Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Guide To Combat And Spells

Pathfinder: Kingmaker has been finally released on PC by Publisher Deep Silver and Developer Owlcat Games. as the name suggests the game is based on Paizo’s Pathfinder franchise.

It is an isometric CRPG fantasy game which takes inspiration from several games like Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum and fallout. you will lead a party of different characters to fight against enemies in an unknown region to form a new empire.

Guide To Combat And Spells In Pathfinder: Kingmaker

To progress through the game and conquer the Stolen Lands Region you will need to use different offensive and defensive mechanics.

But the game contains a lot of information which can easily confuse many players. so in this guide, you will learn about the necessary combat and spell functions.

Below you will find a guide explaining both basic and advance usage of combat and spell mechanics present in the game.

Combat In Pathfinder: Kingmaker

First, let’s look at some of the basic stuff which will help you understand the mechanics behind the different actions.

One round is six second and during that round, a character can get into one action, one move and a swift action and then there is the free action which can be performed without any limit. so with that in mind lets look at more actions.

Initiative – when your party and an enemy face each other. each character rolls an initiative. the higher the initiative of a character the faster your character gets to act.

Attack Roll – whenever you do an attack roll, you roll a d20 plus attack bonus also this roll may have other modifiers if applicable. if your result equals or greater than the target’s Armor Class, then you will hit and deal damage.

Attack Bonus – if you get a d20 roll you will be able to get the attack bonuses. but the bonus effect is different for both melee and ranged weapons.

• Melee – Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + size modifier
• Ranged – Base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + size modifier – range penalty

Armor Class – this stat represents the number that you need to beat in order to hit an enemy or take a hit. below you will find the formula of how the Armor Class is calculated. you can use it to improve it.

• AC = 10 + armor bonus + shield bonus + Dexterity modifier + other modifiers

Different types Of Armor Class – there are different types of armor class present in the game and all of them work and react differently.

• Basic AC – all bonuses effect
• Flat-footed AC – all dex and dodge bonuses to it are removed but affected by sneak attacks.
• Touch AC – Armor bonuses do not apply but affected by touch spells, for example, scorching ray.

Crits – in a natural one your character will auto miss regardless of bonuses you have. but on a natural 20, it will auto hit and also pose a critical chance. when you roll after natural 20 and you beat the enemies armor class you will deal the crit but if it less then the Armor class you will just do basic damage.

Death Scenario – in combat if your HP goes negative but is not equal to or greater than the constitution score then you are not dead yet. if you HP goes negative and is equal or less than the constitution score then you are dead.

On normal difficulty these mechanics give you the Death Door Debuff which means next time you die before resting at a safe area, it will be over in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Attack Range – look at a weapon stats, at the top of you will find the damage and below it, you will find the range.

This number represents how close a target must be in order to attack them. glaive weapon has one of the highest reaches which makes it good against low AC characters.

Combat Maneuvers – this is another mechanics present in the game which can debuff the enemy. to unlock these maneuvers you need to take the combat maneuvers associated feat. and to take the combat maneuver feats, you must first take Combat expertise. this will require 13 int.

Boost Maneuvers –  when you are performing a combat Maneuver on an enemy and if your damage is greater than its combat maneuver defense then you will deal bonus damage. below you will find the formula and use it to increase the damage.

• CMB(Combat Maneuvers Boost) = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier
• Size numbers – Tiny –2, Small –1, Medium +0, Large +1, Huge +2

Combat Maneuver Defense – using combat maneuver should be planned as it can deal massive damage if used correctly. while using you will need to take into account the CMD of an enemy which can be done with this formula.

• CMD = 10 + Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + Dexterity modifier + special size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers.

Bonuses – you should keep in mind is that two bonuses of the same type don’t stack most of the time. there are some bonuses which actually stack like dodge bonuses, racial bonuses, and others. only the better bonus of a given type works.

Bonuses without a type always stack but if they are from the same source they won’t work. a detailed list of all the bonuses can be found below.

• Bonus list

Spells In Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Types Of Caster – there are many different classes in the game but there are four major casters which you should know about.

• Arcane Spells – these are basic traditional magic.
• Divine Spells – these come from diety and prayers.
• Prepared Spells – these spells can be selected at the beginning of the day.
• Spontaneous Spells – these are a certain number of spells and can be cast any of them a certain number of times per days.

Classes and their spell types

• Arcane,  Prepared – Magus, Wizard.
• Divine Prepared – Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger.
• Arcane, Spontaneous – Bard, Sorcerer.
• Divine, Spontaneous – Inquisitor.

Manage Concentration – to cast a spell you will need concentration. if you get interrupted during casting you will need to make a concentration check or lose the spell.

The caster bonus = caster level+your casting modifier(Charisma for bards, Wisdom for clerics, etc)

Spell Schools – every single spell in the game falls under a school. this will affect you if you have “Spell focus” or have favored or opposed schools.

• Abjuration – Protection spells.
• Conjuration – Creating something from nothing and summoning it.
• Divination – Spells focused around foresight.
• Enchantment – spells that affect the minds of others characters.
• Evocation – Spells with pure DPS and AoE.
• Illusion – Spells which distorts the senses or minds of others.
• Necromancy – Spells which manipulate the power of death and life.
• Transmutation – Spells which change the properties of some creature or object.

Casting Duration

Different spells take different times to be cast. if you want to know about more of these spells then you can visit the link listed below.

• Spell Casting Duration

Check out more guides from Pathfinder: Kingmaker below

• Guide For All The Class
• How To Recruit/ Unlock All Characters
• Jamandi Aldori Statue/ Prologue Puzzle