Is it worth it to try for greater AC?

[Seward]

Other thoughts....

You have shield of faith on your spell list. 1k means that if it isn't already a spell known it can be (Page of Spell Knowledge). Cast the damn thing yourself. If you get quicken spell you could even bring it up as a swift action (burns a L5 slot, but might sometimes be worth it).

Each of these costs 4k to learn via page of spell knowledge if you don't already know them. A lesser rod of extend (3k) helps a lot with limited inquisitor spell slots.

Aid gets you temporary hitpoints (1d8+10) and a "bless" bonus to hit.
Delay poison lasts all day and means your weak fort save won't be tested by poison.
Litany of Defense is a swift action that'll crank your AC by 3 (enh bonus of armor) for a round. Just as good as fighting defensive with no lost offense, stacks with everything and scales at level 16/20 when magic vestment gets better. (or sooner if your GM lets you upgrade your celestial armor to +5 for ~16k)


Circle of Prot Evil is probably worthwhile as a 375gp scroll. +2 deflection vs evil in a Mummy campaign and immunity to evil mind control for 50 minutes (scroll) or over 2 hr (known) for not just you, but anybody near you is pretty worthwhile if you don't think you can maintain shield of faith reliably. (keep in mind 50 minutes is only 4 castings of shield of faith). As a bonus it keeps summoned critters away, if they're evil.

For L4 spells, stoneskin is expensive but it is effectively a bunch of extra hp vs a lot of enemies. Judgement Light (Protection) gives +2 sacred extra AC to everybody in the party and is a pretty good spell in general, although using a std action for spellcasting in combat doesn't sound like it is usually your thing.

When you get improved precise shot, that's the time to upgrade your bow. You won't need seeking anymore and you'll likely have shored up your other weaknesses by then (L15 I assume).

[Denomar]

I've heard it said that a relevant ac per level is usually equated at (levelx2)+10. I really don't recall where I heard that before though.

[danddbard]

i think so. higher levels for monsters mean greater BAB, so you are going to get hit more often unless you can boost that ac

[Florian]

Thank you for the details. Now that is something to work with, especially knowing the AP you´re in.

First, you gonna have to work on that belt slot item and get rid of the Ioun stone. Changing from a Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6 over to a Belt of Physical Perfection +4 will actually work well with your WBL.

Second, work on that bow. Get rid of Adaptive/Seeking and the special material for a very simple +4 bow (Comp. Logbow +4) and be done with it. Invest the difference in a effing Bane Baldric and have your offensive covered.

[Barstro]

Looking at your inquisitor build, your hitpoints and fort save are both dangerously low for level 13.

The HP is low, but party makeup allows for another character to take a hit or two for me, so I'm not overly worried there.

My saves are improved by;
Shake it Off (usually +1 or +2)
Judgement when fighting (+3)
And I think that other character can take a failed save for me too.

problem isn't hitting/killing your opposition, it is staying standing long enough to do so.

It hasn't been a problem yet. But now that I can assist the party with lots of AoO, I'd prefer to take a more dangerous position in fights (and likewise not end them so damn quickly).

[rockdeworld]

I've grown tired of my Inquisitor being a glass cannon.

Looking at your inquisitor build, your hitpoints... are dangerously low

The HP is low, but party makeup allows for another character to take a hit or two for me, so I'm not overly worried there.

You seem to be contradicting yourself Barstro. With your current HP and AC, you'll die to a single full-attack from an equal-CR opponent - using the 3-natural-attacks stats, it'd be 86 damage if you count the buckler, and 89 if you don't.

That's fine for a glass cannon, who only needs to worry about a hit or two over the course of an encounter - which can be blocked by your allies - but it doesn't work for anyone else. That's why I second Seward's opinion of your hitpoints, and why I suspect he voiced it in the first place.

tl/dr: I'd recommend getting an Amulet of Health +4 before anything else.

*Disclaimer: Actual stats may vary. Advice for a general campaign may or may not be fully applicable to your campaign. Ask your DM if these monster stats apply for you. Void where prohibited. See stores for details.

[Seward]

The difficulty with the amulet of health idea is he's playing Pathfinder, not 3.5 D&D and has a +6 Dex belt. Barring the GM allowing custom magic items, here are his choices:

His constitution items are:

Ioun stone of constitution +2 (8000gp open market)
Upgrade his belt to +6 Con/+6 Dex. This has Three possible costs.
1. Party has a crafter and is allowed to upgrade the belt (90k-36k)/2 = 27kgp or must sell the old belt and craft a new one from scratch (90/2) - (36/2) = 45-18 = 27kgp
2. Party has can pay a third party crafter to upgrade the belt (90-36) = 54k gp
3. Party must sell the old belt and buy an entirely new belt (90-36/2) = 72k gp

None of these options are cheap, except maybe the ioun stone.

Alternatively he can buy a wand of bear's endurance (4.5kgp) and behave like a back-ranker when the bear endurance isn't running, but be more aggressive once his con has boosted his hitpoint total. That's likely what I'd do while I sorted out the relatively cheap (<20k total for all improvements) AC options he has on the table.

Then when my AC was ok and if I'm still happy with putting off upgrading my bow, cough up the scratch for a +6 dex/+6 constitution belt. Hopefully encourage a party member to take Craft Wondrous item or alternately do a big-ass favor for some high level NPC so you can get a price break.

[Florian]

I rather think that it´s a trap situation.
There´s already that +STR Ioun Stone there. Adding another Ioun Stone is just paying through your nose for a slotless item you don´t need.
It might actually be better to ditch all of that and go for a straight Belt of Physical Perfection +4, downgrading DEX a bit, exchanging the Celestial Armor for a regular +5 model.

[Seward]

Selling stuff in most campaigns is ruinous to your wealth by level. Also the character is an archer, his dex item is also his attack mod item, and as he has snap shot+combat reflexes it also affects how many opponents he gets to punish for provoking an AOO near him. I don't advocate a solution that involves weakening his most expensive current item on his most important stat.

It usually works out better to upgrade your way out of trouble, if upgrades are allowed. So much depends on how loot is handled on a campaign-by-campaign basis it is hard to give precise advice (for example, if most PC wealth comes from monster drops instead of converting loot to cash and having things crafted to order, the option to get a con item might not exist at all, and you have to fall back on maybe asking the Shaman to prep Bear Endurance for when you know a tough fight might happen soon, or maybe commission a few scrolls)

[Florian]

Seward, we´re talking about a character in a very specific AP here. Unless the DM is not modifying it in any way, something that has not been mentioned so far, it is easy to look up the stats and intended CR.
I´ve run that AP myself and the enemies as presented are more on the easy side for experienced players, nothing that really calls for having certain stats or fail.
The levels we talk about should be fitting to the "Slave Trenches" part of that AP and none of the real interesting NPC come close to the values we talk about here. Heck, Tef-Naju is CR 17 and comes with AC 34 and +28 to hit if not modified further.

[Seward]

Not being familiar with the adventure path, what are the options for purchasing gear? Is it an AP that provides appropriate wealth?

AP's I've played have been highly variable. As an example, Dragon's Demand takes you from level 1-5 while stuck in a small town, so all the items beyond what can normally be purchased in such a town is looted until a special event, and even then you at best get a choice of items that may or may not be helpful. As a result my size small character was very restricted in her options to improve armor class or weapons for most of the series.

[Florian]

Not being familiar with the adventure path, what are the options for purchasing gear? Is it an AP that provides appropriate wealth?

AP's I've played have been highly variable. As an example, Dragon's Demand takes you from level 1-5 while stuck in a small town, so all the items beyond what can normally be purchased in such a town is looted until a special event, and even then you at best get a choice of items that may or may not be helpful. As a result my size small character was very restricted in her options to improve armor class or weapons for most of the series.

Tricky to answer. This AP goes hand in hand with People of the Sand to fill in the blanks. In itself, you have no shopping options, but find some rather nice artifacts for your use. It simply is expected that you teleport to a good location (people of the sands) when you´re not under any time-pressure and do business then. Besides that, the sheer number of items you get your hands on is a bit overwhelming, the named ones actually being good and interesting. Once you can shop, you rock.

(And I strongly assume Barstro went shopping. None of the items his characters has can be found and his character wears none of the items that actually can be found...)

[Barstro]

(And I strongly assume Barstro went shopping. None of the items his characters has can be found and his character wears none of the items that actually can be found...)

Yes, we get to shop about once every other level. So far, the DMs have allowed full access to reasonable items.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll look into ways to get more Con. As Seward pointed out, Dex does a lot for my character and plays into his roll as front-line (being able to punish up to eight enemies per round for daring to step forward), so I have hesitant to do anything that would lower it.