Styrix's page

The problem with the slingshot design is that it's force would be dependent largely on the strength of the elastic and the strength of the person pulling it, which doesn't sound halfling-ish. The real staff-sling from history used technique and leverage to create velocity and force.

Yes, its a real historical weapon. And it definitely required two hands to use. But it's no different from a longbow in this regard, which is also 1+. I think the idea of 2 hand items is that you can't use the other hand to do anything, even when carrying it? That seems a bit unrealistic and harsh.

Heh, so the way Crossbow Ace is worded, even if it said "any reload weapon" it wouldn't be as good with sling staff, as it still says "simple crossbows". Sling Staff is not a simple weapon, so you'd get the +2 circumstance to damage, but not the increased weapon damage die.

Wouldn't taking the ancestry feat make you treat the sling staff as simple?

As to it still saying "simple crossbows" I think if it were to be allowed to work on any reload weapon, you could simply remove that qualification. There are only 3 non-crossbow reload 1 weapons: Blowgun (1 dmg), sling (1d6 dmg), and sling-staff (1d10 dmg).

The rules are clear. You need more than just the proficiency feats in order to go beyond Trained proficiency with weapons and armor that are not part of your class or archetype.

Personally, I wish this wasn’t true. Perhaps in the future it will not be.

What are some of reasons you wish it wasn't true?

How much crafting outside of organized play do people really do?

Good clarification on feat usage. That does make it slightly better, but again, not as nice as a crossbow or bow most of the time because of other effects. The "deadly" on the bow makes it usually better for crits anyway. Needing to spend a feat on "running reload" is a bummer, as bow-rangers can spend a feat doing something else (including animal companion, etc).

I think I'd find it more appealing if it could be used as a light-mace, or let crossbow ace work with any reload weapon. If we house-ruled that, would you see it as still essentially balanced?

I know this doesn't directly address OP, but I encourage players to be okay with being "boring and fast" on their turn. If you cast a spell and stride or block, great! Just do it quickly. That way your next turn will come up sooner, and you'll have more fun. I'd much rather each player take 1 minute on their turn and us get through a battle quickly, than each player have multiple tricky "fun" things on every turn, and get through battle twice as slow.

So for me, I'm more concerned with others not trying to maximize the 3 actions than I am with Wizards not "getting the most" out of them.

As an aside, I really like playing with maps but without grids. Just use rulers, inches for for 5', etc. Mostly I prefer theater of the mind, but if we need to go into tactical, I like a gridless base. And then as a DM I don't make it strict who is where and how, and generally side with the players. I'm harsh enough on them in other ways. :D

Those both still sound like "because this is how it works" not "this is _why_ it is designed like this".

It seems like it could work if the players are on board with the costs and benefits. One might lose some of the benefits of the crunchiness of tactical placement, but benefit in other ways.

So, if you have a concrete reason to explain why after level 11 or 13 the balance has to change, please disclose it. So far, the answers to my question have been variations of: 'that's the way it is', or 'roll another class instead'.

It seems like this has yet to be answered sufficiently.

On another thread y'all helped me build a halfling ranger. Something that appealed to me about it was using the sling staff. I just like the cosmetic look and feel of the thing. But it has me wondering. Is the halfling sling staff actually worth spending an ancestry feat, especially for someone who gets martial weapon proficiency anyway?

As you consider these things, think about action economy, limited feat supply, and opportunity costs.

Compare:
A composite longbow does 1 less average damage per die, has +20 range, is deadly d10, but volley 30, and perhaps most importantly has reload 0.
A composite shortbow does 2 less damage per die, has -20 range, is still deadly d10, and can be used effectively within 30' and on a mount.

Is it worth spending an ancestry feat just to get a little extra damage and a better crit effect (stun)? Especially since it also has reload 1 and isn't deadly d10 (which makes up for the crit difference)? Reload 1 is a huge cost, considering action economy. One could take Running Reload, but that's just using more precious feats to counteract a poor initial selection, a significant opportunity cost.

I don't think so, which is sad. :(

Maybe let the "staff" portion be used as a light mace? Maybe let rangers use Crossbow Ace with any reload weapon? Is there some other cool idea within balance? Maybe slings and sling staffs should be reload 0? This last idea makes a lot of sense if you've ever actually fired a bow, sling, and crossbow, as a crossbow is significantly slower to load than a sling or sling staff, which in case you didn't know, don't need to be whirled around to fire.

If you agree, how would you change it? If not, what am I missing? Maybe there is something about proficiency or feat economy that I'm missing?

Help!

I agree on the stickying. This is excellent!

Actually, you can ride any animal companion, as long as it is at least 1 size category bigger than you. This is an advantage for small rangers, as all the animal companions can be medium by 6th level. What you cannot do is get the support action while it is mounted, but that's no big deal. It can still move twice, or move and strike. That said, I cannot fly riding it, as I just found out (see below), so I'll stick to a bear.

Either way, mounting, even a bear, lets me use 1 of my actions to have it use two move actions, so I can have it move, fire, reload, and then have it move again. Or any combination of it moving (with me on it) striking, and me doing two other things. Kiting-fighting!

From the SRD:
"You or an ally can ride your animal companion as long as it is at least one size larger than the rider. If it is carrying a rider, the animal companion can use only its land Speed, and it can’t move and Support you on the same turn."
https://pf2.d20pfsrd.com/rules/animal-companions/

Thanks!

I’ll grab Combat Medic from background, and wait for Hunter until 10th for retraining. I’ll take Animal Companion at first for more DPS and especially mobility, and fun utility. By 6th level I could be riding a bear or a giant (medium) eagle! Combat Medic will help me heal it, too. I might take MC Cleric, depending on how the campaign goes.

Thanks again!

How likely are critical successes with Recall Knowledge? It doesn't seem very helpful until 10th level, and even then, I'm not so sure. Isn't it a one-time +1 bonus to a couple things? Is a sometimes +1 really that valuable at that level?

I'm hearing the need for more healing. I don't know the system very well. Is healing, especially self healing, something the Monk will be able to do? Are druids any good at healing, especially healing animal companions? What would be better for healing, MC Cleric, or Field Medic? I'm not sure I want to dedicate too many feats just to healing, but I think it could work within the theme of the character.

Another thought about animal companions. If the druid and ranger both have animal companions, are there any spells or abilities that would affect them both? We're also thinking about animal companions because we have a small party, only 3 PCs.

Thanks everyone!

As to stats, yes, as a halfling I started at a -2, and brought it up to 10. It seems like its a LOT of work to bring it up to 14 just for a +1 to damage with the staff-sling. My 1st level stats are 10, 18, 14, 10, 16, 10

Yes, I'm precision damage focused. That helps an animal companion, too, right?

Running Reload sounds like a must have. Will do at level 4.

One of the other characters is a druid, so I might leave spell-casting to them. But I do have a starting 16 Wis, so it could work.

Let me focus my question. Which ranger feat would you take at 1st level? Crossbow Ace, Hunted Shot, and Twin Takedown don't work with a staff sling, so it's down to Monster Hunter and Animal Companion.

Monster Hunter seems underwhelming, as you have to have the right skill, and then you have to have a critical success, and then you and allies get a +1 to hit on only the very next attack. So it _sometimes_ gives a +1 to hit once per battle.

That leads me to Animal Companion. What animal companion would you think about? I'm small, so I could ride a pony right away, but pretty soon I could ride a bear or wolf, too. I could even soon ride the bird! What do you think?

Hi all,

I'm new to Pathfinder 2e, but not to pen-and-paper RPGs. We're starting out at first level and I'm trying to build a Halfling Ranger specializing in the Staff-Sling. The other two characters in the party are a Gnome Druid and a Goblin Monk (we're short).

What advice would you give? Right now I've got 18 Dex, 10 Strength, and mostly use a staff-sling with precision strike, which takes an action to load, but does 1d10+1d8 against my hunter's target.

I'm stuck a bit on the Ranger Feat as none of them seem to work with a Staff Sling, except maybe Animal Companion. Am I aloud to ride a bear companion? If I'm riding my animal companion and use an action to give it two actions, can it move twice, then I use one action to reload the staff-sling and another to shoot? If I ride a pony instead, does it help when shooting a staff-sling, or only with melee weapons? Is there a better option than animal companion I'm not seeing, assuming the staff-sling?

I have LOTS of other questions, like what can I expect to maybe do at later levels? Will I ever be able to reduce the load time of the staff-sling? Does having it count as a "simple" weapon help gain expertise or mastery later?

How would you build it, assuming a halfling ranger with a staff-sling? Would a halfling rogue or fighter with a staff-sling work better?

Thanks in advance!