As a Pathfinder player, I do disagree with your Healing Sentiment. Healing is actually very easy. To Give an Example. Assurance (Medicine) allows you to use 10+your level+ your ability Modifier, Ward Medic allows you to use Treat Wounds on Multiple people based on your skill, Continual recovery removed the 1 hour limitation on Treat Wounds, Risky Surgery allows you to Automatically crit on Treat Wounds after doing just 1d8 damage. If you have a Cleric you can take the Class Feat Magic Hands which maxes the healing from Treat Wounds. To Give an example, my level 10 cleric Automatically heals 4 people 42-1d8 hit points with an Expert Treat Wounds. That is every 10 minutes of rest. If someone picks the role of 'out-of-combat- healer, you really don't spend a lot of downtimes.
RE subclasses, they do have a huge impact at times. Some of them are simply not viable in comparison to others and effectively amount to dud options as far as comparative power is concerned. This is especially problematic in early levels when you don't have many feats to compensate.
My only problem with pf2e is its complicated-er system. As a veteran of dnd3e and 3.5 for me it's not a huge problem or pose difficulty but getting my players to learn it...yeah
@@momqabt It's not really more complicated, it's just different. In 5e you get four actions, a Action, a Bonus Action, a Movement, and a Reaction. In pathfinder you get three Actions and one Reaction. Pathfinder has a BUNCH of uses for your Actions and you gain more through your class, just like 5e (ie. spells or extra attack). Outside of adding levels to things and making sure you're not adding multiple of the same types of bonuses (which even in dnd is considered "effects from the same sources"), its not even that much more math. My group of veteran dnd players moved to P2E in a day with me guiding them through character creation. The best way to learn is by playing the Pathfinder Bounties or an Adventure Path, or both. If you want to get them inspired - tell them that by level 5 they're going to be much cooler than level 5 in 5e.
@@momqabt it's bad enough trying to get my ppl to remember 5e or have a "slip up" on how something should be read (bc it benefits them) for the 5th time
@@momqabt I don't think it's more complicated honestly, because it does a lot of the same things as 5e; there are two major differences though: 1. Explicitness of the rules 2. Ways of using abilities The biggest reason PF2e seems more complicated as far as I can tell is because there are more explicit rules for things we were already adjudicating in 5e anyway. For example, all of the skill feats that EXPLICITLY state how and when you can use them (along with their benefits). Depending on how you run games, we were basically already doing that, just maybe on the fly and/or behind the screen. Another major difference is both the explicit nature of the description of the abilities, as well as the number of options you have at any given point. PF2e SEEMS more complicated because you have a very simple system (the 3-Action economy) that allows you to basically never have the same turn twice in a whole campaign, which is more aligned with Analysis Paralysis than "complexity." Having played and run 5e for quite a while, I would say personally that 5e is JUST as complex with none of the explicit support to help you run that complexity, though that could partially come down to table style as well
I know it's too early to make predictions on how the pathfinder content will perform, but I think the majority of viewers would agree that we're just as big of fans of YOU the content creator, as we are fans of the content you produce. Looking forward to whatever the future brings.
Of course we love Colby, but let's be real, there's not a lot of people that would watch a 1 hour + video on character optimization for a game that they don't play, just like many already don't watch other ttrpg videos on other d&d channels, even those that they like. With the apparent wave of people migrating systems just about now, though, the videos might perform well enough
@@miguelangelus959 maybe me saying "the majority" is wishful thinking, because you're right and the pathfinder content might resonate with less of the current 5e fanbase. I just think there are a lot of people that'll at least give it a shot before dismissing it as something that's different and uninteresting.
I'm with you, Scott. If Colby wants to talk about something I've never played I *will* listen simply because I trust him to deliver interesting ideas and content.
Here are my two cents about more pathfinder content: When the big DnD channels start to diversify, a new space for collaboration opens up, which in turn will help other PF2e creators, which will make the community grow as a whole. I think there is a lot of potential in learning to appreciate different systems.
^ I've preached this on a couple other channels, both pathfinder and dnd. I seriously think this is the best thing all around. So many DnD youtubers are stepping into the pathfinder space and don't know anything or know very little about the system. In the case of "optimizer" channels in particular this is a difficult thing to do and produce content for. Seriously consider doing collabs with ytubers who have been doing pathfinder content for a while or who have been playing it from the beginning so you can lean on their expertise in the system to ensure you can produce the quality of content we all know you can do.
Thank you for being a great content creator and giving some content for Pathfinder fans as well, after enjoying your 5e videos for so long, it will be great to enjoy some Pathfinder content as well, even if it stops with this set of videos. Thank you for your content!
@@stephaniehoover To be precise, the whole party is supposed to get 1 per hour total, not each player. It's also quite common for a GM to forget giving these. My table house rules this to just giving everyone 2 per session and giving more when something special happens.
We usually run Hero Points like this: Each player gets 1 per hour of RL play plus 1 whenever they do something cool. Also you get to start with 1 extra if you volunteer to do the recap of last week's game. It works wonderfully for us, and everybody is willing to take more chances because the extra points lets us get away with it (sometimes).
Remember that archetypes are not just for multiclassing! There's Beastmaster that lets you pick up an animal companion (or multiple!), Marshal that gives you a sort of Warlord schtick, more specific ones like Dandy (lots of social stuff), or Golarion lore-specific like Magaambyan Attendant (magic school student). There's dozens of concepts that aren't big enough to fill a whole class but you're still able to pick up. :D
As someone who decided to switch to PF2E a few weeks ago and been disappointed by the amount of content that suits my tastes currently available, I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU POSTED THIS OH MY GOSH THANK YOU.
This is my first time watching this channel, and I gotta say I´m surpised: this dude has such a nice voice. I feel like I´m listening to an audiobook, it´s just so soft and nice.
That is part of the nature of PF2e, to be fair. There is pretty decent balance through out. You kind of have to work at it to be ineffective. Not saying there aren't some seriously strong combos and such, but when everyone is effective and good at what they do (mechanically speaking) there is less call for something streamlined to avoid pitfalls into useless. That being said, by all means, I'm all for character builds and character concepts. Stuff like that is just fun and inspirational.
Pathfinder 2e brilliantly supports 'concept optimisation' (as opposed to 'power gaming to 'win' at the game', which it does everything it can to block). So if you want to learn cheat codes, there aren't many. But if you love to come up with a crazy-cool concept and then optimise that - pf2e is going to be your new best friend!
As someone who really wants to try Pathfinder but also has a full-time job, I really appreciate that you've done distilled it here! Also, just wanted to say I appreciate all your videos so much -- much love!
I’m case you don’t know, the RulesLawyer is having a beginner box weekend for anyone that wants to try pathfinder. ruclips.net/video/CF1Q3FDA4e8/видео.html
@@Zaccheus4 I might be mistaken, but I think he is part of the Pathfinder2e subreddit's Beginner Box "weekend." A bunch of people have volunteered to be GMs to help player who want to try it out and can set aside a few hours. I think it runs from Feb 2-6 this year, but more details can be found at the Pathfinder2e subreddit. Not trying to discount The Rules Lawyer, but he can only GM so many people.
Meh… at first I thought that too, after a few years playing pf2, ever since the beta, more and more I feel all the variety is a illusion. The game feels more like a board game than rpg. It is just a bit of flavour around a railroaded sequence of combat encounters arranged in a neatly increasing difficulty.
@@LeonardoPostacchini that's mainly your gms fault. The system doesn't force you to play that way. My players regularly skip combats and solve problems without rolling initiative
@@mallcop4768 yes, and that is why on our Star Wars campaign that lasted 20years in real life when everything started switching to d20 we kept the original system. The whole level system is very video gamy.
@@deadwhip1077 you fully did not understood it. I know how to separate the gm from the system, I have been playing rpg ever since 96, I’ve played d&d 2nd edition, gurps, star wars d6, ars magica, mage, vampire, werewolf, paranoia, cyberpunk… one of the players of our 20 years Star Wars campaign was the owner of his own rpg company with a system that he created. I am very confident that I know how to separate when the issue is the system or the DM/GM/Storyteller or when the later is good despite of the flaws of the system. But the system shapes the culture of the players and how the game is played, some games foster creativity, others rule lawyerings. Twenty years playing Star Wars all with theatre of mind, we used maps and miniature 3 times, we would often spend entire weekends playing the game, many of which we had 0 combat encounters. Avoiding a combat situation on a skill check leave me absolutely unimpressed. That is the bare minimum I expect of a rpg game.
As a refugee diving deep into PF2e RUclips content, your content style of builds is the exact thing I’m having troubles finding and am craving. Nonat1s and Rules Lawyer are great for mechanics but I also want them builds!
It's sooooooooo nice to see creators branching out in the TTRPG space. Thank you for filling this little niche, I hope we get more pathfinder content in the future!!
We are! My buddies and I were just talking about how we wished YOU specifically would make Pathfinder build videos. It would give us DnD players a real understanding of the build process for a whole new game.
Not only am I excited to learn about a system that's new to me, I'm even more excited to see more awareness brought to DnD's competition. We should all be consumers first and fans second. Love what you love but understand that if there is no competition then the thing you love will suffer.
having played for 45 years, to me, they are all dnd. every edition, every variant, even set in sci fi, are still dnd Role play is dnd to me, and to my OG friends but you are 100%, more options is better for all of us
As someone that already knows PF2e in and out, it is still very nice to have videos like this in the background to get a sense of how 5e people approach PF2e. On the min-maxing topic, you'll find it challenging to find all that many numerical self buffs, but they do exist is the form of party buffs. Bard has the very useful Inspire courage for a +1 to everyones attacks, and the Fear spell is a nice numerical debuff to anything the enemy might to to do.
I'm always happy to see new people getting into Pathfinder, and hearing their first impressions of the system. Welcome! Also, slight heads up on 20:08; while there are no "Warlocks" with Pact Magic like in D&D5E, in PF2E there are "Witch" (from the Advanced Player's Guidr) who form pacts with otherworldly creatures, and are granted powerful Cantrips with special effects, in a manner like Eldritch Blast or Hex. As for the "Gish" style of play, there are classes like the "Magus" (from Secrets of Magic) who use "Spellstrikes", weapon attacks infused with spells all in one Activity, Spellshot Dedication to fling spells with a bow, or general "Multiclassing" Dedication feats that allow you to mix the Fighter chassis (or any other Martial) with the spellcasting of a Wizard (or any other Caster for that matter)
Summoners feel also a bit like Warlocks considering they get their spell discipline from their Eidolon choice and they only get like 3-4 spell slots since they lose lower level spell slots while leveling up.
Question on "special effects in a manner like Eldritch Blast or Hex." I'm building a Witch (first pathfinder character) based on a Warlock I have in 5e in an effort to learn, compare, and contrast. What features are similar to Eldritch Blast because I'm at a bit of a loss trying to find one (same for Hex for that matter)
Thaumaturge is also a good class to potentially treat as a Warlock like class if you put a magic focus on it (like with scroll Thaumaturgy or the Wand Implement)
@@demago3265 Ah, sorry if it came out as if they had a one-to-one version on Pathfinder; I meant to imply "bread and butter moves" when I mentioned a similar way. Do keep in mind that the "Pacts" for your subclass are not your Patreon choices; these have more to do with the nature of your contract, and what type of Hex you get. For damaging Pacts, you have Baba Yaga, Mosquito Swarm and Winter as offensive options with some sort of Debuff. For debuffing pacts, Curse, Night, Pact and Wild all provide very good options, usually attached with the Occultist spell list for similar spells. And for support / utility, Fervor, Fate and Runes have solid options, the first one even having a Divine Spell List for heals. Depending on your Spell List (Arcane, Occult, Divine, Primal), there are different options for Leveled spells you can pick; Arcane generally has utility and damage, Occult has a lot of buffs/debuffs and crowd control, Divine has buffs and the strongest healing, while Primal has a mixture of crowd control and light healing.
@@demago3265 Eldritch blast doesn't really have an equivalent. If you want to cantrip spam, the Psychic does it really well (wouldn't recommend it to a new player though). The Warlock is very hard to translate over.
Seeing Pathfinder builds on here would absolutely be cool. Maybe even builds in other systems too? I don't see enough Cypher System content even though its character creation process is probably the most unique and interesting of any system while somehow managing to be the simplest I've ever seen. Can't wait to see more from you moving forward! ❤️
I was like that last year around this time. Bought bunch of stuff from Paizo and all and then... Fast forward 12 months and almost through our campaign, I can't wait to ditch PF2 and try DnD 5th - or go back to PF1/3.5. People who like PF2 never played older DnD and only have 5th as a reference. Me I never played 5th and only have older DnD as references and I don't like PF2 style at all. Sorry.
It's also good to know that not everyone gets opportunity attack and about 15% of creatures in the monster manual has the opportunity attack feat as well
For those new to PF2e; Attacks of oppurtunity are both more powerful (because it's rarer) and more exclusive in PF2e. Also, it has more variations on AoO type reactions than D&D5e. For example the Barbarian can get a feat that allows them to move after a fleeing opponent (but not attack) as a reaction.
I would absolutely LOVE to see you do some Pathfinder builds. There are so many more character choices you can make and so many more places you can take a character besides just "doing damage but with X". I really think your creativity as a builder and an optimizer would be better rewarded in Pathfinder. Either way, love the vids!
@@GrimViridian probably the thing I like the most is that casters are not nearly as gamebreaking and martials have way more things to do other than hitting, numbers are a little bit higher but seem pretty manageable with only 1-3 bonuses being applied at earlier levels
@@casfontana7090 nice, doesn't sound so bad, and better than 5e though I'll miss my warlocks XD but I'm sure the awesome classes will make up for it. Flavor is always the most important thing anyway
Hello! I'm an experienced Pathfinder 1E GM, looking to get into running 2E. I've never seen any of your videos before, but got this recommended to me, and I'm glad I clicked! Even though it wasn't aimed at me, it was still a pleasant watch, and interesting to see how the game appears from the perspective of 5E players. I also just generally enjoyed your chill vibe! Looking forward to any future 2E content you put out.
I played the first part of the starter adventure last Saturday. The things we could get away with mechanically were an absolute blast. There were many content creators that I could give or take, my life or carry-on, and it doesn’t matter what games we play in the future, all is well. but between pack tactics, not another D&D podcast, and now you putting out pathfinder content, it does my heart a happiness. I’ve truly come to value your insights over the last couple years. And boy, as somebody who loves creating characters pathfinder is another level
@@sacredbeastzenon if by "old" you mean "people who appreciate quality", then yes. There is a new version as of two months ago BTW. And if you like noodling and refining characters, it is worth a go.
I've been following your monk character on Rules Lawyer and hope you're having fun. I love theory crafting builds too so I greatly appreciate your guide here. Rangers look super cool in PF2E.
I really like the idea of my favorite content creators making a bit of pathfinder content as opposed to me trying to find other channels myself and diving in the deep end of an established pathfinder channel. I would appreciate a few more introductory "my first character" videos from you even if they dont perform as well at first. Remember: sticking it to the man requires a sacrifice on everyones part, but its worth it I assure you. And hey, if you don't, thanks for going this far.
I'd personally say the equivalents are witch for the flavor (got powers from a mysterious patron) and psychics for mechanics (Caster who gets lots of per-combat abilities for less slots and has some of the best blasting for a caster. Honorable mention for kineticist for when it releases as it's the logical extreme of that), but yeah magi definitely are the best bladelocks / hexlocks speciality
I’d argue that Warlock is a quintessentially unique class to 5e (yay them!), as PF2e doesn’t quite have an analog. The Witch has the flavor, but is more of a Witch/Sorcerer mixture with a heavy emphasis on their familiar. The Psychic/Oracle has a better focus on cantrip casting and short rests, but lacks some of the flavor (well, except the Oracle, mysteries can be flavored as patron influence). Magus fits the Hexblade really well, but doesn’t have the mechanical flavor (which honestly, the Witch’s patron is very un-impactful, relying on the GM and player to flavor it). The Thaumaturge’s implements can mimic some of those constant unique abilities of the Warlock, but again, doesn’t have the flavor and is a lousy caster. Not everything is one-to-one, but you can definitely approximate. You’ll just have to pick which kind of Warlock you want and then flavor it slightly different.
@@techpriestemily yeah, that's their idea. They've even got a subclass called "laughing shadow" which grants the ability to teleport behind you (for when you really want that edge).
This is one of my top three favorite D&D channels, if not my top favorite D&D channel. I've been passively interested in Pathfinder for years and I'm excited to follow along with your journey into Pathfinder. I don't know how Pathfinder content will perform on your channel, but I just wanted to comment to encourage you to continue.
Love your builds for 5e, and I think that PF2e is going to be a very interesting challenge. I can't wait to see you tackle a far more crunchy and balanced system!
Just a note on Classes/Archetypes. Before you can take an archetype feat, you must first take an Archetypes Dedication Feat. Dedication Feats are basically your multiclass light addon, and come with a few traits of a specific class, or class like Archetype. For instance, if you were a fighter, and you decided you wanted to also dabble in sorcery, you would take the sorcerer Dedication feat. This would give you some basic sorcery class abilities, and start you off with some cantrips (which are a lot more powerful than 5e cantrips, as they scale with your level and are automatically heightened to half of your level. You could then take Sorcerer Archetype feats to gain further spell casting based on your Arcana skills training level, all the way up to unlocking 8th level spells with a Legendary Rank Arcana Skill, as an effective multiclassed fighter sorcerer. There are also a lot more Archetype Classes, than there are Classes, but there is an Archetype for every base class as well. If you wanted to be a Rogue that also was a master of poison, there's a Poisoner Archetype Class that you could only take as an Archetype Dedication, rather than a base class, allowing you to picking up Poisoner Archetype Feats with. BTW, poisons, their levels, effects, and variety, are handled very well in Pathfinder, making them a very good tool for level scaling damage and debuffs.
As a Pathfinder player who came in having never played D&D 5e, I very much appreciate your outlook and process into PF2, Colby. I sure hope that you delve more in PF2, and can't wait to see what you come up with. It's certainly not a min-maxer system, but there there are definitely some fun builds that are possible (with or without the extra books). Keep up the great work!
Gotta say, Colby. This was the nicest introduction to PF2 that I've ever seen. Your enthusiasm as you were explaining the new things you've just learned as a D&D vet made this much more relatable. It's not a stretch to say that so far you were the only RUclipsr who has increased my curiosity in truly learning this system and maybe convince my home group to give it a try. Hope to see more content like this from you in the future
Your right about the weapons, I especially like how there are ranged weapons like slings and bows that add damage from your strength modifier, not just your dexterity.
Switching over to Pathfinder after over 30 years with D&D. The OGL fiasco was just enough. Paizo still seems to have the gaming and gamers foremost on their minds, and I haven't had as much fun with the 4th and 5th E versions of D&D that I had with 3 / 3.5. This is helping me understand from a D&Der's perspective, and it helps. Thanks so much for the time I know you spent on this. It is much appreciated. Looking forward to more!
I'm so happy for this video. My group decided to try out Pathfinder because there's so much diversity. Then the OGL mess happened, which pushed us even harder. I've been really busy with work, so I'm having a hard time learning everything. Thank you so much for helping!
Thank you so much for doing this. As a regular viewer (still working through the back log) I was hoping you would do something like this. I love your for presentation of details that I struggle to organize in my own head. Please keep doing Pathfinder content as well as D&D stuff. You are an anchor in a turbulent time. Thank you.
I truly hope this video does well because it would be super lovely to see the content diversify and bring new and old people together! Great work and can't wait to see what's coming from both D&D and Pathfinder 2e
Love the Pathfinder content. I just got the Pathfinder Humble bundle deal for $25 and am learning about the system. I *ALSO* just ordered Starfinder (the science fantasy version of Pathfinder) in hardcover. I love learning new systems and reading new books with amazing art and all kinds of inspiring creative content! Anyway, just wanted to say I love the way you present information. You're funny, calm, professional, and well-spoken. I enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work!
37:06 Everyone does have the aid reaction! 46:21 You absolutely can critically fail on strikes, there's just (usually) no penalty for doing so. Check out the Dueling Riposte reaction, 8th level fighter feat, for an example of when it sometimes might matter. Love the PF2e content!
Well, Dueling Riposte is part of the Archetype Duelist if I'm not wrong, which would be the advanced players guide, which he said at the beginning, won't talk about in this video. We could assume that he didn't read it, or simply not all feats. Which is understandable. What annoys me though, nat20s ARE critical hits. It's on the rulebook on page 278. Yet he said, a nat20 won't be an automatic crit, but it would be very likely due the increase of success, which just doesn't count for attacks.
I love that you are embracing pathfinder! iv been sat playing it for about 3 years now after finding it mechanically more deep than 5e, it held my engagement a bit better, and seeing builds from you would be fantastic, keep up the good work!
The pathfinder wrath of the righteous video game made by owlcat is so in depth in it's character creation that I think over time I have 100+ hours just sitting in the character creator making different parties. Pathfinder is incredibly deep and lets you live some fantasies that DND simply doesn't. Cool to see you giving it a shot. Also, consider this my upvote towards you making more content for this. You'll have so much fun getting to create with an entirely new framework!
@@Trial88 Just to be clear, wrath of the righteous IS definitely pathfinder, but it IS NOT the same edition as what Colby goes over in this video. Wrath of the righteous is based off Pathfinder Edition 1, while Colby is reviewing Pathfinder Edition 2. PFE1 is still extremely intricate and in depth and very worth playing, but it is not the same system and I'd feel bad if you got confused by that. That being said, if you do give it a whirl I hope you enjoy, it's an incredible game.
And just imagine, The Wrath of the Righteous character builder was the simplified version. There are dozens of more classes, hundreds of more archetypes, more skills, the 'background' system was a simplification of the Trait system, and the 'subraces' system was a simplification of the Alternate Racial Traits system. Yeah, Pathfinder 1E has TONS of options. If you like having levers to pull and analyzing how they all change your character, or inspire roleplay (WHY is my sorcerer INT based, and how does it change how he interacts with the world?), 1E is for you. If that sounds a little overwhelming, give 2E a try. It's a lot more simple, but not nearly as much as D&D 5e. I'd call it a good in-between, except it also flew off to do it's own thing in a LOT of ways.
The major issue with PF1E, especially tangible in WotR, on higher difficulties, is that it sadly encourages to optimize any fun out of the game. ( A serious topic especially for video games) - 2E is a major overhaul, with a very strict focus on balancing. On ist own, this would indeed be great. However, many players actually enjoy to live their power fantasies ( often achieved with caster classes) , while others see more benefits as a player with the more trivial mechanics of 5E.
This is really interesting. Our group has talked about trying out Pathfinder due to the recent drama with WotC. I hope you will make more Pathfinder videos. This was very informative.
I once tried to learn Pathfinder 1e and it was overwhelming for me. With all of this WotC stuff, I've been looking into other systems, like Savage Worlds and Pathfinder 2e. Your video is the perfect thing I need to not get overwhelmed with a new system. Thank you so much for everything you do!
I found out about your channel through the rules lawyer, and am elated to see you making pathfinder content! Thank you for rolling the dice and giving this fantastic system a chance. I switched from 5e to 2e about 4 months ago and am loving it so far!
Months later, the D&D 5e campaign is ended. The group is now making the move to Pathfinder2E and this video has been on my list to watch the whole time. It seems a big leap over but this video is by far the most helpful and comprehensive I’ve seen so far. On to part 2!
First time viewer here, and I am very impressed. I saw you on the game with the Rules Lawyer, and i am already very interested in hearing some of your thoughts on PF2E classes.
For those coming up from D&D a big hint for character creation is think about what you want to do for your 3rd action. Most classes are built in a way that you always end up with an action left that you DON'T want to use to Strike since you'll have -10. Good ideas for 3rd action (not necessarily the last one you will use) are the skill actions: demoralize, recall knowledge, trip, shove, feint. If you want to make a build focused on triping you'll want the Assurance skill feat that allows you to ignore penalties and bonuses to your roll, including the multiple attack penalty Also use recall knowledge (or let someone good at it do it). Information is VERY useful in Pathfinder Unless you make a build specifically to make 3 attacks or more, you almost always have something better to do with your last action
These are actually bad suggestions for a third action option. Trip and shove both have the 'attack' tag, meaning as a third action they'll get the -10 penalty, the same as making a third attack. Yes, assurance allows you to bypass the -10 penalty to your roll. No, it's still not a good idea, because it will almost always fail anyway. Assurance gives you a result of 10+proficiency bonus which is the same as 10+your level+2/4/6/8 (depending on your proficiency). However, it does not add your ability modifier, or any other bonuses. The DC you'll be going against is always based off of the enemy's fortitude save DC, which will be 10+their level (often higher than yours, and rarely lower)+their relevant stat(which is almost never less than 0, and often +1 or higher)+2/4/6/8 (depending on their proficiency, which will rarely be lower than yours because saves almost always increase in proficiency as you level). Meaning that more often then not, assurance just won't succeed the DC and will automatically fail. As for the others; Feinting is either part of your build, or it's not. It literally gives you the same advantage as flanking the enemy(flat footed), but only for one attack. The downside is that, if you fail badly enough, you are then flat footed against every attack that enemy makes. It is almost always better to flank an opponent if possible, than to try to feint them, because the penalty for rolling badly on a feint is steep. Demoralize isn't a terrible idea, but whether or not you succeed or fail, the enemy you tried it on is immune to you trying again for ten minutes. If you Do succeed, regardless of level, at absolute best you're giving them a -2 to everything for one round, and then a -1 to everything for the next. More commonly, you'll give them a -1 to everything for one turn. Not really worth the third action, in my opinion. Recall knowledge isn't a bad option, but there are multiple knowledge types and many martial characters won't have more than 1 of the 5. (Technically more, because one of them is dependent on which sub-category you take, of which there are Many.) My recommendation for your third action would either be an item interaction (buy a bandolier and fill it with potions; It holds 8, and using one from a bandolier only takes a single action) or just get a shield and use the Raise a Shield action. Alternatively, if your DM is like mine, don't worry about it and just plan on using your third action to move. Not everyone in P2 gets an attack of opportunity, and many enemies are faster than your character anyway and also get three actions. As such, it just makes tactical sense to have them move away from you to force you to give up an attack.
@@Necroes Assurance is quite good when you get to Master and Legendary proficiencies, when you can often best a standard DC of your level with it. If you are good enough at Feint, you are more likely to Crit Succeed (it is FF versus your attacks until the end of your next turn), which may be more likely than crit failing. In some situations you won't have enough room to walk around a creature to flank, or they might have an Attack of Opportunity making it dangerous. Saying Demoralize isn't worth it pretty much goes against the consensus on the PF2 forums: -1 is similar to a -2 in other systems, due to how crits and fumbles trigger on +10/-10. If you do it right after a boss creature's turn, you increase your own chance to hit and crit, and those of ALL your allies, AND you reduce its chance to hit and crit against you. I do think Recall Knowledge is weak as written; hence I buff it in the video I did covering it. There's a great variety of great alchemical items for consumables. For healing if you can take the Battle Medicine feat that is a great 1-action way to heal yourself or an ally. The strict rules on handedness might make it interacting with objects an action tax tho. Raise Shield is excellent, and Shield Block is a great defensive feat! Moving away from an enemy is great, too! Other good "3rd actions" are: Create Diversion, Hide, Bon Mot (requires skill feat)
@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Given your title, it's somewhat amazing how many of your claims become completely irrelevant when you read the fine print of this conversation. We're discussing good 'third actions,' which in this context are 'the action you use in place of a third strike because a third strike will have -10.' Assurance is a fine feat; It just isn't good for making trip or shove useful in this context, because the DC you'll be rolling against isn't one of the standards set in the book. It will always be based off of your enemy's fortitude save DC. As enemy monsters tend to be at least the player's level or higher, and most enemies willing to just stand in front of a melee combatant and give them the chance to use all three actions offensively are going to have good health (and by extension, a good constitution score) the chances of being in a position where just your prof. bonus + 10 will be higher than the enemy's entire fortitude save(which includes their prof. bonus, plus their con. bonus) + 10 are going to be very rare. As I said, feint is either part of your build or it's not. Being good at feint isn't an easy ask, as for many characters charisma is a dump stat because literally all it does for them is increase some of their skills. It's not like wisdom, con, or dex, which not only all matter for saves but also increase perception, health, and initiative bonuses (respectively). Strength is also the go-to for melee characters, which are the ones who gain a benefit for feinting their enemy. Also how likely you are to critically succeed depends just as much on the enemy's perception score as it does on the player's bluff score, meaning how likely they are to critically succeed or critically fail is almost always going to be unknown to the player until they try. I did not say demoralize is bad. I said that it's not worth it in the context of speaking of a third action, specifically building around it as the go-to third action. I said that specifically because you can, at best, do it once per enemy per combat. As combat will generally last for more than one round, after the first time you try it on the enemy whether you can do it again depends far more on how much your DM likes throwing large groups of enemies at your party. Also, as demoralize has the mental tag, there are a significant number of enemies in the book who are just immune to it. Create diversion is essentially just feint and has many of the same problems it does. The main difference being that, instead of the penalty for a critical failure being steep, using create diversion regardless of the outcome just makes it harder to do so again in the following turns, while also not having the benefits of a critical success that feint offers. The main benefit is that it works at range, making it viable for ranged fighters. Hide only works if you're behind cover. Not something likely to happen if you're standing in front of the creature and stabbing it. For someone fighting at range, it's fine, and generally a good idea (so long as your DM isn't the type to have most fights take place in open fields at noon or similar) Bon Mot is fine, but it takes up a feat and has similar issues to feint, in that it's dependent on a charisma skill and has the mental tag. Also, the feat doesn't require the enemy so succeed on whatever they do as a retort, so if it's really that major a negative to the enemy then at best you're trading a single action for one of their own, which is action-neutral. Not bad, but most martial characters who would be good at using it will just being using feint every turn anyway. The suggestions I made were because they are almost always going to be useful, regardless of who or what you're fighting. In general, it's much easier to plan your own teams coordination than to try and guess what the enemy will do. Alchemical items can be bought which provide bonuses your allies can't, and health gain as a default is almost always good. Battle Medicine is good for similar reasons, but can only be used once per person per day so not exactly something you can make frequent use of. Raise shield is viable because shields literally don't give you their AC bonus unless you use the action. In a game where every single point of AC means a 5% reduction in the chance for the enemy to land a critical hit, high AC is a very important aspect of staying alive as a melee fighter.
@@Necroes anyone who says a -1 debuff to an enemy’s stats for one round isn’t worth it is straight up wrong. Demoralize is very strong, and with a little investment (14-16 CHA) you can reliably succeed at standard DC’s. Most players would say that Demoralizing as your 1st action is the way to go, since a success generally leads to a +15% damage increase for your own strikes. Even though enemies are immune afterwards, a success will usually lead to more damage for your team, which is well worth it.
@@megavore97 Except, and hear me out on this, if you really want to be a two-handed attacker and not use a shield (the clearly better alternative because it reduces the chance every attack made against you has by 10%, as well as reducing the chance they crit you by 10%) You can instead take one of the most busted feats in the game, as early as level 2. Intimidating strike; It takes 2 actions, and as part of it you make a melee strike. If you hit and deal damage, it inflicts frightened 1. If you crit, it inflicts frightened 2. In either case, they do not become immune to you doing the same thing again next round. It is triggered by a melee attack, so it essentially uses your best stat (your to-hit) to determine if it works. Plus, the thing that makes it the MOST broken; It doesn't have the attack tag. Meaning that, if you use it, your third action being an attack doesn't suffer the penalty for multiple attacks per turn. So, for one single feat (which almost anyone can take thanks to archetypes) you not only get to make demoralize completely redundant for your entire party to waste proficiency on, you also get to make two attacks a turn at full to-hit because only one strike will trigger the penalty. Then, even if your DM nerfs the feat (like they should) and gives it the Attack tag, it's still strictly better than demoralize because you can use it literally every single turn. Which is why demoralize, in my opinion, isn't worth it. A single feat (and a really, Really good one at that) makes it useless.
I was always curious about pathfinder builds since I went down a Reddit rabbit hole and heard all these amazing stories so now I want to know how those characters were built
Pathbuilder2 will let you play with the basics for free. Wander's Guide is another. Nice thing about Paizo putting all the rules online for free and depending on quality Adventures and Setting books to make a profit.
@@aaronsmith3375 Yea, there are some great, free tools out there. That said, after creating a couple dozen characters with the online tools, I felt incredibly dumb when I tried creating a character with just a char sheet and the Core Rulebook. My advice: use the free tools, but do try to do a few with nothing but a pen and paper.
Hi Colby! First time here, and as you may be seeing a lot - I'm a refugee going from DnD 5E to PF2E in the midst of the current OGL drama! Putting my hat in the ring to ask for more Pathfinder content as I'm frankly overwhelmed by all the differences, and very grateful to have them explained so clearly from the perspective of a fellow 5E expert. Love the video!
Sitting here looking at the daunting PF2 Book, the Tablet with the PDF on it - I opt for fixing me a cup of tea, a sandwich and have you tell me your take on things, feeling like I at least should buy you a coffee for your effort. Cheers and Enjoy the Game!
I've been very system-agnostic in my decades of playing TTRPGs, my groups have been very happy to give all different manners of systems a try and I find most of them do what is needed for us to tell the stories we want. Despite what some ppl think, it's not that scary to try other systems, it's like picking up different video games-- they'll have different control schemes and settings and gameplay maybe, but a lot of the fundamental skills are transferable, while offering different experiences It's great to see more people branching out from just D&D and giving other systems a try! Super stoked to see more Pathfinder content recommended to me recently
Can confirm PF2 content is just as relaxing to listen to as D&D5e content. Actually moreso, because it doesn't make me think about the Open Greed License.
When it comes to characters in PF2e you have a lot of options for your character. Interesting builds are easy, but to actually build a OP build is much, much harder. On one hand that's a bit of a drag, because it can be fun to be a superhero. On the other hand, because of how characters are created and how they level it's much MUCH easier for the GM to build balanced, challenging encounters for all three pillars (Combat, Social, and Exploration). The challenge rating system in PF2e ACTUALLY WORKS.
Stumbled across your channel, and all I can say is - well done! As a PF2 player since playtest - I can say this is one of the best intros / overviews of the system. Hope you decide to keep making PF content. Looking forward to part 2.
Maybe these aren't in the core rulebook but thought I'd add that for heritages(subrace), it does also include some of the DnD classics like Tieflings, Aasimar, Genasi which any ancestry can take.
Thanks for this, Colby. Pathfinder 1e was actually my first introduction into TTRPGs. I'd definitely tune in for some more PF2E builds. Would you consider supporting some 3rd party DnD creators with some more 3rd party class builds?
I've been super interested in pathfinder recently. It fixes a lot of gripes I have with 5e, and I'd love to see you make more content for it. Honestly, you've established that you've got great taste, so I'd be willing to give just about any content you make a try.
I felt so represented when colby said "...for some good ASMR to fall asleep to...". Thx for the precious hours of sleep you helpes myself get into. And thx for making the boring bits of worktime pass like the wind. I am truly gratefull.
I am the DM in my D&D group as I lead the way into Pathfinder 2, so this video published at the right time! You present everything very clearly and concisely (video length notwithstanding), so you've earned a sub! Eagerly awaiting more Pathfinder 2e content!
It’s super beneficial for neurodivergent people like myself for you to make content like this. I want to learn, but the resources out there are super overwhelming so I have a hard time reading and actually absorbing everything I need to know. Throw in pregnancy brain and I don’t absorb anything and I get tired from trying. Playing this in the background while I do dishes and clean my kitchen is immensely helpful and useful and I’d love more PF2E content!
Delighted to see this. My DnD party has expressed interest in PF, which I was happy to do some introductory material for them, but I think I'll link this video. I will say, regarding healing, my experience has been that every party tends to have (or at least would enormously benefit from) at least one character who invests in the Medicine skill and associated skill feats, particularly Continual Recovery and Ward Medic. Continual Recovery means that there's no 1 hour cooldown between instances of 10 minute healing checks, and Ward Medic allows more than one character to be healed with the same 10 minute check, with higher Medicine proficiency allowing larger groups. (Other skill feats of note include Assurance, Battle Medicine and Risky Surgery, but they are less core to successful party mechanics.) So in practice, most PF groups go into most fights at full health with no ongoing resources spent. And if you want to optimize your PF group...someone will want to have this at hand.
As a 5e GM and player looking into Pathfinder, it really seems like party optimization is much more important than individual character optimization. Which I really like! More teamwork and less overshadowed characters sounds awesome.
Something players often don't realize in the early levels before having access to medicine skill increases / skill feats is this last sentence in the Treat Wounds action: "[...]If you succeed at your check, you can continue treating the target to grant additional healing. If you treat them for a total of 1 hour, double the Hit Points they regain from Treat Wounds[...]" If you can take 1 hour and 10 min break you could benefit on 3 instances of healing with treat wounds (having another 50min untill the next one)
This is not skill-based, but some groups find that some class's focus spells (rechargeable spells that are regained with 10 minutes of Refocusing) also do vital, reliable healing. Lay on Hands heals 6 HP per caster's spell level (so an 11th level paladin can heal 36 HP per casting). Goodberry is another. I usually see teams combine this with a medic for powerful between-combat healing
@@Longshanks126 Agreed! Different characters have some very different contributions they can make. But it's amazing to see how much someone making an enemy flat footed and frightened 1 does for the martials crowding around an enemy.
I have been creeping in the background enjoying your character concepts (and have stolen/modified at least 3 of them in campaigns I am in) for over a year now. While I am struggling to promote DnD to anyone at this point, I think the way you dig into content and present your opinions is phenomenal regardless of the TTRPG you are applying it to. Finding the path and conquering dungeons suite you!
I'm more interested in the summoner. Though I have to admit I was disappointed in the summoners mark thing. Seems to overly narrow the range of how you can use the Eidolon if it can't hide or be disguised because it always has a glowing mark that shows through everything.
@@Ahglock Summoner is really underwhelming in 2e, it's a shame. With the amount of classes it has now (and still growing with 1 to 2 classes each year), Summoner really is staying in the shadows. Bounded spellcasting is both weird and limiting, and there's no way to really bypass that as a summoner, compared to magus.
@@okagisama I wouldn't mind the spellcasting too much, if the eidolon seemed more impressive. It seems like they kept its focus narrow to being a bad fighter, and since you share hit points you are basically a bad fighter with a couple spells per day. But this is coming from a novice, reading through it. So there may be tricks i am missing. I just really dig the concept of the class, especially the construct version. Personally I think they should have allowed you to change its appearance every time you summon it, remove the obvious link(hit points being liked is enough) increase the base range it can travel from you, add some built in flexibility to how you mod it out each summon, like you can pick 2 evolution summons each summon so it has some utility without sacrificing making it effective in combat. Still concept wise I think it is maybe one of the coolest classes.
Colby, you’re just the best… I know I’m very late to the release of this video, but I want to thank you so deeply for it. I am a D&D player and I watch almost all of your videos just by how gentle, kind, welcoming and good you are on your videos, with the right amount of going in depth and showing your knowledge of the mechanics while keeping things simple and entertaining for us. My D&D group has been suggesting trying out Pathfinder2e recently and I was curious to trying it out and seeing how much the D&D knowledge would translate, but having this guide of yours was a blessing. I’ll definitely send them this video and hope they enjoy it and find it as helpful as I did, so far I absolutely love almost everything about this system! While more complicated, it’s definitely more rewarding for knowing your options and the rules. I’ll definitely be checking the builds videos on it as well!
Dam The algorithm just threw this at me and your voice is so awesome! Much more listenable than most Tabletop Creators...I'd love to learn more about Pf2e if it's something that you wanna make.
As someone who will almost certainly be migrating away from D&D permanently because of WotC's actions, I appreciate this video and any future non-D&D content.
I'm glad to see that there's a dnd content creator on the same journey that I'm on, along with my playgroup (sort of). I'd LOVE to see more PF2 content. I watched both videos in full and loved them! I've been slowly making my way through the COLOSSAL rulebook, so this was a huge help and explained a lot of things I had questions about really nicely. Thanks, Colby! :)
I gotta throw my hat in and say I would love to see more Pathfinder power builds. There is a opening in the community for what you do for DnD for Pathfinder.
With all the fun but also Deep mechanics that pathfinder introduces, I wouldn’t mind seeing some builds for it on this channel! After you’re used to things of course! Between ancestry, heritages, Archetypes, classes, etc, it feels like a lot of fun toys that people would love to learn what can be done with!
I would enjoy your PF2E videos as much as your 5E videos. There is so much variation built into the system, it would be cool to see unique builds you think of.
I made the jump to pf2e about a year and a half ago, and I wish this video was around back then! This is the single best 5e->pf2e guide I've seen so far. You manage to explain the info with insight, musings, and quips that make it very digestible and entertaining to watch. Can't wait for you to get to the Advanced Players Guide to really unlock the power of archetypes, and Secrets of Magic to discover the best Gish around, the Magus. One note on archetypes: The Game Master Guide has an optional variant rule called Free Archetype Rule, where instead of needing to sacrifice your class feats to pick up archetype abilities, you instead get to pick the archetype feats AS WELL as the class feats. Because archetypes feature horizontal power creep rather than vertical, it means you're not actually spiking in power that much, but it does make characters way more versatile and flavourful. If anything, because you aren't sacrificing core class abilities, I think it actually makes the game MORE balanced. As a GM, I highly, highly recommend playing with Free Archetype enabled.
Definitely want to see you make more P2e content. I think the further you dive into the system, the more you're going to enjoy it. There is definitely plenty of room to wring extra optimization out of builds, even if the peaks and valleys are a little tighter than they are in 5e due to the math being better thought out. My group made the switch 6 months ago, and we honestly wish we had changed over sooner.
As a big fan of the crunchy era of DnD, I've always been interested in Pathfinder 2e. Thanks for covering it. Would be interesting to see you try and remake some of your favorite 5e builds using Pathfinder and see how they compare
Our online D&D group converted from Roll 20 --> Foundry and from D&D --> Pathfinder at the same time. The timing of this video could not have been more better timed. Thank you!
4 minutes inn and I feel called out for having already put it on 1,5 speed😄. Seems good so far to so will update comment once I'm done watching I'm back! (from part 1 and 2) Great video which answered so many of my questions and set me up with enough knowledge to begin exploring the game myself. I've made a test party and will be running a bit of a solo campaign to figure the system out so that if my D&D group decide we want to give it a try I will be as ready as possible to explain things.
Watch part 2 here! ruclips.net/video/bI9d70sK2I8/видео.html
As a Pathfinder player, I do disagree with your Healing Sentiment. Healing is actually very easy. To Give an Example.
Assurance (Medicine) allows you to use 10+your level+ your ability Modifier, Ward Medic allows you to use Treat Wounds on Multiple people based on your skill, Continual recovery removed the 1 hour limitation on Treat Wounds, Risky Surgery allows you to Automatically crit on Treat Wounds after doing just 1d8 damage.
If you have a Cleric you can take the Class Feat Magic Hands which maxes the healing from Treat Wounds.
To Give an example, my level 10 cleric Automatically heals 4 people 42-1d8 hit points with an Expert Treat Wounds. That is every 10 minutes of rest.
If someone picks the role of 'out-of-combat- healer, you really don't spend a lot of downtimes.
RE subclasses, they do have a huge impact at times. Some of them are simply not viable in comparison to others and effectively amount to dud options as far as comparative power is concerned. This is especially problematic in early levels when you don't have many feats to compensate.
Colby being an absolute bro by helping us all...wait for it... find the path. Yep. That's all I got this time 😅
My only problem with pf2e is its complicated-er system. As a veteran of dnd3e and 3.5 for me it's not a huge problem or pose difficulty but getting my players to learn it...yeah
@@momqabt It's not really more complicated, it's just different. In 5e you get four actions, a Action, a Bonus Action, a Movement, and a Reaction. In pathfinder you get three Actions and one Reaction. Pathfinder has a BUNCH of uses for your Actions and you gain more through your class, just like 5e (ie. spells or extra attack).
Outside of adding levels to things and making sure you're not adding multiple of the same types of bonuses (which even in dnd is considered "effects from the same sources"), its not even that much more math.
My group of veteran dnd players moved to P2E in a day with me guiding them through character creation. The best way to learn is by playing the Pathfinder Bounties or an Adventure Path, or both. If you want to get them inspired - tell them that by level 5 they're going to be much cooler than level 5 in 5e.
@@momqabt it's bad enough trying to get my ppl to remember 5e or have a "slip up" on how something should be read (bc it benefits them) for the 5th time
@@momqabt I don't think it's more complicated honestly, because it does a lot of the same things as 5e; there are two major differences though:
1. Explicitness of the rules
2. Ways of using abilities
The biggest reason PF2e seems more complicated as far as I can tell is because there are more explicit rules for things we were already adjudicating in 5e anyway. For example, all of the skill feats that EXPLICITLY state how and when you can use them (along with their benefits). Depending on how you run games, we were basically already doing that, just maybe on the fly and/or behind the screen.
Another major difference is both the explicit nature of the description of the abilities, as well as the number of options you have at any given point. PF2e SEEMS more complicated because you have a very simple system (the 3-Action economy) that allows you to basically never have the same turn twice in a whole campaign, which is more aligned with Analysis Paralysis than "complexity." Having played and run 5e for quite a while, I would say personally that 5e is JUST as complex with none of the explicit support to help you run that complexity, though that could partially come down to table style as well
I prefer Rolemaster, but I like Colby. He is such a nice and humble guy.
I know it's too early to make predictions on how the pathfinder content will perform, but I think the majority of viewers would agree that we're just as big of fans of YOU the content creator, as we are fans of the content you produce. Looking forward to whatever the future brings.
Of course we love Colby, but let's be real, there's not a lot of people that would watch a 1 hour + video on character optimization for a game that they don't play, just like many already don't watch other ttrpg videos on other d&d channels, even those that they like. With the apparent wave of people migrating systems just about now, though, the videos might perform well enough
Not me, I'm just here for the optimization.
@@miguelangelus959 maybe me saying "the majority" is wishful thinking, because you're right and the pathfinder content might resonate with less of the current 5e fanbase. I just think there are a lot of people that'll at least give it a shot before dismissing it as something that's different and uninteresting.
@@ATMOSK1234 that's fair, if I'm wrong then I'm wrong 🤷
I'm with you, Scott. If Colby wants to talk about something I've never played I *will* listen simply because I trust him to deliver interesting ideas and content.
Here are my two cents about more pathfinder content: When the big DnD channels start to diversify, a new space for collaboration opens up, which in turn will help other PF2e creators, which will make the community grow as a whole. I think there is a lot of potential in learning to appreciate different systems.
^ I've preached this on a couple other channels, both pathfinder and dnd. I seriously think this is the best thing all around. So many DnD youtubers are stepping into the pathfinder space and don't know anything or know very little about the system. In the case of "optimizer" channels in particular this is a difficult thing to do and produce content for. Seriously consider doing collabs with ytubers who have been doing pathfinder content for a while or who have been playing it from the beginning so you can lean on their expertise in the system to ensure you can produce the quality of content we all know you can do.
Thank you for being a great content creator and giving some content for Pathfinder fans as well, after enjoying your 5e videos for so long, it will be great to enjoy some Pathfinder content as well, even if it stops with this set of videos. Thank you for your content!
Wow - Thank you so much!
Quick note on Hero Points: they reset to 1 at the start of each session, even if you had more than 1 at the end of last. So don't hoard them.
And you are supposed to get about 1 per hour of rl play
@@stephaniehoover To be precise, the whole party is supposed to get 1 per hour total, not each player. It's also quite common for a GM to forget giving these. My table house rules this to just giving everyone 2 per session and giving more when something special happens.
We usually run Hero Points like this: Each player gets 1 per hour of RL play plus 1 whenever they do something cool. Also you get to start with 1 extra if you volunteer to do the recap of last week's game. It works wonderfully for us, and everybody is willing to take more chances because the extra points lets us get away with it (sometimes).
@@Kurouzzz Thanks for the clarification :)
I generally allow them to keep 2 if the session ends with them doing something awesome ^_^
When the world needed him most... He delivered.
Love ya Colby.
Was just about to write "Love you Colby" but you beat me to it. :D Anyway, thanks for all the great content man, appreciate it a lot.
Remember that archetypes are not just for multiclassing! There's Beastmaster that lets you pick up an animal companion (or multiple!), Marshal that gives you a sort of Warlord schtick, more specific ones like Dandy (lots of social stuff), or Golarion lore-specific like Magaambyan Attendant (magic school student). There's dozens of concepts that aren't big enough to fill a whole class but you're still able to pick up. :D
He has only read the Core Rulebook, he needs to move on to the Advanced Players Guide to learn about how much more flexibility archetypes can add.
As someone who decided to switch to PF2E a few weeks ago and been disappointed by the amount of content that suits my tastes currently available, I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU POSTED THIS OH MY GOSH THANK YOU.
Its cute watching Colby grow more excited as he starts introducing more customisation options he's going to get to play with in the future.
This is my first time watching this channel, and I gotta say I´m surpised: this dude has such a nice voice. I feel like I´m listening to an audiobook, it´s just so soft and nice.
I'm so pleased that D&D content creators are responding to WotC's bullying by exploring other TTRPGs. Thank you for this!
The fact they had planned the PF2E playthrough before any of the WotC bullshit is the icing on the cake.
The timing was perfect.
The guy that does optimized builds for D&D doing Pathfinder content!? I love where this is going and I’m here for it all the way
That is part of the nature of PF2e, to be fair. There is pretty decent balance through out. You kind of have to work at it to be ineffective. Not saying there aren't some seriously strong combos and such, but when everyone is effective and good at what they do (mechanically speaking) there is less call for something streamlined to avoid pitfalls into useless. That being said, by all means, I'm all for character builds and character concepts. Stuff like that is just fun and inspirational.
Pathfinder 2e brilliantly supports 'concept optimisation' (as opposed to 'power gaming to 'win' at the game', which it does everything it can to block). So if you want to learn cheat codes, there aren't many. But if you love to come up with a crazy-cool concept and then optimise that - pf2e is going to be your new best friend!
As someone who really wants to try Pathfinder but also has a full-time job, I really appreciate that you've done distilled it here! Also, just wanted to say I appreciate all your videos so much -- much love!
I’m case you don’t know, the RulesLawyer is having a beginner box weekend for anyone that wants to try pathfinder. ruclips.net/video/CF1Q3FDA4e8/видео.html
@@Zaccheus4 I might be mistaken, but I think he is part of the Pathfinder2e subreddit's Beginner Box "weekend." A bunch of people have volunteered to be GMs to help player who want to try it out and can set aside a few hours. I think it runs from Feb 2-6 this year, but more details can be found at the Pathfinder2e subreddit.
Not trying to discount The Rules Lawyer, but he can only GM so many people.
Pathfinder has so many more build options than D&D, so it would be awesome to see more P2e content from you on different builds.
Meh… at first I thought that too, after a few years playing pf2, ever since the beta, more and more I feel all the variety is a illusion. The game feels more like a board game than rpg.
It is just a bit of flavour around a railroaded sequence of combat encounters arranged in a neatly increasing difficulty.
@Leonardo Postacchini wow just like 5e
@@LeonardoPostacchini that's mainly your gms fault. The system doesn't force you to play that way. My players regularly skip combats and solve problems without rolling initiative
@@mallcop4768 yes, and that is why on our Star Wars campaign that lasted 20years in real life when everything started switching to d20 we kept the original system. The whole level system is very video gamy.
@@deadwhip1077 you fully did not understood it. I know how to separate the gm from the system, I have been playing rpg ever since 96, I’ve played d&d 2nd edition, gurps, star wars d6, ars magica, mage, vampire, werewolf, paranoia, cyberpunk… one of the players of our 20 years Star Wars campaign was the owner of his own rpg company with a system that he created.
I am very confident that I know how to separate when the issue is the system or the DM/GM/Storyteller or when the later is good despite of the flaws of the system.
But the system shapes the culture of the players and how the game is played, some games foster creativity, others rule lawyerings.
Twenty years playing Star Wars all with theatre of mind, we used maps and miniature 3 times, we would often spend entire weekends playing the game, many of which we had 0 combat encounters.
Avoiding a combat situation on a skill check leave me absolutely unimpressed. That is the bare minimum I expect of a rpg game.
I for one would love to see more PF2e content from you. I've really enjoyed your 5e stuff and there needs to be more creators in the PF space.
As a refugee diving deep into PF2e RUclips content, your content style of builds is the exact thing I’m having troubles finding and am craving. Nonat1s and Rules Lawyer are great for mechanics but I also want them builds!
GameGorgon has amusing ones 🤣
It's sooooooooo nice to see creators branching out in the TTRPG space. Thank you for filling this little niche, I hope we get more pathfinder content in the future!!
We are! My buddies and I were just talking about how we wished YOU specifically would make Pathfinder build videos. It would give us DnD players a real understanding of the build process for a whole new game.
Not only am I excited to learn about a system that's new to me, I'm even more excited to see more awareness brought to DnD's competition. We should all be consumers first and fans second. Love what you love but understand that if there is no competition then the thing you love will suffer.
But Fartfinder is about finding farts.
having played for 45 years, to me, they are all dnd. every edition, every variant, even set in sci fi, are still dnd Role play is dnd to me, and to my OG friends
but you are 100%, more options is better for all of us
As someone that already knows PF2e in and out, it is still very nice to have videos like this in the background to get a sense of how 5e people approach PF2e.
On the min-maxing topic, you'll find it challenging to find all that many numerical self buffs, but they do exist is the form of party buffs. Bard has the very useful Inspire courage for a +1 to everyones attacks, and the Fear spell is a nice numerical debuff to anything the enemy might to to do.
I'm always happy to see new people getting into Pathfinder, and hearing their first impressions of the system. Welcome!
Also, slight heads up on 20:08; while there are no "Warlocks" with Pact Magic like in D&D5E, in PF2E there are "Witch" (from the Advanced Player's Guidr) who form pacts with otherworldly creatures, and are granted powerful Cantrips with special effects, in a manner like Eldritch Blast or Hex.
As for the "Gish" style of play, there are classes like the "Magus" (from Secrets of Magic) who use "Spellstrikes", weapon attacks infused with spells all in one Activity, Spellshot Dedication to fling spells with a bow, or general "Multiclassing" Dedication feats that allow you to mix the Fighter chassis (or any other Martial) with the spellcasting of a Wizard (or any other Caster for that matter)
Summoners feel also a bit like Warlocks considering they get their spell discipline from their Eidolon choice and they only get like 3-4 spell slots since they lose lower level spell slots while leveling up.
Question on "special effects in a manner like Eldritch Blast or Hex." I'm building a Witch (first pathfinder character) based on a Warlock I have in 5e in an effort to learn, compare, and contrast. What features are similar to Eldritch Blast because I'm at a bit of a loss trying to find one (same for Hex for that matter)
Thaumaturge is also a good class to potentially treat as a Warlock like class if you put a magic focus on it (like with scroll Thaumaturgy or the Wand Implement)
@@demago3265 Ah, sorry if it came out as if they had a one-to-one version on Pathfinder; I meant to imply "bread and butter moves" when I mentioned a similar way.
Do keep in mind that the "Pacts" for your subclass are not your Patreon choices; these have more to do with the nature of your contract, and what type of Hex you get.
For damaging Pacts, you have Baba Yaga, Mosquito Swarm and Winter as offensive options with some sort of Debuff.
For debuffing pacts, Curse, Night, Pact and Wild all provide very good options, usually attached with the Occultist spell list for similar spells.
And for support / utility, Fervor, Fate and Runes have solid options, the first one even having a Divine Spell List for heals.
Depending on your Spell List (Arcane, Occult, Divine, Primal), there are different options for Leveled spells you can pick; Arcane generally has utility and damage, Occult has a lot of buffs/debuffs and crowd control, Divine has buffs and the strongest healing, while Primal has a mixture of crowd control and light healing.
@@demago3265 Eldritch blast doesn't really have an equivalent. If you want to cantrip spam, the Psychic does it really well (wouldn't recommend it to a new player though). The Warlock is very hard to translate over.
Seeing Pathfinder builds on here would absolutely be cool. Maybe even builds in other systems too? I don't see enough Cypher System content even though its character creation process is probably the most unique and interesting of any system while somehow managing to be the simplest I've ever seen. Can't wait to see more from you moving forward! ❤️
it would be really cool to see some neat pathfinder 2e character builds further down the line when you’re more comfortable with the system
I've slowly become obsessed with Pathfinder recently. Would love more content
I was like that last year around this time. Bought bunch of stuff from Paizo and all and then... Fast forward 12 months and almost through our campaign, I can't wait to ditch PF2 and try DnD 5th - or go back to PF1/3.5. People who like PF2 never played older DnD and only have 5th as a reference. Me I never played 5th and only have older DnD as references and I don't like PF2 style at all. Sorry.
It's also good to know that not everyone gets opportunity attack and about 15% of creatures in the monster manual has the opportunity attack feat as well
For those new to PF2e; Attacks of oppurtunity are both more powerful (because it's rarer) and more exclusive in PF2e. Also, it has more variations on AoO type reactions than D&D5e. For example the Barbarian can get a feat that allows them to move after a fleeing opponent (but not attack) as a reaction.
I would absolutely LOVE to see you do some Pathfinder builds. There are so many more character choices you can make and so many more places you can take a character besides just "doing damage but with X". I really think your creativity as a builder and an optimizer would be better rewarded in Pathfinder.
Either way, love the vids!
Agreed - more Pathfinder please. I am done with WotC.
I'm a pf2 guy since 2020 so I'm always happy to see more people making content for it
In my small dive into pathfinder I can say that I already love the fighting and action system waaaay more
Could you explain a little about what you like? I really wanna play it but my dm is turned off by all the "extra math" that goes into it
@@GrimViridian probably the thing I like the most is that casters are not nearly as gamebreaking and martials have way more things to do other than hitting, numbers are a little bit higher but seem pretty manageable with only 1-3 bonuses being applied at earlier levels
@@casfontana7090 nice, doesn't sound so bad, and better than 5e though I'll miss my warlocks XD but I'm sure the awesome classes will make up for it. Flavor is always the most important thing anyway
Just wanted to comment that I love the fact you're branching out into Pathfinder! I would happily watch more PF2e content or character builds.
Hello! I'm an experienced Pathfinder 1E GM, looking to get into running 2E. I've never seen any of your videos before, but got this recommended to me, and I'm glad I clicked! Even though it wasn't aimed at me, it was still a pleasant watch, and interesting to see how the game appears from the perspective of 5E players. I also just generally enjoyed your chill vibe!
Looking forward to any future 2E content you put out.
Starting a 2e game a week from now. This could not have came out at a better time for me! Thanks Colby.
I played the first part of the starter adventure last Saturday. The things we could get away with mechanically were an absolute blast. There were many content creators that I could give or take, my life or carry-on, and it doesn’t matter what games we play in the future, all is well. but between pack tactics, not another D&D podcast, and now you putting out pathfinder content, it does my heart a happiness. I’ve truly come to value your insights over the last couple years.
And boy, as somebody who loves creating characters pathfinder is another level
Try Rolemaster
@@PalleRasmussen
That's for old people!
Hahahaha
@@sacredbeastzenon if by "old" you mean "people who appreciate quality", then yes. There is a new version as of two months ago BTW. And if you like noodling and refining characters, it is worth a go.
I've been following your monk character on Rules Lawyer and hope you're having fun. I love theory crafting builds too so I greatly appreciate your guide here. Rangers look super cool in PF2E.
I just started playing Pathfinder a days ago and started playing as part of the organized play, The Pathfinder Society and having a blast!
I really like the idea of my favorite content creators making a bit of pathfinder content as opposed to me trying to find other channels myself and diving in the deep end of an established pathfinder channel.
I would appreciate a few more introductory "my first character" videos from you even if they dont perform as well at first. Remember: sticking it to the man requires a sacrifice on everyones part, but its worth it I assure you. And hey, if you don't, thanks for going this far.
I would be interested in seeing character builds from Pathfinder 2 every other week and 5e as well. Very interested in the video!
The pathfinder version of a warlock is the magus, he’s most similar to a hexblade warlock because he channels his spells through his weapon attacks
I'd personally say the equivalents are witch for the flavor (got powers from a mysterious patron) and psychics for mechanics (Caster who gets lots of per-combat abilities for less slots and has some of the best blasting for a caster. Honorable mention for kineticist for when it releases as it's the logical extreme of that), but yeah magi definitely are the best bladelocks / hexlocks speciality
@@zachariahmerry2396 Magi are spellblades? Awesome.
I’d argue that Warlock is a quintessentially unique class to 5e (yay them!), as PF2e doesn’t quite have an analog.
The Witch has the flavor, but is more of a Witch/Sorcerer mixture with a heavy emphasis on their familiar.
The Psychic/Oracle has a better focus on cantrip casting and short rests, but lacks some of the flavor (well, except the Oracle, mysteries can be flavored as patron influence).
Magus fits the Hexblade really well, but doesn’t have the mechanical flavor (which honestly, the Witch’s patron is very un-impactful, relying on the GM and player to flavor it).
The Thaumaturge’s implements can mimic some of those constant unique abilities of the Warlock, but again, doesn’t have the flavor and is a lousy caster.
Not everything is one-to-one, but you can definitely approximate. You’ll just have to pick which kind of Warlock you want and then flavor it slightly different.
@@toodleselnoodos6738 I think you could divide them by Pact boons.
Witch is Pact of the Chain, Magus is pact of the blade, Oracle is pact of the tome
@@techpriestemily yeah, that's their idea. They've even got a subclass called "laughing shadow" which grants the ability to teleport behind you (for when you really want that edge).
This is one of my top three favorite D&D channels, if not my top favorite D&D channel. I've been passively interested in Pathfinder for years and I'm excited to follow along with your journey into Pathfinder. I don't know how Pathfinder content will perform on your channel, but I just wanted to comment to encourage you to continue.
Love this comment, you nailed it
Love your builds for 5e, and I think that PF2e is going to be a very interesting challenge. I can't wait to see you tackle a far more crunchy and balanced system!
Just a note on Classes/Archetypes. Before you can take an archetype feat, you must first take an Archetypes Dedication Feat. Dedication Feats are basically your multiclass light addon, and come with a few traits of a specific class, or class like Archetype. For instance, if you were a fighter, and you decided you wanted to also dabble in sorcery, you would take the sorcerer Dedication feat. This would give you some basic sorcery class abilities, and start you off with some cantrips (which are a lot more powerful than 5e cantrips, as they scale with your level and are automatically heightened to half of your level. You could then take Sorcerer Archetype feats to gain further spell casting based on your Arcana skills training level, all the way up to unlocking 8th level spells with a Legendary Rank Arcana Skill, as an effective multiclassed fighter sorcerer. There are also a lot more Archetype Classes, than there are Classes, but there is an Archetype for every base class as well. If you wanted to be a Rogue that also was a master of poison, there's a Poisoner Archetype Class that you could only take as an Archetype Dedication, rather than a base class, allowing you to picking up Poisoner Archetype Feats with. BTW, poisons, their levels, effects, and variety, are handled very well in Pathfinder, making them a very good tool for level scaling damage and debuffs.
Wow thanks for explaining that, I haven't seen the whole archetype thing explained very well in such videos yet.
As a Pathfinder player who came in having never played D&D 5e, I very much appreciate your outlook and process into PF2, Colby. I sure hope that you delve more in PF2, and can't wait to see what you come up with. It's certainly not a min-maxer system, but there there are definitely some fun builds that are possible (with or without the extra books). Keep up the great work!
I am a player of both pathfinder1e and dnd5e so it is wonderful to see more channels helping people learn pathfinder as well.
Gotta say, Colby. This was the nicest introduction to PF2 that I've ever seen. Your enthusiasm as you were explaining the new things you've just learned as a D&D vet made this much more relatable. It's not a stretch to say that so far you were the only RUclipsr who has increased my curiosity in truly learning this system and maybe convince my home group to give it a try. Hope to see more content like this from you in the future
Your right about the weapons, I especially like how there are ranged weapons like slings and bows that add damage from your strength modifier, not just your dexterity.
Switching over to Pathfinder after over 30 years with D&D. The OGL fiasco was just enough. Paizo still seems to have the gaming and gamers foremost on their minds, and I haven't had as much fun with the 4th and 5th E versions of D&D that I had with 3 / 3.5. This is helping me understand from a D&Der's perspective, and it helps. Thanks so much for the time I know you spent on this. It is much appreciated. Looking forward to more!
I'm so happy for this video. My group decided to try out Pathfinder because there's so much diversity. Then the OGL mess happened, which pushed us even harder. I've been really busy with work, so I'm having a hard time learning everything. Thank you so much for helping!
Thank you so much for doing this. As a regular viewer (still working through the back log) I was hoping you would do something like this. I love your for presentation of details that I struggle to organize in my own head. Please keep doing Pathfinder content as well as D&D stuff. You are an anchor in a turbulent time. Thank you.
I truly hope this video does well because it would be super lovely to see the content diversify and bring new and old people together! Great work and can't wait to see what's coming from both D&D and Pathfinder 2e
Love the Pathfinder content. I just got the Pathfinder Humble bundle deal for $25 and am learning about the system.
I *ALSO* just ordered Starfinder (the science fantasy version of Pathfinder) in hardcover. I love learning new systems and reading new books with amazing art and all kinds of inspiring creative content!
Anyway, just wanted to say I love the way you present information. You're funny, calm, professional, and well-spoken. I enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work!
Yes, do more of these Pathfinder videos. Firstly, they’re interesting, and secondly, diversifying away from D&D is a good move.
37:06 Everyone does have the aid reaction!
46:21 You absolutely can critically fail on strikes, there's just (usually) no penalty for doing so. Check out the Dueling Riposte reaction, 8th level fighter feat, for an example of when it sometimes might matter.
Love the PF2e content!
Well, Dueling Riposte is part of the Archetype Duelist if I'm not wrong, which would be the advanced players guide, which he said at the beginning, won't talk about in this video. We could assume that he didn't read it, or simply not all feats. Which is understandable.
What annoys me though, nat20s ARE critical hits. It's on the rulebook on page 278. Yet he said, a nat20 won't be an automatic crit, but it would be very likely due the increase of success, which just doesn't count for attacks.
I love that you are embracing pathfinder! iv been sat playing it for about 3 years now after finding it mechanically more deep than 5e, it held my engagement a bit better, and seeing builds from you would be fantastic, keep up the good work!
The pathfinder wrath of the righteous video game made by owlcat is so in depth in it's character creation that I think over time I have 100+ hours just sitting in the character creator making different parties. Pathfinder is incredibly deep and lets you live some fantasies that DND simply doesn't. Cool to see you giving it a shot.
Also, consider this my upvote towards you making more content for this. You'll have so much fun getting to create with an entirely new framework!
And now I know what game I’m playing next. Thank you good sir
@@Trial88 Just to be clear, wrath of the righteous IS definitely pathfinder, but it IS NOT the same edition as what Colby goes over in this video. Wrath of the righteous is based off Pathfinder Edition 1, while Colby is reviewing Pathfinder Edition 2. PFE1 is still extremely intricate and in depth and very worth playing, but it is not the same system and I'd feel bad if you got confused by that.
That being said, if you do give it a whirl I hope you enjoy, it's an incredible game.
For a while, I didn't even boot up the game, I was just creating parties for it on a google doc. It has so many pages...
And just imagine, The Wrath of the Righteous character builder was the simplified version. There are dozens of more classes, hundreds of more archetypes, more skills, the 'background' system was a simplification of the Trait system, and the 'subraces' system was a simplification of the Alternate Racial Traits system.
Yeah, Pathfinder 1E has TONS of options. If you like having levers to pull and analyzing how they all change your character, or inspire roleplay (WHY is my sorcerer INT based, and how does it change how he interacts with the world?), 1E is for you. If that sounds a little overwhelming, give 2E a try. It's a lot more simple, but not nearly as much as D&D 5e. I'd call it a good in-between, except it also flew off to do it's own thing in a LOT of ways.
The major issue with PF1E, especially tangible in WotR, on higher difficulties, is that it sadly encourages to optimize any fun out of the game. ( A serious topic especially for video games) - 2E is a major overhaul, with a very strict focus on balancing. On ist own, this would indeed be great. However, many players actually enjoy to live their power fantasies ( often achieved with caster classes) , while others see more benefits as a player with the more trivial mechanics of 5E.
This is really interesting. Our group has talked about trying out Pathfinder due to the recent drama with WotC. I hope you will make more Pathfinder videos. This was very informative.
I once tried to learn Pathfinder 1e and it was overwhelming for me. With all of this WotC stuff, I've been looking into other systems, like Savage Worlds and Pathfinder 2e. Your video is the perfect thing I need to not get overwhelmed with a new system. Thank you so much for everything you do!
I for one cannot wait to see a pathfinder build, this all seems fascinating!
I found out about your channel through the rules lawyer, and am elated to see you making pathfinder content! Thank you for rolling the dice and giving this fantastic system a chance. I switched from 5e to 2e about 4 months ago and am loving it so far!
I've played 3.5 and pathfinder and I enjoyed both. Great systems!
Months later, the D&D 5e campaign is ended. The group is now making the move to Pathfinder2E and this video has been on my list to watch the whole time. It seems a big leap over but this video is by far the most helpful and comprehensive I’ve seen so far. On to part 2!
First time viewer here, and I am very impressed. I saw you on the game with the Rules Lawyer, and i am already very interested in hearing some of your thoughts on PF2E classes.
For those coming up from D&D a big hint for character creation is think about what you want to do for your 3rd action. Most classes are built in a way that you always end up with an action left that you DON'T want to use to Strike since you'll have -10.
Good ideas for 3rd action (not necessarily the last one you will use) are the skill actions: demoralize, recall knowledge, trip, shove, feint. If you want to make a build focused on triping you'll want the Assurance skill feat that allows you to ignore penalties and bonuses to your roll, including the multiple attack penalty
Also use recall knowledge (or let someone good at it do it). Information is VERY useful in Pathfinder
Unless you make a build specifically to make 3 attacks or more, you almost always have something better to do with your last action
These are actually bad suggestions for a third action option. Trip and shove both have the 'attack' tag, meaning as a third action they'll get the -10 penalty, the same as making a third attack.
Yes, assurance allows you to bypass the -10 penalty to your roll. No, it's still not a good idea, because it will almost always fail anyway. Assurance gives you a result of 10+proficiency bonus which is the same as 10+your level+2/4/6/8 (depending on your proficiency). However, it does not add your ability modifier, or any other bonuses. The DC you'll be going against is always based off of the enemy's fortitude save DC, which will be 10+their level (often higher than yours, and rarely lower)+their relevant stat(which is almost never less than 0, and often +1 or higher)+2/4/6/8 (depending on their proficiency, which will rarely be lower than yours because saves almost always increase in proficiency as you level).
Meaning that more often then not, assurance just won't succeed the DC and will automatically fail.
As for the others; Feinting is either part of your build, or it's not. It literally gives you the same advantage as flanking the enemy(flat footed), but only for one attack. The downside is that, if you fail badly enough, you are then flat footed against every attack that enemy makes. It is almost always better to flank an opponent if possible, than to try to feint them, because the penalty for rolling badly on a feint is steep.
Demoralize isn't a terrible idea, but whether or not you succeed or fail, the enemy you tried it on is immune to you trying again for ten minutes. If you Do succeed, regardless of level, at absolute best you're giving them a -2 to everything for one round, and then a -1 to everything for the next. More commonly, you'll give them a -1 to everything for one turn. Not really worth the third action, in my opinion.
Recall knowledge isn't a bad option, but there are multiple knowledge types and many martial characters won't have more than 1 of the 5. (Technically more, because one of them is dependent on which sub-category you take, of which there are Many.)
My recommendation for your third action would either be an item interaction (buy a bandolier and fill it with potions; It holds 8, and using one from a bandolier only takes a single action) or just get a shield and use the Raise a Shield action. Alternatively, if your DM is like mine, don't worry about it and just plan on using your third action to move. Not everyone in P2 gets an attack of opportunity, and many enemies are faster than your character anyway and also get three actions. As such, it just makes tactical sense to have them move away from you to force you to give up an attack.
@@Necroes Assurance is quite good when you get to Master and Legendary proficiencies, when you can often best a standard DC of your level with it.
If you are good enough at Feint, you are more likely to Crit Succeed (it is FF versus your attacks until the end of your next turn), which may be more likely than crit failing. In some situations you won't have enough room to walk around a creature to flank, or they might have an Attack of Opportunity making it dangerous.
Saying Demoralize isn't worth it pretty much goes against the consensus on the PF2 forums: -1 is similar to a -2 in other systems, due to how crits and fumbles trigger on +10/-10. If you do it right after a boss creature's turn, you increase your own chance to hit and crit, and those of ALL your allies, AND you reduce its chance to hit and crit against you.
I do think Recall Knowledge is weak as written; hence I buff it in the video I did covering it.
There's a great variety of great alchemical items for consumables. For healing if you can take the Battle Medicine feat that is a great 1-action way to heal yourself or an ally. The strict rules on handedness might make it interacting with objects an action tax tho.
Raise Shield is excellent, and Shield Block is a great defensive feat!
Moving away from an enemy is great, too!
Other good "3rd actions" are: Create Diversion, Hide, Bon Mot (requires skill feat)
@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Given your title, it's somewhat amazing how many of your claims become completely irrelevant when you read the fine print of this conversation. We're discussing good 'third actions,' which in this context are 'the action you use in place of a third strike because a third strike will have -10.'
Assurance is a fine feat; It just isn't good for making trip or shove useful in this context, because the DC you'll be rolling against isn't one of the standards set in the book. It will always be based off of your enemy's fortitude save DC. As enemy monsters tend to be at least the player's level or higher, and most enemies willing to just stand in front of a melee combatant and give them the chance to use all three actions offensively are going to have good health (and by extension, a good constitution score) the chances of being in a position where just your prof. bonus + 10 will be higher than the enemy's entire fortitude save(which includes their prof. bonus, plus their con. bonus) + 10 are going to be very rare.
As I said, feint is either part of your build or it's not. Being good at feint isn't an easy ask, as for many characters charisma is a dump stat because literally all it does for them is increase some of their skills. It's not like wisdom, con, or dex, which not only all matter for saves but also increase perception, health, and initiative bonuses (respectively). Strength is also the go-to for melee characters, which are the ones who gain a benefit for feinting their enemy. Also how likely you are to critically succeed depends just as much on the enemy's perception score as it does on the player's bluff score, meaning how likely they are to critically succeed or critically fail is almost always going to be unknown to the player until they try.
I did not say demoralize is bad. I said that it's not worth it in the context of speaking of a third action, specifically building around it as the go-to third action. I said that specifically because you can, at best, do it once per enemy per combat. As combat will generally last for more than one round, after the first time you try it on the enemy whether you can do it again depends far more on how much your DM likes throwing large groups of enemies at your party. Also, as demoralize has the mental tag, there are a significant number of enemies in the book who are just immune to it.
Create diversion is essentially just feint and has many of the same problems it does. The main difference being that, instead of the penalty for a critical failure being steep, using create diversion regardless of the outcome just makes it harder to do so again in the following turns, while also not having the benefits of a critical success that feint offers. The main benefit is that it works at range, making it viable for ranged fighters.
Hide only works if you're behind cover. Not something likely to happen if you're standing in front of the creature and stabbing it. For someone fighting at range, it's fine, and generally a good idea (so long as your DM isn't the type to have most fights take place in open fields at noon or similar)
Bon Mot is fine, but it takes up a feat and has similar issues to feint, in that it's dependent on a charisma skill and has the mental tag. Also, the feat doesn't require the enemy so succeed on whatever they do as a retort, so if it's really that major a negative to the enemy then at best you're trading a single action for one of their own, which is action-neutral. Not bad, but most martial characters who would be good at using it will just being using feint every turn anyway.
The suggestions I made were because they are almost always going to be useful, regardless of who or what you're fighting. In general, it's much easier to plan your own teams coordination than to try and guess what the enemy will do. Alchemical items can be bought which provide bonuses your allies can't, and health gain as a default is almost always good. Battle Medicine is good for similar reasons, but can only be used once per person per day so not exactly something you can make frequent use of. Raise shield is viable because shields literally don't give you their AC bonus unless you use the action. In a game where every single point of AC means a 5% reduction in the chance for the enemy to land a critical hit, high AC is a very important aspect of staying alive as a melee fighter.
@@Necroes anyone who says a -1 debuff to an enemy’s stats for one round isn’t worth it is straight up wrong. Demoralize is very strong, and with a little investment (14-16 CHA) you can reliably succeed at standard DC’s.
Most players would say that Demoralizing as your 1st action is the way to go, since a success generally leads to a +15% damage increase for your own strikes. Even though enemies are immune afterwards, a success will usually lead to more damage for your team, which is well worth it.
@@megavore97 Except, and hear me out on this, if you really want to be a two-handed attacker and not use a shield (the clearly better alternative because it reduces the chance every attack made against you has by 10%, as well as reducing the chance they crit you by 10%) You can instead take one of the most busted feats in the game, as early as level 2.
Intimidating strike; It takes 2 actions, and as part of it you make a melee strike. If you hit and deal damage, it inflicts frightened 1. If you crit, it inflicts frightened 2. In either case, they do not become immune to you doing the same thing again next round. It is triggered by a melee attack, so it essentially uses your best stat (your to-hit) to determine if it works.
Plus, the thing that makes it the MOST broken; It doesn't have the attack tag. Meaning that, if you use it, your third action being an attack doesn't suffer the penalty for multiple attacks per turn.
So, for one single feat (which almost anyone can take thanks to archetypes) you not only get to make demoralize completely redundant for your entire party to waste proficiency on, you also get to make two attacks a turn at full to-hit because only one strike will trigger the penalty.
Then, even if your DM nerfs the feat (like they should) and gives it the Attack tag, it's still strictly better than demoralize because you can use it literally every single turn.
Which is why demoralize, in my opinion, isn't worth it. A single feat (and a really, Really good one at that) makes it useless.
I was always curious about pathfinder builds since I went down a Reddit rabbit hole and heard all these amazing stories so now I want to know how those characters were built
Pathbuilder2 will let you play with the basics for free. Wander's Guide is another. Nice thing about Paizo putting all the rules online for free and depending on quality Adventures and Setting books to make a profit.
@@aaronsmith3375 Yea, there are some great, free tools out there. That said, after creating a couple dozen characters with the online tools, I felt incredibly dumb when I tried creating a character with just a char sheet and the Core Rulebook. My advice: use the free tools, but do try to do a few with nothing but a pen and paper.
Hi Colby! First time here, and as you may be seeing a lot - I'm a refugee going from DnD 5E to PF2E in the midst of the current OGL drama! Putting my hat in the ring to ask for more Pathfinder content as I'm frankly overwhelmed by all the differences, and very grateful to have them explained so clearly from the perspective of a fellow 5E expert. Love the video!
Sitting here looking at the daunting PF2 Book, the Tablet with the PDF on it - I opt for fixing me a cup of tea, a sandwich and have you tell me your take on things, feeling like I at least should buy you a coffee for your effort. Cheers and Enjoy the Game!
I've been very system-agnostic in my decades of playing TTRPGs, my groups have been very happy to give all different manners of systems a try and I find most of them do what is needed for us to tell the stories we want.
Despite what some ppl think, it's not that scary to try other systems, it's like picking up different video games-- they'll have different control schemes and settings and gameplay maybe, but a lot of the fundamental skills are transferable, while offering different experiences
It's great to see more people branching out from just D&D and giving other systems a try! Super stoked to see more Pathfinder content recommended to me recently
Does system-agnostic mean you're unsure if gaming systems exist or not?
@@theophrastusbombastus1359 That's either a dad joke or a deeply philosophical tabletop question.
Can confirm PF2 content is just as relaxing to listen to as D&D5e content. Actually moreso, because it doesn't make me think about the Open Greed License.
Super impressive how well you structured this!!! It loved how seemlessly you went from one mechanic to the next. You sir are awesome
When it comes to characters in PF2e you have a lot of options for your character. Interesting builds are easy, but to actually build a OP build is much, much harder. On one hand that's a bit of a drag, because it can be fun to be a superhero. On the other hand, because of how characters are created and how they level it's much MUCH easier for the GM to build balanced, challenging encounters for all three pillars (Combat, Social, and Exploration). The challenge rating system in PF2e ACTUALLY WORKS.
Stumbled across your channel, and all I can say is - well done! As a PF2 player since playtest - I can say this is one of the best intros / overviews of the system. Hope you decide to keep making PF content. Looking forward to part 2.
Maybe these aren't in the core rulebook but thought I'd add that for heritages(subrace), it does also include some of the DnD classics like Tieflings, Aasimar, Genasi which any ancestry can take.
Thanks for this, Colby. Pathfinder 1e was actually my first introduction into TTRPGs. I'd definitely tune in for some more PF2E builds. Would you consider supporting some 3rd party DnD creators with some more 3rd party class builds?
Love the fact that so many channels are learning Pathfinder after this OGL debacle. Makes us learning it so much easier 😊
I've been super interested in pathfinder recently. It fixes a lot of gripes I have with 5e, and I'd love to see you make more content for it. Honestly, you've established that you've got great taste, so I'd be willing to give just about any content you make a try.
I felt so represented when colby said "...for some good ASMR to fall asleep to...". Thx for the precious hours of sleep you helpes myself get into. And thx for making the boring bits of worktime pass like the wind. I am truly gratefull.
Colby is the hero we need, and thankfully not the one we deserve.
More Pathfinder commentary please, you've got the calm demeanor I can listen to while working!
I am the DM in my D&D group as I lead the way into Pathfinder 2, so this video published at the right time! You present everything very clearly and concisely (video length notwithstanding), so you've earned a sub!
Eagerly awaiting more Pathfinder 2e content!
Really excited for this. Since the whole OGL drama i feel wizards is irredeemable so I'm listening to this at work
It’s super beneficial for neurodivergent people like myself for you to make content like this. I want to learn, but the resources out there are super overwhelming so I have a hard time reading and actually absorbing everything I need to know. Throw in pregnancy brain and I don’t absorb anything and I get tired from trying. Playing this in the background while I do dishes and clean my kitchen is immensely helpful and useful and I’d love more PF2E content!
Delighted to see this. My DnD party has expressed interest in PF, which I was happy to do some introductory material for them, but I think I'll link this video.
I will say, regarding healing, my experience has been that every party tends to have (or at least would enormously benefit from) at least one character who invests in the Medicine skill and associated skill feats, particularly Continual Recovery and Ward Medic. Continual Recovery means that there's no 1 hour cooldown between instances of 10 minute healing checks, and Ward Medic allows more than one character to be healed with the same 10 minute check, with higher Medicine proficiency allowing larger groups. (Other skill feats of note include Assurance, Battle Medicine and Risky Surgery, but they are less core to successful party mechanics.) So in practice, most PF groups go into most fights at full health with no ongoing resources spent. And if you want to optimize your PF group...someone will want to have this at hand.
As a 5e GM and player looking into Pathfinder, it really seems like party optimization is much more important than individual character optimization. Which I really like! More teamwork and less overshadowed characters sounds awesome.
Something players often don't realize in the early levels before having access to medicine skill increases / skill feats is this last sentence in the Treat Wounds action:
"[...]If you succeed at your check, you can continue treating the target to grant additional healing. If you treat them for a total of 1 hour, double the Hit Points they regain from Treat Wounds[...]"
If you can take 1 hour and 10 min break you could benefit on 3 instances of healing with treat wounds (having another 50min untill the next one)
This is not skill-based, but some groups find that some class's focus spells (rechargeable spells that are regained with 10 minutes of Refocusing) also do vital, reliable healing. Lay on Hands heals 6 HP per caster's spell level (so an 11th level paladin can heal 36 HP per casting). Goodberry is another. I usually see teams combine this with a medic for powerful between-combat healing
@@Longshanks126 Agreed! Different characters have some very different contributions they can make. But it's amazing to see how much someone making an enemy flat footed and frightened 1 does for the martials crowding around an enemy.
@@vacra Great point! ...I tend to forget it too, but it's a great thing to keep in mind.
I have been creeping in the background enjoying your character concepts (and have stolen/modified at least 3 of them in campaigns I am in) for over a year now. While I am struggling to promote DnD to anyone at this point, I think the way you dig into content and present your opinions is phenomenal regardless of the TTRPG you are applying it to. Finding the path and conquering dungeons suite you!
I’m just excited for when he expands into Secrets of Magic and discovers the Magus
I'm more interested in the summoner. Though I have to admit I was disappointed in the summoners mark thing. Seems to overly narrow the range of how you can use the Eidolon if it can't hide or be disguised because it always has a glowing mark that shows through everything.
@@Ahglock Summoner is really underwhelming in 2e, it's a shame. With the amount of classes it has now (and still growing with 1 to 2 classes each year), Summoner really is staying in the shadows. Bounded spellcasting is both weird and limiting, and there's no way to really bypass that as a summoner, compared to magus.
@@okagisama I wouldn't mind the spellcasting too much, if the eidolon seemed more impressive. It seems like they kept its focus narrow to being a bad fighter, and since you share hit points you are basically a bad fighter with a couple spells per day.
But this is coming from a novice, reading through it. So there may be tricks i am missing. I just really dig the concept of the class, especially the construct version.
Personally I think they should have allowed you to change its appearance every time you summon it, remove the obvious link(hit points being liked is enough) increase the base range it can travel from you, add some built in flexibility to how you mod it out each summon, like you can pick 2 evolution summons each summon so it has some utility without sacrificing making it effective in combat.
Still concept wise I think it is maybe one of the coolest classes.
Colby, you’re just the best… I know I’m very late to the release of this video, but I want to thank you so deeply for it. I am a D&D player and I watch almost all of your videos just by how gentle, kind, welcoming and good you are on your videos, with the right amount of going in depth and showing your knowledge of the mechanics while keeping things simple and entertaining for us. My D&D group has been suggesting trying out Pathfinder2e recently and I was curious to trying it out and seeing how much the D&D knowledge would translate, but having this guide of yours was a blessing. I’ll definitely send them this video and hope they enjoy it and find it as helpful as I did, so far I absolutely love almost everything about this system! While more complicated, it’s definitely more rewarding for knowing your options and the rules. I’ll definitely be checking the builds videos on it as well!
Dam The algorithm just threw this at me and your voice is so awesome! Much more listenable than most Tabletop Creators...I'd love to learn more about Pf2e if it's something that you wanna make.
Keep going with pathfinder 2e, it will be fun I'm sure
Love your D&D content, but I appreciate this look at Pathfinder and would love future videos on and around this system and character optimization
As someone who will almost certainly be migrating away from D&D permanently because of WotC's actions, I appreciate this video and any future non-D&D content.
I'm glad to see that there's a dnd content creator on the same journey that I'm on, along with my playgroup (sort of). I'd LOVE to see more PF2 content. I watched both videos in full and loved them! I've been slowly making my way through the COLOSSAL rulebook, so this was a huge help and explained a lot of things I had questions about really nicely. Thanks, Colby! :)
I gotta throw my hat in and say I would love to see more Pathfinder power builds. There is a opening in the community for what you do for DnD for Pathfinder.
With all the fun but also Deep mechanics that pathfinder introduces, I wouldn’t mind seeing some builds for it on this channel! After you’re used to things of course!
Between ancestry, heritages, Archetypes, classes, etc, it feels like a lot of fun toys that people would love to learn what can be done with!
Interested in more PF2 content. Please make some more :)
I would enjoy your PF2E videos as much as your 5E videos. There is so much variation built into the system, it would be cool to see unique builds you think of.
I made the jump to pf2e about a year and a half ago, and I wish this video was around back then! This is the single best 5e->pf2e guide I've seen so far. You manage to explain the info with insight, musings, and quips that make it very digestible and entertaining to watch.
Can't wait for you to get to the Advanced Players Guide to really unlock the power of archetypes, and Secrets of Magic to discover the best Gish around, the Magus.
One note on archetypes: The Game Master Guide has an optional variant rule called Free Archetype Rule, where instead of needing to sacrifice your class feats to pick up archetype abilities, you instead get to pick the archetype feats AS WELL as the class feats. Because archetypes feature horizontal power creep rather than vertical, it means you're not actually spiking in power that much, but it does make characters way more versatile and flavourful. If anything, because you aren't sacrificing core class abilities, I think it actually makes the game MORE balanced.
As a GM, I highly, highly recommend playing with Free Archetype enabled.
I’m not super interested in D&D content for a variety of reasons but if you make Pathfinder content I am interested!
Definitely want to see you make more P2e content. I think the further you dive into the system, the more you're going to enjoy it. There is definitely plenty of room to wring extra optimization out of builds, even if the peaks and valleys are a little tighter than they are in 5e due to the math being better thought out. My group made the switch 6 months ago, and we honestly wish we had changed over sooner.
I've heard so much about the flexibility of _Pathfinder_ characters, that I'm sure seeing your ideas will make me really excited to play it.
As a big fan of the crunchy era of DnD, I've always been interested in Pathfinder 2e. Thanks for covering it. Would be interesting to see you try and remake some of your favorite 5e builds using Pathfinder and see how they compare
Our online D&D group converted from Roll 20 --> Foundry and from D&D --> Pathfinder at the same time. The timing of this video could not have been more better timed. Thank you!
4 minutes inn and I feel called out for having already put it on 1,5 speed😄. Seems good so far to so will update comment once I'm done watching
I'm back! (from part 1 and 2) Great video which answered so many of my questions and set me up with enough knowledge to begin exploring the game myself. I've made a test party and will be running a bit of a solo campaign to figure the system out so that if my D&D group decide we want to give it a try I will be as ready as possible to explain things.