is the king of all Hexes bar none. Literally everything else is extra gravy. We must take Ice Tomb, Hoarfrost and Numbing Chill due to the Winter Witch Prestige Class but they are fairly good hexes anyway and they are very thematic so no problem on that end. Get other debuffs such as Evil Eye and Misfortune which you can keep up via Cackle.

Equipment

Beyond some nice clothes and a Component Pouch? Nothing much here. Do invest in Onyxes as we will need many of those for Animate Dead. A few Portable Holes may not be that bad of an idea to carry your undead legions around in places it would offend the more sensitive folk. Invest especially in Necrocrafts for your undeads as these things are about as close to an Undead Eidolon(yes, as in the Summoner’s) as you can get and they are downright brutal if used correctly.

Final Thoughts on the Build

So not only do we get some massive amounts of Undeads under our control, we are easily amongst the undisputed masters of Necromancy in all its forms, we are the epitome of Witches as a Winter Witch, having some of the most nasty debuffs in the entire game that make even Wizards downright jealous, we can blast surprisingly well via our Cold Spells that bypass even Immunity, and as a prepared caster with an expanded spell list both from Agent of the Grave and from Samsaran’s Mystic Past Life, there is very little we can’t deal with, and what we can’t directly, sending our few Necrocrafts deal with them is usually going to be plenty enough.

This build is just so fun to play on so many levels and for so many reasons. It should be number 1. And yet…

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Witch	6+Con	Extra Hex	Familiar, Cantrips, Cold Flesh, Ice Magic, Slumber, Evil Eye, Patron
2	Witch	1d6+Con	–	Channel Energy 1d6
3	Witch	1d6+Con	Command Undead	–
4	Witch	1d6+Con	–	–
5	Witch	1d6+Con	Extra Hex	Cackle
6	Winter Witch	1d6+Con	–	Flight, Hyperboreal Patronage, Winter Witchcraft
7	Winter Witch	1d6+Con	Accursed Hex	Freeze and Thaw
8	Winter Witch	1d6+Con	–	Unnatural Cold, Deathcall
9	Agent of the Grave	1d8+Cha	Extra Hex	Misfortune, Inspired Necromancy, Lich’s Touch, Unholy Fortitude
10	Agent of the Grave	1d8+Cha	–	Undead Manipulator
11	Agent of the Grave	1d8+Cha	Spell Focus(Necromancy)	Negative Energy Conduit
12	Agent of the Grave	1d8+Cha	–	Death’s Shroud, Negative Energy Affinity
13	Agent of the Grave	1d8+Cha	Undead Master	Secrets of Death, Undeath Initiate
14	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	–	Sculpt Ice and Snow
15	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	Extra Hex	Winter Hex, Ice Tomb, Hoarfrost
16	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	–	Blizzard Sight
17	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	Extra Hex	Numbing Chill, Animal Skin
18	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	–	Unearthly Cold
19	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	Extra Hex	Restless Slumber, Harrowing Curse
20	Winter Witch	1d6+Cha	–	Iceglide, Inexorable Cold

The Hidden Priest

As the group of adventurer was fending off the evil lich’s mighty arcane assaults, the young woman, who everyone thought was a ranger, armed with a scimitar, revealed several secrets about herself.

One, by resurrecting several dead party members, and by unleashing a wave of positive energy that healed the entire party at once, revealed that she was in fact a priestess.

Second, by calling upon the wrath of the Sun itself, she smited several undead minions in a single spell, showing that she was not a small novice like the group previously thought.

But what truly shocked the party was when the Lich, fearing her divine magic, killed her with some necromantic spell of mythic proportions, a few seconds later, she rose back, alive, as a mythical phoenix, incinerating the Lich, it’s phylactery and all it’s army in a single swoop before disappearing.

Their surprise reached an apex however as when they arrived at the inn back in the small village she was there, waiting for them with a bunch of ales ready for the party and with a warm smile on her face.

This build is just so good. It hits every single sweet spot that I have, and then more on top of it. Primary Spellcaster, Animal Companion, turning into a friggin Phoenix. Faking your spells being not clerics. Being capable in combat. It just does it all.

Race

Human

Class

Hidden Priest Cardinal Cleric 5/Dissident of Dawn 10/Cleric +2/Cruorchemyst Alchemist 1/Cleric +2

Traits

We are taking the Faith Trait Birthmark so we don’t need to carry around a Holy Symbol and the Flame of the Dawnflower Religion Trait for a fun effect that deals fire damage when we crit with a Scimitar.

Ability Scores

We will want an 11 in Intelligence by level 18, but otherwise, it’s all Wisdom>Dex>Con>Cha more or less in that order.

15Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 14/Con 10/Int 10/Wis 18/Cha 10

20Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 10/Wis 19/Cha 10

25Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 11/Wis 20/Cha 10

Favored Class Bonus

Directly in HP. I know, crazy, we’ll need them.

Skills

We need Bluff 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Disguise 5 and Sleight of Hands 5. Outch. That’s a lot of skills for our puny 2+Int and we also want at least one of the following: Craft(Alchemy), Perform or Knowledge(Arcana). In fact, we need 2 in Perform(Dance) at least. That is harsh prerequisites. Or, it would be if we weren’t a Cardinal. 6+Int Skills baby, how about that! Did I bamboozled you? Don’t worry, this build got more up its sleeves.

Feats by Level

1-Weapon Finesse

Human Bonus-Nature Soul

3-Dervish Dance

5-Animal Ally

Dissident of Dawn Bonus-Eschew Materials

7-Boon Companion

9-Improved Initiative

11-Weapon Focus(Scimitar)

13-Selective Channel

15-Improved Critical(Scimitar)

17-Channel Smite

Alchemist Bonus 18-Throw Anything

19-Guided Hand

Animal Ally gives us an Animal Companion(I am going straight for that wolf puppo best puppo personally but you do you).

Dervish Dance lets us use Dex for Scimitar both for attack and damage, and later on Guided Hand lets us use Wisdom for Attack.

Improved Critical means we crit on a 15-20 which means more activations of Flame of the Dawnflower and Selective Channel lets us choose who our Channel Energy affects which is always nice.

Equipment

A Scimitar and a Chain Shirt. Pretty much everything else is extra gravy so have fun!

Final Thoughts on the Build

You can pass off your spellcasting as Alchemist Infusions, or Bard or even Wizard Spells which is hilarious, And when you die you can turn into a Phoenix for one minute, and then self-resurrect in a random direction within one mile of where you died which is hilarious.

We get full spellcasting with zero delay until we get our 9th level spells, at which point our Cruorchymist level kicks in, allowing us to essentially kill ourselves as an Immediate Action, letting us turn into our Phoenix form on command (and within its own limitations). And while our BAB slows down from being a Cardinal, we are a Cleric. Buffing is literally what we do best. Cast Divine Power on self and go to town if you need to melee(which you are surprisingly adept at).

Add to this a bunch of skills, and you’ve got a character that is quite capable in any situation, is tricksy, is fun to play from the get go all the way to level 20 with no dead levels, gets to both go into the fray of battle or stand back and buff/heal as necessary, can blast decently well, and with your animal companion can deal some surprisingly great damage and contributes to the party in a multitude of ways!

This is my absolute favorite build in Pathfinder that I have ever played and it would be extremely hard to dislodge it.

Level	Class	HD	Feats	Special Abilities
1	Cleric	8+Con	Weapon Finesse, Natural Soul	Political Skill, False Arcanist, Orisons, Domain, Channel Energy 1d6
2	Cleric	1d8+Con	–	–
3	Cleric	1d8+Con	Dervish Dance	Channel Energy 2d6
4	Cleric	1d8+Con	–	–
5	Cleric	1d8+Con	Animal Ally	Channel Energy 3d6
6	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Eschew Materials	Divine Deception
7	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Boon Companion	Secret Caster
8	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	–	Schismatic Apostle
9	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Improved Initiative	Burning Blade(Flaming)
10	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	–	–
11	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Weapon Focus(Scimitar)	Shift Blame
12	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	–	–
13	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Selective Channel	Burning Blade(Flaming Burst)
14	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	–	Morning Light
15	Dissident of Dawn	1d8+Con	Improved Critical(Scimitar)	Flight of the Phoenix
16	Cleric	1d8+Con	–	–
17	Cleric	1d8+Con	Channel Smite	Channel Energy 4d6
18	Alchemist	1d8+Con	Throw Anything	Blood Familiar, Blood Treatment, Alchemy, Bombs 1d6
19	Cleric	1d8+Con	Guided Hand	Unseen Devotion
20	Cleric	1d8+Con	–	Channel Energy 5d6