Character Concepts:

• Dragon Instinct Barbarian to add fire damage when raging.
• Explore Godless Healing, Mortal Healing, etc.
  • Assurance allows us to "safely" dump Wisdom.
• Subclassing into Oracle for Incendiary Aura.
• Using the Hobgoblin to get Fire Resistance and Runtsage for access to the Goblin's Burn It! feat.
  • The only way to get this to work with Field Medic is to use Alternative Ability Scores (STR/CHA)
  • We're wasting the Raging Resistance ability from being a Dragon Instinct (3 + CON MOD) in favor of the Smokeworker Heritage (Level / 2, rounded down)... remember to always round down.

Since we're a Barbarian already, we don't need to meet the STR requirements

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs438z0?Burn-It-And-Incendiary-Aura-build

Ancestry: Hobgoblin (Smokeworker) or Hobgoblin (Ifrit) Background: Field Medic is practically required, we need access to Battle Medicine as a free feat so Godless Healing is available at level 2.

Ifrit/Incediary Aura: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/s30xex/flames_oracle_clarification/

Level 5 Ancestry Feat: Runtsage (Burn It!)

Is it even that good? It's spells and alchemical items, not all sources of damage. Turning xd4 into xd4+1 seems bad.

The Bard's Dirge of Doom with the Hobgoblin's Agonizing Rebuke (level 5 Ancestry Feat). Are there other ways to keep an enemy Frightened?

• Remorse Leash (Ancestry Feat for Hoblin, level 1)

Ancestry Feats:

• Ifrit (1): Sinister Appearance - Intimidation and Intimidating Glare (basically the Warrior background for free)
• Ifrit (5): Heat Wave - You become Concealed when you take fire damage. Since Incendiary Aura triggers persistent fire damage, you can possibly get Concealment for free.
• Hobgoblin (9): Cantorian Rejuvenation - A free heal and temporary hit points... not bad.
• Ifrit (9): Charred Remains - You create Difficult/Hazardous Terrain that triggers Incendiary Aura when creatures move; you resist the damage from this.

Free Archetype: Oracle

Free Archetype: Oracle Dedication (Flames)

Unfortunately, we get Religion and Acrobatics from the Oracle Dedication. As far as the curse, we aren't planning on targeting anything outside of melee range anyways.

Skill Feats

• Level 2: Godless Healing (a flat 5 bonus is effectively a d10 but the key here is that Battle Medicine works every hour instead of every day)
• Level 4: Continual Recovery ()
• Level 6: Assurance (Medicine)
• Level 8: Ward Medic
• Level 10: Risky Surgery

Is Mortal Healing Better?

Assurance doesn't get us anything before level 3.

Weapons

Breaching Pike? Guisarme?

• Bastard Sword - Any weapon with the two-handed property will do but the Bastard Sword is interesting since you can have d12 weapon damage consistently but you can release one hand to perform Battle Medicine. You can forgo changing your grip to deal d8 damage until you have the appropriate action economy to do so.

Dedications

Oracle Dedication (Flames)

This character is built around the Flames Mystery.

• Level 2: Oracle Dedication
• Level 4 (Class Feat): First Revelation
• Level 4 (Free Archetype): Basic Oracle Spellcasting

The Spellcasting feat feels like a bit of a waste but it enables Staves for us (we can pick up a Staff of Healing around the same level). The level 1 Divine Spells are okay and given the type of character we are, Spirit Link is an interesting choice; Spirit Weapon is another option but you get access to Striking Runes at the same time you can cast it.

Medic Dedication

We can't really justify delaying the Oracle Dedication until level 6 unless you can convince your GM to remove the special three feat rule from it (most GMs should remove the special rule from the first dedication you take).

Level Progression

Level 1:

• Class Feat: Sudden Charge (or Raging Intimidation)

Level 2:

• Class Feat: Raging Intimidation (or Sudden Charge)
• Free Archetype: Oracle Dedication (Flames)
• Skill Feat: Godless Healing

For Godless Healing, you benefit from the bonus hit points regardless if you take the action or not and since Battle Medicine and Treat Wounds are different actions you can benefit from both actions once per hour now.

Notes

• Rage is worded in a way that allows you to benefit from the damage bonuses when throwing a weapon since throwing the weapon is a ranged attack with a melee weapon.
• Oracles get their power from something that isn't a deity so you're able to benefit from Godless Healing.
• Catching fire from Incendiary Aura does not stack so there's no need to to trigger it multiple times.
• You cannot choose the Goblin's Chosen of Lamashtu Ancestry Feat due to Godless Healing.
• Oracles are spontaneous casters, this lets us upcast spells from staves using spell slots.

FAQ

How does Fire Resistance compare between Dragon Instinct and Smokeworker?

Here's a table for this particular build, it is possible to have a higher CON modifier with other stat distributions but this is likely the most common anyways. An asterisks (*) denotes levels where the CON modifier differs if you started with 16 CON.

Notes: Dragon Instinct's Resistances only apply when Raging, and you cannot Rage Unconscious (as in, while Dying). Smokeworker applies all the time. This table can be used for any heritage that provides an elemental damage resistance as the formula is the same across heritages.

Basically, Smokeworker will match or outperform Dragon Instinct from levels 1-8 and again from levels 14-20. This means there's only a small window of 9-14 where Dragon Instinct is conditionally better (along with level 15 if CON was maxed).

The takeaway here is that the resistance bonus from Smokeworker is a really good source of Resistance.

How does Resistance work?

https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=346

Resistance does not stack, the highest value is always used instead.

How does Persistent Damage work?

Persistent Damage occurs at the end of each of your turns as long as you have the condition (rolling the damage dice each time). When you take Persistent Damage, roll a flat DC 15 check to see if the condition ends. Persistent Damage generally lasts one minute but it's determined by the GM.

Persistent Damage does not stack but the higher damage value applies. It only triggers once each turn but all applicable damage types occur from that trigger; this means a dying creature may take multiple types of damage from Persistent Damage but their Dying condition only increases once.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=29

How does Burn It! Interact with Focus Spells?

Focus Spells are heightened to half of your character level. Burn It! applies a status bonus equal to half of the spell's level, so it's safe to assume the status bonus would be 1/2 level, then 1/2 of that level, rounded down each time.

Since this build focuses on Incendiary Aura, a spell that doesn't actually do damage, the only bonus you get from Burn It! is the +1 status bonus to any persistent fire damage you deal.

Can you benefit from both Treat Wounds and Battle Medicine?

Yes, they stack and are on separate timers.

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs435zn?Battle-Medicine-and-Treat-Wounds https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/g86uxs/need_some_clarification_regarding_battle_medicine/

Resources