Crusader vs Sacred Hunt

[Destroyner]

I'm trying to run a cost/benefit analysis of each class since they can be built very similarly but I can't think of any way that a Sacred Hunt would compare to a crusader. I see SH recommended frequently so I must be wrong but I can't find a reason why. The comparison to me seems to be:

Crusader -
+ 5 additional feats
+ superior spell list and spell levels
+ channel energy
- additional mythic ability required for pet

SH -
+ up to +8 to attack and damage against favored enemy
+/- teamwork feats for free
- mediocre spell list and capped at 6
+ pet for free so extra mythic point

It seems like for both the core functionality would be to provide domains/divine utility to the team while being a decent mounted front liner. Could go ranged as well but I have a skald so ranged is sub-optimal. Is it just that DH is better from a purely martial perspective due to favored enemy while crusader is slightly behind on that but better at everything else?

[kodama]

SH:

- comes with Cunning Initiative at lvl 2 (adds WIS modifier on top of DEX modifier to Initiative rolls) - this is huge, especially when you consider that

- is spontaneous caster and therefore spells added by Domains are not restricted to Domain's spellslots (for example, Dimension Door from Travel Domain)

- doesn't have to worry about high level spells/progression/caster level that much, so gives you more multiclassing options

doesn't need Boon Companion feat

- at lvl 11 gets Stalwart Special Ability, which works great with Ring of Evasion and Robes of Fortification:

https://pathfinderwrathoftherighteous.wiki.fextralife.com/Stalwart

- Bane stacks with Aeon's

Crusader:

- can merge on Angel Path

[Destroyner]

This will be for a companion (respecced Lann) but most of what you said applies. The boosted initiative and spontaneous interaction with domain spells are pretty appealing. Based on this list it looks like you lean toward the SH, but if you were only going to have one character capable of casting divine spells in your party, would that change anything or would you still go SH?

[Yannir]

Bane Weapon adds a lot of extra damage even if you don't have them as MC to merge with Aeons Bane.

The spellcasting part largely doesn't matter. You're not going to be casting much in combat anyway. There are very few spells that are worth casting over getting a full round of melee attacks in if you aren't making a backline cleric that can pick up all the relevant metamagic and everything else that makes for a good caster. Just prebuff and charge.

Pick up Brew Potions and skill up Knowledge World on them or the Skald so you can make potions. Utilize those as healing. Also, you could pick up Healing Domain on them for better healing and to get all the healing spells as freebie spells.

Are you still picking up ZA level 3 on Lann? Because that's totally pointless if you're not using him ranged. Might as well go straight into the multiclass.

[LawfulEval]

On the hard/unfair difficulties going SH on Lann and getting lvl 3 for SH1+Boon+Leopard lets you get a tank right in the starting dungeon area. You can get lvl3 fast here if you use the Only active companions receive experience option in the difficulty settings up until you have a full party. Leopard tanks better than Seelah during the early/mid game.

[Destroyner]

For full context, my current party is level 15 and consists of: sword saint demon KC tank, sohei/paladin melee exploder, BFT (my synthesizer couldn't get enough DC on his fog to make it worth keeping him), enchant/illusion caster, skald, and lann. I have been running him as 3 zen archer/sanc slayer but his attack bonus is unable to keep up with enemy AC scaling so he has become dead weight for the party outside of domains. Due to this, I plan to fully respec him to a mounted melee SH or Crusader so he can benefit from the skald's AB buff and get the +4 flanking bonus from outflank to stop missing 95% of his attacks.

@Yannir
Does Bane weapon stack with crusader's edge?

I agree about the spellcasting and I mean it specifically for buffs and the restoration/rezz/heal(not for hp as much as affliction) spells. Getting access level 7-9 divine buffs as well as a way to remove negative afflictions is what I mean by spellcasting. Combat wise both classes would be using swift action domains and then fighting in melee.

Healing is very rarely an issue since my KC doesn't get hit and the sohei's horse is a sufficient off-tank. Plus the healing hat for the skald's song can bring the party up if we don't get deleted by AoE damage.

ZA is being dropped entirely as I don't know how to make ranged viable. Between skald and outflank he already has -10 to attack compared to the melee chars and since I still heavily use best jokes many enemies are prone for another -4.

So I guess the main question becomes whether or not the additional combat prowess of the SH is more beneficial to the team than the higher level divine buffs and restoration spells.

[LawfulEval]

well if the only option is to keep Lann in a melee focus party with prones and using skald buff over bard buff and not having a big divine caster for other high end buffs you will most likely benefit more from gaining a cleric buff list. The rest of your team just isn't set up to allow a bow user it seems and Crusader Lann can just bring more support to keep the melees rolling.

[revan1229]

Ranged can be trickier to get up and running compared to melee; doubly so if he's also handling divine spell duties. I recommend just running him as a Cleric for that party. That being said, for a pure Cleric, I would use Sosiel over Lann.

[Yannir]

Yes, Bane stacks with Crusader's Edge. Or atleast it should. Regardless, Inquisitor gains an Improved version of Bane at 12th level which makes it superior to Crusader's Edge aside from the conditions CE inflicts.

You might want to also consider that SH gets the pet per his class and doesn't need to pick up an additional Domain to gain it, unlike the Cleric, while also not needing Boon Companion to upgrade the pet to your level.

Guess I kinda forgot the main point about full Divine casters.. Level 7 to 9 spells don't really offer anything to someone that just wants to buff up and charge. An Arcane Caster gains most of the same buffs to share, and you already get the best buffer with your BFT. You're probably already running the permanent Holy Aura, which is the only type of Cleric unique buff I can think of past spell level 6.

As a total sidetrack, you might want to consider making him a Warpriest rather than either SH or Cleric if you're going melee. Warpriest is far superior to Cleric when it comes to melee since they gain extra feats every 3 levels, get a free weapon focus on lvl 1 and they have access to some Fighter feats that can improve their hit chance and damage. Their abilities make them more suited to melee compared to Inquisitors as well.

The game doesn't tell you about some of the stronger points about running a Warpriest until you actually play one, like being able to cast spells on yourself as Swift actions or the afore-mentioned Fighter feat access. No Domains though in this case. They gain Blessings, which are similar to Domains in some ways but not quite as good IMO.

There's no proper list of WotR Blessings available anywhere online outside the game but AFAICT they're implemented ingame exactly as they are in TT so you can just check Paizos list of them. Something to consider.

[Destroyner]

Interesting points. Especially about the level 7-9 buff list. I'll have look up the specific differences between cleric/BFT buffs at those levels to see if I'm making much ado about nothing.

@revan1229
I would agree with you about Sosiel if I wasn't using mods for respec. I'm not really playing any of the companions as their base class and essentially using them as mercs, I just wanted to keep the party banter.

I was curious about warpriest so I'll look into that as well. My main concern would be losing the domain buffs but depending on what blessings do it could be a viable alternative. Thanks guys.

Unfortunately I've also started BG3 so I'll probably be taking a break from WotR for the next few weeks until I burn myself out. Luckily 5e doesn't offer that much build flexibility so I doubt it will take long.