Top 5 BEGINNER Tips for COMBAT in Pathfinder 2e!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ค. 2024
- Combat in Pathfinder 2e is a deep, strategic puzzle that requires working together to solve. It can be a large hurdle for new players to grasp, so let's talk about 5 tips to help you get a handle on the combat of Pathfinder Second Edition!
Biggest Differences between D&D and Pathfinder: • 5 MAJOR Differences Be...
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Got my first Pathfinder 2e game session in an hour and a half! So excited!
Tell us how was your first impression of the game later
Enjoy, mate! I still remember my first game of 2e, got me hooked so bad I went on to DM the next campaign for the next 6 months
yus
Have fun!!! Tell us how it goes.
have fun, and dont beat yourself too much its ok to make a pause to check for a ruling
See this, this is the kind of content pf2e needs more of. Actual game play tips, tricks, combos to aim for (not necessarily even feat combos, just gameplay combos).
Less reading rules, more actual advice.
For a primer on combat, check out Knights of Last Call. They have a series on combat tips that is very good imo
TOTALLY agree with you!
14:30 Also! Since the wizard is using Electric arc, he's unaffected by the unlucky aura even if he fails, because it's the targe that needs to roll, and the wizard doesn't do any roll to check the effectiveness of the spell!
One other tip to go with #5: diversify yourself a little bit. Especially early on, since you won't need runes yet, grab a backup weapon or two to account for range or multiple damage types: damage reduction is pretty common. Anyone can also use shields, as a good fallback if attacking is suboptimal. And just cause someone's playing a cleric doesn't mean you can't take battle medicine yourself (and you probably will cause everyone takes it).
It sucks to be in a matchup where you basically have no tools that work in a situation, but oftentimes that's more of an equipment issue than a class feature issue.
You dont need a caster healer. Medicine and battle Medicine are often good choices
And combined with the Medic Dedication, even clerics can gain a huge boost in their abilities.
Alchemists can be good healers, especially chiurgeons.
True, but you do want a certain amount of (scaling) ways to heal in a optimal party composition. Spreading out characters who can heal is important.
My preferred choice is getting Psychic + Champion archetypes (free archetype + class feats) on characters who have their hands full and cannot effectively use Battle Medicine. For example a Fighter with a polearm.
If a character has a free hand getting Battle Medicine and investing into Medicine is a must in my opinion. I would say you want at least one person in a party with a free hand to be able to use Battle Medicine effectively.
You may not strictly need it, but having both caster and non-caster healers covers a lot of bases.
@@saprone8885 It really has the same action economy of takinga potion out to heal someone most of the time So I really dont see any negatives to it especially because all it takes is to be trained in medicine.
It's so nice to finally have you back to making Pathfinder 2e content. Hope you'll also get into Starfinder 2e.
Regarding Tip #2:
A Gold Dragon is a really bad example for this, since Dragons are usually nigh overtuned for their level and don't really represent an "on-level" encounter well.
Furthermore, at later levels, Saving Throws overtake AC in importance. There are 2 aspects to this, one is that healing is easier to access (as discussed in point 3), the other is that some unique abilites and spells have nasty fail and critical fail effects. In a recent one-shot, our Kineticist critically failed against slow. This means only 1 Action FOR 1 MINUTE, luckily we had a way to remove the Slowed condition. AC is great, but don't forget your saves.
Yeah ngl dragons are just allowed to count as 1 level lower than they really are idk why paizo did this
At high level, i realized that DC are very high because there is a lot of Success=crit success.
@@Ghostdesuu It's like Fireball logic in 5e, where a 4th level spell gets to masquerade as a 3rd level spell because "it's iconic".
I came just to say I'm happy you're back. I hope you're happy and healthy.
Be well,
V
Literally Paints a picture for us. *Chef kiss*
He’s back baby!!!!
A small note on healing in pf2 that you briefly touched on here. In d&d 5e, healing is intentionally designed to not keep up with damage, meaning that you might as well wait for someone to drop before healing them, creating 5e’s yo-yoing problem. In pf2, heal a party member when they’re at around half, or have just taken a hefty hit or two. A proper healer should be able to put an injured ally to full from half health or less.
Also HEAL BETWEEN FIGHTS IF YOU CAN. The treat wounds activity is the difference between life and death. Pf2 assumes you take all fights at full, or at least close to full hp. The amount of player deaths I’ve seen from players saying, “nah, Im good enough, lets just keep going” in situations without time pressure, then dying to an unlucky encounter is astounding to me. We lost 3 characters in the first two books of abomination vaults to this.
If you want to play a healer...playing a secular healer is actually really fun! In one campaign I have the medic dedication, godless healing, mortal healing, and any other healing feat I can get my hands on. (My character is Garundi and her story allows her to take the rare healing feats too.) My battle medicine rivals the casters' spells, as long as the cleric remembers to let me do the healing before them! And there's some interesting decisions I can make around the DC I am shooting for.
It sure seems to be! In my current Agents of Edgewatch campaign we have an Investigator with the Medic Archetype who fulfills that role, and he's helped a lot so far!
We had a Field Medic Alchemist in one campaign. Great fun
The dragon going ham got a genuine chuckle
My wrestler monk kobold LIVES for rule 5. Wizard cast high level enlarge and I crit grappled the fire giant. The giant kin barbarian came and explained the error of his ways
More videos like this, man. They're way more dynamic and let your personality shine WAY more than the guides. Keep doing the guides too (if you want too, of course), like I said on the last one they are genuinely useful to many, but THIS is the content I'm here for.
Thank you for this and all the beginner videos, it is very much appreciated. I am about to start Kingmaker with 3 players who are jumping over from D&D 5e. I have sent them your videos and about to send them this one. Again, thanks!!!
Healing: kind of advanced tip, but maybe for a dm to give the archetype Blessed One. Lay on hands is a very powerful heal option especially out of combat
Good to have you back! I recently started GMing PF2e and really loved your original PF videos. This is a great video that I can send to my players.
Thanks!
Love the content! Glad to see you're back to it! Hoping to see 5 tips for downtime or outside combat encounters next. These types of videos always help me brainstorm new ideas or spark creativity during my group's sessions!
Welcome back to the platform Nonat! It's great to have you back! Our party will be moving into a combat heavy session this week so this will be a good reminder for the. We are also preparing new characters to start Abomination Vaults in the next couple weeks. I'm sending this vid along to help them build their characters with combat in mind. Thanks!
OMG OMG OMG OMG! New NoNat PF2e content!!!!!!
Hey Nonat1s, glad to have you back. Thanks for everything. Hope you're doing well.
So happy you have returned! Great stuff.
A note on healing: Medic Dedication is actually really strong. I also went Godless/Mortal Healing on one character and that was a great non-magical healer. The big part is that with Medic Dedication is that once you get Master proficiency in medicine once per hour you can ignore the immunity to Battle Medicine which lets you just roam the battlefield handing out some timely healing. Heal potions will be necessary, but yeah! Was a fun character.
My current P2 is in Eberron. Very high magic world. I ruled that because magic is so pervasive on the world, anyone can use scrolls and wands caster or not. Is it OP? yup, is everything in eberron? yup
These tips are actually good advice, good job! It sounds like you learned quite a bit throughout the years. This is great content, keep it up!
Great to have you back, man.
This was very helpful. If we get to 2E, I'm going to point my party at this one. Well done.
My party I'm GMing for has a Spinner of Threads Witch. That Familiar of Balanced Luck feature has caused several crits already and we're not even out of the Beginner Box.
Great to have you back now, we just started today to play pathfinder, I'm dming but still a ways to go and was pondering about demoralize too
Fantastic tips. Really good to hear people talk about this stuff.
As a 5e convert your videos have been crucial in developing my understanding the system. Thank you for each and every one.
I like how gunslinger still flies under NoNat's radar whenever crits comes up because of his pure disdain for the fighter.
can confirm, Slinger is crit nasty. Stab and Blast is such a great feat. Hitting a lucky crit on the melee and then getting the crit on the firearm feels so good.
Welcome back!! Awesome tips!!
Great video! I haven't played a lot of PF2E (yet), but I never realized how much impact subtle changes to AC actually have
Hey bud, glad to see you back at it! I understand taking a break due to life stuff, plus it's good to take breaks else we burn out eh? Keep up the good work.
Great stuff! Pathfinder 2E is SUCH a different beast from D&D and even Pathfinder 1E. It took us many sessions to really dial in and understand how the game expects you to play and engage with the rules.
I unironically love the MS Paint animated Dragon. That's some classic 2009 youtube energy there.
Good stuff, man. Glad to have you back.
Welcome back, your content has been super helpful.
I am really glad to see you have recovered your excitement about Pathfinder and the channel. Hope to see you post again soon!
I play a Gunslinger Pistolero. I am a 2-trick pony: I have a + 19 to hit at level 8 with both my guns with my Paired shots feature, and I am a scary mo-fo with my + 19 to Demoralize every time I reload.
My party is constantly benefiting from getting -1 and -2 to enemies. And thanks to one of my Feats, enemies that crit fail the save will straight up run away in fear.
Do not knock skill actions, they can very quickly turn the tide in any fight~
Great video and great to see you making Pathfinder 2E content again.
City of Heroes is great, but Pathfinder content is better!
Glad to see you back NoNats, hope you're feeling better ❤
We just switched to pathfinder from DnD 5e. Your my ttrpg Jesus at the moment. Real life always comes first, we can always roll for initiative when you finish.
Regarding tips 4 and 5... this runs into an issue of human psychology, where intellectually someone may understand that they are less useful in a given encounter, or that using less flashy support abilities will help their team, but emotionally it still doesn't feel good, especially if a player finds themselves *repeatedly* in the "well this is a fight where I'm less useful than every other team member" due to how DM's are setting encounters up. Enemy or encounter designs that have such spiky design aren't deal-breakers in a vacuum, but you yourself point out that nothing occurs in one, and such powerful mob tools require a deft hand to use correctly.
there's a reason he talked about a dedicated healer often feeling unfulfilling to a lot of people earlier in the video, thankless jobs are still thankless jobs, and with damage being a universal common resource in most encounters, it's arguably always going to be one of those oddities where game design and sociology intersect.
Glad to see you back!
Great video! Welcome back!
I love the small art segment. Perfecton
These type of video help me visualize these encounters and I think make better plans
good to see you back:)
This was really useful. I've been playing a solo Pathfinder game and I realised pretty quickly that you can't even solo play without making a second character. I've even gone as far as making NPC's or other character's that are Medicine skill junkies. Yeah, I have no spell casting healer but having someone with the Medicine skill is the next best thing.
Awesome video! That observation about AC being about avoiding crits rather than avoiding hits is 1) very, very true from experience, and 2) probably one of the biggest shifts in mindset compared to (for example) D&D 5e, and I'm really glad you pointed it out. All the tips are really good, and it's cool to see stuff related to playing the system- a lot of videos in the 2e space focus on the published material (understandable, since it's damn good material), but this is a really nice way to balance and complement that.
Minor additional tip for anyone who's read this far: Distance is a defense. Because movement costs actions, every action you can force an enemy to spend on movement is one less action they can spend hurting your party, or defending themselves. If a caster has to move to target you, they can't cast Shield after casting a big spell. If that same caster has to move twice, they can't cast most of their spells. Little ways to force your opponents to lose or waste actions can swing entire battles, and distance is a great way to make that happen.
Good to see you back Nonat.
Adding to your 5th point. I’m playing a barbarian (with optional archetype rules) and took marshal archetype because at standard as a front liner I give allies around me passively a +1 to mental saves against fear. For 1 action I can give my allies a +2 damage and fear on crits, which is such a minor thing to do but helps and sets up so many options
Even as someone who's played since launch, I learned something too. Never thought of AC that way before.
Glad to see you back brother
During the, so far, only 2e Pathfinder Society game I played, played a Half-Orc Sorcerer. Near the end of the scenario I cast "magic weapon" on the frontline fighter's greataxe. That party member had never encountered that spell, evidently, so I got to explain that I just doubled his damage despite us being level 1. Rule 5 is fantastic!
Welcome back Nonat!
I did that math as well. That Ranger? Has a 28 to hit the Gold Dragon's AC of 38, so he only crits on a 20. Only the Fighter or Gungslinger gets to crit more often.
To be fair, dragons are meant to be the toughest thing at their level, so that makes sense
Honestly
You can plan a character in the "white room" but that's probably to achieve goal that help party.
For example I'm making the "no actions for you" fighter
It is a fighter that forces enemies to take 1 turn getting out of restraint
2nd out of grapple
And 3rd to stand up
(While suffer from frightened, clumsy and enfeebled)
But the fighter barely does like 4d8 +10 damage per turn
4d8 +12 maybe
(it is starting at level 8+ fa That's why it is so funny)
So they relly on allies to actually kill enemies
You know while preventing enemies from pulling shenanigans
NoNat, I'm glad you're making content again, regardless of what subject that content is.
In this video, Nonat discusses his return to creating content for Pathfinder 2E after a hiatus, during which he took a break from tabletop RPGs due to real-life commitments. He shares that a recent comment about the Pathfinder 2E Beginner Box inspired him to make a video offering five beginner combat tips for Pathfinder 2E. Here’s a summary of his tips:
Damage is High and Hit Points are Not:
Pathfinder 2E features high damage across all levels. Characters can be critically hit often, and even low-level creatures can deal significant damage. This necessitates strategic planning and awareness of damage potential throughout the game.
Armor Class (AC) is Crucial:
AC is extremely important because of the +10 critical hit rule. A high AC can prevent critical hits, which deal double damage. Even though tanks will still get hit, they reduce the likelihood of devastating critical hits that other party members with lower AC might suffer.
Healing is Vital:
Consistent healing is essential due to the high damage output of enemies. While a dedicated healer isn't always necessary, having access to powerful healing spells like Heal can keep the party alive. Scrolls, wands, and other means to access Heal are recommended if no one in the party can cast it.
Enemies Have Dangerous Abilities:
Enemies in Pathfinder 2E can inflict severe conditions and penalties, making combat more challenging. For example, the pugwampi's aura forces disadvantage on all checks, which can be debilitating. Understanding and countering these abilities is crucial.
Pathfinder 2E is a Team Game:
The game emphasizes teamwork. Every action a player takes can affect the party. Using abilities that may seem less useful in a one-on-one situation can significantly benefit the team. Coordination and strategic use of abilities to support and synergize with teammates are key.
Nonat also stresses that Pathfinder 2E is not played in a vacuum; the context of team dynamics and battlefield conditions are vital. He encourages players to think beyond individual actions and consider the collective impact on the party and the enemies. Finally, he invites viewers to share their thoughts and support his channel through Patreon.
Yeeeeah nonat is baaaaack!
This has been very useful info that I feel doesnt get covered much. We ported over from 5e last year and we've had to learn a lot purely on trial and error.
Good to have you back No Nat
When we fougbt the pollwags (spelling?) Me and the other martial not only tries to lock them down in melee, but also kept shoving them away from the other party members.
Welcome back NoNat, good to see you making new stuff! Have you lost weight? You're looking good! And this video is great, I've just found some people who I might be able to start a PF2e group with, I'll keep all this in mind.
This was super useful thanks!
amongst my pathfinder mates we have a running joke AC doesnt mean armour class it means avoid crits
2:59 tbf, it's a dragon. They're supposed to be a big deal:-)
"Let me paint a picture for ya..."
Proceeds to open MS paint...
I die of laughter!
Tip #5 is what PF2e is all about. I constantly remind my players to TALK to each other, to plot, plan and scheme, especially before they think they're about to enter a combat situation. A few well placed buffs, good cover for your ranged attackers (if available), and playing up the best of what each character can do to its maximum can make or break the party.
I think a lot of players - especially coming from systems that don't emphasize the teamwork that much - simply aren't used to working in teams and/or simply don't know how to do so well because irl they're not that great at teamwork. I swear - corporations trying to teach their employees how to work better with each other should run this game. On the clock, of course. For pay.
Perfect to get me in the zone for my first session of kingmaker today!
MY BOY IS BACK. I don't even play I'm just here for the nonat
My first PF2E character almost adheres to all the tips in this video. I have a fighter who goes sword and board but i also have proficiency with medicine to for out of combat healing in the early stages of the game / when low on potions or spells from my casters for combat healing.
I don't have the greatest AC since i don't have heavy armor yet but I'm tied highest with the rogue and ranger when i have my shield raised for blocking damage and upfront so my magus can get a runic weapon bastard sword ignition crit off after i use my intimidating strike to give them a +3 bonus when they can flank. Heck I'm almost tempted to change my weapon to something that has the trip trait so i can pick up knockdown so i can also waste the enemies actions making them have less opportunity to deal damage with their 3 actions which means less chances of my allies getting hit.
Being solo frontline does kinda suck since my magus has only chain and a little bit of dex so about 2-3 points lower in AC than me but that's why the angelic sorcerer is at the back with the mage should anything go wrong.
Upvote for your amazing Paint skills! 😄
Vital... VITAL! Ugh... I'm happy to have you back regardless of bad jokes!
Welcome back NoNat!
Nice video! I enjoyed it
1) Enemy doesn't do high damage if you have good resistances,
2) Armor only matters if the enemy can reach you, If your out of range your AC don't matter.
3) Healing is only Vital if you are taking a lot of damage. In one campaign had Retribution Champion with Shield Warden so he reduced the damage from his reaction and then further from Shield Block Hardness. And can get multiple reactions to do it more than once per turn. Late game was negating like 20-60 damage per turn.
4) Players can get some pretty unique abilities too. ;)
5) Some of the best combos are team combos, like the above retribution champion who got MVP because the healer rarely needed to cast any heal spells. But there are plenty of other combos to be had and I find those more interesting to design a character around as I think what can the character do to boost the team, rather than how to I max out damage.
Yay for Nonat1!
Best use of MS Paint in a video 😂😂
I kinda want to build a ranger that can help heal between fights. Be that person who has bandages to save on spells. Basically how I picture a ranger. They pew pew pew along with using natural remedies to help heal wounds
Ranger with Natural Medicine feat seems right on point, actually. At least for a stereotypical 'wilderness' type ranger. A ranger in an urban setting would likely just rely on the Medicine skill.
#3) Lay on Hands and Goodberry are great focus spells.
Good to have you back😂
If not a wands/scolls of Heal then Healer's Gloves are a great item that we always must have. Only costs 1 action to use and it is always out (no interact action to pull out) so it makes for great emergency healing. It is only adjacent healing though.
The comeback comin in slow and steady. Also I've come to realize the oricale is kinda nutty when it comes to there abilities. Especially bone like, you get permanent TPH for nothing.
Welcome back!
Wizard: *Dies of 130 Adult Gold Dragon Critical Damage*
This is super important topic, thanks for bringing it out
Pf2e is a game with a lot of depth and not understanding it may cause quite some frustration - I did get the frustrating times, had friends entirely drop the game due to this
All and all Pathfinder 2e isn't a game I like, but I can have fun with it, but understanding these nuances helps a lot to set up for success and more fun
Also your Demoralize will make your attacks more likely to crit
To add to everything not being a white room, if your campaign has a decent amount of downtime, grab a situational feat or 2. You'll either see good uses for it, or you can swap it out for something that might see more use as you've played with your party a bit. My summoner has gotten so much out of giving his eidolon an energy attack, something I just had to make it easier for my alchemist to bomb things.
You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
"There is no situation that is an empty white room"
Nonat just made reddit his enemy 😂
oh yeah! i miss that too! also yeah AC is game changer before i understand that i was surprised why barbarian rage give so massive bonuses that -2 AC hurt so much.
Great video, just postet it to my players.
They were a bit frustratet that they got hit so hard every combat. Comming from DND and expecting to not get hit so often
I'm playing a Summoner in a PF2E Kingmaker game and I'm basically playing it as a frontliner with Emergency Casting Support. At level 5 I have 4 spell slots to work with and my 4 spells are Heal, Dispel Magic, Envenom Companion, and Remove Disease. I horde those slots primarily the emergency Heal if our War Priest is out (either player not there or is downed). But most of the time, I'm up there with our frontliner providing flanking and rather hefty damage support via my Eidolon. Teamwork is everything in this game and we are having an absolute blast.
Concerning Tip #3, what about the Battle Medicine?
THE RETURN OF THE KING LETS GOOOOOOOOO
the goat has returned