Vital Strike

Introduction

The Feats

Vital Strike

Prerequisites

Base Attack Bonus: +6

Effect

As a standard action, make one attack at your highest base attack bonus, rolling the weapon’s damage dice twice and adding the results before applying any bonuses (e.g., Strength, weapon abilities, precision damage).

Improved Vital Strike

Prerequisites

Vital Strike
Base Attack Bonus: +11

Effect

As a standard action, make one attack at your highest base attack bonus, rolling the weapon’s damage dice three times and adding the results before applying any bonuses (e.g., Strength, weapon abilities, precision damage).

Greater Vital Strike

Prerequisites

Improved Vital Strike
Base Attack Bonus: +16

Effect

As a standard action, make one attack at your highest base attack bonus, rolling the weapon’s damage dice four times and adding the results before applying any bonuses (e.g., Strength, weapon abilities, precision damage).

Mythic Vital Strike

Mythic Feat

Prerequisites

Vital Strike

Effect

When using Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, or Greater Vital Strike to multiply damage dice, you also multiply your Strength bonus, weapon enhancement, and other bonuses normally multiplied on a critical hit by the same factor.

How to Obtain Vital Strike

Through Feats
- Vital Strike (BAB +6), Improved Vital Strike (BAB +11), and Greater Vital Strike (BAB +16).
- Only full BAB classes (or Warpriests, who can use class level for BAB prerequisites) can access all three feats.
- Classes with 3/4 BAB progression max out at BAB +15, making Greater Vital Strike inaccessible.
- Classes with 1/2 BAB progression max out even lower.
Rowdy Rogue Subclass
- Grants Vital Strike feats early (levels 1, 6, and 11) without using feats.
- Includes the Vital Force ability from level 1, which adds sneak attack dice to Vital Strike damage.
Dipping
- Rowdy Dip: Grants Vital Strike and Vital Force early, useful for sneak attack-focused builds.
- Loremaster Dip: Access Greater Vital Strike early (level 6-7), bypassing prerequisites. Best for 3/4 BAB classes with martial features.

General Notes

Will expand upon some of these, directly or inderectly, later in the guide.

Full BAB Classes: Vital Strike is often inferior to full attacks unless paired with a strong move-action ability. Example: Freebooter Rangers can combine Freebooter’s Bane (a scaling move action buff) with Vital Strike for efficient action economy.
Rowdy Rogue: The main features the class offers, aside from Vital Strike and Vital Force, are sneak attack dice and bonus feats. However, the bonus feats are of limited value since Vital Strike is not particularly feat-intensive. Lacks strong move-action synergy within the class.
3/4 BAB Classes: These classes benefit more from Vital Strike as they lack the attack count of full BAB classes, but have good martial abilities and personal spells. Thanks to Loremaster we can get Vital Strike on any 3/4 BAB spellcaster class.
Mythic Vital Strike: Essential for maximising Vital Strike’s effectiveness, as it multiplies flat damage bonuses alongside weapon dice. This is critical for scaling damage into the late-game.

Closer look at the dips

Rowdy Dip

Feature	Details
Class Skills	Athletics, Mobility, Stealth, Trickery, Knowledge (World), Perception, Persuasion, UMD
Proficiencies	Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons, Light Armor
BAB	+0
Sneak Attack	+1d6
Other Features	Trapfinding, Vital Strike, Vital Force

Martial Weapon Proficiency is useful for 3/4 BAB classes that lack this but would otherwise make good martial Vital Strike characters

Vital Force

Rowdy adds 2d6 additional damage per sneak attack die to the damage of their Vital Strike. This is precision damage.

Tip

Vital Force adds 2d6 precision damage per sneak attack die, even without sneak attack. On a sneak attack, this becomes 3d6 per die, making Rowdy very strong in the early game.

Loremaster Dip

Feature	Details
Prerequisites	Metamagic: Any (except Intensified Spell)
	Skill Focus: Knowledge (Arcana) or Skill Focus: Knowledge (World)
	3rd level Divine or Arcane spells
Class Skills	Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (World), Lore (Nature), Lore (Religion), Persuasion, UMD
BAB	+0
Secret	Combat Feat: Greater Vital Strike
Spellbook Selection	Divine/Arcane of choice
CL	+1 to chosen Divine/Arcane

On Prerequisites:

Intensified Spell is an exception to the Metamagic Prerequiste
Alchemist "extracts" don’t qualify as Divine or Arcane spells

Class Features:

Half-BAB progression while maintaining full spellcasting advancement.
Secrets are the standout feature, available at odd levels and allowing feats, spells, or talents while bypassing prerequisites (e.g., Greater Vital Strike without the BAB requirement).

Secret

At 1st level and every two levels thereafter (3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th), the Loremaster selects one secret from the following list. Each secret can only be chosen once:

Spells from Cleric, Wizard, or Druid lists.
Combat feats, Wizard feats, or Rogue talents (including combat tricks).
+2 bonuses to a saving throw of choice

3rd Level Spell Unlock

Type	Level	Sneak	Sense Vitals	Other
Full Caster (prepared)	5	Shadow Shaman	Wizard	Cleric, Druid, Shaman, Witch
Full Caster (spontaneous)	6	-	Sorcerer, Arcanist	Oracle, Stigmatized Witch
Half Caster	7	Sanctified Slayer, Inciter, Eldritch Scoundrel, Cult Leader	Bard, Hunter, Eldritch Scoundrel, Skald	Inquisitor, Warpriest
Warrior Caster	10	Divine Scion	Ranger	Paladin, Bloodrager

Sense Vitals vs. Class Sneak Attack Dice

Sense Vitals

Personal Spell

Level: 2
School: Divination

This spell makes your eyes shine blood red and allows you to see the vital areas and weak points of creatures as a warm glow. This allows you to make sneak attacks, as the rogue ability of the same name, dealing an additional 1d6 points of damage; this additional damage increases by 1d6 for every 3 caster levels you possess beyond 3rd, to a maximum of +5d6 at 15th level. This additional damage stacks with other sources of precision damage.

Source: Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

Sense Vitals does not count towards the cap for Accomplished Sneak Attacker.
Classes with inherent sneak attack dice can still acquire Sense Vitals through Loremaster, this mean a potentially higher total.
Inciter: Gains (limited) sneak attack dice through class and has access to Sense Vitals. Also gives sneak dice to allies, so a great support.
Eldritch Scoundrel: Gets a lot of sneak attack dice through class and Sense Vitals but cannot dip into Rowdy due to being a Rogue subclass.

Warpriest

Can acquire Vital Strike feats using its unique ability to substitute class levels for BAB prerequisites.

Warrior Casters

Only the Freebooter makes sense for a Vital Strike build.
Freebooters can obtain Greater Vital Strike either through Loremaster or by natural feat progression, thanks to their full BAB.

Patched (and Unpatched) Exploits

Subject	Old Behavior	New Behavior
Critical Hits	Multiplicative with Vital Strike	Additive with Vital Strike
Cleaving Finish	Extra attack is also a Vital Strike	Extra attack is also a Vital Strike
Cleaving Shot (On Kill)	Weapon damage multiplied by Vital Strike	Weapon damage not multiplied by Vital Strike
Cleaving Shot (On Crit)	Weapon damage multiplied by Vital Strike	Weapon damage not multiplied; retains Vital Force
Evercold	Extra bolt inherits Vital Strike multipliers	Extra bolt damage not multiplied; retains Vital Force
Jinx	Base weapon damage multiplied by Vital Strike	Regular base weapon damage
Aspect of the Coloxus	Vital Strike usable as a move action	Vital Strike cannot be used as a move action

Critical Hits

Previously, critical hits and Vital Strike multiplied together. A Mythic Greater Vital Strike attack combined with a ×3 critical multiplier resulted in a total ×12 multiplier. Following the patch, the two effects are additive instead. The same attack now receives a total ×7 multiplier.

Cleaving Finish

This interaction remains unchanged. If a Vital Strike attack kills an enemy, any attacks granted by Cleaving Finish or Improved Cleaving Finish continue to benefit from the Vital Strike multiplier.

Cleaving Finish

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Cleave
Strength 13

Effect

If you make a melee attack, and your target drops to 0 or fewer hit points as a result of your attack, you can make another melee attack using your highest base attack bonus against another opponent within reach. You can make only one extra attack per round with this feat.

Improved Cleaving Finish

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Cleave
Cleaving Finish
Great Cleave
Strength 13
Base Attack Bonus 6

Effect

You can use Cleaving Finish any number of times per round.

Cleaving Shot

Behaviour depends on the trigger condition.

On Kill

The additional damage no longer inherits Vital Strike multipliers. The effect now deals only normal weapon damage.

On Critical Hit

The Vital Strike multiplier no longer applies. However, Vital Force precision damage is still retained.

(Note: Needs retesting on current patch)

Cleaving Shot

Mythic Ability

Each time you deal critical damage with a ranged weapon attack or reduce a target to 0 hit points, you deal your weapon damage to all other enemies within a 10-foot radius.

Evercold

Evercold is a heavy crossbow obtainable during Act 3 with the Midnight Isles DLC.

Previously, the second bolt fired by Evercold inherited all Vital Strike multipliers. Following the patch, the additional bolt only benefits from Vital Force damage.

This interaction was one of the primary reasons to play a Vital Strike crossbow build.

Evercold

Heavy Crossbow +1

This +1 heavy crossbow fires two bolts on its first attack each round. If both hit, the target must make a DC 25 Fortitude save or take 2d6 cold damage and be staggered for 1 round.

Jinx

Jinx's additional damage is now treated as regular weapon damage rather than inheriting Vital Strike multipliers.

The resulting damage increase is generally underwhelming.

Jinx

Cold Iron Falchion +2

Deals additional weapon damage against creatures affected by a Hex.

Aspect of the Coloxus

Previously, Aspect of the Coloxus allowed Vital Strike to be used as a move action. This enabled two Vital Strikes per round and formed the basis of several powerful Demon builds.

Combined with pre-patch Evercold, the interaction was exceptionally strong.

This functionality has since been removed. Aspect of the Coloxus no longer works with standard actions involving weapon attacks.

Aspect of the Coloxus

Major Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the coloxus, gaining a bonus to Intelligence score equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1.

The aspect of the coloxus allows the Demon to use abilities and cast spells as move actions during a demonic rage.

Comparing Vital Strike and Full Attacks Methodology

Damage Categories

For the purposes of comparing Vital Strike and full attacks, damage can be divided into four categories.

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Weapon base damage is the damage provided directly by the weapon's damage dice.

Characteristics:

Comparatively high in the early game.
Multiplied by Vital Strike.
Multiplied by critical hits.
Scales with weapon size increases.
Has very limited scaling after the early game.

Early-game weapons such as greataxes, glaives and heavy crossbows can reach relatively high base damage through size-increasing effects such as Enlarge Person, Lead Blades, and Hurricane Bow. However, opportunities to increase weapon damage dice become rare after the early game, making this one of the weakest scaling damage categories.

Base Weapon Damage

MeleeRanged

Base Damage	Weapon Groups
1d4	Dagger, Kukri, Light Hammer, Light Pick, Punching Dagger, Sai, Starknife
1d6	Club, Handaxe, Heavy Pick, Kama, Light Mace, Nunchaku, Quarterstaff, Rapier, Scimitar, Shortspear, Shortsword, Sickle, Tongi
1d8	Battleaxe, Dueling Sword, Falcata, Flail, Heavy Mace, Longspear, Longsword, Sawtooth Saber, Spear, Trident, Warhammer
1d8 / 1d6	Dwarven Urgrosh, Gnome Hooked Hammer
1d8 / 1d8	Orc Double Axe, Two-bladed Sword
1d10	Bardiche, Bastard Sword, Dwarven Waraxe, Elven Curve Blade, Fauchard, Glaive, Greatclub, Heavy Flail
1d12	Greataxe
2d4	Estoc, Falchion, Scythe
2d6	Earth Breaker, Greatsword

Base Damage	Weapon Groups
1d4	Dart
1d6	Javelin, Throwing Axe, Shortbow, Composite Shortbow
1d8	Longbow, Composite Longbow, Light Crossbow, Sling Staff
1d10	Heavy Crossbow

Damage Dice Progression

Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Huge	Gargantuan
-	-	1	1d2	1d3	1d4
-	1	1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6
1	1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8
1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8	2d6
1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8	2d6	3d6
1d4	1d6	1d8	2d6	3d6	4d6
1d6	1d8	1d10	2d8	3d8	4d8
1d8	1d10	1d12	3d6	4d6	6d6
1d4	1d6	2d4	2d6	3d6	4d6
1d8	1d10	2d6	3d6	4d6	6d6
1d10	2d6	2d8	3d8	4d8	6d8
2d6	2d8	2d10	4d8	6d8	8d8

Flat bonus damage includes ability modifier damage and other fixed damage bonuses.

Characteristics:

Scales with ability modifiers.
Receives a 1.5× ability modifier bonus when using two-handed weapons.
Comparatively high in the early game with two-handed weapons.
Comparatively moderate in the early game with one-handed weapons and composite bows.
Comparatively low in the early game with crossbows.
Multiplied by critical hits.
Scales through many spells, feats, items, class features, and mythic abilities.
Maintains strong scaling throughout the game.

Examples include ability score bonuses, spells such as Divine Favor and powerfull class abilties. Because flat bonuses continue to accumulate throughout a playthrough and benefit from critical hits, they generally become the largest source of physical damage in the late game.

Divine Power

Level: 4
School: Evocation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

Calling upon the divine power of your patron, you imbue yourself with strength and skill in combat. You gain a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, Strength checks, and Strength-based skill checks for every three caster levels you have (maximum +6). You also gain 1 temporary hit point per caster level. Whenever you make a full attack, you can make an additional attack at your full base attack bonus, plus any appropriate modifiers. This additional attack is not cumulative with similar effects, such as haste or weapons with the speed special ability.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

For the King

Order of the Lion

At 8th level, an order of the lion cavalier can call out to his allies, inspiring them to greatness. As a swift action, the cavalier can grant a competence bonus equal to his Charisma modifier on all attack and damage rolls to all allies within 30 feet.

This bonus lasts for 1 round.

This ability can be used once per combat.

This category includes both Sneak Attack dice and Vital Force dice.

Characteristics:

Requires specific classes or features for early access.
Can become relatively high as early as level 4 through multiclassing and Accomplished Sneak Attacker.
Primarily scales through class levels or caster levels (via Sense Vitals).
Receives additional scaling from features such as Accomplished Sneak Attacker, Mythic Sneak Attacker, mythic path abilities, and Inciter support.
Not multiplied by critical hits.
Provides moderate scaling throughout the game.

A notable property of Vital Force is that it does not require a successful sneak attack condition to apply. When sneak attack would not trigger, Vital Force still contributes damage.

Extra damage dice are damage sources that are neither weapon damage nor sneak attack damage.

Characteristics:

Almost nonexistent in the early game.
Obtained from specific spells, class features, weapon properties, and similar effects.
Not multiplied by critical hits.

Common examples include Bane and Crusader's Edge. While elemental damage dice also belong to this category, they are often reduced or negated by resistances and immunities, especially in the late game.

Base assumptions for a naive comparison

A complete damage comparison between Vital Strike and full attacks depends on many factors, including class, party composition, buffs, enemy statistics, and encounter conditions.

To obtain a simpler comparison, we use the following assumptions:

Same weapon.
Same class progression.
Same buffs and bonuses.
Only the frequency with which each damage category is applied is considered.

Under these assumptions, damage output can be approximated by counting how many times each damage category is applied per round.

Application Count Comparison

The simplest comparison assumes that every attack hits. Under this assumption, we can compare Vital Strike and full attacks by counting how many times each damage category is applied.

Level	Detail	Attacks	Weapon	Flat	Sneak	Extra Dice
1	Base Attack	0	1	1	1	1
1	Vital Strike + Vital Force	0	2	1	3	1
8	Full Attack (BAB 6)	0, -5	2	2	2	2
8	Full Attack + Haste	0, -5, 0	3	3	3	3

This immediately highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of Vital Strike.

Weapon damage benefits directly from the Vital Strike multiplier.
Sneak Attack is good with Vital Force.
Flat damage and extra damage dice favour additional attacks. Count

Limitations

This methodology has several important limitations:

Secondary attacks are made at lower BAB values.
Vital Strike uses only the highest-BAB attack.
A full attack can score multiple critical hits.
Vital Strike can score only a single critical hit.
Vital Strike and critical hit multipliers are additive rather than multiplicative.
Damage reduction is ignored.
The value of retaining a move action is ignored.

As a result, attack count alone is insufficient for a realistic comparison.

Incorporating Hit Chance

A more realistic comparison accounts for accuracy and critical hits.

Assumptions.

AC − AB = 11.
Primary attack hit chance = 50%.
Critical range = 19–20.
Critical multiplier = ×2.

Critical hits are counted as extra applications based on the multiplier.

The resulting expected application counts are shown below.

Level	Detail	Attacks	Weapon	Flat	Sneak	Extra Dice
1	Base	0	0.55	0.55	0.50	0.50
1	Vital Strike + Vital Force	0	1.05	0.55	1.50	0.50
8	Full Attack (BAB 6)	0, -5	0.83	0.83	0.75	0.75
8	Full Attack + Haste	0, -5, 0	1.38	1.38	1.25	1.25

Vital Strike gains value relative to full attacks because all damage is concentrated into a single attack made at the highest BAB.

Averaged Results

Rather than selecting a single hit chance, results can be averaged across multiple AC ranges.

Two ranges are useful:

	Range	Approximate Hit Chance
Low AC	AC − AB = 5–16	80% to 25%
High AC	AC − AB = 11–20	50% to 5%

Averaging across a range reduces the impact of any individual scenario and provides a broader view of how full attacks and Vital Strike compare under varying accuracy conditions.

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
1	Vital Strike	0	2	1.10	0.58
8	Base	0, -5	2	0.88	0.41
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	3	1.46	0.71

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
1	Vital Strike	0	1	0.58	0.30
8	Base	0, -5	2	0.88	0.41
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	3	1.46	0.71

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
1	Vital Force	0	3	1.57	0.82
8	Base	0, -5	2	0.80	0.38
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	3	1.33	0.65

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
1	Vital Strike	0	1	0.53	0.28
8	Base	0, -5	2	0.80	0.38
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	3	1.33	0.65

Relative Comparison

To simplify interpretation, results can be expressed relative to Vital Strike + Vital Force.

In this representation:

Vital Strike + Vital Force is set to 100%.
Full attack values are shown as percentages of that baseline.
Values above 100% indicate a damage category favours full attacks.
Values below 100% indicate a damage category favours Vital Strike.

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Vital Strike	0	100	100	100
1	Base	0	50	52	52
8	Base	0, -5	100	80	71
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	150	133	123

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Vital Strike	0	100	100	100
1	Base	0	100	100	100
8	Base	0, -5	200	153	135
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	300	253	235

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Vital Force	0	100	100	100
1	Base	0	33	33	33
8	Base	0, -5	67	51	45
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	100	84	79

Lvl	Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
1	Vital Strike	0	100	100	100
1	Base	0	100	100	100
8	Base	0, -5	200	153	136
8	Haste	0, -5, 0	300	253	236

Comparison

We compare a standard 3/4 BAB build against an otherwise equivalent build with a Rowdy and/or Loremaster dip for Vital Strike by counting damage applications.

Damage applications occur on a hit and may be further multiplied by effects such as critical hits and Vital Strike. The underlying assumption is that both builds deal the same damage per application. A critical range of 19-20 and multiplier of 2 was chosen.

This is a highly simplified methodology and should be viewed only as a rough comparison.

Even if this assumption holds, it tells us nothing about the relative contribution of each damage category. For example, doubling weapon damage provides little benefit if most damage comes from flat bonuses.

To provide additional context, each section includes commentary on the typical magnitude and importance of the relevant damage category at that level.

Rowdy Level 1

AbsoluteRelative

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
Vital Strike	0	2	1.10	0.58

With relatively few sources of damage scaling available at level 1, base weapon damage constitutes a large proportion of total damage output.

Weapon damage dice can also be increased through size-changing effects. The most accessible option is Enlarge Person, available to Camellia through her Battle Spirit slot. Lead Blades and Hurricane Bow further increase weapon damage dice for melee and ranged weapons respectively, and stack with Enlarge Person. However, both spells are personal-only and available to a limited set of classes.

Spells Increasing Weapon Damage Dice

FriendlyPersonal

Enlarge Person

Level: 1
School: Transmutation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

This spell causes instant growth of a humanoid creature, doubling its height and multiplying its weight by 8. This increase changes the creature's size category to the next larger one. The target gains a +2 size bonus to Strength, a –2 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –1 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. Melee and ranged weapons used by this creature deal more damage.

A humanoid creature whose size increases to Large has a space of 10 feet and a natural reach of 10 feet. This spell does not change the target's speed.

Enlarge Person dispels Reduce Person.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Lead Blades

Personal Spell

School: Transmutation

Spell Lists

Artifice Domain 1
Hunter 1
Ranger 1

Lead blades increases the momentum and density of your melee weapons just as they strike a foe. All melee weapons you are carrying when the spell is cast deal damage as if one size category larger than they actually are. For instance, a Medium longsword normally deals 1d8 points of damage, but it would instead deal 2d6 points of damage if benefiting from lead blades. Only you can benefit from this spell. If anyone else uses one of your weapons to make an attack, it deals damage as normal for its size.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Hurricane Bow

Personal Spell

School: Transmutation

Spell Lists

Ranger 1
Wizard/Sorcerer 1
Hunter 1

Description

Hurricane bow significantly increases the weight and density of arrows or bolts fired from your bow or crossbow the instant before they strike their target and then return them to normal a few moments later. Any arrow fired from a bow or crossbow you are carrying when the spell is cast deals damage as if one size larger than it actually is. For instance, an arrow fired from a Medium longbow normally deals 1d8 points of damage, but it would instead deal 2d6 points of damage if fired from a hurricane bow.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
Vital Strike	0	1	0.58	0.30

At level 1, sources of flat damage are relatively limited. Masterwork weapons, or weapons buffed with Magic Weapon (available from Camellia), provide a +1 enhancement bonus to damage. Camellia's Battle Spirit can add another +1 damage. Personal Spells such as Divine Favor also contribute, but only by +1 at this level.

Power Attack provides +3 damage for two-handed weapons at the cost of 1 Attack Bonus. The ranged and finesse equivalents, Deadly Aim and Piranha Strike, are less effective at this stage of the game and are also less likely to be selected, as those builds typically prioritise other feats first.

Features increasing Flat Damage

WeaponCamelliaPersonal

Masterwork Weapon Trait

{% inlcude '_includes/masterwork_trait.md' %}

Battle Spirit

{% inlcude '_includes/battle_spirit_1.md' %}

Magic Weapon

{% inlcude '_includes/magic_weapon.md' %}

Divine Favor

{% inlcude '_includes/divine_favor.md' %}

Power Attack

Prerequisites
- Strength 13

Effect

You can take a -1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuvers for a +2 damage bonus. This bonus increases by 50% with two-handed, two-handed one-handed, or primary natural weapons, and is halved for off-hand or secondary natural weapons.

At base attack bonus +4 and every 4 points after, the penalty increases by -1 and the damage bonus by +2.

The effect lasts until your next turn and doesn't apply to touch attacks or non-damaging effects.

A potential source of flat damage is the character's ability modifier, which at this point is determined primarily by their starting ability scores. How much of that modifier is applied depends on the weapon used.

Two-handed weapons and one-handed weapons wielded in two hands add 1.5× Strength.
One-handed weapons, light weapons, and composite bows add 1× Strength.
Crossbows and non-composite bows add no ability modifier to damage.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
Vital Force	0	3	1.57	0.82

At level 1, Rowdy has only 1d6 Sneak Attack. However, Vital Force causes this damage to be applied three times on a successful sneak attack: 1d6 from the normal Sneak Attack and an additional 2d6 from Vital Force, for a total of 3d6.

Even when the attack does not qualify for Sneak Attack, the 2d6 precision damage granted by Vital Force is still applied.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
Vital Strike	0	1	0.53	0.28

Near non existant at this point in the game.

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	50	52	52
Vital Strike	0	100	100	100

With relatively few sources of damage scaling available at level 1, base weapon damage constitutes a large proportion of total damage output.

Weapon damage dice can also be increased through size-changing effects. The most accessible option is Enlarge Person, available to Camellia through her Battle Spirit slot. Lead Blades and Hurricane Bow further increase weapon damage dice for melee and ranged weapons respectively, and stack with Enlarge Person. However, both spells are personal-only and available to a limited set of classes.

Spells Increasing Weapon Damage Dice

FriendlyPersonal

Enlarge Person

Level: 1
School: Transmutation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

This spell causes instant growth of a humanoid creature, doubling its height and multiplying its weight by 8. This increase changes the creature's size category to the next larger one. The target gains a +2 size bonus to Strength, a –2 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –1 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. Melee and ranged weapons used by this creature deal more damage.

A humanoid creature whose size increases to Large has a space of 10 feet and a natural reach of 10 feet. This spell does not change the target's speed.

Enlarge Person dispels Reduce Person.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Lead Blades

Personal Spell

School: Transmutation

Spell Lists

Artifice Domain 1
Hunter 1
Ranger 1

Lead blades increases the momentum and density of your melee weapons just as they strike a foe. All melee weapons you are carrying when the spell is cast deal damage as if one size category larger than they actually are. For instance, a Medium longsword normally deals 1d8 points of damage, but it would instead deal 2d6 points of damage if benefiting from lead blades. Only you can benefit from this spell. If anyone else uses one of your weapons to make an attack, it deals damage as normal for its size.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Hurricane Bow

Personal Spell

School: Transmutation

Spell Lists

Ranger 1
Wizard/Sorcerer 1
Hunter 1

Description

Hurricane bow significantly increases the weight and density of arrows or bolts fired from your bow or crossbow the instant before they strike their target and then return them to normal a few moments later. Any arrow fired from a bow or crossbow you are carrying when the spell is cast deals damage as if one size larger than it actually is. For instance, an arrow fired from a Medium longbow normally deals 1d8 points of damage, but it would instead deal 2d6 points of damage if fired from a hurricane bow.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	100	100	100
Vital Strike	0	100	100	100

At level 1, sources of flat damage are relatively limited. Masterwork weapons, or weapons buffed with Magic Weapon (available from Camellia), provide a +1 enhancement bonus to damage. Camellia's Battle Spirit can add another +1 damage. Personal Spells such as Divine Favor also contribute, but only by +1 at this level.

Power Attack provides +3 damage for two-handed weapons at the cost of 1 Attack Bonus. The ranged and finesse equivalents, Deadly Aim and Piranha Strike, are less effective at this stage of the game and are also less likely to be selected, as those builds typically prioritise other feats first.

Features increasing Flat Damage

WeaponCamelliaPersonal

Masterwork Weapon Trait

{% inlcude '_includes/masterwork_trait.md' %}

Battle Spirit

{% inlcude '_includes/battle_spirit_1.md' %}

Magic Weapon

{% inlcude '_includes/magic_weapon.md' %}

Divine Favor

{% inlcude '_includes/divine_favor.md' %}

Power Attack

Prerequisites
- Strength 13

Effect

You can take a -1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuvers for a +2 damage bonus. This bonus increases by 50% with two-handed, two-handed one-handed, or primary natural weapons, and is halved for off-hand or secondary natural weapons.

At base attack bonus +4 and every 4 points after, the penalty increases by -1 and the damage bonus by +2.

The effect lasts until your next turn and doesn't apply to touch attacks or non-damaging effects.

A potential source of flat damage is the character's ability modifier, which at this point is determined primarily by their starting ability scores. How much of that modifier is applied depends on the weapon used.

Two-handed weapons and one-handed weapons wielded in two hands add 1.5× Strength.
One-handed weapons, light weapons, and composite bows add 1× Strength.
Crossbows and non-composite bows add no ability modifier to damage.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	33	33	33
Vital Force	0	100	100	100

At level 1, Rowdy has only 1d6 Sneak Attack. However, Vital Force causes this damage to be applied three times on a successful sneak attack: 1d6 from the normal Sneak Attack and an additional 2d6 from Vital Force, for a total of 3d6.

Even when the attack does not qualify for Sneak Attack, the 2d6 precision damage granted by Vital Force is still applied.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	100	100	100
Vital Strike	0	100	100	100

Near non existant at this point in the game.

Rowdy Dip Level 3

Archer characters can get rapid shot for an extra attack at the cost of -2 AB on all attacks.

Vital Strike is at -1 because of the BAB loss from dipping Rowdy Rogue.

Rowdy and Lore dips effect on BAB per level

Lore picked at level 6 or 7 in this setup, but a lore dip at a later level would produce the same table from that point onward.

Lvl	BAB
Lvl	3/4	3/4 + Rowdy	3/4 + Rowdy + Lore
1	0	0	0
2	1	0	0
3	2	1	1
4	3	2	2
5	3	3	3
6	4	3	3
7	5	4	3
8	6	5	4
9	6	6	5
10	7	6	6
11	8	7	6
12	9	8	7
13	9	9	8
14	10	9	9
15	11	10	9
16	12	11	10
17	12	12	11
18	13	12	12
19	14	13	12
20	15	14	13

AbsoluteRelative

Weapon Flat Sneak Extra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	2	0.94	0.42
Vital Strike	-1	2	1.00	0.48

No changes from level 1. Still a large portion of our damage however.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.58	0.30
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	2	0.94	0.42
Vital Strike	-1	1	0.52	0.25

As levels increase, more sources of flat damage and ability score bonuses become available. Bull's Strength, which Camellia can cast at this point, is particularly valuable for two-handed weapons, increasing both damage and Attack Bonus through its Strength bonus.

In terms of damage applications, bows begin to pull ahead thanks to Rapid Shot.

By now, Composite Bows should also be available; they can be looted from Cambions in the Shield Maze. Meaning Ranged builds can make use of this extra source of flat damage too. Even so, it's going to be lower for them.

In addition, bow builds are more Multiple Ability Dependent than two-handed Strength builds, often resulting in a lower starting Strength score.

Bull's Strength

Level: 2
School: Transmutation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

The subject becomes stronger. The spell grants a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength, adding the usual benefits to melee attack rolls, melee damage rolls, and other uses of the Strength modifier. Enhancement bonuses don't stack with other enhancement bonuses, for example with bonuses from belts.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	2	0.85	0.38
Vital Force	-1	3	1.43	0.69

Even if the chosen main class does not gain Sneak Attack inherently, Accomplished Sneak Attacker can be taken to add an extra 1d6. For Vital Force builds, this is particularly valuable because the additional die is effectively applied three times.

Accomplished Sneak Attacker

Prerequisites

Sneak Attack: > 1

Effect

Your sneak attack damage increases by 1d6.

Your number of sneak attack dice cannot exceed half your character level (rounded up).

Technically, Sense Vitals could increase Sneak Attack by another 1d6 at this level, as its bonus is not limited by the cap on Accomplished Sneak Attacker. However, Sense Vitals is a personal spell, and with only a single level in Rowdy, the earliest it can realistically become available is the following level.

Some enemies are immune to precision damage. A notable early example is the Large Water Elemental in the basement of the Shield Maze.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	1	0.53	0.28
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	2	0.85	0.38
Vital Strike	-1	1	0.48	0.23

Weapon Flat Sneak Extra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	50	58	63
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	100	94	86
Vital Strike	-1	100	100	100

Placeholder commentary for weapon damage at level 3.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	100	111	120
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	200	179	165
Vital Strike	-1	100	100	100

Placeholder commentary for flat damage at level 3.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	33	37	40
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	67	60	55
Vital Force	-1	100	100	100

Placeholder commentary for sneak attack and Vital Force at level 3.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Base	0	100	111	120
Rapid Shot	-2, -2	200	179	165
Vital Strike	-1	100	100	100

Placeholder commentary for extra damage dice at level 3.

Rowdy Dip Level 5

There are several ways to approach Act 1. You can solo part of it, play with a full party, or anything in between.

In a party, full attacks become more attractive once Nenio can provide Haste. At this stage, however, Haste is only available for a limited number of encounters due to its round-per-level duration.

Haste

Level: 3
School: Transmutation
Target: All allies within a 30 foot burst, centered on target creature within close range.
Duration: 1 round/level

The transmuted creatures move and act more quickly than normal. This extra speed has several effects. When making a full attack, a hasted creature may make one extra attack with its main weapon. The attack is made using the creature's full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. (This effect is not cumulative with similar effects, such as that provided by a speed weapon, nor does it actually grant an extra action, so you can't use it to cast a second spell or otherwise take an extra action in the round.)

A hasted creature gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. Any condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.

A hasted creature's speed increases by 30 feet, to a maximum of twice the subject's normal speed. This increase counts as an enhancement bonus. Multiple haste effects don't stack. Haste dispels slow.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Solo play shifts the balance in the opposite direction. With access to far fewer buffs, Vital Strike with Vital Force remains king.

In general, the fewer buffs and features available, the stronger Vital Strike performs relative to full attacks.

Loremaster Dip Level 6

The earliest we can get GVS is level 6. No rowdy dip on this one.

Rowdy and Loremaster dips Level 9

At level 9, single-class 3/4 BAB builds gain their third iterative attack when making a full attack. This is the final additional iterative attack they receive.

For Rowdy dip Vital Strike builds, both full and half casters can now qualify for a Loremaster dip to obtain Greater Vital Strike.

Longbow and shortbow users also gain access to Manyshot. This fires an additional arrow with the first attack of a full attack. The extra arrow cannot critically hit or apply sneak attack damage. Manyshot does not work with crossbows.

Divine Power provides an alternative to Haste for getting the extra attack as well.

Divine Power

Level: 4
School: Evocation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

Calling upon the divine power of your patron, you imbue yourself with strength and skill in combat. You gain a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, Strength checks, and Strength-based skill checks for every three caster levels you have (maximum +6). You also gain 1 temporary hit point per caster level. Whenever you make a full attack, you can make an additional attack at your full base attack bonus, plus any appropriate modifiers. This additional attack is not cumulative with similar effects, such as haste or weapons with the speed special ability.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

In a full party, the second Mythic Rank is also typically obtained shortly before reaching level 9.

Type	Mythic 2 Choice
Vital Strike	Mythic Vital Strike
Full Ranged	Mythic Rapid Shot
Full Melee	Flawless Attacks*

* Flawless Attacks is used purely for the purposes of this comparison.

The methodology assumes equal damage per application and compares only the number of damage applications. As a result, we can't simulate the selection of a damage increasing mythic feat such a Mythic Power Attack, which would be the better choice.

For a build making relatively few attacks, Flawless Attacks is a very poor Mythic selection in practice, but it is the most appropriate choice within the constraints of this simplified comparison.

AbsoluteRelative

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	3	1.62	0.85
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	4	1.83	0.84
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	5	2.30	1.07
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	4	2.15	1.13
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.68	0.88
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.25	1.21
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	2.83	1.53
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	4	2.15	1.13

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	3	1.62	0.85
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	4	1.83	0.84
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	5	2.30	1.07
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	1	0.58	0.30
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.68	0.88
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.25	1.21
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	2.83	1.53
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	4	2.15	1.13

The aformentioned Divine Power provides flat damage as well.

A particularly strong class ability for damage is For the King. It scales very well into the lategame.

For the King

{ % include '_includes/ftk.md' %}

As flat damage continues to scale while base weapon damage changes relatively little, Mythic Greater Vital Strike becomes increasingly important. It allows Vital Strike builds to multiply these growing flat damage bonuses, preventing them from falling behind full attacks. At least for now.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	3	1.47	0.78
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	4	1.66	0.77
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	4	1.66	0.77
Vital Force + Haste	0	3	1.57	0.82
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.53	0.81
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.10
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.10
Vital Force + Haste	0	3	1.57	0.82

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	3	1.47	0.78
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	4	1.66	0.77
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	5	2.14	1.00
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	1	0.53	0.28
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.53	0.81
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.10
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	2.62	1.43
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	1	0.53	0.28

Crusader's Edge gives banes to a the melee weapon of an ally.

Crusader's Edge

Level: 4 School: Transmutation Target: Friendly Close Duration: 1 minute/level

When you cast this spell on a melee weapon in your primary hand, you imbue it with a powerful holy energy, granting your primary weapon the bane weapon quality against evil outsiders. Furthermore, whenever you score a successful critical hit against an outsider with the evil subtype, you not only deal normal critical damage with the weapon but also nauseate the outsider for 1d3 rounds — the outsider can reduce this nauseated condition to sickened for 1 round with a successful Fortitude save.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	75	75	75
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	100	85	75
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	125	107	95
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	75	78	78
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	100	105	107
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	125	131	136
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	300	281	281
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	400	316	278
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	500	399	355
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	75	78	78
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	100	105	107
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	125	131	136
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	100	94	94
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	133	106	93
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	4	133	106
Vital Force + Haste	0	100	100	100
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	100	97	98
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	133	130	133
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	133	130	133
Vital Foce + Haste	0	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -4, 1	300	281	282
Rapid Shot + Haste	-1, -6, -1, -1	400	317	280
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	-1 + M, -6, -1, -1	500	407	364
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100
Mythic 2
Haste	1, -3, 1	300	290	293
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	400	390	400
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	500	500	518
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	0	100	100	100

Rowdy and Loremaster Dips Level 11

Improved Critical increases the critical threat range from 19-20 to 17-20.

AbsoluteRelative

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.83	0.96
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.46	1.31
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	3.03	1.63
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.0	0.96

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.83	0.96
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.46	1.31
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	3.03	1.63
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.0	0.96

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.53	0.81
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.1
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.1
Vital Force + Haste	-1	3	1.43	0.69

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	3	1.53	0.81
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	4	2.05	1.1
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	5	2.62	1.43
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	1	0.48	0.23

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	75	92	99
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	100	123	136
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	125	152	170
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	75	92	99
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	100	123	136
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	125	152	170
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	100	107	117
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	133	144	159
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	133	144	159
Vital Force + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, 1	300	321	350
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, 1, 1	400	432	478
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, 1, 1	500	553	620
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Rowdy and Loremaster Dip Level 16

A mono-class 3/4 BAB build gains a third attack when making a full attack. This is the final iterative attack gained from BAB progression.

We also include Improved Critical (Mythic), which is likely to be acquired around Mythic Rank 4 for all variants considered. For the purposes of this comparison, this increases the critical multiplier from ×2 to ×3.

It should be noted that the critical threat range and critical multiplier used throughout these examples remain relatively conservative. More aggressive critical-focused setups tend to favour full attacks over Vital Strike.

Players with access to the Midnight Isles DLC can also obtain the crossbow Evercold during Act 3. It has strong synergy with Vital Force.

AbsoluteRelative

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	2.4	1.18
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	5	3.05	1.57
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	6	3.62	1.89
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.09	1.01
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	6	3.85	2.02
Greater Vital Strike + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	5	2.76	1.32

Legendary Proportions gives two size increases.

Legendary Proportions

Level: 7
School: Transmutation
Target: Friendly Close
Duration: 1 minute/level

You call upon the primordial power of ancient megafauna to boost the size of your target. Because of its connection to living creatures of the distant past, the spell does not function on outsiders, undead, and summoned creatures. Your target grows to legendary proportions, increasing in size by two categories. The creature's height doubles and its weight increases by a factor of 12. The target gains a +6 size bonus to its Strength score and a +4 size bonus to its Constitution score. It gains a +6 form bonus to its natural armor, and DR 10/adamantine. Melee and ranged weapons used by this creature deal more damage. Enlarge Person dispels Reduce Person.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	2.4	1.18
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	5	3.05	1.57
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	6	3.62	1.89
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.09	1.01
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	6	3.85	2.02
Greater Vital Strike + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	5	2.76	1.32

Previously discussed damage sources continue to scale, while many additional sources become available. Covering all of them is beyond the scope of this comparison.

By this point, a Vital Strike build should already have Mythic Vital Strike. Without it, Vital Strike's damage falls off significantly and the build is unlikely to remain competitive.

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	1.72	0.87
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	5	2.19	1.15
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	5	2.19	1.15
Vital Force + Haste	-1	3	1.43	0.69
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	6	2.76	1.48
Vital Force + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	6	2.85	1.38

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	1.72	0.87
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	5	2.19	1.15
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	6	2.76	1.48
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	1	0.48	0.23
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	6	2.76	1.48
Vital Force + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	2	0.95	0.46

Extra damage dice are generally less abundant than flat damage sources. Builds with large amounts of extra dice typically specialise in them, for example Inquisitor with Aeon.

Such builds are naturally geared towards making as many attacks as possible. In practice, they were never realistic candidates for Vital Strike, so there's not much point to overly discuss this in regards to the comparison.

WeaponFlatSneakExtra Dice

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	100	115	118
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	125	146	156
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	150	173	188
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	120	140	153
Greater Vital Strike + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	100	115	118
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	125	146	156
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	150	173	188
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	120	140	153
Greater Vital Strike + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	133	121	126
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	167	154	167
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	167	154	167
Vital Force + Haste	-1	100	100	100
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	100	97	107
Vital Force + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	400	363	378
Rapid Shot + Haste	1, -4, -9, 1, 1	500	461	500
Rapid Shot + Manyshot + Haste	1 + M, -4, -9, 1, 1	600	582	641
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100
Evercold
Rapid Shot + Haste + Evercold	1 + E, -4, -9 , 1, 1	300	291	321
Greater Vital Strike + Haste + Evercold	-1 + E	100	100	100

High Critical Range

The previous examples used relatively conservative assumptions for both critical threat range and critical multiplier. They also assumed no dice rerolls from effects such as Fortune.

To illustrate the opposite extreme, consider a Perception II Trickster melee build fully focused on critical hits.

Critical threat range: 18-20 → 15-20 → 13-20

Critical multiplier: ×5

Fortune and other reroll effects are still excluded (possible future update).

AbsoluteRelative

WeaponFlat

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	4.3	1.91
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.62	1.2

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	4	4.3	1.91
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	4	2.62	1.2

WeaponFlat

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	100	164	160
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Detail	Attacks	Count	Low	High
Haste	1, -3, -7, 1	100	164	160
Greater Vital Strike + Haste	-1	100	100	100

Full attacks benefit more from increased critical range and multiplier because they make more attacks and therefore have more opportunities to threaten and confirm critical hits.

As a result, the comparison shifts from full attacks being only slightly ahead to being decisively ahead.

Move Actions

Vital Strike requires only a standard action, leaving your move action available. Full attacks, by contrast, consume both your standard and move actions.

Inherent

Movement

Movement is potentially a large advantage for melee Vital Strike characters.

A full attack requires you to remain stationary. If you must move to reach an enemy, you are limited to a single regular attack instead. Vital Strike avoids this problem by allowing a high-damage attack after moving.

This could make Vital Strike a reasonable pickup even for some martial full attack builds, especially Fighters with spare feats, as a fallback option when a full attack is impossible.

In practice, however, this advantage is less significant than it first appears. Pathfinder provides several stronger solutions that allow you to move and still perform a full attack, while avoiding Vital Strike's considerable feat and mythic feat investment.

The solutions are:

Mounted Combat: Your mount performs the movement, allowing you to full attack.
Reach: Reach weapons combined with size increases greatly reduce the need to reposition.
Pounce: Grants a full attack at the end of a charge. The most accessible source is a Skald providing Beast Totem, Greater.

Rage Powers

Skald

Skald can choose a number of passive and activated powers that empower some of their allies while weakening the others. They only work while the skald is raging. Only one activated power can be used at the same time.

At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, a skald learns a rage power that affects the skald and any allies under the influence of his inspired rage.

If a rage power requires another rage power (such as disruptive, which requires superstition), the skald cannot grant that rage power to allies unless he can also grant that power's prerequisite. He may add multiple rage powers to an inspired rage at the same time using this ability (such as granting superstition and disruptive simultaneously).

If a rage power can only be used a certain number of times per day or per rage (such as renewed vigor), each ally affected by the inspired rage song is subject to that limit (with once per rage abilities limited to once per inspired rage).

If the skald has rage powers from another source, he can use those rage powers during an inspired rage. If the skald has the ability to rage from another source, he can use his skald rage powers during that rage as well.

Beast Totem, Greater

Rage Power

Prerequisites

Barbarian/Skald/Primalist 10
Beast Totem

While raging, the barbarian gains the pounce special ability, allowing her to make a full attack at the end of a charge. In addition, the damage from her claws increases to 1d8 (1d6 if Small) and the claws deal x 3 damage on a critical hit.

Solo stealth gameplay can make good use of move actions too.

Weapon Swapping

This has limited practical value, as most characters specialise in a single weapon.

A niche use case is swapping to a weapon with a unique combat effect before returning to your primary weapon.

An example is Divine Dismissal, potentially in combination with the Trickster's Infuse Magic Device trick.

Divine Dismissal

Earth Breaker +4

This +4 holy earth breaker allows its wielder to cast dispel magic, greater at will as a wizard of level equal to the wielder's character level.

Acquisition

Sold by Wirlong Black Mask in Middle City

Infuse Magic Device

Mythic Trick

You have learned of a way to improve the efficiency of used magical items. The caster level of all abilities from magical items you use is increased by your mythic rank.

Drinking Potions

Vital Strike also leaves enough action economy to drink a potion.

Building around this is generally impractical due to the substantial cost of consuming a potion every move action.

Assuming there is even a potion, other than potentially invisibility potion, useful for this.

One-Round Buffs

Move action abilities lasting one round, meaning you need to spend one each turn to benefit fully.

Studied Target

Slayer, Sanctified Slayer, Tandem Executioner, Divine Scion

A slayer can study an opponent he can see as a move action. The slayer then gains a +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against it. The DCs of slayer class abilities against that opponent increase by 1.

If a slayer deals sneak attack damage to a target, he studies that target, allowing him to apply his studied target bonuses against that target (including to the normal weapon damage roll).

At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the bonuses on weapon attack rolls, damage rolls and to slayer DCs against a studied target increase by 1.

At 7th level, a slayer can study an opponent as a move or swift action.

Studied Target is included primarily for completeness.

The Slayer eventually gains a swift action version, and the effect is also applied automatically through Sneak Attack. As a result, using the move action version has only limited value, mainly during the early game.

Freebooter's Bane

Freebooter

At 1st level, the freebooter can, as a move action, indicate an enemy in combat and rally her allies to focus on that target. The freebooter and her allies gain a +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against the target. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the bonus increases by 1. The freebooter's bane lasts until the target dies or the freebooter selects a new target.

Freebooter's Bane is considerably more interesting.

Typically builds are limited to at most a four-level Freebooter dip for Freebooter's Bond before progressing another class.

However, a character built primarily as a Freebooter benefits from using Freebooter's Bane every round, as it is the class's primary scaling feature. There'd be no reason to stay in the class if one's not using it.

Since Freebooter is a martial class with only limited spellcasting, Vital Strike is the only practical way to attack while still spending a move action each round on Freebooter's Bane.

Because of this, Freebooter is arguably the only class for which a Vital Strike build can be considered optimal, assuming it is your primary class.

Whether such a build is competitive with other martial classes is a separate question.

Extending Hexes

Witches, Sylvan Tricksters, and Hexcrafters can extend certain Witch Hexes with Cackle.

Cackle

Witch Hex

A witch can cackle madly as a move action. Any creature that is within 30 feet that is under the effects of an evil eye hex, fortune hex, protective luck, or misfortune hex caused by the witch has the duration of that hex extended by 1 round.

Shamans can achieve the same effect with Chant on Shaman Hexes.

Chant

Shaman Hex

A Shaman can chant as a move action. Any creature that is within 30 feet that is under the effects of the Shaman's evil eye, fortune, fury, misfortune, or protective luck hex has that effect's duration extended by 1 round.

Protective Luck, Fortune and Fury can also be extended outside combat, a well-known exploit. Unless you choose not to use this exploit, Vital Strike offers little value for maintaining these Hexes.

Protective Luck

WitchShaman

Witch Hex

The witch can cause fate to twist so that it benefits a creature within 30 feet for 1 round. Whenever that creature is targeted by an effect that requires an attack roll, including weapon attacks, the attacker must roll twice and take the worse result.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. A witch cannot use this ability on herself. Hexes that affect the fortune hex, such as cackle, also affect protective luck.

Shaman Hex

The shaman can cause fate to twist so that it benefits a creature within 30 feet for 1 round. Whenever that creature is targeted by an effect that requires an attack roll, including weapon attacks, the attacker must roll twice and take the worse result.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. A shaman cannot use this ability on herself. Hexes that affect the fortune hex, such as cackle, also affect protective luck.

Fortune

WitchShaman

Witch Hex

The witch can grant a creature within 30 feet a bit of good luck for 1 round. The target can call upon this good luck, allowing him to reroll any ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, taking the better result.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round.

Once a creature has benefited from the fortune hex, it cannot benefit from it again for 24 hours.

Shaman Hex

The shaman can grant a creature within 30 feet a bit of good luck for 1 round. The target can call upon this good luck, allowing him to reroll any ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, taking the better result.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round.

Once a creature has benefited from the fortune hex, it cannot benefit from it again for 24 hours.

Fury

Shaman Hex

A Shaman incites a creature within 30 feet into a primal fury. The target receives a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls and a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against fear for a number of rounds equal to the Shaman's Wisdom modifier.

At 8th and 16th levels, these bonuses increase by 1.

Once a creature has benefited from the fury hex, it cannot benefit from it again for 24 hours.

Evil Eye and Misfortune, however, are in-combat Hexes. Extending them with Cackle or Chant consumes a move action, leaving your standard action available. That standard action can then be used to:

Apply another Hex.
Cast a standard action spell.
Use Vital Strike.

Evil Eye

WitchShaman

Witch Hex

The target takes a –2 penalty on one of the following (witch's choice):

AC
Ability checks
Attack rolls
Saving Throws
Skill Checks

This hex lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the witch's Intelligence modifier (or 3 + Charisma modifier for Stigmatized Witch). A Will save reduces this to just 1 round.

This is a mind-affecting effect.

At 8th level the penalty increases to –4.

Shaman Hex

The target takes a –2 penalty on one of the following (shaman's choice):

AC
Ability checks
Attack rolls
Saving Throws
Skill Checks

This hex lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the shaman's Wisdom modifier. A Will save reduces this to just 1 round.

This is a mind-affecting effect.

At 8th level the penalty increases to –4.

Misfortune

WitchShaman

Witch Hex

The witch can cause a creature within 30 feet to suffer grave misfortune for 1 round. Anytime the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, it must roll twice and take the worse result. A Will save negates this hex.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. This hex affects all rolls the target must make while it lasts.

Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.

Shaman Hex

The shaman can cause a creature within 30 feet to suffer grave misfortune for 1 round. Anytime the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, it must roll twice and take the worse result. A Will save negates this hex.

At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. This hex affects all rolls the target must make while it lasts.

Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.

The most natural candidates for Vital Strike are Sylvan Trickster, Hexcrafter, and Battle Spirit Shaman. A Witch will almost always be better served casting spells.

If recruiting a dedicated Hex-focused mercenary, Wildland Shaman deserves particular consideration as it gains an animal companion. Since it's locked into the Battle Spirit, it appears to be a natural candidate for a Vital Strike Hexer.

There are, however, two significant drawbacks.

Spells become a stronger use of your standard action later in the game

This is particularly relevant for a post mid-game mercenary recruit. Even for a Battle Spirit Shaman if the choice is between casting and Vital Strike.
Most encounters end before repeated extensions matter

On the first round you typically cast a Hex and extend it with Cackle or Chant. At level 8, the Hex will already last at least three rounds; at level 16, at least four. Most encounters end before another extension is required, leaving the Hexer free to perform a full action if it wants. A melee Wildland Shaman is thus better of without investing into Vital Strike after all.

For this reason, a Vital Strike Hexer only really makes sense when maintaining Protective Luck or Fortune, assuming you choose not to use the out-of-combat extension exploit. Those Hexes always last only one round, giving Cackle or Chant a meaningful role every turn.

Feint

Shatter Defenses Fix/Nerf

Before discussing Feint, it is worth looking at why it became relevant.

Shatter Defenses used to be the standard way of targeting an enemy's lower flat-footed AC. However following a fix, it has become a lot worse.

Shatter Defenses OldShatter Defenses New

Shatter Defenses

Prerequistes

Weapon Focus
Dazzling Display
BAB 6

Any shaken, frightened, or panicked opponent ~~hit by you this round~~ is flat-footed to your attacks ~~until the end of your next turn. This includes any additional attacks you make this round.~~

Shatter Defenses

Prerequistes

Weapon Focus
Dazzling Display
BAB 6

Any shaken, frightened, or panicked opponent hit by you this round is flat-footed to your attacks until the end of your next turn. This includes any additional attacks you make this round.

Under the current behaviour, you must first hit an enemy's regular AC before gaining the benefit. Once that initial hit lands, all remaining attacks that turn, and all attacks during your next turn, target the enemy's flat-footed AC.

This especially reduces the feat's value for Vital Strike builds. Vital Strike makes only a single attack, so there is no benefit on the first attack versus a new enemy, which is the most important one.

Full attack builds benefit a bit more, as their remaining attacks immediately take advantage of the reduced AC. This also increases the value of abilities such as Focused Strike and True Strike, which help secure that first hit.

Focused Strike

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Strength 13
BAB 1

Effect

Using a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon with two hands, you do not apply the Power Attack attack roll penalty to the first attack made in a given turn.

True Strike

Personal Spell

Level:1
School:Divination

You gain temporary intuitive insight into the immediate future during your next attack. Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus. Additionally, you are not affected by the miss chance that applies to attackers trying to strike a concealed target.

Source: Pathfinder:Kingmaker Wiki

As a result of the nerf, there is greater incentive to look for alternative ways of targeting flat-footed AC. Feint, coincidentally introduces on the same patch as the nerf, is one such option.

Feint Feats

Feint is a move action, making it a natural fit for Vital Strike. It allows you to target an enemy's flat-footed AC before making your Vital Strike attack, avoiding the drawback introduced by the Shatter Defenses fix.

Feint

Prerequisites

Combat Expertise or Kinetic Warrior
Intelligence 13

Effect

You are skilled at fooling your opponents in combat. Benefit: To feint, make a Persuasion (bluff) check. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + your opponent's base attack bonus + your opponent's Wisdom modifier. If your opponent is trained in Perception, the DC is instead equal to 10 + your opponent's Perception bonus, if higher. If successful, the next melee attack you make against the target does not allow it to use its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). This attack must be made on or before your next turn. You also receive a +2 bonus on Persuasion (bluff) checks to feint.

Final Feint extends this benefit to your allies, turning Feint into a support tool. For that reason it is often better suited to a companion or mercenary than to the main character.

Final Feint

Prerequisites

BAB 6
Feint
Combat Expertise or Kinetic Warrior
Intelligence 13

Effect

You are skilled at making foes overreact to your attacks. Benefit: Whenever you use feint to cause a target to lose its Dexterity bonus, it loses that bonus against all melee attacks made by anyone for one round.

Ranged Feint allows ranged attacks to target flat-footed AC. Combined with Final Feint it also makes the target flat-footed against your melee allies. However, it does not grant this benefit to other ranged characters; only the feinter's own ranged attacks benefit.

Ranged Feint

Prerequisites

Feint
BAB 2

Effect

You can mislead foes about your aim with ranged attacks. Benefit: You can feint with a ranged weapon. When you successfully use a ranged feint, you deny that enemy its Dexterity bonus to AC against your ranged attacks as well as your melee attacks for the same duration as normal. If your feints normally deny a foe its Dexterity bonus to AC against attacks other than your own, this applies only against others' melee attacks.

Although Feint synergises well with Vital Strike, there are several reasons not to build around it.

Spells become stronger uses of a standard action

This is particularly relevant on mercenary builds, where a dedicated feint mercenary typically is not recruited until the mid game.

Unlike Freebooter, which has limited spellcasting and therefore has no better use for his standard action then Vital Strike, many potential feint users are capable casters.

The caster does not personally benefit from making enemies flat-footed, but the rest of the party does. This makes Feint attractive on support casters in melee-focused parties.

Good examples are Skald and Court Poet. A Skald is almost exclusively used in melee parties, while a Court Poet works particularly well alongside a Paladin using Mark of Justice or a For the King Cavalier. Both archetypes make decent casters, yet receive bonus combat feats. After taking essentials such as Improved Initiative, those bonus feats have relatively few compelling options, making the Feint feat line an almost obvious investment.
Two-Weapon Feint

Two-Weapon Feint allows you to feint while making a full attack.

It can be used as intended on two-weapon fighting builds. Alternatively, due to a bug, it also functions with a normal weapon while preserving your first attack, making it substantially stronger than intended.
Two-Weapon Feint

Prerequisites
- Feint
- Two-Weapon Fighting
- Dexterity 15
- Intelligence 13
Effect

While using Two-Weapon Fighting to make melee attacks, you can forgo your first primary-hand melee attack to make a Persuasion (bluff) check to feint an opponent.
Diva Style

At level 13, Bardic Performance becomes a swift action. Diva Style can then use that swift action to perform a feint, allowing both a full round action and a feint in the same round.
Diva Style

Prerequisites
- Feint
- Bard 1 or BAB 1
- Charisma 13
Effect

You employ song, dance, or some other method of performance to distract your enemies from the battle at hand.

Benefit: You can attempt a Persuasion (bluff) check to feint as a free action when you begin a bardic performance.

Finally, a note on Slayer's Feint. I still need to investigate this in more detail, but it is reported to be fairly buggy.

Slayer Feint

Prerequisites

Feint
Combat Expertise
Dexterity 15
Skill Focus: Mobility or Slayer Proficiencies

Effect

You rely on your deceptive speed and agility instead of trickery to catch your opponents unprepared. Benefit: You can use Mobility instead of Persuasion (whichever is higher) to feint in combat.

Stealth

There are a number of move action stealth abilities. They follow a fairly consistent power progression, with stronger variants unlocking at higher levels.

Forester's Camouflage becomes available earliest, at level 7, but is highly situational.

Camouflage

ForesterRanger

Forester

A forester of 7th level or higher can, as a move action, use the Stealth skill to hide in any of his favored terrains, even in combat.

Ranger

A ranger of 12th level or higher can, as a move action, use the Stealth skill to hide in any of his favored terrains, even in combat.

Hide in Plain Sight, available to both Cult Leader and Forester, arrives later but is considerably more flexible.

Hide in Plain Sight

Cult Leader

At 12th level, a cult leader can use the Stealth skill even while being observed.

Trickster's Mythic Trick Stealth I grants invisibility, which among other things translates to a +20 bonus to Stealth.

Stealth I

Mythic Trick

You can easily slip into shadow at any time. You can enter stealth during combat as a move action. This stealth is not broken by a single enemy detecting you — instead it acts similar to the invisibility spell, giving you total concealment against all creatures that did not succeed on a Perception check against you.

Stealth II

Improved Mythic Trick

You exceed at stealth, fading from sight with your every move. Your stealth in combat now works more akin to the effect of the Invisibility, Greater spell.

All of these are ultimately overshadowed by Shrouded Step. Nevertheless, a single overtuned ability on one class should not cause the rest to be dismissed, as move action Stealth still has several useful applications.

In a normal party, move action Stealth can be used to:

Trigger Sneak Attacks and target flat-footed AC. Greater Invisibility can also achieve this.
Protect ourselves from scripted attacks that specifically target the main character, redirecting enemies to switch to your front line instead.
Protect ourselves from enemies abandoning the main tank in search for easier targets.
Preserve Alter Ego. Since the single mirror image getting destroyed end the ability.

Alter Ego

Assassin

An assassin can create copies of himself to distract the enemy. As long as at least one copy is present on the battlefield, the assassin deals sneak attack damage to all creatures. This ability otherwise functions as the mirror image spell.

The assassin creates one copy plus one copy for every 3 levels the assassin has beyond 3rd.

He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Intelligence modifier.

Note: Dealing sneak damage and targeting flat-footed AC go together in WotR. When an ability says the former, you can expect it also does the latter.

For ranged solo play, move action Stealth enables a powerful turn-based cheese:

Win initiative.
Use Vital Strike.
Enter Stealth as a move action.
End your turn.
If no enemy can detect you, they simply wait for their turn to end. Repeat from Step 2.

In practice, this often requires repositioning. You want to remain outside enemy Perception, True Seeing, Blindsight, and similar detection ranges. At the same time, killing an enemy from too far away may cause you to lose sight of the remaining enemies, ending combat. You then have to re-engage, requiring another initiative roll that you may lose. A 5-foot step is often sufficient for the necessary repositioning, but there are situations where having a full move action available is valuable.

Shrouded Step

Shrouded Step is a swift action rather than a move action, allowing it to be combined with full attacks in turn-based combat.

Shrouded Step

Witch of the Veil

At 2nd level, a witch of the veil gains the ability to become invisible for a number of rounds equal to her Intelligence bonus as a swift action.

At 8th level, she also can teleport 30 feet and then become invisible, as per the invisibility spell.

At 16th level, she gains the benefits of the invisibility, greater spell instead.

For the solo strategy described above, however, having your move action available is often more valuable than making additional attacks. Survivability is more important than maximising damage, making Vital Strike a good fit for shrouded step cheese as well.

The strategy is also technically possible in real-time mode, although significantly less practical. The shorter animation of Shrouded Step combined with Vital Strike makes it feasible, whereas move action Stealth and full attack animations take too long.

Teleports

While there are several move action teleports, most are too limited in uses to justify building around.

Recluse's Stride

Lone Strider

Your base speed increases by 10 feet.

At 5th level, once per round, you gain a +20 bonus to AC against the first attack of opportunity.

At 10th level, you can teleport a medium distance as a move action. You can teleport a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Dimensional Step

Wizard Specialist School - Conjuration

At 8th level, you can use this ability to teleport up to 30 feet as a move action. You can use this ability a total number of times per day equal to your wizard level

The notable exception is Demonic Charge. It is an unlimited move action teleport, unlocked as soon as you gain access to the Demon mythic path, that also deals area damage.

Demonic Charge

Demon

At the 3rd mythic rank, you can teleport to the target enemy as a move action, dealing 2d6 unholy damage per mythic rank to all enemies in a 10-foot radius around the beginning point of the teleport and at the end point. An enemy can only be damaged by this ability once per round.

To make full use of it, you need a strong standard action. Vital Strike is a natural fit. The resulting playstyle is particularly satisfying, teleporting into groups of enemies, triggering Demonic Charge's explosion, then following up with a Vital Strike that can chain through Improved Cleaving Finish.

Improved Cleaving Finish

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Cleave
Cleaving Finish
Great Cleave
Strength 13
Base Attack Bonus 6

Effect

You can use Cleaving Finish any number of times per round.

The main weaknesses of this approach are survivability and single target damage. Previously, Coloxus helped address the latter by allowing Vital Strike as a move action, but that interaction has since been removed.

I have not yet explored Demonic Charge on (melee) spellcasters enough to compare the two approaches. I will cover this in a future update.

Aspect of the Coloxus

Major Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the coloxus, gaining a bonus to Intelligence score equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1.

The aspect of the coloxus allows the Demon to use abilities and cast spells as move actions during a demonic rage.

This was the feature that made late-game Vital Strike builds competitive with conventional full attack martials. A single Vital Strike generally cannot match a full attack; two Vital Strikes in the same round could.

Since the fix, its value for Vital Strike builds has dropped dramatically.

What remains? Casting True Strike as a move action is an option, but a Lesser Quicken Metamagic Rod already provides a this. That is a paltry use for a major mythic aspect.

The alternative is to invest into spellcasting and use the additional standard action for a spell. At that point, however, it is worth asking why not commit to spellcasting entirely and cast two powerful spells each round instead of combining one mediocre spell with one mediocre Vital Strike.

Feat Continuation

Melee

Power Attack becomes a strong choice after acquiring Mythic Vital Strike. Before this point, the penalty can outweigh its benefit for Vital Strike specifically. However; this does not take into account the Focused Strike feat, with it there's no downside to taking both as early as one can.

Power Attack

Prerequisites
- Strength 13

Effect

You can take a -1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuvers for a +2 damage bonus. This bonus increases by 50% with two-handed, two-handed one-handed, or primary natural weapons, and is halved for off-hand or secondary natural weapons.

At base attack bonus +4 and every 4 points after, the penalty increases by -1 and the damage bonus by +2.

The effect lasts until your next turn and doesn't apply to touch attacks or non-damaging effects.

Focused Strike pairs excellently with Vital Strike, as it negates Power Attack’s penalty for your first attack, which with Vital Strike is your only one.

Focused Strike

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Strength 13
BAB 1

Effect

Using a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon with two hands, you do not apply the Power Attack attack roll penalty to the first attack made in a given turn.

The Cleave line has already been discussed in exploits.

Cleave

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Strength 13

As a standard action, make a single attack at full base attack bonus. If you hit, you can make one additional attack against an adjacent foe within reach. You can only make one extra attack per round with this feat unless you have Great Cleave. Using this feat imposes a -2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.

Great Cleave

Prerequisites

Cleave
Strength 13

Effect

As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the previous foe and also within reach. If you hit, you can continue to make attacks against foes adjacent to the previous foe, so long as they are within your reach. You cannot attack an individual foe more than once during this attack action. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.

Cleaving Finish

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Cleave
Strength 13

Effect

If you make a melee attack, and your target drops to 0 or fewer hit points as a result of your attack, you can make another melee attack using your highest base attack bonus against another opponent within reach. You can make only one extra attack per round with this feat.

Improved Cleaving Finish

Prerequisites

Power Attack
Cleave
Cleaving Finish
Great Cleave
Strength 13
Base Attack Bonus 6

Effect

You can use Cleaving Finish any number of times per round.

You can get Improved Cleaving Finish through Loremaster Secret: Rogue Secret → Combat Trick: Improved Cleaving Finish. However, to make it work you need both Cleave and Cleaving Finish. So you're only skipping Great Cleave.

If you're also planning to go for Sense Vitals of Loremaster this probably becomes to large a Loremaster splash.

Ranged

Deadly Aim mirrors Power Attack in mechanics but provides lower damage output and there's no ranged equivalent to Focused Strike.

Deadly Aim

Prerequisites

Dexterity 13

Effect

You can take a -1 penalty on all ranged attack rolls to gain a +2 bonus on ranged damage rolls.

At base attack bonus +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by -1 and the damage bonus increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus does not apply to touch attacks or effects that don’t deal hit point damage.

With relatively few opportunities to increase damage, investing in the Snap Shot feat line becomes more attractive. It also increases the value of your regular move action, as it allows you to reposition and create more opportunities for attacks of opportunity.

Snap Shot

Prerequisites

Point-Blank Shot
Precise Shot
BAB 6

Effect

You threaten squares within your melee reach with a ranged weapon and you may make attacks of opportunity with that weapon.

Improved Snap Shot

Prerequisites

Rapid Shot
Snap Shot
BAB 9

Effect

You threaten an additional 5' with Snap Shot.

Greater Snap Shot

Prerequisites

Improved Snap Shot
Dexterity 17
BAB 12

Effect

You threaten an additional 5' with Snap Shot. When you make an attack of opportunity, you gain a +2 bonus to damage and critical confirmation rolls. This increases to +4 at BAB 16 and +6 at BAB 20.

Lunge

Prerequisites

BAB 6

Effect

You can increase the reach of your melee attacks by 5 feet until the end of your turn by taking a –2 penalty to your AC until your next turn. You must decide to use this ability before any attacks are made.

Improved Snap Shot requires Rapid Shot, but you could take it or Greater Snap Shot directly through Loremaster Secret: Rogue Secret → Combat Trick: Improved/Greater Snap Shot.

Despite the description specifying melee, lunge increases your snap shot range as well by 5ft.

General

Accomplished Sneak Attacker is a good pickup for a Vital Force build early on.

Accomplished Sneak Attacker

Prerequisites

Sneak Attack: > 1

Effect

Your sneak attack damage increases by 1d6.

Your number of sneak attack dice cannot exceed half your character level (rounded up).

These two feat's have no particular synergy with Vital Strike, but will just generally increase your damage output.

Combat Reflexes

Effect

You can make a number of additional attacks of opportunity per round equal to your Dexterity bonus. You can also make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.

Improved Critical

Prerequisites

BAB 8

Effect Choose one type of weapon. When using the weapon you selected, your threat range is doubled.

Special: You can gain Improved Critical multiple times. The effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

This effect doesn't stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon.

Lunge

Prerequisites

BAB 6

Effect

You can increase the reach of your melee attacks by 5 feet until the end of your turn by taking a –2 penalty to your AC until your next turn. You must decide to use this ability before any attacks are made.

End Game

Because of Vital Strike's poor scaling, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify in the late game. At that point, a choice has to be made: continue investing in Vital Strike, transition into a conventional martial build, or pivot into an entirely different archetype. The following sections examine several possible endgame paths.

Demon

Demon used to be the king of Vital Strike before the Coloxus nerf.

Demon Features

Demonic Charge is central to the Demon melee teleport build.

Demonic Charge

Demon

At the 3rd mythic rank, you can teleport to the target enemy as a move action, dealing 2d6 unholy damage per mythic rank to all enemies in a 10-foot radius around the beginning point of the teleport and at the end point. An enemy can only be damaged by this ability once per round.

Sure Footing adds a decent amount of flat damage to the Evercold build. Keep in mind it's only ranks.

Sure Footing

Boots

These boots allow their wearer to add half their rank in Perception skill to damage on their first attack with a ranged weapon every round.

Acquisition

Found in the Shadow Demon's Lair during the Act 4 Shadow Dance demon exclusive quest.

Demonic Rage gains much of its power from the aspects below. Each aspect provides both a passive effect and an additional effect while Demonic Rage is active.

Demonic Rage

Demon

At the 3rd mythic rank, the power of the Abyss courses through the Demon, waiting to be unleashed. The Demon can enter a demonic rage as a free action. The demonic rage lasts until the end of combat. While in a demonic rage, the Demon gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, caster level checks, and Reflex saving throws. The DCs for all saving throws against the Demon's spells and abilities are increased by 2.

These benefits increase by 1 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks. You can use demonic rage 3 times per day. The number of uses increases by 1 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks.

Note: Each time you activate the rage, you will take (1d4 + (mythic rank / 2)) damage per each enemy within 5 feet.

Demon Aspects

Listed are the aspects most relevant to Vital Strike builds.

Babau grants additional sneak attack damage, increasing Vital Force damage.

Aspect of the Babau

Minor Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the babau, gaining a bonus on all Mobility, Trickery, and Stealth skill checks equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1. Those bonuses don't stack with other bonuses from demonic aspects.

The aspect of the babau increases the Demon's sneak attack damage during a demonic rage by 2d6. The bonus increases by 1d6 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks. Any creature that strikes the Demon with the aspect of the babau during a demonic rage with a non-reach melee weapon suffers 2d6 acid damage.

This damage increases by 1d6 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks.

Coloxus previously allowed two standard actions per round.

Aspect of the Coloxus

Major Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the coloxus, gaining a bonus to Intelligence score equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1.

The aspect of the coloxus allows the Demon to use abilities and cast spells as move actions during a demonic rage.

Deskari is particularly strong when the Vital Force main character is the party's primary damage dealer, since a large portion of the damage is precision damage; a type that a good number enemies are otherwise immune too.

Aspect of Deskari

Demon Lord Aspect

The aspect of Deskari changes all energy damage the Demon deals while in a demonic rage to unholy, and the Demon's physical damage ignores physical damage immunity or damage reduction.

Nocticula is primarily a support aspect. It is especially effective in combination with Coloxus when used to grant its effects to a caster companion or mercenary.

Aspect of Nocticula

Demon Lord Aspect

Once per demonic rage, the Demon can use this ability to grant one ally all the benefits of the demonic rage, including the effects of the Demon's active aspects and major aspects, as a free action until the end of combat.

Demon Shadow Shaman Evercold

Build Overview

Classes: Rowdy 1, Vivisectionist 1, Shadow Shaman 15, Loremaster 3

Loremaster Secrets: Combat Feat: Greater Vital Strike, Wizard Spell: Sense Vitals

An example of a Vital Force Evercold build.

Shadow Shaman has inherent sneak attack progression, qualifies for Loremaster with minimal investment by spending its (not as useful) initial Hex, and can easily obtain both Greater Vital Strike (via the 1st Loremaster Secret) and Sense Vitals (via the 3rd Loremaster Secret). The latter further increases Vital Force damage by adding additional sneak attack dice.

This build was exceptionally strong before the Coloxus and Evercold changes. While no longer among the strongest endgame options, it remains a reasonably effective Vital Strike build.

Evercold

Heavy Crossbow +1

This +1 heavy crossbow fires two bolts on its first attack each round. If both hit, the target must make a DC 25 Fortitude save or take 2d6 cold damage and be staggered for 1 round.

Sense Vitals

Personal Spell

Level: 2
School: Divination

This spell makes your eyes shine blood red and allows you to see the vital areas and weak points of creatures as a warm glow. This allows you to make sneak attacks, as the rogue ability of the same name, dealing an additional 1d6 points of damage; this additional damage increases by 1d6 for every 3 caster levels you possess beyond 3rd, to a maximum of +5d6 at 15th level. This additional damage stacks with other sources of precision damage.

Source: Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

Precision Damage

Total Sneak Attack:

\[ \begin{aligned} &1d6\ (\text{Rowdy}) + 1d6\ (\text{Vivisectionist}) + 5d6\ (\text{Shadow Shaman}) \\ &+\ 5d6\ (\text{Sense Vitals}) + 1d6\ (\text{Accomplished Sneak Attacker}) \\ &+\ 4d6\ (\text{Aspect of Babau}) + 1d6\ (\text{Mythic Sneak Attacker}) = 18d6 \end{aligned} \]

Evercold Precision Damage:

\[ \begin{aligned} &18d6\ (\text{Sneak}) + 2 \times 18d6\ (\text{Vital Force}) = 54d6 \\ &54d6 \times 2\ (\text{two bolts}) = 108d6 \end{aligned} \]

Simulated damage distribution for 108d6 sneak attack damage — Simulated damage distribution for \(108d6\) sneak attack damage. \(378\) median and average. \(90\) percentile range is \([349, 407]\).

Other Damage Sources (Self)

Weapon: \(1d10\) (Heavy Crossbow, medium) \(\rightarrow\) \(3d8\) (Legendary Proportions, +2 Size, Huge) \(\rightarrow\) \(4d8\) (Hurricane Bow, +1 Size, Gargantuan)

Flat AD: \(4\) (Demon Rage) \(+\ 6\) (Luck, Divine Power) \(+\ 7\) (Enchantment, GMW + Bane) \(+\ 2\) (Weapon Specialization) \(+\ 5\) (Weapon Specialization Mythic) \(+\ 12\) (Deadly Aim Mythic) \(+\ 1\) (Point-Blank Shot) \(+\ 3\) (Demon Slayer Soup) \(=\ 40\)

VS Evercold Main:

\[(4d8\ (\text{Weapon}) + 40\ (\text{Flat}) + 10\ (\text{Sure Footing})) \times 4 + 54d6\ (\text{Sneak, Vital Force}) + 2d6\ (\text{Bane}) = 16d8 + 200 + 56d6\]

VS Evercold Main Crit (3x):

\[(4d8\ (\text{Weapon}) + 40\ (\text{Flat}) + 10\ (\text{Sure Footing})) \times 7 + 54d6\ (\text{Sneak, Vital Force}) + 2d6\ (\text{Bane}) = 28d8 + 350 + 56d6\]

VS Evercold Bolt:

\[4d8\ (\text{Weapon}) + 40\ (\text{Flat}) + 54d6\ (\text{Sneak, Vital Force}) + 2d6\ (\text{Bane}) = 4d8 + 40 + 56d6\]

VS Pre-Nerf Evercold Bolt:

\[(4d8\ (\text{Weapon}) + 40\ (\text{Flat})) \times 4 + 54d6\ (\text{Sneak}) + 2d6\ (\text{Bane}) = 16d8 + 160 + 56d6\]

VS Evercold Cold Proc:

\[2d6\ (\text{Evercold, converted to unholy}) + 2d6\ (\text{Bane}) = 4d6\]

Pre-Nerf Coloxus Pre-Nerf Evercold

VS Evercold Total (2x):

\[(16d8 + 200 + 56d6 + 16d8 + 160 + 56d6 + 4d6) \times 2 = 64d8 + 720 + 232d6\]

Simulated damage distribution for 64d8 + 720 + 232d6 damage, zoomed in — Simulated damage distribution for \(64d8 + 720 + 232d6\) damage. Zoomed in (full range is \([1016, 2624]\)). \(1820\) median and average. \(90\) percentile range is \([1768, 1872]\).

Current Evercold

VS Evercold Total:

\[16d8 + 200 + 56d6 + 4d8 + 40 + 56d6 + 4d6 = 20d8 + 240 + 116d6\]

Simulated damage distribution for 20d8 + 240 + 116d6 damage — Simulated damage distribution for \(20d8 + 240 + 116d6\) damage. \(736\) median and average. \(90\) percentile range is \([701, 771]\).

Trickster (Support and Damage)

Most move actions are supportive. Rather than overly trying to maximize damage on an already suboptimal damage build, it's better to focus on utility.

Perception II, Knowledge (Arcana) I-III, and Knowledge (World) I-III benefit the entire team. Trickery I-II, UMD I, and Religion I offer support abilities, while Religion II-III grant domains which generally provide group buffs.

Evercold damage

Let's look at the main Trickster features that add some damage to an Evercold build.

Trickster gains inherent sneak attack progression and can make good use of regular cheap Sense Vitals scrolls through Infuse Magic Device. This removes the need for a Loremaster dip on caster builds, while non-caster builds simply gain additional sneak attack damage.

Sneak Attack

Trickster

At 3rd rank, a Trickster gains +2d6 sneak attack damage. This increases by +1d6 at 5th, 7th, and 9th mythic ranks.

Infuse Magic Device

Mythic Trick

You have learned of a way to improve the efficiency of used magical items. The caster level of all abilities from magical items you use is increased by your mythic rank.

Another notable option is Knowledge (Arcana) II. This Mythic Trick can add the Agile weapon property to generated items. Since Finnean can be rerolled indefinitely, this makes it easy to obtain an Agile version of any weapon type. By save scumming we can also get Agile on a unique weapon; for example Evercold.

Knowledge (Arcana) II

Improved Mythic Trick

You can reveal hidden effects that can be used by wearers of magical equipment. Every item you identify gets an additional random minor effect.

For weapons, the possible enchantments are Keen, Frost, Flaming, Agile, Corrosive, Shock, Radiant, Necrotic, Aberration Bane, Animal Bane, Construct Bane, Dragon Bane, Fey Bane, Monstrous Humanoid Bane, Magical Beast Bane, Good Outsider Bane, Lawful Outsider Bane, Plant Bane, or Vermin Bane.

For armor, the possible enchantments are Cold Resistance 10 or 15, Acid Resistance 10 or 15, Electricity Resistance 10 or 15, Fire Resistance 10 or 15, Sonic Resistance 10, Damage Resistance 2, or Shadow.

Masterwork Weapon Trait

Weapon Trait

A masterwork weapon is a finely crafted version of a normal weapon. Wielding it provides a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls.

A masterwork weapon's value is changed to 100 gold.

Knowledge (Arcana) II does compete with several powerful Improved Mythic Tricks. Perception II, for example, grants the entire party the Completely Normal Spell metamagic feat and unlocks the improved critical feats. While those critical feats are less valuable for Vital Strike than for full attacks, they can potentially be quite useful for the rest of the party.

Knowledge (Arcana) II is not purely selfish either, however. Companions benefit as well.

For example, an Agile Gnome Hooked Hammer largely solves the Strength versus Dexterity dilemma for Regill builds, while Camellia can benefit from an Agile crossbow.

It is worth noting, however, that the Agile weapon property only grants 1× Dexterity to damage when using a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands. This is unlike Mythic Weapon Finesse and the Aldori Swordlord's Deft Strike, both of which grant the full 1.5× Dexterity modifier in those cases.

Using the Demon example as a baseline, we can estimate the damage of the Shadow Shaman Trickster variant. An equivalent Freebooter build deals less damage due to its lack of inherent sneak attack progression. A worked damage example may be added in a future update, alongside a dedicated Freebooter build.

Dexterity Example: \(25\) (Base) \(+\ 9\) (Belt) \(+\ 6\) (Profane Ascension) \(+\ 8\) (Grand Mutagen through World III) \(+\ 6\) (Microscopic Proportions) \(=\ 54\)

Adjustments: \(+\ 27\) (Agile) \(-\ 4\) (Demon Rage) \(-\ 10\) (Sure Footed, only first bolt) \(+\ 1d6\) (comparative sneak)

VS Evercold Total:

\[16d8 + 252 + 57d6 + 4d8 + 63 + 57d6 + 4d6 = 20d8 + 315 + 118d6\]

Simulated damage distribution for 20d8 + 315 + 118d6 damage — Simulated damage distribution for \(20d8 + 315 + 118d6\) damage. \(818\) median and average. \(90\) percentile range is \([783, 853]\).

Rain of Halberds

The in-game description is inaccurate. Rain of Halberds makes no attack rolls, meaning it also cannot critically hit.

Its main strength is that, much like Bolt of Justice and Storm of Justice, its damage scales almost entirely with caster level and metamagic with no way for enemies to save versus or resist it. Because Trickster can get the metamagic through the Rod of Magical Affinity and Reuse Magic Device combo, the spell requires no feat investment to do a decent amount of damage. This makes it an attractive option for transitioning almost any build into a competent offensive caster.

Reuse Magic Device

Improved Mythic Trick

You have learned of a way to use items so delicately that their use is completely unnoticed. Wands you use no longer lose charges from use, and you can equip any magical items possible, regardless of requirements.

Rod of Magical Affinity

Wand

The wielder of this greater metamagic rod can cast spells that are empowered, heightened, bolstered and maximized, as per using the corresponding metamagic feats.

Greater metamagic rods can be used with spells of 9th level or lower.

The rod has 5 charges. Modifying a spell with a rod expends 1 charge. When all the charges are expended, the rod becomes useless.

Note: Actually a Wand

Acquisition

Drops in Treasure Island (Act 4.7) from The-Last-Sound-You-Hear boss.

The downside is the lack of a merged spellbook. Unlike Angel, Trickster cannot accelerate its caster level progression, so the spell comes online considerably later and does a lot less damage.

Rain of Halberds is unlocked at Mythic Rank 5, at the start of Act 4. Shortly afterwards, the Rod of Magical Affinity also becomes available.

There are several ways to approach the transition:

Mythic Rank 4: Take Reusue Magic Device in Act 3 to make immediate use of the wand upon finding it (in Act 4). The opportunity cost is giving up powerful alternatives such as Knowledge (Arcana) II or Perception II which unlike Reuse Magic Device also provide value during act 3 itself.
Mythic Rank 6 or 7: Delay the transition until later. This preserves earlier mythic tricks, but leaves relatively little of the game in which to benefit from it.

In case of mythic level 7 acquisition its should probably be treated as an extra with no spell specialization or similar investment.

Damage

The plain mythic 5 damage is terrible:

\[ \text{CL} \times 1d10 = \mathbf{10d10} \]

With the wand and Robe of the Seven Sins (both from Act 4 Treasure Isles) it becomes better:

\[ \begin{aligned} (13d10 + 13 \times 2 (\text{Bolster})) \times 1.5 (\text{Empower}) &= \mathbf{234} (\text{Maximized}) \end{aligned} \]

Metamagics

Metamagic (Bolster Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

You make your Spells deal additional area of effect damage, while making them stronger.

Benefit: Spell now deals 2 more points of damage per die rolled to all its targets. Additionally, all enemies in 5 feet of the spell targets are dealt 2 damage per die rolled of the original spell. The spell can no longer apply precision damage.

Level increase: +1 (A bolstered spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level)

Metamagic (Empower Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

You can increase the power of your spells, causing them to deal more damage.

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half including bonuses to those rolls.

Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables.

Level Increase: +2 (An empowered spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell's actual level.)

Metamagic (Maximize Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of a spell modified by this feat are maximized. Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables.

Level Increase: +3 (A maximized spell uses up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell's actual level.)

An empowered, maximized spell gains the separate benefits of each feat: the maximum result plus half the normally rolled result.

Empower and Mazimize Interaction

The interaction between Empower Spell and Maximize Spell is inconsistent. For some spells, such as Bolt of Justice and Rain of Halberds, the additional damage granted by Empower is also maximized. For others, such as Hellfire Ray, the Empower portion is rolled normally instead of being maximized.

With some feat investment; Spell Specialization taken twice once normally and once trough Loremaster for +4 CL.

\[ \begin{aligned} (17d10 + 17 \times 2 (\text{Bolster})) \times 1.5 (\text{Empower}) &= \mathbf{306} (\text{Maximized}) \end{aligned} \]

End-game capped version. Technically can get spell specialization up to 4 times, but let's keep it realistic. Flame conversion with fire vulnerability is also possible, but will realistically only effect one enemy at a time.

Caster Level

\[ \begin{aligned} &20\ (\text{Trickster}) + 2\ (\text{Spell Specialization}) + 2\ (\text{Spell Specialization, Loremaster Wizard Feat}) \\ &+\ 2 (\text{Spell Specialization, World III}) +1\ (\text{School Mastery}) + 3\ (\text{Robe of the Seven Sins, DLC3}) \\ &+\ 3\ (\text{Sin Mage's Staff, DLC6}) + 2\ (\text{Storyteller's Knowledge}) + 1\ (\text{Fresh Yoghurt}) = 36 \end{aligned} \]

Damage:

\[ \begin{aligned} (36d10 + 36 \times 2 (\text{Bolster})) \times 1.5 (\text{Empower}) &= \mathbf{648} (\text{Maximized}) \end{aligned} \]

Sneak Attack and Rays

Understanding how Sneak Attack interacts with ray spells is relevant when considering an early Rowdy dip on an arcane caster, with or without Arcane Trickster.

In particular, the potential of sneak attacks on Battering Blast, which can fire up to seven projectiles.

Battering Blast

Level: 3
School: Evocation
Spell Descriptors: Force
Target: One enemy
Range: Close
Delivery: Ranged Touch Attack
Saving Throw: Reflex on Bull Rush
Spell Resistance: Yes
Casting Time: Standard Action

You hurl a fist-sized ball of force resembling a sphere of spikes to ram a designated creature. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike your target. On a successful hit, you deal 1d6 points of force damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d6). For every 5 caster levels you possess beyond 5th, you gain an additional ball of force. A creature struck by any of these is subject to a bull rush attempt. The force has a Strength modifier equal to your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (whichever is highest). The CMB for the force's bull rush uses your caster level as its base attack bonus, adding the force's Strength modifier and a +10 bonus for each additional blast that hits. If the bull rush succeeds, the force pushes the creature away from you in a straight line, and the creature must make a Reflex save or fall prone.

Notes: The extra balls of force are capped at 7 (CL 35).

Source: Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

Old Behaviour

Sneak Attack originally applied to every ray of a multi-ray spell. This behaviour was subsequently changed, only to work with some rays bot not others, then eventually adjusted again.

Current Behaviour

The following observations were tested using Battering Blast and Scorching Ray, with consistent results for both.

Scorching Ray

Level: 2
School: Evocation
Spell Descriptors: Fire
Target: One enemy
Range: Close
Delivery: Ranged Touch Attack
Saving Throw: —
Spell Resistance: Yes
Casting Time: Standard Action

You blast your enemies with a searing beam of fire. You may fire one ray, plus one additional ray for every four levels beyond 3rd (to a maximum of three rays at 11th level). Each ray requires a ranged touch attack to hit and deals 4d6 points of fire damage.

Source: Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

Every attack roll that targets flat-footed AC, whether from a weapon attack or a ray spell, is logged as a Sneak Attack if the character has Sneak Attack.
Only the first ray deals Sneak Attack damage. Subsequent rays are still treated as Sneak Attacks by the combat log, but no longer receive the extra precision damage.
This behaviour also applies to other damage riders. Effects such as Favoured Enemy and the +1 damage from Point-Blank Shot are applied only to the first ray.
Bolstered rays disable all Sneak Attack damage. However, the attacks are still logged as Sneak Attacks and treated as such for other interactions.

Effects Triggered by Sneak Attacks

Testing produced the following results:

Crippling Strike and Petrifying Strike both trigger on all rays, even with Bolstered rays. As long as the attack targets flat-footed AC and qualifies as a Sneak Attack, these effects trigger.
Dispelling Attack did not trigger from either Battering Blast or Scorching Ray, including the first ray that still dealt Sneak Attack damage. This differs from previous game versions.

Crippling Strike

Advanced Rogue Talent

A character with this talent can sneak attack opponents with such precision that the blows weaken and hamper them. An opponent damaged by her sneak attacks also take 2 points of Strength damage.

Petrifying Strike

Advanced Rogue Talent

A character with this ability can sneak attack opponents with such precision that their blows slow and hamper them. An opponent damaged by one of their sneak attacks also takes 2 points of Dexterity damage.

Obtaining Arcane Trickster's Surprise Spells capstone did not alter any of the interactions described above.

Surprise Spells

Arcane Trickster Capstone

At 10th level, an arcane trickster can add her sneak attack damage to any spell that deals damage, if the targets are flat-footed. This additional damage only applies to spells that deal hit point damage, and the additional damage is of the same type as the spell. If the spell allows a saving throw to negate or halve the damage, it also negates or halves the sneak attack damage.

Other Ray Spells

These results should not be assumed to apply universally.

For example, Trickster's Ray of Halberds does apply Sneak Attack damage on every projectile. It may therefore also interact differently with abilities such as Dispelling Attack, although further testing is required.

Sense Vitals

Sense Vitals grants Sneak Attack, meaning inherent Sneak Attack progression is not required for these interactions.

As a result, the primary advantage of taking a Rowdy dip on an arcane caster is limited to a smoother early game through Vital Force, rather than enabling Sneak Attack itself. As long as the class has Sense Vitals, most of the extra Sneak Attack functionality can be obtained without sacrificing a caster level. The Sneak Attack damage itself is equal, or often lower than, the damage provided by Bolster. As a result, investing into additional Sneak Attack dice offers relatively little benefit for ray builds.

Transition: Hellfire Ray (Various)

Transition from a ranged Vital Strike build.

This transition would be a lot better if Rays Spells still applied sneak on every Ray.

Hellfire Ray

Level: 6
School: Evocation
Spell Descriptors: Evil
Target: One enemy
Range: Long
Delivery: Ranged Touch Attack
Saving Throw: —
Spell Resistance: Yes
Casting Time: Standard Action

A blast of hellfire blazes from your hands. You can fire one ray, plus one additional ray for every 4 caster levels beyond 11th (to a maximum of three rays at 19th level). Each ray requires a ranged touch attack to hit and deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 15d6). Half the damage is fire damage, but the other half results directly from unholy power and is therefore not subject to being reduced by fire resistance.

Crossbow VS	Hellfire Ray
Very strong Early Game	Very strong Late Game
Uses DEX for attack rolls	Uses DEX for ranged touch attack rolls
Benefits from Precise Shot	Benefits from Precise Shot
Doesn't use STR for damage	Doesn't use STR for damage
Usually used in a 3/4 BAB caster class	Needs to be a caster class
Metamagic is a Loremaster prerequisite	Metamagic is used to scale damage

Cons

Waste a couple of feats on VS. Not a big deal, small cost and don't need too many feats for HFR.
HFR has no use for Sneak Attack. Accomplished Sneak Attacker is wasted and picking a Sneak Attack subclass might be suboptimal as you lose other features for it.
Lose a CL from Rowdy dip, delays HFR scaling and matters for intensified HFR.
Half casters soft cap at 16 CL, can still get to the hard cap of 20 CL through items and spell specialization.

Bigger Cons

Waste a Mythic feat on Mythic Vital Strike. HFR is mythic intensive (Abundant Casting x3, Spell Penetration, Ascendant Element).
Weapon specific feats don't transfer (except partially with Eldritch Archer).

Arcane Trickster

Starting with Sneak Attack also makes it easier to qualify for Arcane Trickster. The prestige class requires 2d6 Sneak Attack, which can be obtained, for example, through Rowdy 1 and Accomplished Sneak Attacker.

The main incentive for taking Arcane Trickster is access to the Ambrosial Attire of Arcane Annihilation, a very powerful item for ray casters that is available only to an Arcane Trickster main character.

Ambrosial Attire of Arcane Annihilation

Shirt

This robe grants its wearer a +4 bonus to attack rolls with ray attacks, +1 point of damage per dice rolled to fire, acid, force, cold, electricity spells and a +4 bonus on caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Acquisition

Given via Crusade event to Knight Commander with Arcane Trickster class after completing Know Thy Enemy quest and finishing Areelu's Laboratory area.

Source: Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

The usual approach is a single-level dip in Act 3. Alternatively, a three-level dip can be taken earlier to gain an additional 1d6 Sneak Attack at 2nd level and Impromptu Sneak Attack, which allows you to target an enemy's flat-footed AC once per day.

Impromptu Sneak Attack

Arcane Trickster

Beginning at 3rd level, an arcane trickster can enter a special stance that allows him to improvise a way to sneak attack targets regardless of their awareness. An arcane trickster can maintain this stance for one round per day. For every two levels above 3rd arcane trickster can maintain this stance for one additional round, up to a maximum of 4 rounds at 9th level.

The target of impromptu sneak attacks loses any Dexterity bonus to AC, but only against those attacks. The power can be used against any target, but creatures that are not subject to critical hits take no extra damage (though they still lose any Dexterity bonus to AC against the attack).

Eldritch Archer

The Eldritch Archer archetype allows one to combine ranged full attacks with ray casting. Thus retaining benefits from ones investments into archery. This is a much more natural progression from a conventional archer than from a Vital Strike build. To get the most out of the class you still want the standard archery feat line, such as Rapid Shot, making the build fairly feat-intensive if starting from Vital Strike.

Eldritch Archer combines attacking and casting through two class features: Ranged Spellcombat at level 1 and Ranged Spellstrike at level 2.

Ranged Spellcombat

The eldritch archer can cast a magus spell (with a 1-standard-action casting time) and make all ranged weapon attacks as a full-round action. All ranged attacks take a -2 penalty, and any attack rolls within the spell suffer the same penalty. The eldritch archer cannot accept an attack penalty to gain a bonus on concentration checks to cast a spell defensively.

Note: Standard action, this means this won't work with a Spellbook Metamagicked Spell from a Spontaneous Caster.

Ranged Spellstrike

At 2nd level, the eldritch archer can cast a magus spell requiring a ranged attack and deliver it through a ranged weapon as part of a single attack at her highest base attack bonus. This attack deals normal weapon damage plus the spell's effects, using the weapon's critical range but applying ×2 damage for the spell effect on a critical hit. When used with Ranged Spell Combat, this attack takes any penalties from it. The attack doesn't extend the spell's range.

This does change several aspects of Hellfire Ray:

Targets regular AC: Hellfire Ray requires a ranged touch attack, but Hellfire Ray delivered through spellstrike uses the weapon's attack roll and thus requires a regular ranged attack.

Higher Crit Range: Hellfire Ray has a 20 crit range, 19-20 with Improved Critical. Can be increased to 17-20 with the two Trickster Feats. Hellfire Ray delivered through a crossbow has a 19-20 crit range, 17-20 with Improved Critical. Can be increased to 14-20 with the two Trickster Feats and Flawless Belt of Physical Perfection +8.

Lower Crit Multiplier: Hellfire Ray has a 2x crit multiplier, but it can potentially be scaled to:

\[2\ (\text{base}) + 1\ (\text{Mythic Improved Critical}) + 1\ (\text{Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved}) = 4\times\]

One item with particularly good synergy for a sneak attack Eldritch Archer is Treacherous Flame. The projectile from the bow or crossbow applies the fire vulnerability before the Hellfire Rays hit, increasing their damage.

In testing this interaction was not completely consistent. Occasionally the first ray landed before the weapon projectile, meaning only the second and third rays benefited from the vulnerability.

Treacherous Flame

Gloves

Whenever the wearer of these gloves lands a sneak attack against an enemy, the enemy becomes vulnerable to fire for 1 round and suffers additional 2d6 fire damage. In addition, whenever the enemy who has been hit by the wearer at least once, takes fire damage from any source, it suffers a –3 penalty on all saves for 2 rounds.

Acquisition

Made from the Fire of Baphomet relic which you can get from the Crusade Battle north from Sinister Mansion (Act 5).

Demon

Demon offers several benefits to a Hellfire Ray caster.

Aspect of Brimorak increases the damage of spells by adding bonus damage per damage die rolled, making it particularly effective with Hellfire Ray.

Aspect of the Brimorak

Minor Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the brimorak, gaining a bonus on all Mobility, Trickery, and Use Magic Device skill checks equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1. Those bonuses don't stack with other bonuses from demonic aspects.

Any creature that strikes the Demon with the aspect of the brimorak during a demonic rage with a non-reach melee weapon suffers 2d6 fire damage. This damage increases by 1d6 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks. Whenever the Demon with the aspect of the brimorak casts a spell that deals damage during a demonic rage, that spell deals an additional 2 points of damage per dice rolled. The bonus to damage increases by 1 at 6th and 9th mythic ranks.

Aspect of Coloxus allows you to cast two Hellfire Rays in a single round by enabling spellcasting as a move action.

Aspect of the Coloxus

Major Demon Aspect

The Demon adopts the aspect of the coloxus, gaining a bonus to Intelligence score equal to half the Demon's mythic rank plus 1.

The aspect of the coloxus allows the Demon to use abilities and cast spells as move actions during a demonic rage.

Trickster

Trickster offers a relatively inexpensive but very late transition from a martial character into a ray caster.

Its combination of Reuse Magic Device and the Rod of Magical Affinity allows rays to be fully metamagicked without investing in metamagic feats or additional rods, leaving the latter available for other party members.

Reuse Magic Device

Improved Mythic Trick

You have learned of a way to use items so delicately that their use is completely unnoticed. Wands you use no longer lose charges from use, and you can equip any magical items possible, regardless of requirements.

Rod of Magical Affinity

Wand

The wielder of this greater metamagic rod can cast spells that are empowered, heightened, bolstered and maximized, as per using the corresponding metamagic feats.

Greater metamagic rods can be used with spells of 9th level or lower.

The rod has 5 charges. Modifying a spell with a rod expends 1 charge. When all the charges are expended, the rod becomes useless.

Note: Actually a Wand

Acquisition

Drops in Treasure Island (Act 4.7) from The-Last-Sound-You-Hear boss.

There are, however, some limitations. The Rod of Magical Affinity is only available in Act 4. To make immediate use of it, Reuse Magic Device must already have been selected at Mythic Rank 4 in Act 3. This is a highly contested choice, competing with options such as Knowledge (Arcana) II and Perception II. Delaying it until Mythic Rank 6 is also possible, although that leaves only the final dungeon of Act 4 + Act 5 to benefit from it.

Thanks to his sneak attack a Trickster can also qualify for Arcane Trickster at Mythic Rank 3; in time to get the robe.

Sneak Attack

Trickster

At 3rd rank, a Trickster gains +2d6 sneak attack damage. This increases by +1d6 at 5th, 7th, and 9th mythic ranks.

Use Magic Device III grants a Wizard spellbook. This allows a previously non-casting martial character to become a competent arcane caster. However, Greater Mythic Tricks are not available until Mythic Rank 7, leaving only the final act of the game to make use of the spellbook.

Use Magic Device III

Greater Mythic Trick

You have learned that there is a very unconventional and effective way to use scrolls. Apparently, there are those guys called "Wizards" and they use scrolls in a very original way — instead of using magic from a scroll outright, they copy it into this thing they call "Spellbook," and then use the spell every day. You now have one of those spellbooks, and can copy spells into it from scrolls as if you were a wizard of your character level. The casting stat for this spellbook is intelligence.

Trickster can also achieve the highest possible Hellfire Ray critical multiplier. Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved raises the multiplier to 4×, and can be obtained through either Perception II or Knowledge (World) III.

Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved

Prerequisites

Improved Mythic Trick Perception II
Improved Improved Improved Critical
BAB 8

Effect

Choose one type of weapon that has the Improved Improved Improved Critical feat. When using the weapon you selected, your critical multiplier is increased by one.

Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. The effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon

Trick Fate guarantees a natural 20, ensuring a critical hit (given no immunities and auto confirm). However it becomes available at Mythic Rank 9, when relatively little of the game remains.

Trick Fate

Trickster Spell

Level: 7 (at Mythic 9)
School: Divination
Duration: Three Rounds
Casting Time: Standard Action
Target: Ally in close range

When the fate gives your friend a challenge — you respond with a special die. For three rounds, the target ally always rolls 20 on all d20 rolls.

Transition: Merged Angel

This transition requires very little feat investment and can be made from almost any build.

While Bolt of Justice is used for the calculations, Storm of Justice does the same damage but AoE, and one would probably switch spell specialization to it end-game.

Bolt of Justice

Level: Angel 6
School: Conjuration
Spell Descriptors: —
Target: One enemy
Range: Long
Delivery: Direct
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: No
Duration: Instant
Casting Time: Standard Action

You launch a bolt that does 1d6 holy damage per caster level to the target. In addition, the target must make a Reflex save or be knocked prone.

If the target is evil, the spell does 1d8 damage per level and if the creature fails its reflex save, it also suffers a -2 penalty to AC, attack rolls and saving throws.

If the target is undead or an evil outsider, the spell does 1d10 damage per level and if the creature fails its reflex save, it also suffers a -4 penalty to AC, attack rolls and saving throws.

If the target is a demon lord, evil dragon or a powerful undead creature like a lich, the spell does 1d12 damage per level and the target suffers a -4 penalty to AC, attack rolls and saving throws. In addition, the target must make a Reflex save or be knocked prone.

Storm of Justice

Level: Angel 8
School: Conjuration
Spell Descriptors: —
Target: All enemies within a 30' burst centred on target point within Long range
Range: Long
Delivery: Direct
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: No
Duration: Instant
Casting Time: Standard Action

Enemies in the area of effect are hit with Bolt of Justice.

Damage	Debuff
No touch attack needed.	Hard to Scale
No save.
No Spell Resistance.

Only feats that scale damage are Metamagics and Spell Specialization (+2 CL).

Feats, aside from Metamagics (Bolster, can get M+E from rods) and spell specialization (+2 CL), make little difference to the spell. Caster level is most important, so it's best to stay pure, except for prestige classes that advance caster level. Loremaster is good as it allows to double up on Spell Specialization. Naturally it makes sense to build for early game.

Example Build

An early Greater Vital Strike build for Wildland Shaman via Loremaster was recommended in the original video.

Wildland Shaman is, however, already one of the strongest early-game melee classes. Its combination of self-buffs, Hexes, and an animal companion makes it capable of soloing Acts 1 and, potentially, Act 2 with little difficulty. As a result, the additional early-game power provided by Greater Vital Strike is less valuable.

A Loremaster level also interferes with animal companion progression. At character level 7, Medium companions such as the Dog grow to Large size, allowing them to be ridden. This is also the earliest point at which both the main character and companion can acquire Outflank, representing a significant power spike.

Taking Loremaster at level 6 delays companion progression. Boon Companion restores the companion's level, but postpones Outflank until level 9. Consequently, levels 7 and 8 become weaker despite being the levels where an early Greater Vital Strike investment is expected to provide the greatest benefit.

Level 6 is where Greater Vital Strike offers the highest relative value. In practice, however, Wildland Shaman progresses through this level very quickly during solo play, resulting in only a short window where the investment has a noticeable impact.

A better fit is a divine caster that does not rely on an animal companion. Shadow Shaman is an option for Rowdy-based builds, but the following recommendation instead uses the base Shaman.

Although unable to solo as effectively, a standard Shaman can still comfortably reach level 6 by following the optimised Ramien Kill Route for Feud of the Faithful. Ember can then be recruited and progressed into an animal companion class for a tank, with the remaining companions joining afterwards. Since recruitment begins at level 6, the party remains there for a relatively long time, maximising the value of an early Greater Vital Strike.

The benefit of Standard Shaman is a somewhat stronger late-game. It can qualify naturally for Winter Witch, gaining additional caster levels for Bolt of Justice and Storm of Justice. This can be done by selecting Frost Spirit at character creation, sacrificing the stronger early-game Battle Spirit, or by obtaining Frost through Second Spirit Mythic. The loss of Battle Spirit is largely offset by the early Greater Vital Strike power spike.

Second Spirit

Mythic Ability

Your growing powers let you speak to one more spirit.

Benefit: You gain one more shaman spirit.

Freezing Cold

Winter Witch

At 3rd level, a winter witch's spells become incredibly cold, increasing their caster level by 1.

At 6th level this bonus increases to 2.

Note

Wildland Shaman can also qualify for Winter Witch by taking a one-level Witch dip with the Frost Patron, although this costs an additional caster level.

Another advantage of the base Shaman is Wandering Spirit, which grants temporary access to another spirit's spells and abilities. This substantially reduces the opportunity cost of selecting Frost Spirit instead of Battle Spirit as the primary spirit.

A useful interaction is that metamagicked versions of spirit spells are retained after switching spirits.

Wandering Spirit

Shaman

The shaman can adapt to a specific situation by forming a temporary bond with a wandering spirit that would grant them new spells and abilities. Such a spirit can be changed every day.

Example Build

Frost Spirit Shaman with a Loremaster level at character level 6 for Greater Vital Strike. Transition into an Angel blaster, obtaining Spell Specialization from Loremaster level 3 before taking six levels of Winter Witch.

Unnecessary Damage Maximization

Geomancer Dip

Lose one caster level, but we gain Geomancy and a bloodline.

Geomancy

Geomancer

The next spell the geomancer casts deals 1d8 direct damage to the geomancer himself. In exchange for this sacrifice, either the geomancer and his allies within 30 feet gain special benefits, or the geomancer's enemies within 30 feet suffer special drawbacks. The exact effect depends on the terrain that surrounds the geomancer:

AbyssDesertForestHighlandsUndergroundUrban

The dark energies of the Abyss corrupt your foes. All enemies within 30 feet take 1d6 damage per spell level and must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or become corrupted.

Creatures corrupted this way suffer a -2 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, and the save DCs of their spells and abilities.

This is a curse effect.

A brutal sandstorm ravages your foes. All enemies within 30 feet take 1d6 slashing damage per spell level and must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or become blinded for 1d4 rounds.

The lush canopies and the pulsing vitality of the woods fill you with vigor. Both you and all allies within 30 feet regain 1d6 hit points per spell level.

The rugged endurance of the mountain protects you from harm. For 1 round, both you and all allies within 30 feet gain DR N/-, where N is equal to twice the spell's level.

Stalagmites and stalactites assail your enemies, pinning them to the ground. All enemies within 30 feet take 1d6 piercing damage per spell level and must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or lose their ability to move for 1 round.

Pinned: This creature is unable to move.

Your foes are harried by a hail of urban debris such as bricks or roof tiles. All enemies within 30 feet take 1d6 bludgeoning damage per spell level and must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or become stunned for 1 round.

If this ability causes an enemy to make a saving throw, the DC of that saving throw becomes equal to the DC of the spell cast by the geomancer. Activating or disabling this effect is a free action. Geomancy has an effect only if the triggering spell targets at least one creature.

This replaces all bonus spells gained as part of a bloodline.

The bloodline that we want is Elemental Bloodline - Fire

Bloodline: Elemental Bloodline - Fire

Grants various abilities, the important one being a toggleable power: Elemental Bloodline Arcana.

Elemental Bloodline Arcana

Elemental Bloodline

All spells that deal energy damage that you cast will deal damage of a type matching your element instead. This also changes the spell's type to match the energy type of your element.

Fire Vulnerability

A creature with Fire Vulnerability takes half again as much damage (+50%) from the fire energy type.

Flame Curse

Shaman Hex

Prerequisites

Shaman Flame Spirit

The Shaman causes a creature within 30' to become vulnerable to fire until the end of the Shaman's next turn. At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of the effect increases by 1 round.

Treacherous Flame

Gloves

Whenever the wearer of these gloves lands a sneak attack against an enemy, the enemy becomes vulnerable to fire for 1 round and suffers additional 2d6 fire damage. In addition, whenever the enemy who has been hit by the wearer at least once, takes fire damage from any source, it suffers a –3 penalty on all saves for 2 rounds.

Acquisition

Made from the Fire of Baphomet relic which you can get from the Crusade Battle north from Sinister Mansion (Act 5).

For both of these we want someone else to do the applying.

School Mastery stacking trough Expanded Arsenal

A bugged interaction between School Mastery and Expanded Arsenal allows the bonus to stack onto every subsequently selected school.

School Mastery

Mythic Feat

Select one school of magic. All spells you cast from that school gain +1 caster level.

Expanded Arsenal

Mythic Feat

Select one school of magic. All bonuses from your feats and mythic feats that apply to another school of magic, such as Spell Focus and School Mastery, also apply to the chosen school.

Mythic Rank	Mythic Feat	Abjuration	Conjuration	Evocation	Illusion	Transmutation
2	School Mastery (Abjuration)	+1
4	Expanded Arsenal (Conjuration)	+1	+1
6	Expanded Arsenal (Evocation)	+1	+2	+2
8	Expanded Arsenal (Illusion)	+1	+3	+3	+3
10	Expanded Arsenal (Transmutation)	+1	+4	+4	+4	+4

Reddit Source

Bolt of Justice Damage versus a Guile Demon

For absolute maximum damage, some of the choices are less practical.

Build Overview

Build: Wildland Shaman 10, Winter Witch 6, Loremaster 3, Geomancer 1, (Merged) Angel 10

Mythic: Abundant Casting x3, Ascendant Element: Fire, School Mastery: Any but Conjuration, Expanded Arsenal: Conjuration, Expanded Arsenal: Any x3, Any

Caster Level:

\[ \begin{aligned} &29\ (\text{Merged Angel with Shaman}) + 2\ (\text{Winter Witch}) \\ &+ 2\ (\text{Spell Specialization}) + 2\ (\text{Spell Specialization, Loremaster Wizard Feat}) \\ &+\ 4\ (\text{School Mastery + 4x Expanded Arsenal Bug}) + 3\ (\text{Robe of the Seven Sins, DLC3}) \\ &+\ 3\ (\text{Sin Mage's Staff, DLC6}) + 2\ (\text{Storyteller's Knowledge}) + 1\ (\text{Fresh Yoghurt}) = 48 \end{aligned} \]

Sword of Heaven: +2 dice.

Sword of Heaven

Angel

Angels can imbue their weapons with holy power. Weapons imbued with holy power deal an additional 2d6 holy damage on attacks, while spells and abilities used while holding imbued weapons deal an additional 2 dice of damage or heal an additional 2 dice of damage.

You can use Sword of Heaven a number of times per day equal to 1 plus half your mythic rank.

The Bound of Possibility: +2 dice.

The Bound of Possibility

Cloak

Acquisition

Storyteller act 5 item errand.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Wiki

Abolish Disease/Guile/Poison/Undeath: Creatures which apply disease/compulsion/poison effect or are undead take 50% more damage.

Abolish Sword of Heaven Improvements

Abolish DiseaseAbolish GuileAbolish PoisonAbolish Undeath

Sword of Heaven

Prerequisites:

Improved Sword of Heaven
MR4

The Angel's weapons become the bane of all diseases. A creature wielding them becomes immune to diseases. healing spells cast by that creature now remove all diseases from the target and also remove the fatigued, exhausted, sickened, and nauseated conditions. Creatures that apply diseases on attacks or are otherwise closely linked to diseases suffer an additional 50% damage from the wielder as holy damage.

Sword of Heaven

Prerequisites:

Improved Sword of Heaven
MR4

The Angel's weapons become the bane of all guile. A creature wielding them becomes immune to compulsion effects. healing spells cast by that creature now remove all mind-affecting effects from the target. Creatures that commonly use compulsion suffer an additional 50% damage from the wielder as holy damage.

Sword of Heaven

Prerequisites:

Improved Sword of Heaven
MR4

The Angel's weapons become the bane of all poisons. A creature wielding them becomes immune to poisons. healing spells cast by that creature now remove all poisons from the target and heal all ability damage and ability drain. Creatures that apply poison on attacks or are otherwise closely linked to poisons suffer an additional 50% damage from the wielder as holy damage.

Sword of Heaven

Prerequisites:

Improved Sword of Heaven
MR4

The Angel's weapons become the bane of all undeath. A creature wielding them becomes immune to death effects and energy drain. healing spells cast by that creature now remove paralysis and all negative levels from the target. Undead creatures suffer an additional 50% damage from the wielder as holy damage.

Metamagics, through rods or feats:

Metamagic (Bolster Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

You make your Spells deal additional area of effect damage, while making them stronger.

Benefit: Spell now deals 2 more points of damage per die rolled to all its targets. Additionally, all enemies in 5 feet of the spell targets are dealt 2 damage per die rolled of the original spell. The spell can no longer apply precision damage.

Level increase: +1 (A bolstered spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level)

Metamagic (Empower Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

You can increase the power of your spells, causing them to deal more damage.

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half including bonuses to those rolls.

Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables.

Level Increase: +2 (An empowered spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell's actual level.)

Metamagic (Maximize Spell)

Prerequisites

Intelligence 3

Effect

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of a spell modified by this feat are maximized. Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables.

Level Increase: +3 (A maximized spell uses up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell's actual level.)

An empowered, maximized spell gains the separate benefits of each feat: the maximum result plus half the normally rolled result.

Note

The interaction between Empower Spell and Maximize Spell is inconsistent. For some spells, such as Bolt of Justice and Rain of Halberds, the additional damage granted by Empower is also maximized. For others, such as Hellfire Ray, the Empower portion is rolled normally instead of being maximized.

Bolstered Bolt of Justice

\[ \begin{aligned} &= 48d10 + 4d10\ (\text{Sword of Heaven + The Bound of Possibility}) + 48 \times 2\ (\text{Bolster}) \\ &= 52d10 + 96 \end{aligned} \]

MEB Bolt of Justice on a Flame Cursed Guile Demon

\[ \begin{aligned} &= (52d10 + 96) \times 1.5 \times 1.5 \times 1.5 \\ &= \mathbf{2079}\ (\text{Maximized}) \end{aligned} \]

Geomancy

\[ \begin{aligned} &= 6d6\ (\text{Level 6 Spell}) + 4d6\ (\text{Sword of Heaven + The Bound of Possibility}) \\ &= 10d6 \end{aligned} \]

Geomancy Guile

\[ = 10d6 \times 1.5 \]

Full Builds

Complete build guides are planned for both the early and late game. These will include level progression, feat selection, Mythic choices, spell selection where applicable, equipment, and gameplay notes.

Depending on their size, they will either be added as subsections of this guide or moved to dedicated pages, which will be linked here once available.