Errata: In the original printing of the Core Rulebook, Disrupt Prey is a free action, but looks like it was changed to be a reaction. Doesn't change my mind about its value :).
One more thing, I noticed you should have 1 more skill point at level 1 that's unassigned. I think you might have missed that your Background of Acrobat gave you Acrobatics as you listed it in the 7 skills you picked up from Rogue. If you were using Pathbuilder 2e and selected your skills before selecting Acrobat, it wouldn't automatically deselect Acrobatics from your chosen skills. If you go in and click it, you will remain trained (the text will go from orange to white, but the bubble will stay orange) but you will get the skill point back since you had it from another source. I'd recommend Society for knowing about whose best to steal from, or Crafting to know what's worth stealing.
I think it's important that you recognize. Normally you get a weapon property rune that deals damage at level 7 which should amount to a d6. This is not accounted for in the automatic bonus progression, it is important that you look at property runes. Items are vital for Pathfinder 2e.
I know a lot of people are suggesting magus for gish needs, but I will suggest Summoner. It is a gish style thing as well, but in a unique way I think you may enjoy.
The best part of your videos is the way you talk through your thought process. You weigh alternatives and justify the decisions you make. This is so much more helpful than just claiming to make a "best choice" about everything. Keep up the awesome Pathfinder videos!
I've loved watching Colby since his third video 😁 you best bet THIS is what made me continue watching every video. Even the ones of him just singing lol
Totally agree - especially as I'm new to Pathfinder too, that thought process is so helpful - some of the choices for this Rogue build are helpful for the Champion I just started playing, such as sorting out when to attack again vs try to demoralize.
16:18 it’s worth noting that the goblin weapon feat gives you Access to goblin weapons. A character who has Access/meets the listed Access conditions for an uncommon item/feat/spell etc gets to treat it as common, so no GM permission needed for the weapons.
Your intuition about access to uncommon weapons is actually spot on. Most (all?) of the ancestral weapon familiarity feats have a similar wording included as the Goblin Weapon Familiarity feat: "In addition, you gain access to all uncommon goblin weapons."
I of course LOVE you doing more Pathfinder content! Will watch the full ep as soon as I get a chance. Wanna comment that SAD builds are not as AS essential in PF2, since PF2 is much more generous with ability score increases (after Level 1 you get 16 ASIs which by default give a +2 each until a score reaches 18), so at least by Level 5 you can have an 18 Strength AND 18 Dexterity. This awesomely makes the other rogue rackets eventually equal/competitive in DPR. I really like the theme of the Ruffian rogue and wish other games expressed it more. You're a strongarm bully AND you knock people prone and don't play fair!
1. Disrupt Prey is, in fact, a Reaction. It's still a good option, since you will have more triggers available for extra strikes. 2. The main difference in damage between the level 6 report and the level 9 would be the access to Elemental Runes which add 1d6 elemental damage to your attacks (Fire, Electric, Cold, Sonic, Acid) or similar runes (Serrating). 3. There's also a few things to take into account, since certain level thresholds make monsters stronger than they normally would be in a linear progression. These levels are, not by coincidence, the same levels when PCs get their Stat Boosts. Which is one of the main reasons why it's slightly more dangerous to use Extreme Boss Encounters with creatures at these levels. 4. As a suggestion from someone that has created hundreds of builds in this game already (I know, it's a problem!), the power spikes from classes are around their offensive proficiency increases (Expert at 5th and Master at 13th level) and with the Striking Runes levels (Striking at 4th and Greater Striking At 12th level). Personally, I craft my character builds until around 10th level, sometimes 13th. You get a solid grasp on your build already with everything pretty much coming online by then and, at higher levels, you'll have plenty of experience with this character to chose higher level feats appropriated to them. Anyway, great content as always. If more players were as willing to learn a new system as yourself, PF2e's strengths would definitely be more well known.
Something that I think could be worth noting is that the Gamemastery Guide actually cautions GMs against the multiclass resiliency feats (like ranger's resiliency) when using Free Archetype. It specifically advices that GMs only let players benefit from a number of these feats equal to half their level. This is to prevent players from double dipping by taking archetype feats with both their main class feats and their free archetype feats to gain large amounts of extra HP. (GMG pg. 194)
Very excited to see this series go past the Core Rulebook. Once you start getting into the weirder archetypes that aren't just multiclassing, that's when things really get my gears turning.
Nice to see the series of pf2e builds continuing. A lot of other dnd channels currently are just doing their own intro to pf2e series so its nice to see someone doing a deep dive instead.
another great thing with hunt prey from ranger dedication is " You also ignore the penalty for making ranged attacks within your second range increment against the prey you’re hunting." This is amazing for thrown weapon builds, but still possibly relevant with other ranged weapons.
FYI, as a guy who has played a LOT of pathfinder, I see people take Trapspotter all the time. First of all, it lets you stealth and still spot traps, and secondly, according to some readings, it lets you get two secret rolls to spot traps if you are perceiving. One for seeking and one for your 'spidey sense for traps.' Very useful. Very underrated.
I realized another thing that I love about PF2 while watching this video. I guess I always knew this at some subconscious level, but this video brought it to the front of my mind. Even though you're building to optimize one thing, which is damage in his case, there's so much other things available that you can't not take some of the other things that are useful in other parts of the concept (iow not the core optimization goal), while still staying on theme and optimized.
I liked that you took a moment to talk about the possibility of the “flat” progression that might have happened with other choices. That’s actually what I love about this system: the power difference between builds is noticeable, but if you have players that aren’t optimizers they aren’t falling drastically behind. I think PF2 threads that needle well.
I'm personally a big fan of ruffian rogue, get sentinel dedication for that heavy armor proficiency, pick up a longspear and go around cosplaying as a fighter while making use of all the fun feats rogue gets. It really makes you think of rogue in a different light compared to the usual sneaky assassin or burglar type character.
@@toodleselnoodos6738 The best part is that heavy armor doesn't even have the Noisy trait, so as long as you have the Strength requirement it doesn't penalize your Stealth.
Yay! I love that you're going into Pathfinder more. I'm going to be addicted to your Channel because I'm learning Pathfinder myself as a DM and I'm introducing about five new people to it. I may even go down to the local game store and host some westmarch style games
So here's the problem....every time I watch one of Colby's videos I want to play a character similar to what he built. I dont play in enough game for this to happen. After this video I'm super excited to play a sneaky backstabbing charismatic acrobatic rogue
Colby, as someone who started playing D&D around the same time I started watching your channel, I really enjoy seeing your take on building PF2E characters. I learned so much from watching your vids in the early days and now I’m learning a lot on the structure of PF2E builds through these vids. Just wanted to say thanks and keep up the awesome work!
24:29 it would be good to see a graph for pathfinder where the x axis is the AC - level (to standardize) the y axis is the bonus to hit - level, and create a z axis for the number of party members with the same bonus to hit, making it easier to see when to use a third attack and when to demoralize for damage.
Glad to have you take a stab at PF2e, while approaching it with clear mind and enthusiasm. One suggestion I would make is to put up a description of the feats you are taking, so people can quickly read through them without going to AoN. Might help new players, who are not familiar what every feat does.
Awesome to see another Pathfinder video from you, Colby! I will say, I think one of the best strengths of Pathfinder 2E is just how broad the possibilities in character concepts are (especially with the free archetype rule), so I think this series will REALLY start to shine when you start diving into more specific and wild character ideas and toying with the various non-class archetypes. Of course, I totally understand that you're still getting to grips with the system, so it makes sense to start with simpler, more iconic concepts. Still, really looking forward to where this series goes!
I love the pathfinder content, I really like your dnd characters and now that I'm playing pathfinder, this helps me a lot to start building my own characters.
Noticed the Stormlight poster in the background! Love the series! If you ever wanna explore a Knight Radiant vibe, the Soul Forger archetype really fits, imo. When you feel comfy branching outta the CRB, I recommend checking it out!
Another great aspect of this very fun build is that the maxed Dexterity means if you end up facing a flying enemy or enemies high up and hard to get to, this Thief will be decent with hitting with a ranged weapon. Very fun and flexible build!
It's funny, I think I could find a problem with any potential damage calculation attempts since there are so many combinations of situations to account for, even if you aren't considering your allies, but it does show how varied combat can be in PF2E, and why it can be so hard to find the "best" build. The biggest thing to be wary of with how you are calculating damage is how it might restrict your future builds, as some builds can be more focused on fighting few higher level enemies, while others can be focused on many lower level enemies, where as this calculation only really tells you how good you are against a moderate amount of similarly leveled enemies. I think it's fine to use that as a default for judging builds, especially since the spread does push a little into higher and lower level enemies, but be aware of how you may want to compare against these other type of enemy groups based on the kind of build you work on.
Thank you for diving in to learn a new system and bringing us along. I've been on the fence about learning PF 2e (I have been playing and running PF since release and 3.5 d&d before that) and this content is just the push I'm needing. Thanks for being awesome! ❤️
30:00 There's a a tip I can give here to help with the action economy sometimes so that the problem with Hunt Prey intruding on your action economy and making Twin Takedown kinda take two actions on your first turn: You can Hunt Prey on a target you are Tracking but the mark doesn't go away if you stop Tracking. This isn't applicable all the time but if you ever find Tracks (including any signs something passed through not just footprints) or track through some alternate means you can mark your quarry with Hunt Prey in advance. So if you happen to enter combat with them, they are pre-marked. Thus constantly looking for tracks is a good idea so if you find some you can mark the owner and proceed. Enter a house that got broke into? Mark the person that rifled through yonder desk before you bop into the next room where you here voices. In the mess hall of a dungeon? Mark the dude that left that bowl of gruel.
Since i have a Pathfinder game coming up, I am loving these character building videos! It's the part I'm most nervous about but having someone walk me through the steps is super helpful
My favorite Rogue Build is using Eldritch Trickster from the APG, selecting Druid as your archetype and WIS as your key attribute. Tumble Behind and Gouging Claw is your main damage source, and you use your skill feats on Medicine, becoming one of the best healers if you take Medic as a free archetype.
The spell Rogue which fascinates me is a Kobold Scoundrel, going Primary Cha, and using free archetypes for Sorcerer spellcasting. Cower from Kobold at level 5 let’s you Feint at 30 feet, so set them up for a ranged spell.
Awesome vid. Glad to see you testing the Pathfinder 2e waters more. As I'm going to be playing a Ruffian rogue in a Strength of the Thousands adventure path, I thought I'd share the build I theory crafted but had to alter because the alignment restraints of the campaign setting. First max strength, then Charisma and go with Hobgoblin for their fear based ancestry feats. Max Intimidation to demoralize and Athletics if you can't frighten your target. The core of the build is centered around applying the frightened condition because enemies will be flat footed to you if you take the dread striker rogue feat. You apply frightened through intimidation and eventually grabbing dirge of doom (1 action cantrip that frightens all enemies within 30ft) at level 12 from the bard archetype. You maintain frightened through Hobgoblin's Remorseless Lash feat and eventually Aura of Despair (enemies within 15ft of you can't reduce their frightened condition below-1) from the Champion archetype .
One thing to keep in mind is that a particular stat to damage means less and less as 2e characters level up. At level 1 it's huge, but at later levels, when you're rolling a minimum 4 damage dice per hit (extra if you have an elemental rune, even more when Sneak Attacking), the flat damage (maximum +6) means a lot less. Thinking about it like this helps open up more build options that could potentially be more interesting to play.
Colby, a thing you should be aware of - if an enemy you wanna Demoralize doesn't understand you verbally, you get a -4 to the Intimidation Check. But, there's a feat - Intimidating Glare. It basically removes the -4 penalty due to the enemies not understanding you. It's basically a must have if you wanna intimidate regularly.
As a PF2 veteran, I am going to throw out my vote against including Free Archetype (FA) into these deep dives. FA is something that is not only an optional rule, but one that can wildly vary table to table. It's rare from my experience talking to other local GMs that FA is fully unrestricted. FA also adds complexity for new players who are already learning a new system, and can change expectations for them. That being said, I know you love theory crafting with FA. Sperating out the FA portion of the build into a new video or section at the end would be a great way to let people see the build stand on its own. Then, if they want, they can jump over to thr FA portion and see how then can further enhance it. Of course, I still love your PF2 videos, and hope for more in the future.
Not sure if you caught that but I think it's worth mentioning that Skirmish Strike has the Flourish trait. You can only take one Flourish action or ability per turn. So you can't use Skirmish Strike twice on the same turn and you can't use it on the same turn as Twin Takedown, which also has the Flourish trait.
Thank you so much for your coverage of PF2 Colby! This is continually helping me learn the system for my table. Will have to catch the new campaign you're starting 🙂
The breakdown of damage and hit chance scaling in your Final Thoughts was inspiration to me, and something that, as a person also learning PF2E, didn't occur to me, that yes indeed there is an important spot for optimization, as least as far as the key ability score aspects. Staying effective is important for the fun to a lot of folks, and that's different from min-maxing into the ground. I'm loving your insight into PF2E content.
Aah, I can feel the shift in priorities; calculating the "best-case scenario" is still the goal, but you're now equipping yourself with options and making sure you have something for every situation, for when the circumstances inevitably prevent you from taking the perfect turn. It mirrors my own PF2e journey. I had _such_ a beef with the system for the longest time, and Ronald summed it up beautifully in a recent video of his - I was mad that PF2e made it hard for me to "construct a wind-up toy". Optimization in other systems tends to be very sheet-oriented-something you build, and then unleash, almost on autopilot-whereas PF2e encourages you to assemble a good toolkit, and know when to pull out the best tool for a specific job.
I built a Rogue Thief after watching this video, but I used the Swashbuckler dedication and moved into the Fighter dedication (I know you only used the core rules book). I found this build to be very versatile (obviously) with great sustained DPR! I believe the Ranger dedication still does more bursty DPR when considering a 75 percent trigger on Disrupt Prey. Great video as always!
Suggestions: - Performance can be replaced by acrobatics with the Acrobatic Performer feat - put that trained skill proficiency somewhere else. - A good alternative to the unbreakable heritage is the versatile heritage duskwalker. This gives you a L1 feat to get free ghost touch and a L9 feat that add +1 damage (positive or negative dependent on enemy). - Another good ancestry will be Hobgoblin. They have a L1/L5 feat combo that when you demoralize you cause mental damage as they stay frightened and if you hit an enemy with a weapon they can't reduce their frightened condition below frightened 1. That synergies well with dread striker. - Twin feint / Tumble Behind are much better feats than mobility due to the rarity of attacks of opportunity in PF2e. The unbreakable goblin has a 'bouncy goblin feat' that lets you get a +2 circumstance bonus to tumble through actions which gives you a great 3 action attack routine with tumble behind (i.e., tumble behind to get your first strike flatfooted and then twin feint guaranties you're second attack is flatfooted). That will jump you're DPR way more than anything else. - Ranger MC/Twin Takedown isn't great for melee because you have to switch enemies and move. In a 5-6 round fight you'll probably end up losing 2-3 actions to hunt prey. IMO Its better on ranged builds with hunted shot who also don't need to move. - An alternative Free Archetype to this could be the thaumaturge (mirror implement at L6 is very much like an echo knight for limitless 15ft teleport). Or you could consider Marshal to get a +1 status bonus stance or +X status bonus damage stance that are great. Also the acrobat archetype will give you scaling expert/master/legendary in acrobatics and the L8 feat lets you tumble/strike (move+ strike action economy) and avoid attacks of opportunity on successes (combine that with the tumble behind/bouncy goblin feat for lots of fun). - You should be grabbing trick magic item at some point to use wands (e.g., a L2 longstrider wand is a self only spell but is a essential 10ft bonus to your speed that everyone usually has). - I don't think your DPR should assume flatfooted and it should be broken into flatfooted and non-flatfooted. While getting flanking is easy, if you're assuming you just get it you'll skew all your DPR calculations because many turns you have to move to get it or it isn't available. That's where a demoralize to get flatfooted from dread striker and a -1 to AC really shines. - L6 gang up feat is great for getting flatfooted, better than sly striker IMO - 75% of an AoO on hunt prey is not a good assumption. It only applies to 1 enemy on the battlefield at one time. They don't have to move away from you at all, especially if you're sly striking to disengage. - I know you said you're not including items but L8 should have a weapon rune included (at least another 1D6 + possible persistent damage). That is you're missing DPR increase. - While a 1D6 backstabber agile weapon is probably better if you're spamming attacks, on 2 attack turns with a 1D8 finesse weapon you'll likely be ahead (you can grab those via other ancestry weapon feats just like the goblin one).
I've done a build pretty similar to this previously, and one thing I think is really good if you look at other books (or Archives of Nethys) only would be the level 1 Class Feat from the Advanced Player's Guide "Tumble Behind". When you sucessfully Tumble Through (i.e. use Acrobatics to move through an enemy's space) that enemy becomes flat-footed, and so you can sneak attack them! This works well because the main failing of the Thief is that it doesn't help you make your opponent flat-footed natively, and now we have a Dex-based way of doing this! It also synergises really well with the Unbreakable Goblin heritage, via the Bouncy Goblin feat (yes most of the goblin feats are this ridiculous), giving you a +2 circumstance bonus to Tumble Through.
I’m loving the Stormlight and Mass Effect artwork. Awesome stuff. Also these PF2 videos are getting me hyped for my table’s inevitable switch from 5e to PF2. Thank you for your hard work!!
11:08 You're correct. However there's another class that comes close. The investigator can attack using intelligence and while it still adds strength to damage, when they use Int to hit they get bonus damage (Xd6 that scales with level). Such a class is a great SAD build.
Another amazing video Colby! A goblin rogue with two dogslicers? You really are pampering us building propably the most iconic pathfinder character there is (thinking about Rise of the Runelords and We Be Goblins! adventures here). I wanted to show support to your decision to stick to core only for now. It's showing many of us a good example of not overwhelming themselves by taking in all the books once when trying new systems. And by 'us' I mostly mean myself.
Pathfinder is even more perfect for your channel than I expected, because you can theory craft not only the build, but when to take what actions (while in 5e is attack, move, attack, a spell if you are a spellcaster, attack, move...)
Rogue is honestly my favorite class in this system. Incredible Initiative is my go-to general feat. I know you're holding off on the Advanced Players Guide for now but I think you'll love the Shadow Mark stealth skill feat and Assassin archetype.
There are a ton of comments, so I don't know if anyone has already commented. But, as a dual wielder, (my first PC was/is a goblin flurry ranger using twin takedown), I found many times when I did not have weapons out at the start of combat, getting into range, getting out both dog slicers, and getting hunt prey could take 2 rounds or more depending on moving into combat. That makes the level 2 feat quick draw SUPER useful as an action economy saver and as a good way to go from ranged to melee. You start in stealth. Distant enemy is flat footed but wont be by the time you get to it. Hunt prey, quick draw your bow and fire for ranged flat foot damage and sneak. Then you can move or hide or draw one of your slicers. It has proven invaluable many times in my ranger career.
I haven't seen anyone else mention this yet, so I just want to say, while goblin weapon familiarity makes dogslicers count as simple weapons, it is only for the purposes of proficiency with them. So when you get weapon tricks, you get expert proficiency, but you do not get to apply critical specialization with dogslicers. It's a weird fiddly bit that everyone misses their first time. Not that that's a huge deal for this class since swords don't have a huge crit spec like you said.
The video qualities are as usual glorious, but may I say that I find your voice absolutly mesmerizing ^^ It's always a pleasure to listen to you calmly explain your train of thoughts.
One of the best feelings in life is learning. Watching other people learn is comparable. Watching you explore pathfinder mechanically is a joy to watch.
I have a possible suggestion, as a number of Pathfinder players are coming from D&D 5e but are turned off by the Vancian casting. While the Pathfinder wizard does have a rigid Vancian style, there are building options to make that Wizard a lot more flexible and versatile. As an added challenge, see what can be done without the Flexible Spellcaster archetype.
Happy to see more PF 2e content. I like that you started using the Automatic Progression for the calculations. One production note with your new setup, your camera is having difficulty with autofocus in your new setup. Several times through this video is swaps between perfectly sharp focus on your face (for example at 11:50), then perfectly sharp focus on the dragon lamp & the posters on the wall (for example 25:00)
Hi Colby! I really appreciate your Pathfinder 2e videos, and especially the thought process behind the choices you’ve made. Very helpful and insightful!
Love more pathfinder content! I have a suggestion (which albeit is more work for you) about the damage report: what if you provide two numbers, one for if you spend all 3 actions doing attacks/damage actions, and another number of you only spend 2 (since often during play you need spend an action each turn doing other things like move or aid or demoralize). This way we get to see the max possible DPR, but also we see the DPR we’d typically get in play. Otherwise, the sustained damage dealers would feel more like nova damage as only occasionally we’d be able to setup 3 actions of attack.
Great video, a couple of thoughts I had as I watched: 1) Can you have a dogslicer? The Goblin Weapon Familiarity feat grants you access to uncommon goblin weapons, "access" is a Pathfinder term that means you ignore rarity for the thing you have access to. So RAW you can have dogslicers with this build. 2) Trap Finder - being able to have your Exploration Activity be Avoid Notice is very good for a rogue, since you will be rolling Stealth for initiative and that means enemies you beat in initiative will be flat-footed. This gives you an alternative first round if you're sneaking ahead, if you have your bow out you could move and fire twice, and get sneak attack on each hit. It gives you a little extra versatility. 3) The third attack. I agree there is room for nuance here, and I think this class is one such case. If you have an agile weapon and you're attacking a flat-footed opponent, then you're effectively only at -6 to hit with that 3rd attack, and that's not too bad. Also, the fact that rogues do so much damage per hit (because of sneak attack), means that the reward for that 3rd hit is high if you can land it.
My 5e campaign is converting to pathfinder and my partner is adapting her soulknife rogue. We're using free archetype rules and she's going a thief rogue with the mindsmith archetype which kind of works perfectly lol. Love the pathfinder content!
Heya, I'm doing my part of downloading your video, watching it at .25 speed, liking, and commenting to bump you up the algorithm. Please keep making more Pathfinder 2e content!
As a note to the running joke that is every build working as a human, you can use the extra general feat from the human's Versatile Heritage to take Adopted Ancestry for immediate access to ancestry feats from a list other than human right from 1st level. Going goblin instead in this case is still probably better for the darkvision and such, but 'adopted human' can often lead to some very strong combos from taking the best of both ancestries.
Correction on Powerful Leap. It doesn't change Long or High Jump, even though they both reference the leap action. All 3 things alter the Leap action in some way, but not in a way that actually stacks. Powerful leap changes the distance you can move with the Leap action, but so does Long Jump, and Long jump has you specifically set the DC based on the distance traveled. Powerful Leap DOES let you Leap further, but if you're jumping 20 feet, the DC for a Long Jump is 20 feet.
the more I'm learning pf2e the more I love it. and the more I'm realizing that being single ability dependent isn't nearly as big a deal as in dnd5e. you get a truckload of feats no matter the character, great starting ability scores, and every 5 levels you get to boost 4 different scores by 2 each (or only 1 if the score is already at or above 18). you can go a lot wider with your scores and still be a viable build while at the same time the system doesn't let more focused in characters get significantly stronger for not branching out as much. it really opens up a lot more character concept possibilities by not making you choose between being more versatile and being viable
I think the way I feel about rogues is the way you feel about monks, so I'm very excited for this. I adore the PF2e rogue, and the thief is extremely beginner friendly with the extra damage bump.
I’m loving the pathfinder content. Please keep it up. I hope that it gets enough views for it to be worthwhile for you and not hurt your channel in the Algorithm.
I think level 12 is probably a perfect place to stop in pf2e for most builds. After level 12 things get way too complicated for me and I have to get there myself to see what I want, but planning out to level 12 feels feasible for me. Love what you're doing here, keep it up! :D (And I love that you're including all the little rules that are important to a character. As someone who is only getting into it as well, it'll be great to get these little reminders, and I'm sure eventually as we all learn you can just throw the rules up on screen and move past them to save time.)
Battle medicine is never a bad feat. The immunity given is separate for each healer. so if all 4 party members have it, everyone can heal each other once, for a total of 4 heals per day
I think the damage report issues you're looking at are in large part due to not including any equipment. In the Core Rulebook there is a chart for late joiners that tells you how much of a lump sum of gold someone should on average have (in cash or stuff) at a given level which you can use to go shopping once you hit level 9 or wherever you're stopping.
Hey! I know you are keeping it simple but as you get used to the system adding in weapon property runes will bump the DPR a bit usually a (d6) the elemental runes that add this die are available at level 8. As a note you can only have as many property runes as you do weapon potency bonus. ie 1 at 2, 2 at 10 and 3 at 16 following the table you showed.
Fantastic video! I found you when everything was going down and saw your previous pathfinder video. I love your train of thought and explanations for everything. Hope more is coming for other classes as well.
Love the builds and glad to see more PF2e. The goblin weapon familiarity feat only makes goblin weapons simple for proficiency bonus. So at level 5, while the proficiency bonus would go up, you don't automatically get access to the weapon critical specialization effect.
I'm glad you're dipping your toe into pathfinder. It gives me a chance to explore different corners of the rules when I'm not able to actively sit and go through my own books. Definitely shrinking the learning curve for us.
Also if you want ideas for a fun build the grabby fighter makes for a shockingly good but easy build that can actually tank. Especially if you just go shield instead of weapon (Lizardfolk have claws and good attribute boosts if you just need to stab something)