Zoggy Grav's page

"Well, uh, let's see," the huge vesk leans on the table then quickly rebalances when he realizes he'd topple it if he put his full weight on.

"I guess I could be First Seeker. Miss Elsebo and Mister Hadif did really good jobs with a lot of rough circul... circumst... well with some bad stuff happening. He smiles, showing a row of clean, but slightly cracked teeth.

"I guess I'd start with helping animals and the folk who got thrown into the crazy galaxy stuff before they were ready, because of us, like the morlamaws and the kiirinta, and those little bunny peeps that Envar met." Zoggy, smiles, seemingly imagining petting a bunny.

"Anyway they're double messed up now because as soon as they get used to being on other planets and stuff, the whole Drift breaks down and everything's different again. Lotta bad guys taking advantage of people who are just kinda lost. We should punch them."

He blinks, "Punch the bad guys, not the bunnies," he clarifies. Zoggy looks around, mortified and realizing that he'd been speaking way more than intended, and shuffles toward the break room.

Some of my best memories are on Salvation's End. A pity when all the Vaults are empty.

Uh, as of this last weekend here I guess I'm a forum member. It's a lot of responsibility! I have to choose a new agent to nepotis- I mean sponsor.

Just so you know, Mr. Zafeldrin is a great guy, but he is not a dragonkin. He's a real big dragon! I met him on a diplomatic mission that ended with violence. I think he's run other missions for the Triaxus lodge, near that one old city, Cadascon, but you'll have to ask Dragonbot about those.

Anyway, there's also a lodge on Arniselle, where the Morlamaws live. I love those guys so much that I learned their language, and languages are a little hard for me. My buddy Suulhu-Hur, who is a super neat kalo, is the Venture Captain out there! She just got promoted, and I'm very happy for her. Must be cool to be a venture captain instead of just a forum member like me.

Anyway, I'm sure other folks will chime in about the other lodges.

Zoggy Grav wrote:

I guess I gotta choose Piercing, because people keep saying I can't get things through my thick skull.

Will also come in handy when you fail the wild empathy checks to cuddle the cute adorable things with big sharp pointy teeth

They just need more hugs!

That is a significant change to Enhanced Resistance.

Updated Core Rulebook, pg. 157 wrote:

Enhanced Resistance

You have trained your body to resist a particular type of damage.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: Choose one kinetic damage type (bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing) or one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic). If you choose a kinetic damage, you ignore damage of that type equal to your base attack bonus; this doesn’t stack with DR. If you choose an energy type, you gain energy resistance against that type of energy equal to your base attack bonus.

I guess I gotta choose Piercing, because people keep saying I can't get things through my thick skull.

Don't forget that, in any environment which isn't a plain blank field/hallway, easy Bull Rush/Reposition is basically "Free application of any and all environmental hazards". Including pits.

I feel REALLY bad about that walrus that I punched through a portal to the tentacle dimension...

So the party comes across a swarm of sacred dog sized rats. A few MRE's later they're best friends.

Later on the place is going to explode (yeah yeah, it wasn't you. Again. How come every place you go explodes?) so the party runs out "get to the choppa" style. The venture captain swooping in heroically pulling a tokyo drift with the doors open, wind blowing in their hair lit by the light of the retro thrusters...

Gets unceremoniously trampled flat by 100s of rats fleeing an exploding base for the safety of the ship.

"HOW many notes in your personnel file do you have that say "I don't care if they followed you home you can't keep them" ? "

"It was a really cozy trip home! Just fuzzies in every cabin! I think the captain really appreciated the companionship.

Anyway, I found all the rats places to live in the sewer under the Lorespire Complex. Gronnigan told me that the rats that lived there before were sent to live on a farm on Castrovel, so there was plenty of room..."

We are going to splat the rat at gencon online

The starfinder special is only levels 1-8 though.

Ah well, that's okay. I'm pretty tired of beating up mouses. I thinks some of my friends have a bigger bone to pick with Ms. Datch anyway.

I really dun wanna talk about The Perplexity. I mean, I went back, but only so other Starfinders don't gotta go. No need to ruin other folks's lives when I'm still alive. Sorta.

Asked about accusations of the societies ruthlessness by a fellow "grandkid"

"If we were half as efficient as Datch says we are, Datch wouldn't be saying anything about our efficiency"

We aren't ruthless at all!

...

The only reason I threw those mouses around the room is because the old mouse said it was okay. I still kinda felt bad about it. I hope everyone learned their lesson.

The lesson being, "don't be a mouse and challenge a vesk to a fair fight."

I'm just trying to hasten things along to the point where we see some monsters that pull these shenanigans back at us. Because I am genuinely excited for that.

That's the sort of accelerationism I can get behind.

That doesn't seem sporting, HJ.

Helpfully, at 9th level Armor Storm, I am now better at bull rushing than I am at my regular unarmed attack, if I get a 20' move beforehand with my Juggernaut Boosters.

Last week, at the FLGS:

ME:"Does a 45 beat your KAC+8?"
HMM (GM): "...Yes?"
ME: "By how much?"
HMM: (maths) "20?"
ME: "Okay I do 62 damage and push the crab 6 squares."
HMM: (exasperated) "anything else?"
ME: "oh yes, 1d6 bleed."
HMM: ...
ME: "We're still friends, right?"

Now to find companions that actually threaten squares.

A 9th level Armor Storm soldier with Improved Combat Maneuver (Bull Rush) and Juggernaut Boosters is actually better off bull rushing than attacking normally (effectively a net +2 to attack, and does unarmed/Hammer Fist damage).

I very much cannot wait to do this at Thursty's table at Skalcon next year.

Jack Brown wrote:

SAT 13-18

OK who let the skittergobins in? They added a new month!

Not sure if serious!

Zoggy Grav wrote:

Lyther Welwin wrote:

"I hope Lezosk is rotting in hell."

"Hey bud. I know it hurts. I try to stay away from sharp objects these days. But Mr. Lezosk probably didn't intend all that to happen, you know?"

"I just want to find out why. I've petitioned Naiaj to send me in again. I'm hoping she'll let me.

"Okay. Maybe we can go in together. I don't want anyone to get hurt again. Last time I knocked a lot of things over before, you know."

"I want us to have a leader who can help us recover, personally and Society-wide. I want us to have a leader with the heart of Luwazi and the drive of Jadnura. I want us to have a leader who loves and cares for the agents we have, and who is willing to protect the vulnerable. I don't know who that could be, but I want to help such a person.."

"I don't know much about politics, but I just want a boss who doesn't get blown up or stranded in remote places all the time."

"I hope Lezosk is rotting in hell."

"Hey bud. I know it hurts. I try to stay away from sharp objects these days. But Mr. Lezosk probably didn't intend all that to happen, you know?"

-tactical pikes (I don't know if there's a reach EAC weapon?)

I use a Yellow Star Plasma Lance, which has Reach.

Also fun are the Shadow and Burning Chains, and the various energy lashes, including the Disintigrator Lash, which has the Living property, in addition to Reach.

These are all Advanced Melee Weapons, though. The only Basic weapons with Reach are the Lance series from Armory, which target KAC. That's what my Envoy uses.

As an aside, it should be noted that, as a Vesk with Improved Unarmed Strike and the Unarmed Mauler gear boost, I have pretty good unarmed attacks, but hitting EAC with Reach is such a huge upgrade that I generally only use unarmed when I am trying to take the enemy alive (embarrassing when I crit them with the bleed condition, let me tell you...).

I am signed up for Friday AM - what is this hard mode you speak of?

There aren't any details, really, but Thursty has said that having a character who has played through Into the Perplexity 1-98 in this adventure will unlock "Hard Mode." What this means is still mysterious, but for players like me that relishes a challenge, it is an enticing prospect.

Sadly I didn't make it into any of the Perplexity tables for this convention, so I'll have to wait for my Hard Mode.

That time I ran a scenario that involved some wrecked vehicles, and one of the PCs explained how they were a Starfinder Forerunner who could "Fix Anything". At that point, I realized "HUH.... yeah, this is such a niche ability, that you can TOTALLY repair that ATV vehicle."

Just a fun moment of "Oh damn, the player has outplayed my writing!"

And then we spent an hour trying to strap a fortified emplacement's laser turret to the buggy's roof. Winning!

I would love to send Zoggy into the ringer again for round 2, but I didn't make it to any of the Perplexity tables. I'll cross my fingers for a trade, but I won't hold my breath.

Pantshandshake wrote:

Well, if you lose a limb and don't replace it with a prosthetic, you're not putting anything in those slots anyway, and you'd still be missing a limb. So there's that.

Dracomicron wrote:

100 credits is a pittance next to the Regenerate spell.

I'd rather have an arm for cheap than not have an arm for nothing.

Granted, but the entry for a prosthetic limb could just as easily state "other augmentations may be installed in this limb as though it were a natural limb", possibly with a limitation preventing Biotech. So, why doesn't it? It's a decision that doesn't make sense to me.

I had the same quibble when I lost my hand to an infernal Hellknight. All of the augmentations in the core book could be used in prosthetics except I think the Venom Spur because of special text allowing it in each augmentation individually. I thought, "Why not just say that prosthetics can install other augments?"

The answer is future proofing. They don't want to invalidate Regeneration (the spell or table), and they knew that they would eventually release more augments that don't mention being able to install them in prosthetic limbs. So there is still an incentive to go out and grow your own limb back through expensive procedures... you get your augmentation slots back.

There's also fancier prosthetic limbs out there now. I'm not sure it would be okay to install extra augmentations in a weaponized prosthesis.

As for the Storage Limb's bizarre price bump... yeah I dunno. That baffled me as well. I guess you can technically install an extra augmentation in the Storage Limb if it can be installed in prosthetics, whereas Hideaway Limb isn't considered a prosthetic and won't stack. That's all I can think of.

Zoggy Grav wrote:

Leg o' Lamb wrote:

Dracomicron wrote:

Is there any restriction on using the same characters as used in 1-98? I mean, they're already broken beyond redemption, what else can you do to them?

Why wouldn’t you want the same PC to have a chance to Persevere?

Oh, I do want to use the same PC. I'm just wondering if it's like one of those powers where, if you make your saving throw, you're immune to it afterwards.

Like, I survived Into the Perplexity: The First One, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO ME NOW, THURSTY!

So....

** spoiler omitted **

Oh it is on now. On like Donkey Kong and/or the break of dawn.

Zoggy is level 8 and has something to prove to that dang Perplexity.

Dracomicron wrote:

Is there any restriction on using the same characters as used in 1-98? I mean, they're already broken beyond redemption, what else can you do to them?

Why wouldn’t you want the same PC to have a chance to Persevere?

Oh, I do want to use the same PC. I'm just wondering if it's like one of those powers where, if you make your saving throw, you're immune to it afterwards.

Like, I survived Into the Perplexity: The First One, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO ME NOW, THURSTY!

This is the latest version of my character. Thoughts?

Quote:

Ozymandius

Male dragonkin gladiator soldier 9 Alien Archive 41
N Large dragon

I'm digging it!

I've already had plenty of fun with my Called Throwing Holy Opportunistic Yellow Star Plasma Lance, so I can imagine you've had some good times with your version.

Generally you're better off just having a Reach weapon, so you let them step away and still jack them in the face if they try to cast or shoot.

I think I used it only once or twice with Zoggy before getting Step Up & Strike; it's still pretty uncommonly used, but it is invaluable when it does trigger; I mostly use it to move next to someone and shut down their action because they realize that it would be a bad idea.

For your build, I would definitely go with at least Weapon Focus (Advanced Melee Weapons).

I personally never got around to taking Weapon Focus because I was preoccupied with stuff like:

Coordinated Shot (+1 to all my shooter buddies)
Close Combat (squeezing more AC out is always good)
Skill Synergy (Perception/Engineering)
Step Up (terrible, but required for the next one)
Step Up & Strike (rarely activates, but when it does, it's classic)
Enhanced Resistance (essential)
Improved Unarmed Strike (Vesk gonna Vesk)
Lightning Reflexes (Soldiers forget how to dodge in the future)

I make up for the lack of Weapon Focus by having completely maximum Strength (23 at 7th level), though the shine on this fades by about 5th level.

It probably isn't the most maximized build, but it is a lot of fun.

I'm assuming from your description that you're playing an Ikeshti (the rules assume that you are playing a male brood-minder, but I don't see why you can't be a female congregant). Good choice; that climb speed is incredibly useful, especially in zero-gee situations.

My suggestion is that you run Armor Storm instead of Bombard. Bombard is a great fighting style, but your stated objective is "having a small lizard girl beat the crap out of people twice her size with her fists." Armor Storm's 1st level power is literally beating the crap out of people with fists. You automatically get the benefit of Melee Striker, OR an additional +2 damage when you actually get Melee Striker (assuming starting with 16 strength and getting your level 3 Mk. 1 Augment in Strength, you're doing 1d4+11 damage with your Hammer Fists at 3rd level).

While you do get free power armor proficiency at 5th level, if you max out Strength, there is no reason to use it, because no armor you can get (until very high levels) can beat the regular Strength of your lizard girl. The extra armor slot you also get at 5th level is damn useful for a melee fighter, allowing you to build in more stuff like thrower arms, thermal capacitors, and static charge fields.

Look at the throwing weapons (and the Throwing fusion). Throwing weapons are based on Strength AND benefit from the Melee Striker gear boost if they are also melee weapons.

Now, if you really want Bombard, that is still cool... play what you want, but I have had a ton of fun with my Vesk Armor Storm soldier.

For stats, you could do:

Str 16
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 8
Cha 10

I would personally drop Con to 10 to buff Dex or go hog wild on Str, but when you need the extra stamina, it is nice to have, admittedly.

Enhanced Resistance

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 157
You have trained your body to resist a particular type of damage.

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +4.

Benefit: Choose either kinetic damage or one of acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. If you choose kinetic damage, you gain damage reduction equal to your base attack bonus. If you choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic, you gain energy resistance against that type of energy equal to your base attack bonus.

Oh yes, you are correct that the BAB minimum is +4. That is to be generous with non-full BAB classes.

You still can't get Enhanced Resistance at level 4, because it is not a Combat Feat, and therefore cannot be selected with a soldier's level 4 class feature. You have to wait until level 5 when you get access to a general feat.

I tend to forget the prerequisite because Soldier's can't take advantage of it early.

I took it at 5, and I would have taken it earlier had I not been going for Shot on the Run. Which is also worth its weight in gold, for a ranged PC.

...well, that and the fact that 5th level is the absolute minimum that you can pick up Enhanced Resistance (BAB +5 minimum).

I chalk it up to a fortunate mistake on the part of the developers. Yeah, they probably wanted to nerf it, but the people insane enough to be melee fighters in a game about plasma rifles needed SOMETHING that gives them a fighting chance to stay on their feet and do their difficult job.

It's kinda like how Clerics started getting ridiculously overpowered in 3E D&D because nobody wanted to play them (healing is thankless work). You need to tilt the scales a bit so someone is just crazy enough to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done.

Reposted from the crit deck thread, since I realized that it was better here anyway.

I tried to take someone captive in To Conquer the Dragon.

ME: "I take my hand off of my plasma lance and prepare for a nonlethal attack. The enemy is backed into a corner and will have to take an AoO if he does almost anything but stand still."

GM: "They shrug and try to cast a spell."

ME: "Uh, a natural 20. Unarmed critical hit for... 42 nonlethal damage..."

GM: "They are unconscious."

ME: "...and my gear boost gives my unarmed attacks the Wound critical... 8. Okay, and my boon means I roll twice for bleed and take highest, so... 6 Bleed. Nonlethal."

GM: "I'm not sure that's how Bleed works. You just ripped out his jugular."

ME: "Nonlethally!"

GM: "What is a nonlethal bleed effect?"

ME: "...A really serious paper cut? Crap, I need a Dermal Stapler or something."

You could always make it so that if a Player brought a critical hit deck, they could slot that as their Promotional Boon, and the player that brought the Critical Hit Deck could use it in the game.

You could possibly limit it to 1 use per session. Maybe have a Charity version of the boon that lets you use it for every critical hit you make. And you probably want to make it so that the player can choose to not have the critical hit take effect.

Player: "I want to take this person captive! I am going to use my pulsecaster pistol to knock the unconscious."
GM: "Roll your attack."
Player rolls their dice.
GM: "Oh, nice, critical hit! Please roll your damage!"
Player: "I'm gonna draw from my Critical Hit Deck."
Player draws a card.
Player reading the card: "Your attack incinerates your opponent."
GM: "That was a bit extreme..."
Player: "I wanted to capture them! Pronk!"

Reminds me of when I tried to take someone captive in To Conquer the Dragon.

ME: "I take my hand off of my plasma lance and prepare for a nonlethal attack. The enemy is backed into a corner and will have to take an AoO if he does almost anything but stand still."

GM: "They shrug and try to cast a spell."

ME: "Uh, a natural 20. Unarmed critical hit for... 42 nonlethal damage..."

GM: "They are unconscious."

ME: "...and my gear boost gives my unarmed attacks the Wound critical... 8. Okay, and my boon means I roll twice for bleed and take highest, so... 6 Bleed. Nonlethal."

GM: "I'm not sure that's how Bleed works. You just ripped out his jugular."

ME: "Nonlethally!"

GM: "What is a nonlethal bleed effect?"

ME: "...A really serious paper cut? I need a Dermal Stapler or something."

Or the time on Cosmic Crit where Edross Veranus knocked out a Kish's eye with a nonlethal attack and felt really bad about it.

But yeah, I think it would make a pretty slick Promotional Boon, 1 use per session.

Zoggy do you have any additional party members that are melee combatants as well?

Sometimes! Sometimes not! Starfinder Society!

But the big thing is that anyone can flank if they have a melee weapon out; that operative has a pistol in one hand can have a knife in the other. It can be tricky, but a coordinated party will look for advantages like that.

The reason I ask is that while it's true there are small contributions to melee combat in each release it pales in comparison to ranged. In order to reduce the penalty for a full attack, you need an additional ally flanking they enemy. If you don't have that in your party, then you are at a distinct disadvantage compared to range combat.

Honestly, even if the melee person doesn't hulk smash the foes, they provide an invaluable service by standing in front and absorbing attention from the foes.

But smart parties will not leave that money on the table. I have a Witchwyrd Envoy in the APs that is based around providing flanks while not needing to attack at all. The Solarian definitely appreciates it.

Flanking requires an ally in melee. This means u need either summoned creatures or allies near your target.

I agree that the weapon choices are fine for EAC vs KAC.. but.. really.. why would you EVER choose a KAC weapon over an EAC one if EAC is almost always easier to hit over KAC? Makes you wonder why they made 2 different AC's for the game. Bad development.

Well there are a lot of reasons for going KAC over EAC. Their damage dice are generally higher. Particular weapons may have features you like or that combo with your abilities. Some creatures have special defenses against energy attacks but not against physical. I also do it when I need to use my unarmed attacks to knock someone out. But yes, it is generally better to go with energy weapons.

I disagree about getting cover. This is almost impossible as a melee combatant to do on any consistent basis due to attacks of opportunity and the way movement works in Starfinder. If you are in melee combat, any ranged attacker can shoot you who has LoS. You can't move to an enemy, hit them, and move back in to cover without provoking at least one AoO, possibly more depending on combatant positions.

You get Soft Cover from creatures. A melee fighter standing with a foe between it and the ranged enemies gets +4 AC. That's what I mean.

I've had a tough time enjoying melee in this rule set as it's EXTREMELY hard to find ways to improve your potency and contribution as a melee attacker. We have had to house rule quite a few things to make it more palatable. If I could do it over, I would have made a ranged soldier.

That's fair. I enjoy it, though. It helps when the party is able to maximize their tactics and resources for sure, though.

I chose to make a melee soldier (I wouldn't recommend melee in this game to any player as having played 10+ levels and almost an entire year of the game with a melee soldier, I can tell you melee is at a serious disadvantage in this game. I believe this is intentional and a design choice by the developers considering how little contributions have been made to melee oriented classes and choices since the game's release. A few things to note when choosing a melee class. There's currently no items which lower the penalty for a full attack action for melee oriented character while there is a gunner harness for heavy weapons and class features which lower the penalty for ranged attacks. KAC is tougher to hit by 10-15% than EAC. Melee attackers can't benefit from cover as easily as ranged attackers through the course of a combat. Reactions are limited to 1 per character per round.) and wish I had made him a Dex based solider as the options for increasing bonuses to attack rolls and lowering penalties are much better for ranged classes.

I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at...Melee is your ticket to big damage numbers, and possibly the most important benefit to the rest of the party you can offer. It is the high-risk, high-reward play style that some players crave.

Melee has gotten some great new weapons and/or abilities in every new book, particularly Pact Worlds and Armory. One of the three new COM classes, the Vanguard, is primary melee.

Melee doesn't NEED items that lower penalties for a full attack, because they can flank or trip to get big bonuses already. Solarians get Flashing Strikes for a lowered penalty naturally.

Plenty of melee weapons hit EAC over KAC. That isn't different for ranged vs. melee.

Smart melee characters can get cover from the people they're fighting. If someone moves around their ally for a shot, they're often sitting ducks for the melee character's ranged teammates.

Yes, Reactions are limited to 1/round (unless you're a Vanguard), but that's 1 more Reaction per round than a ranged character is probably taking.

Ranged characters have to deal with cover way more than melee combatants; that's why they get so many more options for dealing with penalties.

Honestly, melee is super satisfying in Starfinder.

Signed,

Someone who punches all the jerks for the last year

Yea, but then I might as well have taken bodyguard which gets me the powerarmor and a nice armor bonus and group synergy.

Armor storm also gets you power armor. *shrug* Guard is good, too, but I personally prefer Armor Storm.

Hammer Fist gives you the best minimum damage on a Soldier. If you start with Str 18, your absolutely free 1st level damage is 1d4+6, which is essentially the same average damage as a tactical longsword (1d8+4), but without much swing.

Honestly in melee, the damage die means a lot less than your bonuses; I know a 7th level vesk soldier that uses a 3rd level disintigrator lash to devastating effect regardless of the 1d6 damage die because his flat bonus is +16. I'm the same level, and I don't net a whole lot more damage with my Yellow Star Nova Lance (3d4, with the same flat bonus). His average damage is 19.5 and mine is 23.5. 4 extra points is pretty inconsequential next to the monetary savings for him there...

Armor Storm really shines in Society play, where you are counting credits and can't just steal upgraded gear from enemies. I relied on either Unarmed or Hammer Fist for several levels before buying that lance. You also get a half price extra upgrade for your armor at 5th level, which is a heck of a value, seeing as a Mk. 4 Thermal Capacitor costs 120k credits.

Would I like interim levels for Hammer Fist? Yeah, I really would. Is it a bad power? Hell no. I out-damage my teammates regularly with just punching because of Melee Striker and Hammer Fist.

Really guys, I just don't feel like I need damage mitigation as hard as you all are pushing. Most combats end with me at 0 stamina and having taken maybe 5 points of actual hp damage. Usually at least one other member of the party has also taken significant (50%) stamina damage so we're going to rest anyways. Yes removing 15 damage would be nice, but wouldn't really change what needs to happen that much. I'm probably still going to need to spend resolve and get back stamina. It would reduce the need for sprayflesh or a medicine check to treat wounds.

So what you're saying is that, if you'd have taken Enhanced Resistance, you probably wouldn't have ANY hit point damage, and would expend no resources other than a single resolve point?

That seems like a pretty solid value, long-term.

5 damage in only mediocre in my eyes, as a majority of enemies tend to do some type of energy damage, but it's not consistently just one type of energy.

I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't think it's enough to justify it at this level yet.

Remember DR 5/- only reduces physical attacks, not energy attacks. And energy attacks require a resistance for each type.

So basically you have 5 types of damage that you can be hit with*:
Physical - DR/- prevents all types of physical damage though it can be B/P/S
Fire - Require Energy Resist Fire
Cold - Req ER Cold
Electricity - Req ER Elec
Acid - Req ER Acid
Sonic - Req ER So

*Generally speaking, might be some I've forgotten

Because there are so many types, I just don't see it being that useful.

If it only prevents 15 damage per adventure day that's certainly not worth it to me. Not when I have 40 stamina, and can replenish it up to 7 times per day (don't have much else use for resolve).

And it's not that I think it's bad, but I think being able to add to my AC vs ranged attack or buff my ally's attack rolls against my target will do much more for my survivability by helping to kill enemies before they can cause more damage.

Nearly every enemy has a physical damage type; typically their melee attack (which I am likely to receive, being a front-liner).

It is in conjunction with my Static Field Emitter and my Thermal Capacitor, which covers 3 of those 5 energy types (Electricity, Fire, and Cold).

Enhanced Resistance is by far the best way to get DR in the game, because it scales with level (though, as mentioned, after a certain point it trails off in usefulness somewhat, but never becomes useless), and you can get gear that protects you from almost everything else.

And it's not 15 damage per adventure; it's 15 damage PER FIGHT. At least. That adds up, let me tell you.

Being a Soldier, you can get Close Combat, Coordinated Shot, AND Enhanced Resistance by 5th level, and still have feats left over for Skill Focus/Synergy.

I will definitely pick it up at some point, but since enhanced resistance can only be chosen once, and since I can pick up armor upgrades that the provide energy resistance, I will be using it for DR/-. But, at only 5 reduction against physical damage (not energy damage)....it's just not worth it yet in my opinion.

As you mention, I also have good AC and I have a lot of HP and stamina, and don't take much HP damage in combat. So I just haven't been too worried about it. Coordinated Shot and Close Combat are good for buffing my allies, and further AC boost for myself. And the skill feats were so I didn't suck at spaceship combat.

DR 5 is downright amazing at 5th level. Five damage off of every physical hit basically gives me 15+ extra hit points per adventure, though it's even better in conjunction with, say, a thermal capacitor so attacks that deal physical + cold or fire do minus TEN damage instead.

If anything, Enhanced Resistance is MORE useful at lower levels than higher levels, because damage starts scaling upwards so drastically around level 11 or so that the extra resistance will be a drop in the bucket.

Yeah I'm not slapping the Caustic Burns on my current soldiers, but it is an interesting idea... which is, put everything into, say, boosting your Disintigration Lash. If you already have Melee Striker, boosting your crits is about the same utility as anything else if you're a one-trick melee pony. Acid is a good and rarely resisted damage type.

Step Up & Strike is just fantastic in general, though. The morale hit of a caster knowing that they're going to get bonked regardless of what they do is priceless. I'm okay if they just decide to stand there and do nothing, or use weak melee.

I was looking at the yellow star plasma lance before, but it's still too expensive to afford even if I don't count the value of the augmentations against my current and ditch my other weapons.

Edit: I think what I'll do is there is a level 3 chain weapon that I can apply throwing and returning to.

The Shadow Chains? Analog, cold damage (so attacks EAC), reach, trip... those are some great weapons, with the caveat that they're dang creepy. There's also the Disintigrator Lash, which I think has the Corrode critical... you can get a Gear Boost from Armory that improves Corrode crits, which I have been meaning to try out sometime.

I ended up getting a Throwing fusion on my Yellow Star Plasma Lance, the Thrower Arms installed on my armor, and transferred the Called fusion from my starknife to my plasma lance. Obviously not a 1st level option, but for a melee soldier, it's a ranged option that doesn't require drawing a new weapon. While the range isn't great, the Thrower Arms help, and if I'm further than 20'-30' range of the enemies, I've made a grave mistake as an Armor Storm vesk.

Come to think of it, one could apply this combo to any weapon of level 3 or higher. Maybe a Disintigrator Lash?

I tried to make friends with the swarm with my Wildwise, but the GM didn't go for it. :(

I disagree with WatersLethe. I was up front, and drawing the vast majority of enemy fire, and melee attacks (why does everyone react along the lines of 'take down the Vesk'?), and yet only had any health issues with facing a gang boss and bodyguard. And even then, I took them both down face to face with my claw. The Soulfire fusion greatly assisted me in this.

"Take down the vesk" is ALWAYS good advice when they are in the front line, because they will MESS YOU UP otherwise.

My very first SFS adventure I walked out into the open from a fortified position and punched the Shobhad caster for a significant percentage of her health; she blew two Mind Thrusts and her ysoki buddy shot me with a laser to bring me down.

Of course, bringing down the vesk didn't help the fact that they were standing in the open with no cover to all of my companions, who shot them up.

I guess the lesson is, if the vesk show up, you should just run away.

We're on the dinosaur planet. We need to get into the dinosaur nest. The carnosaur starts as Unfriendly; I use Wildwise and Survival to increase its attitude to indifferent. This works for awhile while the rest of the party maneuvers.

Then it sees my fellow vesk soldier digging through the nest and goes hostile. Sigh. I punch it across the nose to assert dominance. We end up punching it into unconsciousness and making off with the item in the nest. Poor mama dino. I'm sure she was alright later.

Zoggy don't kill dinosaurs, and most of his allies know better than to try it.

The Armor Storm/Blitz combo is definitely already part of my prospective build; sadly, by 13th level I will be effectively retired from Starfinder Society scenarios. Still, the day that I can be punching twice with a bull rush is going to be a bad day for bad guys.

I have not found any good synergy with taking 2 levels of Solarian for Stellar Rush, sadly, but I'm sure that something interesting could be done with it with some elbow grease.

I am a 7th level Armor Storm Soldier now and I attack at +13 AB (7 from BAB and 6 from 23 Str - believe it or not I don't have room in my build for Weapon Focus); I have two main weapons:

1. A Called Throwing Holy Opportunistic Yellow Star Nova Lance that does 3d4+16 Electricity and Fire damage (6 from Strength, 3 from Melee Striker Gear Boost, and 7 from Specialization) at Reach. If I'm making an Attack of Opportunity, it goes up to +15 AB and +19 damage. I can make this attack at range with a 20' increment, thanks to the Throwing fusion and my armor's Thrower Arms (Melee Striker only specifies that it applies to melee weapons, not melee attacks).

2. Vesk Natural Weapons that do 1d3+19 physical damage (6 from Strength, 3 from Melee Striker, and 10 from the vesk's Natural Weapons specialization. This is what I switch to if I need to do nonlethal damage (while vesk claws CAN do lethal, they don't have to and there's no penalty for switching). Next level I'm picking up Improved Unarmed Strike and my damage shoots up to 2d6+21 and it is bonkers.

I COULD use the Hammer Fist Armor Storm class feature (and it used to be my main weapon) to do 1d4+18 (6 strength, 3 striker, 7 spec, 2 for class feature bonus for having Melee Striker), but it was eclipsed by the natural weapons. I may go back to it when it upgrades to 2d8 base damage at level 10, but Hammer Fist is a little less flexible, as I can't choose nonlethal damage on the fly. I play Society games and will probably retire before then, but at 13th level the attack becomes absurd: 3d10+1d6+27 (+13 spec, +8 str, +4 striker, +2 class feature, +1d6 Mobile Army class feature).

So... yes. Specialized melee does a ton of damage in this game, because of the risk/reward of having to usually stand out in the open when almost all enemies have ranged weapons. I typically fight alongside another vesk soldier, and between us we drive the GM crazy for wrecking every encounter. But... we have trouble tying our shoes in skill challenges. We typically need an operative with us to handle all the precision work. That's the trade-off.

I am going to shell out for the Yellow Star Nova Lance, but only because I still have that 20% discount boon for a weapon and I want a reach weapon that targets EAC. The extra damage is nice and everything, but, as an Armor Storm Vesk it isn't that much better than just using some version of my fists.

As someone who is planning on standing in front taking hits, I need Enhanced Resistance and the best armor I can get (which means using the Tier 2 Exo-Guardians boon to buy armor from the core book at +2 to my level). My armor slots are way more important than a weapon for the same reason: I need defenses for standing in front.

Anyway, I appreciate the Armory for giving me a lot of options at every level. Basically, I looked for something within level+1 (Exo-Guardians boon again) that targeted EAC, used two hands (planning on getting Improved Unarmed Strike to be able to unarmed attack while my hands are full), was analog or used rechargeable batteries instead of fuel that I would have to purchase between missions (sorry Meteor Glaive), and wasn't creepy (looking at you, Shadow Chains).

So that ruled out pretty much everything except the Nova Lance. If the Armory didn't have a ridiculous number of options, I might not have had such a salubrious selection process.

5) You can build as many half price upgrades as you want, but they only fit in that one slot, and nobody (except MAYBE another Armor Storm soldier of 5th level or higher) can use them. Thus, you could theoretically be able to swap out cheaper upgrades, but you can't use more than one cheap upgrade at a time.

Dang, I wanted Hideaway Eyes. Oh, hey, Weaponized Prosthesis Eyes! Er, I suppose that's just an Optical Laser.

Side note, I was a little bummed that the Weaponized Prosthesis was an "Arm and Hand" augment again, meaning that people with just hand replacements can't have a tiny holdout weapon built into their palm. No, I'm not going to get an Enervating Hand necrograft. Gross.

I lost a hand in one adventure, and the rules weren't clear on if I could replace just a hand, or if I had to get a full cybernetic arm replacement. At no point did anyone suggest that Zoggy was no longer a valid character.

While I waited for a ruling from Thursty and Owen, I just went to SFS 1-10 with a goblin wrench welded to my armor's forearm. It didn't have any game effect, but it was hilarious.

I couldn't use my pike properly because it is a two-handed weapon, so I just had to punch bad guys with Hammer Fist or Natural Weapons. The GM got exasperated when I did 32 damage in one round.