Hello and welcome to another entry in my thematic main character builds series! I daresay the most in-depth one so far.

Today, we're roleplaying as a Mantis Zealot, a member of the Red Mantis Assassins under the guide of Achaekek. This is one of the coolest new classes added with the Dance of Masks DLC, which makes a perfect fit for a Devil main character. Also works for a mercenary!

This guide includes a walkthrough for the Aeon mythic quests. Make sure you read it carefully in order to allow for the transition to the Devil mythic path. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to help!


This is a roleplaying-focused build. As such, I avoided multiclassing into weird classes just for the sake of "more dps", and made flavour choices to keep the theme of the character.

That being said, the build is optimized enough to be played and finish the game comfortably on Core or below. Can even be used for Hard with a good party.

If you need help with the puzzles, check my other guide:
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968096295

The big selling point of the Mantis Zealot is the Deadly Fascination ability.


This works similar to the Fascinate ability of Bards, but with a notable exception: the fascinated characters don't immediately 'wake up' after receiving damage. Instead, every time they take a hit, they must pass another check to get out of fascination. If they fail, they don't break out of it. Note that this doesn't work on undead or enemies immune to mind-affecting effects, unless you take a level of sorcerer for the undead bloodline so it works against undead (tested and it does work).

With this ability, you can paralyze all enemies around you and leave them standing still indefinitely, just waiting for their turn to get ambushed by the mantis. This ability alone will carry you through most fights, especially those with a high number of enemies.


I would have loved to fit some levels of Assassin in this build. Sadly, it is not possible without hurting the save DC of Deadly Fascination, not to mention losing access to the cool level 20 ability.

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Devil is, without a doubt, the best fit since Achaekek is a Lawful Evil demigod and the Red Mantis are all about religion, principles and laws. That requires being an Aeon, which means the character is granted a lot of power to change reality, and uses it for their own benefit (and for the benefit of Achaekek) until the point they get the opportunity of turning into a Devil.

Azata, Angel, and Trickster are obviously out of the question. Lich works and it's of course really powerful gameplay-wise, but the whole necromancer/undead vibe was not a good fit for the theme. Demon also works in terms of gameplay, but that would change our roleplaying completely since Demon doesn't allow for lawful characters, being neutral evil at most.

Image source: Pathfinder Inner Sea NPC Codex.

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If you're playing on Core, I suggest hiring a Bard mercenary to go along with this build. Alternatively, you can use my tank Sensei, which can be found here:
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3400639585

Here's the original image I'm using for the portrait:

Artist/Source: Roman Paygusov[www.behance.net]

The only problem is that the in-game character does not hold the sabers correctly. Grrrrr.

If you're picking Human, go with the same stats and use your spare skill points into religion or trickery. Your feat choices remain mostly the same, but you'll start with the first 2 and then pick the next in line starting from level 3. Some feats cannot be picked earlier because of their requirements, so pick those on the appropriate level following the guide.

Here's a good portrait image for a human (original here)[paizo.com]

Take Warpriest - Mantis Zealot on every level.

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The Aeon spellbook has mostly the same spells as yours, so you can use a few of your Aeon slots for those too. I'll just include the unique Aeon spells and some regular ones you don't get on Warpriest normally.

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Mythic 8 gives you Hell's Decree. Decree of Never-Ending War can make enemies fight themselves, and Hell's Fires can insta-kill low-health enemies. Use them between your attacks since they are all swift actions. Free damage? I'll take it.


At mythic 9, you get Hell's Seal. Since you are already immune to fire damage, you can use Seal of Fire Eating on yourself to heal from fire damage and get extra damage on your attacks. You can have a companion use a fire spell/cantrip on you (provided they don't have ascendant element, of course), or use your own Hellfire Ray on yourself to proc it. You have infinite casts of it.

Seal of Burning Flames is a good option to use on companions, especially on tanks. The other Seals are not really interesting.

The real deal is mythic 10. You can use demonic rage + Aspect of Succubus for extra hit chance or Aspect of Incubus for damage. Sad part is that you'll only get to use it for the final boss basically.

At the start of the game, you'll find two sabers in the chest underground. And they are cold iron too, how convenient is that?

After leaving the prologue, you'll be able to do Woljif's quest to get Finnean, which you should equip on your main hand. Visit Woljif inside the tavern after his quest is done to buy a +1 saber for your off-hand from him.


Visit the quartermaster to buy new sabers. Get the agile saber for your main hand (it will add your DEX to damage) and the Quick Punishment for the off-hand.



Visit the quartermaster and the blacksmith to buy your new set of weapons.


Use the Mantis Favor in your main hand. The Jagged Claw makes enemies bleed (you deal extra damage against bleeding enemies) and become flat-footed, so you'll have an easier time hitting enemies. Don't bother with the elemental sabers since the extra damage will always get resisted anyway.

There are no new weapons in act 4. Keep using Greater Magic Weapon and Sacred Weapon to raise your weapons' enhancement bonus until the last act.

Visit the quartermaster to buy a new weapon.


The weapon which this guide is named after. Remember to activate the weapon's attack boost from your abilities tab. The -1 AC is negligible due to Red Shroud and your new Devil wings. Keep using the Jagged Claw on your off-hand.



If you visit the DLC area, you can buy a really strong saber from the blacksmith. The DLC will only start after you clear Iz, so, if you're interested, head to Iz as your first stop on act 5.


Use this on your main hand, and the Crimson Verdict on your off-hand (remember to activate the weapon's attack boost again from your abilities tab). The Blacksmith also sells the Praying Killer, but you can ignore that one since the Crimson Verdict will be better for you for the +4 to attack.

Trivia: Achaekek is also known as He Who Walks in Blood.

Found in a locked room in Tower of Estrod. If you miss it, use any mithral light armor you find. Apply the Magical Vestments spell to raise its enhancement bonus.

This one can be bought from the shopkeeper in the Dance of Masks DLC (act 5). it is expensive af though (250k), but money should not be a problem for you at that point, right?



Found with a demon army west of Lost Chapel, in crusade mode.


Found in Befouled Barrows.

Using both of those will give you a +6 bonus damage to your off-hand attacks.

The helmet and boots I'm using both come from Ulbrig's quest during Act 3 and should be used together, so his DLC is required for those. If you don't have it, it's no big deal. Just use a regular WIS headband and the best boots you can find. You can get a +6 to DEX later with a belt.



And the last one for this Act:

Found in Midnight Fane, hidden room in lower right corner (next to the barrier). Use this until you turn into a Devil.

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Buy from Woljif inside the Nexus cave.


To get this OP cloak, you need to find the cloak piece in Areelu's Laboratory (act 3), gather the necessary reagents, and then ask the Storyteller to craft it for you.

Here's the reagents:

The earliest it can be done is in Act 4 because one of the reagents (hide) can't be found before that. The 3 hides can be found during act 4. If you get them all, you can then ask the Storyteller to craft it for you as soon as you encounter him again still in act 4.

Hide locations:
Nexus: on a skeleton on the east side of the cave;
Middle City: In a chest at the south side of Fleshmarkets;
Upper City (x2): In a cupboard of the mansion blocked by abyss barrier & Hidden in a locked chest on a northeast corner of main island, behind the cart.

Note: You keep the Aeon version of the cloak and its benefits after switching to Devil. Which is great, since the Devil version of the cape is pretty terrible. Make sure to complete the cape before switching mythic paths.

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Found in Act 2, Lost Chapel (next to Zacharius). Put this on your belt and activate it.


This will give you a permanent +2 DEX. To get this, you'll need to defeat Playful Darkness, the hardest optional enemy in the game. See the Screenshots section for details!

He can be found in the Midnight Fane, close to the end of act 3. Here's the location of the portal leading to the boss' area:

Both are done at act 1:

Requirement 1: in the Market Square, you'll find a dagger carved in a stand, as seen in the picture here. Take it with the Aeon option. Don't forget to also take the Midnight Bolt on the other side of it.


Requirement 2: when deciding what to do with the wardstone, at the end of the Grey Garrison, pick the Aeon option. This will unlock the path.

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As an aeon, you can pass judgement on the criminals around you. They will have this blue aura as you can see in the picture, indicating that they've done something wrong. You can then ask them what their crime was, sometimes pass judgement on them (or don't at all), and that's it. Most of those interactions are optional and won't be tied to your mythic quest.

However, for the ones related to your mythic quest, your "performance" as a judge will be evaluated to determine the outcome of your mythic progression. After you spend a day managing your new crusade affairs, you'll find yourself at your mirror. This is the start of your mythic quest.

For every person you put on trial during your mythic quest, you'll get 3 verdict options. Each option is tied to one of the possible Aeon outcomes:

• The first choice is tied to the "true aeon", a true embodiement of law, impartiality and justice;
  
  
• The middle one is for the "renegade aeon", who lets emotions (i. e., chaos) cloud their judgement to either break laws or bend them;
  
  
• The bottom choice corresponds to the Devil path, in which you not only let your emotions sway you, you also do this for personal greed.

By picking one of the choices, you'll get one point in that category. By act 5, you need your Devil points to be higher than the others. Picking the Devil choice on every trial will give you one point for each, and there's also a few other events that can give you those points. Even if you pick different options sometimes, you'll be fine as long as you stick to the Devil choices for most of the game. You can even manually keep count of your points if you want.

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Let's use the first trial case as an example to explain why are choices 2 and 3 considered 'breaking the law'.


In your personal quarters, you'll find a copy of the Drezen Code of Martial Law. As an aeon, you are expected to follow it to the letter.


It is stated, in paragraph 3, that any Mendev civilian who deceives, engages in fraud or break agreements must be sentenced to imprisonment, not banishment from Drezen.

Option 2 has you breaking the law for compassion, letting the guilty part return the money and walk away free.

For option 3, not only did you break the law by letting them go, you also did it for your own personal gain. Yes, the confiscated money is going to the crusade treasury, but that's still greed since you'll get to use it for more power (either to you directly or to the crusade, which is still a win for you) instead of returning it to its rightful owner. That's the way of the devil.

Drezen vs. A Conspiracy of Silence
Head to Drezen streets, close to the jewelry trader. After receiving the quest, return to this spot after midnight. You can use the skip time function on the lower left menu.



After the first trial, an advisor from Hell will come to your court and make you a "business proposition" of sorts. Accept his offer and, from that point on, always listen to his advice. He will always direct you to the Devil choice.

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Private Averis vs. Private Ramley
After a few days have passed, Averis will come to the citadel to discuss this case. Head to the Drezen prison area and question Ramley. Exhaust the dialogue options to be able to tell him all his wares are rubbish. Visit the Village Ruins to find evidence, and remember the specific items you find so you can confront Ramley. He will ask you details about the evidence, and you should tell him exactly what you've found, otherwise you'll have to return to check again: pick option number 3. For the trial, you can just follow Melies' advice for the correct Devil option.


After this trial, go check yourself in the mirror.

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Drezen vs. the Singing Priestess
You'll find your next subject in front of the tavern during the day. If she's not there, go take care of some other stuff and check back again after a few days have passed. Talk to her, then find her again inside the tavern during the evening. Talk to Fye to understand the problem and then confront the priestess. Your verdict should be pretty obvious.

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Private Gorvo vs. The Army of Drezen
You'll receive this request in your command room after some time has passed. You must issue the decree to start the investigation via the command table. It will take 5 days. After the decree is completed, you can pass judgement on the matter.

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Orvenn Dalmora vs. Drezen
You'll receive this one after you've completed Wintersun (lvl 11 recommended). Head back to Wintersun village and talk to the two suspects. Find the imcriminating evidence behind the hut, as seen in the image, and talk to them again.

After that, return to Drezen.


After finishing the trial, return to the mirror once more. If you've been picking the Devil options, the mirror will remark on how your judgements were made for profit, not truth, so you know you're on the right path. A new place will be revealed on your map, which is your next destination. After you return to Drezen, you can proceed to the next step.

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Now, for your last step on your mythic quest on this act, check the distortion in Drezen, which will lead you back in time to fix Staunton's problem. Roleplaying-wise, it would be better if you don't change the past. We're not a True Aeon, so we don't really care about cosmic balance. Refusing to change the past will give you another Devil point for your evaluation.

The 3 possible outcomes are:

• You fix the catastrophe by showing Staunton what you see as an Aeon, and he will later be found in Drezen along with his brother as a valuable ally of the Crusade. This requires passing a few skill checks and picking the corresponding Aeon dialogue choice, but that will only be possible if you have more true Aeon points, so it's not an option;
  
  
• You can still make Staunton fix everything without being a true Aeon if you pass a few checks, but then he will leave Drezen in the present timeline after talking to you for a bit;
  
  
• The third option is "doing nothing", which means the past is unchanged and you just go back empty-handed. Which is a good thing for us.

As soon as you get to the Nexus, go right and enter the cave. Interact with the crystal to begin your new mythic quest.

You have 3 potential trial cases:

Xarra: northeast corner of the lower city;
Mielarah: tavern, lower city;
Zeklex: battlebliss arena, middle city.

When you meet Nocticula, you'll be able to put them on trial, with her as a judge. She's the ruling authority in the place after all.


Depending on how you proceed during the quests, some of them might not be available to be picked for the trial later, but you only need to judge one of them to complete your quest, so don't worry.

Your verdict choices on the trials follow the same rules as before, so pick the bottom choice. Yes, Nocticula will ignore your verdict, but you'll still get Devil points in your favour.

After that is done, say you still need more time before your next assignment, or don't talk to Nocticula again just yet. She will make a comment about the Lexicon of Paradox. Check the end of this section for details about this.

Return to the Nexus cave and click on the mirror. For your next mission, go back to the Midnight Fane via the rift in the upper part of the cave. Make your way to the room in the lower right corner and click on the rift. Once again, you can opt to not change the past. When you enter, you'll find Xanthir Vang, and have to decide what to do with him:

• If you're a true Aeon, you'll get an Aeon specific choice to correct Xanthir's violation, making him your ally. This requires passing a diplomacy or intimidation check;
  
  
• If you're not a true Aeon, which is the case for this build, you'll have the same skill check, but won't be able to convince him even if you pass, leading to a fight. After the fight, you can either let him go or kill him (killing him still changes the past);
  
  
• If you let him walk away, nothing changes.

This concludes your mythic quests for this act.

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Unless you've given it to the Queen earlier, you should have one half of the book. The second part is inside Nocticula's Palace, in the same room with the projector and a midnight bolt, hidden behind a perception check. By giving Nocticula the book, she will offer you her 'profane gift', which is a permanent +6 to your highest stat, and a +4 to your second highest stat.

For the purpose of the roleplaying part of this guide, I suggest you refuse it. I mean, It doesn't make sense accepting a leash from a demon lord, especially one known for cunning and deception. I know we're not afraid of bending a few laws in our favour, but we don't make 'contracts' with demons. Also, Regill won't like it, and we want our bro to like us.


If you don't have both halves of the book, she will still offer you the gift later before you return to Golarion.

Note: the book is only important for the secret ending. But this will not be covered in this guide.

Let's do this. Go back to your mirror to start the quest.

For this part, you'll find several criminals around Drezen. Just walk around the city and you'll find all of them. You should perform at least 3 trials amongst the 5 possible. Remember to pick the bottom choice for those.

After this task is completed, return to the mirror once again. It will direct you to Kenabres, and Melies will show up and make you an offer. Accept it, and a new place will be revealed. Make your way there to face your trial.

Now, this part should be fairly easy if you've been accumulating Devil points. If your total Devil points are higher than the rest, as it should be, you'll be offered the position without having to negotiate for it.

If you've picked different verdict options along the way and did not keep track of the exact number of Devil points you have, you can get a few more during the trial:

• Each skill check you pass during your arguments will give you one point, since this is seen as you trying to negotiate in your favour;
  
  
• If you've refused Nocticula's gift, you get an extra point. If you did accept it, you'll have the chance of dispelling it during the trial, earning you a point for doing so;
  
  
• If you've never changed the past (with Staunton and Xanthir), you also get a point.

Congratulations, you're now a Devil!

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Your Devil mythic quest begins after returning to Drezen. Melies will introduce you to the queen of Cheliax on your return, and you'll have the choice of welcoming her advisor or throwing them out.

I need you to take a second to remember that Cheliax does not openly tolerate worship of Achaekek[pathfinderwiki.com], but there are still several hidden shrines devoted to him within Cheliax. So, you can either use this opportunity and your position to strengthen the cult's standing in Cheliax, or refuse their "help" at any point during the quest.

If you decide to accept their offer, Megidiah will come with a report after a few days. This will happen 5 times through this act, and it can take a while for each new event to happen (like one or two weeks), so go around doing your quests and crusade stuff while you wait. You'll only get mythic 9 at the end of this chain.

For each of those events, you'll have 3 options on how to proceed. The idea here is that you can either agree with them fully, agree but on your terms, or disagree completely and throw Cheliax out.

As an example, here's the first of those events:

Option 1 will always be the obvious "I agree". Option 2 will have Cheliax disapprove of your actions but still advances the plot, and picking option 3 at any point means terminating your relationship with Cheliax.

Here's the catch: at the end of those 5 events (or earlier if you've thrown them out at any point), if Cheliax has disapproved of your actions 3 or more times, they will invade Drezen and you'll have to defend yourself, either by negotiating a peaceful solution or by fighting the queen and her army.

If you refuse to bow down to Cheliax, you'll have to fight. After the battle, you'll have the option of letting the queen go, or finish her off. Killing her sounds tempting, but let's remind ourselves that Achaekek strictly forbids his followers from killing a lawful ruler, so it is advised that you don't kill her. You don't want to invoke Achaekek's wrath upon you.

This is the end of your mythic quests!

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To get a special quest from a certain archdevil, make sure to save Galfrey when you go to Iz (rush to her location as your first priority there). After returning to Drezen, you'll be contacted for a special assignment. This quest is not mandatory for your mythic progression, so I'll just let you discover and do it for yourself.

However, if you are thinking about killing Galfrey... reconsider. Remember what I've told you about Achaekek's views on killing a lawful ruler?


If you kill her, you'll receive Achaekek's Curse permanently. So... don't do that.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Lvl 14 Playful Darkness
Remember to cast Aeon's Bane and use True Strike every round to dispel all of his buffs, otherwise it will be really hard hitting his base AC on Core difficulty. Use Death Touch (swift) every round before attacking to apply a negative level. Keep using True Strike and hopefully you'll get his AC down to a manageable level, as shown here.



All buffs listed here are common and easily obtainable from you and your base companions, except for bard/sensei song (remember I recommended you hire one?). It will still be a challenge and a race to kill him before he kills you. Play dirty and prepare a bunch of summons to tank for you. No one will judge. heh

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Mantis interaction with Deskari.

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Final fight (on Core). All buffs removed in the first hit.


Our attack bonus was a bit overkill... lol

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Corrupted Galfrey ending slide:

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Bonus: Deadly Fascination works against Undead if you take a Sorcerer - Undead Bloodline dip.

Not sure this is intended, but there it is. Min-maxers enjoy!