Good evening Pathfinders! This playtest session was conducted with a GM credited level 3 Spiritualist with the Hatred Phantom playing down in low tier.
Succinctly, the class performed rather poorly, although I admit this character was built a little oddly. The enemies were largely immune to the only offensive magic the Spiritualist possesses, and the large numbers of enemies present in the combats rendered it difficult for the Hatred Phantom to make use of its Hated Target ability. The Spiritualist was able to contribute only due to some astonishingly lucky rolls on my part with a crossbow, as well as buffing the AC of the Phantom.
Every ability other than psychic magic and the Phantom was completely useless. I can't envision a time I would ever want to retain the Phantom in my psyche, as even a somewhat weak Eidolon is leagues ahead of two Skill Focus feats. Spending a standard action to reproduce a (weaker) version of a spell I can already cast (Shield), only usable when the Phantom isn't summoned, will likewise never see use; finally, the ability to share my senses with the Phantom could potentially be useful if encountering magical darkness, but the Phantom itself (as noted in my build below) is capable of combating magical darkness using UMD.
Even at level 3, with a staggering 25 AC, the Phantom came very close to death due to the relative ineffectualness of DR 5 / Slashing vs. most natural attack choices and the sheer damage output of the first enemies when they struck. I did underestimate said first encounter and had boosted its AC only to 21, which was perfectly hittable by these combatants-- admittedly a terrifying encounter for a tier 1-2 adventure.
Unfortunately the Phantom's to-hit bonus and damage output were not really sufficient even at level 3 to defeat the threats in any reasonable timeframe. I used Amateur Swashbuckler to increase the number of potential attacks in a round using Parry and Riposte-- I do like the fact that the increased CHA on a Phantom opens up some interesting potential feat choices, albeit limited by the 3/4 HD progression.
I wish the Phantoms got access to an ability at level 4-- there's a very, very long gap between their 1st level ability and their next upgrade at level 7. I know they're not intended to compete with Eidolons, but the sheer number of options the Eidolon has opened up over the course of 6 levels is staggering compared to the relative stagnation of the Phantom.
Other than the fun factor of being able to walk through doors, Phase Lurch wasn't very good in this adventure as we were not being crammed into five foot hallways. I did not bother to use the incorporeal form to scout as we had an Eidolon in the party with effective Hide in Plain Sight with a Take 10 Stealth of 36 at level 2.
Obviously the class will become far stronger at level 4 if only from the introduction of early-access Haste, but the two sessions in between seem daunting at the moment. I also have a feat and a trait that cannot be made use of until reaching level 2 spells.
From a flavor standpoint, I put this character together rather hastily so was not able to have a fully cohesive background compared to my last Spiritualist, but I maintain that the backstory potential for Spiritualists remains excellent. It's difficult to be bland with the role-play hooks the Emotional focuses offer. The idea with this pair was to contrast the serious Spiritualist with the Phantom; a good-natured but overprotective adventuress in life that has been tainted by the strain of clinging to the material plane to protect her brother.
Jyin-Gua, Human LG Silver Crusader
STR: 8
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 12
WIS: 20
CHA: 7
Traits: Reactionary, Magical Lineage (Spiritual Weapon)
Feats: Cry of Mercy, Improved Initiative, Toppling Spell
Spells Known:
Expeditious Retreat
Shield
Cause Fear
Magic Fang
Notes: Jyin-Gua is entirely focused on mastery of psychic magic. For now, he can only buff Yng-Hua; at next level in addition to Haste he will be able to cast Toppling Spiritual Weapon to damage and trip foes. Jyin-Gua worships Shizuru, the Empress of Heaven, who will provide a katana with an 18-20 critical threat range.
Yng-Hua, Phantom (Hatred) LN
Standard Phantom ability scores, Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, combat bonus "Hated Target"
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Amateur Swashbuckler, Combat Reflexes
Skills: Acrobatics: +8, Perception: +6, Bluff: +20 (to lie), UMD: +10
Notes: Yng-Hua uses a Plume of Panache each morning to maximize her panache. Yng-Hua is very single-minded and will engage in any necessary tactics to defeat Jyin's enemies, including misdirecting foes outside of combat using her Mask of Stony Demeanor. She has Darkvision, but can use her Wand of Unwelcome Halo to give her brother visibility in magical darkness.
As I don't appear to be able to edit the original post, allow me to add as an addendum that I did not notice that the Spiritualist and Phantom need to be the same alignment. I don't really agree with that; it appears to be a holdover from the Summoner class.
Adjust Jyin-Gua's alignment above to LN.
Since the playtest thread does not appear to be locked (and there's even some Kineticist discussion going on in a few threads) I figured I'd update this post with the second game I was able to play recently with my Spiritualist.
#6-08 The Segang Expedition Level 3 Spiritualist (Hatred) Playtest
Vague spoilers below!
As I am saving money to afford the glut of items needed in the near future (a +2 Headband for the Spiritualist, an Amulet of Mighty Fists and a +2 DEX belt for the Phantom), the only change from the last session was picking up a Wand of Long Arm for the Phantom to use via UMD-- which I neglected to activate the one combat where I would have had time to do so, although it would not have made any difference.
I was fortunate enough to play with a great GM and a fun group of party members that had the situation "under control" as far as the adventure was concerned (I was playing up at Tier 4-5), but I was still able to glean some data about the Spiritualist.
As in the last adventure, while Phase Lurch is very cool it did not come up at all this session. Additionally, I was stymied twice as far as my other class features. The adventure requires the party to lie in wait at one juncture for an ambush-- this would have been a good time to call my Phantom back to my psyche, to take advantage of Skill Focus: Perception, except that the minute-long time requirement to summon the Phantom meant I couldn't afford to do so and still expect to contribute to the theoretical combat.
Sure enough, we were ambushed with an effect that required a Will saving throw, which I failed (barely) but would have been able to negate if my Phantom was in my psyche. The Phantom failed as well with its abominable Will save.
Predictably, the Phantom was not able to compete with the attack bonus of the monsters at 4-5 tier, but the gap was particularly egregious in this instance. However, thanks to some excellent debuffing courtesy of the Witch, Investigator, and Oracle in the group, the poor opponent in this case found himself with a -10 to hit and rolling twice and taking the worst on attack rolls after a few rounds, which let even my weak Phantom go mano-y-mano and get in a few hits.
The second time I tried to use a class feature I was stymied yet again by the timing restrictions. As we came across the temple we had been sent to investigate, I decided to switch the Phantom to incorporeal to scout. Unfortunately, the moment she poked her head inside she spied a group of ne'er-do-wells heading toward the door at speed-- in the ensuing combat that broke out, she was therefore completely unable to contribute, stuck in incorporeal form with no way to return to Ectoplasmic.
As far as the Spiritualist himself, he was able to contribute nothing beyond Dazing a flunky a couple of rounds, as his first level spell list continues to prove threadbare without any nice buff spells beyond Magic Fang (which needs to be cast multiple times to effectively buff the Phantom's slams). He did get to use Cry of Mercy to do the Silver Crusade proud and prevent some opponents who may or may not have deserved it from dying painful deaths, but that has nothing to do with the Spiritualist class beyond its associated casting stat.
In the final encounter, the Spiritualist and his Phantom would have been utterly useless if not for the hilarious build of one of my party members (playing a Life Oracle using Shared Sacrifice). The Phantom was utterly unable to penetrate the DR 5 of the opponent, but was able to contribute by full-attacking the Life Oracle to share damage to the BBEG; meanwhile the Spiritualist plied the Life Oracle with his Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
As this game levels my Spiritualist to 4, my outlook looks increasingly bleak. Unable to take Haste with the last-minute adjustment to the spell list, my only decent buffing option is Aid, which is single-target and does not significantly alter the combat situation in the way that Haste would. Meanwhile, the Phantom's 3/4 HD kicks in painfully, as it fails to advance at all at level 4. Its 19 HP mean its going to die to a stiff breeze, it keeps its same meager to-hit vs. skyrocketing monster ACs, and its previously-solid AC is no longer as respectable.
While I didn't go out of my way to optimize this character to high heaven, I think it is at least a decent example of what is currently possible with the Spiritualist chassis; in which case the class is definitely a disappointment mechanically.
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Since the playtest thread does not appear to be locked (and there's even some Kineticist discussion going on in a few threads) I figured I'd update this post with the second game I was able to play recently with my Spiritualist.
#6-08 The Segang Expedition Level 3 Spiritualist (Hatred) Playtest
Vague spoilers below!
As I am saving money to afford the glut of items needed in the near future (a +2 Headband for the Spiritualist, an Amulet of Mighty Fists and a +2 DEX belt for the Phantom), the only change from the last session was picking up a Wand of Long Arm for the Phantom to use via UMD-- which I neglected to activate the one combat where I would have had time to do so, although it would not have made any difference.
I was fortunate enough to play with a great GM and a fun group of party members that had the situation "under control" as far as the adventure was concerned (I was playing up at Tier 4-5), but I was still able to glean some data about the Spiritualist.
As in the last adventure, while Phase Lurch is very cool it did not come up at all this session. Additionally, I was stymied twice as far as my other class features. The adventure requires the party to lie in wait at one juncture for an ambush-- this would have been a good time to call my Phantom back to my psyche, to take advantage of Skill Focus: Perception, except that the minute-long time requirement to summon the Phantom meant I couldn't afford to do so and still expect to contribute to the theoretical combat.
Sure enough, we were ambushed with an effect that required a Will saving throw, which I failed (barely) but would have been able to negate if my Phantom was in my psyche. The Phantom failed as well with its abominable Will save.
Predictably, the Phantom was not able to compete with the attack bonus of the monsters at 4-5 tier, but the gap was particularly egregious in this instance. However, thanks to some excellent debuffing courtesy of the Witch, Investigator, and Oracle in the group, the poor opponent in this case...
This was pretty much my experience with the class as well. The class features were stymied by the long duration required to manifest the phantom, or even to switch the phantom from one form to another.
It's interesting because Shared Consciousness, which I think is the mechanic you wanted to use, says that while the phantom is manifested in the spiritualist's consciousness, the results of a failed will save can be shunted into the phantom's section of the consciousness instead. (Basically, the phantom takes the hit instead of the spiritualist, which is nice.) But the phantom can not be manifested in any way during the duration of that effect. Fair enough.
That could be a penalty of a few rounds, which would matter if the spiritualist were in combat and it were possible to manifest the phantom as a standard or even as a full round action. But as it takes one minute to manifest the phantom anyway, the mechanical limitations of the class are a bigger penalty than the actual penalty.
Due to the long duration, the phantom can't be manifested during combat anyway, so a few extra rounds aren't a big deal.
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I'm of the opinion that calling the phantom from the ethereal plane taking a full minute is fine...but if it's already "housed" in your consciousness, should only take a standard action to manifest, possibly decreasing even that as you level up.
I personally love the idea of your phantom appearing in front of you as an immediate action to take a hit for you at higher levels....and being able to switch from incorporeal to material form in a timely fashion could be a very interesting way to give the phantom a bit more use in combat.