u/Grim505

Hey all. Been playing PF2e with my TTRPG group for the past couple months, just hit level 4, and as per the title, my character concept feels like it's stifling me mechanically.

My character is named Orm The Anchor (pronounced D'Anchor), because he woke up on a beach with no memories (or pants), with a tattoo on his arm that says "Orm" and an anchor tied to his back. He's a Planehopper Jotunborn barbarian path of the giants, the stat distribution is Str +4, Dex +1, Con +2, Wis +2, Cha and Int +0.

Now onto the issue:

Orm fights with the Anchor, which is a reskinned Large size Maul. Seeing as how he's named after it, I can't *not* fight with it. But it feels like anything I wanna do, I have to release grip on it, and then I can never land an attack.

Drinking a potion? Free action release grip, action draw, action drink, action re-grip, if I don't have to move or do anything else that turn.

We were fighting some fire enemies so I wanted to trigger a bottled rain, my DM let me trigger as 1 action without forcing me to draw it, but still I have to release grip.

Commited my whole turn to wrestling a drake? Awesome, but now my friend with a commander dedication can't use Strike Hard on me because I can only punch.

In a perfect situation where I'm already gripping the anchor and there's an enemy right next to me? I can do a 2 action attack (like power strike/something from mauler/Using the Trollhound Pick effect that my DM let me transfer to the anchor), but I don't know what to do with my 3rd action because my to-hit isn't good enough to overcome MAP for another swing, I didn't build into intimidation/feint because I don't have CHA, and I can't trip/grab/whatever because I don't have a free hand. Maul can only shove.

Now it's not like I'm useless in combat - Holding down a drake for my allies, or hitting a kelpie with a 50 damage crit with a lounge chair is certainly fun, but I still feel like I'm constantly wasting turns on re-gripping the anchor.

I have talked to my DM, and we have thought of some solutions, including:

-Paying some gold to modify the anchor into counting as a dwarven waraxe instead of a maul

-Buying Large size brass knuckles so I can punch hard on turns when I can't grip the anchor

-Taking quick draw and the DM would allow it to count for regripping, but that's a 2 feat investment.

Has anyone else felt similar frustrations with 2 handed weapons? Are there any other suggestions you think might help mitigate?

I've been struggling with A8 on Silent (and a few others) for a bit. Started a run, my Neow bonus was afterimage - great start, I think to myself, gotta make a shiv build to maximize the value. But then I think about what people on this sub say all the time, which is "Don't make a build, just take good cards/cards that solve problems". I hadn't fully grasped this, but I decide to try and follow that piece of advice by taking a mid act 1 noxious fumes as a solve for bee man, who I've been struggling with for a few runs since he's harder to burst down. Then I keep taking shivs and sly stuff, and then I grab a Haze to work with the NFumes. Then, my boss reward is Envenom, and suddenly everything clicks - I'm dealing damage with shivs *while* applying poison. Bee man comes and I take him down (though not without a lot of damage) with poison and trickling out shivs with phantom blades. When my deck isn't reliant on one trick, everything can be solved!