Inquisitor monster tactician caster build possible?

[Hexton]

Would an inquisitor monster tactician caster build be possible? Possibly hybrid with Sorc with wisdom as main caster stat?

I like monster tactician but I would like to cast spells on enemies instead of using melee or range weapons.

Possible good build? I ask more experienced Pathfinder players.

[InEffect]

monster tactician is a solo class you don't want to mix. If you want a casting summoner go for herald caller or sylvan sorc.

[Hexton]

Ya I wanted the long casting times of monster tac. Would a caster build monster tac work if I pic say spec weather or fire? Is there a build that is Inquisitor Monster tactician caster?

[InEffect]

you won't get much out of multiclassing monster tactician. and inquisitors are mostly support casters and their spell list is neither offensive nor spectacular. closest thing to what you want would be some brand of sorc(probably sylvan due to free pet or arcane for DC stacking) with focus in conjuration and acid with all summoning feats taken as well. that'll work on challenging and below. summoning spells will last long enough past earlygame. you don't realistically need more than 10 rounds out of your summons anyway. they are there to eat up enemy alpha strikes and die instead of your party.

[Hexton]

Thanks, I'll check out the Herald

[Madscientist]

I was thinking about making my life as easy as possible and my result was this:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/640820/discussions/7/3362406825547670191/
(lv1 Mad Dog Barbarien, rest monster tactician) because I have a pet from the beginning and summons last minutes instead of rounds and they do not consume my normal spells.

Would a pure sylvan sorc be better?
In my first playthrough I had a tank and doing lots of damage early was the biggest problem.
So I thought somebody with lots of strengh, a large weapon and an army (pet plus summons) would have the easiest time.

[InEffect]

Originally posted by Madscientist:

I was thinking about making my life as easy as possible and my result was this:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/640820/discussions/7/3362406825547670191/
(lv1 Mad Dog Barbarien, rest monster tactician) because I have a pet from the beginning and summons last minutes instead of rounds and they do not consume my normal spells.

Would a pure sylvan sorc be better?
In my first playthrough I had a tank and doing lots of damage early was the biggest problem.
So I thought somebody with lots of strengh, a large weapon and an army (pet plus summons) would have the easiest time.

I'm not sure what barb level was for exactly. I guess you wanted a pet and didn't want to lose BAB, but slowing monster tactician progression is a bad idea. Sylvan sorc is good, but you gotta know what you are going for. 1st of all I'd abandon most DC spells in favor of rays+summons. maybe real late you would have some free talents to get acid focus and greater conjuration for fun, but not a priority. Summons would not last incredibly long, but it becomes tolerable soon enough and there are lesser extend rods from oleg to ease the process. You also get pet from the get go without hurting your spell progression. But you really have to have a grasp on such a caster role. he is light fire support with buffs and summons to cover flanks and some such. Your summons do not get incredible boosts enemies do so they will never do anything approximating good damage. The can be fat though. You should mostly treat summons as indirect heal spells and you will do fine.

upd. forgot to mention tht duration AOE control spell are still worth taking as with so many checks some enemies are bound to fail. Also don't forget to take waves of fatigue/exhaustion when you get to those as they are the best debuffing spells in the game due to the lack of save.

[Madscientist]

I took barb for a pet at lv1 and martial weapons. I also move faster.
Sorcs get new spell levels 1 level later than wizards so summon wise an inquisitor with 1 level of something else would have the same summons as a sorc plus they last longer.
The plan is to use summons to absorb the initial enemy attack and then me and my pet charge in for attacks.
Casters are fantastic in tough battles, but in most fights they just stand in the back row and shoot with their pathetic attacks. Sometimes you get flooded with enemies and then its better if your char is not a glass cannon.
Sorcs would have the advantage of high cha for persuation which is nice as baron/king, but you can´t be good at everything.

I want Octavia in my party, so I have a haste bot with very damaging spells and all rogue skills.

[InEffect]

Originally posted by Madscientist:

I took barb for a pet at lv1 and martial weapons. I also move faster.
Sorcs get new spell levels 1 level later than wizards so summon wise an inquisitor with 1 level of something else would have the same summons as a sorc plus they last longer.
The plan is to use summons to absorb the initial enemy attack and then me and my pet charge in for attacks.
Casters are fantastic in tough battles, but in most fights they just stand in the back row and shoot with their pathetic attacks. Sometimes you get flooded with enemies and then its better if your char is not a glass cannon.
Sorcs would have the advantage of high cha for persuation which is nice as baron/king, but you can´t be good at everything.

I want Octavia in my party, so I have a haste bot with very damaging spells and all rogue skills.

and why would you need martial weapons when you can get something like exotic weapon>fauchard instead? it saves you 1 lvl of progression for just 1 feat and gives a decent stick to whack enemies with. And if you don't plan on your summons to live long why do you care about monster tactician so much? sorc also can be competent fighter through dragonforms and transformation. with sense vitals and transform he sure won't be worse than inquisitor at hitting and damaging enemies with some pole weapon or even just any 2h with enlarge. and both would need a feat to go with it. My main gripe with casters is endgame where they can do jack all. So maybe there monster tactician would be a bit better due to innate abilities.

There is also a fact that most things that don't have AC 60-70 can not tank and being beefy helps little. AC40 and AC10 are effectively the same. You are gonna be killed in a few rounds if enemy can hit you regardless of HP and/or DR. The fact is if he is hit inquisitor will die faster than sorc will as the latter can quicken dimension door at the very least.

[Madscientist]

- I want to play on normal, I am not masochistic enough for higher difficulties.
Enemies already have inflated stats and I do not intend to inflate them even more.
In my first current playthrough I play on story mode to enjoy the game and see what awaits me.

- The game is great but it requires tons of meta gaming.
Unless you know what enemies you face and what abilities they use before entering the dungeon you are doomed. Especially when suddenly a large group of enemies spawns all around you.

- If I want to fight with weapons and a char does not have the profiency already I would always take martial profiency over exotic profiency X. With martial weapons you will always find something useful to equip. For exotic weapons you need to know exactly where to find which weapon and the stuff from artisans seems to be mostly random.

- The beginning is the hardest part of the game. Arcane casters are gods later, but they feel close to useless until you get lv3 spells. I wanted to have a char that makes early game as easy as possible.

[InEffect]

Originally posted by Madscientist:

- I want to play on normal, I am not masochistic enough for higher difficulties.
Enemies already have inflated stats and I do not intend to inflate them even more.
In my first current playthrough I play on story mode to enjoy the game and see what awaits me.

It's more of accumulating the knowledge. The game becomes too easy on challenging once you are comfortable with it.

Originally posted by Madscientist:

- The game is great but it requires tons of meta gaming.
Unless you know what enemies you face and what abilities they use before entering the dungeon you are doomed. Especially when suddenly a large group of enemies spawns all around you.

Part of the charm, I guess. On my 1st play-through(was on challenging) I just carried some scrolls for different occasions. Turned out I was right to do so.

Originally posted by Madscientist:

- If I want to fight with weapons and a char does not have the profiency already I would always take martial profiency over exotic profiency X. With martial weapons you will always find something useful to equip. For exotic weapons you need to know exactly where to find which weapon and the stuff from artisans seems to be mostly random.

you are guaranteed ok weapon from tournament that will carry you through normal. And PnP habit of not marrying a weapon till you get it serves here as well.

Originally posted by Madscientist:

- The beginning is the hardest part of the game. Arcane casters are gods later, but they feel close to useless until you get lv3 spells. I wanted to have a char that makes early game as easy as possible.

are you kidding? web and grease are the most op things in the early-game. And oleg conveniently sells lesser extend rods. Sylvan sorc gets a pet that is as competent(if not better) as an average fighter to boot. IDK what else you would want from a character.

[Hexton]

Sounds like Sylvan sorc is way to go. I'm currently 3rd level Sylvan sorc, So if summons are just meat shields, I see you mention acid spec alot why? Are there alot of conjuring acid spells?

What is I spec buffing pet only, and focus on my conjuring spells as you you say acid, and skip the summons spells besides my pet?

[InEffect]

Originally posted by Hexton:

Sounds like Sylvan sorc is way to go. I'm currently 3rd level Sylvan sorc, So if summons are just meat shields, I see you mention acid spec alot why? Are there alot of conjuring acid spells?

What is I spec buffing pet only, and focus on my conjuring spells as you you say acid, and skip the summons spells besides my pet?

pretty much all damaging conjuration spells are acid. They are half-decent, but not really plentiful. But I would just fget focus conjuration and go for summon feats. Also acid is the least resisted element in the game so that helps. What I would do is grab spell focus conjuration, grab 2 summoning talents, then go for point-blank+precise shot for your rays and then maybe go for DC talents for fun. Also it's a good idea to grab empower spell somewhere on the way as it's the lowest metamagic you can use on most anything. maximize is expensive and quicken is even more so - use rods instead for those. Also Acid aura robes are really early in the game.

[Madscientist]

Dumb question:
If I use grease and web, how do I prevent my own party members from being greased/webbed?
As caster I want as much DC as possible and early game ( e.g. before getting freedeom of movement) my party members will get hit as well. As sorc I will focus on buff/debuff/summon spells so somebody else have to do the damage.

[InEffect]

Originally posted by Madscientist:

Dumb question:
If I use grease and web, how do I prevent my own party members from being greased/webbed?
As caster I want as much DC as possible and early game ( e.g. before getting freedeom of movement) my party members will get hit as well. As sorc I will focus on buff/debuff/summon spells so somebody else have to do the damage.

You just wait for them to engage and drop in on the edge. that's the easiest way. Harder, but more efficient way is to drop the spell and hold position on the edge for whatever resists. especially at early levels the 1st option is better as you get more out of the spell. There is also a lazy way: learn featherstep on a bard/ranger and use that.

There are a few off-school offensive spells you want to pick up no matter what on any caster. like glitterdust, web, grease, waves of fatigue/exhaustion are all invaluable. You will also want some ray spells. scorching ray and hellfire blast are a must for any ray sorc. and while you are at it you want sense vitals for added damage so long as the target is flanked(engaged by 2 allies). For said ray spells you need true strike so you won't waste a high level spell for nothing.

[Madscientist]

Now I know why I never had a sorc (or bard) as main char.
They have only a limited spell selection that cannot be changed and you need to know excatly which spells are most useful for the entire game when you select them.
Which is hard if you have not already finished the game and you are not the ultimate PnP expert.

I had no problems with spontanious divine casters, my favourite char was a favoured soul in NWN2 http://nwn2db.com/build/?180624
I used them as buff/heal bot who fights with weapons. The number of useful spells is much smaller for divine casters, especially when you ignore all spells that target enemies (main stat is str, not wis) and focus on buffs.
There is no oracle in PK (I play without mods) so inquisitor is the best choice and I thought that at least 6 extra summons per day are better than judgements (self buff that last an entire fight but less uses per day)

I will continue my current game and If I should ever take a sorc I will ask which spells should be selected. The number of spells per spell level is really low (when you get to a new spell level you get only 1 spell) and scrolls use only the minimum possible caster level.