Pathfinder Kingmaker Best Class - What Should You Play?

Updated:

16 Sep 2022

What are the Strongest Classes in the Game?

Kingmaker is a complex CRPG, the variety of options available leaves most stuck at the character creation screen for hours! Still, many players regret their first class and want to start over. To save you all the headaches, I will tell you about some of the best pure classes.

1. Alchemist

Note pet goblins are not included!

A dash of rogue, a pinch of a wizard, and the chemical X (the alchemical discovery system). This class packs a good punch, can cast good buffs, and operates as a backup tank. A buff nerd that can carry you throughout the game.

What the Alchemist Excels In:

Mutagen; this is a unique buff only available to this class and stacks with every other bonus. It is available from level 1 and only gets stronger from there.
Great utility spells from both wizard and cleric spellbooks; mainly buff spells like shield, false life, and heroism but also some critical healing spells, such as restoration.
Good range damage with alchemist bombs. They are also very customizable with different added-on status effects and area of effect damage. Furthermore, they use touch armor class so you are more likely to hit enemies even late game.
With the vivisectionist specialization, you can become a capable melee character with sneak attack damage.

Pick Alchemist if:

You don’t want to take a cleric and still want to benefit from their healing spells; the alchemist spell book covers all the essentials (cure wounds, heal, restoration, etc).
You want to deal with pesky swarms or just deal consistent area of effect damage. The bombs are super effective for this purpose.
The wizard doesn’t want to waste low-level spell slots on buffing the party. After taking the infusion feat the alchemist can fill in for him.
If you plan on making a melee build consider taking one level in the Vivisectionist sub-class for the mutagen buff it's just that good.
You are looking for good progression throughout the game; alchemist gets mutagen and bombs from level 1 and doesn’t fall behind even in the late game.
You don’t want to micromanage the character too much; their buffs last long, and you can toggle their bombs to auto attack. After that, you can sit back and watch the fireworks.

Alchemist Details:

https://pathfinderkingmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Alchemist#Progression_Table

Alchemist Guides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBXY2DxiUY4&t=923s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eAjAR5yQs

2. Wizard

A Wizard in his natural environment

The lynchpin for every party, with spells for every scenario in the game, you can never go wrong with having a wizard. This class (or sorcerers) is essential to understanding this game’s magic system and is the perfect tool for dismantling any boss or tough encounter. It operates best if this is your second playthrough as it requires a certain amount of foresight (knowing the abilities of future encounters) to play perfectly. Just like every other RPG, fighters progress linearly wizards progress exponentially. There is a reason why almost all villains are magic users!

What the Wizard Excels In:

They have the best buffs in the game, the displacement and haste spells are a game changer for your frontline. From level one spells to level nine buff spells all of them have an important use. A fun example is increasing the size of your animal companions with animal growth and then polymorphing them into dragons.
Debuffing the enemy. From applying status effects to dispelling enemy magical spells, with the right feats that increase your spell save DC and the number of spell slots you can get a lot of mileage from an average wizard.
A plethora of crowd control spells that target all three different saving throws (fortitude, reflex, will), with higher level variations so they work throughout the game.
Area of Effect damage, their other utility are spells that can dispatch a swarm of lower-level enemies, with fireball usually being your opener to a normal encounter.
Extreme Versatility in their ability to learn from any scroll you have in your inventory and if you invest in the magical device skill you can even use cleric scrolls (note you cannot learn those spells, just use them).
The use of metamagic and metamagic rods; they can make a lower-level spell effective even in the end game. The only thing more useful than a normal fireball is an empowered, maximized fireball. Alternatively, you can extend spell effects or increase their reach.

Pick Wizard if:

You want to play as a pure class, unlike sorcerers, there aren’t many prestige class options for wizards. Furthermore, any level in a different class has an opportunity cost of getting more spell slots and unlocking higher spell levels.
You are fine with a weaker early game. Due to the lower level of spells available, initially, wizards will appear weaker than other classes. Their low HP does not help either ( though this is a problem all pure caster classes face).
You like to micromanage and strategize. The wizard is valuable before a fight with his buffs, starting a fight with a strong damaging spell and during the fight with crowd control and debuff spells. You need to babysit them to make sure they don’t die too early but once you get the hang of it bosses go from impossible to being free exp.
You encountered a wizard boss. They are a nightmare near the endgame due to their instant death spells and mind-controlling your party members. Not to worry, with your wizard you can resist these spells by improving your saving throws with spells like mind blank. Alternatively, you can summon a horde of minions to eat up the enemy’s targeted spells.

Wizard Details:

https://pathfinderkingmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Wizard?so=search#Spellcasting

Wizard Guides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUepdj27bew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40uHpVVemBg

3. Slayer

This is what your enemies see

Slayers are rangers that don’t discriminate, they hunt all monsters equally. They are a perfect union between a rogue and a fighter, making them exceptional frontline combatants. And the cherry on top? They can study a target similar to rangers to get a bonus for attack and damage roll but unlike rangers, this ability works with everyone you just need to activate it. If monster hunting is your calling or you just want to kill things better than everyone else pick this.

What the Slayer Excels at:

Is dealing absurd and consistent damage. This is due to the study target ability and sneak attack bonus damage. Couple this with feats like power attack and your criticals will bisect enemies. Their base attack bonus and the number of attacks scale the same as rangers and fighters meaning they hit just as much and are as likely to hit their targets as them.
Having good survivability. Thanks to having the same hit die as fighters they gain a similar amount of HP per level. Not to mention they can wear heavy armor after getting the right feat.
Being versatile due to the variety of class skills they gain and the combination of ranger and rogue feats they have under slayer talents.

Pick Slayer if:

You think the fighter was too boring but don’t want to micromanage as much as a wizard. They have a few active abilities such as Study Target and Slayer’s Advance along with the regular point-and-click gameplay of fighters. This helps with positioning and singling out targets such as bosses.
You want a good teamwork class; the Vanguard sub-class can share his teamwork feat with his party and half of his Study Target bonuses.
You want to rip and tear; all slayers can already dish out insane damage but you can always increase that if you optimize your build by picking the Deliverer or Spawn-Slayer sub-class because they deal even more bonus damage based on enemy alignment and size. Just pick up a weapon and go at it.

Slayer Details:

https://pathfinderkingmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Slayer?so=search#Slayer_Talents

Slayer Guide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZmCXOLmI4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msiKR-sKn_k

Conclusion

I hope this helps you with your class selection. Once you get your feet wet in this game you can go even crazier by mixing and matching classes, don’t be afraid to experiment. Do you agree with my picks? Comment down below and let me know your opinion.