I haven’t had much to say in these lately, and I’m sure most people just skip these intros – especially if they’re familiar with the blog. However, I am curious. How much do you, my viewers (?) care about the accuracy of a character’s ancestry. There’s absolutely instances where I won’t build a character unless I can find an ancestry that matches, but lately, I’ve been finding instances where the mechanics of an ancestry outweigh the need to make it correct. For example, if I were to go back and build Michael Myers again, I think I’d build him as a hobgoblin to take advantage of their fear-based ancestry feats. Another example is the build you’re about to read (unless you stop here for some reason) where I built a human character with the orc ancestry. 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.
Before you get into reading everything here, I want to unveil something I've been working on in my absence. Over on the Ready to Die Youtube channel, I have started a new series for Full Build Fridays, beginning with this build for Krieg! I'd appreciate anybody that checks it out and share any thoughts they have on it.
With that, let’s get into the build for Krieg the Psycho from Borderlands!
KRIEG
CHARACTER Krieg
SOURCE Borderlands
BUILD GOALS
o After surviving an abusive childhood, Krieg grew into a bounty hunter only to be captured and experimented on
o His mind fractured under the experiments but he managed to escape
o Despite his descent into psychosis, he worked alongside the Crimson Raiders and was able to steer his violent impulses away from the innocent
o His favored weapon is the buzzaxe, a single-handed weapon outfitted with a buzzsaw
o Buzz Axe Rampage has Krieg draw the eponymous weapon and gain greatly increased melee damage and movement speed. Each kill causes him to regenerate health
o The Bloodlust skill tree focuses on ranged combat but does have Taste of Blood, which increases his damage reduction with each kill
o Mania is a high-risk, high-reward skill tree. The benefits it offers often come with a drawback. For example Empty the Rage increases Krieg’s damage when his ammo is depleted or shields are empty
o The ultimate talent of Mania, Release the Beast, causes Krieg’s rampage to become even deadlier, increasing his damage and his resiliency
o The final skill tree is Hellborn, which focuses on elemental effects. It focuses in part on setting Krieg on fire and then increasing his effectiveness while aflame. In particular, Hellfire Halitosis allows him to breathe fire
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Hold-Scarred Orc
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Orc Ferocity
Background: Bounty Hunter
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained), Legal Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Experienced Tracker
Class & Subclass: Red Dragon Instinct Barbarian
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained), Survival (trained)
o Class Feat: Sudden Charge
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12)
As a disclaimer for this build, Borderlands focuses on gunplay and even melee-oriented characters are reliant upon the firearms. However, this build is going to forgo that and instead focus on the melee facets of the character since guns aren’t quite as common in Pathfinder.
Most of these builds attempt to stay true to a character’s ancestry, but Krieg’s abilities and several in-game mechanics lend themselves well to the orc ancestry. The hold-scarred heritage works well to represent the horrific experiments he endured in the process of being turned into a psycho. Orc Ferocity represents the Fight for your Life feature from Borderlands, in which a character gets a chance to fight for a revive when downed. While it isn’t touched upon much in the game proper, Krieg has a history as a bounty hunter, and this build uses that background. Magical Experiment could also work while being thematically appropriate, but its ability boosts slow down Krieg’s ability score progression. Unsurprisingly, Krieg makes use of the barbarian class with the red dragon instinct, based upon his Hellborn skill tree. The rage feature of this class is a perfect fit for Krieg’s own Buzz Axe Rampage and Sudden Charge helps to emulate the speed boost that it provides him with.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Furious Finish
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: psychopomp mask
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +1 battle axe, everburning torch, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Fast Movement
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Gear: backfire mantle, +1 battle axe, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14)
o Ancestry Feat: Victorious Vigor
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking battle axe, backfire mantle, bracelet of dashing, necklace of knives, everburning torch, psychopomp mask
Fast Movement may not be the most exciting feat but it serves its purpose, along with the likes of Fleet, to give Krieg the enhanced movement speed of his Buzz Axe Rampage. Slightly earlier than that, he has Furious Finish, which is conceptually based off of Empty the Rage. In Borderlands, this skill increases Krieg’s melee damage when his guns are empty or his shield is depleted while in PF2e, Furious Finished increases Krieg’s damage and ends his rage, along with any temporary Hit Points (shield) he may have had. It isn’t perfect, but it plays into the risk-reward style of the Mania tree, which is something this build will include throughout. Buzz Axe Rampage’s refilled health on each kill is a bit much by the standard of Pathfinder Second Edition, but Victorious Vigor does at least grant him temporary Hit Points with each kill, allowing it to serve as a stand-in for that feature. On skills, Krieg prioritizes Athletics, to take advantage of his free-hand fighting style, Survival, to reference the harsh desert environment he survives in, and Intimidation, mostly for mechanical purposes but also to represent the threatening and confusing gibberish he spouts. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fit Raging Intimidation into his build, meaning that he’ll have to Demoralize before he goes on his rampage.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Dragon’s Rage Breath
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: +1 hide, +1 striking battle axe, lifting belt, backfire mantle, goz mask, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Orc Weapon Familiarity
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: greater goz mask, +1 hide, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking orc necksplitter, backfire mantle, bracelet of dashing
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Scouring Rage
o Skill Feat: Combat Climber
o Gear: wounding weapon rune, greater goz mask, ring of the ram, +1 hide, +1 striking orc necksplitter, lifting belt
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Undying Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Gear: +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune, greater goz mask, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking orc necksplitter
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Come and Get Me
o Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient hide, crown of the fire eater, wounding weapon rune, greater goz mask, +1 striking orc necksplitter
To represent the Hellfire Halitosis skill from the Hellborn tree, Krieg picks up Dragon’s Rage Breath. This feat is ultimately what influenced the decision to build Krieg as a dragon barbarian rather than an elemental barbarian. Scouring Rage simply delves deeper into the theme of Hellborn, if nothing more, to wreathe Krieg in flames. There is no thematically better fit for Krieg’s Mania tree with its high-risk, high-reward skills than Come and Get Me (CaGM). It places Krieg in a vulnerable position to gain an advantage over his foes. Even if he would be downed, he has a chance to stay standing with Orc Ferocity, which is now bolstered by Undying Ferocity granting him extra Hit Points.
On a side tangent, I’m not a fan of CaGM since it locks Krieg into the flat-footed condition and taking extra damage for the rest of his rage. I’d like it better if it was something that could be activated for a round, akin to raising a shield. However, Krieg does have a way out of this state. If he’s getting too battered to keep using it, he can make a Strike with Furious Finish to end his rage early and hopefully land a hefty blow.
Of note among the skill feats in this block is Terrifying Resistance, which will help shore up some of his defenses against certain enemies, which will prove particularly useful down the line. From general feats, Krieg picks up Ancestral Paragon to gain Orc Weapon Familiarity, which he primarily wants so that he can use an orc necksplitter without issue. This one-handed axe isn’t too different from a battle axe, but adds the forceful trait to Krieg’s arsenal, making his subsequent attacks deadlier. Most importantly, the visual of the necksplitter better represent his buzz axe.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Survival (master)
o Gear: +2 striking orc necksplitter, armbands of athleticism, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Embrace the Pain
o Skill Feat: Rapid Mantel
o Gear: +2 resilient hide, +2 striking orc necksplitter, serrating weapon rune, armbands of athleticism, crown of the fire eater, flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Incredible Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking orc necksplitter, +2 resilient hide, necklace of fireballs (IV), serrating weapon rune, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Vengeful Strike
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Gear: hellfire boots, +2 greater striking orc necksplitter, greater crown of the fire eater, +2 resilient hide, serrating weapon rune, instinct crown
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 21, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 16)
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient hide, hellfire boots, necklace of fireballs (type V), +2 greater striking orc necksplitter, bag of holding (type III), necklace of fireballs (IV)
Drawing inspiration from the Mania trees once more, Krieg takes Embrace the Pain, matching a skill from that very source though it lacks its effects. While the Borderlands Embrace the Pain enhances Krieg’s fire rate, the PF2e version grants Krieg the chance to take advantage of his one-handed weapon and grab somebody when they Strike him. However, some may find this becoming obsolete in a few levels when Krieg picks up Vengeful Strike, building out of CaGM and granting a reaction to Strike back at foes. This is limited to Krieg being in CaGM, so maybe that’ll influence players to keep both feats, but in the case where they seem too similar, now is good time to Retrain into Raging Intimidation or Raging Thrower, the latter allowing Krieg to hurl his buzz axe even if this build isn’t entirely kitted out for it.
This build is going to cause Krieg to take a lot of damage, which is admittedly part of the point. But the other part is surviving this damage and to that end, Krieg picks up Toughness for more Hit Points, Incredible Ferocity for more Orc Ferocity uses, and Battle Cry for more missed Strikes from his enemies.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Reckless Abandon
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Gear: necklace of fireballs VI, +2 greater resilient hide, greater red-rib gill mask, hellfire boots, +2 greater striking orc necksplitter, greater crown of the fire eater
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Rampaging Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking orc necksplitter, necklace of fireballs VI, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, hellfire boots, necklace of fireballs (type V)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Terrifying Howl
o Skill Feat: Too Angry to Die
o Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking orc necksplitter, speed weapon rune, necklace of fireballs VI, +2 greater resilient hide, greater red-rib gill mask
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient hide, belt of giant strength, necklace of fireballs (type VII), +3 greater striking orc necksplitter, necklace of fireballs VI, greater flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 22, Dex 16, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Unstoppable Juggernaut
o Skill Feat: Legendary Survivalist
o Gear: +3 major striking orc necksplitter, +3 greater resilient hide, titan’s grasp, necklace of fireballs (type VII), major crown of the fire eater, speed weapon rune
While it isn’t a physiological fit, Reckless Abandon is a fantastic representation of Krieg’s Release the Beast skill. The increased chance to hit will increase his damage while the earlier Raging Resistance provides him with some of its damage reduction. The saving throw penalty can hopefully be mitigated by Terrifying Resistance, but this is another case of Krieg walking the razor’s edge – which is a perfect fit for the Mania tree. However, if things are getting too dicey, just like with CaGM, Krieg can abandon this tactic through the use of Furious Finish. He’ll still be vulnerable, but not as much. Terrifying Howl gives Krieg an option to Demoralize while raging and potentially proc Terrifying Resistance against a multitude of creatures all at once. Finally, Unstoppable Juggernaut increases all of Krieg’s resistances, reflecting the enhanced damage reduction from skills such as Release the Beast and Taste of Blood.
On the ancestry side of things, Krieg grabs Rampaging Ferocity, which grants him a free Strike when he triggers Orc Ferocity. This unfortunately means he can’t use this and Vengeful Strike, but this does keep him from spending his Orc Ferocity and Vengeful Strike is useful for when he’s not about to get knocked out. However, if Krieg does end up getting knocked out and is brought back, he has another reaction to take advantage of – Too Angry to Die. Being knocked unconscious will also knock him out of his rage, which means he can take advantage of this feat while standing up to Demoralize his adversary.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: While perhaps a little plain, Krieg will benefit from some features of the Fighter Dedication. Not so much its proficiencies or its Attack of Opportunity, given the sheer number of reactions he already has, but Power Attack and Dual-Handed Assault feel particularly appropriate for the character. Swipe is another solid feat that works well with his chosen weapon and wasn’t taken among his barbarian feats due to the lack of space. Shatter Defenses may also be helpful, depending on how much you take advantage of his investment in Intimidation. Or he could grab Intimidating Strike to help with that part of it. Finally, if you don’t want to spend a general feat to get Orc Weapon Familiarity, you can use this fighter archetype for Advanced Weapon Training with axes. Beyond the orc necksplitter, this adds the butchering axe (which he would also get from Orc Weapon Familiarity) and dwarven war-axe (which he would not otherwise gain access to) to his arsenal.
BUILD CONCLUSION
This build departs from the typical to represent Krieg as a hold-scarred orc barbarian with the dragon instinct and bounty hunter background. His heritage represents the torturous experiments he survived and aside from the feats of the orc being handy, orcs being a classic enemy of TTRPGs is a parallel to Krieg being a psycho, a classic enemy of Borderlands. He eschews gunplay entirely to focus on his Buzz Axe Rampage through the barbarian class and its rage feature. While the rage itself grants him the extra melee damage, he takes Fast Movement and Fleet to achieve its increased movement speed and the likes of Victorious Vigor and Come and Get Me help reference the health he regains on a kill through the use of temporary Hit Points. Raging Resistance also provides him with some of the damage reduction from Taste of Blood, but he doesn’t gain the blanket reduction of this effect until he picks up Unstoppable Juggernaut. The playstyle for this particular build fits in with the high-risk, high-reward style of the Mania tree and several choices were based off of it. Furious Finish evokes Empty the Rage, ending his rage and any temporary Hit Points he might have from it to further increase his damage. Embrace the Pain is referenced in name but not effect and Release the Beast is captured by Reckless Abandon, even triggering when he’s at a certain health threshold and making him even deadlier. Come and Get Me fits into this style even if it doesn’t directly reference a feature of this skill line. From the first level, Krieg also delves into the Hellborn tree, simply by taking the dragon instinct and choosing an option that gives him fire damage. He expands on that concept with Dragon’s Rage Breath to emulate Hellfire Halitosis and takes Scouring Rage to truly wreath himself in flames.
Krieg wields fire and flames as he dances upon a razor’s edge, risking his own life to gain advantage over his foes before unleashing savage retaliation, kept alive by his own rage and satisfaction at his foe’s demise. However, the build desperately needs a way to gain more reactions.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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 are trying to get some milestones made up for.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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