Pathfinder WOTR | Charade Crusade | 04.5 | Extra Footage | Unfinished Maze, Cambion Fights

Here I go trough most of the Unfinished Section of the Shield Maze.
The Medium Earth Elemental's will get a Mob Encounter Video.

[@Vladthestud]

I like what you're doing.
My Kitsune has 2 levels of Witch of the Veil as base, which gives her the Shrouded Step - vanish - ability. It's super powerfull, although the pesky demons Hosilla summons see through it. And 1 lvl of Rowdy Rogue, giving her Vital Strike. I think in some ways your build is more powerful, considering versatility. But I get an easier start. However I followed your guide on Seelah, and made her a mammoth pet - never tried it before. It tanked those quasits long enough for my MC to pick them off.

[@DjaliPlays]

That's indeed a very powerful combo. And can transition in more then one build.
I plan to do some stealth gameplay in a section of this playthrough and was planning to briefly mention the Witch of the Veil (as THE stealth build).
I'm glad to hear my video was helpful to you.
Animal companions are indeed very powerful, especially early on.
Note that the Mastodon, like the Boar and the Leopard, lost its built-in trip ability on attack in the patch that came with the Dance of Masks DLC.
That video is now outdated, despite being just a couple of months old.

[@Vladthestud]

@@DjaliPlays I originally followed a guide for a Sword Saint build which, unfortunately, is also outdated. I am unsure what path to take onwards. There is the pure "sniper" build by going vivi, for instance. However I want to slowly progress into a melee focused build with a dip into scaled fist / dragon disciple / slayer and maybe sword saint for a unique weapon proficiency. If you have any tips, I would welcome it.
When it comes to pets, I still thinks Mastadon is one of the more unique ones. I especially like the idea of Seelah riding one, giving it an Indian war elephant vibe which I love.

[@DjaliPlays]

If it's a sword saint trickster build, then it's very outdated indeed. That build exploited a bug that was fixed over two years ago.
In the past, the interaction between Vital Strike and critical hits was multiplicative, but now it's additive.
Suppose you have a 2d8 weapon, Greater Vital Strike (GVS), and a critical multiplier of 3, and you score a critical hit. Currently, you would deal: (4 + 3) * 2d8 = 14d8 weapon damage. In the past, you would have dealt: (4 * 3) * 2d8 = 24d8.
If you increase weapon dice with size buffs and Lead Blades (which a magus has), and increase the critical multiplier (with sword saint's Perfect Strike and trickster feats), these numbers become absurd.
For example:
A 1d12 weapon becomes 3d6 with Legendary Proportions and further increases to 6d6 with Lead Blades.
Critical multiplier: 3 + 1 (I.I.I. Critical I.) + 1 (Perfect Strike) = 5
In the past: (5 * 4) * 6d6 = 120d6
Now: (5 + 4) * 6d6 = 54d6
However, since this has been fixed, critical hits are no more effective on Vital Strike than on a regular full attack, actually worse.
The best way to scale Vital Strike now is to combine it with sneak attack damage using Vital Force.
The reason to still go trickster is that it allows you to use your spare feats for the critical line (since Vital Strike is not feat-intensive), it provides some sneak attack damage, and there's no other good options except maybe demon for melee (since demon charge, being a move action, synergizes with melee Vital Strike). Demon can get some extra sneak through Babau aspect as well.
Before the Dance of Masks patch, the arguably best mythic path for Vital Strike was Demon due to the Coloxxus aspect allowing you to Vital Strike twice in one turn. However, that has since been changed and doesn't work anymore.
Demon is probably still the best for melee because of the demon charge ability and the fact that Trickster also got nerfed.
All said, late game, Vital Strike is simply weak right now. It's more of a tempo build; very good early due to how early you can get it (with Rowdy and with Loremaster).
I believe the strongest Rowdy Veil build likely transitions into a spell caster later. But I'm not sure how to best build that.
Regarding the Witch of the Veil and melee combat, they don't synergize well because you're likely to be detected in melee range.
As for the Vivisectionist, there's a huge problem. It cannot get GVS through Loremaster, and being a 3/4 BAB class, it reaches a maximum BAB of 15 (13 with the Rowdy Veil dips), falling short of the 16 required for GVS.
Instead, consider looking into the Cult Leader or Shadow Shaman classes. The War Priest can access GVS through Loremaster or normally, as its class levels count as BAB for feat prerequisites. The Shadow Shaman can acquire GVS through Loremaster. Both classes also offer excellent personal spells for melee combat. (For example: Divine Power both, Eagle Soul Warpriest, Frightful Aspect and Ice Body Shaman ).

[@Vladthestud]

@@DjaliPlays Wow you really know your way around this game, don't you? Thank you so much for the tips. I'll take them to heart. What do you think about dipping into scale fist?

[@Vladthestud]

@@DjaliPlays I was thinking of going Sword Saint from lvl 4 eventually having 7 levels in it, and 10 levels in duelist for a stacking Canny Defence bonus, coupled with greater nondetection to use in accord with shrouded step. I have no idea whether it affects enemies' chance to hit me. Maybe you have thoughts about this?