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Hullors from the Finnish scene.
We had a smallish test of the ACG classes a few days ago. Two scenarios and 5 of the new classes in all, with yours truly playing a shaman. I'll be posting some data from my point of view and linking this thread to our IRC channel in hopes that the rest of the gang decide to wander in at some point. Without further ado then:
I used Paurun, Dwarf Shaman of nature lvl 1. The idea behind the class choice was that there'd be a wealth of new abilities to test, so both Arcanist and Swashbuckler were off the table. The rest of the party consisted of a bloodrager(Wayang), an investigator (Elf) a slayer (Halfling) and a warpriest of Iomedae(Human). In word, an unplanned circus troupe of a motley crew as things tend to go in PFS.
Initially the Shaman played as a regular high AC Cleric, but once we got up to speed, which I figure was sometime past the boss party of First Steps part 1, a power disparity between the two classed begun to rear its ugly head. Bear with my comparisons between the classes, for though it does not correlate with the hybrid class' parts themselves(oracle and witch), they play very similarly.
Anyway, since a Shaman loses the Channel Energy feature in the outset and only gains it back if proper spirit abilities are taken, it looks like a Shaman and a Cleric of equal level and diposition would play pretty similarly, but, PFS being the way it is, skills were a deciding factor, funnily enough.
Here's the nitty and gritty. A Shaman has a lot to do in a session. relatively. Those two skill points more might not seem a lot, but are a huge thing in an idiosyncratic campaign such as the Society. Home campaigns might have dedicated skill characters, but in PFS nothing goes as planned and one might find themself in a party of six sorcerers of all things. 4+Int adds to versatility, something a Cleric sorely lacks.
Gear proficiencies bare a mention, I guess. Simple is enough for me, since it supports races with weapon proficiencies and I like the fact that they are not proficient with shields at all. But only if the final version has some spirits give out shield and better armor proficiencies. It fits the flavor of them not being as militant as inquisitor and clerics, but hopefully players are still given a choice of picking up some of that militaristic feel.
Then on to the special abilities of the class: I guess the choice of Spirit speaks for itself. Nature's Whispers is very powerful, just like its predecessor Sidestep Secret. However, this one runs on Wisdom, which is likely the most ubiquitously referenced stat in the system, ruling over a saving throw, two incredibly useful skills(Perception & Sense Motive) both of which directly contribute to the success of any a party, and also has a good list of synergies with multiclassing(Sensei and Inquisitor come to mind). Make it a casting stat too and suddenly Shamans become almost SAD.
Hexes, in turn, were pretty disappointing, with erosion curse doing just about nothing and life leach being too weak. With them being spread out thin over the levels, I don't see players picking this class to use hexes at all. Spirit magic, too, felt hardly there. Once a day per spell level simulates domain spells to an extent, but it misses the best part of the Oracle: interesting spell lists thanks to mystery spells.
With that said, it otherwise functioned just like every other divine caster I've played: first level is about rationing abilities and spells and walking softly while carrying a big weapon.
In any case, I'm intrigued what chances the class might see in the future.
[exeunt, pursued by the laundry.]
Edit: yeah corrected some errors.
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Hello,
In our recent small playtest consisting of First Steps 1 and Confirmation, I played the odd one out, Wayang Bloodrager (Aberrant) 1.
I wanted to see how the class works with a race that doesn't particularly have any synergy with its abilities and that has plans to multi-class later. As a reminder, the wayang has +2 Dex, +2 Int and -2 Wis, none of which are particularly important for a bloodrager. With the intent to multi-class to a paladin later, my character's stat row is 15 14 14 11 10 14. Wayangs also have slow speed (thankfully offset by the speed increase given to bloodragers) and a bunch of strange abilities, such as Vanish as (Su) (basically) and the ability to heal from negative channeling.
The bloodrager's most interesting character building choice is the bloodline. The Aberrant's +5 ft to reach at level 4 was immediately singled out as something exceptionally good, which made me choose this bloodline. The idea of a small creature swinging a small greatsword at 10 feet range was too hilarious (and useful) to leave untried.
The first level ability (Staggering critical basically) is probably something that's not often very useful, as a critical is somewhat hard to land without immediately killing something. Also there's the additional required Fort save with a mediocre DC. However, I still chose the Greatsword as my weapon of choice in hopes of getting some useful critical strikes off.
Lastly, regarding the Aberrant bloodline, the bloodline feat selection seems quite poor, as it doesn't have any of the staple feats you definitely see on a melee character such as toughness, cleave, power attack or weapon focus. I might choose improved initiative from the list when the time comes.
The decent amount of skill points (Int + 4) helps in making a Bloodrager that has some useful skills, even if the selection of class skills is quite narrow. Also the d10 hit die seems well large enough for this hybrid caster-melee combatant class. Moreover, the amount of bloodrage rounds seems quite decent. But you certainly have to take into account that you will run out of them in a battle or two.
Finally, the magus spell list seemed like a godsend after having played a witch for a long time. The only problem is that you get them so late that they don't seem particularly lucrative. However, some of the spells on the list are quite useful on low levels in wand-form. I assumed that you can cast these spells from a wand even if you are not bloodraging or level 4 (clarification required) and bought a wand of Shield with the 2PP from First Steps 1. Infernal Healing might be another spell that can be seen in wand form on a Bloodrager, just to heal between battles. I did see a mention that the spell list is getting revised. I would like to see at least either of these two stay so the class has at least some level 1 wand to think about.
Even with my special boon race, I felt quite comfortable going into melee toe-to-toe with the toughest encounters in First Steps 1 and The Confirmation. The amout of HP (16 on first level, from Con 14, d10 hit die, FCB and Toughness) was cozy as was the AC with a Scale Mail/Breastplate. It just took a while to get to the heat of the battle with the move speed of 20 ft, which would have been 15 ft without the increase from Bloodrager's first level.
It will be interesting to see how the class scales along as the levels increase. I just have to scheme a convincing story why would a Lawful Good Wayang Bloodrager/Paladin ever exist.
I assumed that you can cast these spells from a wand even if you are not bloodraging or level 4 (clarification required)
Nope. At least, if it works the way the other d10 casters do, he has no caster level at all until level 4, and as such, can't use wands, etc. without a check.
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That's actually wrong. It's one of the reasons why a Ranger or a Paladin dip is so powerful.
PRD:
"Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, but it's even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin."
Oh, wow! Thank you. Sorry for that, and I really appreciate knowing that they can make use of wands right off the bat. :)
