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You'll want to go to your Account page on the store, then select the Subscription tab and verify what it says under Shipping. If it's wrong, you should be able to click the dropdown button and select the correct address, or add it if it's not there.

This programming language was originally developed by engineers working for the Aspis Consortium to standardize the manufacturing of hybrid items, especially spell chips and spell gems. While this code was made to help install multilingual hybrid magic items into replica antiques to sell across the galaxy, it’s since been implemented as a high-level, general purpose programming language thanks to its emphasis on code readability and multilinguistic compatibility.

It’s the Scroll Trickster! Gem Trickster! This subclass overclocks spell gems and spell chips, and through that, lets you cast any spell from any tradition. Pretty dang cool. I want to love the Viper subclass. I think it’s neat. But unlike any other 2e consumable-dependent class or archetype, it has no way to generate its requisite consumable. Right off the bat, this is a problem. And that’s not even getting into the “cast a spell to cast a spell” nature of it. I’m getting ahead of myself though, so let’s get into it.

Each subclass has several features: a given spell line, focus spells, a level 1 spellshape feat, an Overclock Boost, and an additional Jailbreak feature for their given spellshape feat. That’s. Honestly a lot. And only about half of it ties into this subclass. Which makes sense, because the theme is “use spell gems”.

So, Spell Cache, the list of always available given spells. We’ve got:
- Delete: Destroy information from a data set, or “tech item with the tracking trait”.
- Translate: Understand 1 language.
- Locate: Learn the direction of the target.
- Creation: Create a temporary object.
- Truespeech: Become an omniglot.
- Truesight: Get an automatic (secret) counteract check on any illusion, morph, or polymorph effect within 60ft.
- Contingency: Precast a spell to trigger on conditions you set. The spell can only effect you.
- Pinpoint: Learn the location of a creature or object with *ahem* pinpoint accuracy.
- Foresight: Gain a status bonus to initiative, immune to off-guard in certain situations, gain defensive reaction.

I don’t know what to make of this spell list. It’s all utility spells, which isn’t a bad thing, per se, but it’s a bit lackluster. Translate and Truespeech are redundant, so are locate and pinpoint. Foresight is also on FORTRUN’s spell list, which doesn’t feel good, especially when they share a subclass feat as well. I get it though? How do you build a spell list around using spell gems? I don’t give it a pass, as this is a problem the devs gave themselves, but I understand the theming difficulty with this one.

Next, Focus spells:
- Dynamic Frequency Scaling: Spellshape a spell gem to get a second use out of the spell gem.
-- Jailbreak: The spell gem only breaks on a crit failure. (what???)

This is the only one I’m going to look at for now, because it’s the only one you get for sure. The other two Focus Spells for Viper are for Viper, but are locked behind feats.

So the base spellshape here is great. For a subclass entirely dependant on one-use consumables, getting a second use out of said consumables is a life saver. Or, well, a credit saver. The caveat that the spell gem becomes a temp item until end of day is not even really a problem. They even put a clause in there to prevent you from double-dipping! If you use the already-used spell gem, it is destroyed, no matter what.

That Jailbreak though. Like Alakablam and a few other feats, it doesn’t make any sense. “If you use Jailbreak Spell to use this spellshape with a spell gem, it only becomes broken on a critical failure.” Spell gems are never broken, only destroyed. Spell chips on the other hand, can be broken. But this spellshape only mentions being used on spell gems. So does the Jailbreak version allow you to effect spell chips? If it does, what are the knock-on effects? Turning a spell gem into a temp item to get a second use is great, but turning a spell chip into a temp item? NO THANKS. This sentence does not make sense and needs much more clarification.

Moving on to the Given Spellshape Feat. Viper gets an initial spellshape of:
- Spell Circuit: You don’t need to be holding your spell chip or spell gem to cast from it.
-- Jailbreak: If you use a spell gem this way, you can consume a different spell gem instead of the one you cast.

The regular spellshape version of this is alright. If you don’t have a bandolier or belt, or if all of your gems are (for whatever reason) in your bag, you don’t need to spend actions to draw them before casting (if they are on a bandolier or belt, drawing them is the same action economy). If both of your hands are occupied, you can cast without putting anything down. Interestingly, by RAW I don’t think this would let you cast from a non-active set of hands. The Jailbreak though, is fantastic. If you only have one of spell gem A, you can cast it and destroy spell gem B instead, allowing you to continue using spell gem A again and again. Granted, that brings up the action economy of Jailbreaking for this class and whether it’s worth it, but we’ll come back to that. This also means that you can buy a high rank spell gem and repeatedly cast it by burning level 1 spell gems. On paper, this is a great Jailbreak.

Finally, the pièce de résistance, the Overclock Boost, the core of the subclass. It does only one thing:
- You can use Overclocked spell gems and chips with spells from other traditions as though they were Arcane instead.

This is. SO COOL. Or it would be, but action economy, actual economy, and spell cost. BUT. On paper, in a vacuum, this is so friggen cool. This subclass can cast any spell. ANY OF THEM. Except focus spells. But other than that! Tradition doesn’t matter! Want to cast a Divine spell? Get a spell gem and overclock it. Occult? Same thing. Primal? Just get a spell chip for that. This is the most versatile caster in the whole 2e ecosystem.

All you need is credits.

Moving on! At level 3 you get Jailbreak, and that comes with Viper’s super special Jailbreak bonus for Spell Circuit.
- Viper Jailbreak: Turn the Jailbroken gem into an electromag grenade of the same item level until end of next turn.

This is not bad. I know a lot of folks on these boards have been outspoken about how Technomancer’s class dc doesn’t increase, but to be honest, no one’s increases until level 9 or 11. Except Soldier, but they’re a special cookie. So at least up until that point, this is useful. After that, yes, it suddenly becomes a heaping pile of ‘meh’. The last few levels (17-20) are definitely going to be feeling the lack of class dc, sitting a solid -4 behind anyone else (-6 behind the Soldier). But up until about level 11, this is going to be useful.

Okay, so that’s your guaranteed kit. As with all of the subclasses, Viper only has one feat and its two focus spells specific to it down the line.

- lvl4 - Alakablam: I still don’t know what this does. Best guess is that, after using a spell gem, you can pseudo-Overclock a gun and give it bonus damage or change its damage type based on if the spell you cast is non-damaging or damaging, respectively. Having spent a lot of time on this feat, I think this just gives you a boosted magazine of ammo? So it lasts as long as a magazine does for your weapon. I think. (I really just freaking don’t know, because this feat is SO. POORLY. WRITTEN.)

I think this could be okay for Viper? It’s extra damage or elemental damage from your gun after using a spell gem. Gives you a little extra bonus for that gem usage. But idk. Feels like a DPS++ feat that they tied Viper into to save space instead of giving Viper its own feat. It works for Viper, but it doesn’t feel all that beneficial to Viper itself.

- lvl6 - Advanced Magic Hack: Rank3 Log Spell Execution: Add a spell from a spell gem to your Spell Cache until you Download it or use LSE again. Can only be used on Arcane spells.
-- Jailbreak: j/k you can use any tradition’s spells as long as it’s from your Overclocked gem/chip or you use Trick Magic Item.

I don’t see the benefit of the base spellshape here. You’re taking a spell out of a gem or chip and putting it into your Spell Cache, where you will then have to use a spell slot to cast the spell, thus rendering the usefulness of the gem/chip null and void. You’ve effectively spent credits to cast a spell from a spell slot. At that point, why not just write the spell to your Database and prep it normally?

The Jailbreak is even harder to swallow due to logistics. You have to cast a spell to Overclock your gem to use your gem to add the spell to your Spell Cache to use another spell slot to cast the spell. Doing this mid-combat will cost you at least 3 turns, during which you’re not doing anything but casting one spell (unless you used a spell slot to Overclock your gem). You absolutely can prep it out of combat, burning a focus spell up front and then spending 10 minutes to get it back

That said, you can heighten non-tradition spells this way. You could take a rank 1 gem, add it to your Spell Cache, and then cast it from a higher rank spell slot, thus hightening the spell. I suppose this could be worth it, but feels pretty corner-case to me, due to the sheer logistics and the fact that if you prep it in advance you may not even need that spell.

- level10 - Greater Magic Hack: Rank5 Overclock Lattice: When you cast a spell from a chip or a gem, you auto-heighten the spell to 2 ranks below your max rank.
-- Jailbreak: Heighten the spell to a level equal to the spell used to Overclock.

This is a great spellshape and is probably too powerful. If you Overclock from a focus spell, you can always Jailbreak this to cast from your highest rank. We’ve also immediately negated Log Spell Execution (as far as I can tell). Instead of having to use a spell slot to cast a gem, you can just use the gem and get a heightened version of the spell.

(Also, why does this have Duration: 1 minute?? It’s a spellshape, it’s duration is 1 action. Unless this is an exception??? But it doesn’t say that?????? I know it’s probably a copy/paste error from the other Rank 5 focus spells, but still)

There are other feats you can take that compliment the theme, or at least, the abilities. I don’t know that there are any spells that do, but that just means you can take whatever you want.

So who wants a melee sniper for SF2? It’s a really simple recipe. Take one dragonkin ancestry, one dragonkin heritage, two ancestry feats (third one optional), and stir. For added shenanigans, mix in one or two augments, some magic, and an ancestry feature. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for nine levels. Let sit for up to eight more levels, then serve to your DM. Preferably with some aspirin, because this is nuts and they may need some to deal with the headache.

Right, so, to break it down. Dragonkin have an innate 20ft fly speed.

Their heritage Stormrider Dragonkin increases their fly speed by 5 feet. Up to 25ft fly speed, and we’re still creating the character.

(Optional) Their level 1 ancestry feat Touch the Sky removes rough terrain penalties for moving vertically while flying.

At level 3, don’t bother to pick up the general feat Fleet for a 5ft increase to speed. This feat apparently only affects your land speed, and so will not increase your fly speed here.

At level 5, pick up the Aerial Dash ancestry feat. This one, for 2 actions, allows you to fly 3 times. Or 4 times, if you have the Stormrider Dragon heritage. Right at this moment, for 2 actions, you are now able to fly 100ft. Pretty good. It gets better.

At level 9, pick up the Aerial Master ancestry feat. This will increase their fly speed by 10 feet. Now, this is a separate effect from the heritage. Neither of these are bonuses, they’re just flat increases, and neither specifies that they can’t stack. Now your fly speed is 35ft, and you can move 140ft in two actions. But wait! There’s more.

If you get the level 12 augment Superior Ultralight Wings, they give you a base 60ft fly speed as long as you are not encumbered and not wearing more than light armor. So that’s a new base of 60ft. The heritage says to increase your fly speed by 5 feet. Aerial Mastery says to increase it by 10ft. So now you have a 75ft fly speed, as long as you’re not encumbered. Which means you can now fly 300ft in 2 actions. Not done yet though, this isn’t even its final form.

At level 17, you can get the Apex augmentation Hyper-Agility Enabler. Amongst other things, it has an activated ability that, for 1 hour, will increase your land speed by 20ft. Which also, as it specifies, applies to your Burrow, Swim, and Fly speeds. So now you’re rocking a 95ft fly speed, and are able to fly 380ft in two actions. And you still have an action leftover to swing that doshko!

If you know a divine or occult caster, they can also cast Motivating Ringtone on you to get you to a full 100ft fly speed. 400ft in two actions!

It’s here I would like to point out, just for context, that the best sniper rifle in the game at the moment only has a 120ft range increment.

Finally, you can absolutely turn this into a taxi service. Dragonkin are large, and just by RAW, can be ridden by small or smaller PCs. This does not impose the encumbered condition, you just lose an action to make sure your passenger is stable. Which means that you can still fly absurd distances, all while carrying a passenger. If you bond to a medium creature and take the Bondbearer ancestry feat, you can also carry them. So then, for two actions, you and a party member can appear anywhere a sniper would be and snipe them back. In melee.

This programming language was originally developed by a thrifty university student building their own coffee-serving minibot. This code is primarily used with an operating system that maximizes compatibility by converting all system checks between different proprietary software while routing driver keys to simulated virtual drones, which makes sure parts from different manufacturers (and even other worlds) will work with the same minibot. The increase in sales for individual components and nonprofit status of the freeware have kept minibot companies from attempting to outlaw the software, and some companies have even adopted the controversial practice of anonymously leaking drivers on the infosphere.

Oh boy. This is the one I’ve been looking forward to. First though, this subclass description is nonsense. It’s a little blurb about the history of the programming language, but doesn’t actually tell you anything about what it does. The bolded part is the actual language description, and it’s just a litany of buzzwords that doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Anyway.

It’s the pet subclass! Except no. It’s not. It’s the summoning subclass. This. This presents problems. ServoShell and Viper both run into the problem that their Overclock targets are limited resources. Viper has to purchase spell gems or chips to overclock, and those are consumables or limited use. ServoShell has to burn a spell slot (or a spell gem) to even have something to Overclock. More than any other subclass, ServoShell really drives home the feeling that the devs just don’t want you to use your core class features. I’m not saying that they don’t, but man does it feel like they don’t. The hoops you have to jump through to get this subclass moving. Anyway.

Each subclass has several features: a given spell line, focus spells, a level 1 spellshape feat, an Overclock Boost, and an additional Jailbreak feature for their given spellshape feat. That’s. Honestly a lot. Almost all of it does revolve around your minion(s), so at least this subclass understood the assignment.

So, Spell Cache, the list of always available given spells. We’ve got:
- Summon Robot: Summons a minion creature with the Tech trait.
- Illusory Creature: Summons an illusory creature you can control like a minion. But! It’s not a minion.
- Discharge: De-engergize a tech item, or Glitch a tech creature.
- Speak With Computers: Speak with computer spirits. Like Speak With Animals.
- Control Machine: Literally Dominate, but only for tech creatures and tech hazards.
- Dominate: Take control of a creature until daily prep. Can’t force them to harm themselves.
- Wall of Steel: Create a 120ft x 20ft wall of steel.
- Phantasmal Fleet: Summon an illusory starfleet to damage enemies. And/or allies. YMMV.
- Telekinetic Tantrum: Do a psychic knockback, TK throw, or TK slam each round up to a minute in a BIG area.

Almost an A++ list. Telekinetic Tantrum doesn’t fit the theme, and Dominate feels redundant with Control Machine on there. Otherwise, excellent selection. Rank 1 is your bread and butter summon, and everything else is tech or summon focused, often both. Except for Dominate and TK Tantrum. Illusory Creature I give a pass to because you can easily flavor it as a hologram, and you’re set.

Next, Focus spells:
- Signal Relay: If you would cast a spell that would only effect you, effect your minion instead.
-- Jailbreak: Effect you and the minion.

This is the only one I’m going to look at for now, because it’s the only one you get for sure. The other two Focus Spells for ServoShell are for ServoShell, but are locked behind feats.

ServoShell’s only guaranteed spell is a summon spell, so not one you could use this spellshape on. Therefore, the player must pick a spell that it can be used on to get any use out of this. This is not actually guaranteed, as the Arcane spell list only has a couple of low level buff spells. This is a great spellshape on paper, but I think in practice, it will be far too easy to accidentally prevent yourself from using it. Especially for newer players who are likely to already be overwhelmed by prepared casters and all of their nonsense.

Moving on to the Given Spellshape Feat. ServoShell gets an initial spellshape of:
- Incognito Spell: Add the Subtle trait to your spell, so as to pretend you’re not casting the spell.
-- Jailbreak: Demoralize with Arcana as an added effect.

Personal preference, I hate this. Some people might play in a campaign where this matters, but I never have. The Jailbreak is fun, but the whole Subtle trait feels so pointless. And more to the point, has nothing to do with the subclass.

Finally, the pièce de résistance, the Overclock Boost, the core of the subclass. It does only one thing:
- When you Command an Overclocked minion, you can sustain another spell for free.

This is. Lackluster. It’s a good way to save on action economy, but is predicated on having and using sustain spells at the same time that you have a minion that is Overclocked. Now, to be fair, several of the Spell Cache spells are sustain spells. But. The action economy to get to the point where this even matters is atrocious.

Now, interestingly enough, the ability says “Command”, not “Sustain”. Per the Minion trait description in PC1, you Command a companion and Sustain a minion. Perhaps the devs were, or are, considering giving ServoShell a companion. Alas, there’s no sign of it in the playtest, so this is just irrelevant trivia.

Moving on, at level 3 you get Jailbreak, and that comes with ServoShell’s super special Jailbreak bonus for Incognito Spell.
- FORTRUN Jailbreak: Cast the Jailbroken spellshaped spell from a minion you control.

This is awesome. This is a great effect, as it considers the origin point for the spell to be the minion, which greatly increases your range and line of sight/effect options. Too bad it’s attached to Incognito Spell, and not just a spellshape of its own. And also, you’ll never be able to use it.

Okay, so that’s your guaranteed kit. As with all of the subclasses, ServoShell only has one feat and its two focus spells specific to it down the line.

- lvl4 - Spell Protection Protocol: You or an ally gain an aura that gives a status bonus to saves versus spells and magic effects. It’s a larger bonus if they’re your spells or magic effects that are being saved against. You can also sustain it for up to 3 rounds.

This is the same feat as FORTRUN. The two subclasses share it, and I kind of hate it for ServoShell. It feels rushed, as this is clearly a FORTRUN feat that does work with ServoShell, but isn’t really ServoShell flavored. The fact that you can sustain this one action ability more feels like a tacked on excuse to give you a thing to sustain for free with your Overclocked minion. This does not feel like an ability designed for this subclass. But it does work, if you’ve happened to pick up AOE spells and feel like dropping them on your minion. Which, to be clear, is a bad idea since your minion is always going to be lower level than you.

- lvl6 - Advanced Magic Hack: Rank3 Hardlight Simulacrum: Summon a non-tech summon as a hologram, giving it the Tech trait and other hologram/construct things.
-- Jailbreak: Overclock the summoned minion.

This is, frankly, a mandatory feat for this subclass as it is presented in the playtest. Or it would be, except that you have to have an Overclocked minion in order to Jailbreak anything, so really all this is letting you do is trade your current Overclocked minion for a different Overclocked minion. Which is a waste of a minion. So the Jailbreak is bogus, but the base spellshape is still really good. It’s a free action spellshape that lets you use all of the other Summon spells and Overclock what you summon. This lets you summon Animals, Constructs, Dragons, Elementals, Undead, and other summons that have been lost to the premaster.

- lvl10 - Greater Magic Hack: Rank5 Overclock Minion: Your minion becomes Hasted.

A++. No notes.

There are other feats, and of course spells, that fit the theme, but this is everything Technomancer has specifically for ServoShell. Incognito Spell is baffling, SPP feels tacked on, and there are a couple of spells that don’t fit, but otherwise very on point for the Summoner theme. Not so much the subclass description, but idk what that’s even about. Doesn’t seem to have anything to do with anything.

This programming language began as the AbadarCorp standard for heat sinks, especially in hostile environments, and was quickly adopted as the universal language of armor, environmental protection, and satellite defense software. The simple but elegant code is designed to minimize the possibility of potentially life-threatening errors that could cause a system to malfunction and has endless applications for personal defense.

I’m going to be upfront about this, I cannot figure out this subclass. If it could Overclock other peoples armor, that would make sense. But it can’t. This subclass increases your defense and resistances and gives you thorn effects, but, importantly!, you’re a pure caster. You can’t take a hit, and this subclass really wants you to get hit to trigger those thorn effects. So, let’s look at what it does, and maybe I can figure out something.

Each subclass has several features: a given spell line, focus spells, a level 1 spellshape feat, an Overclock Boost, and an additional Jailbreak feature for their given spellshape feat. That’s. Honestly a lot. And while it does boost your survivability, the jury is out on if it increases it enough.

So, Spell Cache, the list of always available given spells. We’ve got:
- Protection: Gain a status bonus to AC and Saves.
- Resist Energy: Gain resistance to one type of energy.
- Haste: Become quickened for Stride or Strike.
- Unfettered Movement: Ignore circumstance penalties to Speed, Escape vs immobilized, grabbed, restrained.
- Scouting Eye: Create a magic eye to look for you.
- Repulsion: Force creatures away from you.
- Energy Aegis: Gain energy resistance for a day.
- Gravity Field: Increase gravity, creates Greater Difficult Terrain, grounds flyers.
- Foresight: Gain a status bonus to initiative, immune to off-guard in certain situations, gain defensive reaction.
This list definitely understood the assignment better than DPS++ did, though there are a couple of outliers here (Scouting Eye?). I will dock points however, for there not being any tech spells on here. This is the Technomancer, after all. But, whatever. I’m sure they’ll be flavored appropriately.

Next, Focus spells:
- Energy Sink: Spellshape a no duration energy damage spell, gain resistance to the same energy type.
-- Jailbreak: Gain resistance to all energy instead.
This is the only one I’m going to look at for now, because it’s the only one you get for sure. The other two Focus Spells for FORTRUN are for FORTRUN, but are locked behind feats.
So, the FORTRUN Spell Cache does not have a damaging spell on the list. The player must pick an elemental spell to get any use out of this. This is an almost guaranteed thing to happen, but it is not guaranteed, and truly it must be kept in mind that if a player can screw themselves with a choice, a player will screw themselves with that choice.
Otherwise, solid defensive spellshape. As long as you have a spell to use it with. Cantrips work beautifully for this, since they auto-highten, which means you’ll always have the maximum resistance. You’d just need to keep in mind that you wouldn’t be able to Overclock off of a Jailbroken Cantrip.

Moving on to the Given Spellshape Feat. FORTRUN gets an initial spellshape of:
- Denial of Safety: Increase the area of AOE spells that have no duration.
-- Jailbreak: Double the increase.
While this is an absolutely fantastic spellshape, I feel it misses the mark a bit for the stated theme of the subclass. While you have plenty of AOE spells in the spell cache, they all have a duration. So, again, the player must pick spells that will work with this spellshape. Additionally, there’s only 1 (one) cantrip that can benefit from this spellshape, and it’s a Pathfinder spell. Odds are good that unless you’re specifically thinking about it, DoS is only going to be used on spell slot spells. Which, especially at low levels, means it’s not going to get much use.

Finally, the pièce de résistance, the Overclock Boost, the core of the subclass. It does two things:
- You get a +1 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn. (Raise Shield)
- You gain a thorn effect. Anytime someone touches you, damages you with an unarmed melee, or damages you with a non-reach melee, they take damage.
I. Do not know what to do with this, honestly. Since the AC bonus only lasts for 1 round, it’s literally a guessing game as to when to Overclock to benefit from it. It also becomes the secondary effect, thus making the thorn effect the primary effect, since that one lasts. Which. Why? Why does a pure caster want a thorn effect? FORTRUN has no particular melee capability, and Starfinder 2 is infamously a “ranged meta”, so what is going on with this? When are you supposed to benefit from this?

Moving on, at level 3 you get Jailbreak, and that comes with FORTRUN’s super special Jailbreak bonus for Denial of Safety.
- FORTRUN Jailbreak: When you Jailbreak Denial of Safety on a damaging spell, you can move yourself in any direction a number of spaces equal to the spellshaped spell’s rank as a forced movement. You are not effected by the damaging spell if this movement moves you out of its area of effect.
This is not bad. This lets you massively increase an AOE, drop it on yourself and everyone around you, and get out of it before it goes off without incurring a Punitive/Reactive Strike. You just need to make sure you pick spells that this will work with, because, again, your Spell Cache doesn’t give you any.

Okay, so that’s your guaranteed kit. As with all of the subclasses, FORTRUN only has one feat and it’s two focus spells specific to it down the line.
- lvl4 - Spell Protection Protocol: You or an ally gain an aura that gives a status bonus to saves versus spells and magic effects. It’s a larger bonus if they’re your spells or magic effects that are being saved against.
As with the Jailbreak bonus, this feat wants you to be dropping AOEs all over the place, even on yourself or allies. This is actually kind of fun, though the other players may not be as on board with this playstyle. Once again, my only real problem with this is that it requires players to pick spells that can be used in conjunction with this feat, though since this is an optional pick, you’re more likely to pick it when you’ve already got those spells.
- lvl6 - Advanced Magic Hack: Rank3 Active Defense Firewall: Load a hostile, single target spell into your armor. When a creature touches you, damages you with an unarmed melee, or damages you with a non-reach melee, you can cast the spell as a reaction with the triggering creature as the target. You can dismiss the spell to recover the spell slot it was loaded from, but you can only use that slot to Download Spell. The loaded spell remains loaded until your next daily prep.
This is fun, in a vacuum. But it runs into a lot of the same problems as FORTRUN’s Overclock Boost, in that it’s a thorn effect. It’s proactive preparation for being hit under very specific circumstances, and is only retaliatory in nature. It doesn’t do anything to bolster your defenses, just punishes an enemy for hitting you at point blank range (“it’s a ranged meta!“).
There’s also a bit of interpretation to be going on with the spell. It doesn’t say you can’t load a cantrip into your armor, but the final paragraph implies that it has to be a spell slot spell. Personally, I’d allow cantrips and spell gem spells to be used, but. Like Alakablam, it’s unclear and open to debate.
- lvl10 - Greater Magic Hack: Rank5 Overclock Armor: You give yourself a force field.
No notes, this is perfect. A++ focus spell.

There are other feats, and of course spells, that fit the theme, but this is everything Technomancer has specifically for FORTRUN. Except for DoS and ADF, it’s decently on brand with the stated theme.

DPS++ is the premier programming language for weapons, incorporating tactical commands, shortcuts, and innovations from programming languages found across the galaxy to cause maximum destruction. This incredible feat of computer science is responsible for the universal compatibility of weapon upgrades.

So. That’s the subclass description, and it sounds really cool. Total gish. Which is great! I love me a good gish! But this is not a good gish. It’s kind of a mid to bad gish. Or that’s what I thought until I realized that nothing in the RAW prevents you from casting your focus spell and then not casting a spell afterwords. I’ll come back to that. Anyway, after that realization, and spending a week writing this and deep-diving the class, I don’t really think it’s that bad.

Each subclass has several features: a given spell line, focus spells, a level 1 spellshape feat, an Overclock Boost, and an additional Jailbreak feature for their given spellshape feat. That’s. Honestly a lot. And not much of it really folds into the gish mission statement. There’s more available to Technomancer as a whole, but what the subclass gives you isn’t really what that blurb at the top implies it gives you.

So, Spell Cache, the list of always available given spells. We’ve got:
- Supercharge Weapon: Your next Strike with a chosen weapon gets a damage boost. Total Gish Spell.
- Caustic Conversion: Spell attack with persistent damage.
- Electrotether: Spell attack with pull.
- Hydraulic Torrent: Save Spell with push. Line.
- Impaling Spike: Save Spell with Immobilize.
- Disintegrate: Spell Attack with Save.
- True Target: Gives advantage to up to 4 people when they attack a specific target. Gish/support spell!
- Arctic Rift: Save Spell with Immobilize/slow. Line.
- Implosion: Save Spell, pulls and damages. Sustained.
So, not a bad DPS list, but there’s only two spells on here that interact with weapons (which is what the description says the subclass is all about). As well, only three of these spells are Starfinder spells, of which only one really is tech related. Two if we include the electromagnetic one. Which. It’s the Technomancer. You could maybe flavor these spells to be techy, but they’re almost entirely elemental attack spells. Regardless, only mildly gishy and only mildly Technomancery.

Next, Focus Spells:
- Thermoelectric Phase Change: Spellshape. Change the elemental damage type of a spell.
-- Jailbreak: The spell deals more damage.
This is the only one I’m going to look at for now, because it’s the only one you get for sure. The other two Focus Spells for DPS++ are for DPS++, but are locked behind feats.
This spell is either really useful or really a nothingburger. Its usefulness is dependent on two major factors, one from the player and one from the GM. The first necessitates that the player pick out at least one spell with an elemental trait. While they will get an elemental spell at level 3, to use it at level 1 or 2, the player must pick an elemental spell to get any use out of this. This is an almost guaranteed thing to happen, but it is not guaranteed, and truly it must be kept in mind that if a player can screw themselves with a choice, a player will screw themselves with that choice.
The second major factor necessitates that the GM use enemies or puzzles that have weaknesses or solutions that need a particular element. To state it another way, if the player has no spell with an elemental trait, they cannot use this focus spell, and if they never run into anything that makes using a particular element advantageous, then there’s no reason to use this spellshape. For a level one focus spell, that’s very unfortunate.
The Jailbreak is not bad, but it’s entirely crit dependent. If you use a spell and either crit on the attack, or they crit fail on the save, you get an extra 1d6 persistent damage of whatever elemental type was used. I actually kind of hate this, mostly because of the crit dependency.

Moving on to the Given Spellshape Feat. DPS++ gets an initial spellshape of:
- Signal Boost: Increase spell range by 30ft
-- Jailbreak: Increase by 60ft instead.
There’s not much to say about this one. It’s not bad, but it feels unnecessary in the context of official scenarios, where I’ve rarely seen the need to extend my range. Works great for touch spells though. I’m more confused why this is specifically DPS++.

Finally, the pièce de résistance, the Overclock Boost, the core of the subclass. It does three things:
- Reduces your targets’ circumstance bonus from cover by a value equal to half the rank of the spell you used to Overclock.
- Reduce any penalty due to range by 1.
- Gain a circumstance bonus to weapon damage equal to the rank of the spell used to Overclock. If the enabling spell dealt damage, the bonus damage for your weapon is of the same type as the spell.
Now, none of this is bad. The cover bonus reduction is actually pretty awesome at later levels, completely negating it in almost all circumstances by level 7.
Reducing range penalties is also great. If you’re firing outside of range. Which, unless you’re using the scattergun, is unlikely to come up often.
Finally, the damage bonus is nice, if low. But that makes sense, as this is a core class feature that’s always available.
Which is where I come back to the focus spell and that whole loophole in the rules with spellshapes. See, being able to just cast the focus spell spellshape and not cast a spell afterwards, while it means you don’t get any benefits from the spellshape, does mean that you have just cast a spell. And one that is not a cantrip. What this does is just add an action tax to Overclock, effectively making it a two action focus spell. Additionally, since the focus spell is, well, a focus spell, it will auto-highten, allowing you at least one instance every combat to activate this Overclock at maximum bonus. Which makes the whole subclass playable.

The only other thing DPS++ gets is their super special Jailbreak bonus to their level 1 feat:
- DPS++ Jailbreak: When you use the Signal Boost Jailbreak, add damage equal to the base damage die of your weapon to one target of the spell.
It’s another damage bonus. For the price of Jailbreaking, you’re just adding 1 additional damage die to a spell. This is good in early game (remember you can’t Jailbreak until level 3), and it’s never bad, but it’s also hard attached to a range boost. The higher level you get the more spellshapes your going to get - law of averages says you’re going to get other spellshapes, what with 21 of the 49 feats being spellshapes (I’m including Advanced Magic Hack, and both Cross Platform Applications in that count), and 3 others being spellshape focused. Your choice to use this spellshape to get this bonus will come at the cost of using any other spellshape you have.

So that’s all the kit you’re guaranteed to get for DPS++. After that, subclass specific options include 1 (one) feat. There’s also the focus spell feats to unlock the other DPS++ feats.
- lvl4 - Alakablam: I. Don’t even know what this does. It’s poorly written, as I have criticized in other threads. Best guess is that, after using a spell gem, you can Overclock a gun and give it bonus damage or change its damage type based on if the spell you cast is non-damaging or damaging, respectively. This, maybe, lasts for the Overclock duration(??).
This is maybe not bad if you plan to blow a lot of credits on spellgems (assuming my interpretation is accurate), but is otherwise kind of bad. Mostly because of the requisite spellgems. Again, assuming the playstyle of most official scenarios, you’re never going to have enough downtime to craft these gems, so you’re going to have to spend a decent amount to always have gems to use this. And since this is (maybe) activating your Overclock(??), you’re going to want to have some high-rank gems, so you can’t just only carry around rank 1 gems.
- lvl6 - Advanced Magic Hack: Rank3 - Virtualized Data Transmission: Required: Wielding a ranged tech weapon.
-- Teleport anywhere in the area of a [ranged spell with an area] you’re about to cast.
--- Jailbreak: Teleport anywhere in the range of the [single target spell] you’re about to cast.
My biggest beef with this spell is that it requires a ranged weapon. There’s nothing in the spell that affects weapons, you don’t get a free attack with it, it is entirely focused on modifying a spell within the parameters of the spell. Just. Why does it need a weapon, let alone a ranged weapon? This is either a get-me-tf-away spell, or a get-me-in-their-face-so-I-can-hit-them spell, but with the ranged weapon requirement, the second option is off the table. (Why does it require a ranged weapon???) Additionally, how does this fit the DPS++ theme? It has, as stated, nothing to do with weapons. Nor, as the name DPS++ implies, anything to do with damage per second. I dunno. It’s not a bad spellshape, it just doesn’t fit the theme, in my opinion. To clarify, my objection is that this is a DPS++ specific focus spell that doesn’t fit the theme. This could be a great general Technomancer spellshape, but it’s explicitly DPS++.
- lvl10 - Greater Magic Hack: Rank5 - Overclock Brain: Gain quickened for 1 minute, for an extra Strike.
This is, finally, finally, something that is universally on brand for the mechanics of DPS++. A 1 action, non-cantrip, non-spell slot spell you can overclock off of, that does something independent of spellshapes, and it gives you an extra strike every turn. This is perfect. Too bad you don’t get it until level 10.

So, there’s other feats you can pick up, and obviously spells you can add to your database, that fit the theme. But out of all of the above things that are for the subclass that supposedly uses “the premier programming language for weapons”, there’s not a whole lot that really ties into that theming. You’ve got one spell (two depending on how you want to count True Target), Overclock Boost [Weapon], a level 4 feat, and a level 10 focus spell (and even then, that focus spell is themed as overclocking you not your weapon).

I think, by RAW, you can actually use Overclock Gear off of your spellshape focus spell. The actual text of the spellshape rule is as follows:

Many spellcasters can gain access to spellshape actions, typically by selecting spellshape feats. Spellshape actions tweak the properties of your spells. You must use a spellshape action directly before casting the spell you want to alter. If you use any action (including free actions and reactions) other than casting a spell directly after, you waste the benefits of the spellshape action. The benefit is also lost if your turn ends before you cast the spell. Any additional effects added by a spellshape action are part of the spell’s effect, not of the spellshape action itself.

Note the bolded part. By RAW, I think you can cast the focus spell, then, because it is a spell and not a cantrip, you can immediately use Overclock Gear. The spellshape fizzles and does nothing, thus imposing a 1 action tax on Overclock Gear, but I think it technically works?

This is clearly not as intended, I think, but it's a loophole that does make the class functional.

What do y'all think?

Okay, so what I mean is that there’s very little you can do with Overclock Boost and overclocked gear, but so many feats and Jailbreak that use overclock as currency or qualifier.

By itself, Overclock Gear does not a lot at all. DPS++ reduces enemy cover and range increment penalties for weapons. As well, it gives a 1-10 damage bonus to the weapon, and a corresponding damage type based on if the requisite spell did any damage.
FORTRUN gives an armor bonus for only one round and a thorn effect that deals 1-10 force damage or a corresponding damage type based on if the requisite spell did any damage.
ServoShell allows a free Sustain action when you command a minion.
Viper lets you cast from spell gems/chips outside of your tradition.

This is literally all that this class feature does without taking a feat. It never scales, never gains any more features, this is all it will ever do. You can use it as currency to enable Jailbreak, but that’s not something that Overclock itself is doing. Now, to be fair, some of these effects are pretty good, and none of them are bad (except arguably FORTRUN), but the base loop of the class is that you don’t get any of this without casting a 1 or 2 action non-cantrip spell. This makes it, by default, an infrequently used class feature. The setup to start it requires the expenditure of limited resources prior to level 10 when you can get a non-spellshape focus spell, and even more, requires, generally, an entire turn to enable. If you do Jailbreak, your gear is no longer Overclocked, and so you have to start over again (though it is usually easier because you’ve just cast a spell).

Once you take into account feats, things open up, but most of those are “if you have Overclock, than you can do this thing,” not anything that encourages you to do something with the Overclock play style.

lvl4 - Alakablam: Who actually knows. This thing is so poorly written, it’s entirely open to interpretation. Best guess is that DPS++ double overclocks on non-damaging spells, and that Viper gets DPS++’s Overclock-lite.
lvl4 - Overclock Focus: Overclock is a qualifier to gain a focus point.
lvl6 - Overclock Spell Database: Overclock is a qualifier to cast a spell from your spell cache.
lvl6 - White Hat Hack: Overclock is a qualifier to reduce the Glitch condition on things.
lvl10 - Soft Reboot: You can Overclock as a reaction after Jailbreaking.
lvl12 - Reactive Firewall: While Overclocked, give disadvantage to an attack against you.
lvl14 - Sleep Mode: On initiative roll, become Overclocked.
lvl14 - Tashtari Cluster: You can have two pieces of Overclocked gear. This would be amazing, except. It’s not any easier or cheaper to Overclock things. You still have to cast a spell to overclock gear 1, then cast another spell to overclock gear 2 (without Jailbreaking), and this is really only useful to ServoShell. DPS++ doesn’t have any advantage to using a second weapon, FORTRUN doesn’t have a second armor, and Viper. Maybe I’m not seeing it, but I can’t really fathom a situation where you want to overclock two spellgems at once to where you pick this feat over other choices. ServoShell having multiple summoned and Overclocked minions makes sense, but it’s also impossible to do with this playtest.

Focus Spells:
DPS++ and FORTRUN don’t actually have any overclock related focus spells. They have rank 5 spells that have Overclock in the name (as does ServoShell), but they don’t actually utilize any overclock mechanics.
ServoShell’s rank 3 focus spell lets you auto-Overclock a minion if you Jailbreak. But. Overclock is an impractical afterthought on this spell.
With Viper’s rank 3 focus spell, the Jailbreak lets you use a non-tradition gem that you’ve Overclocked.
Viper’s rank 5 focus spell, when you Jailbreak it, lets you (potentially) do more if you use an Overclocked gem/chip.
Finally, Speedrun is a rank 9 focus spell that all subclasses have access to. If your gear is Overclocked, you can burn the Overclock to extend the spell’s effects for a second round. Really a cool spell, but once again Overclock is just a currency for something else.

ALL THAT TO SAY the Overclock Bonus effect of each of the Programming Languages encourages you to play a certain way, but none of the feats or features help you do that. Of the eight Overclock related feats, only half of them are not using Overclock as a qualifier for something else, and the other half are not super impactful. 1/hour Overclock as a reaction, 1/hour get a defensive reaction, 1/day overclock on initiative, and “you can have 2 overclocked items”.

I think Overclock is incidental to this class as written. So little is done with it, it almost feels tacked on - the solution to the problem of “how do we limit Jailbreak” rather than its own worthwhile feature. And while it is presented as the driving factor of how each subclass plays, the class as a whole doesn’t do anything to help you play in those directions. DPS++ wants you to be a gish, but Technomancer has terrible weapon proficiency. FORTRUN wants to boost your armor (for one round - I can’t mention that enough) and punish enemies for hitting you - but only in point blank melee. ServoShell wants you to have a minion or companion, but you don’t have access to a companion or familiar, and the action economy makes having a minion and overclocking it impractically difficult. Viper wants you to use all the spell gems and chips, but doesn’t give you any way to alleviate the financial stress of obtaining said gems and chips. While the focus spells do, for the most part, compliment each subclass’s playstyle, they mostly don’t have anything to do with Overcharge either.

As well, with the current requirement of having to cast a non-cantrip spell to even get your Overclock benefits, most combats are going to see all Technomancers play the same. The only difference to gameplay being their two initial spellshapes and what spells each player picks. The spell cache could also have some impact, since those spells are always available without prep, but I don’t see it being that big a distinction.

A lot of this just gets flat out better and becomes less of an issue if Overclock Gear loses its requirement of “Your most recent action this turn was to cast a non-cantrip spell.” On the light end, I think allowing you to use Overclock Gear off of cantrips would be fine, but honestly I think making it a focus cantrip/spell and getting rid of the requirements at all would be better. Firstly, I think casting a spell to Overclock feels better, though that is mostly just a flavor change. Honestly I think the action tax is fine without forcing you to burn a spell as well. Probably the best solution would be to give each subclass a unique focus spell to Overclock their gear with.

2 action cantrip for DPS++.
2 action cantrip for FORTRUN.
1 action cantrip for ServoShell to Sustain a summoned minion and Overclock it.
1 action cantrip for Viper.

You can save on page space by moving the Overclock effects to the individual cantrips.

I’d love to see one or two feats for each subclass that allows you to do more while Overclocked, or changes what you can Overclock (like being able to Overclock ally equipment).

The more I read over Alakablam, the more confused I get. At first blush, it seems straightforward, but as written, it’s missing key things and is not so straightforward. What it seems to do is to boost the next shot from a reloadable gun with damage of the same type as a recently cast spell from a spell gem. But let’s go through it line by line, because that’s not all that it says, and that’s not really what it says.

Requirements You are holding a weapon and your last action was to Cast a Spell from a spell gem or spell chip.

There’s already some issues with this, but we’ll come back to it.

You can use the delicate remains of a consumed spell gem or spell chip as ammunition by firing it before the last of its magic fades away.

And here’s the first problem, and this is more of an implicit thing. If you use a spell chip, what happens to it? It says the “remains”, so is this only usable if you’ve just destroyed a spell chip? If you use a spell chip that isn’t destroyed, does it become destroyed?

You Reload a ranged weapon using the consumed item and Overclock Gear.

Problem number two and three. You aren’t required to be wielding a ranged weapon, just a weapon. So can you reload a non-wielded ranged weapon? If you need to be wielding the ranged weapon that is being loaded (I presume this is the case, because this whole thing doesn't make sense otherwise), then the requirement should reflect that.

If the spell was not damaging, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 force damage and gains the arcane and magical traits.

Pretty straightforward, but how long does this last?

If the spell dealt damage, the Strike deals this type of damage instead (or one type of your choice if the spell could deal multiple types of damage).

Okay, hold up. Does this action give you a free Strike?? Is it for the next Strike with this weapon? What Strike is it referring to??? The tags are only Manipulate and Technomancer, so I would assume it’s not giving a free Strike, but it doesn’t say how long this damage lasts. Is it the next Strike you make this turn, until the end of your next turn, all Strikes for the next round? What’s the duration on this thing? When is it consumed?

As I said, the longer I try to parse this feat, the more confused I get.

Can we talk about the Technomancer action loop? Because I think it kinda sucks as it is. The class has three major features, one of which is built entirely around another. These are: Overclock, Spellshapes, and Jailbreak.

Now, until you reach level 14, you cannot activate Overclock without casting a non-cantrip spell. So this is either casting a spell slot spell, or using a spell gem/chip. That’s pretty bad, right there, that’s a hefty tax already.

Next is spellshapes, and oh boy. Using a spellshape is mutually exclusive with Overclocking, unless you’re casting a single action spell, and unusable with a three action spell (incidentally, so is Overclock). So the whole thing the class is built around requires you to not use it so you can use your other class feature, or use it and not get your other class feature. And if you want to use both in one combat, you’re either using all of the single action spells, or you use the third feature.

Which is Jailbreak. Which requires you to Overclock to use. So that you can spellshape as a free action. Fortunately, spellshape/jailbreak doesn’t require you to use a non-cantrip spell, but oof. Let’s break this down.

Variant 1
Turn 1: Cast a spell (using a spell slot or an item), Overclock
Turn 2: Jailbreak, Cast another spell (using a spell slot or an item), Overclock
Turn 3: Repeat step 2?

This is really expensive, and you’re going to run out of spells fast. Probably good for bosses tho.

Variant 2
Turn 1: Cast a spell (using a spell slot or an item), Overclock
Turn 2: Play your Overclock.
DPS++: Shoot things (you’ve now burnt a spell to get bonus damage for a gun)
Fortran: Run up into melee and start swinging (you’re a caster? Why are you doing this?)
ServoShell: Is unplayable. Literally. But there’s a whole other thread for that.
Viper: See Variant 1. Viper’s Overclock is cast a spell to use a spell gem/chip you wouldn’t otherwise be able to use. And you can’t even repeatedly use this one, because you can only overclock a spell gem/chip you’re holding, wielding, or wearing. So that’s, I guess, two per combat, unless you burn every other turn drawing a new gem, or only jailbreak with DFS.

Now you’ve burnt a spell slot or finite resource for a bonus to not cast spells for this combat. Sure, you could still use spells, but then you’re wasting your Overclock. Except for Viper. That one’s just a resource hog (cast a spell so you can cast a spell, so you can cast a spell, so you can cast a spell…).

Variant 3
Turn 1: Cast a spell (using a spell slot or an item), Overclock
Turn 2: Jailbreak, Cast a cantrip

tbf, if you’re jailbreaking a cantrip, you’re pretty much done with the fight. Else, why are you wasting your Overclock?

Variant 4
You cast cantrips. Or fire your gun. Either way, you’re not using your class features (though, I suppose you could non-jailbreak-spellshape your cantrips, but not for ServoShell or Viper). And it’s not because the they wouldn't be useful, it’s because it’s too expensive to use them.

Okay, so, yeah. This is a bit hyperbolic (only a bit, I think), but my point is no matter how you use your features, you’re burning a turn and finite resources to activate them. Other spellcasters get usable Focus Spells to accent their features, but all of the Rank 1 and Rank 3 Technomancer Focus Spells are spellshapes and thus fall into the above dilemma. You’re forced to avoid actively using your class features because of the resource cost, or only passively use them when you do want to cast a spell. Which. Feels bad.

Also, Sleep Mode feels like a feat tax. Free action, start Overclocked on initiative? How is that not a necessary feat in this economy?

Am I missing something? Is it not actually this bad?

This is exciting and I can't wait for more details!

I saw in the June Shipping thread that I should make a post about this - my Paizocon Hero Point Token did not get added to my subscription order from my sidecart. Thanks!

Am I just missing something, or is there nothing at all slated for May and November? I could swear I read a blog post saying they had something planned for May, but I haven't seen anything else about it. As for November, I can see Locus-1 slated for September, Horizons 3 for October, and then Horizons 4 in December, but nothing for November.

Have I missed an announcement somewhere?

Holy crow, these look amazing! These previews with production minis have pushed me from 'oh man, if only I had the money' into 'what do I give up so I can get these'.

As title. I've tried a few different readers, but none of them can read the RSS Feed past the 'PACG Online Play in Real Time' post from the 8th, and a couple list the feed as 'unreachable' or as a dead feed.

I do not appear to have ever received the April SFS scenarios (2-21 and 2-22) from my Advantage Free Subscription.

I sent an email about this back on March 25th, and according to the update thread, emails through March 29th have been addressed, but I haven't heard anything, and the problem is still occurring.

I've called in about this before, around March 6th and the week before that. The issue is that even though I have all of the Starfinder subscriptions, and though my initial order had it, my account doesn't seem to show that I have the Paizo Advantage discount. Or free Society subscription, for that matter. On both item pages and in my cart, only the normal price is shown, and no discount is listed. PDFs are showing the Spring Social discount, but physical products are showing nothing. Even on my subscription page, everything is showing normal MSRP, whereas March's shipment did show the Advantage discount prices. I also don't see anywhere on my subscription page where to choose the complimentary Society subscription.

The last time I called in, the person I talked to told me that Tech Support had a ticket for the problem, and that from what they could see, what was going on was that my account had the Advantage listed on it, but that my cart couldn't see it (if I remember correctly).

A related issue (I think) has shown up that my Starfinder Society subscription isn't doing anything. On my subscription page before March 25th I saw that my next shipment consisted of March's scenarios, but after the 25th it just showed April's, with the previous shipment being February's. To my knowledge, no order was generated at all, and the scenarios aren't in my downloads. I wasn't charged for them and never saw a pending charge, but then, with Paizo Advantage, I wasn't really expecting to.

I would really appreciate any kind of an update, even if there isn't any resolution yet, just so I know I'm not shouting into the void.

Thanks! You guys are awesome!