This build came as a request that I was a little unsure of. I'd never played the game, which isn't entirely unusual for the builds I do, but I thought that it would be too out there for me to put together a build for it. His build goal list felt lacking when I first wrote it, but I couldn't figure out what to do to expand it. Nevertheless, having completed it, I felt quite happy with it and hope that you all enjoy it as well! As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Sundowner from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance!
SUNDOWNER
CHARACTER Sundowner
SOURCE Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
BUILD GOALS
o Sundowner is a burly cyborg mercenary who serves as the de-facto leader private military contractor known as Desperado Enforcement LLC.
o He wields a pair of high-frequency machetes that could be merged into a scissor-like weapon and also become superheated
o A solid student who didn’t have the money for college, he joined the military and served in several engagements before he became a mercenary
o An IED took him out of service until he was rebuilt as a cyborg
o Lusts for war and combat, leading him down a path to instigate conflicts in a grand scheme
o Aside from his dual blades, his body was socketed with shield platforms that could repel attacks thanks to explosive reactive armor layering. He would also occasionally bash people with them
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Technological Fleshwarp
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Strength
o Ancestry Feat: Living Weapon – Claws
Background: Warrior
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained), Warfare Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Intimidating Glare
Class & Subclass: Desecrator Champion
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Religion (trained)
o Class Feat: Ongoing Selfishness
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14)
As a heavily modified cyborg, technological fleshwarp felt like the best fit to start out, giving him an inhuman body with a focus on machinery. Unfortunately, none of the ancestry feats really stand out for this particular build, leading to a settling on Living Weapon at least to reference his ability to fit his second machete into his body. Despite his good grades, Sundowner joined the military rather than attending the college and found his true calling in war, making warrior a natural fit for his background. Finally, there’s a couple of classes that could work for the cyborg but the goal of this build is to capture the feel of his shields, claim of invincibility, and sword usage. The champion makes him a solid tank, especially as he gains legendary proficiency in armor, and the NE desecrator cause best fits his nihilistic worldview. The desecrator’s reaction is also probably the best fit for him, just being something that makes him even more resilient rather than forcing an enemy to kneel or amping his damage against them. Ongoing Selfishness allows him to retain resistance against the target that triggered his Selfish Shield.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Deity’s Domain – Destruction
o Skill Feat: Additional Lore – Warfare Lore
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Divine Ally: Shield
o Gear: +1 machete, psycopomp mask, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Aura of Despair
o Skill Feat: Quick Repair
o Gear: golden legion epaulet, +1 machete, brooch of shielding, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16)
o Ancestry Feat: Mutate Weapon
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking machete, golden legion epaulet, bracers of missile deflection, brooch of shielding, psycopomp mask, ring of discretion
Less reflective of any ability that Sundowner presents, Deity’s Domain to get cry of destruction mostly fits with his goals and beliefs, and its damage increase after having already hurt a foe is fun. As a leader of his group, even though he has others that he answers to, Sundowner keeps his Charisma high, which will benefit his focus spells. He complements his spells that require saves with a focus on Intimidation, Demoralizing them to lower their saves and then trying to keep them in his Aura of Despair so they can’t remove the penalty. Sundowner already has Warfare Lore from his background, but having it be something he continues to improve upon feels important for the character – but not enough to burn precious skill increases on. A quick skill feat for Additional Lore on the topic will keep it relevant, appropriate for such a warmonger. With a focus on his shields, Quick Repair will help him keep them fixed up between battles. He continues his tankiness with Diehard and uses Mutate Weapon to make his claws briefly more effective, more in line with his ‘pincer blades.’
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Corrupted Shield
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o Gear: +1 full plate, +1 striking machete, minor sturdy shield, golden legion epaulet, brooch of shielding, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: lion’s shield, +1 full plate, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking machete, golden legion epaulet, bracers of missile deflection
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Second Ally – Blade
o Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance
o Gear: lesser sturdy shield, lion’s shield, ring of the ram, +1 full plate, +1 striking machete, lifting belt
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Powerful Guts
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +1 resilient full plate, boots of bounding, lesser sturdy shield, lion’s shield, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking machete
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Radiant Blade Spirit
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Gear: greater bracers of missile deflection, +1 resilient full plate, flaming weapon rune, lesser sturdy shield, lion’s shield, +1 striking machete
To simulate the explosive reactive armor layering of Sundowner’s shields, he picks up Corrupted Shield to damage foes that he Shield Blocks. Sundowner’s main claim to fame may be his so-called invincibility, but his blades are nothing to gloss over, so he picks up Second Ally for them and then takes Radiant Blade Spirit so he can light them with flame to match their ability to become superheated. Toughness and Terrifying Resistance both play a bit into his resiliency while it seems natural that such a heavily modified cyborg would have some means of filtering – hence the Powerful Guts ancestry feat.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: +2 striking machete, greater bracers of missile deflection, grievous weapon rune, +1 resilient full plate, boots of bounding, lesser sturdy shield
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Quick Shield Block
o Skill Feat: Rapid Mantel
o Gear: +2 resilient full plate, +2 striking machete, moderate sturdy shield, greater bracers of missile deflection, flaming weapon rune, greater backfire mantle
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Gaping Flesh
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking machete, +2 resilient full plate, implacable armor rune, moderate sturdy shield, greater bracers of missile deflection, grievous weapon rune
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Divine Reflexes
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Gear: greater sturdy shield, +2 greater striking machete, fortification armor rune, +2 resilient full plate, greater demon mask, moderate sturdy shield
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 21, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 19)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Deception (trained), Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient full plate, greater sturdy shield, boots of speed, +2 greater striking machete, implacable armor rune, greater goggles of night
It may not always be smart to do depending on the force of blows being rained down upon Sundowner, but Quick Shield Block allows him to block at least one additional time per round potentially triggering Corrupted Shield multiple times while Divine Reflexes gives him an extra reaction for his Selfish Shield. This gives him three reactions a round, which is handy in defending him. As burly and durable as Sundowner is, he is also extraordinarily fast, so Fleet is a good fit for him and helps counteract the slowing effect of his heavy armor. With a lack of better options, Gaping Flesh gives him another means of using that reaction that isn’t already dedicated Shield Block or Selfish Shield. It’s a nice debuffing ability that also feels appropriate for a cyborg able to survive even grisly wounds.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Gruesome Strike
o Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient full plate, greater boots of bounding, greater sturdy shield, +2 greater striking machete, fortification armor rune
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Uncanny Awareness
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking machete, greater flaming weapon rune, reforging shield, +2 greater resilient full plate, greater sturdy shield, boots of speed
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Instrument of Slaughter
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking machete, major sturdy shield, greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient full plate, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Battle Planner
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient full plate, belt of giant strength, dread blindfold, +3 greater striking machete, greater flaming weapon rune, reforging shield
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 22, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Shield Paragon
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Skill Increase: Society (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking machete, +3 greater resilient full plate, indestructible shield, belt of giant strength, bloodthirsty weapon rune, speed weapon rune
Sundowner’s last two feats before his capstone feat focus on improving his damage-dealing capabilities. Aside from amping the damage granted by his reaction, Gruesome Strike also has a chance of inflicting drained, which has the wonderful benefit of reducing the max HP of a foe. Instrument of Slaughter gives him the chance to inflict persistent bleed damage, but his capstone feat is still dedicated to his shields with Shield Paragon. With this, his shield is always raised, freeing up his actions to make attacks or use other abilities, such as cry of destruction, and it also becomes substantially sturdier. Uncanny Awareness is meant to resemble the suite of sensors a body like his should hold. From his skill feats, Sundowner picks up some of the maneuverability that is common among cyborgs in his home franchise.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: The first archetype that comes to mind for Sundowner is the Bastion Dedication. Some of these feats may end up being slightly redundant, but Disarming Block is nice, Nimble Shield Hand is useful, and options along the lines of Reflexive Shield and Mirror Shield work nicely for him. Alternatively, while this deviates from the initial idea of the character with a focus on using a shield, but Dual-Weapon Warrior fits well for simulating his pincer blades. Flensing Slice fits nicely for some of the gruesomeness he inflicts and the flurry of blades he unleashes upon Raiden in their fight works nicely with the Double Slice it grants as well as feats that generally improve that, such as Dual Onslaught, Dual-Weapon Blitz, and Two-Weapon Flurry. While going this route with dual machetes completely casts aside his shield, this could potentially work with a machete in one hand and a shield with a shield boss or something similar in the other. In such a case, rings of doubling should be worked into his build if using this idea.
BUILD CONCLUSION
The warrior background reflects Sundowner’s past as a soldier and eventual mercenary while the technological fleshwarp fits well for a heavily modified cyborg such as himself. Champion ensures that he has the best AC possible, fitting his claims of invincibility, and it also meshes well with his use of shields. While he traditionally wields dual machetes and has shields on extendable arms socketed into his back, such an array isn’t achievable in Pathfinder and he must instead wield a blade in one hand and a shield in another. He is at least able to superheat his weapons thanks to his Radiant Blade Spirit and in general enhances its deadliness with the damage boost from Selfish Shield as well as Gruesome Strike and Instrument of Slaughter. Corrupted Shield damages those whose attacks that he Shield Blocks, fitting with the explosive reactive armor layering that he has upon them.
Lemme know what you think and if there's any other particular builds you'd 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. Next week, FBF happens to fall on my birthday, so I'll be doing a build for one of my favorite characters.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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