It seems Pathfinder is one of the most completely implemented Pen&Paper CRPGs with so many options. Your videos are helpful to get an idea of the concepts. I played multiple Pen&Paper RPGs long time ago and quite a few games from AD&D Pool of Radiance to Neverwinter Nights, and more modern ones. In terms of available options and possible building mistakes Pathfinder is quite challenging.
pen and paper is already full of heros... and it deserves every one of them. i mean lets be honest i only play kingmaker cause the next session is a few days away. penand paper is king.
The Sylvaneth archetype trumps all the other blood lines in my humble opinion. My reasons are thus. You get an animal companion at lvl1, the smilodon can own anyone and anything you are going to face at in the first act besides swarms. You can also cast buff spells on it like mage armor and use CC like color spray to neutralize the enemies. Secondly you start with a lvl3 spell "Summon natures Ally 3". If for some reason your pet wasn't enough you can now have a leapord or 1d4+1 mites and a third option that I can't recall. I'm fairly certain that you could solo the first half of the game with this set up. Anyways I've ranted long enough. Great video I enjoyed it!
Thank you so much. Your videos are well presented and oh so helpful. I am an old git and I played BG, IWD and NWN when they were orignally released. But I am mega rusty and these videos are a great help. I would love to see a video guide on general leveling tips for the companions in the game. Cheers.
I've been playing games my entire life, but I have never seen such a complex and detailed character creation. Only thing missing is being able to customizing the appearance a bit more. Not even in dnd is it this complex.
It literally is exactly this complex in D&D, because Pathfinder is pretty much just D&D with a different coat of paint on it. You have obviously never played D&D, you have played CRPGs loosely based on the D20 system.
A plumekith Aasimar druid is an outstanding first character. Make him lawful, start with 18 dex and wis and take one level of monk with the crane style feat. Put three ranks in mobility and leave Defensive fighting on permanently. Boost dex and you are a brick wall of AC. Between you, Valerie and your Animal Companion, you have all the tanking you need. If you boost dex over wisdom, you can take weapon finesse, wear an Amulet of Agile fists and do some damage in melee to if not as much as a real DPS char. You will get a lot of good buffs to share with the party, leaving more room for your party spell casters to work on debuffs and damage. If you go wisdom over dex and take melee feats, like Outflank and Seize the Moment, you won't be able to beat the saves of the monsters so don't use offense spells outside of the odd summon. Just shift into Leopard or Mandragora form and be near unhittable. I personally went with the Smilodon for more damage but you can take a high AC companion and get their AC into the stratosphere too. It gets even better if you have another character with an animal companion, something you can throw Strongjaw and Animal Growth on. I recommend the Defender of the True World archetype for getting around fey DR and helping resist the spells of fey monsters. There are a lot of them in this game. I personally took my Animal Companion at level 1 but it's likely wiser to take the Animal domain for bonus spells. You still get the companion you just have to wait until level 4 and you need Boon Companion to get him to full power.
That's not a good beginner build at all. In fact that's literally the exact thing beginners avoid. Who tf would suggest multi classing/class dips to a beginner?
@@miraclemaker1418 Everyone, because it is simple to play. Literally all that character has to do is throw buffs before the battle and then charge in, being largely untouchable.
@@Elthenar I´m on the complete opposite spectrum. (Granted, not really a beginner with DnD, but still new to Pathfinder + first time playing this game.) Anyway, these multiclass/dip build can be quite confusing, planning the whole thing from the very start. On the other hand, I like having a lot of options to do in combat... (I mostly play mages...)
Just starting playing it. DND 3E and 5E guy. I somehow made a similar build through trial and error (thankfully respecs are a thing). Point blank shot, precise shot, spell focus evocation, and spell specialization (magic missile at first, now burning arc). I’m going to grab greater spell focus next thanks to this vid. I’m also going to play a summoner next play through thanks to you.
I've been watching your videos (even though I don't own the game) and I enjoy them a lot. I've mostly been watching them for info on the game to decide if I should buy it and every video I watch convinces me more and more to buy it. Just wanted to say thanks for making these detailed videos, I like how you go into detail. GJ man!
FWIW: You have great choices for your party to have a Diplomat (Persuasion skill), in Linzi, Octavia, or Valerie. HOWEVER, having not devoted any attributes or skills for my main character (a Druid), I ran into a situation where I was trying to make a DC 18 Persuasion check with a 0 bonus.
thanks for taking the time for this video, it is insightful and gave me tons of ideas for my main. My first main is a wizard and I had no idea what I was doing not knowing the rules for Pathfinder even though I played DD and BG1&2 in the past. I want to start another play with another toon. I like druid but don't like the alignment restriction. Again thxs, please continue!!
Great explanations for beginners as i am. What i´ve did not understand is what sense it makes to set your stats NOT to even (see one of the older comments). Thanks in advance!
I am going to start playing this game soon. And a video like this i feel is perfect for me to get started with a system i dont know much about. Thank you!
This is an awesome and helpful guide, thank you! Especially appreciate that it gives two pretty different options for beginners, like me, to work with or consider
It's a bit of min/maxing, but before you go for the fangberries, make sure you get a few aoe attacks, or stock up on a few aoe throwables the spider swarms.
You are quite helpful with your excellent primers. I have not played the tabletop version of Pathfinder, thus your cogent explanations are a huge help in understanding what may be a daunting game. Thank you for your caring, you rock!
I just started, made my ranger, decides to dump it because I didn't do well against spider swarms. Then I made mage with acid flasks to counter it... And I dumped it after I had nightmares and couldn't run. And then I made barbarian, the last one (because I read it as ranger, English is not my 1st language ) and... Well... I was positively surprised. But you showed me how sorcerer works, so I'm gonna try it someday. And I saw a rouge that scares people by hitting them with a weapon and I want it too, sound powerful.
The pet is nice but I think invulnerable rager is a better pick as animal companions are very lackluster later. Conjuration spec wizard are pretty good though. Hopefully we eventually get the summoner and kineticist (that would make a very solid new player friendly "caster")
You're better off with the barbarian to have a 16 dex and a 14 con, armor class is better than HP, and you will have more combat feats available with the dex being at least a 15... For feats, I suggest Power Attack and Cleave. Toughness is good for pen and paper where there is some sense of balance, but this game if you are in need of toughness, you are almost guaranteed to be fighting something that does so much damage that an extra 4 HP at level 1 is useless. Extra rage is ok, but cleave will do more damage faster so you take less damage in combat.
what kind of feats with 15 dex are you thinking about. I am about to build a new character and dont know much about pathfinder. So i am interested to learn a bit here. thanks in advance.
my favorite build is a Sacred Hunter/Druid build with the Animal Sphere giving you a companion. At level 5 you and your beastie can tear it up together with team work feats.
For spell caster armor. You could take 1 lvl into eldritch scion Magus class. They get a passive to negate spell failure by what ever armor they specialize in
@@darkfireslide in my spell window showing my stats I'm lvl 9 and it says 0% chance for spell failure and im wearing light armor with 15 on spell failure. I've not noticed any fails. Fireball scorch ray touch spells stuff like that is what I mostly use in melee combat also bc ot magus hybrid abilities.
I have only played pathfinder a few times made about 5 characters pretty much all fighters I think I made a single rouge or something and I have played only a few crpgs and I would say normal is not too hard at all I have heard people complain about swarms but I just equipped my two front liners with the torches you start with and was completely fine
Im playing this game now. The difference between normal to easy is like night and day. And that is a problem per si. On easy, the game becames too easy, but on normal, some mechanics are a giant pain in the ass.
If it your first rpg then maybe. Honestly it out of date and their better games out there. Warhammer 40k games like Black Crusade tend to have better combat, more indepth character development, better gear progression, a very rich universe/lore and just as easy to get into DnD. That just my thoughts.
@@doomblackdragon I love the warhammer 40k role play games but DND isn't outdated theirs 5th edition which is simpler but lacks depth and then theirs Pathfinder which has a ludicrous amount of options but more complex for it
Not sure how the elemental bloodline would be a better beginner build than a sylvan sorcerer. As for the acid ray (presumably for killing trolls), the acid splash cantrip that every sorcerer can use infinitely serves the purpose just as well. Additionally, if you just want a blaster, kineticist is head and shoulders a better class.
Unless you take a feat to change it up, doesn't a high charisma make it easier to intimidate your foes? So you'd be dumb, but no one would be afraid of you!
done to the extent in the video I would say if it were an actual PnP it would be min/maxing. I personally don't let untested RPers drop their int below 10 because if your an intelligent person it's actually really hard to RP an idiot correctly.
His main character is suppose to be the leader and a leader with 7 Int and 7 Char I'd call 100% min-maxing. Not that I usually care about something like this but still.
Technically, Intelligence is "ability to learn" You can be highly intelligent, but very uneducated. D&D/Pathfinder tends to view this as "wise, but not smart", but that is not actually correct.
Fantastic tutorial but how should we allocate ability and skill points for a Sorcerer? Should we just pump points into Charisma, Persuasion and Use Magic Device? Thanks..
I was wondering if you think a new person to Kingmaker should keep the story characters, or create new characters when the opportunity is available. I really like your KM videos and was thinking of doing a Dwarven Priest as my main character. But was unsure about using Linzi or Octavia as the rogue. I was thinking Valerie, Amiri, Jaethal, Linzi, a Dwarven Cleric and not sure who/what else to use. Thanks!
Zane Coffelt I would keep them the first play through to do there side quest and the extra xp. I’m doing a LN Fighter right now but my next play through is an evil one I play to have all custom party members.
It seems to me you're misleading about the point blank shot and precise shot feats in your sorcerer build (unless its me of course). The feats are for ranged attacks not ranged TOUCH attacks. A much better options to avoid interruption in your casting would be combat casting.
All this reminds me of neverwinter nights 2 i am currently playing for the first time. Yet everybody on the internet seems to say to avoid sorcerers Would you happen to have some experience with the sorcerers, i just love to build characters that can cast spells as well as do melee occasionally. Can you suggest a similar build for this game or NWN2?
"Do melee occasionally" is an interesting premise but your best bet in Kingmaker is to give your Wizard or Sorcerer (either works for this role, just in different ways) a good strength+con on top of their primary casting stat and then later on they can use Beast Shape, Polymorph, and Form of the Dragon to become effective melee fighters. Going Sorc 6 into Dragon Disciple is a good way as well. Neither of these builds are applicable to NWN2; in that game I recommend playing an Eldritch Knight if you want both sword and spell.
@@darkfireslide tnks! being a dragon sounds like an excellent prospect! will get Kingmaker soon, by now the game is patched up completely and the modding support has matured enough :D!
Druid, full caster, full Base attack bonus progression, get Smilodon pet for 5! attacks. Hospitaler, loads of heal on hands and then positive channeling for heals.
I think he has taken this into account. Having 2 barbarians in the early game would make some parts easier. Personally I think Sorcerer is also legit beginner class. A bit more complicated than the melee classes, but not as complicated as Wizard and still can nuke people in the end game.
Some will tell you magic missile and burning hands some will go mage armor and either magic missile or burning hands it depends on if you want a little defensive magic---tbh i've found mage armor isn't that useful at all if your mages are taking hits they are probably gonna die if you have mage armor or not... plus bracers of armor eventually make mage armor useless...since the bonuses don't stack and as a sorc you can't unlearn spells... My advice is actually to take Color Spray even if you aren't an illusionist, if people get close pop this in thier face and they will generally be stopped cold even if they are 5+ HD it still stuns them for 1 round long enough for your melee to protect you. Mage Armor i just don't think is as useful as people think not for a pure caster. Even Summon monster 1 might be more ideal to just intercept a stray enemy and buy you some time.
Nice explanation, but would be even better if you could maybe show some kind of build progression (just starting the game and setting exp to a character). Thanks anyway :)
I downloaded the game too, currently playing as a "Tower Shield Specialist", I am just worried about something though. Should I be rushing to find the area of where the Stag dude is at? Or can I actually take my time and explore the maps?
That's what I am worried about if the game is over once i complete that quest, or if there is more. I want to explore and enjoy the little things in the game
If it follows the actual pathfinder adventure path , then once you kill the stag lord you are only about 1/6th of the way through. This game is massive. I explored pretty much everywhere I could explore after Oleg's before I took out the Stag Lord and I had like 25 days left. You have a lot of time to explore. You can also go into you journal and look at the quest and it tells you how much time you have left. It was definitely not a problem for me. I pretty much explored everything.
that's only chapter 1 of at least 6. so you have plenty of time, that and it feels generous enough that you can do most if not all of the Ch.1 sidequests, you may not have the time to fully explore the map though (it is pretty big and encounters will probably get much harder if you try straying too far from the northwest quadrant). And, while there may be other time limits in the future, people have mentioned that the first 3 months is the most critical.
Finish up all the things you can do that chapter. The next chapter has a longer timer but why put extra stuff to do than you need. I had a month left when I did the stage lord so could of finished up exploring the map to make travel faster and to do side missions and random encounters. Also by doing that you get more gold gear and xp for later parts of the game.
Fantastic game. even so I am quite familiar with iso RPGs since the time of BG 1, it's quite overwhelming! I am pretty sure I botched pretty much all of the builds for my character (using the Dragonmage prebuild guy) and all other BPCs as well. Still managed to do well on normal difficulty and damage modifier set to 1 instead of 0,8. It's rather challenging sometimes. There is lots of room for improvement, like the UI and the long loading times and other things as well. I still rate it as my best puchase in 2018.
You didn't give first spell options for the Evocation focused Sorcerer...... Why would I go with the Conjuration spells when I'm not taking the feats.....
Magic Missile and Burning Hands if you just want to do damage. The reason I didn't list them is because a Conjuration Sorcerer is more newbie-friendly and it's what I recommend.
why not go for 20 strength here, wouldnt it be nice with more hitchance and get one closer to +6? I am not sure what i should use wisdon and dex for, so please enlighten me.
As an alpha tester and pathfinder player, i would have to say this is not all the way accurate. The barbarian may be easy on easy mode, but not on higher difficulties. He had a barbarian at 10 AC when raging, nothing will miss you. NOT ALL ENEMIES will be in range and either you will chew through potions or you will die A LOT.
As i think you are an rpg master, do you think it is possible to play as 2 handed heavy armor user and deal good/big damage? Or are you limited to be a tank?
The two-handed Fighter archetype is actually very good for dealing damage as long as you start with 19 Strength. Make sure to use clerics or druids to keep him buffed with AC spells like Shield of Faith or Barkskin to keep him in the fight longer and you'll have a character that often obliterates things. Take Power Attack and Weapon Focus: Greatsword as starting feats for that build and you'll be good to go. Playing a Half-Orc also lets you stay up for one round longer if you get knocked unconscious, and the Diehard feat later can keep you in that state until you get healing.
@@greggreg2458 18 can still work! Just not as optimal as 19. If you're far along it's probably not worth restarting for. The feats, on the other hand..
Great guide , all good explained and all is sound and clear for a new player like me (new with pathfinder) 🙂 keep going and is it possible for you to give any hints how to start alchemist? I really wanted to make crazy alchemist gnome type of character 😁
Base alchemist gets most of their abilities through level up. Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are where you want to start so that your bombs actually hit. After that most feats are fine if you're not playing on the higher difficulties. You'll find plenty of useful ones just looking through the list :)
@@Ashayia1986 you can probably run something like 10, 15, 14, 17, 12, 12 and be fine. If you run out of points you can either drop the 15 Dex to 14 or drop the Charisma to 10 from 12 to get the extra point you need. Base Alchemist is pretty forgiving as long as you have good intelligence and dexterity honestly
@@darkfireslide when i play pillars of eternity or games like baldurs gate or other roleplaying games i try to create unique character to heavy roleplay with and crazy gnome alchemist throwing bombs and vials poped to my mind staight away when i seen this race and class in pathfinder kingmaker haha 😁
Problem with the barbarian. You would fail all you kingdom options. So yeah it is kinda Mid maxing as you are only focus on the combat of the game and not the kingdom aspect of the game. The kingdom aspect of the game is 100% on your skills not your party skills. Which their are a lot of them. Then again you can just turn off kingdom mode. AKA auto management.
Yes a rogue or bard would be good for Kingdom Management. You will find you can still do a lot for the party. Plus pass on your Kingdom Management parts. I am playing a half orc rogue. I did take the feet of for +2 - 4 persuasion, trickery. My half orc gets a +2 to all Intimidate checks. I will tell you even at level 10. There are checks that I could not even pass with a +18 to intimidate. As the check was like a 36+. There is some hard checks in this game where the only way to pass is to roll a 18+. Those are luckily few and far but still their a lot of Kingdom Management which your be force to do it on your own.
I am so new to these D&D things. I do not even know what a fortitude save is :( Looks like it will be barbarioan for me :( (what about ranger? Is it easy?)
First of, I am new to D&D and currently I am at level 8 with my Sylvan Sorcerer (Main) and I really think SOME of those feats you picked here are wasted. Precice Shot for what? I think it only happens in like 1 of 10 battles that my sorcerer gets into melee. Even then he there is no problem at all. Same for Combat Casting. Also the extra WILL. I am yet to discover any enemies that pose a treat with spells against me with WILL saves!? Also, please say if I am wrong, but isn't Magic Missile way better than Elemental Ray? Atm I even regret picking Mage Armor because nobody is attacking me. The AI won't switch off the melee frontline. Oh and I feel like the summuning school seems a bit useless when you can just pick a permanent pet that has ridiculus stats. (Difficulty: Normal) So I hope I get some good advise here from some more advanced players of D&D in general. Please :D
Yes, but you can take Heavy Armor Proficiency without Armored Hulk, and it only gives extra AC against critical hits to be an Armored Hulk. It's at best a sidegrade compared to the regular Barbarian, while the other two offer distinct advantages and disadvantages that are much more worthwhile to play, in my opinion.
Just FYI, you cannot be lawful when you are a barbarian (you said you can be any alignment). Which is sad since you cannot multiclass into monk/barbarian.
Are there any DETAILED guides the combat system of this game? I build my character with a cookie cutter and he dies basically every fight including Oleg's Tavern in the intro. Is this a game where I'm supposed to let the calculators do their thing like EVE Online, or is this more like Starcraft and I'm supposed to be clicking and hotting hotkeys like crazy? Does combat "take turns in real time" or is it as real time as Street Fighter 2? I love the RP elements of the game but I'm not "getting it" on every other level.
It's real-time with pause. You should be pausing a lot in a fight. Before the start of every fight, everyone (including the enemies) rolls initiative check. The order of turns is based on the result of the initiative rolls. Everyone gets a turn in a round. If you love RP, but get frustated by the fights, just lower the difficulty.
If you have ever watched FTL: Faster Than Light or played it, you'll know that real-time with pause style of games really demand that you pause often to adapt to evolving situations. If you want to play closer to real time, there's no shame turning down the difficulty because it really is not meant to be played without pausing.
Its based off dice rolls so let the calculators do their thing. If you want a detailed the pathfinder players handbook for pen and paper will explain the combat system pretty thoroughly.
When you are giving a recommendation for taking the Elemental Earth bloodline so they will have access to acid damage during Act 2, I just wanted to point out that one of the level 0 spells that all arcane magic users have access to is Acid Splash that deals 1d3 acid damage and can be cast an infinite amount of times. Also there are several weapons that they will likely come across in loot that deal acid damage. There is no reason to base your bloodline decision on the need for acid damage during Act 2.
the moment when you realize you made ONE major mistake when creating your character by making most of your stats even-numbered as you didn't realize how many boosts you get despite knowing it's one every 4 levels......
Don't think charisma effects your personality, but instead your ability to charm or attractiveness imo. You can still have a good personality with low charisma.
It seems Pathfinder is one of the most completely implemented Pen&Paper CRPGs with so many options. Your videos are helpful to get an idea of the concepts. I played multiple Pen&Paper RPGs long time ago and quite a few games from AD&D Pool of Radiance to Neverwinter Nights, and more modern ones. In terms of available options and possible building mistakes Pathfinder is quite challenging.
If I ever get this game, gnome barbarian is happening.
They think they'll die laughing; instead they just die.
what a huge waste of time
You must be playing on the easiest difficulty. If you're not a monk or a spell caster it's going to be hell.
@@AR-ix8fq the normal difficulty is easily managed by every possible build
@@scottrcall she's actually pretty good with a dueling sword and some finesse training if spec her into a fighter
I know it's an old comment ut I'm using a Halfling Fighter/Barbarian that uses Daggers and Tower Shields and it's SO much fun/funny
You're the hero pen and paper needs, but not the hero it deserves.
pen and paper is already full of heros... and it deserves every one of them.
i mean lets be honest i only play kingmaker cause the next session is a few days away. penand paper is king.
@@holymaryfullofshit3790 Lucky you, my playgroup is worthless, never enough people that have time to play. -.-
@@MuppetLord1 that sucks man... maybe check your local game shop for people searching for players. found a group once that way.
another min-max idiot video whose character is a *moron* with a face like *ass* Good job.
The Sylvaneth archetype trumps all the other blood lines in my humble opinion. My reasons are thus. You get an animal companion at lvl1, the smilodon can own anyone and anything you are going to face at in the first act besides swarms. You can also cast buff spells on it like mage armor and use CC like color spray to neutralize the enemies. Secondly you start with a lvl3 spell "Summon natures Ally 3". If for some reason your pet wasn't enough you can now have a leapord or 1d4+1 mites and a third option that I can't recall. I'm fairly certain that you could solo the first half of the game with this set up. Anyways I've ranted long enough. Great video I enjoyed it!
Thank you so much. Your videos are well presented and oh so helpful. I am an old git and I played BG, IWD and NWN when they were orignally released. But I am mega rusty and these videos are a great help. I would love to see a video guide on general leveling tips for the companions in the game. Cheers.
I've been playing games my entire life, but I have never seen such a complex and detailed character creation. Only thing missing is being able to customizing the appearance a bit more. Not even in dnd is it this complex.
Yep, and this is a way less complex version of the actual tabletop pathfinder rpg system
It literally is exactly this complex in D&D, because Pathfinder is pretty much just D&D with a different coat of paint on it. You have obviously never played D&D, you have played CRPGs loosely based on the D20 system.
If I ever complete this game it will be entirely thanks to you.
A plumekith Aasimar druid is an outstanding first character. Make him lawful, start with 18 dex and wis and take one level of monk with the crane style feat. Put three ranks in mobility and leave Defensive fighting on permanently. Boost dex and you are a brick wall of AC. Between you, Valerie and your Animal Companion, you have all the tanking you need. If you boost dex over wisdom, you can take weapon finesse, wear an Amulet of Agile fists and do some damage in melee to if not as much as a real DPS char. You will get a lot of good buffs to share with the party, leaving more room for your party spell casters to work on debuffs and damage. If you go wisdom over dex and take melee feats, like Outflank and Seize the Moment, you won't be able to beat the saves of the monsters so don't use offense spells outside of the odd summon. Just shift into Leopard or Mandragora form and be near unhittable. I personally went with the Smilodon for more damage but you can take a high AC companion and get their AC into the stratosphere too.
It gets even better if you have another character with an animal companion, something you can throw Strongjaw and Animal Growth on.
I recommend the Defender of the True World archetype for getting around fey DR and helping resist the spells of fey monsters. There are a lot of them in this game. I personally took my Animal Companion at level 1 but it's likely wiser to take the Animal domain for bonus spells. You still get the companion you just have to wait until level 4 and you need Boon Companion to get him to full power.
sounds like a card game
That's not a good beginner build at all. In fact that's literally the exact thing beginners avoid. Who tf would suggest multi classing/class dips to a beginner?
@@miraclemaker1418 Everyone, because it is simple to play. Literally all that character has to do is throw buffs before the battle and then charge in, being largely untouchable.
@@Elthenar I´m on the complete opposite spectrum. (Granted, not really a beginner with DnD, but still new to Pathfinder + first time playing this game.)
Anyway, these multiclass/dip build can be quite confusing, planning the whole thing from the very start. On the other hand, I like having a lot of options to do in combat...
(I mostly play mages...)
Just starting playing it. DND 3E and 5E guy. I somehow made a similar build through trial and error (thankfully respecs are a thing). Point blank shot, precise shot, spell focus evocation, and spell specialization (magic missile at first, now burning arc). I’m going to grab greater spell focus next thanks to this vid. I’m also going to play a summoner next play through thanks to you.
I've been watching your videos (even though I don't own the game) and I enjoy them a lot. I've mostly been watching them for info on the game to decide if I should buy it and every video I watch convinces me more and more to buy it. Just wanted to say thanks for making these detailed videos, I like how you go into detail. GJ man!
FWIW: You have great choices for your party to have a Diplomat (Persuasion skill), in Linzi, Octavia, or Valerie. HOWEVER, having not devoted any attributes or skills for my main character (a Druid), I ran into a situation where I was trying to make a DC 18 Persuasion check with a 0 bonus.
Mad Dog Barbarian for the pet. Also great job with Two-Hand fighter. The Cleave feat line just melts those mobs like butter.
Thank you. I was a bit overwhelmed.
Great guide. Good job on keeping it accessible while giving enough details to be useful.
Used to watch a lot of your EU4 videos a few years ago and here we are again.
thanks for taking the time for this video, it is insightful and gave me tons of ideas for my main. My first main is a wizard and I had no idea what I was doing not knowing the rules for Pathfinder even though I played DD and BG1&2 in the past. I want to start another play with another toon. I like druid but don't like the alignment restriction. Again thxs, please continue!!
I would like to see similar Video's for the other Classes.
Great explanations for beginners as i am. What i´ve did not understand is what sense it makes to set your stats NOT to even (see one of the older comments). Thanks in advance!
I am going to start playing this game soon. And a video like this i feel is perfect for me to get started with a system i dont know much about. Thank you!
This is an awesome and helpful guide, thank you! Especially appreciate that it gives two pretty different options for beginners, like me, to work with or consider
It's a bit of min/maxing, but before you go for the fangberries, make sure you get a few aoe attacks, or stock up on a few aoe throwables the spider swarms.
You are quite helpful with your excellent primers. I have not played the tabletop version of Pathfinder, thus your cogent explanations are a huge help in understanding what may be a daunting game. Thank you for your caring, you rock!
Very nice video. Just one thing I noticed: You said Barbarians can take any alignment. But in fact they can't be lawful.
I just started, made my ranger, decides to dump it because I didn't do well against spider swarms.
Then I made mage with acid flasks to counter it... And I dumped it after I had nightmares and couldn't run.
And then I made barbarian, the last one (because I read it as ranger, English is not my 1st language ) and... Well... I was positively surprised.
But you showed me how sorcerer works, so I'm gonna try it someday.
And I saw a rouge that scares people by hitting them with a weapon and I want it too, sound powerful.
The pet is nice but I think invulnerable rager is a better pick as animal companions are very lackluster later. Conjuration spec wizard are pretty good though. Hopefully we eventually get the summoner and kineticist (that would make a very solid new player friendly "caster")
Great vid to help beginners. Fighter is also a great beginner class.
You're better off with the barbarian to have a 16 dex and a 14 con, armor class is better than HP, and you will have more combat feats available with the dex being at least a 15... For feats, I suggest Power Attack and Cleave. Toughness is good for pen and paper where there is some sense of balance, but this game if you are in need of toughness, you are almost guaranteed to be fighting something that does so much damage that an extra 4 HP at level 1 is useless. Extra rage is ok, but cleave will do more damage faster so you take less damage in combat.
what kind of feats with 15 dex are you thinking about. I am about to build a new character and dont know much about pathfinder. So i am interested to learn a bit here. thanks in advance.
I just made a Fighter, and I know Two Weapon Fighting takes a 15 Min DEX. I'm not sure what others there are.
Pretty great video. Running the Mad Dog now :) Keep them coming, you're a natural at this!
*me, pausing to see the bloodlines of sorcerer*
Noticed undead blodline :O i need this...
Excellent video thanks, picking this up this week so your video is priceless
my favorite build is a Sacred Hunter/Druid build with the Animal Sphere giving you a companion. At level 5 you and your beastie can tear it up together with team work feats.
Would love to see a lets play on this game. You're 3 video's have helped me tremendously already.
For spell caster armor. You could take 1 lvl into eldritch scion Magus class. They get a passive to negate spell failure by what ever armor they specialize in
It only works with Magus spells.
@@darkfireslide in my spell window showing my stats I'm lvl 9 and it says 0% chance for spell failure and im wearing light armor with 15 on spell failure. I've not noticed any fails. Fireball scorch ray touch spells stuff like that is what I mostly use in melee combat also bc ot magus hybrid abilities.
Great video once again very informative and extremely helpful to us beginners. Thank you very much good sir.
I have only played pathfinder a few times made about 5 characters pretty much all fighters I think I made a single rouge or something and I have played only a few crpgs and I would say normal is not too hard at all I have heard people complain about swarms but I just equipped my two front liners with the torches you start with and was completely fine
Thanks, now i have a better notion of how to build martial and casters
Im playing this game now. The difference between normal to easy is like night and day. And that is a problem per si. On easy, the game becames too easy, but on normal, some mechanics are a giant pain in the ass.
i used to play D&D, level 14 warrior Frenzied Berserker, obliterate everything.....allys too sometimes xD... good old times.
something tells me i should get into dnd
If it your first rpg then maybe. Honestly it out of date and their better games out there. Warhammer 40k games like Black Crusade tend to have better combat, more indepth character development, better gear progression, a very rich universe/lore and just as easy to get into DnD. That just my thoughts.
@@doomblackdragon I love the warhammer 40k role play games but DND isn't outdated theirs 5th edition which is simpler but lacks depth and then theirs Pathfinder which has a ludicrous amount of options but more complex for it
Very nice guide. Just got the game for Xbox and this helps a lot.
Not sure how the elemental bloodline would be a better beginner build than a sylvan sorcerer. As for the acid ray (presumably for killing trolls), the acid splash cantrip that every sorcerer can use infinitely serves the purpose just as well.
Additionally, if you just want a blaster, kineticist is head and shoulders a better class.
Pfft it's not min maxing, RPing a barbarian I would expect low intelligence and charisma!
Unless you take a feat to change it up, doesn't a high charisma make it easier to intimidate your foes? So you'd be dumb, but no one would be afraid of you!
done to the extent in the video I would say if it were an actual PnP it would be min/maxing. I personally don't let untested RPers drop their int below 10 because if your an intelligent person it's actually really hard to RP an idiot correctly.
A low INT character might just be uneducated rather than an idiot
His main character is suppose to be the leader and a leader with 7 Int and 7 Char I'd call 100% min-maxing. Not that I usually care about something like this but still.
Technically, Intelligence is "ability to learn" You can be highly intelligent, but very uneducated. D&D/Pathfinder tends to view this as "wise, but not smart", but that is not actually correct.
i like your pathfinder videos. Druid beginner build waiting room^^
Weather druid is actually quite good too
Fantastic tutorial but how should we allocate ability and skill points for a Sorcerer? Should we just pump points into Charisma, Persuasion and Use Magic Device? Thanks..
Man I love your EUIV videos but I recently got into DnD (but specifically pathfinder) last year so these videos are 👌
Excellent video!
I was wondering if you think a new person to Kingmaker should keep the story characters, or create new characters when the opportunity is available. I really like your KM videos and was thinking of doing a Dwarven Priest as my main character. But was unsure about using Linzi or Octavia as the rogue. I was thinking Valerie, Amiri, Jaethal, Linzi, a Dwarven Cleric and not sure who/what else to use. Thanks!
Zane Coffelt I would keep them the first play through to do there side quest and the extra xp. I’m doing a LN Fighter right now but my next play through is an evil one I play to have all custom party members.
It seems to me you're misleading about the point blank shot and precise shot feats in your sorcerer build (unless its me of course). The feats are for ranged attacks not ranged TOUCH attacks. A much better options to avoid interruption in your casting would be combat casting.
Level 1 summon only lasts for 1 round though? Don't know if that really is that effective?
Again, a great thanks. Have you given any thought into making a let's play of this?
I was very familiar with the 3.0 3.5 of nwn and nwn2, is that base applicable to pathfinder?
yea its pretty similar some stuff is added but its more or less the same
The build that I want is a sorcerer that has a pet companion while can also fight with a longsword.
Great guide! Much appreciated
All this reminds me of neverwinter nights 2 i am currently playing for the first time. Yet everybody on the internet seems to say to avoid sorcerers Would you happen to have some experience with the sorcerers, i just love to build characters that can cast spells as well as do melee occasionally. Can you suggest a similar build for this game or NWN2?
"Do melee occasionally" is an interesting premise but your best bet in Kingmaker is to give your Wizard or Sorcerer (either works for this role, just in different ways) a good strength+con on top of their primary casting stat and then later on they can use Beast Shape, Polymorph, and Form of the Dragon to become effective melee fighters. Going Sorc 6 into Dragon Disciple is a good way as well.
Neither of these builds are applicable to NWN2; in that game I recommend playing an Eldritch Knight if you want both sword and spell.
@@darkfireslide tnks! being a dragon sounds like an excellent prospect! will get Kingmaker soon, by now the game is patched up completely and the modding support has matured enough :D!
BG2 still by far the best game of this kind
If only that game implented saving throws using your Wisdom stat. And no. Baldur's Gate 1 was better than its sequel.
BG3 better bro
@@elisel2308It might even be better, but there isn't much of Baldurs Gate. It's closer to Divinity Original sins
Druid, full caster, full Base attack bonus progression, get Smilodon pet for 5! attacks. Hospitaler, loads of heal on hands and then positive channeling for heals.
Really enjoyed your guides. Hope you do a walkthrough/lets play. Good work.
barbarian lol. the first companions you get after tutorial is a barbarian with a op weapon that can not be unequiped.
I think he has taken this into account. Having 2 barbarians in the early game would make some parts easier.
Personally I think Sorcerer is also legit beginner class. A bit more complicated than the melee classes, but not as complicated as Wizard and still can nuke people in the end game.
Great video again, thank you.
Thanks for this was thinking about getting the game
Uh, sorry Barbs are limited to non-lawful alignments so that's incorrect. They are kinda like reverse monks in that way.
Great video, thanks for the tips. For a summoner sorcerer, do you recommend the subclass with the pet, or the standard sorcerer kit?
theory build? i would like to watch your summons lvl 1 at beginning :) 1 round to cast, 1 round summon to live
What spells if you did the precise/pointblank/spell focus evo abilities?
Burning Hands and Magic Missile, then Mage Armor at 2nd level. At 4th level, you'll want to take Scorching Ray and Acid Arrow.
Ok thanks
Some will tell you magic missile and burning hands some will go mage armor and either magic missile or burning hands it depends on if you want a little defensive magic---tbh i've found mage armor isn't that useful at all if your mages are taking hits they are probably gonna die if you have mage armor or not... plus bracers of armor eventually make mage armor useless...since the bonuses don't stack and as a sorc you can't unlearn spells...
My advice is actually to take Color Spray even if you aren't an illusionist, if people get close pop this in thier face and they will generally be stopped cold even if they are 5+ HD it still stuns them for 1 round long enough for your melee to protect you. Mage Armor i just don't think is as useful as people think not for a pure caster. Even Summon monster 1 might be more ideal to just intercept a stray enemy and buy you some time.
Great video once more! Thank you! :D
Thank you for those two builds
I will Play a sorcerer with Dragonic Bloodline Black
thanks for the good beginner's guide :-)
Nice explanation, but would be even better if you could maybe show some kind of build progression (just starting the game and setting exp to a character). Thanks anyway :)
I downloaded the game too, currently playing as a "Tower Shield Specialist", I am just worried about something though. Should I be rushing to find the area of where the Stag dude is at? Or can I actually take my time and explore the maps?
You got 3 months in-game time. Just make sure you finish him off before the deadline.
That's what I am worried about if the game is over once i complete that quest, or if there is more. I want to explore and enjoy the little things in the game
If it follows the actual pathfinder adventure path , then once you kill the stag lord you are only about 1/6th of the way through. This game is massive. I explored pretty much everywhere I could explore after Oleg's before I took out the Stag Lord and I had like 25 days left. You have a lot of time to explore. You can also go into you journal and look at the quest and it tells you how much time you have left. It was definitely not a problem for me. I pretty much explored everything.
that's only chapter 1 of at least 6. so you have plenty of time, that and it feels generous enough that you can do most if not all of the Ch.1 sidequests, you may not have the time to fully explore the map though (it is pretty big and encounters will probably get much harder if you try straying too far from the northwest quadrant). And, while there may be other time limits in the future, people have mentioned that the first 3 months is the most critical.
Finish up all the things you can do that chapter. The next chapter has a longer timer but why put extra stuff to do than you need. I had a month left when I did the stage lord so could of finished up exploring the map to make travel faster and to do side missions and random encounters.
Also by doing that you get more gold gear and xp for later parts of the game.
I'm not min/maxing, I'm optimizing! :D
the builds in this video are kind of not great compared to actually minmaxed builds man
Fantastic game. even so I am quite familiar with iso RPGs since the time of BG 1, it's quite overwhelming!
I am pretty sure I botched pretty much all of the builds for my character (using the Dragonmage prebuild guy) and all other BPCs as well. Still managed to do well on normal difficulty and damage modifier set to 1 instead of 0,8. It's rather challenging sometimes.
There is lots of room for improvement, like the UI and the long loading times and other things as well. I still rate it as my best puchase in 2018.
I started playing the other way around; cranking the difficulty and after enough punishment I nudged it down.
What are some other possible races to run for these builds?
Would your 1st build be acceptable if i replaced human with dwarf? I am talking about normal or hard difficulty.
Should be fine, you'll just be at one fewer feat, which works
You didn't give first spell options for the Evocation focused Sorcerer...... Why would I go with the Conjuration spells when I'm not taking the feats.....
Magic Missile and Burning Hands if you just want to do damage. The reason I didn't list them is because a Conjuration Sorcerer is more newbie-friendly and it's what I recommend.
There's nothing wrong with min-maxing if it helps the gameplay
why not go for 20 strength here, wouldnt it be nice with more hitchance and get one closer to +6?
I am not sure what i should use wisdon and dex for, so please enlighten me.
This is the sole reason why my life continues
Great explanation!!
what is the best race for a sorcerer? i will suffer too much if i go tiefling?
As an alpha tester and pathfinder player, i would have to say this is not all the way accurate. The barbarian may be easy on easy mode, but not on higher difficulties. He had a barbarian at 10 AC when raging, nothing will miss you. NOT ALL ENEMIES will be in range and either you will chew through potions or you will die A LOT.
I mean you can always pick up heavy armor proficiency and other defensive feats. This is just for 1st level for complete beginners.
Did i miss why he choose to boost wisdom?
Good for saves and perception checks.
Is good idea to do like a battelmage monk tipe of build? something like that. Like a mellee/spells character?
As i think you are an rpg master, do you think it is possible to play as 2 handed heavy armor user and deal good/big damage? Or are you limited to be a tank?
The two-handed Fighter archetype is actually very good for dealing damage as long as you start with 19 Strength. Make sure to use clerics or druids to keep him buffed with AC spells like Shield of Faith or Barkskin to keep him in the fight longer and you'll have a character that often obliterates things. Take Power Attack and Weapon Focus: Greatsword as starting feats for that build and you'll be good to go. Playing a Half-Orc also lets you stay up for one round longer if you get knocked unconscious, and the Diehard feat later can keep you in that state until you get healing.
@@darkfireslide Damn, i started with a 2 handed fighter (not barbarian) with 18 strenght.. Maybe i will restart. Btw thanks for responding.
@@greggreg2458 18 can still work! Just not as optimal as 19. If you're far along it's probably not worth restarting for. The feats, on the other hand..
also make sure you only have 1 dex mod so you can use full plate more efficiently >:D
Great guide , all good explained and all is sound and clear for a new player like me (new with pathfinder) 🙂 keep going and is it possible for you to give any hints how to start alchemist? I really wanted to make crazy alchemist gnome type of character 😁
Base alchemist gets most of their abilities through level up. Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are where you want to start so that your bombs actually hit. After that most feats are fine if you're not playing on the higher difficulties. You'll find plenty of useful ones just looking through the list :)
@@darkfireslide and starting attributes?
@@Ashayia1986 you can probably run something like 10, 15, 14, 17, 12, 12 and be fine. If you run out of points you can either drop the 15 Dex to 14 or drop the Charisma to 10 from 12 to get the extra point you need. Base Alchemist is pretty forgiving as long as you have good intelligence and dexterity honestly
@@darkfireslide thank you soo much , you are a star buddy 🙂
@@darkfireslide when i play pillars of eternity or games like baldurs gate or other roleplaying games i try to create unique character to heavy roleplay with and crazy gnome alchemist throwing bombs and vials poped to my mind staight away when i seen this race and class in pathfinder kingmaker haha 😁
are these builds still viable?
thanks.
Should be on Normal difficulty.
Problem with the barbarian. You would fail all you kingdom options. So yeah it is kinda Mid maxing as you are only focus on the combat of the game and not the kingdom aspect of the game. The kingdom aspect of the game is 100% on your skills not your party skills. Which their are a lot of them. Then again you can just turn off kingdom mode. AKA auto management.
So a build for Kingdom Management would be something with a lot of skills, like a Human Rogue or Bard with 14 or 16 int?
Yes a rogue or bard would be good for Kingdom Management. You will find you can still do a lot for the party. Plus pass on your Kingdom Management parts. I am playing a half orc rogue. I did take the feet of for +2 - 4 persuasion, trickery. My half orc gets a +2 to all Intimidate checks. I will tell you even at level 10. There are checks that I could not even pass with a +18 to intimidate. As the check was like a 36+. There is some hard checks in this game where the only way to pass is to roll a 18+. Those are luckily few and far but still their a lot of Kingdom Management which your be force to do it on your own.
Would this build work with a Half-orc?
I am so new to these D&D things. I do not even know what a fortitude save is :( Looks like it will be barbarioan for me :( (what about ranger? Is it easy?)
First of, I am new to D&D and currently I am at level 8 with my Sylvan Sorcerer (Main) and I really think SOME of those feats you picked here are wasted.
Precice Shot for what? I think it only happens in like 1 of 10 battles that my sorcerer gets into melee. Even then he there is no problem at all. Same for Combat Casting. Also the extra WILL. I am yet to discover any enemies that pose a treat with spells against me with WILL saves!?
Also, please say if I am wrong, but isn't Magic Missile way better than Elemental Ray?
Atm I even regret picking Mage Armor because nobody is attacking me. The AI won't switch off the melee frontline.
Oh and I feel like the summuning school seems a bit useless when you can just pick a permanent pet that has ridiculus stats.
(Difficulty: Normal)
So I hope I get some good advise here from some more advanced players of D&D in general. Please :D
Doesn't Armor hulk just swap out armor for the dodge abilities of the basic barbarian? Why do you think that is a bad route?
Yes, but you can take Heavy Armor Proficiency without Armored Hulk, and it only gives extra AC against critical hits to be an Armored Hulk. It's at best a sidegrade compared to the regular Barbarian, while the other two offer distinct advantages and disadvantages that are much more worthwhile to play, in my opinion.
Just FYI, you cannot be lawful when you are a barbarian (you said you can be any alignment). Which is sad since you cannot multiclass into monk/barbarian.
Are there any DETAILED guides the combat system of this game?
I build my character with a cookie cutter and he dies basically every fight including Oleg's Tavern in the intro.
Is this a game where I'm supposed to let the calculators do their thing like EVE Online, or is this more like Starcraft and I'm supposed to be clicking and hotting hotkeys like crazy? Does combat "take turns in real time" or is it as real time as Street Fighter 2?
I love the RP elements of the game but I'm not "getting it" on every other level.
It's real-time with pause. You should be pausing a lot in a fight. Before the start of every fight, everyone (including the enemies) rolls initiative check. The order of turns is based on the result of the initiative rolls. Everyone gets a turn in a round. If you love RP, but get frustated by the fights, just lower the difficulty.
It's real hard for me to admit i'm too stupid for a game and need the care bear settings.
If you have ever watched FTL: Faster Than Light or played it, you'll know that real-time with pause style of games really demand that you pause often to adapt to evolving situations. If you want to play closer to real time, there's no shame turning down the difficulty because it really is not meant to be played without pausing.
Its based off dice rolls so let the calculators do their thing.
If you want a detailed the pathfinder players handbook for pen and paper will explain the combat system pretty thoroughly.
What was the whole deal about ranged touch spells?
When you are giving a recommendation for taking the Elemental Earth bloodline so they will have access to acid damage during Act 2, I just wanted to point out that one of the level 0 spells that all arcane magic users have access to is Acid Splash that deals 1d3 acid damage and can be cast an infinite amount of times. Also there are several weapons that they will likely come across in loot that deal acid damage. There is no reason to base your bloodline decision on the need for acid damage during Act 2.
I mostly meant that it doubled for utility purposes because 1d6+level is usually better than a crossbow.
i really want to try the game but i hear so much bad stuff about it that it spoils it for me. Maybe wait a few Months until more Patches get out.
Would builds that work on tabletop work in-game? I'm thinking of downloading this game and bringing back my gnome barbarian.
I know this is an old comment but I did it and it worked... But it was tough in act 2
the moment when you realize you made ONE major mistake when creating your character by making most of your stats even-numbered as you didn't realize how many boosts you get despite knowing it's one every 4 levels......
you should absolutely make one of your main stats an odd number!
considering you are done with the game at 17 or 18.. even is correct.
Don't think charisma effects your personality, but instead your ability to charm or attractiveness imo. You can still have a good personality with low charisma.