Steelblood

Learn all about the Steelblood archetype in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, including its unique abilities, level progression, and how it trades mobility for heavy armor mastery.

Alright, let's talk about the Steelblood archetype in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Think of them as the ultimate heavy armor specialists. They're all about wading into the thick of things, soaking up damage, and hitting back hard, but they do give up some mobility and defensive tricks to get there.

Key Differences:

• Can equip heavy armor: This is their bread and butter.
• Gains armour training: They get better at wearing heavy armor as they level up.
• Loses Fast Movement and Uncanny Dodge: This is the trade-off. They're not going to be darting around the battlefield or dodging attacks like other classes.

Here's a breakdown of how they progress:

Let's dive into some of those special abilities:

• Indomitable Stance: This is pretty much the same as the Armored Hulk ability you might have seen elsewhere. It's all about standing your ground.
• Armored Swiftness: Once you hit level 2, you'll notice you move 5 feet faster when wearing medium or heavy armor. It's not a huge boost, but it helps offset some of that heavy armor sluggishness.
• Armor Training: This is where the Steelblood really shines. Starting at level 5, you get a -1 reduction to your armor penalty and a +1 increase to the maximum Dexterity bonus your armor allows. And guess what? It keeps getting better every four levels, capping out at -4 and +4 at level 17. This stacks with a Fighter's Armor Training too, so you can become an absolute tank.
• Blood Deflection: At level 7, you get a neat trick. As a swift action, you can sacrifice a spell you have prepared to gain a deflection bonus to your Armor Class (AC) equal to the level of the spell you sacrificed. This bonus lasts until the end of your next turn, giving you a nice defensive boost when you really need it.