I was initially looking at building Ekko from League of Legends but with the playtest for Starfinder 2e featuring a number of time spells and the lack of abilities resembling his Q, I think I'm going to await the release of that system before committing. Until then, I've got plenty of other builds with which to tide you over, including this one from Magic the Gathering! It can be hard translating mechanics from that game into Pathfinder, but I think I've managed to do so here. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Do me a favor and check out the video featuring her build as well - recently passed 500 subscribers and I want to keep that train rolling.
Let's get into the remastered rebuild for Elspeth Tirel from Magic the Gathering!
ELSPETH TIREL
SOURCE Magic the Gathering
BUILD GOALS
o Elspeth was a human knight and planeswalker who was seen as a hero by many. She was slain by a jealous god, but eventually managed to return to life as an archangel
o Almost every Elspeth card is able to summon tokens – either soldiers or flying angels
o She also commonly empowers other creatures and can frequently grant the flying keyword to other creatures
o ‘Elspeth Tirel’ gains life and destroys non-land and non-token permanents
o ‘Elspeth, Knight-Errant’ can make a range of permanents indestructible
o ‘Elspeth, Sun’s Champion’ destroys creatures with too much power
o ‘Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis’ can return from the graveyard and restore health to the player
o ‘Elspeth Resplendent’ can grant a range of keywords on a target creature or summon low-level monsters from the deck with a protective shield
o ‘Archangel Elspeth’ can raise other allies into angels and return low-leveled permanents from the graveyard to the battlefield
Summary of Goals: Elspeth is a noble knight and powerful warrior who is highly capable at calling forth, empowering, and protecting her allies. After once following a sun god, she has become an angel in her own right who can call down devastation on those who threaten her allies or those under her protection.
HELIOD, GOD OF THE SUN
Edicts enforce laws and carry out justice, punish wrongdoers, honor your promises and bonds, care for your family
Anathema betray one that you’ve sworn an oath to, abandon your duty in an act of cowardice
Areas of Concern justice and legal proceedings, bonds of kinship, acts of protective bravery, and the sun
DEVOTEE BENEFITS
Divine Ability Strength or Charisma
Divine Font heal
Divine Sanctification can choose holy
Divine Skill Diplomacy
Favored Weapon spear
Domains duty, family, fire, sun
Cleric Spells 1st scorching blast; 3rd wall of radiance; 5th flames of ego
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Nephilim Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Angelkin
o Skill Feat: Multilingual
o Skill Increase: Society (T)
Background: Squire
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Warfare Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Armor Assist
Class & Subclass: Champion of Heliod – Holy Justice
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Medicine (trained), Religion (trained)
o Class Feat: Deity’s Domain – Duty
o Focus Spell: lay on hands
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +1, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +3)
To help Elspeth ascend to an angelic status sooner, she uses the nephilim heritage and the Angelkin lineage feat. Squire covers the time that she spent on Bant in training to become a knight whereas she fully takes on her knightly status with the champion class. There was a consideration on using the cleric class with the warpriest doctrine, but Elspeth was originally designed with a knight in mind and this concept of being more martially minded led to me picking a more martially focused class. In addition to this build, I did a quick design for Heliod as a deity to have Elspeth serve as a champion of him as I mostly associate her with Thero and its setting. She’ll mix offense with defense by going for the justice cause, granting her Retributive Strike as a reaction, and then uses Deity’s Domain for the duty domain. This fits her best out of the available options though it takes up a reaction so it’s only going to really work when she doesn’t have allies in her aura to defend. She doesn’t typically use a shield, so she uses lay on hands to cover some of her healing rather than take up shields of the spirit. On that topic, in regards to kitting her out, Elspeth has wield a varied assortment of weapons, but seems to favor swords and spears. If she uses a spear, she could get the benefit of Deific Weapon and she has a way to switch things up in a few levels.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Marshal Dedication
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)
o Gear: psychopomp mask
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Religion (expert)
o Blessings of the Devoted: Armament
o Gear: +1 spear, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Inspiring Marshal Stance
o Skill Feat: Pilgrim’s Token
o Gear: golden legion epaulet, +1 spear, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +1, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +4)
o Ancestry Feat: Blessed Blood
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking spear, golden legion epaulet, bracelet of dashing, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
Many of Elspeth’s cards feature the ability to summon soldiers, but that’s hard to represent in Pathfinder. If we instead interpret that as an ability to command forces, Marshal Dedication and its follow-on Inspiring Marshal Stance is a great fit. This bonus on attacks resembles the +1/+1 counters that a wide array of her cards deliver. Pilgrim’s Token lets her win initiative rolls on a tie, just like the First Strike token she can grant that lets an attacking ally strike before the enemy can respond. She chooses an armament as her blessing of the devoted given that she favors wielding a variety of weapons but doesn’t seem to use shields all that much. One thing of note is that she could gain the shifting rune, letting her shift her spear into a bastard sword or something similar.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Rallying Charge
o Skill Feat: No Cause for Alarm
o Gear: +1 full plate, +1 striking spear, symbol of conflict, golden legion epaulet, necklace of knives, masquerade scarf
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Gear: cassisian helmet, +1 full plate, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking spear, golden legion epaulet, bracelet of dashing
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Sorcerer Dedication – Angelic Bloodline
o Skill Feat: Evangelize
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained), Survival (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – divine lance, shield
o Gear: boots of bounding, cassisian helmet, aim-aiding armor rune, +1 full plate, +1 striking spear, symbol of conflict
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Divine Wings
o Skill Increase: Religion (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient full plate, boots of bounding, bravery baldric (restoration), cassisian helmet, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking spear
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +1, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +4.5)
o Class Feat: Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Sacred Defense
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – benediction; 2nd – heal*; 3rd – heroism
o Gear: greater shining symbol, +1 resilient full plate, lover’s gloves, boots of bounding, cassisian helmet, +1 striking spear
Elspeth has some protective abilities, including the ability to provide add shield tokens onto allies and while that is somewhat explored by her champion’s reaction, she can also take Rallying Charge, which will let her grant some protective temporary Hit Points to her allies. That feat finishes out her first archetype, which then allows her to move into a Sorcerer Dedication and its Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting. While she has some offensive and defensive options in her cantrips, she focuses a bit more on support with her array of ranked spells. Benediction is another way to protect her companions and heal can help restore them in addition to her lay on hands. Heroism is a status bonus just like her Inspiring Marshal Stance, so she’ll want to throw this on characters that will operate outside of her aura, such as ranged combatants or casters. With her Diplomacy feats, she can allay the fears of others with No Cause for Alarm or leave enemies stupefied with Evangelize. Like Bon Mot, this is mainly going to help her allies rather than her directly but it fits with her Religion and Diplomacy investment. Sacred Defense gives her some more survivability of her own so that she can hang in the fight longer. She also gains her Divine Wings, which is a step on the staircase that will lead her to angelhood.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking spear, greater shining symbol, advancing armor rune, +1 resilient full plate, boots of bounding, bravery baldric (restoration)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – heroism*; 4th – fly
o Gear: +2 resilient full plate, +2 striking spear, greater symbol of conflict, greater shining symbol, lover’s gloves, flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Summon Nephilim Kin
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +2 greater striking spear, +2 resilient full plate, helm of zeal, greater symbol of conflict, greater shining symbol, advancing armor rune
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Blessed Counterstrike
o Skill Feat: Battle Prayer
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – divine immolation
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking spear, fortification armor rune, +2 resilient full plate, greater symbol of conflict, impactful weapon rune
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +1, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +5)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Religion (legenadary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient full plate, propulsive boots, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking spear, helm of zeal, bravery baldric (flight)
Elspeth can also granting Flying to other creatures and by taking up Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting, she gains access to the fly spell so that she can help her friends fly. This also leads into her getting divine immolation, which along with Blessed Counterstrike and Battle Prayer gives her some more of her offensive options. Blessed Counterstrike is a bit more singular when it comes time to target foes, but it offers some solid support with the weakness it leaves enemies with – although that weakness is specifically only to Strikes, which is something worth keeping in mind. From her general feats, Incredible Initiative is for champion functionality, hopefully letting her act first so that she can get her reaction up to protect her allies. Diehard is a small nod to the fact that she’s proven exceptionally hard to kill. In addition to summoning soldiers, Elspeth is able to call forth angels and we can see that in her kits thanks to Summon Nephilim Kin granting her a once per day casting of summon celestial.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Radiant Armament
o Skill Feat: Divine Guidance
o Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient full plate, soaring armor rune, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking spear, fortification armor rune
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Eternal Wings
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking spear, greater flaming weapon rune, antimagic armor rune, +2 greater resilient full plate, keen weapon rune, propulsive boots
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Master Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – divine immolation; 7th – interplanar teleport
o Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking spear, greater advancing armor rune, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient full plate, soaring armor rune
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Incredible Investiture
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient full plate, bracers of strength, major shining symbol, +3 greater striking spear, greater flaming weapon rune, antimagic armor rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +6, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +5)
o Class Feat: Armament Paragon
o Skill Feat: Break Curse
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking spear, +3 greater resilient plate, greater helm of zeal, bracers of strength quickstrike weapon rune, amplifying aeon stone
The major thing behind taking Master Sorcerer Spellcasting is that it will allow Elspeth learn interplanar teleport so that she can fulfill her role as a planeswalker. Then, she takes up arms with Radiant Armament and then Armament Paragon, which will let her infuse her weapons with a greater brilliant rune, which just feels spot-on for her. Break Curse will let her fix more, inevitable ‘mistakes’ of Liliana Vess and Divine Guidance takes advantage of her legendary Religion skill. With all the artifacts and relics that she’s wielded across the planes, Incredible Investiture just feels right as her final general feat. For her final ancestry feat, she takes up Eternal Wings to gain permanent wings with which to soar on and rise up into the ranks of angels.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: There’s a few good things in the archetypes that Elspeth already has – Bloodline Breadth or Steel Yourself are great – but a better option is the Mortal Herald Dedication. This could allow her to get a permanent fly Speed much quicker with Mortal Ascension and can follow that up with Dive of the Divine, letting her call down spirit damage on all enemies within an area, in reference to a number of her destruction effects.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Elspeth Tirel is a nephilim human champion of Heliod and the squire background. She has taken up the cause of justice, striking down enemies that would harm her allies. As a planeswalker, Elspeth takes up sorcerer spellcasting to gain interplanar teleport so that she can travel between the planes. Her squire background fits with her favored plane of Alara where she trained to become a knight. When she made it to Theros, she became a literal champion of Heliod, and this build mostly covers that aspect of her. Her nephilim heritage aids her ascension to actual angelhood while hero's defiance lets her hold off death. Whether she chooses to wield a spear or shield, it is a blessed armament with her hands that she further empowers through the likes of Radiant Armament and Armament Paragon. She can call forth angels with Summon Nephilim Kin but soldiers are a bit harder to summon. Instead, we represent her ability as a leader through the Marshal Dedication and the Inspiring Marshal Stance, which also covers her ability to buff others. The fly spell lets her pass the ability of flight to her companions, benediction and her champion's reaction can protect them, and she can heal them with lay on hands or the heal spell. She also takes some offensive options as we see with her justice cause, Battle Prayer, and divine immolation.
An archon of absolution, this angelic adventurer aids allies by abating the attacks of advancing adversaries before admonishing and annihilating any that aim to abuse the altruism of alms-giving sorts.
Please let me know what you think and what other builds you'd like to see! You can vote for the next rebuild over on the Discord or YT channel.
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and a YouTube channel filled with video formats of these blog posts. I'm actually figuring out next week's build still!
Have a fantastic Friday!
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