I see Slayer as a Ranger Rogue mix. I would suggest taking one of the Ranger fighting styles because theycget access to some abilities SUPER early compared to any other class. For example if you go archery as a slayer you can, at 6th level, get Improved Precise Shot while everyone else has to wait till they get a BAB of 11. Im playing a shield bash version of Slayer on a Pathfinder Tabletop game and it is sick cause i gwt a ton of feats earlier than anyone else
the ranger combat style picks become good because you don't need the other prerequisites for the skill for instance with slayer it become possible to make dex based dreadful carnage melee fighter (no need for power att, dazzling display or 15 str). NOT just important for role play purposes. the fact that you don't need to worry about other prerequisites with Kinetisist, monk, slayer (and others) means that all sorts of crazy builds become possible.
I think setting up a slayer as an archer is a waste. The Slayer will not have the AC of a sword and board fighter, but he doesn't need it, he will be putting out the kind of damage that a fighter can't match until very late in the build. I have played many slayers in regular pathfinder, generally leaning towards dex base with a 3 level dip into rogue and then two weapon fighting for crit city, but here you can do strength or dex. If strength go two handed weapon. Only real weakness is armor class and wisdom save. Go dex based, turn on mobility and you got a heavy hitter able to move past the front rank to destroy archers and casters in the real.
For a pure archer how does slayer compare to a fighter build? Does studied target add enough to give up the abundance of feats a Fighter/Vivi will have?
A Slayer can take a bonus combat feat every level thanks to Slayer Talents, so there is plenty of room for feats. The Fighter will fare better against hard targets thanks to Weapon Specialization, but the Slayer will have more damage output per round against most other enemy types thanks to sneak attack while also having the same base attack bonus as a Fighter.
I'm only at level 9 but so far I've found that 2h warrior crits deals near 100 damage but because of how a rogue sneak attack damage is calculated they only crit for around 40, do they get better with more sneak attack die later?
No but the extra 4 d6 that u can get on a level 9 whit a falchion whit all the meanesing feats and then start trickeling in cleave. In the endles dungun dls i have hade a charachtar like this do 70% of all the damege in a party whit arund 75 damege eavry hit. whit a crit most curupted eanamys die in one hit
I tried kitting Hedwirg with Slayer levels but quickly grew tired of the much slower feat progression - fighter is much better, even if the slayer slowly brings advanced two weapon fighting feats for free (no dex needed)
Playing the slayer as ranged is wrong actually. You can have a ranger or AT for that and they will be better. The main strength of the slayer if the ability to take combat styles without the stat requirements. For example a good build is STR based two weapon fighting.
You could argue the same for a Ranger with TWF and not requiring stats to use it, but the Slayer is much more flexible as a ranged character. The Ranger will deal higher damage to favored enemies with a bow, but the Slayer can consistently study target against any high value target for both quick takedowns and powerful sustained dps. Also unlike the Ranger, the Slayer can take Trapfinding, meaning you can use it in place of a Rogue and still have a Ranger on your frontline or wherever else in your "fighter slot." This is indispensable in BTSL especially.
I tried kitting Hedwirg with Slayer levels but quickly grew tired of the much slower feat progression - fighter is much better, even if the slayer slowly brings advanced two weapon fighting feats for free (no dex needed)
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Excellent overview! I'd love to see your overviews/breakdowns for the Inquisitor, Alchemist, Magus, and Kineticist. Keep up the quality content.
Especially magus
I see Slayer as a Ranger Rogue mix.
I would suggest taking one of the Ranger fighting styles because theycget access to some abilities SUPER early compared to any other class. For example if you go archery as a slayer you can, at 6th level, get Improved Precise Shot while everyone else has to wait till they get a BAB of 11.
Im playing a shield bash version of Slayer on a Pathfinder Tabletop game and it is sick cause i gwt a ton of feats earlier than anyone else
Also Rangers/Slayers are the only Two Weapon Builds that don't have to stack Dex to 19 to get all the Two Weapon feats
the ranger combat style picks become good because you don't need the other prerequisites for the skill for instance with slayer it become possible to make dex based dreadful carnage melee fighter (no need for power att, dazzling display or 15 str). NOT just important for role play purposes.
the fact that you don't need to worry about other prerequisites with Kinetisist, monk, slayer (and others) means that all sorts of crazy builds become possible.
I think setting up a slayer as an archer is a waste. The Slayer will not have the AC of a sword and board fighter, but he doesn't need it, he will be putting out the kind of damage that a fighter can't match until very late in the build. I have played many slayers in regular pathfinder, generally leaning towards dex base with a 3 level dip into rogue and then two weapon fighting for crit city, but here you can do strength or dex. If strength go two handed weapon. Only real weakness is armor class and wisdom save. Go dex based, turn on mobility and you got a heavy hitter able to move past the front rank to destroy archers and casters in the real.
I am making a slayer/magus(archer) combo my self because I thought it sounded fun to try.
Great stuff!
For a pure archer how does slayer compare to a fighter build? Does studied target add enough to give up the abundance of feats a Fighter/Vivi will have?
A Slayer can take a bonus combat feat every level thanks to Slayer Talents, so there is plenty of room for feats. The Fighter will fare better against hard targets thanks to Weapon Specialization, but the Slayer will have more damage output per round against most other enemy types thanks to sneak attack while also having the same base attack bonus as a Fighter.
I'm only at level 9 but so far I've found that 2h warrior crits deals near 100 damage but because of how a rogue sneak attack damage is calculated they only crit for around 40, do they get better with more sneak attack die later?
Studied Target damage crits so I have seen while sneak attacking that longbow crits are capable of 100+ damage, especially when using Manyshot.
Meneasing renger style and cleave crit builds can kill most encounters in 4 to 5 runds
Sneak attack damage isn't effected by a crit, just baseline weapon damage.
No but the extra 4 d6 that u can get on a level 9 whit a falchion whit all the meanesing feats and then start trickeling in cleave. In the endles dungun dls i have hade a charachtar like this do 70% of all the damege in a party whit arund 75 damege eavry hit. whit a crit most curupted eanamys die in one hit
so u have a normal strength build on a full bad character whit sneackatack to finish it of
I tried kitting Hedwirg with Slayer levels but quickly grew tired of the much slower feat progression - fighter is much better, even if the slayer slowly brings advanced two weapon fighting feats for free (no dex needed)
So Bronn from GoT would be a slayer in pathfinder (he's good with a bow too)?
My game freezes everytime I go shopping ☹
Playing the slayer as ranged is wrong actually. You can have a ranger or AT for that and they will be better. The main strength of the slayer if the ability to take combat styles without the stat requirements. For example a good build is STR based two weapon fighting.
You could argue the same for a Ranger with TWF and not requiring stats to use it, but the Slayer is much more flexible as a ranged character. The Ranger will deal higher damage to favored enemies with a bow, but the Slayer can consistently study target against any high value target for both quick takedowns and powerful sustained dps. Also unlike the Ranger, the Slayer can take Trapfinding, meaning you can use it in place of a Rogue and still have a Ranger on your frontline or wherever else in your "fighter slot." This is indispensable in BTSL especially.
I tried kitting Hedwirg with Slayer levels but quickly grew tired of the much slower feat progression - fighter is much better, even if the slayer slowly brings advanced two weapon fighting feats for free (no dex needed)