Raising the Kineticist's DPR


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I've been getting the impression on these boards lately that physical blasts are the way to go with kineticist, if one must choose at all.

I have a 12th-level aerokineticist that has 24 Dexterity and 20 Constitution with a +16 to hit with his blasts. I thought this fairly optimized.

However, according to the Bestiary monster creation table, that means he's hitting less than half the time with his primary attack.

That translates to him doing less than half the damage of a fireball each round when you break the DPR down. That's totally pathetic! And it isn't even accounting for DR, energy resistance, or spell resistance yet!

How do we make his (and other kineticist's) DPR higher within the existing rules of the game? Without any real ways to add a magical enhancement bonus to the blasts to get that usual +1 to +5 bonus to attack and damage that one is expected to have with other classes, it seems to me like it's going to be quite the uphill battle.

What advice might you have for myself, and other kineticist hopefuls?


Well, if you care to delve into the magic item creation rules you could reverse-engineer the Amulet of mighty fists and use that to price a item to improve your blast, then fold said item into the Kineticist's Diadem


Could we see a breakdown of that +16? I assume +8 BAB, +7 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Hazrond wrote:
Well, if you care to delve into the magic item creation rules you could reverse-engineer the Amulet of mighty fists and use that to price a item to improve your blast, then fold said item into the Kineticist's Diadem

I'm hoping to find solutions within the existing rules, without having to resort to house rules or 3rd-party products.

Brew Bird wrote:
Could we see a breakdown of that +16? I assume +8 BAB, +7 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus?

I linked to the character sheet. You must have missed it.

BAB 9 + Dex 7 = +16 hit

He also has Point Blank Shot which gets him to 50/50 odds, but he's meant to be a long-range sniping build primarily so...yay.

Silver Crusade

Did you remember Elemental Overflow? Weapon Focus? Bracers of Falcon's Aim? An OverFlowing Rod?


Dot


Ravingdork wrote:
Hazrond wrote:
Well, if you care to delve into the magic item creation rules you could reverse-engineer the Amulet of mighty fists and use that to price a item to improve your blast, then fold said item into the Kineticist's Diadem
I'm hoping to find solutions within the existing rules, without having to resort to house rules or 3rd-party products.

the best part is that is all wonderfully first party to make custom items (just requires Craft Wondrous Item) *wink*


Ravingdork wrote:
However, according to the Bestiary monster creation table, that means he's hitting less than half the time with his primary attack.

That is a touch attack, though. While a typical CR 12 monster might have an AC of 27 (per that table), their touch AC is generally significantly lower. Might change your calculation a bit.

E.g., a purple worm (CR 12) has an AC of 26. But its touch AC is 4. So you're hitting it 95% of the time with a blast.

Silver Crusade

His attack isnt a touch attack its a Physical Blast as he said, the touch attack does far less damage.


quibblemuch wrote:
That is a touch attack, though. While a typical CR 12 monster might have an AC of 27 (per that table), their touch AC is generally significantly lower. Might change your calculation a bit.

Exactly. In many cases it will be much lower. As in "don't roll a 1". You should switch between physical and energy as needed.


Endoralis wrote:
His attack isnt a touch attack its a Physical Blast as he said, the touch attack does far less damage.

The character sheet has both.

Silver Crusade

Philo Pharynx wrote:
quibblemuch wrote:
That is a touch attack, though. While a typical CR 12 monster might have an AC of 27 (per that table), their touch AC is generally significantly lower. Might change your calculation a bit.
Exactly. In many cases it will be much lower. As in "don't roll a 1". You should switch between physical and energy as needed.

Thats a bit flawed as the issue there is, you still dont do that much damage and now have to suffer SR+Resistance.


A conductive weapon (or ammo) lets you add enhancement bonuses and of course weapon damage to your blast. Edit: For that matter, since while it's 1/round you choose whether to use the conducted effect after learning if the weapon hit, it could give you multiple chances to hit on a full attack.

Being small is a free +1 to hit with no damage penalty for a kineticist.

Turning invisible always helps hit.


At level 12 you are missing +4 attack from elemental overflow, and I believe the stat bumps from elemental overflow.

I will assume you started with a 25 point buy, with stat bumps of dex@4&8 and con@12.
starting stats - STR: 7 DEX: 18 CON: 15 INT: 14 WIS: 14 CHA: 12

During combat you should have 5 burn on you, with the belt will put you at STR: 9 DEX: 26 CON: 24 INT: 14 WIS: 14 CHA: 12

So BAB 9 + 8 Dex + 4 Overflow = +21 atk, or you could flip your elemental overflow bumps to +4 dex and +2 con for 1 less damage and +22 to atk.


You missed elemental overflow for +4. With 5 burn you also get +4/+2 size instead of +2/+2, so with +4 to dex you get 2 more hit.

Aside from baked in stuff you forgot, Weapon Focus is a nice pick up. Physical blasts (including half/half composite and regardless of form infusions) ignore SR so you have little to no need for Spell Penetration.
Bracers of Falcon Aim are more than worth the price even without the critical increase component.
Cracked Pale Green prism also.

This should bring you from 11+ to 3+, 2+ if within 30 feet witch I dare say is acceptable.


Dekalinder wrote:

critical increase component.

Cracked Pale Green prism also.

Those are both competence bonus' and do not stack. They are also the same price so you need to decide if +3 perception > slotless.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Is it really the norm to assume that I should blow a 1/3 of my hit points into the aether before a combat even begins???

I didn't forget overflow. I just figured it was best used in emergencies or in boss fights and the like.

Silver Crusade

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Yes, it literally is required to be any type of good with a Kineticist and is built into the class as such. This is why we complained about an Expert with Bow > Kineticist and why Overwhelming Soul was basically trash. It is expected. This is how they 'balanced' having Con as a stat to 'cast'


When you take weapon focus for your blast do you have to specify what kind of blast it is?


You are ranged combat with 180hp, starting with 5 burn would bring you to 130 available hit points.

You could either trade 21% of your hitpoints to gain +6 to hit, +2 ac, +2 reflex saves, +9 dmg, +12hp, +1 fortitude save, and 55% miss chance on most ranged attacks. (+2str/+4dex/+2con)

Or you could either trade 14% of your hitpoints to gain +5 to hit, +1 ac, +1 reflex saves, +10 dmg, +24hp, +2 fortitude save, and 55% miss chance on most ranged attacks. (+2str/+2dex/+4con)

The only concern would be not using that burn for damage boosts during combat, but my geokineticist is an elemental annihilator so it is not a concern for me.


Dragon78 wrote:
When you take weapon focus for your blast do you have to specify what kind of blast it is?

Weapon Focus(Kinetic Blast) should be just fine. It is no different that doing Weapon Focus(Ray)


Tindalen wrote:
Dekalinder wrote:

critical increase component.

Cracked Pale Green prism also.
Those are both competence bonus' and do not stack. They are also the same price so you need to decide if +3 perception > slotless.

You are right. Let me add that the bracer slot is quite underpopulated so +3 perception is probably the better choice.

Shadow Lodge

Get yourself a bard. Inspire courage, heroism, haste, bless, etc. Any buffs to hit work for you.
Take the flagbearer feat and pick up a banner of ancient kings (+2 morale to hit and stuff).

Your class has a built in choice. At your level you can decide to do an energy blast touch attack or a physical blast normal attack. One gets blocked by energy resistance and SR, The other by AC and DR. So you should have a little versatility in choosing your attacks, if one doesn't work try the other. There's also infusions that turn them into saving throws instead of attack rolls.

Regardless, you won't be doing as much damage as the martials because you aren't one. That's how pathfinder is designed. But you get access to aoes, can kill swarms easy, and have some magic tricks instead.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Tindalen wrote:
Dekalinder wrote:

critical increase component.

Cracked Pale Green prism also.
Those are both competence bonus' and do not stack. They are also the same price so you need to decide if +3 perception > slotless.

So if the cracked green prism is 4,000 as well, and is slotless, that means I could probably have someone make a slotted version of it (in the form of bracers I guess) for a mere 1,000gp?

4,000gp / 2 = 2,000gp; For possessing a slot
2,000gp / 2 = 1,000gp; Total crafting cost


quibblemuch wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:
However, according to the Bestiary monster creation table, that means he's hitting less than half the time with his primary attack.

That is a touch attack, though. While a typical CR 12 monster might have an AC of 27 (per that table), their touch AC is generally significantly lower. Might change your calculation a bit.

Its not a touch attack though.

All the physical kinetic blasts are regular ranged attacks.
Only the elemental kinetic blasts are touch attacks.

Thus his original question.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yes, accuracy improves if I switch to touch attacks, which I might add, is not an option for all kineticists. However this thread is not about improving accuracy. That's only part of it.

It's about improving the final DPR to a competitive* level.

Switching to touch attacks may improve the hit rate, but since it also tanks damage, it does little to improve the overall DPR.

*:
That is, competitive with other classes; at least enough to be able to carry its weight in a party.


Ravingdork wrote:
Tindalen wrote:
Dekalinder wrote:

critical increase component.

Cracked Pale Green prism also.
Those are both competence bonus' and do not stack. They are also the same price so you need to decide if +3 perception > slotless.

So if the cracked green prism is 4,000 as well, and is slotless, that means I could probably have someone make a slotted version of it (in the form of bracers I guess) for a mere 1,000gp?

4,000gp / 2 = 2,000gp; For possessing a slot
2,000gp / 2 = 1,000gp; Total crafting cost

It would be reasonable, one of the main things I do when looking at custom items is precedence, then I look at the custom item rules. The precedence would be the amulet of mighty fights, which in proper comparison, grants you +1 melee attack for all of your natural attacks for 4,000gp. You are looking for +1 ranged attack for all of your ranged attacks for half the price. Second part, yes, it matches perfectly with the item creation rules you listed.

What you want seems 75% legit to me.


Get an overflowing rod. It is RAI, from Mark Seifter, to just need to be on your person and doesn't need to be held to get its effects. This will bump up your elemental overflow some. Weapon Focus (Kinetic Blast) would help some too.

Since you're more focused on being that super ranged blaster your HP loss from burn shouldn't be a big issue for you. Go ahead and start the day with some burn so you can get the stat boosts.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I've reworked the character's gear some to include bracers of the falcon's aim. (You can use the same link as before.) I had to give up the thematically amazing ring of force shield for a lame-looking +2 buckler, but it did go a long way towards improving his stats. I also gave him Weapon Focus (kinetic blast).

The overflowing rod looks like a really nice item. Sadly it's also very expensive and I'd have to give up too much to make it worth it for this character. What's more, if it is a rod, it HAS to be held in the hand, per the rules on using magical rods. Unless there was a specific exception mentioned in the item description, Mark was mistaken.

Raijin now has +2 to hit, +1 AC, and +3 Perception over his old stats, and also possesses a much higher carrying capacity now.


What kind of numbers would say a slayer put up at that level. Assuming moving every 3 rounds does the Kineticist really loose out that much on total damage? A snaked empowered Thunderstorm Blast at level 12 does 18d6+25 and can be cast every round anywhere within 120ft of the target with no cover. 4 burn increase to hit by 6(2 dex 4over) and damage by 15(12over and 3 from even con mod) with empower.

With WF Kinetic blast you are looking at
+23 to hit: 9bab + 9(28 dex)+ 4EO + 1 weapon focus
18d6+40 or 103 damage.

(20 - (27 - 23))/20 = 0.8
Which gives you a DPR of 82.4 but that is going to be true in almost every last situation, every single round. If you can be within 30 ft you can both maximize and empower your Thunderstorm Blast for 133 average or 106 DPR with miss assuming no cover.

The issue is less "is the kineticist doing enough damage" and more "what situations can stop a kineticist from doing their damage."

Ravingdork, what is your best melee DPR at level 12 using standard WBL in your emporium?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mellok wrote:
Ravingdork, what is your best melee DPR at level 12 using standard WBL in your emporium?

The 12th-level melee characters in the gallery makes for a short list.

Crimm Corran, monk
Dag, hunter
Sanat Norstag, cavalier
Sen Argyle Spitbeard, fighter

There are a couple others, but they're primarily ranged combatants or spellcasters.


I'm currently playing an Aerokineticist 13(pure element) in a home pathfinder campaign. I have competitive dps with the rest of my group, though not the absolute highest.

To-hit is sitting at +22 (BaB 9 +6(dex) +1(wep. focus) +5(overflow) +1(competence))

Damage is:

Air: 9d6+7 +10(overflow) +10(con); 36-81, avg. 58 (emp. 54-121, avg. 87)
Electricity: 9d6 +10(overflow) +5(con); 24-69, avg. 46.5 (emp. 36-103, avg. 69)
Storm: 16d6+14 +10(overflow) +10(con); 50-130, avg. 90 (emp. 75-195, avg. 135)

Each can be empowered every round while supercharging, except for Storm which costs 1 pt of burn. Each is ranged, and from at least 60ft away.

Electricity, while lower damage, can be chained to up to 7 other enemies for aoe or used against high-armored foes (and also either empowered or magnetized to give all my party's melee a +4 to hit)

Don't forget that this class has a ridiculous amount of utility outside of the damage it can do. Believe me, I can respect the point of this thread to the extent that maximizing damage is important, but you have to make sure to take into account the rest that Kineticist has to offer.

Magnetizing, haste on everyone, at-will flying, long-range assaults, control wind at-will, etc. It's all rather useful.

If you're looking for optimized dps with no utility, you'll have to turn to annihilators or kinetic whip builds.

My thoughts.

Designer

Cycada wrote:

I'm currently playing an Aerokineticist 13(pure element) in a home pathfinder campaign. I have competitive dps with the rest of my group, though not the absolute highest.

To-hit is sitting at +22 (BaB 9 +6(dex) +1(wep. focus) +5(overflow) +1(competence))

Damage is:

Air: 9d6+7 +10(overflow) +10(con); 36-81, avg. 58 (emp. 54-121, avg. 87)
Electricity: 9d6 +10(overflow) +5(con); 24-69, avg. 46.5 (emp. 36-103, avg. 69)
Storm: 16d6+14 +10(overflow) +10(con); 50-130, avg. 90 (emp. 75-195, avg. 135)

Each can be empowered every round while supercharging, except for Storm which costs 1 pt of burn. Each is ranged, and from at least 60ft away.

Electricity, while lower damage, can be chained to up to 7 other enemies for aoe or used against high-armored foes (and also either empowered or magnetized to give all my party's melee a +4 to hit)

Don't forget that this class has a ridiculous amount of utility outside of the damage it can do. Believe me, I can respect the point of this thread to the extent that maximizing damage is important, but you have to make sure to take into account the rest that Kineticist has to offer.

Magnetizing, haste on everyone, at-will flying, long-range assaults, control wind at-will, etc. It's all rather useful.

If you're looking for optimized dps with no utility, you'll have to turn to annihilators or kinetic whip builds.

My thoughts.

Your character sounds a lot like a pure aero in that level range that I was toying around with while playtesting things. She had great support and solid damage (not as high as the archer, especially after she tag-teamed with magnetic and improved the archer's accuracy, though then the archer was willing to cede that she was responsible for some of those extra hits), and depending on the battlefield she could be an incredible pain for more types of foes than you'd initially expect (surprisingly many of a caster's power options are medium or short range). One thing she liked to do at 14 was supercharge to magnetic chain empower electric. It had the damage of the empowered electric you listed there, so not enormous, but then all the targets became pincushions for the archer with the +4. Single targets were generally magnetic thunderstorm.


I think that the class needs iterative attacks in order to keep up with DPR. Without it, it just isn't going to happen.

-Maybe as a form infusion to keep from crazy AoE nuking?

Compare it to whip infusion, which gets iterative attacks and can use attacks of opportunity.

One thing to note- Dex being higher than con is backwards if damage is your goal. Dex adds to hit which is much easier to raise than damage. Also higher base con means more room for accepting burn before combat, which raises your damage and hit (alot).

Also, your blasts should be enhanced by your meta's most of the time. 9d6 is a pretty big improvement over 6d6

So if you even out con and dex and use these tactics, damage on your sheet change as follows:

Air Blast +18 (6d6+1d8+11 Bludge) to +21 (9d6+20 Bludge) (where does that 1d8 come from?)

Lightning +18 (7d6+2 Electric) to +21 (9d6+11 Electric) (not sure where the 1d6 comes from)

Edit: I forgot to add in the stat boosts from overflow as well. So, that's an extra +1 hit, 2 damage for air/1 damage for lightning. If you are having trouble hitting or expect to have trouble hitting you can go +2 to hit instead. At 12 I would start with 4 burn so and add the 2nd stat to con to negate the 5th burn when needed.


I think the 1d8/1d6 comes from his diadem


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yes, Texas Snyper is correct; the bonus dice comes from the diadem.

Also, Empower doesn't work like that, Rylar. Say I was attempting to empower my electric blast, for example. Instead of dealing my standard 7d6+2, I would be dealing (7d6+2) x 1.5.

Empower has never added extra dice. Doing so not only messes up the odds, it cheats you out of damage every other level. Instead, you roll the damage normally, then multiply the sum.


Dragon78 wrote:
When you take weapon focus for your blast do you have to specify what kind of blast it is?

I believe one of the Developers replied to this question on the board recently. He said you only need to specify "Kinetic Blast" with feats.


I'm still wondering why exactly you still pack both Spell Penetration when none of your wild talents have any use for it.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Rylar wrote:
Also, your blasts should be enhanced by your meta's most of the time.

If I have to use a move action to supercharge first anyways, would it not be better to just use my composite blast rather than metakinesis? That's effectively x2 damage versus x1.5. Unless I'm really wanting that touch attack, or if I'm willing to accept burn, it looks like the better way to go to me.


Empower is only 1 burn so you can still get a 1 burn infusion with it vs just composition.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Texas Snyper wrote:
Empower is only 1 burn so you can still get a 1 burn infusion with it vs just composition.

One or two doesn't really matter if the same move action "charge-up" reduces it to nothing.


The way you suggested is the way we do empower as well, but it seems that every time I post any way of calculating it someone tells me I'm wrong. /shrug

Yes, but you could do either or both. You have a buffer of 2-4 burn that you want to use during combat per day. An air elemental has the worst options for using burn at the beginning of the day (sucky defense that I want to like, but I can't), so throwing out some burn at the beginning of a combat is fairly useful to get to the 4 and 5 point thresholds.

Added to that is the internal buffer that is likely to start with 2 points every day. If you start at 3 burn, and use 1 per round that's 4 rounds of empowered composite blast before dipping into the real reserve that is your active health pool.


It does because we're talking about just composite vs empowered plus infusions that total 4 burn (reduced to 1 burn from infusion specialisation). You can get extra utility like magnetic for better to hit for your party. That +4 would be extra damage you're contributing to the party. Any time a party member hits the ac by 4or less then that damage is yours.


I suggest saving the Buffer for an Empowered Composite Kinetic Blade (3 burn) for a really devastating round (easly 200 damage if hasted)


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Texas Snyper wrote:
You can get extra utility like magnetic for better to hit for your party. That +4 would be extra damage you're contributing to the party. Any time a party member hits the ac by 4or less then that damage is yours.

I agree, but I decided to go with thundering infusion since I felt it was more thematically appropriate to my "stormlord" concept and was also a good way to mess up spellcasters.

Dekalinder wrote:
I suggest saving the Buffer for an Empowered Composite Kinetic Blade (3 burn) for a really devastating round (easly 200 damage if hasted)

Nice! I totally forgot that you could get multiple attacks with kinetic blade.


Ravingdork wrote:
Texas Snyper wrote:
You can get extra utility like magnetic for better to hit for your party. That +4 would be extra damage you're contributing to the party. Any time a party member hits the ac by 4or less then that damage is yours.
I agree, but I decided to go with thundering infusion since I felt it was more thematically appropriate to my "stormlord" concept and was also a good way to mess up spellcasters.

Well there you go. Thundering chain if they're grouped up, thundering snake if they have cover, or thundering extreme range if you want to do it from one town away (exaggeration)


If you have Supercharge, then Composite > Empower. As a flying Kineticist, it should be fairly easy to stay aloft and fire those off all the time.

Mark Seifter's Magnetic Chain Empower is a nice trick to boost effectiveness of others, which increases the group's DPR. (Not sure if this matters to you.)

Your stat block is: Str 7 (–2), Dex 24 (+7), Con 20 (+5), Int 14 (+2), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 12 (+1)

Dex and Con are the only relevant ones and you have a +4 belt for both so the raw stats are 20/16. You have 3 inherent boosts for Dex at 12. (17/16) You have the human bonus for +2 to Dex. (15/16)

Str 7 (+4), Dex 15 (-7), Con 16 (-10), Int 14 (-5), Wis 14 (-5), Cha 12 (-2)

Looks like this is 25 point buy. If that is the case, then I might be inclined to boost more from the start, sacrificing the 12 in Cha and the 14 in Int.

Str 7 (+4), Dex 17 (-13), Con 16 (-10), Int 11 (-1), Wis 14 (-5), Cha 10 (0)

This will boost your accuracy by another +1, in addition to AC and Reflex Saves. Personally, I like your original stat build better as it makes you more well-rounded.

Rather, you should Burn out 5 points into your Shield. This will give you +4 to hit and +8 to damage on every blast. Additionally, you will gain another +4 to Dex and +2 to Con. For a total of +6 to hit and +9 to damage.

Thus your ranged attack stat block should look like this.

air blast +24 (6d6+1d8+20 bludgeoning); or
electric blast +24 touch (7d6+11 electricity); or
thunderstorm blast +24 (12d6+1d8+28 bludgeoning and electricity)

Ravingdork wrote:

Is it really the norm to assume that I should blow a 1/3 of my hit points into the aether before a combat even begins???

I didn't forget overflow. I just figured it was best used in emergencies or in boss fights and the like.

With all of the bonuses to HP that normal ranged blasters don't normally have, a kineticist is going to have an abnormally high amount of HP. Sacrificing 60 HP at the beginning of the day out of 168 isn't a lot. Many level 12 melees run around with that much HP. Additionally, once you hit 5 Burn, you can toss another 12 HP back on the stack from the +2 Con gain. So your effective starting health is only 48 lower than what you would start with every day.

---

If you supercharge your Thunderstorm blast every round with no forms, then you are averaging 74.5 damage per hit. At level 12, the average AC of creatures is 27. An APL+4 creature is ~31 AC. With your physical blasts, you are missing on a 3 or a 7 (not counting accuracy buffs like Haste or Inspire Courage). Additionally, you are hitting on average for nearly half the creature's health at CR 12 and just under a third for CR 16. Being able to solo a CR 16 in three rounds seems fine DPR-wise.


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Thanks GM Bold Strider, it does seem more and more to me that there was more of a problem with my perception and inexperience than the actual DPR. Nevertheless, with all the hoops one has to jump through to get there, I'm not surprised a lot of posters are calling for a damage increase.

Please let me know if I'm doing this right guys:

An empowered (1), thundering (1), thunderstorm blast (2) would cost 4 burn.

The supercharge move action would negate one from the empowerment as well as one from the composite blast cost. Infusion specialization would cover the burn for thundering, and would allow me to also apply a 1- or 2-point form infusion as well, such as extreme range, kinetic blade, or snake.

That just leaves one point of burn leftover for the composite blast, which can be covered by my internal buffer. That one last point is keeping me from doing it every single round.

Darn.


Ravingdork wrote:

Please let me know if I'm doing this right:

An empowered (1), thundering (1), thunderstorm blast (2) would cost 4 burn.

The supercharge move action would negate one from the empowerment as well as one from the composite blast cost. Infusion specialization would cover the burn for thundering, and would allow me to also apply a 1- or 2-point form infusion as well, such as extreme range, kinetic blade, or snake.

That just leaves one point of burn leftover for the composite blast, which can be covered by my internal buffer. That one last point is keeping me from doing it every single round.

Darn.

Infusion specialization only applies to infusions, not composite blasts. Composite blasts don't really become useful or worthwhile until 16 when you get composite specialization to reduce their cost to 1. Until then you get more bang for your burn reduction buck by going for stacking your infusions with infusion specialization, empower, and gather power.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

I'd put at least 3 points into burn each day.

This might seem counter-intuitive to survival, but remember that you get Size Bonuses to your physical stats by doing so. That 3 Burn is actually only 2*HD effective HP in damage because you are boosting your Con by 2 which offsets 1*HD nonlethal. So, you've actually got a +4 Attack and +7 Damage by taking 3 burn. That will also boost your AC, Ref, and Fort by 1.

If you take a full 5 Burn to get all possibly bonuses, you will be getting a +4 to either Con or Dex and +2 to the other physical stats. As such, for taking an effective 36 damage (if you're boosting your Con by 4) you'll get +5 Attack +10 Damage (with a +2 Fort and +1 AC and Ref). If you boost your Dex instead of Con, you'll have an effective 48 nonlethal damage and your damage would only be +9, but you'd get +6 attack instead (with a +1 Fort and +2 AC and Ref).

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