[RPG] Build – Maximum nonmagic Damage with Level 3 Character

optimizationpathfinder-1e

I am looking for a really hard damage dealing character for Level 3. Everything on Pathfinder OGC is allowed. Our world is a very very low magic world that means no magical characters. So open Classes are: Rogue, Monk, Ranger, Barbarian, Fighter, Gunslinger, Cavalier.

I have 5000 Gold to spend.

Really looking forward to see your suggestions!

Best Answer

For damage/combat, with those stipulations, I would suggest one of the following three builds -

Halfling Mounted Fury Barbarian 3, taking the Bite power and later the Mounted Rager power as you get a better animal companion. Ride a wardog to begin with, and carry a lance. Charging for double damage is generally the best way to do damage at low levels, and being on a Medium mount means you'll likely get to do it underground or in buildings or whatnot. Wield the lance in both hands for the 1.5x str to damage, spend your gear on str boosts and barding. Your feats are Mounted Combat and Ride-by Attack, and then at 5th, you pick up Spirited Charge. Cavalier's bonuses don't match up to what Barbarian can offer in terms of mounted combat.

Note: It's worth dipping Fighter at level 3 to pick up Spirited Charge earlier. So Barb 2/Fighter 1. Triple damage on a raging lance charge can end encounters at that level, and Ride-By Attack explicitly counts as a Charge, so you can theoretically circle-charge repeatedly.

Thug Rogue 3. With the Enforcer feat and the that other one that makes you scarier, you can step up and beat someone to death while they cower in fear of you in a corner. Eventually you want to pick up Shatter Defenses, so a Rogue 2/Fighter 2/Rogue X isn't out of the question. This is the 'maximum damage' because with how 'batman' you are, you tend to last a long time and therefore deal the maximum damage. You can build for Strength with this build, but I still tend to prefer Dex and using Agile gauntlets or something, as before you get your fear combo going you're still a squishy melee rogue.

How do you damage them if they are running away? Corner them, then beat the heck through them. Frightened means they try to run away, instead of taking other actions. It doesn't mean you can't make them not succeed. You can also invest in Combat Reflexes/Improved Trip line (see why Fighter dip is good) and knock their ass on the ground. The great thing is that cornering, scaring, tripping people over, is it's all very Thug-like. Themes are good. The thing to keep in mind is, Intimidate checks add together rounds of Shaken-ness, so you can punch them multiple times to cause multiple intimidates to trigger the 4+ rounds = Frightened condition. There's nothing wrong with pairing up with a Trip guy, or with a big barbarian who is going to leverage the rounds of time you are giving them to do a bunch of damage.

Musketman Gunslinger 3. If you can control the tempo of a battle, the extreme ranges you can fire at as a rifleman, even with an arquebus rather than a bolt-action rifle, means you can quite easily kill foes without them even managing to make a spot check to see you. Obviously, maxed hide, move silently, and spot are all valuable things for this character.