Oedii's page

I think a lot of people have missed OP's point completely. They're not asking for Starfinder to be realistic, they're asking what it takes for a melee-focused combatant to be effective in a world where everyone fights with guns, citing examples that are very much not realistic. In my opinion, there are two crucial factors that make melee combat viable in a primarily ranged environment:

The melee combatant can get in range of their target and arrive in good enough shape to fight from there.

The melee combatant fighting in melee is suitably more effective than the ranged opponent, so that it is desirable for them to enter melee combat.

Notice how all of OP's examples line up with this: traditional soldiers in Dune have shields that block ranged attacks, so they can safely enter melee combat, and slow blades are the most reliable way of penetrating shields. Jedi and Sith can deflect gunfire and sometimes move at super-speed, allowing them to safely get into a range where they can slice their foes with lightsabers that cut through most armor like a knife through hot butter. Assassins in Cyberpunk can make themselves invisible, move into melee range undetected, and kill enemies before they even know they're there. Every single one of these characters has the means of approach, and the payoff for getting into melee.

So let's talk about the Solarian, because this conversation is very much about the Solarian: does the class have the means of approach? Well, not really. At most early levels, they move about as fast as anyone else, and are only slightly more durable than your Mystic or Witchwarper, except they have to spend their turns exposing themselves as they move into range. One subclass can pull enemies in, but the pull is short-ranged and not especially reliable, whereas the other subclasses lack any gapclosers at 1st level. Does the class have the payoff at melee range? I'd say mostly, yeah, but that is threatened by classes like the Operative, who can start dealing more damage right away from a...

I think you're spot on with this. I am hoping we get a class(es) (Solarian or otherwise) that can be more effective in melee than the operative can be. I think the Operative is covering too much creative space, as it stands.

I'm hoping we'll see a more dedicated (non-engineer) scientist -- sure, we have a biotechnician theme, which is nice, and you can always reflavor envoy healing/buffs/debuffs as medical tricks, but I think there's room there for a lot more cool stuff that warrants a class of its own.

As much as I want to see a Starfinder take on a necromancer, I think that'll probably end up being a new mystic connection (most likely option) or alternate class features for technomancer (less likely, but possible) rather than a class of its own, and I'm fine with that.

Overall, we just don't really need the same variety of classes that Pathfinder has simply because the theme/class/archetype combo covers most of the same ground.

I like the idea of the Scientist. Perhaps some of the class' mechanics could involve research that allows item upgrades for themselves and their party.

I'd also like to see Psionic classes introduced to the universe. Maybe they could include classes like the Adept from Shadowrun, a Telepath, or a class with a Telekinetic abilities.