Zzeae's page

Apologies if this is a bit rambly, I know I am not the best essay writer.

tl;dr: A class feels bad if their bread and butter combos cost 3 actions as the "third action question" is one of the most interesting and unique parts of the system. To fix this, they should standardize 1 action impulses so you can blast + impulse on the same turn, and either add more ways to gather for free or make gathering itself be more interactive (like Gunslinger or Magus)

Most classes are built on having a go-to 2 action combo/ability and a third varying action, with the occasional 3 action combo being more exclusive/rare. Since there is very little cost to using Blast the first time, you always want to Blast at least once each turn, filling up the first action slot. Almost nothing can compete with this, in the same way Demoralize cannot compete with hunted shot if you had to choose only one. That leaves 2 variable actions each turn. Since most of the "good" impulses are 2 actions (to match spells), you have what is effectively an optimal 3 action turn that is dramatically better than having to leave off one action.

This is the same problem Magus had, where they had no flexibility in their action economy to interact with the most fun and unique mechanic of the system.

On their "off" turn they are slightly better, as they are able to Gather + Blast, although gather + impulse or gather + 2 action blast is still so much better that it's hard to justify using using that third action for Demoralize or movement.

So how does one fix this? My suggestion is to first reduce the action cost of all impulses by 1. This would allow Blast + 2 action impulse to leave 1 action remaining to do... something with, similar to Magus' 2 action spellstrike. This is also why I don't advocate simply removing the overload trait: Splitting the action cost over 2 turns allows the Kineticist to have a variable first turn, in the same way Magus's spellstrike allows the spellstrike turn to have more variety.

Of course, this idea is only half baked, and is more of a suggestion of lines to think along for designers rather than a request to copy paste my system into the game. I understand abilities will need to be rebalanced, and ideas such as disallowing overload and gathering on the same turn will need to be considered to meet these goals. That being said, I think this is a good starting point for revisions of the class.

Is anyone else somewhat disappointed by the lack of options to wield elemental power in two hands? The effects seem to be balanced around being able to wield medical tools, a shield, a scroll, or have an empty hand. The problem is, not every character will want to have their other hand full flavor-wise. I think it just feels bad to be forced to pay a power tax for something your character might not like.