When I was deciding on our host of horror heroes for Halloween, the character of Vincent Valentine came up. I decided against building him at the time because he had been voted for the Frankenstein's monster build, but it was way too minor of an aspect on him. But he still won the most votes, so I compromised and decided to use him and his multitude of monstrous forms as a cherry on top of the month of Halloween. 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.
The return of FBF of course sees the return of videos to go with it, which I hope you will check out. Had some fun with this one.
Let's get into the build for Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII!
VINCENT VALENTINE
SOURCE Final Fantasy franchise
BUILD GOALS
o Vincent is a gun-wielding warrior known for his long range. His weapons have only moderate attack power but the maximum chance to hit
o In the backstory of the game, he is a member of the Turks, a covert force that initially work for Shinra
o In Dirge of Cerberus, he wields a variety of firearms, ranging from his typical revolver to a rifle to a machine gun
o Genetic modification infused him with other forms that he can transform into for greater strength, speed, and healing capabilities while also stopping his aging
o Vincent is able to give up control to transform into a multitude of monstrous forms that come with hard-hitting attacks
o These monstrous forms can unleash elemental area attacks
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Hungerseed Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Oni Form
Background: Magical Experiment
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution
o Skill Increase: Occultism (trained), Academia Lore (trained)
o Abilities: Low-Light Vision, Imprecise Scent
Class & Subclass: Way of the Pistolero Gunslinger
o Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Deception (trained), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained)
o Class Feat: Munitions Crafter
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +1)
I considered using the fleshwarp ancestry for this build to demonstrate the experiments that have made Vincent Valentine into what he is. Mechanically, human works out a bit better for him, but he will at least take the hungerseed heritage to tap into the strangeness. The horns it provides don’t match his base form, but Oni Form is a step towards representing the more monstrous forms that he is able to adopt. He then relies on the magical experiment background to represent the modifications that Shinra made to him, which enhances his senses rather than providing him with a skill feat. The sole boost to Constitution is a little unfortunate since it means that he’s lagging a little behind when it comes to his Dexterity for his gunslinger class. While he wields a variety of firearms in his solo game, he’s most famously known for wielding a single one-handed firearm, which lends to using the way of the pistolero for him. He’ll use the Munitions Crafter class feat as just a generally good feat that will ensure that he always has ammunition and can cook up some bombs when the need calls for it.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Living Vessel Dedication
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +1 slide pistol, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Pistol Twirl
o Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o Gear: ventriloquist’s ring, +1 slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +2)
o Ancestry Feat: Bloodsoaked Dash
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking slide pistol, bracelet of dashing, ventriloquist’s ring, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
There are monsters within Vincent and he explores that concept with the Living Vessel Dedication though at first here, that monster only emerges when he goes to 0 Hit Points. He returns to his gunslinger feats for Pistol Twirl, which mainly offers mechanical benefits with letting him lower the AC of foes from afar when he has that lower Dexterity and attack bonus than most gunslingers. His general and skill feats all feel very anime with the likes of Fleet and Bloodsoaked Dash increasing his Speed and then Quick Jump and Cat Fall letting him bound about and then safely descend – sort of how he wafts to land on his coffin after erupting out of it.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Munitions Machinist
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: +1 buckle armor, +1 striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), ventriloquist’s ring, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Gear: clandestine cloak, +1 buckle armor, lesser boots of free running, +1 striking slide pistol, ventriloquist’s ring, handwraps of mighty blows (+1)
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Nightwave Springing Reload
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o Gear: boots of bounding, clandestine cloak, lesser dread armor rune, +1 buckle armor, +1 striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Barbarian Dedication (Wolf Animal Instinct)
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master), Thievery (trained)
o Gear: +1 resilient buckle armor, boots of bounding, ethersight ring, clandestine cloak, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), +1 striking slide pistol
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +4.5, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +3)
o Class Feat: Basic Fury – Raging Intimidation
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare, Wall Jump
o Gear: mask of the banshee, +1 resilient buckle armor, shock weapon rune, boots of bounding, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), +1 striking slide pistol
Last block he increased his Crafting so that he could take Munitions Machinist, which will let him make more powerful bombs and ammunition. This will be a bit more useful down the line to represent a specific aspect of Vincent’s kit. He wants to explore gunslinger a bit but it honestly doesn’t make up a lot of his capabilities. Nightwave Springing Reload feels anime enough to fit his aesthetic, so we’ll slip that in. He reveals the reason that he took the human ancestry with Multitalented so that he can dive into a Barbarian Dedication, representing his loss of control when he takes on one of his monstrous forms. He follows this up with Basic Fury to get Raging Intimidation, just generally meshing with the Intimidation investment he has been taking for his Raconteur’s Reload. Like Fleet representing the enhanced speed granted by the experiments conducted on him, Vincent also enhances his general sturdiness with the likes of Toughness. He also takes advantage of his Strength with Intimidating Prowess, giving him a small boost to his checks to Demoralize. Rounding out his options for this block with Wall Jump, inspired by the general leaping and bouncing around seen in Final Fantasy: Advent Children.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking slide pistol, greater ventriloquist’s ring, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient buckle armor, boots of bounding, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Instinct Ability
o Skill Feat: Confabulator
o Gear: +2 resilient buckle armor, +2 striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), mask of the banshee, shock weapon rune, flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Greater Transformation
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking slide pistol, +2 resilient buckle armor, moderate boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), greater ventriloquist’s ring, mask of the banshee
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Shattering Shot
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient buckle armor, charlatan’s cape, greater demon mask
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4.5, Dex +5, Con +3, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +3)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient buckle armor, propulsive boots, winged armor rune, +2 greater striking slide pistol, alchemist’s haversack, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking)
Vince grabs Instinct Ability, causing him to become more monstrous when he Rages and remove his ability to use his weapons. Notably, this is a morph effect, which means that it can mesh with other morph and even polymorph effects – which will be important later. He returns to his gunslinger roots to pick up Shattering Shot, letting him lob one of the bombs he’s made with Munitions Machinist and shoot it out of the air for an extraordinary explosion. The elemental damage of the bombs and the area of this effect ends up fitting nicely with the large elemental attacks of monstrous forms though it is a bit backwards in this case. He does have a little exploration of that aspect with Greater Transformation adding some reach to his Oni Form and making it so that he no longer has to Sustain it. Fast Recovery and Diehard help to represent the enhanced toughness imbued by the experiments a bit further as well as his heightened healing capabilities. From skill feats, he pulls Confabulator so that he can Create a Diversion with Raconteur’s Reload with greater ease and Battle Cry to potentially set up enemies for a Pistol Twirl at the start of a fight and have them at a -3 or greater penalty to AC to his first shot. He also receives Scare to Death for free thanks to his Raging Intimidation.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Vessel’s Form
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Gear: shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient buckle armor, greater midday lantern, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Kishin Rage
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking slide pistol, shock weapon rune, flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient buckle armor, propulsive boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Final Shot
o Skill Feat: Rolling Landing
o Gear: cloak of swiftness, +3 greater striking slide pistol, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient buckle armor, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: True Perception
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient buckle armor, cloak of swiftness, greater armbands of athleticism, +3 greater striking slide pistol, shock weapon rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Perfect Readiness
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: +3 major striking slide pistol, +3 greater resilient buckle armor, mercurial mantle, greater armbands of athleticism, greater ashen weapon rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking)
This block features two ways for Vincent to adopt a more monstrous form – which is good because he had a multitude of forms in his original incarnation. Vessel’s Form is the first of these two options and probably the more powerful one with it including increases to his attack and damage bonuses, the latter of which will notably stack with the increased damage of Rage. Kishin Rage is also pretty good at the innate electricity inclusion can be thought to reference the electric powers of his Death Gigas. He rounds out his class options with gunslinger feats, with Final Shot and its triple dose of gunpowder calling to mind the tri-barreled design of his Cerberus. Finally, Perfect Readiness makes him permanently quickened and while the reload aspect of it won’t be any good for his monstrous forms, he could at least make use of the extra Step it grants him. As part of these monstrous forms, Vincent can send foes running through Terrified Retreat and lands on Cloud Jump on his final skill feat, which feels like it fits the general aesthetics of Final Fantasy.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: There’s a good number of options that Vincent could delve into in a free archetype game. Aside from expanding on either of the options he’s already taken – Barbarian Resiliency, Exude Abyssal Corruption, and Rip and Tear could all fit nicely in the build – he could use the Wild Mimic archetype to further explore his more monstrous nature. This results in him drawing upon the monsters he meets, which is a bit weird to talk about in a build like this.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Vincent Valentine is a hungerseed human gunslinger who follows the way of the pistolero, his heightened proficiency with firearms giving him a substantial hit chance. He uses a slide pistol to resemble his Cerberus with Final Shot letting him load a triple dose into his weapon, inspired by its tri-barreled design. With his time as a covert operative, he does become trained in skills like Stealth and Thievery but has to focus on the likes of Athletics, Deception, and Intimidation for mechanical matters. His magical experiment background is based on the experiments conducted on him by Shinra that enhanced his physique while also infusing him with monstrous forms, which this build covers through Oni Rage, Kishin Rage, and Vessel's Form. The loss of control that comes with these transformations is displayed at least marginally by his Barbarian Dedication and the rage that it brings. Fast Recovery represents the enhanced healing that the experiments have left him with while he has evenly increased his Strength and Dexterity for those physical improvements. Finally, he uses Shattering Shot and the bombs that he can create with Munitions Machinist to create wide-hitting elemental attacks though in a twist, this comes from his abilities as a gunslinger rather than his limit breaks.
Not many can match this macabre marksman whose minimalist moods masks more monstrous modes that maul malevolent marks.
Let me know what you think and what other builds you'd like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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