Due to a misunderstanding on my part, I'm releasing this build following the recent release of this character in League of Legends. The shadow build will be forestalled until next week as we explore this new champion! 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.
If you prefer watching over reading, check out the YouTube video on the character!
Let's get into the build for Smolder, the Fiery Fledgling from League of Legends!
SMOLDER, THE FIERY FLEDGLING
CHARACTER Ignacarious Gigantareno Rex Le Spex Offerentis
SOURCEÂ League of Legends
Â
BUILD GOALS
o   Smolder is a young dragon who is classified as a marksman, utilizing ranged attacks to eliminate enemies
o   Dragon Practice gains stacks when he hits enemies with abilities or kills enemies with Super Scorcher Breath. Stacks increase the damage dealt by his abilities
o   Super Scorcher Breath launches an explosive fireball that grows more powerful with stacks of Dragon Practice. As it grows more powerful, it affects nearby enemies, launches multiple fireballs in an arc, and sets enemies on fire
o   Achooo! unleashes a rolling sphere of flame that damages and slows the first enemy hit
o   Flap, Flap, Flap allows Smolder to take flight, moving faster and ignoring terrain. While flying, he unleashes fiery bolts at the lowest health enemy
o   MMOOOMMMM! summons Smolder’s mother who soars overhead and blasts the ground below in a wave of flame that damages enemies and heals Smolder
Â
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Dragonscaled Kobold (Red)
o   Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma, +Constitution, -Constitution
o   Ancestry Feat: Kobold Breath
Â
Background:Â Dragon Scholar
o   Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained), Dragon Lore (trained)
o   Background Feat: Intimidating Glare
Â
Class & Subclass: Sorcerer with Draconic Bloodline (Red)
o   Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o   Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Athletics (trained), Diplomacy (trained)
o   Spell Repertoire: Cantrips - detect magic, eat fire, ignition, shield, warp step; 1st - breathe fire, force barrage, sure strike
Â
Details
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +1, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +4)
Playing a true dragon isn’t quite possible in the baseline rules of Pathfinder Second Edition though one can easily find the dragon ancestry created by the Battlezoo folks. However, there is a goal to keep these builds as true to the core game as possible, which means to represent this darling diminutive dragon, the build uses the kobold ancestry along with the dragonscaled heritage to tie the character even further to dragons. Given the main color of Smolder’s scales as well as the liberal use of fire, he chooses red dragons as his draconic exemplar before that’s all undone in the remaster. Kobold Breath gives him a small cone of fire, resembling a Super Scorcher Breath that hasn’t reached full power yet. With his interest in growing up and becoming a true dragon, the dragon scholar background is a fine fit though it must be decoupled from the adventure it came from. Although Smolder is an ADC, he has a focus on empowering and using his abilities as seen with his Dragon Practice passive. To that end and to capture the feel of me of those abilities, he uses the sorcerer class coupled with the draconic bloodline, granting him another breath weapon in the form of a focus spell.
               The primary cantrip that stands out is ignition for his regular attacks, but eat fire feels true to his concept as well. Breathe fire, much like Kobold Breath, is another way to match his Super Scorcher Breath though these are cones, rather than the burst that the ability is. He needs a few more levels of it, but the way that the missiles of force barrage automatically hit are going to work well for his Flap, Flap, Flap.
LEVEL 2
o   Class Feat: Dragon Disciple Dedication
o   Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o   Spell Repertoire: 1st – scorching blast
o   Gear: psychopomp mask
Â
LEVEL 3
o   General Feat: Toughness
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o   Spell Repertoire: 1st – breathe fire*; 2nd – blazing bolt, floating flame*, resist energy
o   Gear: Jack’s tattered cape, candlecap, psychopomp mask
Â
LEVEL 4
o   Class Feat: Scales of the Dragon
o   Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance
o   Spell Repertoire: 2nd – ash cloud
o   Gear: staff of fire, Jack’s tattered cape, brooch of shielding, psychopomp mask
Â
LEVEL 5
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +4.5)
o   Ancestry Feat: Dragon’s Presence
o   Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o   Spell Repertoire: 3rd – elemental absorption, fireball*, haste
o   Gear: demon mask, staff of fire, bracelet of dashing, Jack’s tattered cape, candlecap, mudlily
Given Smolder’s dedication to becoming a real dragon, he can use the Dragon Disciple Dedication though the initial benefits of it are somewhat lacking since he already has resistance to fire damage from his heritage. This allows him to take Scales of the Dragon, which is intended primarily for mechanical purposes, helping his AC since sorcerers can’t wear armor. Dragon’s Presence matches with Smolder’s intent of growing up to be a great dragon while for skill feats, Cat Fall will help protect this fledgling flyer and Terrifying Resistance will take advantage of his Intimidation investment, which he takes mostly fit the terror that dragons inspire.
               Scorching blast is a contender for a spell that should’ve been taking at first level as it can be used to resemble Smolder’s basic attacks. It’s a single action that allows him to make single action spell attacks with the remaining actions. When he gains access to 2nd-rank spells, blazing bolt allows him to fire a multitude of bolts, befitting either his basic attacks or possibly the flames that he launches when using Flap, Flap, Flap. More importantly, he takes up floating flame to generate a rolling sphere of flame akin to his Achooo! He gains resist energy automatically as a draconic sorcerer and then gains 3rd-rank spells. The biggest one here is fireball, which better serves as his Super Scorcher Breath especially as he gains stacks from Dragon Practice. Elemental absorption is meant to help with his mother’s fire breath healing him in MMOOOMMMM!, but lacks the healing component, instead converting the fire damage into more damage.
LEVEL 6
o   Class Feat: Advanced Bloodline
o   Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o   Spell Repertoire: 3rd - cloud dragon’s cloak
o   Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, lifting belt, demon mask, staff of fire, Jack’s tattered cape, brooch of shielding
Â
LEVEL 7
o   General Feat: Fleet
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o   Spell Repertoire: 4th - fly, reflective scales*, spell immunity
o   Gear: wand of rolling flames (2nd-level), +1 explorer’s clothing, wand of shardstorm (1st-level), demon mask, staff of fire, bracelet of dashing
Â
LEVEL 8
o   Class Feat: Detonating Spell
o   Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o   Spell Repertoire: 4th - Ymeri’s mark
o   Gear: eternal eruption of Blackpeak, lesser grub gloves, wand of rolling flames (2nd-level), +1 explorer’s clothing, lifting belt, demon mask
Â
LEVEL 9
o   Ancestry Feat: Dragon’s Breath
o   Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o   Spell Repertoire: 5th - blazing fissure, chromatic wall, summon dragon*
o   Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, eternal eruption of Blackpeak, necklace of fireballs (type II), wand of rolling flames (2nd-level), wand of shardstorm (1st-level), necklace of fireballs (type I)
Â
LEVEL 10
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +4.5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +5)
o   Class Feat: Signature Spell Expansion
o   Skill Feat: Aerobatics Mastery
o   Spell Repertoire: 5th - mantle of the magma heart
o   Gear: wand of shardstorm (3rd-level), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, crown of the fire eater, eternal eruption of Blackpeak, lesser grub gloves, wand of rolling flames (2nd-level)
By taking the Advanced Bloodline feat, Smolder gains dragon breath as a focus spell, ensuring that he can use it regularly and with great effect given how focus spells scale automatically. He picks up Detonating Spell as his next class feat, to add some splash to his spells, befitting the same effect of an empowered Super Scorcher Breath though this is limited to spells that target only a single creature. This might make blazing bolt the best fit for it given that many of his spells hit in an AoE. Signature Spell Expansion grants him two additional signature spells of which I think force barrage is an easy first pick but I don’t have a must-take for the second one. Scorching blast or blazing bolt is probably a good pick but I could also understand options such as elemental absorption instead. Battle Cry lets him start off battle with a roar to debuff enemies while Aerobatics Mystery aids in the fly spell that he gains during this block. He can expand Kobold Breath into Dragon Breath with his ancestry feat, which allows him to make it much more effective at the cost of putting it on a cooldown.
               He signatures reflective scales, which makes more sense if you haven’t already done so to elemental absorption. As mentioned, he picks up fly, which will be important for representing his ability to fly as seen in Flap, Flap, Flap. The most important spell during this block is likely summon dragon, which will be the first step in representing Smolder’s MMOOOMMM! ultimate ability thought there are grander ways to do so down the line.
LEVEL 11
o   General Feat: Fast Recovery
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o   Spell Repertoire: 6th - dragon form*, flame vortex, teleport
o   Gear: greater demon mask, eternal eruption of Pale Mountain, wand of shardstorm (3rd-level), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, eternal eruption of Blackpeak, necklace of fireballs (type II)
Â
LEVEL 12
o   Class Feat: Greater Bloodline
o   Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o   Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of rolling flames (4th-level), greater demon mask, wand of shardstorm (3rd-level), crown of the fire eater, wand of smoldering fireballs (3rd-level)
Â
LEVEL 13
o   Ancestry Feat: Dragonblood Paragon – Kobold Breath
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o   Spell Repertoire: 7th - mask of terror
o   Gear: greater crown of the fire eater, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, dragon rune bracelet, greater demon mask, eternal eruption of Pale Mountain, wand of shardstorm (3rd-level)
Â
LEVEL 14
o   Class Feat: Overwhelming Energy
o   Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o   Gear: wand of shardstorm (5th-level), wand of smoldering fireballs (5th-level), greater crown of the fire eater, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of rolling flames (4th-level), greater demon mask
Â
LEVEL 15
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +5.5)
o   General Feat: Incredible Investiture
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o   Spell Repertoire: 8th - burning blossoms*, prismatic wall
o   Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, eternal eruption of Droskar’s Crag, wand of shardstorm (5th-level), greater crown of the fire eater, eternal eruption of Mhar Massif, dragon rune bracelet
Greater Bloodline gives Smolder the dragon wings focus spell and aside from providing him with an impressive fly Speed, it also provides a very handy additional focus point, which can be spent on this effect or his dragon breath. His kit focuses heavily on fire damage, which makes Overwhelming Energy particularly useful when he is faced with an enemy that has any measure of resistance to his favored flames. Dragons are mighty and fearsome beasts as seen by his investment in Strength and Intimidating Prowess. They are also creatures of great magical might, leading to the inclusion of Incredible Investiture. He can take Dragonblood Paragon for his Kobold Breath, which adds persistent damage to his breath when creatures critically fail their save against it, matching the final upgrade for his Super Scorcher Breath.
               By this point, he’s gained the most important spells that he needs to represent his kit, but we can start to represent a potentially fully grown Smolder or one more directly a dragon through the dragon form spell.
LEVEL 16
o   Class Feat: Disciple’s Breath
o   Skill Feat: Kip Up
o   Gear: greater wyrm claw, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, dragonprism staff, wand of shardstorm (5th-level), wand of smoldering fireballs (5th-level), greater crown of the fire eater
Â
LEVEL 17
o   Ancestry Feat: Dracomancer
o   Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o   Spell Repertoire: 9th - falling stars*, overwhelming presence, summon draconic legion
o   Gear: major crown of the fire eater, greater wyrm claw, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, eternal eruption of Droskar’s Crag, wand of shardstorm (5th-level)
Â
LEVEL 18
o   Class Feat: Mighty Wings//Quickened Casting
o   Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o   Gear: circlet of persuasion, wand of smoldering fireballs (17th-level), major crown of the fire eater, greater wyrm claw, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, dragonprism staff
Â
LEVEL 19
o   General Feat: Diehard
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o   Spell Repertoire: 10th - cataclysm, manifestation
o   Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, circlet of persuasion, wand of shardstorm (7th-rank), major crown of the fire eater, greater wyrm claw, dragonscale amulet
Â
LEVEL 20
o   Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +6)
o   Class Feat: Bloodline Mutation/Metamagic Mastery
o   Skill Feat: Lasting Coercion
o   Skill Increase: Nature (trained)
o   Gear: major wyrm claw, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mask of allure, wand of shardstorm (7th-rank), wand of smoldering fireballs (17th-level), major crown of the fire eater
When Smolder is burnt out on spells and focus points, he can still rely on Disciple’s Breath to give him a blast with limited damage that he can unleash every 1d4 rounds. Mighty Wings gives Smolder a permanent fly Speed, which he can enhance by spending a focus point, but taking Bloodline Mutation to become a true dragon with a permanent fly Speed, making the feat redundant. I suggest either retraining Mighty Wings into Quickened Casting, since Smolder is meant to be a marksman who are known for making abundant attacks or just taking Quickened Casting in the first place if you want to rely on dragon wings and fly until then. Alternatively, if you don’t like Bloodline Mutation since some of the effects it offers are somewhat redundant, Metamagic Mastery could help Smolder save on actions, letting him use options such as Detonating Spell and Overwhelming Energy without having to spend actions on them. There’s a few potential choices for his final ancestry feat, but Dracomancer keeps with the dragon theme while also providing additional spells, granting him his choice of charm, ray of enfeeblement, or sure strike for 1st-rank spells and comprehend language, resist energy, or see invisibility for 2nd-rank spells.
               The most important spell in this block is summon draconic legion, which is a better representation of his MMOOOMMMM! ability given the briefness of her appearance.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: There’s no question that Smolder’s first archetype should be the Dragon Disciple Dedication and with the freed up feats, Smolder can look to grab sorcerer feats such as Entreat with Forebears, Bloodline Focus, Widen Spell, and Dangerous Sorcery. But once he’s gotten what he wanted from those, another option for him is a Kineticist Dedication, which may require some reconfiguring of his ability scores. But this could provide him with a regular fire attack in the form of an elemental blast that he can consistently make as a single action though such attacks will always be at a low bonus. Nevertheless, it could at least prove a fun concept.
Â
BUILD CONCLUSION
Smolder is a red dragonscaled kobold sorcerer of the draconic bloodline and the dragon scholar background. This ancestry serves well to represent that he is a young dragon growing into his powers with his future grandeur encouraged and inspired by his background. For his fiery autoattacks, he is going to be reliant on the unfortunately two-action ignition spell but can pick up scorching blast fairly quickly to resemble the multiple blasts that he can unleash swiftly. Dragon Practice has kind of a strange representation, mostly envisioned through simply heightening his spells, which he further explores with Signature Spell Expansion. This build features a multitude of ways to cover Smolder’s Super Scorcher Breath, ranging from Kobold Breath, breathe fire, dragon breath and its Disciple’s Breath, and fireball as it gets into higher levels. Dragonblood Paragon adds persistent fire damage to his Kobold Breath, which can be enhanced with Dragon Breath to resemble this ability with high Dragon Prince stacks. The splash effect can be covered by using Detonating Spell with blazing bolt. Achooo! is a very basic ability that is probably best represented by floating flame when it comes to resembling the giant, rolling flaming snot bubble. Smolder can use Flap, Flap, Flap to take flight, which can be covered through fly, dragon wings, or his eventual Mighty Wings or Bloodline Mutation. However, this ability also causes him to continually fire at the lowest health enemy and to that end, probably gets the most use out of a heightened force barrage, spending one action to stay aloft or Fly into position and then another two actions to rain down as many missiles as his spell slots will allow. Finally, when it comes time to call in his MMOOOMMMM!, he can use summon dragon or summon draconic legion to unleash powerful flames. Regrettably, there isn’t really a means of representing the healing she provides, even with effects such as elemental absorption and reflective scales used to unleash more damage rather than restoring him.
Â
When the constant combustions of this cute, crimson critter aren’t quite capable, a cacophonous cry calls to his coptering, coddling caregivers to create cataclysmic conflagrations.
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. Our next build steps out of the shadows from the other side to make you an offer you can't refuse.
Have a fantastic Friday!