So there's an issue with tenets of Evil champions in PF2, where they're well-defended and also have powers that punish people for attacking them, leading to a situation where... no one wants to attack them. This build is looking for a way around that, but I'm not sure how legit it is. I'm hoping for clarification.
Champion, Lawful Evil, Tyrant Cause, Shield Ally, Mephistopheles
- 1 - Iron Repercussions
- 2 - Bastion Dedication
- 4 - Aura of Despair
- 6 - Attack of Opportunity
- 8 - Shield Warden (Bastion) (shown below)
- 10 - Corrupted Shield (deal damage when shield blocking)
- 12 - Quick Block (extra reaction 1/turn for block)
- 14 - Divine Reflexes (extra reaction 1/turn for Iron Command)
- 16 - Shield of Grace (shown below)
- 18 - Shield of Reckoning (shown below)
- 20 - Shield Paragon (shield ally gets better)
The combo (and rules twisting) doesn't really come online until lvl 16, and shield of Grace.
Shield of Grace (Champion 16)
Prerequisites Shield Warden
You protect an ally with both your shield and your body. Whenever you use the Shield Block reaction to prevent damage to an ally, you can evenly split the remaining damage after the Shield Block between the ally and yourself.
Shield Warden (Champion/Fighter 6, Bastion 8)
Prerequisites [Champion] divine ally (shield); tenets of good; [Fighter] Shield Block
You use your shield to protect your allies. When you have a shield raised, you can use your Shield Block reaction when an attack is made against an ally adjacent to you. If you do, the shield prevents that ally from taking damage instead of preventing you from taking damage, following the normal rules for Shield Block.
The Champion gets Shield Block as a feat for free at lvl 1, thus enabling Bastion Dedication without further investment. The point of the combo is that Shield Warden allows you to block on behalf of others (and thus trigger Corrupted Shield) and with Shield of Grace, you get to take half the damage... which means that a foe has just damaged you and you can trigger Iron Command. Normally you couldn't do both in one turn, but that's what Quick Block and Divine Reflexes are for. The only weird thing about this rules-wise ist hat you're using the Bastion Shield Warden to qualify for the Champion Shield of Grace (as you can't qualify for Champion Shield of Grace due to taking tenets of evil).
Then we get to Shield of Reckoning, which is a bit deeper into the shenanigans.
Shield of Reckoning (Champion 10)
Prerequisites champion's reaction; Shield Warden
Trigger A foe’s attack against an ally matches the trigger for both your Shield Block reaction and your champion’s reaction.
When you shield your ally against an attack, you call upon your power to protect your ally further. You use the Shield Block reaction to prevent damage to an ally and also use your champion’s reaction against the foe that attacked your ally.
Iron Command is the Champion's Reaction for Lawful Evil. Its trigger is
An enemy within 15 feet damages you.
And here is the question. If they're attacking an ally within your shield block range, and you block, then shield of Grace means that they are dealing damage to you, which triggers Iron Command, thus matching both triggers.
TLDR: Is this setup rules-legal for PF2? The points of particular concern are whether you can use Bastion's version of Shield Warden to qualify for the Champion feat Shield of Grace on a Tenets of Evil Champion, and whether you can use the damage from Shield of Grace to satisfy the "trigger for... your champion's reaction" requirement on triggering Shield of Reckoning. (...though if it's not legal for some other reason, that would be good to know too.)
I'm specifically looking for guidance informed by general pathfinder 2 rules adjudication guidelines (or specific rulings, if available). I mean, I can read the stuff I've quoted about as well as anyone.