I want everyone's opinions on talismans and specifically Thaumaturge's Talisman Esoterica

[Javetts]

I'm building... like 4 different Thaumatuge characters (because I love the class). I'm also very new to PF (5e refugee). I've been looking at Talisman Esoterica and been scratching my head about it. I've been researching all the talisman options and their levels, and I just don't know if Talisman Esoterica and the two later class feats are worth it or not.

What talismans are worth looking at? And when is Talisman Esoterica a good class feat selection?

[25speedforseaweedleshy]

Grand Talisman Esoterica and Talismanic Sage are very good

the prerequisite are bad but necessary

[graystone]

I'll circle back around here after I see the new treasure vault material.

[Javetts]

25speedforseaweedleshy wrote:

Grand Talisman Esoterica and Talismanic Sage are very good

the prerequisite are bad but necessary

I looked and you're right! Both Talismanic Sage and Grand Talisman Esoterica say "This special treatment ends if you use Affix a Talisman to treat a new item for this ability."

"this ability"

so you can do both. That cool as hell. Thanks.

Side note, what are some good talismans to be aware of?

[Alchemic_Genius]

Some good talismans!

Owlbear claw; on the right weapon, is pretty nice until you get crit spec for your weapon (if that's an implement you have)

Retrieval Prisms are suuuuuper nice and help action management with items

Matchmaker Fulu is nice for a face; stacks with regalia, too

Dragon Turtle Scale is nice if you deal with water some times, but not often

Fear Gem can be pretty nice, essentially a demoralize that doesn't apply the temp immunity

Emerald Grasshopper is pretty neat for a really high jump

Binding coil is a solid action economy enhancer

Grim Trophy is nice if you invested intimidate

Persistent Lodestone is nice for gun users

Murderer's knot is a fun toy to pair with exsanguniating ammo

Gallow's tooth is basically a free +2 to hit

Mummified Bat is nice for dealing with invisible enemies

Those are the main ones I can think of 1-10

[25speedforseaweedleshy]

don't rely on the free talisman

buy multiple talisman that can be spamed

fighter with Intimidating Strike can easily afford fear gem at level 6

Retrieval Prism
snapleaf
Iron Cudgel
Iron Equalizer
Mummified Bat
Mending Lattice

all worth buying

[gesalt]

The "half your level" restriction really hurts what you can make, and worse, they get comparatively cheaper to buy the higher your level gets. The limited amount you can make also hurts.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the talisman feat line at all, and I don't think I've seen anything in TV to adjust that sentiment.

Maybe if it was level-3 like with alchemy, or if you could make level number of talismans like with alchemy, but alas.

[1d6 Fall Damage]

I know there is a very detailed interactive guide to talismans which would help you find the right ones for your build. I think the best way to find it is to ask on r/Pathfinder2e - the author will likely see it easily as he is one of the mods.

[Ravingdork]

Talismans are great. The plethora of limitations applied to them not so much.

[Old_Man_Robot]

gesalt wrote:

The "half your level" restriction really hurts what you can make, and worse, they get comparatively cheaper to buy the higher your level gets. The limited amount you can make also hurts.

This is the real issue with the feats as a whole, and indeed the Talisman dabbler archetype. If it had been just "level" it would have been fine, but half makes it much more meh.

I actually quite like them for the Thaumaturge, I find them handy little features that can add a bunch of special effects if I know how what to expect. However the level restrictions make the ones which would be most impactful come online too late to be something you can rely upon in the early levels.

Buying / making your own is the best way to go. Even the prescient consumables feat is fun here.

Also, I'm still a big fan of your basic potency crystal.

[Dubious Scholar]

Energized Cartridge is a neat talisman for bypassing resistances, or doubling up on weakness damage. A shame about that whole half level limitation though. Plus, most talismans don't have a "Greater" version available, so eventually whatever cool talisman you were using becomes trivially cheap...

[Alchemic_Genius]

I tend to find that regular use of talismans benefits from the base level investment since theres a lot of nice low level talismans that are handy to be able to make daily; like in a swamp, you might not ALWAYS be in water, but it's fair to assume you'll deal with swimming once a day. If you're using scroll thaumaturgy/esoterica, retrival prisms let you pull out scrolls as a free action; functionally becomes a 2/day "get an extra action thats pretty common for you and stacks with quickened", which is nothing to sneeze at for a level 2 feat.

I don't think I'd invest past the base feat, but I don't think it's worthless either