I didn't realize there was any interest in these thematic-appropriate builds so I quit posting them (here, anyway). I'll post some more presently.

Octavia - Arcane Trickster
End Game: Rogue 2 / Wizard 8 / Arcane Trickster 10
Ranged Damage Build

Build Notes: Octavia is one of the hardest characters to build for before her default build is as close to perfect as you can really get. The auto-level will give her Accomplished Sneak Attacker and then feed directly into Arcane Trickster until it maxes it out, then return to Wizard levels. Almost every build you'll find anywhere conforms to this standard because there's not really anything better. So differences tend to be superficial in most casts.
The jist of this build is just having Octavia auto-attack with Jolt / Acid Splash and letting her Sneak Attack bump the damage up. Once you get Scorching Ray it can be used for taking down particularly tough targets, especially with Spell Specialization helping to send out multiple rays. Later on, Disintegrate will become a mainstay, especially when Quickening Scorching Ray.

Starting Stats
Rogue-1 / Transmuter-1
10 Strength
17 Dexterity
08 Constitution
19 Intelligence
10 Wisdom
14 Charisma
Skills: Persuasion 1, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (World) 1, Mobility 2, Perception 1, Stealth 2, Trickery 2
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Weapon Finesse
Spells: Enlarge Person, Expeditious Retreat, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Snowball, Color Spray, Vanish

Leveling Stats
Level 3 - Rogue 2
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +2
Feats: Evasion, Accomplished Sneak Attacker, Precise Shot(RT)
Notes: The singlemost controversial level. Most guides will tell you to to go straight Wizard and skip Rogue levels entirely. However, I find that this level of Rogue is worth the investment. Evasion will ALWAYS be useful, particularly as a backliner. Further, you get Precise Shot a couple of levels earlier with this build, making Octavia immediately useful.

Level 4 - Transmuter 2
Attribute: Intelligence +1
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Hurricane Bow(1), True Strike(1)

Level 5 - Transmuter 3
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Spell Focus (Evocation)
Spells: Scorching Ray(2), Web(2)
Notes: SF Evocation is for Spell Specialization down the road. It raises your CL by 2 with a spell, and since Ranged Touch Attacks like Scorching Ray are your bread and butter, we're working toward it now.

Level 6 - Arcane Trickster 1
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Acid Arrow(2), Glitterdust(2)

Level 7 - Arcane Trickster 2
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +2, Perception +1
Feats: Spell Specialization (Scorching Ray)
Spells: Haste(3), Heroism(3)

Level 8 - Arcane Trickster 3
Attribute: Intelligence +1
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Slow(3), See Invisibility, Communal(3)

Level 9 - Arcane Trickster 4
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Weapon Focus (Ray)
Spells: Ice Storm(4), Volcanic Storm(4)

Level 10 - Arcane Trickster 5
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Dimension Door(4), Greater Invisibility(4)

Level 11 - Arcane Trickster 6
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Spell Penetration
Spells: Animal Growth(5), Baleful Polymorph(5)

Level 12 - Arcane Trickter 7
Attribute: Intelligence +1
Skills: Mobility +6, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Icy Prison(5), Angelic Aspect(5)

Level 13 - Arcane Trickster 8
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Metamagic (Quicken Spell), Spell Specialization (Disintegrate)
Spells: Disintegrate(6), Hellfire Ray(6)
Notes: A strong level for the build. Scorching Ray naturally has its third ray and can be quickened and cast simultaneously with Disintegrate. Spell Specialization should be switched to Disintegrate near-permanently now since it represents an additional 4d6 damage.

Level 14 - Arcane Trickster 9
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Elemental Assessor(6), Transformation(6)

Level 15 - Arcane Trickster 10
Skills: Mobility +1, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation)
Spells: Resonating Word(7), Legendary Proportions(7)

Level 16 - Transmuter 4
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Prismatic Spray(7), Summon Greater Elemental(7)

Level 17 - Transmuter 5
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Improved Critical (Ray), Greater Spell Penetration
Spells: Polar Ray(8), Angelic Aspect, Greater(8)
Notes: The Transmuter special gives a +2 to any physical stat at this level. This is a good time to shift it to either Constitution or Strength and use Dexterity-enhancing magic items.

Level 18 - Transmuter 6
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Summon Elder Elemental(8), Summon Monster VIII(8)

Level 19 - Transmuter 7
Skills: Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Toughness
Spells: Fiery Body(9), Icy Prison, Mass(9)

Level 20 - Transmuter 8
Attribute: Intelligence +1
Skills: Mobility +5, Trickery +1, Stealth +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (World) +1, Perception +1, Persuasion +5
Spells: Heroic Invocation(9), Summon Monster IX(9)

Ekundayo - Perceptive Archer
End Game: Ranger 20
Ranged Damage Build

Build Notes: Ekundayo has very limited multiclassing options. He'd sync well as a Barbarian, particularly a Mad Dog to keep his animal companion leveling and to take advantage of the speed boost for kiting. But his alignment prohibits him. The same is true of increasing his spellcasting prowess as a Druid, alignment blocks him. Meanwhile classes that ARE available to him like Paladin offer next to nothing. Even the ranged Divine Hunter uses numerous Charisma-based abilities, and the archer feats are redundant by the time you get Ekundayo. Meanwhile, the Monk's melee abilities offer nothing nor is the Longbow a Monk weapon. Ekundayo's abysmal mental stats block him from Bard, Magus, Sorcerer and Wizard classes too. You're left with the likes of Rogue and Fighter. The former is unnecessary with Sense Vitals and the latter stunts Animal Companion growth and doesn't really offer any ranged feats you weren't going to get anyhow.
A lot of Ekundayo then is in how you play him, and frankly, he's one of the most powerful characters you'll ever get when played right. Throw on some speed enhancing items and he can kite most bosses around the game without ever actually taking a hit. I've full-cleared the Hunting Ground, Vordakai's Elementals, the Scythe Tree, and dozens of other aggravating zones and fights by parking the group offscreen and kiting him around the enemy firing off multishots while they inch around after him.

Starting Stats
Ranger-5
16 Strength
20 Dexterity
14 Constitution
10 Intelligence
13 Wisdom
10 Charisma
Skills: Athletics 5, Mobility 5, Stealth 5, Lore (Nature) 5, Perception 5
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow), Boon Companion, Endurance, Rapid Shot, Favored Enemy (Giant Humanoids +4, Magical Beasts +2)

Leveling Stats
Level 6 - Ranger 6
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Point Blank Master (Longbow)
Notes: It's going to happen and frequently that monsters get to your back ranks. The sooner you have PBM the better Ekun's survival chances and the more time he has to take them out. Situational abilities like Improved Precise Shot can wait until later.

Level 7 - Ranger 7
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Manyshot
Notes: The great kiting ability, Manyshot. The game doesn't know you're not going to follow-through on a full attack, so you can have Ekun run to a safe distance, Manyshot off a double attack, then quickly move him to safety again. This ability trivializes some very difficult fights.

Level 8 - Ranger 8
Attribute: Wisdom +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Favored Terrain (First World)

Level 9 - Ranger 9
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Clustered Shots, Evasion

Level 10 - Ranger 10
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Improved Critical (Longbow), Favored Enemy (Undead +4, Magical Beasts +2, Giant Humanoids +4)
Notes: Around this time you're near or in Chapter 3 and dealing with droves of Undead. It's better to use Favored Enemy options for current content than sit on ones that won't have relevance until later in the game.

Level 11 - Ranger 11
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Improved Precise Shot, Quarry

Level 12 - Ranger 12
Attribute: Dexterity +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Camouflage

Level 13 - Ranger 13
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Deadly Aim, Favored Terrain (Underground)

Level 14 - Ranger 14
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Skill Focus (Perception)
Notes: Ekun has all the major Archery feats at this point. Moving into late-game though you're going to encounter numerous times where excellent magical gear is gated behind stupidly high Perception checks. Ekun can ultimately end up with well into the +40's with some investment now.

Level 15 - Ranger 15
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Alertness, Favored Enemy (Fey +4, Undead +4, Magic Beasts +2, Giant Humanoids +4)
Notes: Yet another Perception buffing feat.

Level 16 - Ranger 16
Attribute: Dexterity +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Improved Evasion

Level 17 - Level 17
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Persuasion
Notes: The third and final Perception buffing feat. Depending on your equipment, he should be at or near +40 Perception.

Level 18 - Level 18
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Favored Terrain (Plains), Skill Focus (Stealth)

Level 19 - Level 19
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Stealthy, Improved Quarry

Level 20 - Level 20
Attribute: Strength +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Nature) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Favored Enemy (Dragons +4, Undead +4, Magic Beasts +2, Giant Humanoids +4), Master Hunter
Notes: As always, when all Attributes are equal, Strength is the one to get the final tick.

Ekundayo - Sacred Ranger
End Game: Ranger 5 / Kinetic Knight 1 / Sacred Huntsman 14
Melee Trip Build

Build Notes: One of the most useful aspects of Ekundayo is dog's ability to spam trip attacks among the enemies. A lot of close fights end in the party's favor when a well-timed trip on a difficult foe lands. This build focuses heavily on tripping and party-based tactics. Note that a trip-build Jaethal synergizes amazingly with this build. I recently ran a teamwork feat playthrough with the protagonist, Jaethal and this Ekundayo as my principal players and was beyond pleased with the results. Since prone characters are incapable of attacking, multiple enemies are essentially just taken out of the fight from the onset and remain forever locked down.
A note on the flavor of the build. I detest single level dips, I feel like they're the providence of min/maxers. However, in this case, the dip was character appropriate and also the only way to make the build work. The former is a great deal more important to me than the latter.

Starting Stats
Ranger-5
16 Strength
20 Dexterity
14 Constitution
10 Intelligence
13 Wisdom
10 Charisma
Skills: Athletics 5, Mobility 5, Stealth 5, Lore (Nature) 5, Perception 5
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow), Boon Companion, Endurance, Rapid Shot, Favored Enemy (Giant Humanoids +4, Magical Beasts +2)

Leveling Stats
Level 7 - Kinetic Knight 1
Skills: Lore (Religion) +2, Perception +1
Feats: Kinetic Warrior
Notes: A necessary level for the build. Ekun's Intelligence is too low to qualify for Trip, but a level of Kinetic Knight grants the requirement. Given he's a Ranger that worships the Dwarf God, selecting an Earth Kineticist is not entirely out of character for him.

Level 6 - Sacred Huntsman 1
Skills: Lore (Religion) +5
Feats: Deity (Torag), Domain (Artifice), Animal Companion (Continue), Trip
Spells: Divine Favor(1), True Strike(1)
Notes: There are FAR better deity picks than Torag with better Domains to boot, but canonically he worships Torag and that trumps all other considerations.

Level 8 - Sacred Huntsman 2
Attribute: Wisdom +1
Skills: Stealth +2, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +2
Feats: Cunning Initiative
Spells: Bless(1)

Level 9 - Sacred Huntsman 3
Skills: Stealth +2, Lore (Nature) +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Fury's Fall, Tandem Trip, Hunter Tactics, Solo Tactics
Spells: Divine Shield(1)
Notes: An important level, the Hunter Tactics grants teamwork feats to Dog, which means it now has Tandem Trip too. Fury's Fall brings his unnaturally high Dexterity to the fore as well.

Level 10 - Sacred Huntsman 4
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Cure Moderate Wounds(2), Lesser Restoration(2)

Level 11 - Sacred Huntsman 5
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Greater Trip, Favored Enemy (Fey +2, Giant Humanoids +4, Magical Beasts +2)
Spells: Aid(2)

Level 12 - Sacred Huntsman 6
Attribute: Dexterity +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Outflank
Spells: See Invisibility(2)

Level 13 - Sacred Huntsman 7
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Spells: Cure Light Wounds(1), Cure Serious Wounds(3), Heroism(3)
Notes: Up until this point, you were probably using just whatever weapon had the best enchants. Now that we can utilize his Dexterity for melee attacks, its time to switch to finesse weapons. Ultimately his build suggests a Rapier, but if you find a Dagger or the like that works better, by all means, subtitute.

Level 14 - Sacred Huntsman 8
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Prayer(3)

Level 15 - Sacred Huntsman 9
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Weapon Focus (Rapier), Precise Strike
Spells: Dispel Magic(3)

Level 16 - Sacred Huntsman 10
Attribute: Dexterity +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Favored Enemy (Dragons +4, Fey +2, Giant Humanoids +4, Magical Beasts +2)
Spells: Invisibility(2), Freedom of Movement(4), Greater Invisibility(4)

Level 17 - Sacred Huntsman 11
Attribute: Dexterity +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Fencing Grace, Stalwart
Spells: Protection From Alignment(1), Divine Power(4)

Level 18 - Sacred Huntsman 12
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Greater Bane Weapon, Coordinated Manuevers
Spells: Cure Critical Wounds(4)

Level 19 - Sacred Huntsman 13
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Feats: Improved Critical (Rapier)
Spells: Delay Poison, Communal(3), Cure Light Wounds, Mass(5), Righteous Might(5)

Level 20 - Sacred Huntsman 14
Attribute: Strength +1
Skills: Athletics +1, Mobility +1, Stealth +1, Lore (Religion) +1, Perception +1
Spells: Protection From Alignment, Communal(2), Stoneskin, Communal(5)
Notes: Ekundayo's unbuffed trip modifier is well over +30 by this point.

Nice, thanks for the updates.

Tandem tripping Okun/wolf companion is a VERY interesting concept; I appreciate that you kept Torag as his deity per storyline. The levels in Sacred Huntsman for both him and Amiri are interesting, probably a little bit of a stretch storywise, but not too much.

Wouldn't more levels of Barb for Amiri for Pounce, bite attacks for free tripping (with the cloak), natural armor AC while raging, etc be worthwhile? Also fits the character/story better.

2nd level of rogue for Octavia seems like a no brainer to me (adds +1 bab, evasion for a squishy character, not really a huge loss going from caster lvl 19 to 18 in this game) - the question to me is whether to do it early for survivability with her low HPs, or later after maxing out AT levels. I've tried both ways and was surprised by (spoilerish):












how few enemies throw AOE attacks at you during low levels - not sure if this is due to the game following PF AP NPC stats or if the devs decided it would be merciful to new players. Regardless I was a little disappointed that Evasion during early game isn't quite as useful as I thought it might be.

Thank you this guide! I will use some of your builds in my new run. Please continue :P

Nice guides! Are you done with posting them, though? I'd like to see some for the less common classes in particular. Despite being into RPGs for most of my life, I don't really have any experience with playing kineticists and such. I like that you take the characters' personalities into account moreso than simply stacking bonuses.

What would you change to make Regongar more of a damage-dealer rather than tank? He seems way to aggressively violent to hold the line defending others while they get to do most of the killing. Is there a way to get claws & bite working all the time so he doesn't need external weapons, and maybe run more on AI than micromanaging modes & buffs?

Regnoar is not a tank by default, though he can get somewhat tanky for short periods of time. If anything by default he's specifically meant for high burst damage channeling things like Shocking Grasp through a high crit weapon like Scimitars with high Strength. Sounds like you might benefit from familiarizing yourself with how the Magus class and archetypes work; it's a high maintenance class needing a lot of management by design - if that's not something you enjoy then you should probably pick a different character for your group.

.
Well yeah, that's what I was saying. The build in this thread presents him as a tank, and I don't think that fits. The need to micromanage is why I haven't really used him; I was just wondering if there were a build which wouldn't require that. For most fights spellcasting is too slow, so you get one spell to start the fight if you want to bother casting at all, but generally a tank and an archer gets the job done. I guess part of the issue is that the class was designed for turn-based tabletop where practically every round is carried out in that kind of detail.

Just make a ranger with animal companion and own everything so easly.... ranged without the magic with crossbow/bow is so awesome to play with. i just have 2 shield peeps and the rest crossbow/bow and 2 pet companion users its so easy to win with :)

2 animal companions does make things a bit too easy for early/mid game. Later parts of the game may be a different story, but for ch.2,3,4, I sort of regret turning Amiri into a hunter build similar to the one laid out in this thread - way too easy together with Okun's wolf. Plus I'll never get to see the Barb 16 ability that increases crit multiplier by 1. I'm keeping Amiri straight barbarian for all other playthroughs.

Hey, just made an account here so I could say thank you for your insane and very useful builds. I can now have some proper builds to play, they are great.
I hope you post more build, specific to Tristan, since I can find any good build except the default 'healer bot'.
Once again, thanks!

this builds are sick. please more jaethal, maybe a tank build?

Thanks, and sure, I can put together one now.

I've actually been fiddling with Tristian a lot lately. I feel like there's a melee build in him somewhere but most of my attempts have been so-so. I've got a decent enough caster build for him that steps outside the channel spam I can post in a bit.

Nah, I've got a bunch more character builds. I'm just more actively playing the game than writing them down. For every build that passes snuff and gets posted here, I've got three or four more than conceptually were great but ultimately weren't that great mechanically. With Kineticists, I've mostly been sticking them with the main character and the Tiefling twins as there doesn't seem to be a lot of opportunity to conceptually fit them with other companions.

Most Regongar builds are pure DPS. I like to make tank builds with characters because the game necessitates having a tank and not EVERY group should be forced to rely on Valerie. The stock Regongar is a Magus 16 / Dragon Disciple 4. InEffect has a solid rendition of it on his thread.