Welcome! This guide will explore the versatile world of the Pathfinder Alchemist. We’ll delve into core abilities, archetypes, discoveries, feats, ability scores, equipment, builds, multiclassing, and tips for playing this unique class.
The Alchemist in Pathfinder is a unique class that blends science and magic. Alchemists are masters of concoctions, mutagens, and explosives. They use their knowledge of chemistry and alchemy to create powerful effects. Unlike wizards, alchemists don’t cast spells; instead, they create extracts that mimic spell effects. They are versatile characters, able to fill roles from damage dealer to support, making them a valuable asset to any party.
Core Alchemist Abilities and Roles
This section will explore the Alchemist’s defining abilities. Discover the power of bombs, mutagens, and extracts. Understand how these abilities define the Alchemist’s roles in combat, support, and exploration within the Pathfinder universe.
Bombs and Explosives
Alchemists are renowned for their bombs, a potent form of ranged attack. These aren’t just simple explosives. Alchemist bombs deal elemental damage, often fire, and can inflict conditions. Discoveries can enhance bomb damage, splash radius, and add effects. Precise Bombs and other feats are vital to success. Strategic use is key.
Mutagens and Physical Enhancement
Alchemists can concoct mutagens, potent elixirs that enhance physical abilities at the cost of mental acuity. These mutagens grant bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution, but impose penalties to Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. The Vivisectionist archetype particularly emphasizes mutagen use. Careful consideration of the benefits and drawbacks is crucial for effective mutagen use in combat.
Extracts and Alchemical Solutions
Alchemists utilize extracts, alchemical concoctions that mimic spell effects. These extracts provide versatility, allowing the alchemist to fill various roles. They can create healing draughts, enhance abilities, or inflict status effects. Quick Alchemy allows for on-the-fly creation. Strategic use of extracts is essential for managing resources and adapting to different combat situations, making the alchemist a flexible asset to any party.
Alchemist Archetypes
Alchemist archetypes allow for specialization. These variations trade some base class features for unique abilities, shaping the alchemist’s role. Consider your desired playstyle when choosing an archetype, as it significantly impacts your character’s capabilities.
Grenadier⁚ The Bomb Specialist
The Grenadier archetype focuses on maximizing the Alchemist’s bomb-throwing capabilities. They gain increased proficiency and versatility with bombs, enhancing their damage output and tactical options. This archetype excels at dealing area-of-effect damage and controlling the battlefield with precise explosions; Grenadiers often sacrifice other alchemical abilities to become masters of explosive ordinance, making them formidable ranged damage dealers. Consider this if you enjoy a more martial focused playstyle.
Vivisectionist⁚ The Master of Anatomy and Mutagens
The Vivisectionist archetype delves into the darker aspects of alchemical experimentation, focusing on anatomy and mutagens. They gain sneak attack damage, mimicking the rogue’s abilities, and enhance their mutagen creation, often sacrificing bomb-related skills. Vivisectionists excel in melee combat, using their mutagens to enhance their physical prowess and sneak attacks to cripple opponents. They are masters of self-transformation and surgical precision, making them potent damage dealers and infiltrators.
Beastmorph⁚ The Shapeshifting Alchemist
The Beastmorph archetype embraces the animalistic side of alchemy, focusing on transformative mutagens. This archetype trades some of the alchemist’s explosive power for the ability to take on animalistic forms, gaining natural attacks, movement abilities, and sensory enhancements. Beastmorphs excel at adapting to different combat situations, using their transformations to become swift scouts, powerful melee combatants, or resilient tanks. They sacrifice some alchemical versatility for the raw power and adaptability of the beast within.
Key Alchemist Discoveries
Alchemist Discoveries are unique class features that allow alchemists to customize their abilities. These discoveries can enhance bombs, mutagens, extracts, or provide entirely new capabilities, shaping the alchemist’s role and playstyle in significant ways.
Quick Bomber
The Quick Bomber discovery is a cornerstone for many alchemist builds, especially those focused on dealing damage with bombs. It allows the alchemist to prepare and throw bombs as a swift action a certain number of times per day. This dramatically increases the alchemist’s action economy, allowing for more bombs per round or the ability to move and bomb in the same turn, enhancing tactical flexibility and damage output. Consider this discovery for a bomb-focused build. This makes it a must-have for blaster alchemists.
Sticky Bomb
The Sticky Bomb discovery enhances the effectiveness of the Alchemist’s bombs by allowing them to adhere to targets. This ensures that the bomb’s splash damage is more likely to affect the intended target and adjacent creatures. This is particularly useful against highly mobile enemies or those with high reflex saves, as it reduces the chance of them avoiding the bomb’s effects. Sticky Bomb is a great option for those who wish to maximize the consistency and reliability of their bomb damage and control crowded battlefields.
Alchemical Familiar
The Alchemical Familiar discovery grants the Alchemist a unique companion imbued with alchemical power. Unlike typical familiars, the alchemical familiar can deliver extracts or even bombs to allies or enemies at range. This provides the Alchemist with increased tactical flexibility and support options. The familiar can also serve as a mobile platform for delivering buffs or debuffs, enhancing the Alchemist’s utility in combat. This discovery is particularly valuable for Alchemists focused on support or those who wish to extend their reach on the battlefield.
Essential Alchemist Feats
Selecting the right feats is crucial for optimizing an Alchemist. This section highlights key feats that enhance bomb damage, extract effectiveness, and overall combat prowess. These choices will significantly impact your Alchemist’s capabilities and playstyle.
Precise Bombs
Precise Bombs is a vital feat for any Alchemist focused on dealing damage with bombs. It allows you to exclude allies within the blast radius of your bombs, preventing friendly fire. This feat significantly enhances your battlefield control, enabling you to unleash explosive attacks without harming your companions. Strategic use ensures maximum impact on enemies while safeguarding your party.
Extra Bombs
Extra Bombs is a crucial feat for Alchemists who rely heavily on their explosive abilities. This feat grants you additional bombs per day, allowing you to maintain a higher damage output throughout encounters. For bomb-focused builds, such as the Grenadier, Extra Bombs ensures you won’t run out of your primary damage source prematurely. Managing your bomb supply effectively is key to maximizing combat effectiveness.
Improved Precise Bombs
Improved Precise Bombs is a feat that builds upon the Precise Bombs feat. This allows the Alchemist to more accurately target enemies with their bombs while minimizing collateral damage to allies. It further reduces the splash damage inflicted on allies, making your bombs safer and more effective in close-quarters combat situations. This feat is invaluable for Alchemists who frequently find themselves fighting alongside melee-focused party members, ensuring they don’t get caught in the blast.
Ability Scores and Races for Alchemists
Choosing the right ability scores and race is crucial for creating an effective Alchemist. Intelligence fuels your extracts and bombs, while Dexterity enhances ranged attacks. Consider races with bonuses to these abilities for optimal builds.
Intelligence⁚ The Primary Ability
Intelligence reigns supreme for the Alchemist. It dictates the number of extracts you can prepare each day, empowering your versatility in combat and support. A high Intelligence score also boosts your bomb damage and the effectiveness of your alchemical creations. Prioritize Intelligence during character creation and when leveling up to maximize your Alchemist’s potential.
Dexterity⁚ For Ranged Combat and Reflex Saves
Dexterity is also a key stat for Alchemists, especially those focusing on bombs. A high Dexterity score improves your accuracy with ranged attacks, crucial for landing those explosive payloads. Furthermore, it enhances your Reflex saves, helping you evade area-of-effect spells and traps. While not as crucial as Intelligence, Dexterity is vital for survival and damage output.
Equipment and Alchemical Items
Essential gear for an Alchemist includes specialized tools and alchemical items. These items enhance crafting and provide tactical advantages. Managing your inventory and selecting the right equipment is crucial for success in the field.
Alchemist’s Lab and Tools
An Alchemist’s lab is more than just a workspace; it’s a sanctuary where experimentation brings forth potent concoctions. Essential tools, from test tubes to distillation apparatuses, are vital for crafting bombs, mutagens, and extracts. Investing in a portable alchemist’s kit ensures preparedness on adventures, allowing for on-the-fly concoction creation. Proficiency with these tools is paramount for maximizing the Alchemist’s potential, enabling the creation of diverse and effective alchemical solutions in any situation.
Essential Extracts and Formulas
Mastering a diverse range of extracts and formulas is crucial for any Alchemist. Key extracts include healing draughts like Cure Light Wounds, and buffing agents such as Enlarge Person. Formulas for utility extracts like Fly or Invisibility offer tactical advantages. Prioritize acquiring formulas that complement your chosen role, whether it’s blasting, support, or melee combat. A well-stocked formula book ensures you’re prepared for any challenge, allowing you to adapt and overcome obstacles with alchemical ingenuity.
Alchemist Builds and Strategies
Crafting effective Alchemist builds requires understanding core strengths. We’ll explore strategies for maximizing bomb damage, enhancing support capabilities, and creating potent melee builds. Learn to leverage discoveries and feats for specialized combat roles.
The Blaster Alchemist
The Blaster Alchemist focuses on maximizing bomb damage output, becoming a ranged damage dealer capable of decimating groups of enemies. This build emphasizes discoveries like Quick Bomber, Sticky Bomb, and Calculated Splash. Feats such as Precise Bombs and Extra Bombs are crucial, while Intelligence and Dexterity are key ability scores. Strategic bomb placement is paramount for optimal effectiveness in combat.
The Support Alchemist
The Support Alchemist prioritizes healing, buffing allies, and debilitating enemies. Focus on extracts that provide healing, temporary hit points, or status enhancements. Key discoveries may include Alchemical Familiar or Infusion. This build utilizes extracts and alchemical solutions to aid the party. Consider investing in feats that improve extract effectiveness and duration. Wisdom or Charisma may be useful secondary ability scores.
Multiclassing Options for Alchemists
Alchemists can benefit from multiclassing, gaining new skills and abilities. Popular choices include martial classes for combat prowess or rogue for utility. Consider your build’s focus when selecting a secondary class.
Alchemist and Fighter
Combining Alchemist and Fighter classes can create a potent combatant. The Fighter provides martial weapon proficiency, armor proficiency, and bonus combat feats. Alchemist extracts can then enhance the Fighter’s abilities, offering buffs like Enlarge Person or Shield. This combination results in a durable and versatile character who excels in both melee combat and tactical alchemical application, blending martial prowess with strategic enhancements.
Alchemist and Rogue
Multiclassing Alchemist with Rogue yields a character proficient in both stealth and alchemical trickery. Rogues gain skills like Stealth and Disable Device, complementing the Alchemist’s extracts. Alchemist bombs can provide area denial, while Rogue’s Sneak Attack benefits from debuffs applied by Alchemist discoveries or poisons. This mix creates a cunning character adept at infiltration, sabotage, and delivering debilitating strikes, making them a formidable asset in any party.
Playing the Alchemist⁚ Tips and Tricks
Mastering the Alchemist requires resource management and tactical thinking. Optimize extract usage and bomb placement. Adapt to changing battlefield conditions and exploit enemy weaknesses with diverse alchemical creations for maximum effectiveness.
Managing Resources and Extracts
Efficient resource management is crucial for an Alchemist’s survival. Prioritize essential extracts and formulas based on anticipated encounters. Utilize Quick Alchemy to create solutions on the fly, but be mindful of the increased difficulty. Consider feats like Alchemical Adept to reduce costs and maximize your daily extract potential. Planning and preparation are vital for prolonged adventures.
Strategic Bomb Placement
Effective bomb placement is key to maximizing damage output. Consider enemy positioning and vulnerabilities. Use discoveries like Sticky Bomb and Calculated Splash to control the battlefield. Precise Bombs feat minimizes friendly fire. Aim for clustered groups to maximize splash damage. Exploit environmental hazards for added effects. Adapt your strategy based on terrain and enemy types for optimal results.