Oracle Build Question.

[Dan Arcueid]

I've been playing an Oracle and over the course of playing it the focus of the character has somewhat shifted from what I originally intended and as a result I was looking for some input on ideas to help me build it.

Spoiler: Current build as well as build ideas

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So as it currently stands the character is level 3 and we're currently leveling to 4 in the campaign. The character is a Metal Mystery Oracle with the Tongues curse. For revelations I have Dance of Blades and steel scarf (for attacking when just out of range or combat maneuvers at a safe distance).

we rolled for stats and i ended up with a really good stat setup with 18 str, 16 dex, 11 con, 9 int, 9 wis, and 16 charisma. To bump the stats further i went with catfolk putting the final setup at 18, 18, 12, 9, 7, 18.

The original plan for the character was to stay in oracle till level 3 and go barbarian titan mauler to wield oversized weapons with lead blades and then finally level enough in oracle to get the cleric version of enlarge person for silly weapon dice size.

This was somewhat changed when for the intermediary levels I ended up putting feats into the claws to buff them up to 1d6 and getting claw blades as well as two weapon fighting. Originally I realized two handing weapons was somewhat out because I've done this and I was contemplating changing over to simply taking a greatsword or a nodatchi and using that main hand and having my light weapon claw blade off. I decided to drop the titan mauler piece entirely as I decided to penalties weren't worth it on top of the existing two weapon fighting penalties as well as having two different weapons meant I was going to need to burn more feats on weapon focus for each.

So now weapon-wise I've just decided to continue down the two weapon chain of feats as well as getting improved natural weapon to bump the claws further to 1d8s.

The issue I'm now faced with is I'm at the point where I was planning to start going into barbarian but i'm not quite sure if its a good fit anymore. And as a result my character due to being a metal oracle has disable device effectively turning me into the party's rogue (with some assistance finding the traps due to having horrible perception from my 7 wisdom).

These are my current ideas:
At base I'm looking to take oracle to about 5-10 give or take. 10 gets me high enough for the cleric version of enlarge person but I'm not as set on this anymore and I could potentially get this from other sources, but I want to keep going with oracle a bit more just for 1 or 2 more things from my mysteries as well as some of the oracle spells kinda fit the Chaotic Evil tone of the character so I've been mixing alot of melee and fear spells.

From there that is where I'm unsure. I was thinking dipping barbarian and getting rage prophet for slightly better BAB progression as well as continuing to get spells, but the more I looked at that it looked like I was losing alot from both classes for a very bland extra progression. So if i do any barbarian it'll probably half/half or leaning more barbarian.

The next option I've seen has been ninja for extra attacks from the ki pool as well as rogue/ninja tricks for extra feats and so on. (I contemplated rogue but the ki pool option doesn't let me get more attacks as well as being wisdom rather than charisma based).

So any input is welcome as I have a few ideas but I don't know if I'm potentially walking into a trap building it as such or what might be a better option.

[Dan Arcueid]

Also, the primary reason I'm looking into multiclassing in some way (or even prestige if anything works) is due to the fact that after the 5-10 range of the class there isn't much else that seems extremely helpful to the character unless I want to focus into the divine spellcasting aspect of the class. Otherwise ways to help with the melee side (without doing tons of self-buffing via said spells) seems to be in other classes.

And with the options i have I'm not sure if its better to pursue a class with a standard BAB progression like barbarian or a class with medium progression as well but more features and bonuses like ninja. Or a 3rd option i just haven't thought of.

[Septimus]

Have check if the rage prophet prestige class fits your whims? It looks like it does.

[Pex]

Stay in Oracle.

Oracle/Cleric spells are great for buffs. You will want Blessing of Fervor. Everyone in the party will love you, and as a spontaneous caster you can cast it most every combat. It's even better than Divine Power. Righteous Might is staple. You never know when you'll need Freedom Of Movement. Even if you don't feel like being a spellcaster you can still buff yourself into a great warrior. The versatility of casting the occasional non-buff spell will come in handy. Blindness or even direct damage spells like Flame Strike are good as a substitute for not having/using a range weapon. Gives you something useful to do when you're not in the enemy's face.

[grarrrg]

At base I'm looking to take oracle to about 5-10 give or take. 10 gets me high enough for the cleric version of enlarge person but I'm not as set on this anymore and I could potentially get this from other sources, but I want to keep going with oracle a bit more just for 1 or 2 more things from my mysteries as well as some of the oracle spells kinda fit the Chaotic Evil tone of the character so I've been mixing alot of melee and fear spells.

Are you actually Chaotic Evil? Antipaladin for a couple levels would get you CHA to all Saves which is always handy, as well as a 1/day Smite Good (which would be more useful for the To-Hit and AC bonus than the damage).

Barbarian is still solid, having a handful of Rage Rounds each day can really boost your damage output.

And there's nothing wrong with more Oracle.

Sadly there are next to no Full Bab Divine Casting classes. The only ones are Holy Vindicator (7/10 casting would need a Cleric dip, or Sky Seeker (7/10 casting, would need a Ranger dip). And neither is all that great for what you want.

Hmmm....
Gray Warden might actually be up your alley.
It's basically "Inquisitor the PrC!" granting Judgement and Bane features, along with casting progression and and Sneak Attack.
It requires a fair number of Skill investment for entry, but with 6 Skills/level it should pay you back quickly enough.

I was thinking dipping barbarian and getting rage prophet for slightly better BAB progression as well as continuing to get spells, but the more I looked at that it looked like I was losing alot from both classes for a very bland extra progression. So if i do any barbarian it'll probably half/half or leaning more barbarian

Trust your instincts. Rage Prophet is horrible.

The next option I've seen has been ninja for extra attacks from the ki pool as well as rogue/ninja tricks for extra feats and so on. (I contemplated rogue but the ki pool option doesn't let me get more attacks as well as being wisdom rather than charisma based).

I can see Ninja working, not a lot of Synergy with Oracle, but you have good enough stats to pull it off.
And don't forget that Ninja's can take Rogue Talents, and that Catfolk have a handful of Catfolk-only Rogue talents.


Also, Claw Pounce. It's kill-a-riffic!

[Dan Arcueid]

Are you actually Chaotic Evil? Antipaladin for a couple levels would get you CHA to all Saves which is always handy, as well as a 1/day Smite Good (which would be more useful for the To-Hit and AC bonus than the damage).

Barbarian is still solid, having a handful of Rage Rounds each day can really boost your damage output.

And there's nothing wrong with more Oracle.

Sadly there are next to no Full Bab Divine Casting classes. The only ones are Holy Vindicator (7/10 casting would need a Cleric dip, or Sky Seeker (7/10 casting, would need a Ranger dip). And neither is all that great for what you want.

Hmmm....
Gray Warden might actually be up your alley.
It's basically "Inquisitor the PrC!" granting Judgement and Bane features, along with casting progression and and Sneak Attack.
It requires a fair number of Skill investment for entry, but with 6 Skills/level it should pay you back quickly enough.



Trust your instincts. Rage Prophet is horrible.



I can see Ninja working, not a lot of Synergy with Oracle, but you have good enough stats to pull it off.
And don't forget that Ninja's can take Rogue Talents, and that Catfolk have a handful of Catfolk-only Rogue talents.


Also, Claw Pounce. It's kill-a-riffic!

Yeah i recently saw claw pounce and decided i must make that my end goal in some way. I've been looking over ninja alot more and thinking about grabbing the scout just so i can combo claw pounce sneak attack charges. And if i take ninja levels it might be in my interest to grab gray warden.

Ninja looks like it would actually have pretty good synergy stat-wise the more i look at it as its basically charisma based for the pool and not many other real stat requirements.

After enough levels in ninja (probably about 8) I'll have what i want out of the class. Charge Sneak attacks, bonus feat trick, d8 damage sneak attack trick when using claws, and offensive defense +1 AC for each sneak attack die rolled. So after that finishing off with probably with a 4th level in oracle i can just stay with gray warden and continue buffing both sneak attack and my spell list.

I hadn't really looked much into gray warden in the past as i for some reason I assumed it had larger prerequisites or other class requirements but now i realize i have most of those skills anyways, and combat reflexes is just one of those i would want to pick up anyways.

Though my only concern now is if i need to dip at all in fighter for 1 or 2 levels because I'm going to need many many feats for both claw pounce and two weapon fighting progression.