The advantage of reposition is that you don't need to specify a direction, you can yank someone towards you rather than away, which is extremely useful if you can do the manuever at range. You wouldn't need to go around and behind a critter to boop them past your fighters you can yoink them from where you are.
That's true! I'm going to add that to the guide. I didn't quite realize it can also help put enemies into a more tactically advantageous position (i.e. let your buddies full attack them without needing to guarded step). Thanks!
Miley "Cueball" Norveg wrote:
For battleflower, the benefit is in swapping Disciplines for feats. As your guide notes, there are some really bad ones there. There tends to be one good one for you at every tier.. but you get two. Dampen and Evasion are a little redundant. And if you don't like what battleflower offers at that level (because is an entropic strike using your fist using an unarmed strike with entropic strike or an entropic strike that just picks up the properties of your fist gives you an existential headache...) , you don't need to take it.
How the hell did I miss the fact that it has optional alt features?? I could've sworn it replaces the features wholesale. Wow, big messup on my part. Thanks a lot for this comment!
Here4daFreeSwag wrote:
Good to have some ultimately free Vanguard guide stuff for Starfinder out there, Yoonki. ;)
Inspired by the positive replies I've received with my previous two guides, I've decided to write my third guide on the Vanguard class. It's a pretty involved and interesting class, which has received a lot of dope options over time. Plus, nobody wrote one before, so I decided to fill in that Vanguard-shaped hole.
Not sure if this is the right place for this (I couldn't find an "FAQ request" page), but the "Dastard's Distraction" feat is straight up incomplete:
Quote:
You gain Diversion as a bonus feat. If you already have this feat, you gain a different feat that lacks prerequisites. When you use the Diversion feat to allow multiple allies to hide, you take a –3 penalty to your Bluff check for every ally after the first, and on a failed check. You gain a bonus to Bluff checks to create a distraction equal to any attack roll bonuses you have that specifically apply to resolving dirty trick combat maneuvers. You must have Improved Combat Maneuver (dirty trick) to select this vanguard discipline.
What? What happens on a failed check?! The suspense is killing me!
Thank you for the reply! And yeah, I think that's how most people rule it at home, with invisibility and greater invisibility turning someone absolutely impossible to detect with gigantic bonuses to perception. However I really am more interested in the RAW, so I hope someone else can still reply to this with the full power of the rules.
So, despite playing Starfinder for 3 years, I feel like I am completely ignorant of the Unseen Attacker rules as written, and so far every GM I have ever played with has been massively simplifying them. I have spent 3 hours today trying to wrap my head around all of the visibility rules, but I am only more confused than when I've started.
I am hoping that you fine people could help break them down for me once and for all. Explain like I'm five. And provide the quotes of the rules that you base your answers on, or at least tell me where I can find them.
Let's assume we have two characters: Billy is trying to detectJack. Jack is trying to hide from Billy.
1) There are four states of awareness. Billy looks directly at Jack. He is "Observing" him. If Jack walks behind a wall - does that mean that Billy goes from "Observing" to "Aware of Location", since "you still can’t observe the creature with a precise sense such as vision"? Or does he go to "Aware of Presence", because "you don’t necessarily know exactly where it is"? Or does Billy stay "Observing", despite Billy not being able to observe Jack?
2) There are "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules. Billy can't observe Jack behind a wall, so does that mean that Jack gets +20/40 to his Stealth check? If so, does Billy need to attempt a Perception check against Jack who rolls a Stealth check despite not hiding? Or does Billy just supernaturally know where Jack is, completely ignoring the "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules? If so, why?
3) There are "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules. Jack stands in a Fog Cloud, which says "the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target". Does that mean that Jack is invisible? Does it mean he has +20/40 to his stealth checks and does Billy need to attempt a Perception check against Jack who rolls a Stealth check despite not hiding to detect him in a Fog Cloud?
4) At which point does an Invisible (or Greater Invisible) Jack has to attempt Stealth checks to set the DC for Billy's Seek action of the Perception skill described in the "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules (You must first succeed at a Perception check to search for the creature’s location)? And does Jack have to take the Hide action for that? Why?
5) Can Billy shoot a square where he thinks an invisible Jack is standing, following the "Total Concealment" rules of "attacking into a square", directly countering the "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules that state "If you are unaware of a creature or aware only of its presence, you cannot directly attack it"? What if Jack took the Hide action while invisible?
6) If Jack had Greater Invisibility, would it be impossible for Billy to spot him without Blindsense/Blindsight/See Invisibility, because Jack has a constant +20/40 to his checks, attacking Billy does not reveal Jacks position according to the "Dealing with Unseen Creatures" rules, and does that mean that even if Jack attacks Billy while adjacent to him and then moves away after that - Billy still isn't aware of Jack's location, only of his presence?
I hope you guys can chew these rules up for me, because I'm at the end of my rope figuring these out.
I'd probably put double tap at orange/green instead of green/blue. It's a feat, versatile spec is a feat.
Good point. I forgot versatile spec doesn't require you to be proficient in all weapon types.
Garretmander wrote:
I'm pretty sure it's impossible for a biohacker to grab power armor jockey. You need to be proficient in power armor at level 6 when you get the archetype, and biohackers can't grab the feat until level 7 at the earliest.
Multiclassing. I've showcased an example of a Powered Armor Jockey in the second build.
Your boy's back with another guide. This time around took on the Biohacker class, as I think its features are kinda poorly edited, so it's hard to piece together what individual stuff actually does, which makes some people avoid it entirely. Hopefully this guide will be able to show how accessible and fun this class is to play, provide some interesting builds and information for your own characters. Without further ado:
First and foremost, thank you all for your replies! They're very useful and informative. I've updated the guide based on some of your well-structured replies. That being said, I don't agree with all of your assessments. Unfortunately the quoting function on this forum is really cumbersome, so I'll be replying in a similar fashion to Cellion:
RE: Double Tap:
I understand that longarms deal more damage and even said as much in the guide. However, you also pay for that extra damage by spending an extra feat to pick up the proficiency with them. There genuinely are builds and campaigns where you might prefer to pick some other feats, or want the benefits of small arms. In those types of games, double tap certainly isn't the worst choice your Technomancer could make. As I've specified in my build, if you're making a dedicated damage dealer, you obviously wanna pick up a longarm. Otherwise you can totally make do with just double tap.
Weaponless Combat:
RE: Dragon Gland. That's actually a pretty fun alternative to weapons at some levels. However, that range is spooky. Dragon Glands use up your credits just as much as weapons do and also burn through your resolve points, and require you to approach within 15 feet of the enemy (not exactly optimal for one of the most fragile classes in the game).
RE: Weaponless Combat. Yes, Magic Missile and Supercharge Weapon slap. I'm not sure what you mean by saying "What I'm getting at is that a technomancer's "mop up" rounds don't need to be using 1st level slots" and then providing examples of exclusively 1st level spell slot actions. You can slap an enemy with that magic missile for 3 rounds worth of damage, but there's no reason to just stand there with your hands crossed on your chest doing nothing for the next few rounds, when you could then also be pew pewing or using some other actions.
Secondly, you can not use harrying fire and covering fire with energy ray, because "Cast A Spell" action and "Harrying/Covering Fire" actions are two distinct actions.
Daze works exclusively on humanoids of CR 3 or lower. That means that even at level 2 significant enemies may be immune to it.
I'll have to trust you on the spell chip part, as the math seems a bit sus to me. I feel like you'd spend way more on the gems than you would on just buying a weapon every now and again, especially if you want to have a reliable option that you could spam when you're not casting spells.
Overall, all of these are interesting exercises in character building, but I don't think it should be a base guideline for Technomancers and runs the risk of newbies making unviable builds and becoming annoyed/disappointed in the class.
RE: "One true build" mindset. Not at all, I actually even encourage people to try to look for their own builds and options and just use the guide as a general guideline, not dogma. I can kinda see how the spell gem thing could potentially work, depending on the game you run, but I know that a lot of people wouldn't feel very "secure" trying such a build. It is cool, and I'm sure it's not the only weird non-standard build you could create and make work with the class' chassis!
RE: Magic Hacks:
RE: Psylore. You made a good argument for why it should be a grade lower, though an argument of "high level games are irrelevant" is a bit unfair, since we do already have a high level AP.
RE: Robot Influence. You probably haven't read my guide intro. I don't rate abilities based exclusively on combat applications. "APs have few robots" is not a fair argument, because people run homebrew games as well, and every single AP had robots. Additionally, robots are just common in the universe and can be controlled or affected in interesting ways. Definitely stays green, as it's a very interesting and good pick.
RE: Spell Grenade. The spell says that "You must throw the grenade before the end of your next turn, or the spell is wasted." As such, I don't think it's possible to give it to a Soldier buddy.
As for the autohit part of the spell, I always read the "touch" part as the enemies being within reach, so you'd need to make the attack roll in addition to the attack. Basically this is like a Reach Spell of Pathfinder. Has there been any clarification that "you have successfully touched" means "you succeed on the attack roll"? That does make sense, actually. In that case I should reconsider that hack. Hmm...
RE: Debug Spell. Yes. That is why I rated it yellow. It's great for disintegrate.
RE: Energy Alteration. It can be either very good, or completely useless. As such, it largely depends on your campaign. I think my assessment is fair.
RE: Spell Static. Recall Knowledge is a free action and the Technomancer is excellent at them. Knowing the enemy may have spellcasting, spell like or supernatural abilities is pretty dope. Pretty much the majority of non-humanoid creatures have some Su, Sp or Spellcasting abilities.
RE: Tech Countermeasures. I have personally used it several times as a Melee Technomancer, when I knew the enemy would target me for the lack of other targets. It's a life-savior. And technological weapons are very common. I'll drop half of it to red, though, that's a good point.
RE: Arcane Spyware. Once again, I rate features based on what they're trying to achieve. Not all Starfinder games are the same and a social/urban mystery/investigation campaign may happen just as casually as a dungeon crawl filled with evil monsters you need to blast. That hack does what it sets out to do very well.
I'm not sure I agree with some of the ratings you gave.
Please, go ahead and tell me which ones you're skeptical about. I'll try to explain my thought process and it might show me that I need to explain why something is good/bad better.
Cellion wrote:
I also definitely disagree with the assertion that every technomancer will want to use a weapon.
I'm not sure what you mean? At level 1 a Technomancer probably has 3 spell slots (or four if they didn't replace Spell cache). That's enough for 3 rounds in an entire adventuring day. A Hail Pistol costs 120 credits and allows you to fire every single turn outside of those 2 rounds when you cast spells. A single solitary lv1 spell gem costs 140 credits, making using them entirely unsustainable if you follow the Wealth By Level table. How is it even remotely sustainable to have this little to do? I'm sorry, I genuinely don't understand how you can play without a weapon at those low levels.
At mid levels, when you unlock cache hacks, you could try to get infinite spells, but a 2d8+half level overheat at level 10 is going to be absolutely pathetic damage compared to firing even a small arm.
At high levels it does become a bit easier, as you probably have a lot of ways to increase your spell efficiency and may have the spell slots to do nothing but cast spells all day, but dedicated damage-dealing builds will probably want to weave them into weapon attacks (spellshot or spellstrike) anyway. If you built a support caster then yes, at high levels you can probably get away with just spellcasting, but you still have less flexibility if you do not have a good weapon at your side. If the rest of the party is predisposed or down, sometimes you'll have to be the one to clutch.
Cellion wrote:
Double Tap is a good feat if you want to stick to small arms for flavor reasons, or if you desperately need a free hand, but its strictly inferior to using longarms for damage.
I actually have something to say about that. Technomancers are a class that has a reasonable amount of good move action abilities to use, and any class can get fun uses for their swift actions through gear options. While yes, Longarms will be dealing more damage on a full attack, at certain level breaks you will be dealing the same damage as longarms using double tap with a standard action attack. Or even more, if you have a Boost small arm. Additionally, it saves you a feat that you could put into something else.
As such, for Technomancers who did not go for the spellshot build (buff/debuff builds, for example) - double tab is a fairly attractive option. It requires less feat investment, and gets lesser results. A fair balance. That being said, it's fair to knock the rating down to green.
You can play around with the DPR calculator and see for yourself.
Cellion wrote:
Spell Countermeasures is something you're really underselling.
Hm, you're right! I did know about Supernatural abilities, but now that I've leafed through the alien archives a bit, quite a lot of abilities I thought were (Ex) are actually (Su). I'll knock it up a rating, since it does indeed affect quite a lot of abilities in that case. That being said, can still be situational if you're fighting a lot of martial enemies (a more urban campaign, perhaps). This is good feedback, thanks.
Cellion wrote:
I think you're overrating all the effects that extend spell duration or give you additional casts of low level spells, including Extend Runtime and Cache Hacks.
I disagree. Plenty of games (both homebrew and AP) could benefit from you having high protection or exploration bonuses for a long time. It's less useful for hour/level spells, but 10 minute/level spells really shine, as it gives you more spell slots to burn on an important task.
As for spell gems, I feel like you overrate them somewhat. First and foremost, they cost money. Buying a bunch of level 2 spell gems at level 10 may still be quite expensive and can add up, something you just don't need to worry about with duration-extending spells.
Finally, do spell gem spell durations even count by your own caster level? I've tried to look into it, but couldn't find an answer.
I'm a huge fan of Starfinder and, after playing it for many many many hours, I've decided to give back to the community and write something that a lot of people (especially new players) are often looking for: a Class Guide.
I have decided to start with one of my favorite classes - the Technomancer. It is a very complex class with a whole wealth of choices added in the recent (and not so recent) books that haven't been broken down in any guide so far. To help ease people into the class and suggest some interesting builds and options, I have written this guide. And so, without further ado:
Hey, so I've been reviewing the Technomancer very in-depth recently and was wondering about the wording of some features.
Magic Hack says: "When casting a spell, you can apply no more than one magic hack that affects the attributes of a spell (such as distant spell or extended spell)." Key word attributes.
Selective Targeting says: "When you cast an instantaneous spell with an area effect, you can shape the spell so it doesn’t affect one of your allies. Choose one 5-foot square within the spell’s area to be unaffected by the spell."
So, after searching a bit, it seems like people refer to the CRB p333 as the "attributes" of a spell, but doesn't that mean Selective Targeting technically doesn't apply, since it doesn't change the attribute of the spell, it still has the exact same area (30-foot burst doesn't change into a 25-foot burst), you just choose a square to not be affected. Additionally, Selective Targeting is the only one among other hacks like Harmful SPELLs, Subtle SPELLs, Debug SPELL, Distant SPELL, Extended SPELL etc. that doesn't have "spell" in the name, though it may be just a coincidence.
Q1: When do you start falling at the end of a High/Long Jump? Is it immediately after you finish the action?
For example, can someone try to perform a High Jump (2 actions) and then immediately use the Grapple action (1 action) to grab onto a flying enemy?
Before someone brings up Flying Kick or Fantastic Leap: both of them specify that you fall immediately after the action (as far as I know no rule mentions that you fall immediately after a high jump, for example). So does that prove that since one feat specifies that you fall immediately, then the general rule is that you do not?
Not to mention that both Flying Kick and Fantastic Leap seem to fall in line with the general design philosophy of class feats that just merge actions, instead of allowing you to do something completely different. For example, I'm pretty sure that Fantastic Leap simply *merges* Jump and Strike, just how Sudden Charge simply *merges* Stride, Stride and Strike, or how Running REload *merges* Interact and Stride.
Q2: Do you take falling damage if you succeed on a High Jump? Seems kinda unintentionally hilarious, if someone can just kill themselves by being *very good* at jumping and not failing any checks. That being said, I can't find any rules that'd suggest that you don't take falling damage.
