Making a Vesk Mechanic Viable


Advice


Creating my first character for Starfinder i thought of what I think is a cool character concept of vesk mechanic whose parents where both defectors from the Veskarium and was consequently born and raised on Absalom Station as a second generation refugee, rejecting the vast majority of the culture of the Veskarium and being kind of salty about being mistaken for your typical vesk hence deciding to devote himself to intellectual pursuits as a form of rebellion against what others expected of him. With the death of his parents whom had been the only real reason he stayed on Absalom, he decides to explore the big wide 'verse.
I'm just wondering how to make this concept viable mechanically, both the outcast and scholar themes seem a good fit and provided a bonus to INT or DEX both of which are useful but making an effective Vesk mechanic is something i am struggling to figure out, any help would be much appreciated


Oof, that's a tough one. Penalty to Int and no bonus to Dex. But it's not all bad and there's actually several viable builds you can go for. Look at the Mechanic Builds on page 80.
For starters, that one odd point that you can't really use, I'd always put that into Strength. It opens up Heavy Weapons and Heavy Armor for you, should you wish to go that route.

Would you rather want to be a hacker/saboteur kind of mechanic? Then, I'd go with 16 Int, 12 Dex.
You could go with the Exocortex, since it gives fantastic bonuses to hacking. You wouldn't be great in combat, but Combat Tracking gives you full BAB, so it's not actually that bad.
Alternatively, you could go with the same stats, but take Combat Drone. That would allow it to take the heat while you hang back doing your hacking thing, although you would not be quite as good at that. Or go with Stealth Drone and have yourself a scout.
Hack Directory, Ghost Intrusion and Saboteur are standout tricks, I'd say. But don't underestimate Overcharge since you can use it on your allies and even your drone.

If you want to shoot people yourself, I'd go with 16 Dex, 12 Int. That'll tank your Resolve, but you're pretty sturdy and should increase your Con at level 5.
You could go with Exocortex, getting that sweet full BAB and a whole host of proficiencies. At level 7, you can even get Heavy Weapon Proficiency thanks to your 13 Strength and Exocortex Mods.
Or, again, you could choose a Combat Drone. Give both it and yourself Longarm Proficiency at some point and you're pretty good, especially once you get Coordinated Assault.
Overcharge, Energy Shield and the Overclocking line of tricks are all very good. Resistances are also nice and I'd personally take them over Overclocking if you're short on tricks.

I was also considering a 14/14, middle-of-the-road kinda build, but I'm not entirely convinced of it. Although that would allow you to reconsider if you don't like the role you're playing in the party. Or you could ratchet up that Stealth bonus (Skill Synergy) and stealthily hack stuff. A Stealth Drone could function as a scout, but with Exocortex, you can get Skill Focus (Stealth) for free and reactive camouflage at level 11.
For that, the same trick recommendations as for hacker apply, although i would also like to highlight Visual Data Processor and its upgrades. As a Stealth Boy, you're gonna want to see everything.

As for themes, from what you've said, Scholar probably fits best, especially the "deciding to devote himself to intellectual pursuits" part. You can also get Life Science, a Knowledge skill, as a free class skill which is always nice. You've mentioned nothing of a criminal past, so Outlaw doesn't really fit.

Exo-Guardians

"Put on your heavy armor and assemble a drone to do your fighting. Works for me!"


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"It doesn't work nearly as well for me!"

Exo-Guardians

"Be quiet BOB. No one asked you!"


Now that I consider it further, a 14/14 might be more viable than I had given it credit for. It'll be rough early levels, but consider that at level 10, a 16/12 is a 19/16 while a 14/14 becomes an 18/18.
For a hacking-focused mechanic with no great focus on Stealth, I'd still go for 16 Int, 12 Dex. If you want to live dangerously, you could even spring for 18 Int, 10 Dex due to your racial AC bonus. But for a Combat Mechanic, especially with the full BAB from Exocortex, 14/14 could be just fine and you could still do stuff like hack computers and pick locks, if the need arises.
I'm not sure about a Combat DroneMech, though. My gut feeling says that you'll be better served with 16 Dex, 12 Int due to your lower BAB.


The exocortex AI gives mechanics proficiency in Advanced Melee Weapons and Heavy Armor. No reason you couldn't strap on the heaviest armor you can find, heft a burning Doshko, and go to town on enemies in melee.


Ventnor wrote:
The exocortex AI gives mechanics proficiency in Advanced Melee Weapons and Heavy Armor. No reason you couldn't strap on the heaviest armor you can find, heft a burning Doshko, and go to town on enemies in melee.

Not at level 1. You get proficiency in Heavy Armor and Longarms. At level 7, with Exocortex Mods, you can go for, among other things, Heavy Weapon or Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency.

But that's a good point, I had always considered a Dex/Int build for a Mechanic and didn't even consider Str/Int. You could either grab Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency as a feat or make do with Basic ones until level 7 where you grab both proficiency and specialization.
I've never built a melee character in Starfinder, so I couldn't tell you how to set your abilities. But I'd probably go for 16 Str, 12 Int, 12 Dex. Not getting hit is super important, but your racial AC bonus can compensate for a 12 Dex.


It's worth mentioning that you can make a mechanic with a STR build if you want. The Exocortex doesn't help as much since longarms aren't great for you, but if you take heavy armor proficiency then you can still manage a decent defense.

Maybe do this:
STR 14, DEX 11, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 10, CHA 10

At low levels use a tactical spear. Get a returning weapon fusion when you can, and use the spear in melee and at range. 1d6+2 damage at first level is actually decent.

Meanwhile your drone can shoot at the things that you are in melee with.

For feats, I would go:
1st level: Heavy Armor Proficiency
3rd level: Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency
5th level: Versatile Specialization

If you go with the Exocortex then you get the heavy armor proficiency and can do Advanced Melee Weapons right off the bat. But no drone.

At 5th level your stats go to:
STR 16, DEX 13, CON 12, INT 18, WIS 12, CHA 10


It's all viable.

You're forced to have a 12 Str, but with that "useless" odd point you can get 13 which many Mechanic builds crave anyway. So take advantage of that and think Heavy Weapons & Armor.
You are forced to have a 12 Con, but that just makes you tougher, so it's not a loss.
So you're looking at a Mechanic that's a bit beefier and better protected. This makes up for the low Resolve. Not enough to go melee, but I think you knew that.
Since your Resolve stat is your racial penalty stat, you don't get to dip a stat to boost your main stats. That just means you're a little flatter with stats.

So can you be the wizkid & the sharpshooter? No, but you knew that, too.
Now it's a matter of figuring out how much of each you want to be, and when. Namely, when do you want your stats to hit 19 (and be a bit behind), so that they can hit 20 when you want. Because enemy ACs are so low in Starfinder, you can still be hitting regularly, just not twice like the dedicated combat pros. Because many of the DCs for Engineering are doable on average, I wouldn't sweat that half of your job either.

I'd recommend 13/14/12/14/10/10, which makes full use of your stat points until 14th. Put your stat items into Dex & Int, as you see fit.

But can you fill your roles?
You will hit enough to be a good secondary combatant.
You are tough enough (especially if you get the Mechanic's shield) not to need nursing or dip into Resolve overmuch.
You can keep your Mechanic skills high enough to be sufficient & reliable, though not brilliant.
On starships, you'll do well at Engineering, a key role, but also able to help at scanners if you bump Computers.

The thing is, Starfinder's numbers work well with flat characters as long as you keep pumping up the stats at 5th, 10th, etc., with items and with your class skill bonuses. Going through the AP, the noncombatants in my party often hit in combat, and the combat types help often outside of combat. Your Vesk would be a bit of both, so works out.


2 points in str, 6 in Int, with the other 2 going to whatever matters more (Int or str,or even Dex for a bonus to AC) then pick up the exocortex for heavy armor and full bab. Punch things till you get advanced melee weapon prof and specialization.

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