Tardif the Bounty Hunter
Little is known about Dismas, the Highwayman or Amani, the Shieldbreaker, but even those small biographies speak volumes compared to what we know about the strong, silent killer for hire on the road to the darkest dungeon: Tardif, the Bounty Hunter.
What we do know is what his marks fear. He is a master at taking down a target, all on his own. His strikes land with unparalleled precision, often finding their target stunned, dazed, off-balance or otherwise weakened.
His arsenal of choice speaks to his unflinching, tactical approach. A combat grapnel for grappling and positioning, flashbangs for dazing, caltrops for hindering and, of course, an axe for finishing.
In my many playthroughs of Darkest Dungeon, the Bounty Hunter was always a welcome addition to the party. His ability to set himself up with stuns and marks makes him an easy plug into any composition, but his true value comes when he can take advantage of the set ups made by his allies. In a stun-heavy comp, Bounty Hunter can finish. In a comp with marks, Bounty Hunter can finish.
You put a weakened enemy in front of Tardif, that enemy is finished.
So how do we build him in Pathfinder?
Keys to the Character
That'll Leave a Mark
Once Tardif marks someone for death, there is little that can be done to keep them from that fate. A good thing, since it takes 3 actions.
Axe and Hook
The Bounty Hunter uses a combat grapnel for ranged attacks and grappling, and a hatchet for... hatcheting.
Very Glare-y
Beyond the more slashing and smashing, Tardif's mask makes him a very intimidating figure. He can demoralize enemies with ease.
Flashmob
Tardif doesn't just use normal weaponry to complete his bounties. Grenades, caltrops and other tools are all part of the arsenal.
One does not simply make dozens of Pathfinder builds without making a few pure assassins. Most often, they are built around Rogues. Rogues have the scaling sneak attack damage, and the many stealth-abusing feats to start assassinating out of the gate.
But in Pathfinder 2e, unlike some other similar tabletop rpgs, the Ranger class can hold its own as an alternative. Especially, with the Precision hunter's edge and the sneak attacker feat, on the first attack of the round.
The scaling Rogue sneak attack – 4d6 on every successful attack against a flat-footed foe at level 20 – is tough to match by anyone. That's an average of 14 extra damage per attack. But the 3d8 from the Precision edge is just behind, at 13.5 extra damage (on the first attack, at least). And with a few extra bonuses from the Assassin dedication, that first attack can be among the hardest in the game to outmatch.
The throughput falls off compared to the Rogue after that first attack, but there are lots of other things that Tardif wants to do with his Ranger feats beyond just attacking. His alchemical tools can be used to dazzle and confuse foes, his combat grapnel can grapple a foe to leave them vulnerable – and his Assassinate ability can add a devastating amount of bonus damage to a Marked target.
The Marked for Death action is somewhat maligned in the Pathfinder community. In terms of action economy, it is an entire 3 action round just to mark a single foe. That means no movements, no attacks. In a tight battle, that is hard to come back from.
But flavor wise, Tardif wants to mark his enemies for the devastating effects that he can trigger afterward. And, since Mark doesn't need to be done in-combat, the Bounty Hunter can even Mark an enemy for death before the battle begins, for maximum assassination efficiency.
Build OVERVIEW
- Strong silent type
- Always leaves his mark
- Delete's single target enemies from the game
- Requires set up and target selection
- Not particularly robust
- Kind of rude, if we're honest
Ancestry
Versatile Human
The human ancestry is often picked for big flavor boosts at level 1 (Versatile Heritage / Natural Ambition) and level 9 (Multitalented). This build doesn't use Multitalented, but it does take many feats from the Assassin dedication. Natural Ambition at level 1 is a helpful way to add some more specific Ranger flavor to make up for that.
Beyond that, the Bounty Hunter makes use of General Training multiple times, picking up extra skill feats to make hunting bounties easier.
Background
Bounty Hunter
Does anything more need to be written here?
Fine, I will. This background gives a Strength bonus, which Tardif wants for swinging that hatchet. As well, it gives him the Experienced Tracker skill feat, all the better to hunt down his quarry with.
Class
Precision Edge Ranger
The Precision hunters edge is all about striking at an enemy's weak points, dealing a big boost of precision damage on the first strike of the round. This fits the flavor of the Bounty Hunter perfectly, putting all of his eggs into one basket for a strike that ends it all for an opponent.
The Ranger class also offers some very useful dual wielding feats that Tardif can take advantage of. He isn't the traditional two-sword flurry fighter, but he does make use of two different weapons where appropriate: a hatchet and a combat grapnel. Second Sting is particularly useful, guaranteeing a hit (without extra bonuses) on a later strike in a round.
Alongside the Ranger class, Tardif takes the Assassin Dedication, and many of the feats associated with it. This lets Tardif mark enemies for death – a big part of his Darkest Dungeon gameplay – as well as giving him access to features like Sneak Attack, Backstabber and the big Assassinate.
Finally, Tardif takes an early feat in Alchemical Crafting, which he will use for his extra tools that we know and love – flashbangs et all.
Skills & General Feats
A legendary intimidation is a key part of Tardif's bounty hunting repertoire – it's easier to catch foes when they are too afraid to run, after all. Additionally, having a high Athletics skill is key to making the combat grapnel shine, those grapple checks don't succeed on their own, after all.
Finally, a legendary Stealth is kind of required to make the Assassination dedication work. Assassinate, for instance, requires the target to be completely unaware of Tardif's presence.
Legendary: Athletics, Intimidation, Stealth
Master: -
Expert: -
Attribute Increases
Equipment
Suggested Starting Equipment
Key Spells
Changelog
