In the War Room: Battler Herald Builds


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Don't know if I'll go about making a Battle Herald Guide, since one already exists, but I did go about compiling many of the possible Battle Herald builds available in their various combinations and strategies.

Before we get into specific builds, there're a few classes which need to be called out that let you even THINK about getting into a Battle Herald

Cavalier: This class is absolutely necessary, because it's the only class that gets the Challenge ability. There are a few Archetypes which can work well, but the majority listed here make use of the Strategist Archetype. Strategist does two important things for this build:

1) It ups your Tactician ability to one every 4 Cavalier levels (this becomes relevant once you hit Battle Herald, since its levels stack with Cavalier to determine your Tactician ability.

2) It replaces Expert Trainer with Drill Instructor. Spend ten minutes and a use of Challenge in order to grant a Teamwork Feat to your allies for 1 minute per 2 levels of Cavalier. True, this ability requires you have time to prepare before a fight, and that the fight will happen within the next few minutes, but trust me on this - it's a lot more useful than "reduce the time to teach your Mount a new trick", especially when Downtime is in effect.

Bard: The original other half of this build. It provides Inspire Courage at 1st level, lots of skills, a good amount of spellcasting, and a few other support-based abilities.

Evangelist: A Cleric Archetype, and another source of Inspire Courage at level 1. You also get 1 Domain, Divine Spells, the ability to Channel, and the ability to burn prepared spells for the spell, Command, at level 1.

Sensei: A Monk Archetype, and the third source of Inspire Courage at level 1. You don't get Flurry of Blows, Fast Movement, but you do get Improved Unarmed Strike as usual, your Unarmed damage is increased to 1d6, Stunning Fist as a Bonus Feat, another Bonus Combat Feat, and you won't really feel like you've lost anything because you hit a brick wall in regards to spell progression once you enter Battle Herald. Oh, and your saves will be GLORIOUS.

Exemplar: Here's a strange and wonderful thing - a Brawler Archetype which not only grants Inspire Courage at 3rd level, but also grants Tactician at 5, counting it's levels as Cavalier levels for determining Tactician. It's a fairly big level investment, but in the long run it really pays off. It also happens to be the only class that grants Inspire Courage that also has full Base Attack Bonus and a d10 HD, meaning builds which use this Class are the toughest have the greatest natural accuracy, and have access to Martial Flexibility.

These four classes - Bard, Evangelist, Sensei, and Exemplar - are the only classes, so far, which can be used in conjunction with Cavalier to gain entrance to Battle Herald (anyone who tells you that Pathfinder Chronicler can do it is a liar and should be shot - that's like going around the world to walk five feet).

And now, onto the War Room:

ARCANE WARLORDS - Conchobar-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1-4 / Bard 1-4 / Battle Herald

Ironically, this is the setup that Paizo had envisioned for the Battle Herald, despite the myriad other ways to make it happen now that're in many ways more exciting and potentially better. So, getting into "vanilla" territory here, this is a solid-yet-mediocre method of going about becoming a Battle Herald.

The one thing to remember about the Battle Herald is that there is a glaring lack of "Spellcaster Level" progression in the class, despite requiring an ability which was originally only obtainable from an Arcane class. That means that you're going to run into a wall of spellcasting potential very quickly.

The other issue at hand is that, for every level of martial progression that you trade for spellcasting, your HP is statistically going to be worse (obviously rolling 7 on a d8 is better than 1 on a d10, but we're going with averages here, people). The GOOD news is that, at least up through Bard 4, you're not going to notice any difference in your Base Attack Bonus at all compared to if you had taken, say, one level of Sensei Monk.

So, how should you do this? Well, that's up to you.

Cav 1 / Bard 4 / Battle Herald produces the squishiest Battle Herald, but gives you access to 2nd Level spells.

Cav 4 / Bard 1 / Battle Herald gives you basically nonexistent spellcasting, but will grant you Field Instruction and more use of Tactician once you hit even Battle Herald 1.

Cav 2 / Bard 3 / Battle Herald makes the best use of your levels - you get all the Level 1-3 abilities of the Bard, along with the Level 2 Order ability of the Cavalier.

Cav 3 / Bard 2 / Battle Herald is kind of a waste; you get less spellcasting than Cav2/Brd3, and you can't apply Cavalier's Charge to an ally, unlike Inspire Competence.

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CRUSADE COMMANDERS - Joan d'Arc-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1-4 / Evangelist Cleric 1-4 / Battle Herald

Now HERE'S some fun nonsense. Quick riddle - what's got the Base Attack Bonus and HD of a bard, but faster spell progression, is Divine, and has an Archetype that lets it get Inspire Courage? That's right - the good ol' Cleric.

The Evangelist only gets one Domain, but that's more than what a Bard gets. On top of that, it can spontaneously cast Command, or (if you've gone up to 3rd level) Enthrall. And, of course, the free Weapon Proficiency if you worship the right deity.

How to plot out this one:

While you can definitely go Cavalier 4 / Cleric 1 / Battle Herald, it seems like it'd be a bit of a waste in this regard. Rather, I'd suggest either Cavalier 2 / Cleric 3 / Battle Herald, so that you get up to 2nd level spells AND still get your level 2 Order Ability, or even go all-out with this and hit Cavalier 1 / Cleric 4.

You still suffer from the same issues as a Bard (lower HP, no spell progression from Battle Herald, etc.), but it's much less of an issue when you add in the greater spell progression, Domain ability, and spell list.

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SCHOLARLY GENERALS - Napoleon-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1-4 / Sensei Monk 1-4 / Battle Herald

This is a pure-martial build that makes use of the Sensei Archetype. Like the previous builds, you have your choices of how you mix and match Cavalier and Sensei in your first five levels, but with this build, it's a little more forgiving no matter what combo you take:

Cav1/Sensei4/Herald: Challenge, Tactician, a Monk Bonus Feat at first level, Stunning Fist, an AC Bonus equal to your Wis+1, Insightful Strike (which lets you attack with your Wisdom modifier using Unarmed strikes or Monk weapons), Inspire Greatness, Still Mind, Maneuver Training, a Ki Pool, and 1d8 damage with Unarmed Strike.

Cav2/Sensei3/Herald: Challenge, Tactician, a 2nd level Order Ability, a Monk Bonus Feat at first level, Stunning Fist, an AC Bonus equal to your Wis, Insightful Strike, Inspire Greatness, Still Mind, Maneuver Training, and 1d6 damage with Unarmed Strike.

Cav3/Sensei2/Herald: Challenge, Tactician, a 2nd level Order Ability, Cavalier's Charge, a Monk Bonus Feat at first level, Stunning Fist, an AC Bonus equal to your Wis, Insightful Strike, and 1d6 damage with Unarmed Strike.

Cav4/Sensei1/Herald: Challenge, Tactician, a 2nd level Order Ability, Cavalier's Charge, Drill Instructor, a Monk Bonus Feat at first level, Stunning Fist, an AC Bonus equal to your Wis.

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MASTER TACTICIAN - Alexander-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1 / Exemplar 5 / Battle Herald

The Ultimate Tactician. You are built around one thing, and one thing only, but dear lord are you godly at it: Teamwork Feats. While this build delays entry into Battle Herald by a level, once Level 6 comes around, you see why it's so crazy - literally every level of this build is designed to increase your Cavalier level for the purposes of calculating Tactician, and to increase your knowledge of Teamwork Feats and how you can throw them onto your buddies.

For added hilarity, while you will probably be spending a large amount of time being full-support, you will also be one of the most resilient and effective melee fighters in your party, if not THE most resilient and effective.

The key to making this REALLY awesome is Crusader's Flurry and Close Weapon Mastery. Crusader's Flurry grants Two-Weapon Fighting to unarmed strikes and - here's the fun part - Close Group weapons, i.e. Shields; on top of this, you can Two-Weapon-Fight with just one hand. You have a Heavy Shield, which you are proficient with thanks to Cavalier, and you are REALLY good at making it into a "smashing-board of doom". At level 5, you get upped damage to your Close Group weapons. Or, of course, you can just ignore these and go about your business, but I still highly recommend using a shield, since your AC will be pretty spectacularly high

The only two downsides of this class are: you cannot enter Battle Herald until level 7, meaning the highest you'll be able to get is Battle Herald 6 in PFS; and your dependence on providing Teamwork Feats for your allies means that you're not fantastic at soloing enemies. However, 12 HD of d10s, full BAB, and Martial Flexibility mean that you won't be in a very bad

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FRONTLINE COMMANDER - Leonidas-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1-2 / Exemplar 3 / Fighter 0-1 / Battle Herald

Rather than focusing mainly on granting your allies Teamwork Feats, you adopt a more general combat style. You drop your dependence on Exemplar to the bare minimum - Level 3 - and either increase your Cavalier level to 2 (in order to gain the Order Ability), or utilize that last level with a dip into Fighter. The best choices for Fighter would be either Tactician Fighter (more skill points) or Unbreakable Fighter (may as well get 2 feats for the price of one level).

You effectively lose 3 levels of Tactician, but gain more personal combat tricks. This is a bit better if you foresee yourself in positions where you'll be soloing enemies, or if your party is going to be split up in giant melees where they are too far from you to benefit from your abilities.

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WARRIOR-KING - Arthur-Class
Strategist Standard-Bearer Cavalier 4 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Battle Herald

You ARE the king of your party. You were born to do 2 things: hold a Banner and grant Teamwork feats. You drop your Mount entirely, and instead devote all your levels but 1 to building up your Banner Bonus (up to +3 at either level 11), and Tactician ability. Field Instructor and Tactician together mean you are going to be granting tons of Teamwork Feats, and Banner plus your Inspired Command mean you are pumping ALL your allies up to hideous levels of efficiency.

Your BAB is 1 behind other pure-martials, your HP takes a slight dip, and you do lose your Mount, but you're still a combat monster, and the shear level of synergy you have with the rest your party more than makes up for the minor sacrifices.

Alternatively, you can delay entry into Battle Herald by one level in order to pick up a Mount at Cavalier 5; if your DM allows Boon Companion, this may be an option, but I feel it's weaker than just getting more levels out of Battle Herald.

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TANK COMMANDER - Hannibal-Class
Beastrider Gendarme Cavalier 4 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Battle Herald

You are a mounted terror. Emphasis on the TERROR. You ride a thing. That thing is BIG. The point of this build is to lead the charge straight into combat. You've heard of the Light Brigade? Yeah, you're not those pusses - you're the freakin' Afrika Korps, and you're riding a goddang PANZER VIII MAUS (don't know what that is? Look it up. Go ahead; I'll wait).

While you lose out on one of the more "commander" aspects (mostly, Tactician) at least until you hit lv10 - you are definitely commander that enemies won't want to mess with.

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PARAGON MARSHAL - Charlemagne-Class
Strategist Cavalier 1 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Holy Tactician Paladin 3 / Battle Herald

This is a pretty serious departure from the other builds, but ends up being deceptively nasty. By dipping only 1 level deep into both Cavalier and your second class, you leave three levels open before you can enter Battle Herald. And it just so happens that not only does Paladin fit by virtue of being a full-BAB Martial, it also has a cute little Archetype called Holy Tactician that plays extremely well into the build.

The first-level ability, Weal's Champion, adds a small bit of Smite-like damage, but the kicker is the third level abilities - one grants a bonus Teamwork Feat, and the second, Battlefield Presence, is not-Tactician; you take a Standard Action and grant every Ally in a 30ft. radius one Teamwork Feat you know, AND you may switch it as a Swift Action. This doesn't have a daily limit nor duration, either. While this doesn't progress with Battle Herald, sadly, it's more than worth the 3-level wade into Paladin territory to make such a useful commander.

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BARE-FISTED COMMONDANT - Beowulf-Class
Cavalier 1 / Master of Many Styles Monk 1 / Exemplar 3 / Battle Herald

Not every commander wields a sword and shield. Some of 'em prefer pure hand-to-hand beatdowns. Since Exemplars already get Brawler's Flurry and increased damage with their fists, it makes sense to play this up. Take a dip into Master of Many Styles, and you have a really nasty little beat-machine.

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CAPTAIN OF THE MUSKETEERS - D'Artagan-Class
Daring Champion Cavalier 1 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger 1 / Fighter 2 / Battle Herald

The name alone should tell you what this is. You're focused on two stats - Dex and Cha - and both play into your abilities fantastically. A little on the feat-heavy side, but you do everything with FLARE, baby.

Obviously, you'll want to take Slashing Grace with this build (as a Daring Champion), so that you're dealing both Dex to attack AND damage with your one-handed slashing weapons.

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LEADER OF MERRY MEN - Robin Hood-Class
Luring Cavalier 1 / (Sensei 1/Bard1/Evangelist1) / Hooded Champion Ranger 2 / Fighter 1 / Battle Herald

Again, pretty straightforward here. You take Hooded Champion Ranger because not only do you gain Archery Combat Style at level 2, you gain Panache, which is Charisma-based, which falls right in line with one of the stats you're already going to focus on. This is a class of Battle Herald which definitely plays on the back lines, safely out of harm's way, letting you call out commands without fear of getting offed.

Much like D'Artagnan-Class Battle Heralds, you can focus much more heavily on Dex with this build, and basically not worry about Strength at all.

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GUNNERY SARGEANT - Nobunaga-Class
Strategist Musketeer Luring Cavalier 4 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Battle Herald

Guns are cheating. Good. Because cheating works - PHENOMENALLY. You combine the insanity of Far Challenge with the hilarity of Muskets. You also take advantage of this setup by utilizing not only Tactician but Drill Instructor Instruction in order to teach your allies how to be as awesome as you.

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HONOR-SWORN LORD - Date Masamune-Class
Samurai 1-3 / (Exemplar 3/Sensei 1/Bard 1/Evangelist 1) / Swashbuckler 0-3 / Fighter 0-3 / Battle Herald

So, here's a bit of an odd build. It uses the Samurai Alternate Class as its basis, instead of the original Cavalier. There's a very, very good reason for this: KATANAS. No, seriously, this isn't some weeaboo nonsense - Katanas are excellent weapons, with their high crit-range, and they're roughly the same damage as a longsword. Oh, and one other reason - they're One-Handed Slashing Weapons. That means you have 5 paths to go with this:

Genbu (North) - Samurai 3 / Exemplar 3 / Battle Herald

Suzaku (South) - Samurai 1 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Cleric 1) / Swashbuckler 3 / Battle Herald

Seiryuu (East) - Samurai 1 / Exemplar 3 / Swashbuckler 1 / Battle Herald

Byakko (West) - Samurai 3 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Cleric 1) / Fighter 1 / Battle Herald

Koryuu (Center) - Samurai 1 / (Sensei 1/Bard 1/Cleric 1) / Swashbuckler 1 / Fighter 2 / Battle Herald

The Genbu Path takes Samurai to level 3, in order to gain the Weapon Expertise class ability. This ability grants an effect identical to Quick Draw, and grants a +2 bonus to confirm Critical Hits (which is great with the Katana); it also counts your Samurai levels as Fighter levels, which works great with Exemplar, which ALSO counts as Fighter levels (meaning you'll count as a level 6 Fighter in total). Your entry into Battle Herald is delayed a level, but since you don't get Tactician through Samurai anyway, getting it later in your career from Battle Herald isn't a tragedy.

The Suzaku Path is similar to the D'Artagnan class build, in that it brings Dex and Charisma to the forefront again by focusing the build around the Swashbuckler class. Taking Slashing Grace means your Katana will be using Dex for both attack AND damage, and you've got a nasty crit range to boost. You also have Deeds, like Opportune Parry & Riposte, which means you'll be parrying with a Katana, which is just immeasurably awesome. By taking Swashbuckler to level 3, you also gain Precise Strike and Swashbuckler Initiative.

The Seiryuu Path, like the Suzaku Path, utilizes Swashbuckler Finesse and Slashing Grace to turn your Katana into a very formidable weapon that uses your Dex to both attack and damage and has a high crit range.

The Byakko Path takes a similar route as the Genbu route, but uses 1 level of Bard, Evangelist, or Sensei, and 1 level of Fighter, in order to enter into Battle Herald at the usual rate. You lose a BAB and your fighter Level only counts as 4, but that's more than enough for most feats you'll want to take.

The Koryuu Path, like its namesake, takes the center road on everything - the katana, the standard access rate granted by one of the one-level-dip classes, Dex-to-attack-and-damage from Swashbuckler's Finesse plus Slashing Grace, and 2 Bonus Combat Feats care of the Fighter.


Great post, thanks alot!
I always wanted to lay a battle herald and love the new options wih the hybrid classes!


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For the CAPTAIN OF THE MUSKETEERS build, I'd advise a 3rd fighter level to grab DEX to damage on guns with trench fighter.

Daring champion is a good option for basically any of the builds if you want to go with DEX instead of STR, but otherwise without taking 4 levels you don't really gain much out of it.


I applaud the brilliance of this Thread. Well done I say. Few realize the true prowess of being the "Support-Warrior," and the Battle Herald does it the best. And I never realized the variety you could employ to gain access to the prc.


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Expert Trainers actual effect is unimportant. What matters is that it's a prereq for Horse Master, which is a nearly essential feat for Battle Heralds. Having a mount at your full level will be useful far more often than Drill Instructor IMO.

Edit: OK, maybe not if you're having fun with Daring Champion or shooting things. Dismissing the ability is a mistake though.


A few choice 12th level builds fully kitted out would be appreciated, and would show the kind of damage/buffs/AC/extras that the BH can achieve.

Great work though.


LoneKnave wrote:

For the CAPTAIN OF THE MUSKETEERS build, I'd advise a 3rd fighter level to grab DEX to damage on guns with trench fighter.

Daring champion is a good option for basically any of the builds if you want to go with DEX instead of STR, but otherwise without taking 4 levels you don't really gain much out of it.

Yeah, Trench Fighter is a fun class, and extremely useful.

I tried to keep this PRD-based, tough, in case player don't have access to non-PRD material. If your DM DOES allow Trench Fighter, though, then by all means - delaying entry from lv6 to lv7 isn't a huge loss when you get the extra Fighter shenanigans.

avr wrote:

Expert Trainers actual effect is unimportant. What matters is that it's a prereq for Horse Master, which is a nearly essential feat for Battle Heralds. Having a mount at your full level will be useful far more often than Drill Instructor IMO.

Edit: OK, maybe not if you're having fun with Daring Champion or shooting things. Dismissing the ability is a mistake though.

For most of these builds, the Mount is really a tertiary quality of the class. If your DM allows Boon Companion, then it's a near-necessary feat, but it's no enormous loss if they don't, honestly.

I didn't list it here, but I also fully support anyone who applies Standard Bearer to any of these builds it can (except Tank Commander, obviously), because it starts your Banner off at lv1.

For Gendarme-based builds, like the Tank Commander, I'd say absolutely take Horse Lord, though.


I'd love to see the tank build in action, what feats and general progression you suggest.

Silver Crusade RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32

I've been thinking about making a Battle Herald lately, so this is great timing for me! :)

A couple of things:

In the Master Tactician build (and anything else that involves the Exemplar archetype), you seem to be implying things about using unarmed strikes? Maybe I'm just reading it wrong, but in any case the Exemplar Brawler gives up Improved Unarmed Strike (and the accompanying damage increase) for the Call to Arms ability. This seems to be intentional, as its level 5 ability also replaces something IUS related. I think Close Weapon Mastery should still increase shield bash damage, though.

I think you have to be careful when using certain classes to reach BH: namely, the Evangelist Cleric, Paladin, and Fighter. Aside from the BAB and class feature requirements, don't forget that you need 17 total skill ranks before you can enter BH! A cavalier1/cleric 4 only gets 12+Int, meaning that you'd have to have at least 12 Int, because the multi-classing doesn't let you get up to 17 with your FCB alone (unless you're a half-elf)! Just something to keep in mind.

Now some questions of my own! The BH I've been planning for PFS is Bard (Arcane Duelist) 4 / Cavalier (Standard Bearer) 1. I'm planning on being an ifrit (have the boon) with a longspear. Some things I've been wondering:
-Do you think it would be more beneficial to stick with the original ifrit SLA to cast burning hands 1/day to deal with the occasional swarm? Or should I go for the Efreeti Magic SLA to cast enlarge/reduce person 1/day, because it's one of the only ways I'll be able to get myself enlarged for that extended reach as a non-humanoid.
-Do you think the Flagbearer feat is worth taking? Should I hold off on taking it until I can afford a Banner of the Ancient Kings, since it explicitly says you can put it on a longspear?
-Taking bard levels before any cavalier levels allows you to pick up the Outflank teamwork feat with your cavalier bonus teamwork feat. Do you think it's worth it, or are you better off going with some other teamwork feat?
-I've been considering going bard 5 / cav 1... At Arcane Duelist 5, the bard gets an arcane bond with a weapon, allowing you to enchant it at half-price in PFS. This seems like it would be useful given the way treasure is handled in PFS (it would certainly help in saving up for that banner), but I don't know if that extra bard level messes up the build too much... what do y'all think?


mechaPoet wrote:
In the Master Tactician build (and anything else that involves the Exemplar archetype), you seem to be implying things about using unarmed strikes? Maybe I'm just reading it wrong, but in any case the Exemplar Brawler gives up Improved Unarmed Strike (and the accompanying damage increase) for the Call to Arms ability. This seems to be intentional, as its level 5 ability also replaces something IUS related. I think Close Weapon Mastery should still increase shield bash damage, though.

It's not entirely clear exactly if Close Weapon Mastery was meant to work with Exemplar, but it does. It says you deal damage with Close weapons "as a Brawler of 4 levels lower", meaning RAW it does increase the damage, since it's not "your level" just "A Brawler of".

With Master Tactician, the idea is to be using Close weapons primarily, especially your Shield.

Basically, you have, say, a flurry of +3/+3 at level 5 - with Brawler's Flurry, which you DON'T lose with Exemplar, you can make both those attacks with your Shield, or any other Monk or Close weapons you have.

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I did forget that the Exemplar completely loses Unarmed damage in the case of Bare-Fisted Commondant, since it's tied to Unarmed Strike, which basically means that build needs to be re-worked entirely (if it's even viable at all).

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As for Flagbearer, that's just asking for trouble. If your DM Sunders your Flag, or lights it on fire, you're boned

Taking the Standard Bearer Archetype is better - it's not a Feat, and your Mount isn't your main focus anyway except in the case of Tank Commander and related builds.


mechaPoet wrote:
-I've been considering going bard 5 / cav 1... At Arcane Duelist 5, the bard gets an arcane bond with a weapon, allowing you to enchant it at half-price in PFS. This seems like it would be useful given the way treasure is handled in PFS (it would certainly help in saving up for that banner), but I don't know if that extra bard level messes up the build too much... what do y'all think?

I already don't like Bard for the Battle Herald, honestly, and taking it to 5 is just... no.

Along with entering Battle Herald later, you're making your Base Attack Bonus worse, and really getting nothing in return - Inspire Courage +2 (woo...) and the ability to take 10 on Knowledge checks... meh.

Free Arcane Strike is nice, but you have to use it every round, and as a Swift Action.

You can't make a Challenge in the same round you activate Arcane Strike, nor can you switch Commands as a Swift Action (once you reach Battle Herald 5).

It's not great Action Economy - if it was "activate, and then it lasts for [n] rounds" then, yes.

And you gain a Bonded Object at... 5th level?

Arcane Duelist is worth a 1 level dip, so you gain Arcane Strike and Rallying Cry.

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Here's how I would build a Cavalier/Arcane Duelist into Battle Herald, making especial use of Intimidate for Rallying Cry.

Silver-Tongued Focused-Study Human - OR - Half-Elf | Strategist Standard-Bearer Cavalier / Arcane Duelist Bard / Battle Herald
Favored Class - Cavalier
Race Skill Focus (Intimidate)
CL1 Cav1 Antagonize, Distracting Charge, Challenge 1/day, Banner +1, Tactician 1/day
CL2 Cav2 Order Ability
CL3 Cav3 Intercept Charge
CL4 Cav4 Challenge 2/day, Drill Sargeant, Banner +2
CL5 Brd1 ???, Arcane Strike, Inspire Courage +1, Rallying Cry, Distraction, Fascinate
CL6 BtHr1 Inspiring Command +1, Sound the Charge, Voice of Authority (Diplomacy, Intimidate +2), Tactician 2/day


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mechaPoet wrote:
-Do you think it would be more beneficial to stick with the original ifrit SLA to cast burning hands 1/day to deal with the occasional swarm? Or should I go for the Efreeti Magic SLA to cast enlarge/reduce person 1/day, because it's one of the only ways I'll be able to get myself enlarged for that extended reach as a non-humanoid.

Given the Ifrit's +2 Bonus to Dex and Charisma, I'd do with the Captain of the Musketeers build, and don't even bother with Enlarge Person. Make Dex your go-to attack stat.

Take Wildfire Heart, since you get a +4 Racial Bonus to Initiative - this is effectively a free feat that stacks with Improved Initiative. When you take Improved Initiative at level 3, you get a total of +8 to Init, on top of your hilariously-high Dex, for a total of +11.

YOU ARE GOING TO GO FIRST.

Which is great, because that means you get to use Tactician and Inspire before the rest of your part goes.

Wildfire Heart Ifrit | Daring Champion Cavalier / Sensei Monk / Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger / Fighter
Base Stats: Str 9 / Dex 16 (14+2) / Con 14 / Int 12 / Wis 10 (12-2) / Cha 17 (15+2)
Stat Increases

CL1 Ftr1 Weapon Finesse (Retrain to Amateur Swashbuckler (Oppurtune Parry & Riposte) at level 3), Weapon Focus (Longsword)
CL2 Ftr2 Slashing Grace
CL3 Cav1 Improved Initiative, Distracting Charge | Grit/Panache Pool: 1/3
CL4 Mnk1 Combat Reflexes, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist | Cha 18 | Grit/Panache Pool: 1/4
CL5 Gun1 Rapid Reload (Pistol) or Power Attack | Grit/Panache Pool: 5/8
CL6 BtHr1 Sound the Charge


just noticed:
You say "crusader's flurry" in MASTER TACTICIAN - Alexander-Class, but the class feature is "Brawler's Flurry".
Crusader's flurry is a feat for cleric/monks.

Grand Lodge

I have always been a fan of Dawnflower dervish battle heralds due to double IC bonuses for solo mode or using BH to share the bonuses with the party. Plus it saves you from having to spend a feat on slashing grace.I see the build functioning very well as a Griffith from Berserk style BH. Basically the selfish-leader.


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MightyK wrote:

just noticed:

You say "crusader's flurry" in MASTER TACTICIAN - Alexander-Class, but the class feature is "Brawler's Flurry".
Crusader's flurry is a feat for cleric/monks.

Sometimes my brain thinks one thing, and my hands type something tuna.


chbgraphicarts wrote:

Wildfire Heart Ifrit | Daring Champion Cavalier / Sensei Monk / Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger / Fighter
Base Stats: Str 9 / Dex 16 (14+2) / Con 14 / Int 12 / Wis 10 (12-2) / Cha 17 (15+2)
Stat Increases

CL1 Ftr1 Weapon Finesse (Retrain to Amateur Swashbuckler (Oppurtune Parry & Riposte) at level 3), Weapon Focus (Longsword)
CL2 Ftr2 Slashing Grace
CL3 Cav1 Improved Initiative, Distracting Charge | Grit/Panache Pool: 1/3
CL4 Mnk1 Combat Reflexes, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist | Cha 18 | Grit/Panache Pool: 1/4
CL5 Gun1 Rapid Reload (Pistol) or Power Attack | Grit/Panache Pool: 5/8
CL6 BtHr1 Sound the Charge

OK, I really like this build. Would it also work replacing Ftr2/Mnk1 with Examplar3, or would the lack of feats be too punishing?


A bit too punishing, honestly. While a Wildfire Heart Ifrit gets free Imp. Init, that doesn't make up quite for the much-slower progression - the racial "not-feat" is worth it BECAUSE you can support yourself on this build well for the first two levels when you have the disconnect between Dex to Attack and Dex to Damage.

With Exemplar 3, you'd have to wait until level 3 or later to get Slashing Grace, and you wouldn't be able to take advantage of retraining to exchange Weapon Finesse for Amateur Swashbuckler (which is how you get Opportune Parry & Riposte), nor get Improved Initiative at level 3.

With this build, you get Dex to attack at level 1, you can choose to have Dex go to Damage at level 2 with the right weapons, and at level 3 it all comes together, with extra Feats giving you a very strong Deed, a Grit/Panache Pool, a Teamwork Feat, and a Feat that improves your already-strong Initiative.

Monk only further adds to the hilarity because it grants you Combat Reflexes as a Bonus Feat, IUS AND Stunning Fist on top of that, and only loses you 1 BAB and on average 1 HP or thereabout.

So, while you're at 3/4 BAB at level 4, by level 5, you're back to 4/5 BAB, and for the rest of your career, you're pretty close to full BAB.

With this build, taking Exemplar for 1 BAB and 1 HP isn't worth losing what amounts to 5 Bonus Feats and early access to Grit/Panache, since Exemplar will only grant you effectively 2 over the course of 3 levels (Martial Flexibility would have to count as the "second" since you'd usually be assigning a specific feat to it to make up your losses), and isn't a fantastic class for Dex-based combat.

Exemplar works great for other builds because they'll likely be using a shield, they aren't as feat-heavy, and are typically more based in Str than Dex.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

So which are the best Teamwork feats for one of these builds to grant to a general PFS team?


Presentation alone is grounds for an applause. Hope it gets added to the stick "guide to classes/builds".


Tarondor, there's really only one "best" teamwork feat: Escape Route.


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ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Necroing Own Thread!

Yeah, okay, so, I had a chance to look at a few more things.

So, remember how I said that Sensei Monk is a good one level dip?

I lied.

IT IS THE BEST F~+#ING ONE-LEVEL DIP YOU CAN TAKE

Let me explain, because it's not so much the Sensei, it's the other nonsense that goes with it.

If you are a Human, you take Wanderer Sensei Monk 1.

Why do you do that?

Because Wanderer gets Exotic Weapon Proficiency AS A BONUS FEAT. That means that a 1 Level dip gives you Inspire Courage, Improved Unarmed Strike, and Exotic Weapon Proficiency - Falcata... THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO TAKE THIS!

Seriously, the best melee weapon in the game, and it's a dad-gum FREE FEAT, AND it's attached to an Archetype that meshes with a Sensei.

I just... I cannot express how much joy realizing this combo brought to my heart.

---

NOW, for some other maybe-good, maybe-bad news:

Exemplar Brawler. We know him, we love him, he gains Field Instruction, which otherwise counts as the Tactician ability, and is affected by "feats and other effects which affect Tactician".

Now, how exactly is interpret that last line is where some issues arise:

Does that mean levels stack with Cavalier levels in determining how many times you get Tactician/Field Instruction in a day?

Or, RAW, is it a separate ability entirely, and thus the levels DON'T stack together?

Well, the latter may be more true than the prior. But their IS some awesome silver lining to be found.

Continue reading, and you'll find this little gem: "(feats and other effects which affect tactician (such as Practiced Tactician) apply to it.)"

That right there is an awesome little caveat, because:

If Tactician and Field Instruction ARE, in fact, two different abilities, but BOTH are affected by Practiced Tactician, that means that for the price of 1 Feat, you gain effectively TWO additional daily uses of the ability - one from the Cavalier's Tactician, one from the Exemplar's Field Instruction.

Again, much of this is completely up to DM Interpretation. However, it's nice to know that there are ways to make an oddball quirk of multiclassing work in your favor.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Well, im sure our profile pics will be source of confusion for some... I'm going to risk it though, lol.

It's probably not quite as optimized as some of your builds but you missed one of my favorite battle heralds:

the dwarven commander
cavalier[daring champion] 1/monk [kata master, sensei] 4/battle herald

I know what you're thinking... Cha classes on a dwarf? Bear with me... Focus on Dex and Wis; 10-11 Cha will be enough... Use slashing grace for your waraxe (dwarven weapon familiarity makes you proficient, and a dwarf gracefully spinning and slashing with a waraxe is awesome); don't wear armor (take advantage of monk AC bonus, plus look awesome); you will lose a couple rounds of inspiring command without the Cha, but you can use rounds of bardic performance for that, and you'll gain more of those since they're wisdom based for you; you don't go deep enough in daring champion to get panache, but you do get it from kata master- you won't have many points with your Cha but you can burn Ki points (which are Wis based) to power those abilities too. All in all he should be pretty effective and super cool.


With Cavalier VMC, you can now get in single classed, I think.


LoneKnave wrote:
With Cavalier VMC, you can now get in single classed, I think.

Mmmmaybe?

I won't know until I look at it, but if what people are saying about VMC - that it's Either/Or with regards to traditional Multiclassing (meaning you can EITHER VMC OR Traditional Multiclass), then it presents some issues with going into Prestige Classes (since PRCs are, after all multiclassing).

It also depends on when you can get things like Inspire Courage or Challenge.

If you can get Challenge at lv3, then have at it, I suppose.

Exemplar 5/Battle Herald would be pretty nice, although you'd REALLY lose out on the Banner bonus, frankly, and the Banner morale bonus is almost ALWAYS going to be greater than the bonus from Inspire Courage; then again, if you go Exemplar 6 before diving into Battle Herald, you'd be getting Martial Flexibility as 1 Swift/2 Move, which is a really, really nice trade off...

I think a lot of Guides are going to have to get some major rewrites due to the VMC rules, IF VMC rules allow you to both VMC AND enter Prestige Classes.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I forgot to mention one of my favorite things about the dwarven commander... well, I guess its really my favorite thing about the sensei/kata master combo... If you take 2 extra levels of monk, at 6th you can spend performance to bestow the benefits of any Ki usage to an ally... Since you can power deeds with Ki that means you can bestow them! For 1 Ki and 1 round of performance you can let the party's burly 2hander parry and reposte :)

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Excellent detail and variety! I'll be keeping an eye on this. Battle Herald is one of my favorite PrCs.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Quick question: You mention Crusader's Flurry in some brawler builds, but there's no real way they can take that feat as it requires channel energy. Is there a way to do this?


Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Quick question: You mention Crusader's Flurry in some brawler builds, but there's no real way they can take that feat as it requires channel energy. Is there a way to do this?

It's Brawler's Flurry - there's a bit too many similarly-named things in this game (like how Martial Versatility, a feat, and Martial Flexibility, a class ability, are both things), and I was getting kinda tired when writing this.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Brawler's Flurry only works with shields, close weapons and monk weapons, right? So with those builds you can only use monk weapons with your shield?


Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Brawler's Flurry only works with shields, close weapons and monk weapons, right? So with those builds you can only use monk weapons with your shield?

Generally, yes, but as I said, your Shield is a deceptively fantastic weapon.

You get increases to damage once you hit lv5, plus you count as a Monk for the purposes of items like a Monk's Robe (meaning you can up your Monk level to your full Brawler level.

And Shield Mastery means that being a Dual-Shield Wielder is actually one of - if not THE - best methods for two-weapon fighting in the game.

Since you have Brawler's Flurry, you have "reliable access" to Two-Weapon Fighting, and thus qualify for all Shield Feats that require TWF. Shield Slam lets you beat face with a Shield and still retain your Shield Bonus to AC.

Picking up a Klar for your mainhand is a good way to trick the system by giving you a non-Shield weapon One-Handed Weapon that's still a Shield - it's a Shield when you want to Flurry, and it's a one-handed weapon when you want to make a single attack.

Once you hit Character Level 11 and can get Shield Mastery, then go absolutely nuts with your choices - Heavy Shields, Lion Shields, whatever. Since you take NO penalties for TWFing, you can have a Shield in your offhand that normally counts as a One-Handed Weapon, and go absolutely nuts.

---

Beyond simply playing The Mighty Armadillo, there's the Cestus that you can wield in each hand (the 19-20/x2 modifier means that once you've got an effective Longsword in each hand once you get your Monk's Robe on with your Cestuses).

Close: bayonet, brass knuckles, cestus, dan bong, emei piercer, fighting fan, gauntlet, heavy shield, iron brush, katar, light shield, madu, mere club, punching dagger, rope gauntlet, sap, scizore, spiked armor, spiked gauntlet, spiked shield, tekko-kagi, tonfa, unarmed strike, wooden stake, and wushu dart.

The Katar is actually a x4 crit weapon, which really warrants some thought, especially if you get up to lv5 and therefore can up its damage.

Spiked Armor being available also means that you can be a Grapple monster and deal damage with your Spikes.

---

And, then, of course, you can always just ignore Brawler's Flurry entirely, using a weapon in one or two hands as normal (since your BAB will be high anyway). Cavalier levels will grant you access to all Martial Weapons and Shields as armor, after all.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

But doesn't wielding two shields look silly?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Historically, lots of people have been willing to look silly in order to gain an advantage in combat...


Several African tribes use a dual-shield method of fighting, as do several schools of martial arts.

Realistically, a Shield is an absolutely amazing weapon, being both weapon and armor combined: if it's a pointed-end shield, it can piece through armor with relative ease, its edges can be sharpened to the same degree as a sword, and if nothing else they are fantastic tools to beat peoples' faces in

The main reason why shields are secondary to spears or swords, however, is that swords and spears provide greater reach and can more-easily be thrust into small gaps in armor to hit flesh below - shields can do the same, but can't be manipulated with as much dexterity as a sword.

For martial arts that focus on strikes and parries, rather than throwing or grappling, a properly-sized shield is much more devastating than an unarmed strike, and two shields are extremely dangerous to fight against.

Sovereign Court

You can also cut steak with swords and daggers :)


Purple Dragon Knight wrote:
You can also cut steak with swords and daggers :)

Real Men rip it straight from the carcass, with their mouths, the way nature intended.

Sovereign Court

How barbaric! ;)

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

I was led to believe that lances and longspears were the only weapons a Battle Herald should consider, because Banner.


Banner can be ANYTHING - a Hat, a Shield, your Armor, your weapon, etc.

Captain America is a Cavalier, and his Shield is his banner.

Superman is a Cavalier, and his armor (especially the "S") is his Banner.

Monkey D. Luffy is a Cavalier, and the Straw Hat is his Banner.

The list goes on.

---

"A lance deals double damage when used from the back of a charging mount."

That's basically the only reason a Lance is a so commonly usd, but it's hardly the sole way of making a Cavalier.

The Lance is best for a straight-up Cavalier. A Battle Herald is in no-way a straight-up Cavalier; it's something else entirely.

For one, you need a Mount, which, as said before, becomes a secondary aspect of the class, if not something that you drop entirely, with Tactician and Banner becoming much more the focus of the class.

Strategist, frankly, I find to be just better than the base Cavalier. The ability to grant up to 4 of your teammates a Teamwork Feat for 10+Class minutes via Drill Instructor is phenomenal (you may be thinking, "but that may not be ALL your party - well, your caster may have little to no use for combat teamwork feats, and you don't have to train yourself, so unless you've got 7-8 characters in your party, you're probably covering everyone relevant to that feat)

Standard Bearer gives you Banner at lv1, where you really should have it, especially if you plan to only dip 1 level into Cavalier.

You're almost NEVER going to get to lv5 with Cavalier; either Banner is going to be lost or you're not going to get your Mount - if you have to choose between being your party's Commander Buffmiester or "Hey, guys, I know I'm lord leader, but screw your Morale Bonuses, I have a HORSE!" then shoot the f@!+ing horse.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

What about magic banners? They all have to be mounted on a polearm, lance or spear.

Most of the cavalier builds I see include that, especially the Banner of Lost Kings from Lands of the Linnorm Kings.


Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

What about magic banners? They all have to be mounted on a polearm, lance or spear.

Most of the cavalier builds I see include that, especially the Banner of Lost Kings from Lands of the Linnorm Kings.

Champion's Banner wrote:
A champion's banner is a cloth flag or standard (typically 2 feet wide and 4 feet long) meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Lord's Banner wrote:
A lord's banner is a cloth flag or standard, typically at least 2 feet wide and 4 feet long (though some are up to twice that size), meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Commander's Banner wrote:
A commander's banner is a cloth flag or standard (typically 2 feet wide and 4 feet long) meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Knight's Banner wrote:
A Knight's banner can be displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.

Frame or Staff

Banner of the Lost Kings is the only one that is required to be put on a Longspear, and it's a Longspear alone, meaning you can't even put it onto a Lance.

If you're playing a home game, you can ask your DM to make it into a Cape or something else, after all.

I mean, nothing's more iconic about Superman than his Cape.

You can take away every cape from every other character in every comic, even Thor, even Batman - you CANNOT take away Superman's Cape. It's THE cape.

I honestly can't think of something more appropriate for a Banner than that.

And, like I said, try other things - try a Hat, a tabbard, a helmet...

One of the most iconic Banners in all of history is Excalibur.

Arthur actually DID have a proper Banner (it was a flag with Y Ddraig Goch emblazoned on it that shot fire from the Dragon's mouth) but NOTHING - not the Grail, not the Round Table - is more iconic or worth of a Banner than Arthur's war-sword.

It doesn't hurt to ask your DM if you can add the powers of a [something]'s Banner to your iconic item - I'd wager most would be fine with it, honestly.

---

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret - most of the guides and things you read are written by people who have all the creativity of a snail.

They're great for building the body of a character, but they're not great when it comes to thinking outside of the box, or even considering anything but the most-obvious options, which may not actually BE the best options when all is said and done.

Even I've probably missed a whole host of possibilities with these designs, and lord knows I wracked my brain to come up with crazy combinations and themes for this.

Don't be an uncreative shlub like them. Be creative.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

[murmuring=weird guy from office space]umm, I believe my dwarf was creative... I was told my dwarf was creative...[/murmuring]


nate lange wrote:
[murmuring=weird guy from office space]umm, I believe my dwarf was creative... I was told my dwarf was creative...[/murmuring]

Yeah, no, that's actually what I'm talking about.

Making a Wisdom-based Battle Herald hadn't even crossed my mind, really, 'cause I'd never looked into Kata Master myself. It seems like a really neat way to take the design.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
chbgraphicarts wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

What about magic banners? They all have to be mounted on a polearm, lance or spear.

Most of the cavalier builds I see include that, especially the Banner of Lost Kings from Lands of the Linnorm Kings.

Champion's Banner wrote:
A champion's banner is a cloth flag or standard (typically 2 feet wide and 4 feet long) meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Lord's Banner wrote:
A lord's banner is a cloth flag or standard, typically at least 2 feet wide and 4 feet long (though some are up to twice that size), meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Commander's Banner wrote:
A commander's banner is a cloth flag or standard (typically 2 feet wide and 4 feet long) meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.
Knight's Banner wrote:
A Knight's banner can be displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff.

Frame or Staff

Banner of the Lost Kings is the only one that is required to be put on a Longspear, and it's a Longspear alone, meaning you can't even put it onto a Lance.

If you're playing a home game, you can ask your DM to make it into a Cape or something else, after all.

I mean, nothing's more iconic about Superman than his Cape.

You can take away every cape from every other character in every comic, even Thor, even Batman - you CANNOT take away Superman's Cape. It's THE cape.

I honestly can't think of something more appropriate for a Banner than that.

And, like I said, try other things - try a Hat, a tabbard, a helmet...

One of the most iconic Banners in all of history is Excalibur.

Arthur actually DID have a proper Banner (it was a flag with Y Ddraig Goch emblazoned on it that shot...

Wow that's...that's really cool! I WANNA TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT NOW! *runs off to write up character sheets*


With the new Variant Multiclassing it looks like you can grab the Challenge ability at level 3 by grabbing VMC Cavalier/. So if you wanted you could go ahead and make that Exemplar->Battle-Herald now.


Apologies if I am necroing the thread somehow, but... Wouldn't using Bard as the 'Inspire Courage class' for Battle Herald be useful insofar as offering more Inspire Courage rounds than any other class?

Or is this mostly offset by the fact that Battle Herald gets 4+Charisma bonus rounds +2 per level?

Don't know if this is a 'basic' question, but since I am building a Battle Herald for the first time, the doubt came up in my head.

Also, isn't it just sad that there is absolutely no way to get FCB on a prestige class?

LAst but not least, amazingly good thread chbgraphicarts and all - extremely useful in how to go about building towards the PrC.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Albion, wait. Are you and I both fantasizing about the same prestige class?

WORLD EXPLODES!

Hmm


Oh my... Now we've done it!

*Ducks*

Battle Herald has always been one of my favorite PrC in concept, and now I am trying to put it to work on a character.

chbgraphicarts' thread is excellent in exploring the different intricacies, but there is a lot to take in.

I think my main concern here is mastering the use of Teamwork feats efficiently, and in such a way as to make a difference. Using Inspire Courage is easy, but choosing and correctly applying Teamwork Feats, while balancing Cavalier and Exemplar abilities is not straightforward.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I agree that the teamwork feats get complicated. I'm looking at the Averakan Arbiter bard, and I've been trying to figure out how it works with teamwork feats.

I've also been thinking of creating a small boar riding cavalier with a bard level who might go into this prestige class.

Hmm


Since I am trying to build a Battle Herald at the moment I went through a few ideas and have a quick comment on the 3 Level Dip Holy Tactician Paladin. "non-evil allies within 30 feet of her gain a competence bonus on attack rolls equal to 1/2 her Charisma bonus against that creature as well as a +1 competence bonus on damage rolls." Since the compentence bonus does not stack with the inspire courage bonus of the bard and the battle herald (inspire command) I would not recommend this build.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Does anyone know if:

1) Brawler (Exemplar) was given errata;
2) CBGraphicArts missed that the Exemplar archetype's "Call to Arms" ability replaces Close Weapon Mastery; or
3) I'm missing something.

I'd like to build CBGraphicArt's "Master Tactician", above, but his ideas on two-weapon fighting with shields confuse me. How does the Master Tactician build gain Close Weapon Mastery?

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