ottdmk's page

As far as PFS goes, the official guidance is this:

Daily Preparations: In most cases, PCs can perform their daily preparations (changing prepared spells, preparing staves, etc.) after the mission briefing and questions. In exceptional circumstances, such as if the briefing is interrupted, a GM might determine there is not time for such adjustments before the mission.

Most GMs I've played Scenarios with are guilty of rushing things along. Heck, I've been guilty of it myself a few times when GM'ing. Still, I've played most of the PF2e Scenarios over the years and the number of times the PCs got thrown in the deep end without any time to do daily prep afterwords has been really quite low.

Live and learn. Don't think I've ever seen that part of the rules before. I stand corrected.

Why would you ever hold a mutagen? Collar of the Shifting Spider is a thing past the first few levels and it bypasses the hand and action requirement for mutagens.

Well, I'll be. I was going to say that a Collar requires a free hand due to its Activation being a Free Action Interact... But they changed it to Manipulate in the Remaster. I hadn't noticed that before. That's a subtle but very real improvement.

Means my Mutagenist can walk around with an Elixir in hand (he has a Martyr's Shield on the other hand.) With Combine Elixirs he could chug three to start a fight, not counting his Collar fed Bestial. I'm gonna have to think about this.

I can see why folks are intrigued by Technomancer. It's an interesting take on Spellcasting,and if you go Viper, the "4th slot" is definitely more flexible than a Wizard's curriculum slot.

Still, it's a bit awkward in ways if you want to go "5 slots". DFS can only be used once every ten minutes, i.e. once a combat. And you can't combine DFS with USB, so there are hand issues to be concerned about.

But hey, it's great with long-term buffs... easily get double the bang for your buck. Cast Energy Aegis twice from one spell gem? Sign me up!

No more free consumables. Remove the ability to just craft them as daily allotments.

So, basically you're advocating to remove my favourite Class, Alchemist, from the game entirely? Not a path I'd want to go down.

I think I can understand why the tables are different. Typically, a Level X party would gain 2 Level X+1 permanent items over the course of gaining the next level. Think is, that's only enough X+1 items for half the party (default size is 4.) Two characters would start the next level with now at-level gear.

So when they put together the Character Wealth table they went conservative rather than have the whole party potentially end up starting with at-level items.

Yes. If you are playing in Foundry using automations and this feat automation was fully made and working, it may work.

But then the player may not even notice it or value it so why?

This is one reason why I love the Modifiers Matter module on Foundry. It points out and celebrates stuff like this.

Another thing: They buffed Dual-Form Weapon too.

Any runes on your weapon innovation affect the second weapon configuration as long as it would normally qualify for them.

Enjoying your Guide. Just wanted to mention: they changed the Armor stats in Guns & Gears Remastered. The Subterfuge Suit is now AC Bonus +2 with a Dex Cap of +4; the Power Suit is the opposite at +4 AC Bonus with a Dex Cap of +2.

So yeah, Armor Inventors now get Heavy Armor stats with what is, technically, Medium Armor. A Power Suit Inventor can have that at L1 if they can spare the +2 Dex; Subterfuge will have it at L5, but they can have AC 18 at L1 now, which (as you noted) they couldn't before.

The problem with this feat is that it competes with Bon Mot in terms of opportunity cost.

Bon Mot is a great Skill Feat, but it suffers from the same "poor synergy with the class" that you complained derailed Convincing Illusion. Now, if you're building a Charismatic Wizard anyways, I would agree that Bon Mot is a better option. If you're not though, Dizzying Spell is probably going to work better for you overall, and doesn't have Bon Mot's Crit Failure risk.

By that level, you likely already have Manifestation prepared as a 10th-rank spell, allowing you to cast any spell of 9th rank or lower (or 7th rank or lower from other traditions)—all without needing to have collected every single arcane spell released for PF2e.

No, you're a level too early for that... unless there's some way to get a 10th Rank slot at 18th level that I'm unaware of. Also, I can't say I'm all that fond of Manifestation as my (possibly only) 10th Rank spell. I mean, I'm a fan of flexibility (obviously) but I dunno... I'd prefer something a little more awesome, if you follow me.

I think you were overly critical here regarding the only level 18 wizard feat that is truly worthwhile.

First, you don't get the spell slot back. Instead, at the cost of a reaction (meaning, on the same turn you cast the spell), you simply switch the spell's target after learning an enemy has critically succeeded, forcing this new target to make a fresh save. In practice, it’s a "Sure Strike" for mental spells requiring Will saves; it costs only a reaction, though it does require facing at least two enemies in combat.

I think you've mis-read the Feat.

When your target proves resilient to your magical deceptions, you can try them again on someone else. You can Cast the triggering Spell a second time, targeting a different creature, without expanding an additional spell slot. You can do so only until the end of your next turn, and you can’t use Second Thoughts on it after the second casting of the spell.

So, the text is not "you Cast the triggering Spell", it's "you can cast the triggering Spell", and you have a time limit to do so, the end of your next turn. So essentially, you can try again, on another target, but it's still a normal Cast a Spell activity and it has to be done on your next turn. You only get the opportunity if you spend your Reaction though.

But that is precisely the point of my criticism. You invest in a level 8 feat to gain a focus spell limited to very specific scenarios—spying on locations you already have access to. It’s not the sort of thing that comes up often, and at the same time, it’s a situation that standard clairvoyance already handles. The only real advantage is not spending a spell slot—something that effectively resolves itself over time, as the slot required for the spell becomes less in demand and the cost of the scroll makes less of a dent in your budget.

Well, I did state up front that I liked it because I had opportunities to use it. As for standard Clairvoyance handling it... it doesn't.

Firstly, it's not "locations you already have access to." It's "locations to which you can gain access." My old 15th level Wizard was a pretty sneaky guy (Master in Stealth by that time, with a pretty high Dex. Not to mention the old staples: Invisibility, etc.)

The spell basically is planting a hidden camera. (An old one. Without sound. :-D ) Which leads us to the real benefit of Rune of Observation: the duration.

Clairvoyance is much easier to use, but it lasts for 10 minutes. Rune of Observation has a minimum duration of 1 hour, 2 without effort (assuming you started with a full pool of 2 Focus Points) and until your next Daily Preparations if you spend 10 minutes an hour refocusing. Because you can extend the duration as a free action costing a Focus Point.

So yeah, it's situational as hell. But I was in a campaign where we were sneaky, and watchful, and taking it was absolutely the right call. The big time I watched that base commander all day to find out useful information. There's nothing else like it in the game to my knowledge (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.)

And now, since I think it's been generating some decent conversation (I know I've been learning a lot): more Feats!

14th Level
- Dizzying Spell: If you like using spells that target Will, this allows you a chance of throwing Stupefied in on top of whatever else you're doing. Really depends on your spellcasting style, also if you have party members that can take advantage of Stupefied.

- Secondary Detonation Array: Why do I think whoever came up with this is a fan of Looney Tunes? The idea of some extra damage (and 1d6/Rank Force is ok damage for 1 Action) or forcing the target(s) to move is fun.

- Superior Bond: Well, it's pretty straightforward... might even be considered dull. But, it's a second casting of a (Max Rank -2) Spell, which is pretty decent.

16th Level
- Spell Tinker: Man, they really buffed this one in Player Core. The CRB version halved the duration of the spell you tinkered with. I'm honestly not proficient enough with the Arcane spell list to know if this would be all that useful: I don't know what spells have choices and suitable durations. Still, it's pretty cool that a Wizard can do this.

18th Level
- Infinite Possibilities: I do enjoy Feats that leverage large spell collections, and this is fun. Pick a slot, and you can cast any Spell in your Spellbook of (Slot Rank-2) from that slot.

- Reprepare Spell: While most useful with the Spell Substitution thesis, this is pretty good on its own. There are more evergreen 4th Rank (or lower) spells that match the criteria than I thought. I mean, 1st Rank Fear is evergreen, so why not just Reprepare Vision of Death all day and thrown in 8d6 Mental damage and a possible death effect?

- Second Thoughts: A mixed bag. Cool that you can get your slot back (temporarily) when something crit saves. Not so great that only Mental spells qualify.

20th Level

- Spell Combination This is interesting. Turn 1 slot of ranks 3-9 into Combination Slots that can hold a combination spell, which allows you to cast two Spells with one Cast a Spell activity. If used as a combo, both Spells have to be at least two Ranks below the Rank of the Slot. I mean, with this Feat and Quickened Casting you could essentially hit something with three Spells (a Rank 10 and two Rank 7s would be the most forceful example) in 1 Round. Ouch. I mean, you could use a Rank 5 slot to cast Slow with Blindness, because hey, why not? Either one is nasty. Both in 1 round?

- Spell Mastery: Pick a spell for each Rank of 6th through 9th. Gain a spell slot of each rank that can only be used for the corresponding Spell, and you then auto-prepare them every day even without a Spellbook. Change the array with a week's downtime. Well, I mean, it's four Spellslots.

Note: Archwizard's Might doesn't count; other full spellcasters just have their own version of the "get a 2nd 10th Rank slot" Feat.

... yes, that is quite a ride. ;) I mean, that makes sense, but is also completely ridiculous. There's no way they would make a class that requires Crafting to function at all and then not give it auto-advancement in Crafting.

This looks an awful lot like a classic "RAW is a troll ruling" situation.

Going from there, Advanced Alchemy actually lists a set of requirements to use it. It's pretty reasonable to assume that those are the only ones, rather than ones from another section of the book that aren't called out here.

The thing is, Advanced Alchemy and Versatile Vials specifically use the term 'Craft', and the capitalization is important. Paizo uses that as a cross-reference.

As for the lack of auto-advancement in Crafting... well, it's certainly not the last time Paizo's done something like that (as Alchemist was Core Rulebook, it might be the first.)

The poster child for no auto-advancement was the APG era Swashbuckler, that absolutely wanted to advance two Skills to function, needed to advance at least one, and got no assistance in doing either option.

Paizo helped out a bit with the Player Core 2 Swashbuckler, granting extra skill advances at the usual levels (3rd, 7th, 15th) but a Swashbuckler still needs to spend the normal advances on the 2nd Skill, unless they do something like take Acrobat Dedication.

What Alchemist abilities rely on crafting? Advanced/Quick Alchemy don't use crafting at all. Powerful Alchemy is Class DC based which doesn't use crafting.

Ok, buckle in, this is a bit of a deep dive.

First off, we have the Craft Downtime action from Player Core. Specifically this part:

To Craft an item, you must meet the following requirements:

- The item is your level or lower. An item that doesn't list a level is level 0. If the item is 9th level or higher, you must be a master in Crafting, and if it's 17th or higher, you must be legendary.

Why does this matter? Because Advanced Alchemy states this:

You can Craft a number of alchemical items up to 4 + your Intelligence modifier.

Advanced Alchemy changes a lot of things about the Craft Action... the time needed, the materials, the cost... but it doesn't change the Proficiency requirement to create higher level Items. If you want to make 9th level+ Items, you need Master in Crafting by 9th level, and if you want to do 17th level+ you need Legendary by 17th.

Next we have Versatile Vials:

A vial you create is always the highest type you could Craft.

So yeah, you can't create a Versatile Vial of 9th level or more without increasing your Crafting proficiency.

Which leads us to Quick Alchemy:

You can either use up a versatile vial to make another alchemical consumable at a moment’s notice or create an especially short-lived versatile vial.

Versatile Vials have an explicit level: the highest level you can Craft. Which obviously applies to the short lived Versatile Vials you create with the Quick Vial variant of Quick Alchemy.

As for Create Consumable... it consumes a Versatile Vial, and I can't think of anywhere in this system where you can use a lower level Item to create a higher level item. So yeah, you need to increase Crafting for Quick Alchemy too.

Guidance for Encounters.

True. Thing is, I can't think of uses of Crafting in Encounters with two exceptions:

1) it's possible to use Quick Repair in an Encounter if you're good enough (Master Proficiency), but at 3 Actions it's still quite slow. Legendary's 1 Action Repair is much better, but still clumsy due to the requirement to put the repaired object down before repairing it.

2) I've never used it, nor seen it used, but the Inventor Feat Tamper looks like a lot of fun. Not really relevant to an Alchemist though.

Another question: there are four kinds of bonuses to a skill: Proficiency, item, circumstance, and status. Proficiency you improve when you can. What should I be looking at for the others as I progress in levels, both for Downtime Crafting and for Encounter/Exploration Crafting? I know the Alchemist's Haversack is good, but that's level 11. What should I get until then?

So, for Crafting, status bonuses are hard to come by. Proficiency is easy, and as an Alchemist you should be boosting Crafting anyways (your Alchemist abilities all rely on it.) So that leaves circumstance and item.

Circumstance can be covered by Specialty Crafting. Alchemical Items are specifically mentioned as a Category for that Feat. +1, increasing to +2 when you get Master in Crafting.

Item? Well, there's the Crafter's Eyepiece. But there's also Cognitive Mutagen which, generally speaking, is better. Starting at 3rd Level an Alchemist can chug a Moderate Mutagen every ten minutes all day long in Exploration Mode. You'll have to discuss with your GM if that's ok during Downtime Mode.

At 11th, Greater Mutagens last a whole hour. You get minimum 9 Advanced Alchemy items a day at that level (if you've gone for Int +5, which you should.) That's 9 hours of Mutagen a day... so easy to justify Downtime use.

Regarding the Rune of Observation: Honestly, for a wizard, the real benefit of clairvoyance magic is precisely the ability to gather information on enemies and swap in specific spells to counter them. Without the ability to ignore line of sight and line of effect, the spell becomes extremely limited; it’s basically relegated to guarding an area, since even gathering information is difficult—you’d need the Read Lips feat for that.

It's a bit better than you think. You only need line of sight when you create the sensor... after that, you can go anywhere you want (up to 500 feet. Oddly, Nethys hasn't included the Range.) So that's what I would do... sneak around, set the sensor, retreat to somewhere a bit more secluded. The best time I ever used it was right above the desk of a base commander. Everything he read, I could read. I gotta say, I wish I had thought of Read Lips though. That would've been cool.

- Bond Conservation: This feature is a real pain to use. Under the Drain Bonded Item rule, you must have already cast a spell of your third-highest rank or lower that day. Unless you’re using a heightened spell that is viable at that rank, you have to use Drain Bonded Item to cast a spell. The spell itself can’t take more than two actions to cast if you want a final action left over to use with Bond Conservation. That’s too many requirements, limiting its utility in many situations. It’s not a bad feat to have, but it’s one of the most overrated feats I know.

I'm not quite following you here. When you gain the Feat, you have 4th Rank Spells. So, to take advantage of this, you need to have previously cast either a 4th Rank spell alongside a 1st or 2nd Rank, or you need to have cast a 3rd Rank and a 1st Rank. So yeah, probably something you're going to use during the 2nd encounter of the day, or maybe even later. Complicated, yes... but I don't really mind complicated.

- Spellbinding Speech: Another example of how poor the wizard's feat selection is. This thing requires *Expert* proficiency in Performance! Not just Trained—Expert; you actually have to invest in Performance as a wizard! Damn!

You know, I honestly hadn't noticed that. I wonder if it's an error? Expert in Arcana I can see... Expert in Performance makes no sense.

- Scroll Adept: Not bad; it gives the wizard a bit of that Scroll Trickster/Thaumaturge vibe. The problem is the feat's level requirement is too high. Remember, the witch gets Cauldron at level 1 to do something similar with potions. It’s still a worthwhile feat, but in my opinion, it’s at the wrong level; it should be a level 6 feat.

Well, under its restrictions, the earliest the Feat could work is 8th, when you could create a 1st Rank Scroll & a 2nd Rank Scroll. So 10th isn't too far off I think. Cauldron isn't a great comparison IMHO: spell scrolls are quite a bit more powerful than potions and oils.

- Clever Counterspell: 12 levels, 3 feats, and a spellbook stuffed with as many spells as possible, just so the wizard can finally have a decent counterspell. And yet, executing this move is complicated. If you have the spell prepared, great—you don't even need this feat; if you don't, you have to succeed on a check to Identify Magic, search your list for a spell with the same trait as the one being cast (or an obviously opposing one, if you can convince your GM), and *then* finally attempt a counteract check to see if you can nullify the spell. I still think it's a cool feat, but it's overly clunky.

It's not quite as bad as all that. Takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do it can be pretty smooth.

1) You have the Spell currently Prepared. Well, you automatically Recognize it, great! The advantage of this Feat is that you don't necessarily have to expend that Spell to Counter. You could substitute another, particularly if you want to have the higher Rank advantage.

2) You had the Spell prepared. Pretty much the same as above, except that you have to substitute.

3) You have Master in Arcana, and this isn't a 7th Rank Spell. You automatically Recognize the Spell.

4) You have Legendary in Arcana: You automatically Recognize the spell.

So, if it's Arcane (and the GM needs to tell you this right at the start), most of the time the GM is just going to tell you the Spell. You might roll Arcana to see if you Crit Succeed and get the little bonus to the save, but that's about it.

- Keen Magical Detection: Good, but highly situational.

It's a free Initiative "roll twice and keep the better." That's a pretty common situation.

First, I want to say that I have a problem with the opportunity cost—specifically the action cost—associated with most spellshapes. ... All of this is aside from the fact that you are using your 3rd action for this—an action you could be using to move, cast a shield cantrip, sustain a spell, or any number of other things that are likely more interesting and compete with the action cost of these spellshapes, which only last for 1 round and cost you a class feat.

Well, one of the things I like about Spellshapes is that it adds to the interesting (and, IMHO, useful) things I can do with that third Action... or sometimes fourth, if Haste comes into play. I mean, yes, casting Shield is great. I usually have Shield prepared on my spellcasters somehow (my old L15 had it through a Staff of Abjuration for example.) But hey, if you're not being pressed (and that happened a number of times) casting Shield is a bit of a waste. As for moving, well, sometimes you neither need nor want to move. Sustaining spells is fine... if you have a spell going to sustain, which is not always the case. Wizards don't have a lot more uses for that 3rd Action, unless you go for something like a Bow Wizard (good strategy if that appeals to you, definitely.)

I'm a fan of Spellshapes... Experimental Spellshaping is my Thesis of choice, actually, because it's been a lot of fun for me.

To top it all off, these spellshapes tend to become obsolete over time; the same resistances they provide can be obtained more efficiently—and without an action cost—via items and runes. This makes them truly functional only at low levels, precisely when the value of the resistance isn't as impactful and the number of creatures dealing elemental damage is still small.

Just to clarify: this is about Energy Ablation... I agree with your concerns regarding Elemental Defense.

Yes, as time passes, you're going to pick up defenses against energy. Energy-Resistant and Greater Energy-Resistant are popular Runes. Charm of Resistance is a thing. I'm sure there's others. Thing is though, you will gain such items slowly, and most will not have protections against any energy type. Two or three, probably.

Spell Protection Array is one of the few truly interesting feats exclusive to the wizard. I just don’t understand the point of Sustaining an ability that costs an action but no other resources. Perhaps for when you pick up Effortless Concentration? But by level 16, you likely have better things to Sustain than a mere +1 to saves against spells in a small area—a bonus that might even conflict with other sources of status bonuses to saves.

- Irresistible Magic: This is more interesting than many people think at mid-to-high levels, where you encounter creatures and NPCs with bonuses to saving throws against magic. The problem, as has been pointed out, is that the penalty doesn't scale and competes with the Sorcerer's focus spell, which *does* scale and works against all enemies, regardless of whether they have magic-related saving throw bonuses.

Yes, Ancestral Memories is a fantastic Focus Spell, and is more broadly applicable in many ways. Still, there's two things it's not great at: groups and long fights. If I'm faced with a bunch of Vordines, Irresistible Magic will likely help more, because all of them get their save reduced. As for long fights... well, that one's fairly obvious. So I think there's still a place for this Feat.

Energy Ablation: has the same problem as Elemental Resistance: that being the energy type you want to use is typically the opposite of the one the enemy is using against you.

You're thinking the APG version of Energy Ablation. The Player Core version allows you to pick any type of energy resistance you want. I gotta say, I love the idea of throwing a Fireball at a group of Frost Giants while giving yourself Resistance 3 (or more) to Cold.

Spell Protection Array: It works. It is just that there are better options than this action sink. I know the Protection spell isn't arcane, but spending a 6th level feat for what is essentially worse than a first level spell is inefficient

Comparing this Feat to Protection is really comparing apples to oranges. The Feat is 1 Action compared to a 2 Action Cast a Spell from a Spell Slot, so I'd expect the Feat to be a little less. In addition, it's only a 4th Level Feat, not 6th. Not sure if that'll affect your assessment or not.

What percentage of published creatures/enemies have it and how does that vary across levels. Until we have the metrics we can't evaluate it as good or bad.

I don't know about percentages, but my quick Nethys search suggests there's about 325 creatures out there, including some popular "families" like Dragons, Daemons, Devils, Archons... I didn't look into all of them.

8th Level

• Advanced School Spell: Well, how good this is really depends on the School. I mean, I loved Vigilant Eye (now known as Rune of Observation) but that was due to the campaign I was in, where I had opportunities to use it. (Best long-term surveillance in the game.)

• Bond Conservation: Tricky to use, but Bond Conservation is one of the things that makes a Wizard a Wizard, and I have a fondness for pulling off things that are tricky.

• Form Retention: I think if I were to play a Wizard who likes shapeshifting, I'd like this one. Being able to extend a polymorph to ten minutes opens up a lot of utility.

• Knockback Spell: Add a bit of forced movement to any AOE spell? Why not? An interesting third action possibility IMHO.

• Spellbinding Speech: Man, I like this one. Shutting down Reactions with Arcana, even if it's just for a round is fun stuff.

  10th Level
  

• Scroll Adept: More spells! More! And you can give them out to others if you want to! Yeah, I really like this one. Had it on my 15th level Core Rulebook Wizard.

• Shared Focus: Give a party member a free Focus Point once a day. Not one of your Focus Points... just a free one that you create from nothing. Really party dependent, but a great teamwork Feat if you have a colleague that really loves their Focus Spells.

• Spatial Awareness: This is fun. Another campaign dependent Feat I think, but I love the notion that a Wizard can be so in-tune to a form of magic (in this case teleportation) that they can do interesting things.

  12th Level
  

• Clever Counterspell: Man, I love this Feat. Allow me to explain: I love Counterspelling. The idea of spending a Reaction (or, with this Feat, a Free Action and a Reaction) to possibly completely derail a Cast a Spell is great. I keep hearing Christopher Lambert as Rayden saying "I don't think so." Plus, I've always believed that any reasonable GM would allow Dispel Magic to counterspell anything with this Feat (as long as it matches the requirements, naturally.)

• Forcible Energy: Another fun teamwork Feat. If every Martial in your party has a Flaming Rune, why not spend an Action to give a target Weakness 5 (Fire)?

• Keen Magical Detection: I can't say this Feat is to my personal taste, but a free Initiative re-roll is not a bad thing.

• Redirect Teleportation: I think this one is a little too niche even for me, but the notion of someone with Flicker being redirected to a really bad spot (say, in front of the party Barbarian who's next on the initiative order) has definite appeal.

Cantrip/rank 1 is 2gp and you missed a 3rd rank spell.

2x18 + 5x6 + 3x16 is 114. Though the base cost is actually 115 since you spend 1gp on a blank book.

Sheesh. Not sure where my head was at. Mea culpa.

So, with Magical Shorthand, 57 gp. Plus the cost of a book.

"You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll."

See, that's the key right there though: You gain access to a new spell.

Copying a spellbook that has your spells in it isn't gaining access to a new spell. It's copying old ones. And there are no rules for that, anywhere. So it's up to the GM.

For example, making a copy of WatersLethe's spellbook in the OP would take 37 hours, require 23 Arcana checks, and cost 114 gp.

I'm curious as to where you got 114 gp from. Learn a Spell lists the cost for Cantrips and Rank 1 Spells as 1gp per, 2nd Rank 6 gp per, and 3rd Rank 16 gp per. So by my count, that would be 80 gp, not 114. (Cantrips and Rank 1 = 18 gp, Rank 2 = 30 gp, Rank 3 = 32 gp.) Also, I think the time would be 34 hours: 18 hrs for Cantrips/Rank 1; 10 hrs for Rank 2, and 6 hrs for Ranks 3.

There are ways to make the whole process less painful, but they require investment: Assurance (Arcana) and Magical Shorthand. Assurance works for all the Spells except the Rank 3 ones... and with a Mage's Hat a roll of 6 or up will succeed, so not too bad. Magical Shorthand reduces the time to 250 minutes (or 4 hours, 10 minutes) and the cost to 40gp.

Still, I've come to realize that the notion of using Learn a Spell to copy a spellbook isn't actually set in stone. There's nothing that references copying a spellbook anywhere on Nethys that I can find. Learn a Spell seems to believe you only have one spell repository.

The Materials used for Learn a Spell are really vague. I know that in past editions/other systems they represented special inks, etc. That's just not the case any more. For one thing, any Spellcaster can use Learn a Spell. It's just that other than Magi, Witches and Wizards everyone else uses it for Uncommon or Rare spells only. And those that have no spellbook are still paying the Materials cost.

So I guess it's up to the GM. Myself, I'd let Wizards & Magi just copy their spellbooks for free.

Oh, and I stumbled on a fun way to give your Wizards and Magi more spells for free. Give them entire spellbooks! Borrow a Spell is a thing, and if your spellcaster has Assurance and you follow the "little easier than Learn a Spell" DC guideline, it's basically foolproof.

That way it's up to the spellcaster if they want to spend the gp to add the spells to their own spellbook. (Which would probably be mostly the case for a Clever Counterspell Wizard.)

I meant to chime on this a few weeks back, but never had the time. Still, don't think it's too late to revive this...

While I'm not one to discount a Feat just because other Classes have it too, I figured I'd focus on the Wizard exclusive ones. I'll preface this by saying flavour means a lot to me, and I don't mind spending Feats for flavour.

• Spellbook Prodigy: I can understand why folks don't like this one... it feels a bit tax-y. Still, I really like it. I like the Spellbook mechanic for Wizards, so I really like that you can make some Wizards better at adding to it than others. Plus, it has some fun synergy with a Spell Substitution Wizard... Learn the Spell in 10 minutes, be able to cast it in 10 more...

• Energy Ablation: Another one I really like. The idea that when you're throwing Energy around you can warp things to protect yourself from Energy fits my mental picture of a Wizard. What's really great is that it doesn't have to be the same type of Energy... you can hit somebody with Cold and protect yourself from Void if you want to. Yes, it's only Spell Rank points of Resistance, but it's only a Level 2 Feat, works just fine with Cantrips, and lasts until the end of your next turn.

• Elemental Resistance: This is an interesting option similar to Energy Ablation. Cast a spell with an Elemental trait, gain 2xSpell Rank resistance to effects with that trait until start of your next turn. The resistance is more potent, but throwing an Element against something that uses that Element is sometimes ineffective due to immunities. Still, this would be fun if you're dueling a Fire sorcerer who hasn't taken enough precautions against his own Element, for example. Still like Energy Ablation a bit better.

• Nonlethal Spell: What can I say, I love the notion that Wizards can Fireball a room and not kill anybody. I was really new to Pathfinder when I played my Metamagical Experimentation (Core Rulebook) Wizard, and I'm not sure if I had the Advanced Player's Guide or not. Regardless, I never swapped out my thesis Feat for this... and there were some adventures when I really, really should have.

• Call Wizardly Tools: I love the flavour of this Feat, but I gotta admit, I doubt I would ever find room for it on a build.

• Spell Protection Array: Another one I really like. Protect yourself or your allies (or both if you're jammed in together for some reason) from your specialty: magic. Compatible with Effortless Concentration if you get that far.

• Convincing Illusion: Adding Charisma to a Wizard build is challenging, but not impossible... and the notion of an Illusionist reinforcing the "reality" of their illusion is awesome.

• Irresistable Magic: Dry, yes, but I appreciate that when it comes to getting past innate magical defenses, a Wizard does it very well.

• Shrink Spell: This is an odd one. Should you fail to Counterspell a spell, you instead shrink the area. I have this picture in my head of a lightning bolt falling just short of the Wizard... Don't know if I'd take it, but I might slot it for fun with Experimental Spellshaping (assuming I took Counterspell.)

• Split Slot: A bit of welcome flexibility, allowing you to prepare two Spells in one slot and choose which one you need when it's time to Cast.
  

And now I've gotta go and I'm only up to 6th level...

Here's an idea I've thought about in the past. Take a look at the Treasure by Level table. It offers guidelines on how much treasure should be given out to a party of four characters over the course of a level. (IE, by the end of the level, the party should have gained the listed amount of treasure.)

So, if you divide those amounts by 4, a single character that's played through four levels and is starting fifth should have earned the equivalent of 456.25 gp of magic items, equipment, consumables, cash, etc.

Obviously this is considerably more than the amount for a new fifth level character listed on the Character Wealth table in "Treasure for New Characters". The lump sum for such a character is 270 gp.

This is meant to reflect "permanent" wealth at that level. It's expected that some of the treasure earned was consumables (which got used) or got sold for half price... that sort of thing.

So, I would consider allowing a new Wizard (or Witch) to spend at least some of the difference in the two amounts (456.25-270=186.25) on scrolls. Spend some of the 270 lump sum on the Learn a Spell activity using those scrolls, and just say the scrolls got used at some other time. (IE, don't let the prepared spellcaster keep the scrolls in this case.)

A little complicated, I know, but I think ultimately it's fair. The Wizard gets to have added extra spells "along the way", without spending more than they should.

I thought a new PDF was only generated when the physical book was reprinted. Am I mistaken on that front?

The added damage is pretty decent. The Psychic in my Abomination Vaults campaign is now 11th level, and is throwing around 6th rank spells (since Psychics use their Cantrips so much.)

That's 12 extra damage, which is somewhere between the average damage of 3d6 - 4d6. It adds up.

3) Wizard: I really like the Spellshape stuff, so Spellshape Mastery has a lot of appeal. Beyond that, I'd probably go with Spell Mastery. The idea of coming up with an array of 6th-9th Spells, one each, that I always have prepared is interesting to me.

4) Cleric: Probably Maker of Miracles, although Avatar's Audience is pretty cool.

5) Psychic: Automatic Psychic Action, as long as I've taken Twin Psyche at 18th. Otherwise, Become Thought.

I've given a lot of thought to which Alchemist Feat I'd take at 20th. For a Bomber, I would probably take Mega Bomb, as I interpret that Feat that everybody in the radius takes Splash... guaranteed. Mutagenist, Alchemical Revivification definitely. Chirurgeon, Craft Philosopher's Stone.

Bomber alchemist is usually the best option, since they're the only one to get action compression (1-action to create AND throw the bomb).

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I just thought I'd mention that this is no longer the case. As of the latest errata, Toxicologists can either Interact to draw or create (through either use of Quick Alchemy) a poison and apply said poison to a weapon or piece of ammo with a single action. It's a nice improvement.

My issue with this setup is this:

Spellshape Mastery says this:

You can use spellshape single actions as free actions.

Extend Blood Magic isn't a Spellshape single action. It is a Focus Spell, cast using the Cast a Spell activity like any other Focus Spell.

Or to put it another way: that it has the Spellshape Trait and takes a Single Action to Cast doesn't make it other than a Focus Spell.

I find tier lists just don't really apply in Pathfinder 2e, and I take great joy in that.

My classic example: I played through Outlaws of Alkenstar using Core Rulebook rules.

My team?

• Vanguard Gunslinger
  
• Armor Innovation Inventor
  
• Bard
  
• And my guy, the Bomber Alchemist

And let me tell you... we kicked a**. We synergized so well. Probably the strongest team I've ever been a part of... but with the exception of the Bard, none of the other classes would make the traditional "best class" lists.

Lowkey scared lol

Especially with how people in the community are being heavily critical of how inventor and psychic got touched up or not in their own remastered books.

The big thing to remember is that both Guns & Gears and Dark Archive were reprints with some small tweaks to bring them in line with the Remaster.

Impossible Magic is a brand new book. They have a lot more flexibility to make changes with a brand new book.

Out of curiosity, how many Encounters a day are you normally running? (I run AV, it tends to go 3-4 encounters a day for my group.) And, given the answer to that question, how is your player keeping their Monk in Drakeheart? I'm assuming they're not making it themselves, as you mentioned Guardian archetype.

When PF2e changed Cantrips to not use Casting Stat, they also changed the base damage to 2dX, with some exceptions (Needle Darts starts at 3d4, for example.)

The average damage stayed basically the same, the ceiling was raised for any d6 Cantrip, and the floor fell from 5 pts (maxed Stat) to 2.

I've only played one Gish character at the levels mentioned, my Core Rulebook Warpriest of Cayden Cailean. The Warpriest meets all the spellcasting requirements easily. So the question became, what about the 60% of a Barbarian damage? So, I ran some numbers... but only after I converted Ellisar to Player Core rules, because quite simply, they're better.

First, let's set our baseline: I went with a Giant Instinct Barbarian with a Greatsword just to keep things simple. Expected Damage output per round assuming two Strikes per round: Between 39 & 45 pts. I gave the Barbarian Brutal Critical, but I'm not great with Barbarian builds... I might be missing something.

My Rapier-wielding Warpriest would be off 60% of this pace by 3-4 pts per Round. Still, closer than might be expected. Key Feats: Sanctify Armament, Lasting Armament, Eternal Blessing.

A Ragathiel Warpriest, using a Bastard Sword in two hands for d12s, would meet or exceed the target quite easily, by anywhere from 2 to 18 points depending on level.

(Assuming attacks on an at-level Target with high AC.)

I've been doing some theorycrafting around Toxicologists lately. I put together a list of Injury Poisons, and compared it to Alchemist Class DC. Turns out that most of the time, the at-level Poison will either have the same DC or better.

There are a few occasions when you need to use a lower-level Injury Poison. If Nethys can be believed, there is no Level 9 Injury Poison. At Level 17, the only commonly available Injury Poison is False Hope, and while a clever idea, it really sucks in play.

Finally, you may not be able to get access to Achaekek's Kiss for various reasons, but it turns out that Pale Fade at least has the same DC (42.)

Still, what's really harsh is that Poisons only have two degrees of success. Which is why I'm grateful Paizo introduced Pernicious Poison

The modal (most common) Fort Save per level generally is around the High Save point (there are exceptions. Levels 11 & 15 have weird dips.) Which means that those creatures get a Save or better around 70%-75% of the time.

At least Pernicious flips it so you get some result 75%-80% of the time. Heck, since it doesn't have a Save, you can now look at Poisoning a weapon with a Quick Vial as a weird kind of Vicious Swing adding in Poison or Acid.

True Debilitating Bomb gives a upgrade for every effect of Greater Debilitating Bomb, except Clumsy 1.

Might be intentional, might be a oversight, bringing it to attention either way.

Pretty sure it's intentional. Clumsy 2 would allow an Alchemist to swing an opponents AC 4 points with a single Action (Quick Bomber with Greater Debilitating throwing a Bottled Lightning) with only a simple failure on the Fort Save. Even the mighty Skunk Bomb requires a Crit Fail to impose a -2 Status Penalty on AC.

Not a fan of the official ruling on Sticky Bomb... quite unsure if Persistent Damage of 2-4 points (4-6 for a Crystal Shards Bomb) is worth an 8th level Feat.

Quite ok with Investigators not getting Precision Damage with Bombs. Would be a fan of a similar ruling on Rogues. The image I have of Precision Damage just doesn't fit with a Bomb. It's not precise enough.

I played a Core Rulebook Warpriest of Cayden Cailean through Extinction Curse, Levels 1-20. I had a fantastic time with Ellisar. He was always in the thick of it, usually as the flanking buddy of our resident Animal Instinct Barbarian. Started Str +3/Wis +3 and some Charisma for Healing Font.

He did a lot of damage with that rapier. Soaked a lot of damage with Shield Block and Replenishment of War. Buffed when the opportunity presented itself. Healed when the party needed it.

Player Core has some nice improvements for Warpriest Dedication. I would've loved Raised Symbol. Although I got some use out of Charisma skills, not needing Charisma for Font would be great. Master rapier Proficiency would've been really a really nice capper to a very fun career.

What about Two-Weapon Flurry at 16? Would that work with two bombs?

No, as it's a Press Feat... You can only use it if you're suffering MAP. Which means you normally only have one Bomb in hand, as you already threw the other one.

Thanks! I really like this! Then what do you recommend for 12-20 feats?

You're welcome, glad you like it! As for higher level Feats, shroudb and I are of similar mind.

Alchemist Feats:

• 12th Level: Uncanny Bombs. Shortbow Range, cover mitigation and auto-success on concealed (for throwing Bombs, at least.) Get rid of those Alchemist Goggles; why bother for just a little Splash on a miss?

• 14th: Dip back for Extend Elixir. 2 hour Quicksilver? Yes please!

• 16th: I lean more towards Advanced Efficient Alchemy (not Expanded, Efficient, oops), because there's no room in my build for Combine Elixirs but shroudb is right: Eternal Elixir is the stronger choice even so. (Eternal + Combine is really, really strong.)

• 18th: Improbable Elixirs all the way. Fly when you need it? Advanced Alchemy Haste? Survive forever on Ration Tonics? Yeah, great Feat.

• 20th: If Core Rulebook is allowed in your campaign, yeah, Perfect Mutagen is fantastic. If not, Mega Bomb is very thematic, and very useful in the right circumstances. While Alchemical Revivication is really cool, I'm not really into a Capstone that may never get used.

As for the Free Archetype stuff: My only really "gotta Take" is Dual Onslaught from Dual Weapon Warrior at 14th. If you miss with both Dual Thrower Bombs... no you didn't! Choose which one actually hit. (Hint: go for the Create Consumable Bomb if you threw one. :) )

Dual Blitz isn't really worth it, IMHO, As you need to use Quick Alchemy to load up your hands, it isn't an action saver Feat. You can just Stride, Quick Bomber, Quick Bomber in any order instead. And for a number of reasons Flensing Strike just doesn't work with Bombs.

I am a fan of Master Spotter (Investigator Archetype 12th) as Alchemists don't get Master Perception without Canny Acumen, later. Also, Skill Mastery (Investigator Archetype again) is a bit complicated, but more Master level Skills is cool. You can spare the Feats to take it a few times (you can take it up to 5.)

11-20 Bomber Alchemist with Free Archetype? That's an interesting idea.

Attributes:

• Str +0
• Dex +4 (partial)
• Con +3
• Int +5
• Wis +3

Alchemist Feats:

• 1st: Quick Bomber
• 2nd: Far Lobber
• 4th: Expanded Alchemy
• 6th: Directional Bombs
• 8th: Sticky Bomb
• 10th: Expanded Splash

Free Archetype Feats:

• 2nd: Investigator Dedication
• 4th: Investigator's Stratagem
• 6th: Basic Deduction for Known Weakness
• 8th: Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication
• 10th: Dual Thrower

So, 11th level is a good level for Alchemists. Major Bombs and Major Mutagens are available. Bombers get their Special Materials Versatile Vials at this level. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of stuff like Adamantine Fire or Dawnsilver Cold.

As for damage? Well, at 11th, my favourite opener, Acid Flask, is doing 1 pt Acid on a hit, with 10 points of Splash to everything within 10' or in a 15-20' Cone (I love Directional Bombs.) The Persistent Damage to the primary is 3d6+10, and the odds are good it lasts at least three rounds. Alchemist's Fire? 3d8+10 Splash for an average 23 pts on a hit with 13 pts Persistent. Frost Vial? Make the target off-guard for everybody while doing an average of 20 pts Cold (3d6 + 10 Splash.)

With the Free Archetype feats, you can be doing a Free Action Devise to get a sense of how that first Strike is gonna go. Going to miss? Use a free Quick Vial, get the 10 pts of Splash in anyways. Going to Crit? Pick a Bomb that will take advantage of that like a Dread Ampoule or a Glue Bomb.

And with Dual Thrower, if you don't have to move, you can QA two Bombs into your hands and then take advantage of it, getting to throw the 2nd Bomb (probably a Quick Vial) with a MAP of -2 instead of -5.

ottdmk wrote:

with Combine Elixirs apparently allowing combined Mutagens,

Wait, what?

What part of Combine Elixirs overrides the restrictions in the Mutagen trait or the included Polymorph trait?

Yes, you can combine Elixirs... with the Combine Elixirs feat.

If you have more than one drawback due to Combine Elixirs or a similar ability, drinking

the vial suppresses one drawback of your choice.

So yeah, apparently Combine Elixirs allows dual Mutagens.

Makes sense, when I think about it. It specifically creates a hybrid concoction. It's one Elixir that grants the effect of both, not an action compresser that lets you down two separate Elixirs at once.

Oh yeah, one last thing: All Mutagens are Elixirs. Every one of them has that trait. It's just that not all Elixirs are Mutagens. **grin**

One of the amusing notions I came up with from Player Core 2: with Combine Elixirs apparently allowing combined Mutagens, a 13th level Mutagenist could go into a fight with just Handwraps (for property runes) and nothing else.

Sidenote, this is absolutely terrible pricing, but them's the rules.

I dunno... it's a fair bit cheaper than other consumables. High-grade Adamantium works out to 1,350 gp a bullet; 17th level consumables range from 2,400 gp to 3,000 gp. High-grade cold iron or silver is 900 gp per bullet at 16th level; 16th level consumables range from 1,500 to 2,000 gp.

While you can argue (and many do!) that high-level consumables are too expensive, high-level ammunition is at a suitably lower cost than those consumables to reflect its more limited nature.

To go a bit more apples-apples (the previous numbers are GM Core numbers):
At 16th level Life Shot is 1,500 gp a round. Blister Ammunition is 1,400 gp.

I play a Starlit Span Magus in SoT, and it was quite mediocre before i got Imaginary Weapon online.

See, I find the difference in perspectives quite astonishing sometimes.

I did my own analysis of a bunch of ranged strike builds a while back, and the Starlit Span Magus beat them all, easily, with just Gouging Claw. So I find myself wondering, what's the point of comparison? A Giant Instinct Barbarian with a d12 two-handed weapon?

I play a couple of Magi in PFS. One's a Sparkling Targe, the other's an Inexorable Iron.

With both, I generally use the spellslots for buffs and utility, and Spellstrike with Cantrips. Gouging Claw mostly, that persistent bleed is something. I really, really like Dive and Splash. From experience with my Warpriest, it'll be great to get back to Blink Charge.

Even at L20 I'm getting 6 from Str and 8 from Legendary greater weapon specialization.

It would probably be 7 from Str with some kind of Str Apex item. Still, your point is well-taken 45 points is not 100.

The group I run in Abomination Vaults uses Recall Knowledge a lot, and has found it really, really useful. I mostly try to abide by this suggestion from the GM Core:

General vs. Unique: Some elements, such as creatures or items, might require you to draw a distinction between a general concept and a unique individual, such as “pirates” vs. “Tessa Fairwind, the Hurricane Queen” or “a harrow deck” vs. “the Deck of Harrowed Tales.” When a PC tries to Recall Knowledge, let them choose whether to ask about the general category or the unique person or item, and determine the DC and specifics based on that choice. If the unique character or item is famous enough, the DC might even be easier than for the general topic!

I find most things my players run into have something general to fall back on.

We enjoy it, if only for the comical value of having a PC claim something truly outrageous and we all get the chance to play along. So our arcane expert RK'd the dragon and found out it's a vegetarian. That's good for at least a half hour of ribbing the player who failed while our characters act out believing it.

My group is much the same way.

Remaster-only games are definitely a thing. Plus, if you're not plugged in to online community and you started with the Remaster, odds are you don't even know the RoW existed.

I think Crashing Slam is a decent upgrade to Slam Down. I have a hard time comparing it to other Feats, but I will say this: If two-handed is your main Combat Style, Crashing Slam is definitely of interest. The Fighter in the Abomination Vaults campaign I run has made a lot of use of Slam Down... I would not be surprised to see him take Crashing Slam at 10th.

Seriously, SEVERAL cantrips lost the Attack trait with the Remaster, so might have well rectify this for an explosive result.

Well, that's one way. The other way would be to create some new Defense: AC spells in Impossible Magic.

It's all a matter of priorities. My Psychic player hasn't invested further in Psyche action Feats, but he's used Restore the Mind a lot. If he's not using that when Unleashed he's usually helping our Fighter out by casting Shield.

I know it's really, really high level, but I look at the idea of having L18's Twin Psyche (which was originally a L20 Capstone) combined with L20's Autonomic Psychic Action (brand new perm quickened for Psyche Actions only Capstone.)

There are a number of fun Psyche Actions, so the notion of a 4 round Unleash Psyche combined with more room for Psyche Actions is cool. I mean, Emotional Surge is a thing; you're not always going to be in a Party with a Bless or Courageous Anthem going on.