Need help on a build

[shine_a_light]

Hey guys, and looking to start an character. It is one of my go to characters, so I’m in no hurry, and want to get the build right.

 

He is an Elven Occult Investigator and Scholar, so will definitely be grabbing Scholar as profession.

 

The original idea was a cross between John Constantine from Hellblazer and Mikael Blomkvist from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, although he’s evolved significantly in my mind through play and roleplay.

 

I am not significantly tied to a build for him, other than being a mobile player, and therefore needing to be able to solo in melee. He doesn’t need to be an Alpha level Melee Tank, necessarily, but playing on mobile makes playing ranged, stealth reliant, or nuker BUILDS unwieldy. Therefore I prefer to rely on melee, possibly with a Pet to assist.

 

Really, it’s mostly about the roleplay, but I am also looking for something optimized that makes use of him being an elf.

 

I have built him in the past as a Cleric and Druid, although that seems to bring baggage to the character that I really don’t need, as far as roleplay. I was also looking at Ranger, but am not sure there is enough of the occult aspect there, and do not really see him as a dual wielder.

 

I am now looking at perhaps a Spellsword Build of some sort, though I’ve never actually played one.

 

Off the top of my head, thinking about maybe Wizard 23/Duelist 5/Rogue 2 Finessing a Longsword, which makes use of his +2 Dex and Elven Weapons Proficiency, and carrying a Longbow for situational use, but not really sinking anything into it. Wizard 15/Duelist 5 nets a lackluster 12 BAB +5 EAB +3 WF/EWF + 10 Tensors +5 GMW +1 Duelist +1 EP = 32. Not sure how to improve on that. I will get some from Dexterity, and can of course briefly cap it with TS. Maybe UMD will open up some helpful scrolls as well . AC should be solid though with 10 Base + 25 EMA +4 Duelist +5 Boots +4 Haste +1 MA +1 Shadow MA +6 Tumble +2 AS = 58 before accounting for Dexterity.

 

Anyway, in no hurry and certainly not tied to any build, spellsword or otherwise. I just want something that can viably solo through 30 in melee and be of use in a party endgame.

 

Bard might also be an option, though Elves are pretty feat-starved…I think I may have tried that once and not been terribly happy with the results.

 

Anyway, thanks in advance for the help.

[Arctic]

The first thing that popped into my mind when reading this was indeed a ranger. It might not fit the occult part as well as a spellsword, but by taking undead, outsiders and aberrations (aka alien like creatures) you already have some features targeted towards the occult and fighting it. The pets are really strong and although none of the companions fit that well thematically, perhaps aside from the displacer beast, you have the option of getting cool, thematic reskins down the line. To make the most out of a ranger I'd certainly recommend dual-wield but it's not like you lose any features by not dual-wielding, you just miss out on some damage potential. If you manage your spells and gear you will need a bit to buff before heading out, but once you have cast your spells the build is also very low maintenance, just need to heal and use divine favor for bosses.

The downside of going ranger is that you might not have enough skill points for investment into investigation skills. On the upside investigation skills generally aren't that useful on Amia. Spot is mostly used against players, since NPC's rarely stealth. Search checks are sparsely called for, and social skills have very limited use. Disable trap is useful, plenty of dungeons have them, but it rarely costs more than a healing kit to undo the damage a trap did. Investigation skills can be more useful in DM-led events, but that's not what you'll be doing most of the time on your character.