Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I don't really have time for a full recap of the use of these three sessions, but I can give the following general impressions from using these classes in play during these sessions. The PCs are 5th level, more melee-oriented than ranged. Some combination of these characters was present over the course of these three sessions
Irina (halfling barbarian 2/fighter 3)
Gersemmi (dwarf fighter 1/cleric 4)
Renner (dwarf ranger 1/fighter 4)
X (human paladin 5)
Fijitor (gnome druid 5)
Mallare (elf wizard 5)
Fight #1: Elf inquisitor 5 plus hobgoblin mooks
The inquisitor did well with a bow and the bane ability and played like a more versatile ranger; true, their bane ability isn't "always on" like a ranger's favored enemy, and it doesn't scale up, but it's
(a) a much bigger bonus at lower levels, and comparable (on damage at least) even at high levels - average increase in damage output for "bane" is 9 (2d6+2), best possible for ranger vs. FE is +10 (maxed out at 20th level; obviously +10 to hit beats +2); and,
(b) much more versatile, in that it can be applied to whatever you happen to be fighting that day, rather than being locked in.
The Inq hit pretty hard, and his buff spells to himself and his mooks came in handy, but even with aid if memory serves he felt a little fragile hit point wise. Maybe it was just that one big crit knocked him down.
Fight #2: Two human inquisitor 3 plus a metric ton of skeletons and zombies, plus a cairn wight
This turned out to be a weird fight, because with waves of undead swarming around (final total was 14 skeletons and 20 (fast) zombies), so the paladin and cleric were blowing off channel energy left and right. One of the Inqs almost got taken down early, but after that there was so much healing flying around that the party stopped attacking them (no Selective Channeling for either PC) because any damage they did was just getting healed.
The Inquisitors themselves, however, didn't pack much of a punch offensively. Even using their judgments to add to attacks, the PCs' armor class was too good to get more than an occasional hit. The MAD of the inquisitor as a fighting class was on display - I think they had STR like 12, or maybe 14. Their ACs were decent, but they just didn't hit hard enough; the undead who made it though the positive energy barrage were doing a lot more damage.
Their spells were handy - one was able to heal himself near the start of combat, before the heavy channel energies started falling, but the other wasn't able to do too much.
Fight #3: Elf alchemist 7 plus hobgoblin mooks
The PCs were trying to get out of the evil temple where fight #2 took place (they found some crypts to rest in until the next day, once they had knocked off an undead guardian and a gelatinous cube), but when they tried to leave the hobbos were waiting outside and the PCs were kinda boxed in. They parleyed and the alchemist taunted them about why she was there and what she wanted. Eventually hostilities ensued and she lobbed a bomb down the hallway (she had explosive bomb, so her bombs did a 10-ft. blast instead of 5 ft). The party lured the hobbos into the dungeon. The alchemist was flying and spelled up for an AC of 27 (including a mutagen for natural armor plus DEX, plus cat's grace, putting her DEX up to either 22 or 24) and an attack bonus around +13.
One PC rang a gong that alerted the undead inside the other wing of the temple that they had been invaded, the party cleared a path to escape with Cleave and Great Cleave from the two dwarves. The collateral damage from the bombs was substantial (10 pts in the splash zone) and added up fast, as the party got hit a couple of times; fortunately, the halfling had a ring of fire resistance (10), and barricaded themselves in the secret crypt while the undead and hobbos fought, plus another force of orcs from outside led by the half-orc summoner (basically, the party had successfully triggered a 3-way contest amongst their enemies).
The PCs had a lot of damage still and were very low on cures, and when the alchemist and 4 hobbos survived the fray and came looking for them (she had a wand of detect secret doors) they parleyed again through the crypt door before a fight started anew.
The alchemist's AC had been rebuffed (though some of her spells had expired), and though the PCs hit her once or twice they couldn't confirm a crit or hit with AoOs, and she was pounding them with her last few bombs. Finally, the closest hobbo got blown up by friendly fire and one of the dwarves was able to close and grapple the alchemist. She tried to cast her last 3rd level spell, gaseous form, prepared for just such occasions, but failed her concentration check and her hobbo allies, a little ticked off by the disaster she had led them into (and her blowing up their own guys) abandoned her to her richly deserved coup de grace (one dwarven waraxe CDG for 59 points of damage later, head =/= body).
So, the alchemist was fairly easily able to deal out consistent damage through a two-phase battle (with assumed burnoff of other resources during the NPC battle off-screen) and to keep herself pretty well protected. It did take a lot of her spells to buff up, which she couldn't have done as easily as a PC going through a full adventuring day, and only a few of her spells or effects were long-lasting (like the mutagen). She also needs some people to screen her from enemies, but that also puts them in the line of fire (literally) for her bombs.
SO, A FEW QUESTIONS
1. Should Arcane Strike apply to alchemist bombs?
I took this feat in part so she could use her longbow plus poison (though in the end I forgot she had it), but I ended up deciding to let it work on the bombs. It probably shouldn't in retrospect, but I'd be interested to see an official ruling.
2. Should Point-Blank Shot apply to alchemist bombs?
Clearly yes for attack, but what about for damage? Would it apply to only a person hit with a bomb, or also the people in splash range? Again, I think I let her add it, but it was probably a little on the cheesy side.
3. Is there a save vs. the splash damage?
Okay, so we know how much damage the bomb does on a hit (in this case, it was 4d6+8, plus the above cheese for Arcane Strike and PBS), and we know how much damage the splash does (minimum dmg, in this case 8, or 10 or 11 with feat cheese).
There's no save on a hit, but should there be a save vs. the splash damage? It doesn't say there is, so I suppose not, but I believe I gave the PCs a Reflex save for half damage on splash damage.
That might be a point to make explicit.
So, there's my short version of playing out these three classes over a couple of sessions and seeing some things that came out. In a nutshell:
Inquisitor seems versatile but not great at anything in particular until they get the bane ability at 5th, when they become pretty boss, if only for a couple of rounds.
Alchemist seems like it can dish out a lot of damage and has some versatility, but burns through spells pretty fast if it's concentrating on buffing, and most of those have a short duration.
The alchemist was flying and spelled up for an AC of 27 (including a mutagen for natural armor plus DEX, plus cat's grace, putting her DEX up to either 22 or 24) and an attack bonus around +13.
Note that the mutagen and cat's grace both give an enhancement bonus (as currently written), so the Dex bonuses wouldn't stack.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Note that the mutagen and cat's grace both give an enhancement bonus (as currently written), so the Dex bonuses wouldn't stack.The alchemist was flying and spelled up for an AC of 27 (including a mutagen for natural armor plus DEX, plus cat's grace, putting her DEX up to either 22 or 24) and an attack bonus around +13.
That's what I get for not looking carefully. Oops - my bad!
Though I get the feeling that mutagens will become a alchemical bonus, negating that worry.
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Point Blank Shot:
Benefit: You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.
So no +1 damage on splash as you don't roll any dice to figure out how much damage you do. Easy enough.
No reflex save on splash damage either, just like there isn't versus holy water, acid, or alchemist fire.
Arcane Strike and Bombs....that's just something I didn't think of. Seems allowable if the bombs count as a weapon. Plus it's that whole, "Well yeah, you did use a feat slot and it's not too overpowered since it scales with your level up to +5."
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Point Blank Shot:
Benefit: You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.So no +1 damage on splash as you don't roll any dice to figure out how much damage you do. Easy enough.
No reflex save on splash damage either, just like there isn't versus holy water, acid, or alchemist fire.
Arcane Strike and Bombs....that's just something I didn't think of. Seems allowable if the bombs count as a weapon. Plus it's that whole, "Well yeah, you did use a feat slot and it's not too overpowered since it scales with your level up to +5."
There's the tricky part - is it a splash weapon, or is it a supernatural ability? And likewise, does it enhance just vs. the target or vs. splashes?
I think the best solution is to treat the bomb itself as a weapon, and for things like PBS and AS to apply normally but only vs. the primary target. The splash would be just gravy and not affected by the feats.
But hey, that's why we playtest to get a feel for how odd little situations like this will work at the table, right?
Suppose that'd also bring up if we could take Weapon Focus on them either.
Weapon Focus works with either (a) a weapon you're proficient with or (b) unarmed strike, grapple or ray. There's no proficiency with splash weapons (or bombs), so I would say "no go".
Having said that, I'd probably allow it if a player really wanted it.