Yosharian’s Kingmaker Builds

Overview

Useful information on the game and character builds for mercenaries and companions.

Introduction

Welcome to my Kingmaker Steam page. On this page you’ll find useful information on how to make character builds for the game. I made this page mainly for my own amusement, and for me to refer to. I shared it to be helpful to others. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section.

April 2021: I’ve stopped playing the game for a bit so the newer sections will probably remain as they are (i.e. unfinished) for quite some time. I’ll revisit the guide when I inevitably reinstall the game in a year or two. If you have any questions or require help with anything specific, just ask in the comments section.

Character Creation

When creating a character in Kingmaker, you’ll be given a choice of races and classes. Here are my personal opinions on the available options. Note that just because I rate an option as poor doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice for your character, it merely means that it might be mechanically weaker than other choices. Quick note here, when making your main character you have 25 points to buy ability scores, but mercenary characters only get 20. When buying mercenaries, buy them as soon as possible because they get more expensive as you level up.

Races

Dwarves:
- +2 CON, +2 WIS, -2 CHA
- Medium size
- +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
- +4 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the giant subtype.
- +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
- Always proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers
- Access to the Steel Soul feat which gives another +2 to their saving throw ability.
- Rating: B+. Dwarves are a pretty solid race but nothing really stands out here. I’d rather have a bonus to STR or DEX than CON. Good for classes that require WIS, but the CHA penalty really hurts Clerics. The weapon familiarity bonus is mostly useless.
Halflings:

Classes

Fighter:
- ??
- Rating: ??
Bard:

The A-Team

Main character and five mercenaries. This team is designed to be effective on all difficulties. On the higher difficulties you will rely more on physical damage as your spells will become less consistent at beating enemy saves, at least until you obtain the really good DC-boosting items. The animal companions are really strong and pretty much dominate the battlefield for most of the game. Late-game the physical damage of this team is overwhelming. You might even want to experiment with the hitpoint-increasing functions in Bag of Tricks, because enemies just get their faces melted off by this team.

Basic Strategy:

Use pets to form a front line, distract targets hitting your squishies, or surround enemies.
Sentinel and Painkiller are vulnerable to melee damage so keep them enlarged.
Use spells like Grease, Web to disable groups of enemies.
Use Icy Prison to disable very dangerous targets.
Use spells like Displacement, Mirror Image, Greater Invisibility, in difficult fights.
Buff pets with Mage Armor, Barkskin, Shield, Shield of Faith, Animal Growth, etc.

Skills Overview:

Athletics (STR): Tactician
Mobility (DEX): Kensei
Stealth (DEX): Tactician
Trickery (DEX): Painkiller
Knowledge (Arcana) (INT): Painkiller, Shrieker, Feylock
Knowledge (World) (INT): Painkiller, Shrieker
Lore (Nature) (WIS): Tactician, Feylock
Lore (Religion) (WIS): Tactician, Shrieker
Perception (WIS): all characters
Persuasion (CHA): Kensei
Use Magic Device (CHA): Shrieker

Kingdom Management Advisors:
Community

Role: Regent
Key ability score: Charisma
Options: Valerie, Octavia, Lander Lebeda
Best choice: Valerie, Octavia
Worst choice: Lander

Loyalty

Role: Councillor
Key ability score: Wisdom
Options: Tristian, Shandra Mervey, Tsanna
Best choice: Shandra Mervey
Worst choice: Tristian

Military

Role: General
Key ability score: Strength
Options: Amiri, Regongar, Kassil Aldori
Best choice: any of these three will do fine

Economy

Role: Treasurer
Key ability score: Intelligence
Options: Jubilost, Kanerah, Bartholomew, Maegar
Best choice: Jubilost

Divine

Role: High Priest
Key ability score: Wisdom
Options: Harrim, Jhod, Tsanna
Best choice: Jhod or Harrim

Relations

Role: Grand Diplomat
Key ability score: Charisma
Unlocks at: Community IV
Options: Valerie, Linzi, Bartholomew
Best choice: Bartholomew or Valerie
Worst choice: Linzi

Stability

Role: Warden
Key ability score: Constitution
Unlocks at: Military IV
Options: Regongar, Ekundayo, Kesten
Best choice: Kesten, since the others have relatively low Constitution

Arcane

Role: Magister
Key ability score: Intelligence
Unlocks at: Divine IV
Options: Octavia, The Storyteller, Vordakai
Best choice: The Storyteller

Culture

Role: Curator
Key ability score: Charisma
Unlocks at: Loyalty IV
Options: Linzi, Jaethal, The Storyteller
Best choice: The Storyteller

Espionage

Role: Minister
Key ability score: Dexterity
Unlocks at: Relations IV
Options: Jaethal, Jubilost, Ekundayo
Best choice: any of these three will do fine

Kingdom Choices:
I strongly recommend that you choose the Surtova envoy at the beginning of the game so that you get the councillor named Shandra Mervey. She’s by far the best choice. Also, don’t accept the offer during the coronation. Another matter would be when you get the option about taxes, pick lower taxes.

1: Kensei (Sword Saint-Rogue)

Classes: Thug 8/Sword Saint 7/Paladin 3/Scaled Fist 1/Stalwart Defender 1

Role: Tank & Melee Damage (DEX/INT/CHA)

Overview:

Attract enemy attention, tank spells, prevent damage to allies.
Mirror Image and Defensive Stance avoid or absorb damage.
Does not use offensive spells, for greater efficiency.
Turn on Power Attack, and turn off Spell Combat.
Never flat-footed once Uncanny Dodge is obtained.
Scaled Fist gives CHA to AC, and one free feat.
Paladin gives CHA to saves, Smite Evil, immunities, and Lay On Hands.
Can get up to 5 attacks per round using Haste.
See the Tips and Tricks section for more detail on using Defensive Stance.

Race: Aasimar (Musetouched – Azata-blooded)
Alignment: LG (Monk, Protector’s Robe, Paladin)
Deity: Any
Point buy: 25

STR: 13
DEX: 17 (+2) [+5 increase = 22]
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 16 (+2)

Skills:

Persuasion: skill checks [~ +?? unbuffed]
Perception: essential [~ +28 unbuffed]
Mobility: skill checks
Any other skills you want, Knowledge skills recommended

Camp role: Guard or Assist

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Bane of the Living (+5 Elven Curve Blade, Living Bane, Harm DC18 on-crit)
- Location: Fail to Remove Curse on user of Cloak of Sold Souls, twice
Main Hand2: Clarity (+4 Ghost Touch Mag. Beast Bane Elven Curve Blade, +2 Luck to AB)
- Location: Artisan: Nazrielle (‘elven’, T4)
Armor: Protector’s Robe (grants +5 Dodge bonus to AC)
- Location: CH4, Armag’s Tomb, Hidden [P35] Locked [T34] box in Armag’s Treasury
Belt: Devil’s Sash (+8 Enhancement bonus to Dex & Con, Immunity to Poison)
- Location: CH??, Loot The Forefather (DLC quest finale)
Feet: Manticore Skin Boots (+4 Enh. to NA bonus, +10 untyped movespeed bonus)
- Location: CH4, Armag’s Tomb, Chamber with an iron golem
Gloves: Gloves of Deathdealer (+1D6 to Sneak Attack damage)
- Location: Requires Better Vendor mod, alternatively use any gloves
Head: Hat of Mental Perfection +8 (+8 Enhancement bonus to Int, Wis & Cha)
- Location: CH2+, Lonely Barrow, dropped from the enemy here
Neck: Equilibrium (+6 Deflection to AC, Immunity to Fire/Cold)
- Location: CH??, Loot The Forefather (DLC quest finale)
Ring1: Daring Duelist (+2 untyped bonus to melee AB, +1 Dodge bonus to AC)
- Location: Artisan: Mim (‘Ring’, T4)
Ring2: Fortunate Fencer (+2 to melee attack rolls)
- Location: Artisan: Mim (‘Ring’, T3)
Shoulders: Cloak of the Bear (+4 Resistance to saves, +4 Competence to CMD)
- Location: Armag’s Tomb, hidden in room right before 2nd level exit
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus)
- Location: CH2+, Lonely Barrow, dropped from the powerful enemy here
Special: Bokken’s Elixir (Permanent +2 Inherent bonus to all ability scores)
- Location: Artisan: Bokken (Masterpiece)

Immunities: Poison, Shaken, Frightened, Panicked, Disease, Fire, Cold

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Thug 1: Dodge, Sneak Attack dice: 1D6, Weapon Finesse
L02 Scaled Fist 1: Blind-Fight*
L03 Sword Saint 1: Toughness, Chosen Weapon (Elven Curve Blade)
L04 Paladin 1: –
L05 Paladin 2: Dazzling Display, Divine Grace
L06 Sword Saint 2: –
L07 Sword Saint 3: Outflank, Arcane Accuracy
L08 Sword Saint 4: –
L09 Paladin 3: Shatter Defenses, Divine Health, Aura of Courage, Mercy – Fatigued
L10 Stalwart Defender 1: Defensive Stance
L11 Thug 2: Wings, Combat Trick: Improved Critical (Elven Curve Blade)*, Evasion
L12 Thug 3: Sneak Attack dice: 2D6, Brutal Beating, Finesse Training: Elven Curve Blade
L13 Thug 4: Accomplished Sneak Attacker, Combat Trick: Power Attack*, Uncanny Dodge
L14 Sword Saint 5: Critical Focus*
L15 Sword Saint 6: Combat Reflexes, Enduring Blade
L16 Sword Saint 7: Lightning Draw
L17 Thug 5: Tiring Critical, Sneak Attack dice: 3D6
L18 Thug 6: Combat Trick: Cleave*
L19 Thug 7: Exhausting Critical, Sneak Attack dice: 4D6
L20 Thug 8: Combat Trick: Cleaving Finish*, Improved Uncanny Dodge

Recommended Spells:
1st: Shield
2nd: Mirror Image
3rd: Displacement

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+11: Dexterity bonus [32 Dexterity] (22 base, +8 Enhancement, +2 Bokken’s Elixir)
+8: Dodge bonus [Monk AC – 26 Charisma] (16 base, +8 Enh., +2 Bokken’s Elixir)
+7: Dodge bonus [Canny Defense – 24 Int.] (14 base, +8 Enh., +2 Bokken’s Elixir)
+6: Deflection bonus [Equilibrium]
+5: Dodge bonus [Protector’s Robes]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Daring Duelist]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings feat]
+1: Dodge bonus [Stalwart Defender passive]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+2: Dodge bonus [Defensive Stance]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+4: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Manticore Skin Boots]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 77
Touch Armor Class: 56

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 15 (13 base +2 Bokken)
DEX: 32 (22 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
CON: 24 (14 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
INT: 24 (14 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
WIS: 20 (10 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
CHA: 26 (16 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)

Endgame Saving Throws (unbuffed, with items):

Fortitude: 32
Reflex: 35
Will: 28

Endgame Damage Examples (fully-buffed):

An average hit for this build deals 77 damage before any reductions.
An average critical hit for this build deals 198 damage before any reductions.
A Perfect Critical for this build deals 243 damage before any reductions.
- Targets that resist electricity, fire or cold, negative energy damage, sneak attack damage, or are non-living will take less damage.
Five iterative attacks per round (while Hasted): 565 damage per round.
This calculation takes critical hits into account.
Also the damage from Harm is calculated at minimum (75 damage).
You can raise the damage done by this character by casting Legendary Proportions.

2: Painkiller (Alchemist)

Classes: Vivisectionist 20

Role: Melee Damage, Buffer (STR/DEX/INT)

Overview:

10d6 Sneak Attack dice at level 20 (35 damage per hit on average).
Mutagen: Alchemical bonus to STR/DEX/CON, bite attack, Wings.
Triple Fin Helmet adds cold iron gore attack.
3 iterative attacks, 1 bite attack, 1 gore attack and 1 attack from Haste.
Can cast Extracts with a range of Personal, such as Shield, on allies.
Intelligence-boosting item required.

Race: Half-Elf
Alignment: Any Evil (Greater Infernal Cord, Castigator’s Cloak)
Attribute Point-Buy: 20

STR: 17 (+2) [+5 => 22]
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 08

Skills: 4/level

Knowledge (Arcana): skill checks, monster ID
Knowledge (World): skill checks, monster ID
Perception: essential skill
Trickery: skill checks [~ +43 unbuffed]

Camp Role: Cooking or Guard

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Vanquisher (+5 Greataxe, +10 to damage)
Ranged: Any ranged weapon, such as a composite longbow
Armor: Dark Master’s Robe (+8 Enh. to INT/CHA, +10 Competence to Kn. Arcana checks)
Belt: Greater Infernal Cord (+4 Enh. to Constitution, 1 minute of Fast Healing 4 when critted)
Feet: Swamp Dweller’s Boots (Immunity to Ability Drain/Damage)
Gloves: Star Soldier’s Gauntlet (+8 Enh. to Strength, 4d6 Laser ranged touch attack at-will)
Head: Triple Fin Helmet (Grants extra cold iron gore attack that has +2 Enhancement)
Neck: Gyronna’s Amulet (+5 Insight bonus to AC, Mirror Image once/encounter)
Ring1: Great Dreamer’s Smile (+2 Luck to atk/dmg/saves/skills/SP, curse immunity)
Ring2: Dragonfly Ring (+8 Enhancement to Dexterity, Cleanse 3/day)
Shoulders: Castigator’s Cloak (+4 Res. to saves, +4 Defl. to AC, +2 Atk/Dmg vs Shaken)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus)

Immunities: Ability Drain, Ability Damage, Poison (Alchemist 10)

Loot Locations:
Main Hand: Vanquisher [CH2+, Lonely Barrow, loot from the chest – you can obtain this very early, see Tips & Tricks]
Offhand: –
Armor: Dark Master’s Robe [Loot Reaford Tabulus Vallersteil, lower level Pitax Royal Palace. Until you get this item, there’s a robe you can use that drops in Vordakai’s Tomb, L2. If you’re using the CMI mod, you could always just enchant one of the other items to grant a +4 Intelligence bonus or better, thus freeing up the armor slot for other items such as Ghost Leather]
Belt: Greater Infernal Cord [Capital after upg. to final city, SW building by well next to Nok-Nok, upstairs, bed P39]
Feet: Swamp Dweller’s Boots [Requires Better Vendors mod, otherwise just use any boots]
Gloves: Star Soldier’s Gauntlet [Collect all the Pieces of Skymetal]
Head: Triple Fin Helmet [CH5, River Blades Camp, P36]
Neck: Gyronna’s Amulet [CH6, loot from Knurly Witch. Note: this is an extremely late item, though a nice one for endgame]
Ring1: Great Dreamer’s Smile [Artisan: Mim (Masterpiece)]
Ring2: Dragonfly Ring [Artisan-Nazrielle (‘Speed’, T5)]
Shoulders: Castigator’s Cloak [CH5, Rushlight Tournament: buy from Trader]
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 [Endgame loot]

Feats (*: bonus feat/discovery):
L01 Vivisectionist 1: Martial Weapon Proficiency, Skill Focus (Trickery)*
L02 Vivisectionist 2: Infusion*
L03 Vivisectionist 3: Weapon Focus (Greataxe)
L04 Vivisectionist 4: Feral Mutagen*
L05 Vivisectionist 5: Dazzling Display
L06 Vivisectionist 6: Feral Wings*
L07 Vivisectionist 7: Outflank
L08 Vivisectionist 8: Combat Trick: Shatter Defenses*
L09 Vivisectionist 9: Blind-Fight
L10 Vivisectionist 10: Crippling Strike*
L11 Vivisectionist 11: Improved Critical (Greataxe)
L12 Vivisectionist 12: Greater Mutagen*
L13 Vivisectionist 13: Combat Reflexes
L14 Vivisectionist 14: Combat Trick: Power Attack*
L15 Vivisectionist 15: Metamagic (Extend)
L16 Vivisectionist 16: Grand Mutagen*
L17 Vivisectionist 17: Iron Will
L18 Vivisectionist 18: Combat Trick: Cleave*
L19 Vivisectionist 19: Improved Iron Will
L20 Vivisectionist 20: Combat Trick: Cleaving Finish*, True Mutagen*, Spontaneous Healing*

Recommended Spells:
1st: Shield, Expeditious Retreat
2nd: Barkskin, Lesser Restoration
3rd: Displacement, Communal Delay Poison, Communal Resist Energy
4th: Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Echolocation
5th: Spell Resistance
6th: Legendary Proportions, Transformation

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+10: Dexterity bonus [30 Dexterity] (14 base, +8 Enhancement, +8 Alchemical)
+4: Deflection bonus [Castigator’s Cloak]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+3: Dodge bonus [Feral Wings feat]
+5: Insight bonus [Gyronna’s Amulet]
-2: Size penalty [Legendary Proportions spell]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+8: Natural Armor bonus [True Mutagen]
+6: Size bonus to Natural Armor [Legendary Proportions spell]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 67
Touch Armor Class: 31

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 44 (22 base, +8 Enh., +8 True Mutagen +6 Legendary Proportions)
DEX: 30 (14 base, +8 Enhancement, +8 True Mutagen)
CON: 30 (14 base, +4 Enh., +8 True Mutagen +4 Legendary Proportions)
INT: 20 (14 base, +6 Enhancement, -2 True Mutagen)
WIS: 08 (10 base, -2 True Mutagen)
CHA: 14 (08 base, +8 Enhancement, -2 True Mutagen)

Endgame Damage Examples (fully-buffed):

An average Vanquisher hit for this build deals 105 damage before any reductions.
An average Vanquisher critical hit for this build deals 245 damage before any reductions.
An average Triple Fin Helmet hit for this build deals 74 damage before any reductions.
An average Triple Fin Helmet critical hit for this build deals 112 damage before any reductions.
An average Bite hit for this build deals 72 damage before any reductions.
An average Bite critical hit for this build deals 108 damage before any reductions.
Six iterative attacks per round (while Hasted): 682 damage per round.
This calculation takes critical hits into account.

3: Sentinel (Fighter-Cleric)

Classes: Cleric of Erastil 19/Fighter 1

Role: Reach Melee Damage & Support Caster (STR/WIS)

Overview:

Focus is on reach melee damage & support spells.
Up to 4 attacks per round with Haste.
Animal Domain: smilodon, leopard or elk recommended.
Community Domain: Guarded Hearth & Calming Touch are really strong.
WIS-boosting item required for spellcasting.
Good alignment recommended to use a good early game armor.
Fighter grants heavy armor & martial weapon proficiency, and a free feat.
Bestow Grace of the Champion gives significant saving throw bonuses.

Race: Aasimar (Angel-Blooded)
Alignment: LG, NG (Erastil, Blessed Path)
Domains: Community, Animal
Point-buy: 20

STR: 19 (+2) [+5 => 22]
DEX: 7
CON: 10
INT: 7
WIS: 14
CHA: 18 (+2)

Skills: 1/level

Perception: essential skill

Camp Role: Guard (Perception)

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Champion of Graves (+5 Bardiche, 3D6 Negative Energy on-hit)
Main Hand2: Incorruptible Petal (Cast 9th-level spell Heroic Invocation (CL17) 1/day)
Offhand: –
Ranged: Any ranged weapon, such as javelin
Armor: Onslaught (+5 Mithral Full Plate, +8 Enh. to Strength, +20 Enh. bonus to move speed)
Belt: Sash of Slash (+6 Enhancement bonus to Dex, DR 5/Slashing)
Feet: Opportunist’s Boots (+2 Attacks of Opportunity per round)
Gloves: Alkali Gloves (Additional dmg: 1D6 Acid)
Head: Brightest Darkness (+6 Enh. to Wis/Cha, Channel Energy +2d6)
Neck: Charm of the Deep Waters (+6 Enh. to Con, +5 Deflection bonus to AC)
Ring1: Energy Source (+2 Channel Energy uses per day)
Ring2: Energy Source (+2 Channel Energy uses per day [stacks with 1st one])
Shoulders: Ravena’s Shadow (+5 Resistance bonus to saves, Immunity to Poison)
Wrist: Forest Knight’s Bracers (Shaken immunity, Confusion/Fear/fey attack protection)

Immunities: Shaken, Poison

Loot Locations:
Main Hand: Champion of Graves [CH6, trapped (P44) chest, Castle of Knives)
Main Hand2: Incorruptible Petal [CH5, Pitax Castle, Irovetti’s bedroom)
Offhand: –
Armor: Onslaught [Artisan: Dragn (Masterpiece)]
Belt: Sash of Slash [CH3, Varnhold Vanishing, Charred Ruins, box behind golem]
Feet: Opportunist’s Boots [Artisan: Varrask (‘Kellid Style’, T0)]
Gloves: Alkali Gloves [CH3, Varnhold Vanishing, Serpent’s Trail, looted from a powerful enemy.]
Head: Brightest Darkness [Artisan: Tirval (‘Magical Item’, T4)]
Neck: Charm of the Deep Waters [CH5, Pitax Royal Palace, Loot Engelidis]
Ring1: Energy Source [CH3, Season of Bloom: found in a crate at the Goblin Fort]
Ring2: Energy Source [Bought from Pilgrim Trader after you rebuild the Temple of the Elk]
Shoulders: Ravena’s Shadow [CH5/CH4, Giggling Hills, Loot or Bid good luck to Queen Ravena]
Wrist: Forest Knight’s Bracers [Collect all the Shard of Knight’s Bracers]

Feats (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability)::
L01 Fighter 1: Weapon Focus (Bardiche), Dazzling Display*
L02 Cleric 1: –
L03 Cleric 2: Selective Channel
L04 Cleric 3: –
L05 Cleric 4: Boon Companion
L06 Cleric 5: –
L07 Cleric 6: Outflank
L08 Cleric 7: –
L09 Cleric 8: Shatter Defenses
L10 Cleric 9: –
L11 Cleric 10: Metamagic (Extend)
L12 Cleric 11: –
L13 Cleric 12: Blind-Fight
L14 Cleric 13: –
L15 Cleric 14: Power Attack
L16 Cleric 15: –
L17 Cleric 16: Improved Critical (Bardiche)
L18 Cleric 17: –
L19 Cleric 18: Wings
L20 Cleric 19: –

Suggested Spells (*: Domain spells):
1st: Shield of Faith, Remove Fear, Bane, Bless*
2nd: Aid, Delay Poison, Lesser Restoration, Hold Animal*
3rd: Magic Vestment, Communal Resist Energy, Communal Delay Poison, Prayer*
4th: Divine Power, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Communal Protection From Energy*
5th: True Seeing, Spell Resistance, Burst of Glory*
6th: Eaglesoul, Blade Barrier, Heal, Summon Nature’s Ally VI*
7th: Bestow Grace of the Champion, Holy Aura, Greater Restoration, Greater Restoration*
8th: Frightful Aspect, Mass Cure Critical Wounds, Shield of Law, Legendary Proportions*
9th: Energy Drain, Mass Heal, Mass Heal*
Note: be sure to unlock the secret Cleric/Inquisitor spell by completing the Wise Way quest that’s started in Chapter 6, in the south-west corner of the Castle of Knives.

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+1: Dexterity bonus [13 Dexterity] (07 base, +6 Enhancement)
+5: Deflection bonus [Charm of the Deep Waters]
+2: Sacred bonus [Eaglesoul]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings]
-1: Size penalty [Frightful Aspect]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+6: Natural Armor bonus [Frightful Aspect]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+9: Armor bonus [Full Plate]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [+5 Full Plate]
Total Armor Class: 50
Touch Armor Class: 21

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 42 (22 base, +8 Enhancement, +6 Frightful Aspect, +4 Eaglesoul)
DEX: 13 (07 base, +6 Enhancement)
CON: 20 (10 base, +6 Enhancement, +4 Frightful Aspect)
INT: 7 (07 base)
WIS: 20 (14 base, +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 24 (18 base, +6 Enhancement)

Endgame Damage Examples (fully-buffed):

An average hit for this build deals 79 damage before any reductions.
An average critical hit for this build deals 133 damage before any reductions.
Four iterative attacks per round (while Hasted): 359 damage per round.
This calculation takes critical hits into account.
The animal companion’s damage is not taken into account here.

4: Feylock (Sorcerer)

Classes: Sylvan Sorcerer 20

Role: Ranged Disabler/Buffer/Nuker (CON/CHA)

Overview:

Animal Companion is basically the strongest bloodline power in the game.
Smilodon, leopard or elk are the best pets. The Leopard is best for Feylock.
Rods, feats and other items boost a lot of spell DCs up to very high levels.
Good initiative bonuses but don’t expect to always beat enemies.

Race: Human
Alignment: TN (Ring of Balance)
Bloodline: Sylvan (Fey)
Ability Score Point-Buy: 20

STR: 08
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 19 (+2) [+5 => 24]

Skills: 3/level

Perception: essential skill
Knowledge (Arcana): skill checks, monster ID
Lore (Nature): skill checks, monster ID

Camp Role: Guard or Hunting

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Dormition (+5 Dagger, +2 to spell DC when casting a Death spell)
Offhand: Lightning Duelist (+1 Shock Dagger, +1 Dodge to AC, +4 Insight to Initative)
Armor: Robe of Water (+2 Cold spell DC)
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +6 (+6 to STR/DEX/CON)
Boots: Bonethreader Boots (DR 5/Bludgeoning)
Gloves: Butterfly Wings (+5 Resistance to saves)
Head: Crown (+6 Enh. to INT/WIS/CHA)
Neck: Wind Breath (+4 Morale bonus to Initiative)
Ring1: Greater Ring of Balance (+5 Defl. to AC, Emotion/Fear/Confusion immunity, FoM)
Ring2: Ring of Circumstances (+2 Circumstance bonus to Cha, DC, Skills, Saves)
Shoulders: Cloak of Sold Souls (-4 CON, +2 to CL/DC for Necro spells, 3x Vamp Touch)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +6 (+6 Armor bonus)
Rod: Rod of Power Source (+4 to Conjuration spell DC)
Rod2: Rod of Undeath (+2 to Necromancy spell DC, +1 caster level, Maximise 5/day)
Rod3: Rod of Flaming Vengeance (+3 to Evocation spell DC, +1 caster level, Maximise 5/day)

Immunities: Movement-related (FoM), Emotion, Fear, Confusion

Loot Locations:
Main Hand: Dormition [CH4, Twice-born Warlord: side with Enneo and against Jaethal, or use Better Vendors (recommended)]
Offhand: Lightning Duelist [Loot Stefano Moskoni]
Armor: Robe of Water [CH2+, Lonely Barrow, chest – can be obtained very early. This item boosts Icy Prison, one of the best disabling spells in the game.]
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +6 [Common endgame loot]
Boots: Bonethreader Boots [Requires Better Vendors mod, otherwise just use any boots]
Gloves: Butterfly Wings [Artisan: Sharel (‘clothes’, T4)]
Head: Crown [Coronation event]
Neck: Wind Breath [Artisan: Mim (‘amulet’, T0)]
Ring1: Greater Ring of Balance [CH6, HATEOT, in the room with the 3rd key. The Lesser version is also good and can be found in Brineheart after the quest Deal With The Devil, if you let Darven live.]
Ring2: Ring of Circumstances [CH5, Rushlight Tournament, Magical Accessories trader]
Shoulders: Cloak of Sold Souls [Collect 15x Ancient Scrap of Script-Covered Leather]
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +6 [Unknown]
Rod: Rod of Power Source [Artisan: Irlene (‘Rod’, T3)]
Rod2: Rod of Undeath [Artisan: Irlene (‘Rod’, T4)]
Rod3: Rod of Flaming Vengeance [Artisan: Irlene (‘Rod’, T5)]

Feats (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Sylvan Sorcerer 1: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Greater Spell Focus (Conjuration)*, Spell Focus (Evocation)
L02 Sylvan Sorcerer 2: –
L03 Sylvan Sorcerer 3: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L04 Sylvan Sorcerer 4: –
L05 Sylvan Sorcerer 5: Spell Penetration
L06 Sylvan Sorcerer 6: –
L07 Sylvan Sorcerer 7: Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Initiative*
L08 Sylvan Sorcerer 8: –
L09 Sylvan Sorcerer 9: Elemental Focus (Cold), Fleeting Glance (Greater Invisibility)
L10 Sylvan Sorcerer 10: –
L11 Sylvan Sorcerer 11: Greater Elemental Focus (Cold)
L12 Sylvan Sorcerer 12: –
L13 Sylvan Sorcerer 13: Metamagic (Heighten), Metamagic (Quicken)*
L14 Sylvan Sorcerer 14: –
L15 Sylvan Sorcerer 15: Spell Focus (Necromancy), Fey Magic (+2 Spell Penetration)
L16 Sylvan Sorcerer 16: –
L17 Sylvan Sorcerer 17: Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)
L18 Sylvan Sorcerer 18: –
L19 Sylvan Sorcerer 19: Toughness, Dodge*
L20 Sylvan Sorcerer 20: Soul of the Fey (Poison Immunity, DR 10/Cold Iron)

Recommended Spells:
1st: Grease, Mage Armor, Expeditious Retreat, Enlarge Person, Magic Missile
2nd: Glitterdust, Web, Mirror Image, Invisibility, Blindness
3rd: Haste, Displacement, Stinking Cloud, Communal Resist Energy
4th: Animate Dead, Greater False Life, Dimension Door, Communal Protection From Energy
5th: Animal Growth, Icy Prison, Vampiric Shadow Shield, Cloudkill
6th: Chains of Light, Sirocco, Undeath to Death
7th: Legendary Proportions, Finger of Death, Waves of Exhaustion
8th: Frightful Aspect, Seamantle, Protection From Spells
9th: Mass Icy Prison, Wail of the Banshee, Fiery Body

Useful Bonus Spells:
5th: Vinetrap
6th: Greater Dispel Magic
8th: Summon Nereid
9th: Summon Hamadryad

Spell DC Breakdown:

+10 Base
+11 Charisma
+1 Ring of Circumstances
+4 Rod of Power Source (Conjuration)
+6 Dormition/Cloak of Sold Souls/Rod of Undeath (Necromancy)
+3 Rod of Flaming Vengeance (Evocation spells)
+2 Robe of Water (Cold spells)
+2 Elemental Focus (Cold spells)
+2 Spell Focus feats
+1-9 Spell Level
Total for 9th level spells:
- DC 36 (Evocation)
- DC 37 (Conjuration),
- DC 39 (Necromancy),
- DC 40 (Mass Icy Prison)

Initiative Bonus Breakdown::

+4 (Dexterity)
+4 (Lightning Duelist)
+4 (Improved Initiative)
+4 (Wind Breath)
Total bonus: +16

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+4: Dexterity bonus [18 Dexterity] (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
+5: Deflection bonus [Greater Ring of Balance]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings feat]
+8: Cover bonus [Seamantle]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+6: Natural Armor bonus [Frightful Aspect]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+6: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +6]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 58
Touch Armor Class: 32

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 20 (08 base, + 6 Enhancement, +6 Frightful Aspect)
DEX: 18 (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
CON: 22 (16 base, +6 Enhancement, +4 Frightful Aspect, -4 Cloak of Sold Souls)
INT: 16 (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
WIS: 18 (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 32 (24 base, +6 Enhancement, +2 Ring)

5: Shrieker (Bard)

Classes: Bard 20

Role: Ranged Disabler/Buffer/Nuker (CON/CHA)

Overview:

Inspire Courage: competence bonus to attack/damage rolls (rare bonus type).
Dirge of Doom inflicts Shaken without save.
Heroism and Good Hope: source of morale bonuses to many stats.
Cacophonous Call: use on enemies that are immune to Hideous Laughter.
Slow works on most enemies. Use Shout spells in difficult fights.
Makes a good crafter if you’re using the CMI mod.

Race: Aasimar (Emberkin – Peri-Blooded)
Alignment: any Chaotic (Ring of Chaos)
Ability Score Point-buy: 20

STR: 10
DEX: 10
CON: 14
INT: 14 (+2)
WIS: 10
CHA: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]

Skills: (5/level)

Knowledge (Arcana): skill checks, monster ID
Knowledge (World): skill checks, monster ID
Perception: essential skill
Lore (Religion): skill checks, monster ID
Use Magic Device: wands

Camp Role: Hunting, Cooking, Guard or Special Role

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Perfection (+2 Inherent to AC, saves, skill checks)
Offhand: Arcane Protector (+3 Dodge to AC, Sickened/Nauseated immunity)
Armor: Oak Pelt (+5 Natural Armor bonus)
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +6 (+6 Enhancement to Str/Dex/Con)
Feet: Hellstrider Boots (Fire resistance 30, Immunity to Poison)
Gloves: Gloves of the Scribe (+10 Competence to Knowledge checks, +4 to Dispel checks)
Head: Metal Reborn (+6 WIS/CHA, DR 5/Bludgeoning)
Neck: Clockwork Pendant (+10 untyped bonus to movement speed, Haste spells extended)
Ring1: Ring of Chaos (+4 Deflection bonus to AC, permanent Freedom of Movement)
Ring2: Ring of Magic Devices (+5 Competence to Use Magic Device checks, 2x Dispel Magic)
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance +6 (+6 Resistance to saves)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +6 (+6 Armor bonus)
Rod: Rod of Flaming Vengeance (+3 to Evocation spell DC, +1 caster level, Maximise 5/day)

Immunities: Movement-based effects (Freedom of Movement), Poison, Sickened, Nauseated

Loot Locations:
Main Hand: –
Offhand: –
Armor: Oak Pelt [Varnhold DLC loot, obtained from Goblin merchant]
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +6 [Common end-game loot]
Feet: Hellstrider Boots [Requires Better Vendors mod, otherwise just use any boots]
Gloves: Gloves of the Scribe [CH5, Pitax Palace, hidden, Golden Golem room]
Head: Metal Reborn [Reward for finishing Harrim’s questline, apparently you have to give the paladins of Torag at least 2 gems when you finish Unbreakable Metal, unverified]
Neck: Clockwork Pendant [CH3, Shivering Glade, container in main (2nd) room]
Ring1: Ring of Chaos [CH5/CH4, Whiterose Abbey, Hidden [P29] in hallway after first fight]
Ring2: Ring of Magic Devices [Artisan: Mim (‘Ring’, T1)]
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance +5 [Common end-game loot]
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +6 [Common end-game loot]
Rod: Rod of Flaming Vengeance [Artisan: Irlene (‘Rod’, T5)]

Feats (*: rogue talent):
L01 Bard 1: Lingering Performance
L02 Bard 2: Combat Trick: Improved Initiative*
L03 Bard 3: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
L04 Bard 4: –
L05 Bard 5: Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)
L06 Bard 6: Skill Focus (Knowledge – World)*
L07 Bard 7: Spell Penetration
L08 Bard 8: –
L09 Bard 9: Greater Spell Penetration
L10 Bard 10: Skill Focus (Knowledge – Arcana)*
L11 Bard 11: Metamagic (Extend)
L12 Bard 12: –
L13 Bard 13: Spell Focus (Evocation)
L14 Bard 14: Skill Focus (Lore – Religion)*
L15 Bard 15: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L16 Bard 16: –
L17 Bard 17: Toughness
L18 Bard 18: Skill Focus (Use Magic Device)*
L19 Bard 19: Wings
L20 Bard 20: –

Recommended Spells:
1st: Hideous Laughter, Grease, Cure Light Wounds, Unbreakable Heart, Expeditious Retreat, Remove Fear
2nd: Heroism, Cacophonous Call, Cure Moderate Wounds, Delay Poison, Mirror Image, Invisibility
3rd: Displacement, Haste, Good Hope, Slow, Dispel Magic, Cure Serious Wounds
4th: Shout, Echolocation, Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, Cure Critical Wounds, Dimension Door
5th: Ki Shout, Greater Dispel Magic, Mass Cacophonous Call, Joyful Rapture, Phantasmal Web
6th: Greater Shout, Overwhelming Presence, Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Eyebite, Euphoric Tranquility

Evocation Spell DC Breakdown:

+10 Base
+10 Charisma
+3 Rod of Flaming Vengeance
+2 Spell Focus feats
+1-6 Spell Level

Total for 6th level spells: DC 31

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+3: Dexterity bonus [16 Dexterity] (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
+4: Deflection bonus [Ring of Chaos]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings]
+3: Dodge bonus [Arcane Protector]
+2: Inherent bonus [Perfection]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+5: Natural Armor [Oak Pelt]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+6: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +6]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment]
Total Armor Class: 51
Touch Armor Class: 26

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 16 (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
DEX: 16 (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
CON: 20 (14 base, +6 Enhancement)
INT: 14 (14 base)
WIS: 16 (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 30 (24 base, +6 Enhancement)

6: Tactician (Inquisitor-Paladin)

Classes: Tactical Leader 19/Divine Hunter 1

Role: Ranged Damage (DEX/STR/WIS)

Overview:

With Manyshot and Rapid Shot, up to 6 attacks/round when Hasted.
Animal Companion makes this build stronger than most other archers.
Slower archery progression but has Inquisitor buffs and support spells.
Paladin: extra feat, Smite Evil (bypasses DR).
Give Precise Strike, Outflank and Shake It Off to all allies just before a fight.
Activate Bane just before tough fights for a big damage bonus.

Race: Human
Alignment: LG (Erastil, Paladin)
Deity: Erastil
Domain: Animal
Ability Score Point-buy: 20

STR: 14
DEX: 17 (+2) [+5 increase = 22]
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 14
CHA: 08

Skills: 5/level

Stealth: skill checks [~ +45 unbuffed]
Athletics: skill checks
Perception: essential skill
Lore (Nature): skill checks, monster ID
Lore (Religion): skill checks, monster ID

Camp Role: Camouflage, Hunting or Guard

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Longbow of the Cold Moon (+3 Composite Longbow, deals 3D6 cold damage)
Main Hand2: Gamekeeper of the First World (+5 Composite Longbow, expanded crit range)
Offhand: –
Armor: Shepherd’s Armor (+5 Studded Leather Armor, +2 atk/dmg with bows)
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +8 (+8 to Str/Dex/Con)
Feet: Owlbear Skin Boots (Slow/Paralyze/Entangle/Difficult Terrain immunity)
Gloves: Death From Afar (+4 untyped bonus to ranged weapon attack rolls)
Head: Helmet of the Dusk (+6 Enh. to Wisdom, Stun/Daze immunity, attack protection)
Neck: Necklace of the Eternal Hunter (+2 ?? bonus to attack rolls and +4 ?? bonus to damage rolls vs magical beasts)
Ring1: Signet of the Incorruptible (+3 Judgement uses per day)
Ring2: Chameleon Ring (+10 Competence bonus to Stealth checks)
Shoulders: Absolver’s Cloak (+4 Resistance to saves, +4 Deflection to AC)
Wrist: Bracers of the Ruby Phoenix Champion (+1 untyped bonus to Longbows)
Quiver: Ancient Hunt (Infinite Lawful & Cold Iron arrows)

Immunities: Slow, Paralyze, Entangle, Difficult Terrain, Stun, Daze

Loot Locations
Main Hand: Longbow of the Cold Moon [Lostlarn Keep, if found in Varnhold’s Lot DLC]
Main Hand2: Gamekeeper of the First World [Chest in HATEOT, behind book puzzle; you can use Mirror Bow in the meantime]
Offhand: –
Armor: Shepherd’s Armor [CH2+, Lonely Barrow (tip: use Dimension Door!)]
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +8 [CH??, Lonely Barrow]
Feet: Owlbear Skin Boots [Artisan: Tirval (‘Boots’, T3)]
Gloves: Death From Afar [Tenebrous Depths Level 6, hidden chest]
Head: Helmet of the Dusk [CH??, The Secrets of Suramgamin: reward for passing ALL the trials]
Neck: Necklace of the Eternal Hunter [CH2, merchant Hassuf]
Ring1: Signet of the Incorruptible [Given by Nortellara if Jaethal doesn’t kill her. Note that you have to side against Enneo during Chase My Shadow in order to obtain this, which means you won’t get Dormition – you’ll have to obtain it using Better Vendors]
Ring2: Chameleon Ring [Artisan: Nazrielle (‘elven’, T1)]
Shoulders: Absolver’s Cloak [Trader in Rushlight Fields]
Wrist: Bracers of the Ruby Phoenix Champion [CH6, HATEOT, Second level, chest near a locked door]
Quiver: Ancient Hunt (CH4, The Twice-Born Warlord: Barbarian Camp, Gwart’s tent)

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Divine Hunter 1: Precise Shot*, Point-Blank Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow)*, Smite Evil
L02 Tactical Leader 1: –
L03 Tactical Leader 2: Dazzling Display
L04 Tactical Leader 3: Shake It Off*
L05 Tactical Leader 4: Boon Companion, Animal Companion*
L06 Tactical Leader 5: –
L07 Tactical Leader 6: Rapid Shot
L08 Tactical Leader 7: –
L09 Tactical Leader 8: Shatter Defenses
L10 Tactical Leader 9: Outflank*
L11 Tactical Leader 10: Manyshot
L12 Tactical Leader 11: –
L13 Tactical Leader 12: Clustered Shots
L14 Tactical Leader 13: –
L15 Tactical Leader 14: Metamagic (Extend)
L16 Tactical Leader 15: –
L17 Tactical Leader 16: Deadly Aim
L18 Tactical Leader 17: –
L19 Tactical Leader 18: Improved Critical (Longbow), Precise Strike*
L20 Tactical Leader 19: –

Suggested Spells (H: Heighten spell):
1st: Cure Light Wounds, Remove Fear, Shield of Faith, Expeditious Retreat
2nd: Cure Moderate Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Invisibility, Remove Paralysis
3rd: Cure Serious Wounds, Magical Vestment, Remove Curse, Communal Resist Energy
4th: Divine Power, Greater Invisibility, Crusader’s Edge, Freedom of Movement, Cure Critical Wounds
5th: Spell Resistance, Break Enchantment, True Seeing
6th: Heal, Blade Barrier, Cleanse
Note: be sure to unlock the secret Cleric/Inquisitor spell by completing the Wise Way quest that’s started in Chapter 6, in the south-west corner of the Castle of Knives.

Useful Spells to Extend:
4th: Greater Invisibility, Divine Power, Crusader’s Edge
5th: Spell Resistance, True Seeing

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+5: Dexterity bonus [30 Dexterity, limited by armor] (22 base, +8 Enhancement)
+4: Deflection bonus [Lesser Ring of Ultimate Protection]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
-2: Size bonus [Legendary Proportions]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin]
+6: Size bonus to Natural Armor [Legendary Proportions spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+3: Armor bonus [Studded Leather Armor]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [+5 Studded Leather Armor]
Total Armor Class: 41
Touch Armor Class: 19

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 28 (14 base, +8 Enhancement, +6 Legendary Proportions)
DEX: 30 (22 base, +8 Enhancement)
CON: 26 (14 base, +8 Enhancement, +4 Legendary Proportions)
INT: 10 (10 base)
WIS: 20 (14 base, +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 08 (8 base)

Endgame Damage Examples (fully-buffed):

An average hit for this build deals 74 damage before any reductions.
An average critical hit for this build deals 194 damage before any reductions.
Six iterative attacks per round (while Hasted): 516 damage per round.
This calculation takes critical hits into account.
These calculations are made using Divine Power, Judgement and Greater Bane active.
A different bow must be used against Wild Hunt since they are immune to cold damage.
The animal companion’s damage is not taken into account here.

7: Animal Companions

Here are the stats for each animal companion in greater detail. These stats are taken from the pet when its owner is at level 20 (note that pets don’t actually reach level 20, they cap out at about level 16 or so, so if your pet isn’t the same level as you, that’s not a bug).

Some observations:

Pets have more or less the same Hit Points, Armor Class, and Attack Bonus.
The number of attacks each pet has varies wildly. Some have 1, others have 5.
Mastodon’s high damage is only for its 1st attack. The second one has lower damage…
…and the same applies to the elk. Its second and third attacks have less damage.
Mastodon has a trample ability that can knock targets down in an area of effect.
Centipede and lizard have poisoned attacks that are fairly weak, lizard’s being the weakest.
You might notice that the centipede has no Intelligence score. This is because it’s vermin…
…and as such, is supposed to get vermin immunities. It doesn’t, though, apparently.
Smilodon has 5 APR making it the most damaging pet by far.
The 6th level arcane spell ‘Greater Polymorph’ grants any pet 5 APR by turning it into a dragon.
The dragon form is quite large and cumbersome, though. Maybe only use it for boss fights.
The leopard has the best stats early on, but later gets outclassed by the smilodon.
The Animal Growth spell grants Strength & lowers Dexterity, so Weapon Finesse isn’t that useful.
There are some differences in speed which might make some pets better for rushing casters.
It’s important to note that the pets which only have 1 attack actually gain iterative attacks as they gain BAB. They have medium BAB, so they can eventually get 3 APR, though these attacks don’t quite compete with the other pets because of the way iterative attack bonuses work (increasing penalty with each attack)…
However… if you cast the Transformation spell, the pet inherits a BAB score equal to the Alchemist’s caster level, potentially granting the pet up to 20 BAB and 4 iterative attacks. This means that lategame, pets like the Dog can become exceptionally strong, almost as strong as the Smilodon.

Overall the best pet is the smilodon, because of its high damage output. The leopard performs very well early game, and it’s the best tripping pet by far so if you want a tripping pet, that’s the one to go for. It’s also slightly smaller than the other pets but I’m not sure if this actually makes a difference in-game. The elk is also an excellent pet, lacking trip and having less attacks per round than the smilodon, but being very fast and having a special powerful charge ability. The mastodon’s trample ability might make up for its lower number of attacks. The other pets, that only have 1 APR, eventually get better offensive power as they level up, and the ones that have trip attacks (such as the Dog) have the potential to become stronger than any other pet, though only when buffed with Transformation or Greater Polymorph.

Smilodon AC Bonus Breakdown:

+46: Base AC at level 20
+2: Increase to Natural Armor bonus [Animal Growth]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin]
+5: Deflection bonus [Shield of Faith]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+4: Armor bonus [Mage Armor]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 70

8: Artisans

Masterpiece items must be unlocked before there is a chance Artisans will start working on them. To unlock masterpiece items, you must:

Successfully complete the Artisan’s associated quests;
Have built their workshop in their associated settlement (Upgrading is not required);
Have unlocked the artisan’s 6th tier quality items by performing 6 tier unlock actions.

Once a masterpiece has been unlocked to work on, there is a 33% * (1 + TurnsWithoutMasterpieces) chance that an artisan will start working on their masterpiece. If a specific item type is requested, the artisan will not attempt to create a masterpiece or increase the masterpiece chance for that attempt. Masterpiece items take 180 days to produce.

Note: apparently the artisans give you a gift whenever you rank up their related Kingdom stats, or something like that. I found the info here. Have a look, if you’re interested. It appears you can game the system to get the particular gift you want.

Bokken the Alchemist

Bokken’s found in the Outskirts. You should get him automatically.
You only need Bokken’s Masterpiece, his elixir, so let Bokken make whatever he wants once he’s ranked up. Until then, the Mad Scientist gloves (tier 2, ‘alchemical items’) are useful when fighting alchemists; Bombardier’s Utility Belt (tier 3, ‘alchemical items’), Acerbic Ring (tier 0, ‘alchemical items’) and Explosion Ring (tier 5, ‘alchemical items’) are great for Jubilost; and finally all of the items on the ‘potions’ list are quite useful.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘An Ancient Formula’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Arcane up to 4; rank Loyalty up to 3.
Optional tier unlocks: Loyalty 6, Outskirts upgrades (Economy Center, Military Fort, Relations Center)

Dragn the Armorsmith

Dragn will call on you automatically after the Troll questline.
You only need Dragn’s Masterpiece, ‘Onslaught’. His ‘plate armor’ list has some nice items that might be useful. Remember to tell him to make whatever he wants, once he’s sufficiently ranked to make his masterpiece.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘Lawbringer’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Stability up to 6.

Varrask the Enforcer

You meet Varrask in the Kamelands.
We can use the cloak from Tier 5 (‘orc’, Shaman’s Cloak), so unlock the tiers as recommended below then ask him to make an ‘Orc’ item. The ‘Kellid Style’ list has quite a few nice items such as Opportunist’s Boots (which we need on Sentinel), so you can ask him to make those items while you’re waiting for him to rank up. Also the tier 2 ‘orc’ item, a Ghost Touch dagger, is quite useful against certain enemies, so try to get him to make at least a couple of those.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘Earthbreaker’ by getting the blood of Varrask’s enemy; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Military up to 6.

Shaynih’a the Exotic Smith

You need to build a town in the South Narlmarches, then visit it and speak to her with Linzi in your party.
We don’t need anything from her. There are no choices for this artisan.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish her quest and build the building she requires so that she starts making items.

Mim the Jewelcrafter

Mim is from the Silverstep region, but it could be that she approaches you with a quest.
We need six items from Mim: an ‘amulet’ from tier 0 (Wind Breath), a ‘ring’ from tier 3 (Fortunate Fencer), a ‘ring’ from tier 4 (Daring Duelist), and her masterpiece (Great Dreamer’s Smile). If RNG strikes, use the Better Vendors mod. Also a ‘ring’ from tier 1 (Colossus Ring) is somewhat useful.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘Three Wishes’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Economy up to 5.

Tirval the Leatherworker

Tirval is from Varnhold so I suspect you’ll find her there. She’ll ask you to help her.
We need ‘boots’ from tier 3 (Owlbear Skin Boots), and a ‘magical item’ from tier 4 (Brightest Darkness). Also, the tier 0 ‘belt’ (Mirrored Belt) is really useful so try to get a couple of those, and the ‘gloves’ from tier 0 (Cheatsheet Gloves) are useful too.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘The Varnhold Militia’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Espionage up to 3.

Irlene the Shady Dealer

She’s from Shrike, but she turns up in your throne room after you unlock the Magister role.
We only need rods from her (tier 1, Rod of Undeath, tier 3, Rod of Power Source, and tier 5, Rod of Flaming Vengeance), so just have her making those all the time, initially – we can make use of multiple copies of each. We don’t need her masterpiece, but it is very nice to have, so when your shopping list is done, let her make whatever she wants. Also, the rod she makes at tier 0 is very useful as well. Get her ASAP!
Note that these rods’ spell DC-increasing effects stack with themselves, so for example if you equip two Rods of Undeath, you get the +2 DC bonus twice, for a total of +4 DC… I chose not to exploit this when I drafted my item builds, but the choice is yours.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘A Simple Favor’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; upgrade to Studio or rank Relations up to 3.

Sharel the Tailor

You need to build a town in the North Narlmarches, then visit it and speak to her.
We need a tier 4 ‘clothes’ item (Butterfly Wings) from Sharel. We don’t need her masterpiece. The tier 0 robe she makes is useful early game for both Kensei and Painkiller.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘A Bloody Craft’ (2 tiers); have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop.

Nazrielle the Weaponsmith

You need to build a town in the Kamelands, then visit it and speak to her.
We need a tier 5 ‘speed’ item from her (Dragonfly Ring), a tier 1 ring (‘elven’, Chameleon Ring), a tier 4 ‘elven’ weapon (Clarity), and her masterpiece, Perfection. Use the Better Vendors mod if you have trouble obtaining the Dragonfly Ring or any of the other items on here.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘Nazrielle’s Greatest Creation’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Community up to 5.

Kimo the Woodmaster

You need to build a town in the Northern Narlmarches, then visit it and speak to him.
We don’t need any of his items really, but his masterpiece (Mirror Bow) is pretty good, and his quivers are quite useful, too. Have him make quivers until he ranks up enough, then ask him to make whatever he likes so that he’ll work on his masterpiece.
Suggested tier unlocks: finish quest ‘Affairs of the Heart’; have the coronation throne room event occur (2 tiers); build a Workshop; rank Culture up to 5 OR rank Loyalty up to 4.

Kingdom Stat Goals

Community: 5 (Nazrielle)
Loyalty: 4 (Kimo)
Military: 6 (Varrask)
Economy: 5 (Mim)
Relations: 3 (Irlene)
Divine: n/a
Arcane: 4 (Bokken)
Stability: 6 (Dragn)
Culture: 5 (Kimo)
Espionage: 3 (Tirval)

The B-Team

NOTE: a lot of these are unfinished and using placeholders, bear with me

Main character build and five builds for companions. The Respecialization mod by Newman55 is required for the companion builds. This team is designed for Insane monster stats scaling using the Difficulty Modifiers Scale With Level mod to make the early game less unforgiving and the late game harder. It’s also designed with turn-based mode in mind, and uses Spacehamster’s Races Unleashed mod for the Fetchling race. Finally, I’ll be making use of the Craft Magic Items mod to craft my own ability score-boosting enchantments, so the item suggestions take that into account.

1: MC Fetchling Draconic Sorc-Monk – necromancy specialist
2: Jaethal Undying build
3: Nok-Nok Grenadier – dmg/buffs
4: Jubilost Arcane Sorcerer – cold, evocation & illusion
5: Harrim Darkness/Madness
6: Kalikke Thassilonian Wiz/AT – fire, evocation & conjuration
6: Kanerah Cleric negative channeler

The two frontline characters in this party both have Undead status which means they receive the following:

Immunity: mind-affecting effects (e.g. shaken, frightened, confusion)
Immunity: death effects
Immunity: cold damage, negative energy damage (e.g. Boneshard)
Immunity: poison, disease, bleed, sickened, nauseated
Immunity: stun, paralysis, sleep, daze
Immunity: ability/energy drain, ability damage
Immunity: exhaustion, fatigue
Fortitude save and HP derived from CHA bonus
Can’t ‘die’ from being reduced to 0 hit points or lower
Can’t be healed by positive energy
Can be healed by Inflict Wounds spells and channeled negative energy
Cannot benefit from spells such as Legendary Proportions

A frontline made from undead summons (such as those summoned by Animate Dead) and these two characters can force enemies to fight within Cloudkill-type spells without suffering any ill effects. They’re also immune to many other effects, such as the damage from Banshee Blast.

Recommended Difficulty Settings:

Choose ‘Challenging’ as the base difficulty
Set Enemy Difficulty to ‘Insane’
Set Enemy Stat Adjustments to ‘Normal’
Set Enable character retrain to Checked
Ensure Kingdom Management is set to ‘Effortless’

1: Wraith (Sorcerer-Monk)

Classes: Draconic Sorcerer 19/Scaled Fist 1

Role: Tank & Spellcaster (DEX/CHA)

Overview:

This is a tank caster build designed around the item Dead Man’s Hat which turns your character into an Undead. You’ll have to either spawn the item in using Bag of Tricks or buy it when you have enough money using Better Vendors.
It uses the special Fetchling race from Races Unleashed which gets the effects of Displacement when under the Blur spell, which we get permanently from Ring of Blur.

Race: Fetchling (Traits: Shadow Agent)
Alignment: Any Lawful
Deity: n/a
Bloodline: Any Draconic
Point buy: 25

STR: 10
DEX: 18 (+2)
CON: 07 [Negated by Undeath]
INT: 14
WIS: 09 (-2)
CHA: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]

Skills: (3/level + 1)

Persuasion: skill checks [~ +?? unbuffed]
Perception: skill checks [~ +?? unbuffed]
Mobility: skill checks and escaping grapple effects
Knowledge Arcana: one point to unlock skill checks

Camp role: Guard or Assist

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Dormition (+2 to the DCs of Death effect spells)
- Bought using Better Vendors
Off-hand: –
Armor: Robe of False Death (crit immunity)
- CH5, Chest in Blakemoor’s Hideout, Middle of the Road
Belt: Sash of Slash (DR 5/- Slashing)
- CH3, Varnhold Vanishing, Charred Ruins, box behind golem
Feet: Bonethreader Boots (DR 5/- Bludgeoning)
- Bought using Better Vendors
Gloves: Gloves of Elvenkind (+5 Competence to Kn. Arcana, +5 to Concentration checks)
- CH4, The Twice-Born Warlord, room with Defaced Sister fight
Head: Dead Man’s Hat (+2 Necromancy spell DCs, user becomes undead)
- Bought using Better Vendors, or spawned with Bag of Tricks
Neck: Wind Breath (+4 morale bonus to Initiative)
- Bought using Better Vendors or obtained from Mim the artisan
Ring1: Ring of Blur (Permanent Blur spell)
- CH5, War of the River Kings, The Menagerie
Ring2: Ring of Circumstances (+2 Circumstance bonus to CHA/DEX, +1 DC/AC)
- CH5, Rushlight Tournament, Magical Accessories trader
Shoulders: Cloak of Sold Souls (+2 to CL/DC for Necro spells, 3x Vamp Touch)
- Ancient Scraps of Script-Covered Leather quest reward
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus)
- Various places, e.g. Lonely Barrow
Special: Bokken’s Elixir (Permanent +2 Inherent bonus to all ability scores)
- Bokken masterpiece
Trinket: Oculus (All spells automatically extended)
- Possible quest reward during mid-game
Trinket2: Rod of Undeath (+2 to Necromancy spell DCs)
- Artisan item
Enchantments added via Craft Magic Items: +8 to all ability scores except CON, +5 Deflection to AC, +30 Enhancement to movement speed, +6 Resistance bonus to all saving throws, +5 Enhancement to Natural Armor bonus, Energy resistance 30 to all types, Freedom of Movement, +10 Enhancement to skills.

Immunities: All mind-affecting effects, Death effects, Disease, Poison, Stun, Ability or energy drain, Ability damage, Exhaustion/Fatigue, Slow, Paralyze, Entangle, Difficult Terrain, Critical Hits.

Recommended Spells (*: bonus spells):
1st: Cause Fear, Shield, Expeditious Retreat, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening, Mage Armor*
2nd: Mirror Image, Blindness, Web, Protection From Arrows, Boneshaker, Resist Energy*
3rd: Slow, Communal Resist Energy, Haste, Heroism, Dispel Magic*
4th: Animate Dead, Boneshatter, Enervation, Greater False Life, Fear*
5th: Cloudkill, Vampiric Shadow Shield, Icy Prison, Echolocation, Spell Resistance*
6th: Banshee Blast, Undeath to Death, True Seeing/Sirocco, Dragonkind I*
7th: Create Undead, Finger of Death, Waves of Exhaustion, Dragonkind II*
8th: Horrid Wilting, Frightful Aspect, Seamantle, Dragonkind III*
9th: Wail of the Banshee, Foresight, Overwhelming Presence*

Feats (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Draconic Sorcerer 1: Spell Focus (Necromancy), Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)*
L02 Scaled Fist 1: Improved Initiative*
L03 Draconic Sorcerer 2: Deflect Arrows
L04 Draconic Sorcerer 3: –
L05 Draconic Sorcerer 4: Spell Specialization
L06 Draconic Sorcerer 5: –
L07 Draconic Sorcerer 6: Spell Penetration
L08 Draconic Sorcerer 7: –
L09 Draconic Sorcerer 8: Greater Spell Penetration, Toughness*
L10 Draconic Sorcerer 9: –
L11 Draconic Sorcerer 10: Skill Focus (Persuasion)
L12 Draconic Sorcerer 11: –
L13 Draconic Sorcerer 12: Persuasive
L14 Draconic Sorcerer 13: Metamagic (Quicken)*
L15 Draconic Sorcerer 14: Intimidating Prowess
L16 Draconic Sorcerer 15: –
L17 Draconic Sorcerer 16: Defensive Combat Training
L18 Draconic Sorcerer 17: –
L19 Draconic Sorcerer 18: Dodge
L20 Draconic Sorcerer 19: Skill Focus (Mobility)*

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+10: Dexterity bonus [30 Dexterity] (18 base, +8 Enh., +2 Bokken’s Elixir, +2 RoC)
+13: Dodge bonus [Monk AC – 36 Charisma] (24 base, +8 Enh., +2 Bokken’s Elixir, +2 RoC)
+5: Deflection bonus [Crafted enchantment]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+3: Dodge bonus [Draconic Wings ability]
+8: Cover bonus [Seamantle]
+1: Circumstance bonus [Ring of Circumstances]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+6: Natural Armor bonus [Frightful Aspect]
+4: Natural Armor bonus [Dragon Resistances] (stacks with other NA bonuses)
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Crafted enchantment]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 84
Touch Armor Class: 52

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 26 (10 base +8 Enhancement +6 Size +2 Bokken)
DEX: 30 (18 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken +2 RoC)
CON: – (7 base -6 Robe -4 Cloak, negated by Undead status)
INT: 24 (14 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
WIS: 19 (9 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
CHA: 36 (24 base +8 Enhancement +2 Bokken +2 RoC)

2: Undying [Jaethal] (Barbarian)

Classes: Invulnerable Rager 10/Stalwart Defender 10

Role: Tank (CHA)

Overview:

This build exploits Jaethal’s immunity to fatigue, which allows her to cycle between Rage and Defensive Stance freely. Every time she does so, she gains temporary hit points equal to double her hit dice (i.e. at level 20, 40 hit points).
It also uses many abilities and items to grant a total of 29 DR/- at level 20. Since Jaethal is difficult to heal, a good way for her to tank is to mitigate as much damage as possible.

Race: Elf
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Deity: Urgathoa
Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 16, DEX 14, CON –, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 14 (25 points)
New Distribution: (25 points)

STR: 14
DEX: 16 (+2)
CON: 06 (-2) [Negated by Undeath]
INT: 14 (+2)
WIS: 12
CHA: 17 [+5 increase = 22]

Skills: 5/level mostly

Perception: essential skill
Whatever other skills you require

Camp Role: Guard or Other

Some Recommended Equipment:

Main Hand: Tyrant (+5 Flail, on hit applies stacking penalty to AC/saves/CMD)
Offhand: Ancestral Dwarven Shield (+2 Heavy Shield, DR 2/-)
Armor: Armor of Wealth (+5 Scalemail, DR 5/-)
Feet: Manticore Skin Boots (+10 untyped bonus to movement speed, +4 Enhanced NA)
Head: Evasive Round Helmet (Immunity to Critical Hits)
Belt: Mirrored Belt (Mirror Image 2x day, +4 Resistance bonus to Reflex saves)
Neck: Gyronna’s Amulet (+5 Insight bonus to AC, Mirror Image once/encounter)
Shoulders: Absolver’s Cloak (+2 atk/dmg vs Shaken)
Ring1: Sentinel (DR 2/-)
Ring2: Greater Ring of Ultimate Protection (+5 Deflection & Res to saves, DR 2/-)
Wrists: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus to AC)
Hands: Mad Scientist’s Gloves (Fire/acid resistance 15)
- Crafted Enchantments: +8 to all ability scores, +5 Deflection to AC, +30 Enhancement to movement speed, +6 Resistance bonus to all saving throws, +5 Enhancement to Natural Armor bonus, Energy resistance 30 to all types, Freedom of Movement, +10 Enhancement to all skills.

Feats (*: bonus feat):
L01 Invulnerable Rager 1: Toughness
L02 Invulnerable Rager 2: Guarded Stance
L03 Invulnerable Rager 3: Dodge
L04 Invulnerable Rager 4: Lesser Beast Totem
L05 Invulnerable Rager 5: Shield Focus
L06 Invulnerable Rager 6: Beast Totem
L07 Invulnerable Rager 7: Missile Shield
L08 Invulnerable Rager 8: Increased Damage Reduction
L09 Stalwart Defender 1: Extra Rage Power (Increased Damage Reduction), Defensive Stance
L10 Stalwart Defender 2: Defensive Power: Smash
L11 Stalwart Defender 3: Extra Rage Power (Increased Damage Reduction), Uncanny Dodge
L12 Stalwart Defender 4: Defensive Power: Renewed Defense
L13 Stalwart Defender 5: Weapon Focus (Flail)
L14 Stalwart Defender 6: Defensive Power: Increased Damage Reduction
L15 Stalwart Defender 7: Dazzling Display
L16 Stalwart Defender 8: Defensive Power: Increased Damage Reduction
L17 Stalwart Defender 9: Shatter Defenses
L18 Stalwart Defender 10: Defensive Power: Increased Damage Reduction
L19 Invulnerable Rager 9: ?
L20 Invulnerable Rager 10: –

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+3: Dexterity bonus (16 base)
+5: Deflection bonus [Greater Ring of Ultimate Protection]
+4: Dodge bonus [Stalwart Defender passive bonus]
+2: Dodge bonus [Stalwart Defender active ability – Defensive Stance]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+3: Dodge bonus [Guarded Stance]
+5: Insight bonus [Gyronna’s Amulet]
+2: Inherent bonus [Perfection]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+3: Natural Armor bonus [Beast Totem]
+4: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Manticore Skin Boots]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+5: Enhancement to Shield [Ancestral Dwarven Shield, upgraded to +5]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+1: Additional Shield bonus [Shield Focus]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Armor of Wealth]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment] (stacks with armor enchantment)
Total Armor Class: 72
Touch Armor Class: 37

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 14 (14 base)
DEX: 16 (16 base)
CON: — (10 base)
INT: 14 (14 base)
WIS: 14 (14 base)
CHA: 30 (22 base +8 Enhancement)

3: Crackpot [Nok-Nok] (Alchemist)

Classes: Grenadier 20

Role: Ranged Damage & Support Caster (DEX/INT)

Overview:

coming soon

Race: Goblin
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Deity: Lamashtu
Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 08, DEX 22, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 09, CHA 08 (20 points)
New Distribution: (25 points)

STR: 10 (-2)
DEX: 18 (+4)
CON: 14
INT: 17 [+5 increase = 22]
WIS: 12
CHA: 06 (-2)

Skills: 6/level

Knowledge (World): skill checks, monster ID
Knowledge (Arcana): skill checks, monster ID
Lore (Nature): skill checks, monster ID
Perception: essential skill
Trickery: skill checks
Mobility: to escape entangle effects

Camp role: Cooking, Hunting or Guard

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Greater Sting (+2 Light Crossbow, 1d6 acid, stun-on-crit DC17)
- Location: test
Main Hand2: Quarterstaff of Whispering Souls (+4 Profane bonus to INT)
Armor: Bombardier’s Vest (+2 to attack rolls with bombs)
Belt: Bombardier’s Utility Belt (4 additional bombs per day)
Feet: Swamp Dweller’s Boots (Immunity to ability drain/damage)
Gloves: Bomb Thrower’s Gloves (+2 ?? bonus to bomb attack rolls and DCs)
Head: Red Dragonscale Helmet (+6 Enhancement to INT, fire resistance 15)
Neck: River Fox’s Memento Pendant (+1D6 damage to flanked, +3D6 to stunned/paralyzed)
Ring1: Explosion Ring (+12 damage with bombs)
Ring2: Explosion Ring (+12 damage with bombs)
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance +6 (+6 Resistance bonus to saves)
Wrist: Gear’s Rule (various bonuses)
Trinket: ? (?)
- Crafted Enchantments: +8 to all ability scores, +5 Deflection to AC, +30 Enhancement to movement speed, +6 Resistance bonus to all saving throws, +5 Enhancement to Natural Armor bonus, Energy resistance 30 to all types, Freedom of Movement, +10 Enhancement to all skills, Speed enchantment on weapon.

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Grenadier 1: Point-Blank Shot
L02 Grenadier 2: Infusion*, Precise Bombs*
L03 Grenadier 3: Precise Shot
L04 Grenadier 4: Acid Bomb*
L05 Grenadier 5: Ability Focus: Bombs
L06 Grenadier 6: Cognatogen*
L07 Grenadier 7: Rapid Shot
L08 Grenadier 8: Fast Bombs*
L09 Grenadier 9: Metamagic (Extend)
L10 Grenadier 10: Force Bombs*
L11 Grenadier 11: Extra Bombs
L12 Grenadier 12: Greater Cognatogen*
L13 Grenadier 13: Extra Bombs
L14 Grenadier 14: Cursed Bomb*
L15 Grenadier 15: Extra Bombs
L16 Grenadier 16: Grand Cognatogen*
L17 Grenadier 17: Extra Bombs
L18 Grenadier 18: Holy Bomb*
L19 Grenadier 19: Extra Bombs
L20 Grenadier 20: Spontaneous Healing*, Awakened Intellect*, Nauseating Flesh*

Recommended Extracts:
1st: Shield, Expeditious Retreat, Targeted Bomb Admixture, Bomber’s Eye
2nd: Barkskin, Blur, Protection From Arrows
3rd: Displacement, Communal Resist Energy, Thorn Body
4th: Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Echolocation
5th: Spell Resistance
6th: Transformation, True Seeing, Heal

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 10 (10 base)
DEX: 20 (20 base)
CON: 14 (14 base)
INT: 42 (22 base +6 Enh. +2 Awakened Intellect +8 Grand Cognatogen +4 Profane)
WIS: 12 (12 base)
CHA: 06 (6 base)

Endgame Saving Throws (unbuffed, with items):

Fortitude: ??
Reflex: ??
Will: ??

4: Sage [Jubilost] (Sorcerer)

Classes: Arcane Sorcerer 20

Role: Spellcaster (CON/CHA)

Overview:

coming soon

Race: Gnome
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Deity: ?
Bloodline: Arcane
Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 08, DEX 14, CON 12, INT 18, WIS 08, CHA 12 (20 points)
New Distribution: (25 points)

STR: 10 (-2)
DEX: 10
CON: 16 (+2)
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]

Skills: (3/level)

?
Perception: essential
?

Camp role: Guard or Assist

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: ? (?)
Offhand: Lightning Duelist (+1 Shock Dagger, +1 Dodge to AC, +4 Insight to Initative)
Armor: Robe of Water (+2 Cold spell DC)
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +6 (+6 to STR/DEX/CON)
Boots: Bonethreader Boots (DR 5/Bludgeoning)
Gloves: Butterfly Wings (+5 Resistance to saves)
Head: Crown (+6 Enh. to INT/WIS/CHA)
Neck: Wind Breath (+4 Morale bonus to Initiative)
Ring1: ? (?)
Ring2: ? (?)
Shoulders: ? (?)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +6 (+6 Armor bonus)
Trinket: Rod of Power Source (+4 to Conjuration spell DC)
Trinket: Rod of Flaming Vengeance (+3 to Evocation spell DC, +1 caster level, Maximise 5/day)
- Crafted Enchantments: +8 to all ability scores, +5 Deflection to AC, +30 Enhancement to movement speed, +6 Resistance bonus to all saving throws, +5 Enhancement to Natural Armor bonus, Energy resistance 30 to all types, Freedom of Movement, +10 Enhancement to all skills.

Immunities: ?

Feats (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Arcane Sorcerer 1: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Greater Spell Focus (Conjuration)*, Spell Focus (Evocation)
L02 Arcane Sorcerer 2: –
L03 Arcane Sorcerer 3: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L04 Arcane Sorcerer 4: –
L05 Arcane Sorcerer 5: Spell Penetration
L06 Arcane Sorcerer 6: –
L07 Arcane Sorcerer 7: Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Initiative*
L08 Arcane Sorcerer 8: –
L09 Arcane Sorcerer 9: Elemental Focus (Cold), Fleeting Glance (Greater Invisibility)
L10 Arcane Sorcerer 10: –
L11 Arcane Sorcerer 11: Greater Elemental Focus (Cold)
L12 Arcane Sorcerer 12: –
L13 Arcane Sorcerer 13: Metamagic (Heighten), Metamagic (Quicken)*
L14 Arcane Sorcerer 14: –
L15 Arcane Sorcerer 15: Spell Focus (Necromancy), Fey Magic (+2 Spell Penetration)
L16 Arcane Sorcerer 16: –
L17 Arcane Sorcerer 17: Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)
L18 Arcane Sorcerer 18: –
L19 Arcane Sorcerer 19: Toughness, Dodge*
L20 Arcane Sorcerer 20: ?

Useful Bonus Spells:
5th: ?

Spell DC Breakdown:

+10 Base
+11 Charisma
+1 Ring of Circumstances
+4 Rod of Power Source (Conjuration)
+3 Rod of Flaming Vengeance (Evocation spells)
+2 Robe of Water (Cold spells)
+2 Elemental Focus (Cold spells)
+2 Spell Focus feats
+1-9 Spell Level
Total for 9th level spells:
- DC 36 (Evocation)
- DC 37 (Conjuration),
- DC 40 (Mass Icy Prison)

Initiative Bonus Breakdown::

+4 (Dexterity)
+4 (Lightning Duelist)
+4 (Improved Initiative)
+4 (Wind Breath)
Total bonus: +16

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+4: Dexterity bonus [18 Dexterity] (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
+5: Deflection bonus [?]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings feat]
+8: Cover bonus [Seamantle]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+6: Natural Armor bonus [Frightful Aspect]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+6: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +6]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 58
Touch Armor Class: 32

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 20 (08 base, + 6 Enhancement, +6 Frightful Aspect)
DEX: 18 (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
CON: 22 (16 base, +6 Enhancement, +4 Frightful Aspect)
INT: 16 (10 base, +6 Enhancement)
WIS: 18 (12 base, +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 32 (24 base, +6 Enhancement, +2 Ring)

5: Geomancer [Harrim] (Kineticist)

Classes: Kineticist 20

Role: Ranged Damage (DEX/CON)

Overview:

coming soon

Race: Dwarf
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Deity: Groetus
Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 14, DEX 08, CON 16, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 10 (20 points)
New Distribution: (25 points)

STR: 12
DEX: 16
CON: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
INT: 10
WIS: 14 (+2)
CHA: 06 (-2)

Skills: (2/level)

Mobility: to escape entangle effects
Perception: essential

Camp role: Guard or Assist

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: –
Armor: Robe of False Death (crit immunity)
Belt: Sash of Slash (+6 Enhancement to DEX, DR 5/Slashing)
Feet: Manticore Skin Boots (+4 Enh. to NA bonus, +10 untyped movespeed bonus)
Gloves: Royal Gloves of Valor (+6 Enhancement to CHA)
Head: Crown of Elements (+3D6 to blast damage, +6 Enhancement to INT/WIS/CHA)
Neck: Amulet of Four Elements (+1 elemental damage per die when casting spells)
golden tongue +5 morale to persuasion
nymph’s gift +2 ac vs ranged
Ring1: ? (?)
Ring2: ? (?)
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance +6 (+6 Resistance bonus to saves)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus)
Trinket: ? (?)
- Crafted Enchantments: +8 to all ability scores, +5 Deflection to AC, +30 Enhancement to movement speed, +6 Resistance bonus to all saving throws, +5 Enhancement to Natural Armor bonus, Energy resistance 30 to all types, Freedom of Movement, +10 Enhancement to all skills.

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Kineticist 1: Point-Blank Shot, Infusion: Extended Range
L02 Kineticist 2: Wild Talent: Kinetic Healer
L03 Kineticist 3: Precise Shot, Infusion: Kinetic Blade
L04 Kineticist 4: Wild Talent: Heat Adaptation
L05 Kineticist 5: Deadly Aim, Infusion: Torrent
L06 Kineticist 6: Wild Talent: Slick
L07 Kineticist 7: Weapon Focus (Kinetic Blast), Air Element – Electric Blast
L08 Kineticist 8: Wild Talent: Celerity
L09 Kineticist 9: Dazzling Display, Infusion: Magnetic
L10 Kineticist 10: Blind-Fight*
L11 Kineticist 11: Shatter Defenses, Infusion: Synaptic
L12 Kineticist 12: Wild Talent: Kinetic Revivification
L13 Kineticist 13: Outflank, Infusion: Wall
L14 Kineticist 14: Deflect Arrows*
L15 Kineticist 15: Spell Penetration, Earth Element
L16 Kineticist 16: Wild Talent: Flesh of Stone
L17 Kineticist 17: Greater Spell Penetration, Infusion: Deadly Earth
L18 Kineticist 18: ?
L19 Kineticist 19: Improved Precise Shot
L20 Kineticist 20: ?

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+8: Dexterity bonus [26 Dexterity] (18 base, +6 Enhancement, +2 Bokken’s Elixir)
+12: Dodge bonus [Monk AC – 34 Charisma] (24 base, +6 Enh., +2 Bokken’s Elixir, +2 RoC)
+5: Deflection bonus [Shield of Faith]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+1: Dodge bonus [Dodge feat]
+3: Dodge bonus [Wings feat]
+8: Cover bonus [Seamantle]
+3: Dodge bonus [Arcane Protector]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+6: Natural Armor bonus [Frightful Aspect]
+4: Natural Armor bonus [Dragon Resistances] (stacks with other NA bonuses)
+4: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Manticore Skin Boots]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 82
Touch Armor Class: 51

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 11 (9 base +2 Bokken)
DEX: 26 (18 base +6 Enhancement +2 Bokken)
CON: – (7 base -6 Robe -4 Cloak, negated by Undead status)
INT: 16 (14 base +2 Bokken)
WIS: 12 (10 base +2 Bokken)
CHA: 34 (24 base +6 Enhancement +2 Bokken +2 RoC)

6: Kalikke/Kanerah AT/Cleric

Kalikke

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 10, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 10 (27 points)

Recommended Distribution (28 points):

Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
Int: 10
Wis: 14 (+2)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Skills: 2/level

Stealth
Perception

Camp role: Guard (Perception)

Kanerah

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 10, DEX 18, CON 16, INT 16, WIS 12, CHA 10 (34 points)

Recommended Distribution (28 points):

Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 16 (+2)
Int: 17 [+5 increase = 22]
Wis: 12 (+2)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Skills:

Lore (Nature)
Perception
Stealth
Mobility

Camp role: Any

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Kineticist 1: Point-Blank Shot, Infusion: Burning
L02 Kineticist 2: Wild Talent: Foxfire
L03 Kineticist 3: Precise Shot, Infusion: Fan of Flames
L04 Kineticist 4: Wild Talent: Heat Adaptation
L05 Kineticist 5: Spell Penetration, Infusion: Extended Range
L06 Kineticist 6: Wild Talent: Fire’s Fury
L07 Kineticist 7: Weapon Focus (Kinetic Blast)
L08 Kineticist 8: Dazzling Display*
L09 Kineticist 9: Shatter Defenses, Infusion: Foxfire
L10 Kineticist 10: Blind-Fight*
L11 Kineticist 11: Outflank, Infusion: Flash
L12 Kineticist 12: Wild Talent: ?
L13 Kineticist 13: Blind-Fight, Infusion: Eruption
L14 Kineticist 14: Wild Talent: ?
L15 Kineticist 15: ?
L16 Kineticist 16: ?, Wild Talent: ?
L17 Kineticist 17: Greater Spell Penetration, Infusion: ?
L18 Kineticist 18: ?
L19 Kineticist 19: Improved Precise Shot
L20 Kineticist 20: ?

EXTRA: Tips, Tricks & Useful Information

Alignment-based Damage

Holy is situationally good in this game, against evil enemies.
Axiomatic is good against Chaotic Evil and Chaotic Neutral enemies (e.g. fey, undead).
Unholy and Anarchic are mostly useless.

Shatter Defenses

Allows attack rolls to more easily hit targets with the ‘Shaken’ condition (lesser type of fear).
Enemies are considered ‘flat-footed’ with Shatter Defenses + Shaken.
Flat-footed enemies lose DEX bonus to AC, as well as all Dodge bonuses to AC.
They’re also subject to Sneak Attacks, as if they were flanked.
You are not restricted to the weapon you chose for your Weapon Focus feat.

Demoralize, and Inflicting Shaken

The Dazzling Display feat inflicts Shaken on a failed save, but uses a full-round action.
The Cornugon Smash feat inflicts this penalty whenever you hit a target with Power Attack.
The Bard performance ‘Dirge of Doom’, obtained at 8th level, inflicts Shaken without a save.
The 8th-level spell Frightful Aspect inflicts Shaken without a save.

Item Database 1

Item Database.[docs.google.com]
A database of some of the unique magical items that can be found in the game.
Some items are missing, and some of the items are unavailable in the campaign.

Item Database 2

Another Item Database.[docs.google.com]
This one contains item locations as well as short descriptions of each item.

Artisan Database

Artisan Database.[docs.google.com]
Includes information on how each Artisan ‘ranks up’. Thanks to Reddit user EjnarH for this.
Artisans cannot make their Masterpiece item if you tell them to make a specific item
If you have completed their ‘rank up’ objectives then they can start working on their Masterpiece.
Tell them to make whatever they want, rather than asking for a specific item, to receive Masterpieces.

Camp Roles

Characters can only fulfil one role at once, see the skills section for details.
Only the main character can perform the vast majority of Persuasion checks.

Kingdom Management Suggestions

I recommend putting Kingdom Management on Effortless or Easy.
The KM feature has many unintuitive aspects that can make it frustrating.
But if you put it on ‘Auto’, you lose out on Artisans.
Upgrade your Stability kingdom score when suffering from ‘Worried’ or ‘Crumbling’ status.
Bag of Tricks can make all kingdom events complete in one day – very useful.
Be careful when using mods with Kingdom Management, sometimes there are glitches.

Blind-Fight

Allows melee attackers to re-roll attack rolls vs concealment, Blur, DIsplacement, etc.
Spells that can be used as an alternative: Echolocation, True Seeing.
Blind-Fight grants immunity to a particularly nasty late-game paralysis attack.
Highly recommend picking up this feat around level 9, for the Season of Bloom chapter.

Lonely Barrow

As early as Chapter 2, a location can be found called ‘Lonely Barrow’.
Within this location is a powerful enemy that is difficult to kill. This enemy drops powerful items.
However, there are also some items in a chest in this location.
With the use of a certain spell that allows for teleportation, one can teleport into the area…
…sneak past the enemy, loot the chest, and teleport out, all without fighting at all.
This means several powerful items can be obtained relatively easily, and quite early on.
If you want more details, there are various Reddit threads that go into more detail on this.

More Alchemist Extracts

Alchemists have ‘extracts’ that function similarly to spells.
You can even cast spells with a range of Personal using the Infusion discovery.
Did you know alchemists can learn new extracts in the same way as wizards learn new spells?
Just buy a scroll from a vendor and have your alchemist learn the new extract.
Bear in mind you can only learn new extracts that are on the alchemist’s extract list.

Delay Poison… Infinitely?

The spell Delay Poison seems to suggest that poison effects are temporarily suspended.
However, the spell actually just makes you immune to all poisons.
The Communal version of this spell is particularly effective. Make sure you use it.

Dealing With Alchemists and Wisps

Both wisps and alchemists repeatedly nuke you with elemental damage. Annoying.
The Resist Energy spell has a long duration and will block most, if not all of this damage.
Again, the Communal version of this spell is particularly effective. Make sure you use it.

Smite Evil & Lay On Hands

When players dip Paladin levels, they often forget about Smite Evil.
However, it’s a fantastic ability that is incredibly effective even at Paladin 1 or Paladin 2.
It grants bonus AC and attack, and bypasses all DR – but only against an Evil creature.
So don’t forget to use this ability whenever you can against tough enemies.
Lay On Hands is another ability that doesn’t seem very useful if you only have 1 or 2 Paladin levels.
However, using this ability on yourself is a swift action, which means it’s effectively free HP.
Up to 8D6 extra HP during a fight can really make a difference, so don’t forget about it.

Transformation on Animal Companions

Animal Companions have significantly less BAB than main characters do.
They have up to +12 BAB when their owner reaches level 20 in a pet class such as Druid.
The spell Transformation can be cast on pets by an Alchemist with the Infusion ability.
Transformation uses the caster’s caster level to give the target a new BAB.
For example, a 20th level Alchemist grants the target 20 BAB.
When cast on a pet, this is a significant boost to their attacks.
Furthermore, some pets like the Dog get extra attacks based on their BAB…
…so this boost is even more effective for them.
It’s for this reason that I strongly recommend casting Transformation on pets during key fights.

Custom Formations

Make sure to set a custom formation using the formation button in the bottom left corner.
Put the animal companions near the front to provide a protective shield for your back line.

Defensive Stance

In the PnP game, Defensive Stance’s extra hit points are removed when you turn it off.
However, in Kingmaker, Owlcat decided to use temporary hit points instead.
This is a huge buff because you can ‘cycle’ Defensive Stance each round to maximise efficiency.
Kensei uses Lay On Hands (swift action when cast on self) to remove the Fatigue effect.
So the player activates Defensive Stance then immediately turns it off, then uses Lay On Hands.
Next round the player repeats this. You get an extra chunk of temporary hit points every round.
At level 12 this is equivalent to 24 temporary hit points every round.
The Barbarian’s Rage ability also gives THP.

EXTRA: Recommended Mods

Arcane Unleashed: Go to the Steam store and find the DLC for Kingmaker on its store page

Not a mod, but a free DLC that you can install from the Steam store. I just put it here because people might not know about it and it adds some extremely powerful spells.

Races Unleashed: [link]

A great mod by Spacehamster that introduces new races to Kingmaker. Some of these races are a little unbalanced to say the least, but they add some much-needed variety to the game’s race list and one of the races is used in my B-team setup.

No History: [link]

A great new mod by Hambeard that helps reduce save file bloat.

Save Perfecto (Varnhold’s Lot): [link]

Not a mod, exactly. Place the savegame file in your Kingmaker save game folder (located within Users/<username>/AppData/LocalLow/Owlcat Games). It will not appear in your savegame list in-game, but when the time comes to select your Varnhold Lot savegame for import, you’ll be able to choose it.

Craft Magic Items: [link]

This gem of a mod has been updated by another user and can now be used safely since it’s being actively bugfixed. It allows you to craft new magic items and also upgrade old ones, so for example if you find a +3 weapon you like, you can upgrade it to +5. I strongly recommend you do not cheat with this mod in order to preserve game balance.

Loot Checklist: [link]

A mod that lets you view the loot that is in the Area you are currently in, including enemy/ally inventories. It is a simple list of what you are missing at that moment, it doesn’t however tell you where the items are.

Scale XP: [link]

Allows you to set an exponential XP scale that means you can reach level 20 by the end of the game. Check the discussion tab for some good advice. User Micah71381 recommends using a base multiplier of 1, divider of 15 and an exponential of 5 (using the ‘Exponential’ option – 3rd setting). However I feel that the exponential value of 5 might be a little too high, maybe about 2.5-3 might be better, since reports indicate you can actually reach level 20 by endgame, now.

Hambeard’s Better Vendors: [link]

Includes a variety of features, not least of which is the Vendor Injector: this remarkable mod allows you to instantly (as in instantly, on the fly, without even restarting the game) add any item to a Capital Square vendor, so that you can purchase it. It’s a very lightweight and should be safe to use, as well as safe to uninstall after use. It’s technically a cheat, but it’s a palatable one for items which are proving hard to obtain, or have been missed. It’s a nice way to solve Artisan RNG, for example – if you know you’ve unlocked a certain tier but the game keeps ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ you on RNG, you can just sell the item you actually received and buy the one you wanted. There are also items which exist in the game’s files but not in the campaign, such as Twin Serpents. Another thing would be the Changestaff spell which requires a non-magical quarterstaff as a resource, which, oddly enough, is quite a rare item, but not with this mod. Many thanks to Hambeard for creating this mod at my request.

Bag of Tricks: [link]

I previously recommended Cheat Menu, however Bag of Tricks is constantly being updated and is by far the better choice now. It allows you to modify an astounding number of things, such as experience, gold, and so on.

Cleaner – [link]

This mod does a few different things, but the principal thing I like is that it adds a ‘clean’ button to the loot window when you leave a zone. It removes all loot and NPC corpses from the zone, which reduces the size of your saves. I think this will help prevent the issue where loading times for saves begin to get longer and longer.

Difficulty Modifiers Scale With Level: [link]

Changes the way that difficulty works so that the modifiers applied to enemies depend on your level. This makes the game a lot more managable on unfair in the early game and makes the game more difficult at the end.

Respecialization:
[link]

Newman55’s Respecialization mod is essential for using team B on this page but otherwise isn’t needed. There are some known bugs when you use this mod with certain characters. Back up your saves before respeccing.

EXTRA: Character Backstories

Just for fun.

Helm is an aasimar from the city of Thronestep, located in the kingdom of Razmiran. His mother and father were brutally slain by the city’s masked priests in a bloody confrontration over a simple tithe of gold. Fearing for his life, he fled the city and its tyrannical authorities, and lived for many months as a vagabond, roaming from village to village. Eventually he joined a monastery located in the nearby mountains, where he spent many years training under the wisdom of the Scaled Fist, an ancient order of draconic warrior-monks. The tranquility of the monastery never fully suited Helm, however, and he began to yearn for adventure. To fight for law and order in the world, and one day live in a kingdom worthy of respect – that was his dream. Now, at last, a chance reveals itself.

Portrait[ibb.co]

Sorrow is a half-elf who lived in Thronestep. She was forced to flee the city after the authorities caught her performing alchemical experiments on the bodies of the freshly deceased, pilfered from the local morgue. A group of masked priests were dispatched to pursue her and bring her to justice for defiling their honored dead. They caught up with her just as she came across an aasimar named Tor, fresh out of a monastery in the mountains and itching for an adventure. They fought side by side, and easily slaughtered the would-be assassins. The fresh bodies of the priests served Sorrow well as subjects for further alchemical experiments, though she took care to hide this from her new companion. Now they travel together to the River Kingdoms, their fates interwoven, for good or ill.

Portrait[ibb.co]

Hart is an Aasimar who lived in Thronestep. A cleric of Erastil, he was persecuted for his beliefs by the gold-masked priests of Razmir, the ruler of that region, and a charlatan masquerading as a deity. Some believe that his incredible arcane power is proof enough of his godhood, and those that question it never do so openly, for his tyrannical power brooks no dissent on the question of his divinity. Hart hopes that some day, he may become powerful enough to return to Razmiran and confront that blasphemous imposter personally. For now, he travels with this band of misfits, hoping to bring his deity’s faith to the godless wherever he roams.

Portrait[ibb.co]

Odin is an aasimar from Thronestep. A conjurer of some renown, he was hounded out of the city by the gold-masked priests of Razmir, under the pretense of his magic being a danger to society. He knows the truth of the matter, that the magics these so-called priests wield are nothing but cheap parlor tricks, mere cantrips that any lowly novice of the Art could perform. They are nothing more than thugs posing as divinely-blessed clergy to fool the populace into accepting Ramir’s divinity. Such a mummer’s farce is an insult to those who practice the Art. Now Odin wanders the earth in search of a new home, and these foolish adventurers will serve as useful bodyguards until he finds such a place.

Portrait[ibb.co]

Sunasha is an aasimar from Thronestep. A bard of some fame (and disrepute), she was well-known in the city for her obscene behaviour and vulgar tales, and in particular her tendency to cause affront with hateful put-downs and taunts delivered mercilessly to her audience. Indeed, one might only need be in the general vicinity of one of her performances to earn the privilege of having one’s entire reputation destroyed with a few well-chosen words. After humiliating a Razmiran prince who came to witness one such performance, she was forced to flee the capital or risk dismemberment at the hands of the prince’s sizeable entourage of well-armed guards. Sunasha is not one to hold a grudge, however, so for now she’ll tag along with this band of mercenaries. After all, there is an entire kingdom to the south filled with idiots, and it fills her with pleasure to imagine all the misery and despair she might spread throughout its lands!

Portrait[i.ibb.co]

Darvin is a human hailing from the dung heap of corruption and decay known as the city of Thronestep. He spent his formative years training to be an inquisitor for the city, but became disillusioned when he came to the realization that those he served were no better than those he persecuted. After a time, this discontent became known to his superiors, and soon the gold-masked priests of Razmir were dispatched to teach Darvin the error of his ways. He was brutally beaten, and told in no uncertain terms that the cost of further betrayal would be exacted upon his family. At his wit’s end, the inquisitor made a desperate deal with the very degenerates who he had formerly hunted, to transport his family out of the city safely. But when one deals with the devil, one should expect duplicity. His family were murdered, their throats slit while they slept soundly in their beds, dreaming of a new life far away from Thronestep. Years later, Darvin would return the favor, enacting bloody revenge on those who had betrayed him, but such actions could never bring back the life he had lost forever. He has spent much of his life since then hunting from the shadows, fighting a never-ending guerilla war against criminals and authorities alike. After helping a beleaguered cleric of Erastil escape the city, he has decided to join this band of mercenaries and start anew in a foreign land.

Portrait[ibb.co]

1: Amiri – Summoner (Drd 19/Brb 1)

(Druid 19/Barbarian 1)

Point-buy total is 20, pretty low.
Standard Barbarian is weak compared to the Mad Dog or Invulnerable Rager archetypes.
Starting feats, Toughness and Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword), relatively weak/niche.
Amiri has a Wisdom of 12, so it’s conceivable she could be a Druid with just a little more.
She might turn to the patron spirit of her clan and ask for guidance.
You can’t argue with her having a pet Smilodon. That fits her character completely.
Reach build with pet & summon/support spells. Can replace Sentinel…
…but can’t use Heavy Armor, so the itemization will be slightly different.
She requires at least a +4 Wisdom item to cast 9th level spells.
Optionally, Defender of the True World offers nice bonuses but restricts our summoning.
Improving her Strength also improves her effectiveness as a Kingdom general.
Try taking the Animal domain and spending a feat on Boon Companion.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 16, DEX 13, CON 16, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 10 (20 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

STR: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 15
CHA: 08

Skills: 4/level, mostly

Athletics: skill checks
Lore (Nature): skill checks, Monster ID
Perception: skill checks
Any other skill you require

Camp role: Guard or Hunting

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat):
L01 Barbarian 1: Toughness, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword)*
L02 Druid 1: –
L03 Druid 2: Weapon Focus (Glaive, or any other Martial reach weapon)
L04 Druid 3: –
L05 Druid 4: Dazzling Display
L06 Druid 5: –
L07 Druid 6: Outflank
L08 Druid 7: –
L09 Druid 8: Shatter Defenses
L10 Druid 9: –
L11 Druid 10: Blind-Fight
L12 Druid 11: –
L13 Druid 12: Combat Reflexes
L14 Druid 13: –
L15 Druid 14: Power Attack
L16 Druid 15: –
L17 Druid 16: Spell Penetration
L18 Druid 17: –
L19 Druid 18: Greater Spell Penetration
L20 Druid 19: –

Spells:
1st: Acid Maw, Cure Light Wounds
2nd: Barkskin, Lesser Restoration
3rd: Communal Delay Poison, Communal Resist Energy
4th: Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious Wounds
5th: Animal Growth, Death Ward, Cure Critical Wounds
6th: Sirocco
7th: Legendary Proportions, Creeping Doom, Heal, True Seeing
8th: Seamantle, Frightful Aspect
9th: Elemental Swarm
Note: Druids can ‘spontaneously’ cast Summon Nature’s Ally, so consider that spell automatically taken at every level. Experiment with the creature you choose – apparently some of the 8th and 9th level fey summons are very powerful.

3: Octavia – Classic Trickster (Wiz 9/Rog 1/AT 10)

Transmutation Wizard 9/Rogue 1/Arcane Trickster 10

Point-buy of 29, very high. Yet, Constitution score of 8. This is not a good idea on a wizard.
Skill Focus (Trickery) is a niche feat that is only useful if we make Octavia our trapsmith.
Point-Blank Shot is necessary for Arcane Trickster, and the automatic Rogue level….
…means she pretty much has to be built as an Arcane Trickster, which is unfortunate.
Opposition School 1: Necromancy. Not so bad, Necromancy spells are relatively niche.
Opposition School 1: Abjuration. No Shield, Communal Resist Energy, Dispel Magic.
Arcane School: Transmutation. Nothing useful for a Trickster here. Evocation would be better…
…although the Transmutation spell list is very good, so that’s nice for the bonus spell at each level.
Ranged specialist. Since Owlcat apparently have still not fixed Sneak Attack rays…
…this build can do ridiculous damage with a single Scorching Ray.
Improving her Intelligence also improves her Kingdom role as Magister.
Optional: alternative portrait[ibb.co]

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 10, DEX 17, CON 08, INT 19, WIS 10, CHA 14 (29 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

STR: 10
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
WIS: 10
CHA: 10

Skills: at least 4/level

Knowledge (World): skill checks, monster ID
Knowledge (Arcana): minimum 4 for AT
Perception: essential skill
Trickery: minimum 4 for AT
Mobility: minimum 4 for AT

Camp role: Cook or Guard

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Wizard 1: Point-Blank Shot, Skill Focus (Trickery)*, Spell Focus (Transmutation)*
L02 Rogue 1: Sneak Attack +1d6
L03 Wizard 2: Precise Shot
L04 Wizard 3: –
L05 Wizard 4: Accomplished Sneak Attacker
L06 Arcane Trickster 1: –
L07 Arcane Trickster 2: Weapon Focus (Heavy Crossbow), Sneak Attack +2d6
L08 Arcane Trickster 3: –
L09 Arcane Trickster 4: Dazzling Display, Sneak Attack +3d6
L10 Arcane Trickster 5: –
L11 Arcane Trickster 6: Shatter Defenses, Sneak Attack +4d6
L12 Arcane Trickster 7: –
L13 Arcane Trickster 8: Spell Specialization, Sneak Attack +5d6
L14 Arcane Trickster 9: –
L15 Arcane Trickster 10: Spell Penetration, Sneak Attack +6d6, Surprise Spells
L16 Wizard 5: Greater Spell Penetration
L17 Wizard 6: Spell Focus (Evocation)
L18 Wizard 7: –
L19 Wizard 8: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L20 Wizard 9: –

4: Valerie – Witch (Sor 19/Ftr 1)

Sylvan Sorcerer 19/Tower Shield Specialist 1

Can replace Feylock. High CHA means very good spell DCs.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 14, DEX 13, CON 19, INT 09, WIS 10, CHA 15 (27 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

STR: 14
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 10
CHA: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24] [+2 personal quest = 26]

Skills: 3/level

Perception: essential skill
Any other skills you require

Camp role: Guard or Other

Endgame Equipment:
Same as Feylock, except use Ring of Law in place of Greater Ring of Balance.

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Tower Shield Fighter 1: Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword), Toughness, Dodge*
L02 Sorcerer 1: Spell Focus (Evocation)*
L03 Sorcerer 2: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L04 Sorcerer 3: –
L05 Sorcerer 4: Spell Penetration
L06 Sorcerer 5: –
L07 Sorcerer 6: Greater Spell Penetration
L08 Sorcerer 7: Improved Initiative*
L09 Sorcerer 8: Elemental Focus (Cold)
L10 Sorcerer 9: Fleeting Glance (Greater Invisibility)
L11 Sorcerer 10: Greater Elemental Focus (Cold)
L12 Sorcerer 11: –
L13 Sorcerer 12: Blind-Fight
L14 Sorcerer 13: Metamagic (Quicken)*
L15 Sorcerer 14: Metamagic (Heighten)
L16 Sorcerer 15: Fey Magic (+2 Spell Penetration)
L17 Sorcerer 16: Spell Focus (Necromancy)
L18 Sorcerer 17: –
L19 Sorcerer 18: Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy)
L20: Sorcerer 19: Lightning Reflexes*

Recommended Spells:
1st: Grease, Mage Armor, Expeditious Retreat, Enlarge Person, Magic Missile
2nd: Glitterdust, Web, Mirror Image, Invisibility, Blindness
3rd: Haste, Displacement, Stinking Cloud, Communal Resist Energy
4th: Animate Dead, Greater False Life, Dimension Door, Communal Protection From Energy
5th: Animal Growth, Icy Prison, Vampiric Shadow Shield, Cloudkill
6th: Chains of Light, Sirocco, Undeath to Death
7th: Legendary Proportions, Finger of Death, Waves of Exhaustion
8th: Seamantle, Protection From Spells, Frightful Aspect
9th: Wail of the Banshee, Mass Icy Prison

5: Regongar – Defender (Mag 15/EK 3/Ftr 2)

Eldritch Scion 15/Eldritch Knight 3/Aldori Defender 2

Improving his Strength benefits his Kingdom role as general.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 19, DEX 13, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 08, CHA 16 (26 points)

Recommended Distribution: (29 points)

STR: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 08
WIS: 08
CHA: 16

Skills: 4/level

Athletics: skill checks
Perception: essential skill

Camp role: Guard

Endgame Equipment:

Main Hand: Bloodhound (+5 Agile Speed Dueling Sword, extra +2 to damage on hit)
Armor: Oak Pelt (+5 Natural Armor bonus)
Belt: Belt of Physical Perfection +8 (+8 Enhancement bonus to STR/DEX/CON)
Feet: Swamp Dweller’s Boots (Immunity to Ability Drain/Damage)
Gloves: Alkali Gloves (+1D6 acid damage)
Head: Metal Reborn (+6 Enhancement to WIS/CHA, DR 5/bludgeoning)
Neck: Gyronna’s Amulet (+5 Insight to AC, Mirror Image at fight start)
Ring1: Great Dreamer’s Smile (+2 atk/dam/saves/skills/SP, curse immunity)
Ring2: Ring of Chaos (+4 Deflection to AC, permanent Freedom of Movement)
Shoulders: Charred Mantle (+6 Resistance to all saves, fear/confusion immunity, +electricity)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +8 (+8 Armor bonus)

Immunities: Ability drain/damage, FoM, Fear, Confusion

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Eldritch Scion 1: Combat Casting
L02 Eldritch Scion 2: –
L03 Aldori Defender 1: Dazzling Display, Weapon Focus (Dueling Sword)*, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Dueling Sword)*
L04 Eldritch Scion 3: Arcane Accuracy
L05 Eldritch Scion 4: Combat Reflexes
L06 Eldritch Scion 5: Blind-Fight*
L07 Eldritch Scion 6: Outflank, Enduring Blade
L08 Eldritch Scion 7: –
L09 Eldritch Scion 8: Shatter Defenses
L10 Eldritch Scion 9: Dimension Strike
L11 Eldritch Scion 10: Metamagic (Maximize)
L12 Eldritch Scion 11: Weapon Specialization (Dueling Sword)*
L13 Eldritch Scion 12: Spell Penetration, Ghost Blade
L14 Eldritch Scion 13: –
L15 Eldritch Scion 14: Greater Spell Penetration
L16 Eldritch Scion 15: Bane Blade
L17 Eldritch Knight 1: Critical Focus, Tiring Critical*
L18 Eldritch Knight 2: –
L19 Eldritch Knight 3: Exhausting Critical
L20 Aldori Defender 2: Greater Weapon Specialization (Dueling Sword)*

AC Bonus Breakdown:

— Touch AC bonuses —
+10: Basic AC bonus
+6: Dexterity bonus [22 Dexterity] (14 base, +8 Enhancement)
+4: Deflection bonus [Ring of Chaos]
+1: Dodge bonus [Haste spell]
+3: Dodge bonus [Dragon Wings]
+5: Insight bonus [Gyronna’s Amulet]
-2: Size penalty [Legendary Proportions spell]
— Non-Touch AC bonuses —
+5: Natural Armor bonus [Oak Pelt]
+6: Size bonus to Natural Armor [Legendary Proportions spell]
+5: Enhancement to Natural Armor [Barkskin spell]
+4: Shield bonus [Shield spell]
+8: Armor bonus [Bracers of Armor +8]
+5: Enhancement to Armor [Magic Vestment spell]
Total Armor Class: 60
Touch Armor Class: 27

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 38 (24 base +8 Enhancement +6 Legendary Proportions)
DEX: 22 (14 base +8 Enhancement)
CON: 26 (14 base +8 Enhancement +4 Legendary Proportions)
INT: 08 (8 base)
WIS: 14 (8 base +6 Enhancement)
CHA: 22 (16 base +6 Enhancement)

Endgame Saving Throws (unbuffed, with items):

Fortitude: ??
Reflex: ??
Will: ??

Endgame Damage Examples (fully-buffed):

An average hit for this build deals ?? damage before any reductions.

6: Ekundayo – Classic Ranger (Rgr 20)

Ranger 20

Point-buy total is 30, very high.
Starting feats are good for an archer.
Favored Enemy choices are suboptimal for Kingmaker’s campaign, but not awful.
Can replace Tactician, though it has a much weaker spell list.
Increasing Ekundayo’s Dexterity improves his effectiveness as a Minister.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 16, DEX 19, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 10 (30 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

STR: 14
DEX: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
CON: 14
INT: 12
WIS: 14
CHA: 08

Skills: 4.5/level

Stealth: skill checks
Mobility: skill checks
Perception: essential skill
Lore (Nature): skill checks, monster ID
Knowledge (World): (half points) monster ID

Camp role: Special Role, Camouflage, Hunting, Cooking or Guard

Endgame Equipment:
Same gear choices as Tactician.

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Ranger 1: Weapon Focus (Longbow), Point-Blank Shot*, Favored Enemy (Giant Humanoids)*
L02 Ranger 2: Archery Combat Style: Precise Shot*
L03 Ranger 3: Rapid Shot, Favored Terrain (Forest)*
L04 Ranger 4: Animal Companion (Dog)*
L05 Ranger 5: Boon Companion, Favored Enemy (Magical Beasts)*, Favored Enemy Increase (Giant Humanoids)*
L06 Ranger 6: Archery Combat Style: Manyshot*
L07 Ranger 7: Dazzling Display
L08 Ranger 8: Favored Terrain (Underground)*
L09 Ranger 9: Shatter Defenses
L10 Ranger 10: Archery Combat Style: Point-Blank Master (Longbow)*, Favored Enemy (Fey)*, Favored Enemy Increase (Fey)*
L11 Ranger 11: Clustered Shots
L12 Ranger 12: –
L13 Ranger 13: Blind-Fight, Favored Terrain (First World)*
L14 Ranger 14: Archery Combat Style: Improved Critical (Longbow)*
L15 Ranger 15: Deadly Aim, Favored Enemy (Undead)*, Favored Enemy Increase (Fey)*
L16 Ranger 16: –
L17 Ranger 17: Combat Reflexes
L18 Ranger 18: Archery Combat Style: Improved Precise Shot*, Favored Terrain (Urban)*
L19 Ranger 19: Metamagic (Extend)?
L20 Ranger 20: Favored Enemy (Any)*, Favored Enemy Increase (Fey)*

Suggested Spells:
1st: Acid Maw, Hurricane Bow
2nd: Sense Vitals, Longstrider
3rd: Instant Enemy
4th: Animal Growth

8: Harrim – Classic Cleric (Clr 20)

Cleric of Groetus 20

Point-buy of 20, below average for companions, comparatively.
Dwarf is an odd race for Cleric. Charisma penalty hurts one Cleric’s main features.
CON boost is nice but not the best ability score to boost for a Cleric.
Destruction seems like a poor choice for a 14 STR Cleric, and is an underwhelming domain.
Chaos domain offers some interesting options, but nothing that compares to the best domains.
The domain spells for both domains are not great.
Obtaining Heavy Armor proficiency by spending a feat is not very efficient.
Boosting Harrim’s Wisdom improves his Kingdom role effectiveness as a High Priest.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 14, DEX 08, CON 16, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 10 (20 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

Str: 17 [+5 increase = 22]
Dex: 08
Con: 16 (+2)
Int: 10
Wis: 18 (+2)
Cha: 10 (-2)

Skills: 2/level

Perception: essential skill
Whatever other skill you require

Camp role: Guard

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat):
L01 Cleric 1: Heavy Armor Proficiency
L02 Cleric 2: –
L03 Cleric 3: Weapon Focus (Any, but Longspear recommended)
L04 Cleric 4: –
L05 Cleric 5: Dazzling Display
L06 Cleric 6: –
L07 Cleric 7: Outflank
L08 Cleric 8: –
L09 Cleric 9: Shatter Defenses
L10 Cleric 10: –
L11 Cleric 11: Blind-Fight
L12 Cleric 12: –
L13 Cleric 13: Metamagic (Extend)
L14 Cleric 14: –
L15 Cleric 15: Power Attack
L16 Cleric 16: –
L17 Cleric 17: Toughness
L18 Cleric 18: –
L19 Cleric 19: Iron Will
L20 Cleric 20: –

9: Tristian – Emberlock (Clr 20)

Ecclesitheurge of Sarenrae 20

Point-buy of 20, underwhelming compared to other companions.
Starts as a level 3 Ecclesitheurge, with some feats that are very narrow in purpose.
Selective Channel is a pretty good feat, though this should only come into play occasionally.
Extra Channel is a narrowly-focused feat, providing only a very minor boost to your Channel Energy resource.
Metamagic (Extend) is not always a good feat in this game because of the availability of cheap rods. It’s still useful to increase spell slot flexibility… but it’s not needed this early.
Ecclesitheurge archetype has two benefits, designed to transform it into the ultimate caster:
- It can prepare domain spells in non-domain slots.
- It can exchange its secondary domain’s spell list for another domain’s.
Thus Tristian can obtain a domain spell list from the Fire, Glory or Sun domains.
Fire domain has the best spell list, and would allow Tristian to become a great blaster cleric…
…but you can only use domain spells from the primary domain in non-domain slots…
…which in Tristian’s case, is the Good domain, whose domain spells are already Cleric spells.
So a major part of being an Ecclesitheurge is completely wasted on Tristian.
I decided to make him into a blaster Cleric anyway, despite his primary domain choice.
If you obtain his special ability, all the Fire domain spells can be automatically maximised…
…but you can still use Leviathan’s gift to maximise Blade Barriers.
Boosting Tristian’s WIS makes him more effective in his Kingdom management role.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 09, DEX 12, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 17, CHA 16 (20 points)

Recommended Distribution: (28 points)

Str: 09
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
Cha: 14

Skills: 4.5/level

Perception: essential skill
Any other skills you require

Camp role: Guard

Endgame Equipment:

Armor: Leviathan’s Gift (Robe, Maximize 6 spells per day of 6th-level or lower)
Belt: Hermit’s Rope (+4 Enh. bonus to WIS & CON)
Head: Phylactery of Positive Channeling (+2d6 to Channel Energy)
Neck: Amulet of Four Elements (+1 damage per die rolled on elemental damage spells)
Ring1: Energy Source (+2 Channel Energy uses per day)
Shoulders: Cloak of the Chosen (Blind/Dazzle Immunity, +3 Resistance bonus to Will saves, Prayer spell at-will)
Wrist: Bracers of Armor +X (+X Armor bonus to AC)

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Ecclesitheurge 1: Selective Channel, Extra Channel*
L02 Ecclesitheurge 2: –
L03 Ecclesitheurge 3: Metamagic (Extend)
L04 Ecclesitheurge 4: –
L05 Ecclesitheurge 5: Spell Focus (Evocation)
L06 Ecclesitheurge 6: –
L07 Ecclesitheurge 7: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L08 Ecclesitheurge 8: –
L09 Ecclesitheurge 9: Spell Penetration
L10 Ecclesitheurge 10: –
L11 Ecclesitheurge 11: Metamagic (Heighten)
L12 Ecclesitheurge 12: –
L13 Ecclesitheurge 13: Blind-Fight
L14 Ecclesitheurge 14: –
L15 Ecclesitheurge 15: Greater Spell Penetration
L16 Ecclesitheurge 16: –
L17 Ecclesitheurge 17: Elemental Focus (Fire)
L18 Ecclesitheurge 18: –
L19 Ecclesitheurge 19: Greater Elemental Focus (Fire)
L20 Ecclesitheurge 20: –

Suggested Spells (*: Domain spells):
1st: Shield of Faith, Shield of Faith*
2nd: Sound Burst, Bless Weapon*
3rd: Archon’s Aura, Searing Light, Fireball*
4th: Freedom of Movement/Death Ward, Controlled Fireball*
5th: Flame Strike, Disrupting Weapon, Flame Strike*
6th: Blade Barrier, Chains of Light, Heal, Chains of Light*
7th: H-Flame Strike, H-Chains of Light, Greater Restoration, H-Flame Strike*
8th: Fire Storm, H-Chains of Light, Frightful Aspect, H-Flame Strike*
9th: H-Fire Storm, H-Chains of Light, Mass Heal, Fiery Body*

Endgame Ability Scores (fully-buffed):

STR: 16 (10 base, +6 Frightful Aspect)
DEX: 20 (14 base, +6 Fiery Body)
CON: 22 (14 base, +4 Enhancement, +4 Frightful Aspect)
INT: 10 (10 base)
WIS: 28 (24 base, +4 Enhancement)
CHA: 14 (14 base)

Personal Quest Spoilers
– Tristian is involved in Vordakai’s Tomb. If you don’t take him, he goes anyway, secretly, and steals a quest item.
– Later, you get the opportunity to choose between pursuing Tristian, or another option. You need to choose to pursue Tristian, then save him in a boss fight. It’s quite difficult to keep him alive. The Chains of Light spell is very useful for keeping the constructs from insta-gibbing him.
Afterwards, take Tristian to the City of Hollow Eyes, and when talking to Ruthgert, choose the option where you attempt to persuade him to stop. Tristian will react to your choice.
– Next, Tristian will talk to you and you have 3 options. One of them will grant Tristian the ‘Angelic Form’ and ‘Protective Aura’ abilities. The other 2 will grant him a +2 Inherent bonus to Wisdom and Charisma.
—Angelic Form: As a move action, Tristian can adopt his angelic form. All cure spells and spells from Fire domain he casts in this form are maximized, as if using Maximize Spell feat, and he gains immunity to fire. Also, in this form he has wings, which grant him immunity to ground based effects and +2 dodge bonus to AC against melee attacks. He can use this ability for up to 20 rounds per day. There rounds do not need to be consecutive.
—Protective Aura: Against attacks made of effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides +4 deflection bonus to AC and +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel.
—Humane Wisdom: Tristian gains +2 inherent bonus to Wisdom and Charisma.
-Thanks to Steam user ‘Morgul’ for posting this information.
-Additionally, if you romance Tristian, there is a chance he might give you a special ring that is a +4 Ring of Protection and also grants permanent Death Ward.

11: Linzi – Classic Bard (Brd 20)

Bard 20

Performs similarly to Shrieker.

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 08, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 10, CHA 16 (25 points)

Recommended Distribution: (27 points)

Str: 10 (-2)
Dex: 12 (+2)
Con: 14
Int: 14
Wis: 12
Cha: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]

Skills: 4/level

Perception
Whatever other skills you need

Camp role: Guard, Special Role or Other

Feats & Abilities (*: bonus feat, italics: important ability):
L01 Bard 1: Extra Performance
L02 Bard 2: Combat Trick: Improved Initiative*
L03 Bard 3: Lingering Performance
L04 Bard 4: –
L05 Bard 5: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
L06 Bard 6: Skill Focus (Knowledge – World)*
L07 Bard 7: Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)
L08 Bard 8: –
L09 Bard 9: Spell Penetration
L10 Bard 10: Skill Focus (Knowledge – Arcana)*
L11 Bard 11: Greater Spell Penetration
L12 Bard 12: –
L13 Bard 13: Metamagic (Extend)
L14 Bard 14: Skill Focus (Use Magic Device)*
L15 Bard 15: Spell Focus (Evocation)
L16 Bard 16: –
L17 Bard 17: Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
L18 Bard 18: Skill Focus (Lore – Religion)*
L19 Bard 19: Toughness
L20 Bard 20: –

12: Kalikke/Kanerah – Kineticists

Kalikke

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 10, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 10 (27 points)

Recommended Distribution (28 points):

Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 19 (+2) [+5 increase = 24]
Int: 10
Wis: 14 (+2)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Skills: 2/level

Stealth
Perception

Camp role: Guard (Perception)

Kanerah

Vanilla Ability Score Distribution:
STR 10, DEX 18, CON 16, INT 16, WIS 12, CHA 10 (34 points)

Recommended Distribution (28 points):

Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 16 (+2)
Int: 17 [+5 increase = 22]
Wis: 12 (+2)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Skills:

Lore (Nature)
Perception
Stealth
Mobility

Camp role: Any

Credits

The icons used on this page were made by Freepik[www.flaticon.com] and obtained from [link]. Thanks to the creator and the host for providing them.

The builds on this page were made possible with the help of many other players. Thanks to Haplo for helping me with weapon information and other things. Thanks also to EinjarH for the Artisan spreadsheet and the other database creators.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Enhanced Plus Edition Guide

Overview

Introduction

Character Creation

The A-Team

1: Kensei (Sword Saint-Rogue)

2: Painkiller (Alchemist)

3: Sentinel (Fighter-Cleric)

4: Feylock (Sorcerer)

5: Shrieker (Bard)

6: Tactician (Inquisitor-Paladin)

7: Animal Companions

8: Artisans

The B-Team

1: Wraith (Sorcerer-Monk)

2: Undying [Jaethal] (Barbarian)

3: Crackpot [Nok-Nok] (Alchemist)

4: Sage [Jubilost] (Sorcerer)

5: Geomancer [Harrim] (Kineticist)

6: Kalikke/Kanerah AT/Cleric

EXTRA: Tips, Tricks & Useful Information

EXTRA: Recommended Mods

EXTRA: Character Backstories

1: Amiri – Summoner (Drd 19/Brb 1)

3: Octavia – Classic Trickster (Wiz 9/Rog 1/AT 10)

4: Valerie – Witch (Sor 19/Ftr 1)

5: Regongar – Defender (Mag 15/EK 3/Ftr 2)

6: Ekundayo – Classic Ranger (Rgr 20)

8: Harrim – Classic Cleric (Clr 20)

9: Tristian – Emberlock (Clr 20)

11: Linzi – Classic Bard (Brd 20)

12: Kalikke/Kanerah – Kineticists

Credits