This is the third in my series of complete companion builds, finding the best builds online. At this point WotR is nearing the end of the updates and DLC. There won’t be much that will affect the build or loadouts for companions from now on. If interested in my other builds, check out my main Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous page.
Camellia is another great companion. This time we’ll go with a stronger focus on crowd control spells. She’ll poison them into submission, then move in with her rapiers for the kill. As a Shaman she’ll also buff your party and debuff enemies as well. There are lots of good reasons to have her in your party if you choose, including unlocking chests and disarming traps. You get her at level 1 as a Spirit Hunter, a new archetype which I cover here.
Build Progression
Level 2: For Skills always increase Trickery, and Mobility or Stealth can be good depending on which party members you use. Perception is also fine
- Hex: If playing on Unfair, Protective Luck is a must-pick to help your tank survive. If not, Evil Eye–great for debuffing AC and saves.
Level 3: A safer way to play her is as a spellcaster than a tank. She doesn’t have a pet to rely on for tanking, and multi-classing to make her tankier delays her spell progression. Bearing that in mind, the feat here is Sp Focus: Conjuration. Even early on casting Winter’s Grasp is terrific, arguably better than Grease.
Level 4: Increase Wisdom, as we want high DC’s for poison spells and more spell slots overall. The enemies she does lay into won’t be able to react at all anyway, so it’s okay if we don’t pump Dex
- Hex: whichever hex you didn’t pick at lvl 2
Level 5: Greater Sp Focus: Conjuration, just in time for Stinking Cloud. It even works on demons with the Corruptor mythic ability
Level 7: Normally we’d take Outflank here, as party-wide the melee folks and pets will take it, but in this case we want more spellcasting ability earlier. Take MM: Heighten Spell. Heightening Stinking Cloud is great. DC is important, and you’ll have a high DC even for Unfair
Level 8: Hex: Fortune. Terrific for your party before fighting any boss.
Level 9: MM: Persistent Spell. Applying this to Stinking Cloud will ensure enemies succumb to it
Level 10: We’ve got the best Hexes for Camellia, so we’ll branch out to get melee support. Take the Battle Master hex, which also grants Weapon Spec, which should go into rapier.
Level 11: Feat: Outflank for more melee support. I’ve delayed to pimp out Stinking Cloud, because frankly SC is that good. If you’re not one that cares about melee potential with her, instead take Improved Initiative followed by Ambuscading Spell which can help with her spells. Overall I prefer mixing it up in melee from time to time.
Level 12: Hex: Chant. It extends Protective Luck and Fortune indefinitely, even when not in combat.
Level 13: Improved Critical: Rapier. There’s no rush for this feat because she can give her weapon the keen property from level 5 onward
Level 15: We’ve taken most of the best feats we need, so this level we will qualify for the Loremaster PrC by taking Skill Focus: Kn Arcana or World.
Level 16: Hex: whatever you want, and we get Gr Weapon Focus for free
Level 17: Switching to Loremaster PrC. At this point we already have all the best Shaman buffs. She will have a pet through mythic progression by now, so taking the feat Boon Companion will help it keep up
- Secret: Rogue Secret: Combat Trick: Improved Improved Critical for rapiers, which is pretty OP. I don’t think it’s a bug at his point
Level 18: keep with Loremaster
Level 19: We can start dual wielding. I know it’s really late, you could potentially take Two-Weapon Fighting at level 17 if you wish. If you don’t care about that, taking Improved Initiative is always a good investment
- Secret: Combat Feat: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 20: For fun you can switch to Fighter/Titan Fighter, which lets you dual-wield staves which is pretty awesome for getting the highest spell DC modifier and lets you take Greater Two-Weapon Fighting. It’s not very thematic for Camellia though, so a great alternative would be Alchemist/Vivisectionist. This gives her sneak attack and mutagens for a higher Dex
- This level I recommend increasing Dex instead of Wis, to get to an even number there. If your PC is going Trickster then keep taking Wis
Mythic Progression
Level 1: Take Corruptor to bypass all resistances with Stinking Cloud
Level 2: Extra Mythic Ability: Abundant Casting
Level 3: Improved Abundant Casting. Don’t forget you can Heighten Stinking Cloud as much as you want, even up to level 9
Level 4: You have options here. Improved Critital Mythic: Rapier is good, but I think Spell Focus Mythic: Conjuration does more for her and the party
Level 5: More options. Second Spirit: Nature gives you a pet, and you are getting pretty close to level 16 at this point. If you don’t want that, Master Shapeshifter or Greater Abundant Casting are great, and Favorite MM: Persistent which again helps Stinking Cloud
- Pet: Riding Dog is probably the best, especially with the Good Boy ability
Level 6: This is where I pick ICM: Rapier
Level 7: These all include the same options as mentioned at level 5, I lean toward GAC
Level 8: Mythic Two-Weapon Fighting is great if you like melee. If not, then Extra Mythic: and whatever you haven’t taken yet from level 5 or 7. I’d take Favorite MM: Persistent
Level 9: Last Stand is always a good pick here, especially if you are playing Inevitable Excess. Otherwise Master Shapeshifter or Mythical Beast
Level 10: Whatever you want that you haven’t taken. If you’ve taken Improved Init, Mythic Improved Init can be good here too.
How to Play
It’s pretty simple. Send your tank ahead to aggro the enemies, then Camellia can dump a Stinking Cloud on them. Previous to level 5 Winter’s Grasp is great. Round after round enemies have to save against SC, and more will fail their save. She can always use Evil Eye to reduce saves on an enemy that gets repeatedly lucky. You can even stack EEs if you have Ember in your party, since they are from different classes. Holding two staves/weapons will max your DC’s, then you can switch to rapiers to have her wade in to battle.
An important note is the spell Delay Poison: Communal which makes your entire party immune to the effects of SC. Sosiel or several other characters can cast this. Don’t worry the spell DC is more than enough, even against Balors and Mariliths. It’s simple to reduce the enemy’s saves through Evil Eye (possibly twice with Ember), Sosiel’s Madness Domain Vision of Madness, not to mention other ways through your mythic path.
Don’t forget you can ambush enemies out of combat with Evil Eye. She’ll start her casting animation–just before she finishes her spell have your party charge the bad guy. Remember buff your tank with Protective Luck before combat. One final note. Try having a tank equip the Undying Love of the Hopebringer heavy shield, as the dark aura increases the DC of all poison spells.
Gear
Amulet: For most of the game you have her default amulet. Later you’ll get Voracious Spirit, but you are even better off with Heartstone of the Night Hag Queen to pimp out your spell DC’s
Armor: She has decent Dex, so go with Chainshirts, especially mithral ones. Haramakis also work if your Dex gets high enough
Robe: Anything. Robe of Determination is probably my pick here due to +1 DC for Fort-based spells
Belt: anything increasing Dex, later Dex and Con, or boosting all three physical stats
Gloves: Anything, later Fencer’s Gift
Boots: Spirit Trackers from ch 4
Helmet: headbands of Wisdom, ultimately Darkness Caress or Mental Perfection
Eyes: Razmir’s Mask, letting you cast a spell as a free action, but Rascal’s Goggles are great
Cloak: cloaks of Resistance
Rings: Conman’s Ring early on, later Ring of Evasion, Bane of Spirit which is especially suited to Camellia given her elemental damage
Bracers: Don’t really matter. Abrupt Onslaught increases Trickery
Weapons: With staves: Quarterstaff of the War Mage and Sin Mage’s Staff (or Dagger of the Betrayer), which can be dual-wielded if you picked Titan Fighter. For Rapiers: Holy Rapier from Drezen, several others. Late game: Transluscent Needle of Astonishment, off-hand Interceptor or Rapier of Speed
Quick Slots: quicken MM rod (or any variant); extend MM rods, Imp Devil for bonus to skill checks. If you didn’t get the nature spirit, using Triceratops Statuette will help. Rod of Power Source is a tremendous boost here as it increases the DC of Conjuration spells by +4, but you only get it with Dance of Masks.
Okay, that’s it for the Camellia build. This is the best build I’ve seen online, and I wanted to pass it on. Next will probably be Sosiel.