Respec, tank choice, well balanced Party

[dmsephiroth]

Greetings,

1. where can i later respec my main character and my npc's as well? I only found it early at the 1. INN but then never again. (Act 2 now)

2. Is there a chance to respec the lvl 1 stuff of the npc's too or do i need a mod for that like in BG the shadow keeper?


And the more important question:

Im trying to figuring out a better party than in my 1. run (its so broken i wanna reroll).

3. Is the best tank in the game (not playing at challenge /unfair yet) Valerie or a single-class paladin or even a monk as MC ?

I watched a valerie guide with Tower shield specialist and (was for lvl 15 ) 6 in tower shield special, then 4 into stalward defender and again only in tower shield. It looks rly decent, but i have read in other guides and stuff that only a high AC is not suitable in the endgame bec. of rly evil enemies who can decrease your AC at all for some time.

4. So would be a monk with higher dodge (or so) and high AC even better as a tank?


And last question:

I want to have 1(or max. 2) tanks in my party. So this would be MC and (or) Valerie. If Val is the only tank, then my MC would be a dps. 3. Slot would be a wizard, 4. a pure dps like Aerie Barb, 5. a bard like Linzi for songs, spells and range and 6. a cleric for heals, buffs and some range dps.

5. Would you recommend such a party or would ya make it even more heavy-dps-wise or have another advise for me?

Im still learning so im open for every hint you can give.

Thank you in advance.

P.S: 6. If i let my barony run automaticly later, will i be punished for that decision early on? Like less material/gold or so ?

[dwarner]

Originally posted by Cartesii:

Thank you dear people.

But would be good to know which monk tank /build someone would say is good or even pure dps monk :))

I still cannot decide between MC = dps monk ( 1 class) / tank Monk(multi class) or Paladin Tank( 1 class).

Paladin is great but better two-handing. Pure Monk or Monk splash for Crane Wing on any class with an open hand (SS great) also works.

You’re better off understanding the concepts discussed here and trying things for yourself than having someone else do the work for you.

[EasternTime]

Originally posted by Cartesii:

Greetings,

1. where can i later respec my main character and my npc's as well? I only found it early at the 1. INN but then never again. (Act 2 now)

2. Is there a chance to respec the lvl 1 stuff of the npc's too or do i need a mod for that like in BG the shadow keeper?


And the more important question:

Im trying to figuring out a better party than in my 1. run (its so broken i wanna reroll).

3. Is the best tank in the game (not playing at challenge /unfair yet) Valerie or a single-class paladin or even a monk as MC ?

I watched a valerie guide with Tower shield specialist and (was for lvl 15 ) 6 in tower shield special, then 4 into stalward defender and again only in tower shield. It looks rly decent, but i have read in other guides and stuff that only a high AC is not suitable in the endgame bec. of rly evil enemies who can decrease your AC at all for some time.

4. So would be a monk with higher dodge (or so) and high AC even better as a tank?


And last question:

I want to have 1(or max. 2) tanks in my party. So this would be MC and (or) Valerie. If Val is the only tank, then my MC would be a dps. 3. Slot would be a wizard, 4. a pure dps like Aerie Barb, 5. a bard like Linzi for songs, spells and range and 6. a cleric for heals, buffs and some range dps.

5. Would you recommend such a party or would ya make it even more heavy-dps-wise or have another advise for me?

Im still learning so im open for every hint you can give.

Thank you in advance.

P.S: 6. If i let my barony run automaticly later, will i be punished for that decision early on? Like less material/gold or so ?

"Don't read thread, just reply" mode activated!
1. In Oleg's Inn, later in drinking establishment in your capital. Same character offers it.
2. You need a mod. It is called "Respecialization mod" and it is great. You can find it here.
https://www.nexusmods.com/pathfinderkingmaker/mods/7
Keep in mind it was created before official respec system and is standalone. You activate it from a menu, not a dialog.
3. Best tanks in game are crowd control spells and good positioning. Next are pets and summons. Next are well-armored guys with reach weapons and Combat Reflexes. And buff everything.
No, really. Every "crank this AC sky high" build is a waste because of one thing: if you don't deal damage, enemies will either change their targets, or ignore tank completely. It is less of an issue in the computer version, because AI is pretty stupid, but it still happens here.
Also, it is said that good offence is a best defence. It is partually true for Pathfinder. You wanna have some meat on your bones to not be taken down easily, but most of a time your focus is on either not recieving any damage at all (thanks to spells and abilities) or killing enemies before they can kill you.
4. Tank is the one who keeps aggro, but there are no aggro control abilities in the game. So best tank is actually just a best frontlaner, who can keep enemy busy while still remaining a treat. From this perspective figher-ish characters are better at tanking. Hovewer, monk can offer a lot of utility, in a form of knocking enemies down with tripping strikes and using spell-like abilities. In particular, I really love tanky sensei monk (can provide you with a build). Bardic performance, and mass-casting some really useful spells, including quite unique. I especially like his bonuses to movement speed, it makes clearing dungeons so much faster. But this is a matter of choice after all.
Also I really like the idea of polymorphing frontlaner, usually a druid. His shifts make him quite tanky, while helping him with damage, and on later levels you can cast Greater Polymorph on him. Once I built a melee sorcerer, who on later levels started to turn into a dragon and dealing just obscene amount of damage, but this is not the best choice for main campaign, more of a meme build.
5. It is viable. I had this compilation: falchion Valerie and a dog pet as a front lane, polymorph melee druid MC and enlarged Amiri as a second lane, melee cleric and smilodon pet as a flank cover, and ranger Ekun with arcane rogue as a back lane. Instead of druid would work a buff sorc or some kind of support or magus. Never felt like I need another tank. Hard difficulty.
6. I don't think so.

[EasternTime]

Here, have some nice builds for a monk, Notice that I cite them almost from my memory, so I can miss something, so use your brains.

Buff + Tank Sensei

Recommended race: Aasimar (Plumekith)
Alignment: Any lawful
Str 10-11, Int 14, try to keep Wis and Dex as high as possible, dump Cha.
Remember to rise Mobility to 3 asap.

1: Crane Style, Dodge
2:
3: Combat Expertise (may be swapped for something on medium difficuilties)
4: BARKSKIN! Use it, love it
5: Crane Wing, Leg Sweep
6: True Strike (for mass cast later on)
7: Consider Blind Fight, Outflank or Extra Performance
8: Restoration
9: Improved Initiative, Defensive Spin
10: Wholeness of Body
11: Wings
12: Diamond Body
13: Crane Riposte, Shattering Punch
14: Diamond Soul
15: Weapon Focus - Unarmed Strikes
Whatever later.

When you gain ability to give any of your abilities to an ally, and later all of allies, you become a true buff lord, because many of your buffs noone can grant so cheaply or easily. Early use weapons, but then switch to unarmed combat. You won't deal a lot of damage, but you will be the one tanky boi.

Scaled Fist Monk with dip
Race: Aasimar (Angelkin)
Alignment: Lawful good
Dex 14. Max Cha, then Str. Dump Int.

Remember to take Mobility to 3, max Use Magic Device or Persuasion.

M is for Monk, P is for Paladin

1 M: Dragon Style, Improved Initiative
2 M: Dodge
3 M: Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), Copper Dragon - Acid
4 M: BARKSKIN! Take it, love it
5 M: Outflank, Leg Sweep
6 M: Dragon Ferocity, Sudden Speed (may be switched for something)
7 M: Pummeling Style
8 M: Restoration
9 M: Pummeling Charge, Hammerblow
10 M: Trip, Wholeness of Body
11 M: Fury's Tall
12 P: Irori Deity
13 P: Wings
14 M:
15 M: Power Attack or Blind Fight, Shattering Punch
16 M: Combat Reflexes, Diamond Soul
17 M: Seize the Moment ?
Whatever after that.

This build isn't that tanky, but it have three major pros:
- It has damage, and boy it has;
- It has sky high saves thanks for a paladin dip. Hell, you may even want to take it as early as level 2 instead of waiting;
- It has sky high Charisma, which is useful for diplomacy for a main character. However, you may not have skill points for everything if you dump and intelligence.
I consider it a best combat oriented monk if you're ok with playing a LG character. It is not the very optimal build, especially since it has two styles, but it is good to play as you level up, on every level. No really bad levels, even in the late game, when monks tend to fall off. You may still find that without good class bonuses to hit, you miss a lot, but this is something you have to live with. Use weapons early and then switch to unarmed combat with a good Amulet of Mighty Fists.

[dmsephiroth]

@ dwarner i know what do you want to say.
But after 2 trys where i just failed so hard, i want to get some more informations before i make again any bad chars/builds ;).

Thanks everyone for your answers.

I will think bout my MC now, maybe pala or monk ofc.

Have a nice day/night.

[Mork]

Originally posted by Cartesii:

Thank you dear people.

But would be good to know which monk tank /build someone would say is good or even pure dps monk :))

I still cannot decide between MC = dps monk ( 1 class) / tank Monk(multi class) or Paladin Tank( 1 class).

I'm not a monk expert and they are lot trickier then heavy armor build. Here some examples i can think of.

20 monk, dex(defense) or str(dps)
4 rogue, 16 monk, full dex build for weapon finest training
1 scaled fist, 19 any charisma sorcerer type
1 traditional monk, 19 druid(not feyspeaker)
....

I don't build pure paladin as full tank but if i would i will probably go for a hospitaler dex build aasimar Musetouched using monk weapon, splashing 1 level of scaled fist monk and 3 level of rogue(maybe 4).

dodge, crane style + crane wing, aasimar wing and maybe 13 int for combat expertise.

[EasternTime]

Originally posted by Cartesii:

@ dwarner i know what do you want to say.
But after 2 trys where i just failed so hard, i want to get some more informations before i make again any bad chars/builds ;).

Thanks everyone for your answers.

I will think bout my MC now, maybe pala or monk ofc.

Have a nice day/night.

You're always welcome. Ask if you want to know.

Btw, I don't think you're right about aimal companions being a bad frontline. They were buffed compared to the tabletop. They can be buffed with both Mage Armor and Barkskin. In a late game they are tanky AF. And, more importantly, they are expendable. If they are killed, they just will return the next morning.

[dwarner]

Sorry to hear about your failure. What difficulty were you playing?

What level were you having trouble?

This will help you get off to a good start:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/640820/discussions/7/1630790506920383184/

I’d recommend having at least one pet in your group and a summoner until you get a good feel for the game.

[dmsephiroth]

I was playing on normal :< so i thought it was easy. I builded a paladin without having any idea and focussed stats on str con and charisma. I picked only def skills like more HP, some group-tanking stuff with valerie and i cannot remember what else. It did not work at all +grin+.

Level-wise uhm..i was somewhere in act 2 and i could only win any fights if i blow ALL of my healing spells..it was not much fun.

Will make a new round now and experimenting more with pala /monk.

[dwarner]

Originally posted by Cartesii:

I was playing on normal :< so i thought it was easy. I builded a paladin without having any idea and focussed stats on str con and charisma. I picked only def skills like more HP, some group-tanking stuff with valerie and i cannot remember what else. It did not work at all +grin+.

Level-wise uhm..i was somewhere in act 2 and i could only win any fights if i blow ALL of my healing spells..it was not much fun.

Will make a new round now and experimenting more with pala /monk.

Healing in combat is a losing proposition. You're better off disabling/eliminating the enemy.

Were you using Linzi's Songs?

Here's a good source of ideas for builds for companions, with good ideas you can use on your MC.

https://www.gog.com/forum/pathfinder_kingmaker/companion_builds/page1

[dmsephiroth]

Ya ofc i used her bard songs but my tanks were so squishy and dropped a lot. Thanks i alrdy found that :)

[Eclipse]

In my experience best tank is wizard/monk/paladin because of high AC,saves,mirror image and displacement.

[corisai]

Originally posted by dwarner:

More about making sure all your melee are tough:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1894073437

This isn't tanking, she have 35% chance to being hit without enemy being shaken (and I would don't even touch what will happen if she is flat-footed) and even 25% chance in your situation. It's just somewhat tough character, not a tank (as tank should be unhittable at least without crits).

Everything else is correct :)

P.S. Don't want to create a new theme so quick question - how this game react on Monk losing Lawful? What abilities are stay? I'd idea to finally try MH be tanky and not killer one, but want to get 1 dip into Monk early then go Chaotic. In table-top it should work AFAIK as it will only block my progression as Monk. And here?

[Tracer]

the game broken alittle

[dwarner]

Originally posted by corisai:

Originally posted by dwarner:

More about making sure all your melee are tough:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1894073437

This isn't tanking, she have 35% chance to being hit without enemy being shaken (and I would don't even touch what will happen if she is flat-footed) and even 25% chance in your situation. It's just somewhat tough character, not a tank (as tank should be unhittable at least without crits).

Everything else is correct :)

P.S. Don't want to create a new theme so quick question - how this game react on Monk losing Lawful? What abilities are stay? I'd idea to finally try MH be tanky and not killer one, but want to get 1 dip into Monk early then go Chaotic. In table-top it should work AFAIK as it will only block my progression as Monk. And here?

Yes, that was my point - I don’t tank, I disable and destroy.

Enemy is always Shaken, she’s a Bard. She has Mirror Image to eat the few hits that get through. He won’t live long enough to get another +30 attack.

The “tanking” in the label is only half serious. In reality with Image and Reduce Person she just finished Unfair Vordokai’s Tomb without taking a hit.

She doesn’t get flat-footed because she has high DEX + Improved Initiative + Lightning Duelist so usually goes first. In tough fights play pattern is to cast first round so she’s not targeted much anyway.

[Remove skull merchant]

What does the ring do exactly when Linzi is about to be killed ? Does it send her back to the capital ? Does it activate before or after Deaths'Door ?