Man, talk about timing, huh? Well, I guess if you can't watch your favorite character anymore, you can at least now play her in Pathfinder Second Edition! 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 Yang Xiao Long from RWBY!
YANG XIAO LONG
SOURCE RWBY
BUILD GOALS
o Yang is a Huntress of Grimm trained at Beacon Academy alongside her half-sister Ruby and was a member of the eponymous team, RWBY
o She wields the Ember Celica, a pair of ranged shot gauntlets that serve as both knuckle dusters and short-ranged firearms
o A highly aggressive but agile hand-to-hand combatant who supplements her close quarters style with blasts from her weapons. Her fighting style is largely based on boxing
o Strong enough to send grown men flying with a punch and hold open the jaws of giant beasts
o Like all Hunters and Huntresses, she can shield herself with her Aura and is notably durable
o Her Aura has also granted her a Semblance, which is known as Burn. This allows her to absorb the energy from impacts that she can then redirect to empower her own blows
o During the course of the show, she was literally disarmed but had it replaced with a mechanical prosthetic that her Ember Celica was integrated into
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Battle Ready Orc
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Orc Ferocity
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained)
Background: Hunter
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained), Tanning Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Survey Wildlife
Class & Subclass: Fury Instinct Barbarian
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Nature (trained), Stealth (trained)
o Class Feat: Adrenaline Rush, Sudden Charge
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +0)
Yang is represented through the orc ancestry, which will eventually play into the way she trades blow using her Burn. It serves as a nice nod to the tribe of bandits and worse that her mother hails from. Orc Ferocity is going to play into that eventually while the battle ready heritage will let her menace beasts and animals – such as the Grimm that she has trained to hunt. And based off of that, she will use the hunter background, reflecting her training at the academy for them. While it certainly isn’t an option I would use for all characters from this series, the temporary Hit Points from the barbarian is a nice way to get the shield that she is able to form with her Aura though while her Semblance is called Burn, it doesn’t actually use fire, which ends up leading to her using the ferocity instinct. Sudden Charge befits her aggressive nature and she gets a second feat due to her instinct, netting her Adrenaline Rush with the bonus to Force Open being a particularly fantastic representation to Yang holding up the jaws of a giant Grimm. For her Ember Celica, Yang can use black powder knuckle dusters though these do have the issue where the knuckle part of these weapons have the agile trait, which means they will be getting less rage damage. However, they are too similar to her weapons to pass up on.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Gunslinger Dedication – Way of the Triggerbrand
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Skill Increase: Thievery (trained)
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Iron Fists
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +1 black powder knuckle dusters, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Basic Shooting – Sword and Pistol
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: bracelet of dashing, +1 black powder knuckle dusters, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +1)
o Ancestry Feat: Bloody Blows
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters, bracelet of dashing, raven band, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
The weapons of the world of RWBY are highly unique, which leads to Yang taking a Gunslinger Dedication for a way of the triggerbrand. While not completely necessary, it will help her make better use of her Ember Celica. This can be seen pretty early on with her Sword and Pistol ability granted by Basic Shooting, letting her alternate her shots and smacks. Grimm can reach absolutely monstrous sizes, but Yang can still push them around with her Titan Wrestler skill feat and sticks with Athletics feats with Quick Jump, a fantastically useful ability for a martial character. As discussed, Yang has a bit of a focus with boxing in her style and will represent this with Iron Fists gained through Ancestral Paragon and then built upon with Bloody Blows.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Slinger’s Readiness
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters, lifting belt, bracelet of dashing, necklace of knives, onyx dog wondrous figurine
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 leather, lifting belt, +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters, bracelet of dashing, raven band
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Sterling Dynamo Dedication – Manual Power Driver Dynamo
o Skill Feat: Rapid Mantel
o Gear: deathless armor rune, hauling weapon rune, ring of the ram, +1 leather, +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Undying Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, deathless armor rune, lesser grub gloves, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +4.5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +2)
o Class Feat: Come and Get Me
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient leather, flaming weapon rune, deathless armor rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), +1 striking black powder knuckle dusters
Slinger’s Readiness is always helping for starting a fight, especially for an aggressive character like Yang, letting her get her weapons ready and allowing her to avoid reactions in her opening round. But an important part of this is getting her a second feat from her Gunslinger Dedication so that as her next class feat, she can take the Sterling Dynamo Dedication. This references her prosthetic arm, represented with a manual power driver given her focus Strength, which provides her with a Strike that can use her full damage bonus from rage rather than the split damage on her knuckle dusters. With her basic combat style in place, the build can finally start exploring her Burn. Come and Get Me encourages her enemies to Strike at her, letting her gather the blows of her enemies to put them off-balance before she unleashes a blow enhanced by her rage damage to represent the enhancing effects of her Burn. She largely focuses on more Athletics feat this block with both Powerful Leap and Rapid Mantel, but also takes Kip Up – she is described as an agile fighter and her investment in Acrobatics and its feats helps to represent that. Since this is a Come and Get Me barbarian build, she needs all the Hit Points she can get, which makes Toughness a must-have. This is the same reason behind her taking Undying Ferocity. These temporary Hit Points likely won’t keep her from being knocked down again, but every little bit counts and this may just be enough to allow her another turn to return the punishment her enemies dished out against her.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking black powder knuckle dusters, armbands of athleticism, thunderblast slippers, +1 resilient leather, deathless armor rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooting – Triggerbrand Salvo
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking black powder knuckle dusters, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, flaming weapon rune, crown of the fire eater
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Lifeblood’s Call//Incredible Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, +2 resilient leather, greater ash gown, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, thunderblast slippers
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Wounded Rage
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Gear: greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient leather, instinct crown, impactful weapon rune
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +3)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, greater ash gown, greater hauling weapon rune
One of the main reasons to take the way of the triggerbrand is to pick up Triggerbrand Salvo, a fantastic single action that combines a melee and ranged Strike with a bonus. This is especially handy when Yang is slowed or spends other actions to accomplish something else on her turn as it does increase her multiple attack penalty substantially. She returns to her barbarian feats for Wounded Rage, which represents the fact that her Burn triggers on her getting hit. With Wounded Rage, she can use the impact of a blow to trigger her Rage, giving her that extra damage. RWBY seems anime enough that Wall Jump feels like a fit for Yang while her other skill feat for this block is Battle Cry – this build doesn’t make use of Raging Intimidation, so this will let her get off a Demoralize before she starts her Rage. Fleet lets her rush into a fight faster and Diehard will help save her when things get out of hand. Lifeblood’s Call serves to further represent her Burn effect, empowering her as the situation grows dire.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Vengeful Strike
o Skill Feat: Too Angry to Die
o Gear: greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Rampaging Ferocity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, greater flaming weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient leather, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Knockback
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater flaming weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, bracers of strength, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), +3 greater striking black powder knuckle dusters, greater flaming weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Unstoppable Juggernaut
o Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking black powder knuckle dusters, +3 greater resilient leather, mantle of the grogrisant, bracers of strength, major crown of the fire eater, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking)
A big aspect of Yang’s Burn is that she hits back against her enemies and it’s twofold in this block. Firstly, there’s Vengeful Strike from her class feat but there’s also Rampaging Ferocity, which requires her to trigger her Orc Ferocity. These are both reactions, but will be triggered under different circumstances, which means they shouldn’t intersect too much. Yang’s blows knock around enemies with ease, which she represents with Knockback – something that she could have taken much sooner if she hadn’t needed archetypes to cover the basics. Largely for survivability reasons, Yang takes Unstoppable Juggernaut as her capstone feat. She focuses on drawing the fire of enemies with her Come and Get Me, which can make her very vulnerable. The protections afforded by this feat can be pretty handy. But with the danger that she still puts herself, she may get some use out of Too Angry to Die since going out will knock her out of rage as well. Interestingly, Scare to Death doesn’t have the concentrate trait, which means that she can use it even while raging.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Yang has plenty of options when it comes to taking archetypes, obviously using both her Gunslinger Dedication as well as her Sterling Dynamo Dedication. She might pick up some reload feats from the former to help her action economy like Practiced Reloads or the always handy Running Reload. From her sterling dynamo, she can make use of Piston Punch and could possibly use Stasian Smash as well though that seems a little less like her. With these freed up feats, Yang can take some options such as Knockback sooner while also taking up new feats like Fast Movement, Renewed Vigor (which might help her survive her self-endangerment), and Awesome Blow.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Yang Xiao Long is a battle ready orc barbarian of the fury instinct and a hunter background based on her training at Beacon Academy to be a huntress of Grimm. She fights using a pair of shot gauntlets known as the Ember Celica, which in the most rudimentary sense are captured by her black powder knuckle dusters but is further explored through a Gunslinger Dedication and Triggerbrand Salvo. Iron Fists aids her tendency towards an unarmed combat style while she keeps her Dexterity high and has feats such as Kip Up to demonstrate it based on the agility that complements her might. She demonstrates this might with feats such as Knockback, given her ability to send enemies flying, as well as Adrenaline Rush giving her a benefit to Force Open the jaws of beasts trying to snack on her. As a barbarian, she naturally gets temporary Hit Points whenever she rages and also acquires a few extra through Undying Ferocity to demonstrate her ability to shield herself with her Aura. She largely covers her Burn Semblance through Come and Get Me allowing her to turn hits from enemies into an opportunity to strike back at them, which she further covers with the likes of Vengeful Strike and Rampaging Ferocity. Finally, the loss of her arm led her to get a prosthetic replacement, which is explored through her Sterling Dynamo Dedication granting her a manual power driver attack.
Bashing beasts and baddies with a bang, this boisterous blonde Burns with blistering bravado, bearing beatings to bounce back with even bigger bursts of bruisin’s.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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