Thread by @AzurePimpernel

You know what, here's my #Pathfinder2e post for today:

You're playing Swashbuckler wrong. If you think it's just rogue + fighter with more steps its because you are impatient and have no idea what you're doing.

Welcome to today's thread: "It's Not Just Swagger".

The criticism that I see about swashbuckler is that you have to do the constant rotation of gain panache, finisher round after round, but that's actually not true, the mechanics of the class try to persuade you to stay in panache mode as long as you can be.

First, the added precision damage from Precise Strike, the increase to movement speed, and the bonus to performing panache actions are all mechanical incentive to stay in panache until the right moment and then use a Finisher.

Well, what's the right moment? Well, let's examine:

IT'S A TEAM GAME. FOR TEAMWORK. Yes, flat-footed is fine and dandy and that's the rogue's go to for positioning but the rogue is an opportunist, Swashbuckler is le artiste. The swashbuckler is looking for the moment their chance to strike will work best beyond flat-footed.

With the amount of other status effects casters can throw around, a frightened, flat-footed target can have a huge penalty to AC that the Swashbuckler can capitalize on. Hell, that's why it's not terrible for Swashbucklers to, for those of you obsessed with self-sufficiency

to get Bon Mot, decent Intimidation, and Deception for Feinting. It takes patience, the idea that you have to be doing the most damage on a turn is absolutely absurd, because if I have noticed anything about play it is not the most damage but changing the field and stats.

Damage in 2e comes like a huge windfall, it is the result of major change to enemy statistics to facilitate it. I cringe when I watch players use their third action to strike like it will do something when they could, by all means do something to try to change the status quo.

That is where Swashbuckler comes in, all of its progression abilities are about getting yourself where you need to be, in the moment you need to be and leave a mark. Even the later feat options echo this: AoO, unbalancing, bleeding, stunning, targeting, and mobile finishers

The counter argument may be, then why on earth would they load in a big damage ability like precise strike and not give it an obvious routine?

Because the game, is not about routines. I have watched games fail because people become obsessed with routines.

Being a Swashbuckler is about continuous flair - using the most of everything around you, and even being a leader, or did you forget that Charisma is paramount to your character?

Also, as a fencer I'll you, people who use the same trick on repeat are easy to beat in a fight.💅

*tell you

Part 2:

https://twitter.com/AzurePimpernel/status/1639681147457134592