Spawn Slayer VS Demon Slayer?

[Ildafkam]

These two subclasses seem so similar. Could someone help me out in understanding the difference between them? And along the same theme could anyone share builds based on or the other (intended for MC)?

[GunStarX]

The main differences are

Ranger favored enemy vs slayer studied target

Ranger animal companion vs slayer sneak attacks

Ranger spell casting vs slayer talents

[Drake]

Other than the class differences, the archetypes abilities are also different. Demon slayer focuses on killing demons. While spawn slayer is focused on killing large creatures.

Those are both different types of targets.

[dataseer21]

I not sure if it is the best build. But I went for demon slayer with a focus on two weapons. The demon slayer ends up getting a +10 +10 for attack and damage. So I was hoping that would mitigate the low damage of light weapons. Got weapon finesse. High dex. Also I went high wisdom because I got the other thing other than a pet that gives your favored enemy to your allies for a number of rounds equal to your wisdom modifier(If pets weren't nerfed they are by far the stronger choice. I took the weaker on purpose.). There are a lot of daggers in the game and I ended up having like 9 or 10 attacks per round with a full action. Went demon slayer all the way. Got save feats for iron will and improved iron will. I remembered that in kingmaker if you didn't have good saves you just fail when it came to saves. Though I think that they might not be as important in this game. I didn't get weapon focus or a critical buff because I was unsure what weapons they would have in the game from my first blind playthrough. I went angel. They have and aura but I also remember they have something that gives your attacks an additional 2d6 holy damage or something like that.

I went through the first part of the game on normal. Then in chapter 4 and 5 I went mostly story because I wanted to rush through it. Still there are bosses that i faced on normal. I remember that by the time I got to deskari, or whatever his name was, I did like 300 or 500 damage in a turn or something like that when I was buffed. So I took him down in about 2 rounds on normal doing by far most of the damage in the party with my MC. I didn't have mercs and I just auto leveled my companions. Also I dealt with the last bossish on normal as well. I not sure if you get the bonus there. They were harder than deskari.

Something that I should say about demon slayer is that the first couple of chapters when you aren't even really facing against demons that much they struggle but then later they kill the strongest demons. You just need something that can tack on some damage to the barrage of attacks. I kind of cruised through a portion of the game where he was supposed to shine.

[igor140]

Well, considering that almost all of the large creatures in this game are demons, I can definitely see the overlap...

But yes, this is a prime example of two classes (ranger and slayer as a whole) that are basically interchangeable in a party. If you need a "full BAB flexibile general attacker", both of these classes are very good.

Now, the other practical difference (aside from what has been mentioned) is that rangers are more MAD than slayers, because they also need WIS.

It's really not by much, because:
a) you can get WIS boosting gear to reach the minimum for the spell slots
b) they're not full casters, so it doens't have to be that high anyway (16, iirc?)
c) their [worthwhile] spells are buffing spells, so you don't need to worry about overcoming enemy Spell Resistance, Saving Throws, or DC.

But still, needing that extra WIS to fully come online is a thing to consider. It may make a difference if you're multiclassing with (e.g.), a Sorcerer. I could also see a situation where having an otherwise WIS heavy party (a cleric, a druid, and a shaman walk into a bar...) means that you don't have a lot of WIS gear laying around. For this reason, I generally find slayers a bit easier to multiclass than rangers; slayers just need DEX or STR... and they're good to go.

From an RP perspective, rangers are supposed to be more "nature-y goodish guys" and slayers are supposed to range from "superbadman" to "sometimes a good cause needs a bad thing done". Those aren't hard limits the way Paladin and Druid are... but I think that's the intention

Also, for a game where (generally speaking) physical attacks are better than magic attacks, I find sneak attack better than a handful more buffing spells (assuming I've got buffs SOMEWHERE in the party, of course).

Even if your slayer himself dumps CHA, giving him Shatter Defenses while your paladin uses Dreadful Carnage is amazing.

Speaking of, I don't understand why people/ builds insist on having those two feats on the same characters... it makes more sense to me to break them up: Shatter Defenses on the characters who actually have sneak attack; Dreadful Carnage on the ones that actually have high CHA. It's like built-in team feats... but in AoE.

In my first (successful) playthrough, I multiclassed Arueshalae with Slayer... and it was just unfair to the enemies. Between her and the Chain Blast Kineticist, the rest of the party just kind of sat around.

[Drake]

The thing about demon slayers though is that while most giants are demons, not all demons are giants. So demonslayer will get the full potential 99% of the time while spawn slayer will not get its advantage against all those normal sized demons (and there are quite a few, especially all those nasty casters).

And a full 20 demonslayer will roll over the game just fine, the 14 Wis needed for spells is not an issue considering the buffs you get. And I'm not counting the pet.
A dual wielding enlarged demonslayer on an enlarged horse is just a wrecking ball.

[Ildafkam]

Thanks for all your answers - very helpful.

(Drake: would be great if you could share a dual wielding mounted demon slayer)

[Drake]

That's pretty much the same build as any mounted ranger. Demonslayer is not different to build from any ranger. It just has a fixed favored enemy.

[Ildafkam]

That begs the question: is anyone able to kindly provide me with a good mounted ranger build (ideally two builds: one ranged, one melee)