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Let's go crazy and assume Mark is going to say yes to every one of our suggestions. I would like to see each kineticist receive a free elemental movement and elemental resistance that gets better as time goes. From first level they should be able to manipulate their element, and that should get more powerful as they grow stronger.
For movement we could see:
Aether: Swift action five-foot steps like a wizard's shift ability from level 1. Levitate at will at level 5 but with the ability to shift five feet laterally with a swift action while levitating. No attack penalties and the ability to move 20 feet any direction instead of just up and down at level 10, and immunity to gravity at level 15 (so just pick a direction and move that way at your base movement speed).
Air: Feather Fall at will from level 1. Fly for minutes/level at level 5, unlimited flight at level 10, and 120 feet fly speed at level 15.
Earth: Dwarvenesque stability bonus and Climb speed equal half land speed from level 1. Climb speed equal to land speed at level 5, and tremorsense and earthglide at level 10, with blindsight to anything touching the ground at level 15.
Fire: Scaling increased movement speed starting from level 1. 10 feet faster movement at level 1, increasing to 20 feet faster at level 5, 30 feet faster at level 10, and 120 feet land speed at level 15.
Water: Increased CMD against grapples and Swim speed equal to half land speed from level 1. Swim speed equal to land speed at level 5 and the ability to breathe water, ice walking (as air walk) at level 10, with doubled speed while ice walking at level 15 (ice surfing!)
I'll build an 11th level Archer Bard with relatively average item selection, the kind that you're likely to find as drops and for sale at random towns.
20 point buy
Level 11
Human
Bard no archetypes
2 traits
Mostly optimized
spent 79,225 of 82,000 GP for Level 11
87 HP (Rolled and all favored class into HP)
14 Str
22 Dex (18+4) 4th level advancement
14 Con 8th level advancement
12 Wis (10+2)
16 Cha (14+2)
27 AC (10+7+6+2+2) I:6 BAB: 8/3
Saves: 7 Fort 15 Reflex 11 Will
Traits: Armor Expert and Indomitable Faith
Equipment: +3 Adaptive Shortbow, +3 Shadow Mithril Armor, Amulet Nat Armor +2, Ring of Prot. +2, Cloak of Resistance +2, Headband of +2 CHA and WIS, Belt of +4 Dex.
Feats: Arcane Strike, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Many Shot, Skill Focus Perform Oratory, Deadly Aim.
30 ft Bow Attack no Buffs with Arcane Strike+bow feats-deadly Aim:
+16/16/11 2d6+18 followed with 1d6+9 (2 str +3 enh.+ 1 PBS +3 Arcane Strike) (Attack: 8+6+ 1(PBS)+ 3(Enh)-2 (rapid Shot))
Above but with Inspire Courage
+19/19/14 2d6+24 followed with 1d6+12
Above but with his pre-combat buffs of Good Hope (2 attack 2 dmg), Alter Self (+1dmg)
+21/21/16 2d6+30 followed by 1d6+15
Above but with Haste
+22/22/22/17 2d6+30 followed by 1d6+15
Above, but with Deadly Aim
+19/19/19/14 2d6+42 followed by 1d6+21
Note that all of this assumes the Bard is the only one providing this stuff.
Inspire Courage, arcane Strike, Good Hope, Alter Self, Deadly Aim
18/18/13 2d6+42 followed by 1d6+21
Spells
0-Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, and REad Magic
1-Alarm, Comprehend Language, CLW, Feather Fall, Grease, and Timely Inspiration
2-Alter Self, Glitter Dust, Invisibility, Mirror Image, and Silence
3-Good Hope, Haste, Phantom Steed, and Tiny Hut
4- D. Door, Shadow Conjuration, Zone of Silence
Outstanding Skill bonuses:
Perform Oratory (Diplo and Sense Motive): 23
Perform Comedy (Int. and Bluff): 17
Acrobatics: 19
Perc.: 15
Stealth: 25
DPR: I don't know how to run this. Can someone compute it and compare it to level 11 Kineticists? Also if DR is a problem the player can grab Cluster Shots instead of a Skill Focus. Hopefully my math is right.
Skills: Doesn't even need to be stated
Spells: Do you really need to say anything?
Would people be ok with using this as a comparison for Utility and DPR vs the Kineticist? As a note this could have been an Arcane Duelist and would have gotten 1 more feat, better armor, some useful performances, and... a Arcane Bonded item Shortbow which would have let me push into a +4 bow.
If I'm not mistaken an 11th level Kineticist is doing approx 5d6+11 (28) at level 11 with a +14 to hit when targeting normal AC and approx 5d5+6 (23)vs normal AC. With just arcane strike and a full attack the bard has higher to hit and damage on average with his manyshot (25) of the full attack. With a composite blast we see about 40-47 damage.
The Bard archer is outdamaging Kineticists at almost all cases before even applying Inspire Courage, Deadly Aim, Good Hope, Alter Self, or Haste.
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well darn not sure how I missed that well just change the Manual of Bodily Health to +3 solves that issue (thanks completely missed that)
that is the point of the wand of true strike, given that i need this to hit just about anything is sad. and if your right about the lvl 20 alchemist then this class definitely need better to hit for the non touch attacks.
even if vital strike doesn't work with blast (not confirmed but probably the case) I just switch to a kinetic whip (vital strike works with) do the same damage and kill your pit fiend any ways, just can't do it from quarter mile down range
Another question on your build, it looks like you are using the Elemental form iv, correct? To become a Huge elemental?
Granting you: +4 size bonus to your Strength, a -2 penalty on your Dexterity, a +8 size bonus to your Constitution, and a +6 natural armor bonus.
Then you apply the Size modifier to hit and AC: Huge Size -2
And then you have to take away your actual armor while transformed:
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function)
So your AC in that form would be: 27, [10 +6(Natural Armor) +4(Dex) +9(Shield, Shroud of Water w/3 burn) -2(Size)]
Could be 2 higher if you used the Shroud as an armor bonus instead of a shield bonus.
You would need to invest in some alternative protective measures.
Also consider that all of your to hit numbers are likewise reduced by 2.
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Wow guys...now that the weekend has hit, I'm floored by all the great playtests of kineticist. I'm deeply honored everyone. This is getting me a lot of good data from all sorts of different directions, with thorough playtesters posting their builds so I can see that kineticists are being tested in games at all levels of optimization and various character levels too!
I don't have much time to post now (it's the weekend after all, and I just did my part and played two Occult Playtest sessions, though as a medium because we already had three kineticists), but I wanted to take the time to thank you guys. I followed the ACG playtest a bunch as a fellow playtester, and that's why I can say with certainty that you guys have produced a depth of analysis, feedback, and superior ideas in just this one week that sometimes last year took the entire playtest to gather. Keep it up!
~Mark
Going to try and get something together on Monday, Looking to playtest the Kineticist in a neutral combat encounter, one that has a creature that can shaken it, a resistant enemy, a trap encounter, and a couple of NPC encounters and obstacle encounters to get a full mapping of what it can do.
Going to try and get something together on Monday, Looking to playtest the Kineticist in a neutral combat encounter, one that has a creature that can shaken it, a resistant enemy, a trap encounter, and a couple of NPC encounters and obstacle encounters to get a full mapping of what it can do.
Great! Remember it's using SLAs so it doesn't have thought or emotion components (just like arcane SLAs don't have verbal and somatic components).
Going to try and get something together on Monday, Looking to playtest the Kineticist in a neutral combat encounter, one that has a creature that can shaken it, a resistant enemy, a trap encounter, and a couple of NPC encounters and obstacle encounters to get a full mapping of what it can do.Great! Remember it's using SLAs so it doesn't have thought or emotion components (just like arcane SLAs don't have verbal and somatic components).
Yeah, luckily someone else is playing a Psychic. So I'll get to figure out if shaken is bad news bears or not for the occult classes.
Going to run the 1st level of Thornkeep tomorrow with at least 3 playtest classes in the group, 2 being Kineticists, most likely an Air and a Water.
If the party wipes on either of the two "screw you guys, level 1 characters" encounters, it's not your PCs' fault, but remember the Halloween FAQ ;)
Likewise planning on playing with a Fire Kineticist, level 9. If not in the Tomb of Horrors conversion I put him forward for, then for another game.
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Going to run the 1st level of Thornkeep tomorrow with at least 3 playtest classes in the group, 2 being Kineticists, most likely an Air and a Water.If the party wipes on either of the two "screw you guys, level 1 characters" encounters, it's not your PCs' fault, but remember the Halloween FAQ ;)
Yeah, question on that... does that FAQ apply to the touch attack blasts as well? Just want to be clear on those since they face the triple gauntlet of AC, SR, Energy Resist, as well.
Yeah, question on that... does that FAQ apply to the touch attack blasts as well? Just want to be clear on those since they face the triple gauntlet of AC, SR, Energy Resist, as well.Going to run the 1st level of Thornkeep tomorrow with at least 3 playtest classes in the group, 2 being Kineticists, most likely an Air and a Water.If the party wipes on either of the two "screw you guys, level 1 characters" encounters, it's not your PCs' fault, but remember the Halloween FAQ ;)
They didn't need the FAQ to announce a pending errata. They already always hit for half damage without it (but it doesn't hurt to reinforce that either!)
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also does kinetic form actually change your form.
thanks in advance for clearing up the confusion
Kinetic form says:
"You gain elemental qualities of a type of elemental that matches any of the elements you possess as if by casting Elemental Body I."
When an ability is described in that manner, it is supposed to perform as the spell described unless otherwise stated.
So here's an amusing anecdote: when I pitched the idea of running my kineticist through a high level module in lieu of our regular game to my group, they came back to me suggesting we play a game with four kineticists. Had to turn them down for the purposes of what I'm trying to do, but we'll definitely arrange something like that once the final version is released.
People REALLY dig your class, Mr. Seifter.
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I'm in the disappointing position of this being the only class from the book I'm interested in, and being disappointed with a lot of how it's executed so far. Would love to see a revised version or a list of considered changes.
I'm in the disappointing position of this being the only class from the book I'm interested in, and being disappointed with a lot of how it's executed so far. Would love to see a revised version or a list of considered changes.
I was in the same boat as you, but ended up finding the Medium to be very interesting from a mechanics perspective. Slightly less so from a flavor perspective, but that's personal bias. Now that I actually rolled up a Bard Archer for comparison I am pretty sad that the Bard is that much better at Damage and Utility.
You may be interested in the Mystic coming in Amora Game's Book of Collective Influence which is thematically similar to the Kineticist. When I asked the Author about the similarities he explained the differences and it could be summed up as " Paizo's system is focused on the supernatural blast attack while my system is better focused on martial arts."
Thanks for calculating in DPR for me :)
Actually I didn't calculate Deadly Aim in unless I said it was included. I had non-deadly aim calculations because I know some or all Kineticist builds don't run Deadly Aim.
So how does that compare to a Kineticist? I think the most relevant DPRs are the "Inspire Courage only" because that's gonna be DPR for party being unprepared, such as an ambush. The other most relevant is Good Hope, Inspire Courage, and Alter Self (Low light vision and +2 str yo) because it's very easy to have all three going for an entire dungeon delve.
Can a Kineticist reach 49 DPR without hurting themselves at level 11? Can they reach reach 64 DPR with minimal resource expenditure? Even if they can how much does DR, SR, and Energy Resist/Immunity screw them compared to a Bard who can Cluster shot past DR and Dispel away a wind wall? The average composite Blast seems to be (5d6+5+Con mod physical+5d6+5 energy) Assuming 22 Con at level 11 that's about 51 damage on a composite Blast. Empowered for about 68 (3 burn). Maximized for 76 (4 Burn). Empowered and Maximized for 106 (5 Burn). These Blasts would target normal AC though and would be tossed at (BAB 8 + Dex modifier +1 for PBS) Assuming 18 Dex you're tossing them at +13 to hit? Average CR 11 foe has like 25 AC and that's not even a challenging fight. Without party buffs the Kineticist needs to roll 12 or higher to hit.
So far it's seeming like a Kineticist needs to use Kinetic Blade/Whip in order to even keep up on damage, which defeats the purpose of a ranged blasting class.
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@Mike Bramnik: Well, my interpretation would be that you can in fact do so multiple times, but the fact that you can't reduce the burn for that like you can for your blast means you would have a limited number of times you could do that, ie, 3 + Con mod times per day. And would take more damage than the temporary hit points you'd gained, so.
Mark gave an explicit example early in the thread where he accepted multiple points of burn for a more powerful Force Ward.
I'm in the disappointing position of this being the only class from the book I'm interested in, and being disappointed with a lot of how it's executed so far. Would love to see a revised version or a list of considered changes.
I kinda share your opinion... But I do ended up liking the Medium. The other classes aren't very innovative, IMO, so it's difficult to get excited about them.
I'm not really disappointed since the whole point of a playtest is to give feedback and make the class work with the playtest. Now if this were the actual release, then I'd have cause for worry.
BTW, here is a comparison between a Kineticist, and an Warrior archer.
Half-orc warrior 10
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14
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Defense
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AC 25, touch 16, flat-footed 20 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +5 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 85 (10d10+30)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +10
Defensive Abilities orc ferocity
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Ranged +3 composite longbow +18/+18/+13 (1d8+6/19-20/×3)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +10; CMB +13; CMD 30
Feats Iron Will, Manyshot, Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
Traits indomitable faith, reactionary
Skills Climb +7, Intimidate +11, Perception +14, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +16, Swim +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Orc, Sylvan
SQ orc blood
Other Gear +2 mithral breastplate, +3 composite longbow, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of physical perfection +2, bracers of falcon's aim, cloak of resistance +3, feather step slippers, ring of protection +1, 100 gp
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Feather step slippers Ignore difficult terrain as though affected by feather step.
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Orc Ferocity (1/day) If brought below 0 Hp, can act as though disabled for 1 rd.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Quick math here... (All calculations were made with the aid of HeroLab and my Excel DPR Calculator)
His DPR against AC 24 (average AC for CR 10 creatures) is 37.54. Or 51.49 with Haste. These numbers rise to 43.60 and 58.70 if Point-Blank Shot is applicable.
By comparison... Claudius, my Aero-Kineticist, has to max out his Burn and lose 30 hp (20 with a move action) to have an average DPR of... 21.95. Or 23.51 with Haste. If Point-Blank Shot is applicable, these numbers rise to 24.34 and 25.96.
:/
Claudius might have and advantage against enemies with high DR... At least 'til next level, when the archer is likely to grab Clustered Shot... And let's not forget that Claudius ignores DR based on cold iron/silver.
I like this class, psychic, spiritualist, and mesmerist. I am not so big on the other two.
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A lot of the problems with the class could be solved with the right Wild Talents. Here is my attempt at them:
Element Air, Water, Earth or Fire; Type Su; Level 4; Burn 0
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
You gain resistance 5 against eletricity, acid, fire or cold, matching your element. This increases to resistance 10 at tenth level, resistance 20 at 15th level and immunity to that elementat 20th. If you learn to use another element you can take this talent again to gain the associatd resistance.
Additionaly if you have fire resistance you are immune to enviromental heat effects. If ou have cold resistance you are immune to enviromental cold effects. If you have acid resistance you are immune to nonlethal damage from hustling and forcedmarch and are immune to starvation and thirst as long as you are in solid ground. If you have eletric resistance you are immune to suffocation as long as you're not completely submerged, and can hold your breath for one minute per point of constitution.
Nuclear fire
Element Fire; Type Su; Level 6; Burn see text
Prerequisites primary element is fire, expanded element (fire)
You can use fire so hot it disintegrates matter. When you hit with a fire blast you can, as an swift action, accept one point of burn and instead of dealing damage reduce the targets fire resistance by 10, to a minimun of zero. Alternatively you can accept 2 burn to transform fire immunity in fire resistance 40 or to give fire vulnerability to a target that doesn't have fire resitance. This effects last for a number of rounds equal to your con modifier plus the burn points you are suffering. This effects stack.
Absolute Zero
Element Water; Type Su; Level 6; Burn see text
Prerequisites primary element is water, expanded element (water)
You can bring a cold so potent it defies the laws of magic. This functions as Nuclear Fire but with cold blasts and cold resistance.
Aqua Regia
Element Earth; Type Su; Level 6; Burn see text
Prerequisites primary element is earth, expanded element (earth)
You mix a number of acids into a single substance capable of corroding any material. This functions as Nuclear Fire but with acid blasts and acid resistance.
Supercharge
Element Air; Type Su; Level 6; Burn see text
Prerequisites primary element is air, expanded element (air)
You gather millions of volts in a single blast that burns away any insulation. This functions as Nuclear Fire but with eletric blasts and eletric resistance.
Air could have a sound blast and some measure of sound control.
Fire could be used to make fire with less heat and more light or different types of light, or to make flashes to dazzle or blind:
Sunfire
Element Fire; Type Sp; Level 3; Burn 0
Prerequisites kineticist level 7
You can conjure a fire that sheds light like a daylight spell. You can accept one burn to affect creatures as if it was daylight, double the radius of illumination or to count as a 6th level spell for cancelling magical darkness.
Earth could have create pit as a sp; the ability to make earthquakes or something like this:
Create Difficult Terrain
Element Earth; Type Su; Level 4; Burn 1
Prerequisites kineticist level 5
You can make small spikes on the ground, raise feet level walls or even make quicksand in order to hinder your foes. You create an area of difficult terrain around you. This area is the square you occupy plus all the adjacent squares. At tenth level this area extends by another five feet. You ignore the difficult terrain you make with this ability. If you have extended reach you can create this are at any point in thirty feet instead of centered on you.
In regard to power balance, I've already made comparisons with the Ranger and the summoner, but it hit me that there is a class that is made with the same chassis and fills a similar thematic niche: The Druid.
The Druid is supposed to be a master of the natural world, able to channel it's elements in impressive effects. He's able to call on several nature servants, powerful companions, and his knowledge of the natural world and it's denizens in unparalleled. Also, hes able to change his form to obtain whatever mobility he needs, as well as becoming a ferocious beast or discreet scout.
So:
Chassis: HD: d8, BaB: 3/4, Skills: 4/level with 13 skills to chose from.
Offense: Animal Companion (Reliable Melee or Ranged damage), Battle forms, great selection of offensive spells (limited resource), summoning, reasonable weapon proficiencies (scimitar).
Defense: Medium armor and shields, animal companion (double HP pool), good healing, great defensive spells, immunity/resistance (circumstantial, but good), defensive forms.
Utility: Good skills with bonus, Orisons (create water saves lives), wild empathy, good utility spells, thousand faces, an infinity of useful forms.
At endgame a druid can literally cast earthshaking spells and cataclysmic effects that can raze whole city. A decent animal companion joined with a ranged build druid can unleash a hell of a damage without spending resources. You can't find a druid that doesn't want to be found.
The kineticist is supposed to have a greater mastery of an element and of his body than the druid IMO. Let's give it some power upgrades, utility and a physical way of fighting.
Just wanted to say that I love the premise for this class but share many of the concerns already discussed in this very thread. I'll probably get to playtest my kineticist this Thursday (going Geokineticist in Emerald Spire), though our games seldom last past level three before petering out, so I don't think I'll get to experience the decline in accuracy myself.
I feel like I have to note that my actual in-game options as a level one kineticist are... limited to say the least. The skill point issue is particularly glaring in this regard, especially since it pushes players towards dumping intelligence or picking human just to stay competent. The fact that this is one of relatively few classes who may actually need to put their favored class bonuses into hit points further complicates the issue.
On a slightly more pedantic note, I'm kind of surprised by the number of people who seems to confuse demons with devils (demons have a blanket immunity to electricity, not fire, though they are of course resistant.)
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Ok, ran a mid level adventure this weekend and had the players take turns using a Kineticist. Here's what stood out.
#1 They had nothing to do out of combat. The best solution that they came up with was aid other someone that actually HAD skills, stats or abilities that helped.
I think a bump to at least 4+ skill points (maybe 6+) is needed and a healthy boost in class skills. Most had no real str, int or cha as they had didn't have skills or abilities that used them.
#2 Burn: No one EVER took burn. They all read it, scratched their head and asked why they'd take a lot of incurable damage just to get point blank shot. I didn't have a good reply.
So they where built to never take burn. I'm afraid I can't report anything else on it since it and feel the burn never came up.
#3 Accuracy: Sadly, my Aristocrat NPC hit quite a bit more than any of the Kineticist's physical blasts. Attacking twice as often and with a better bonus just kind of made them feel... lacking. It was even worse when they both hit and did around the same damage because of DR and the Aristocrat's special material arrows.
Energy blasts: This faired a lot better in the accuracy department. they actually felt like they where doing something. Things of course turned a bit when resistant/immune targets where around. They'd gone with 1 physical and 1 energy blast so they where back to they accuracy they where avoiding by using energy.
#4 Defense: This didn't seem to be an issue. The fire one though seemed to be low man on totem pole. They need to be hit to use theirs. Our fire guy had a bad time when a resistant monster started chewing on him and it didn't take a single point of damage.
Air is a bit low too as you may not run into a lot of ranged attacks depending on the game. In ours the air guy DID get ranged attacks but not physical ones so his ability did nothing.
Others: seemed solid.
Overall: Even with the issues, everyone likes the class just not as-is. it seems like a good start but it needs some serious buffs to out of combat utility/skills/skill points. Overall accuracy for physical blasts need help.
Burn: This really turned us off. If it HAS to stay, I'd hope that the class stays viable without it and uses it as a buff. Needing it to stay competitive will have some people not play the class.
Is anyone playtesting these guys at level 9-12? That seems like where the accuracy issues and immunities are going to start being a problem. It sounds like levels 1-5 are being thoroughly tested but I suspect those aren't where the problems that need to be addressed are.
I playtested my Kineticist at 10th level... You can see my impression of the class' performance here (or here) if you're interested.
EDIT:
*Nice playtest info*
It was suggested to me that I should create thread with my playtest impressions so that my information didn't get lost in this rapidly-expanding thread.
I advise you to do the same.
Is anyone playtesting these guys at level 9-12? That seems like where the accuracy issues and immunities are going to start being a problem. It sounds like levels 1-5 are being thoroughly tested but I suspect those aren't where the problems that need to be addressed are.I playtested my Kineticist at 10th level... You can see my impression of the class' performance here (or here) if you're interested.
The last part of ours was 9th.
Extra Wild Talent
Prerequisites: kineticist level 6th
Benefit: You gain a wild talent that requires kineticist level 1st. At kineticist level 10th, you can instead choose to gain a wild talent that requires kineticist level 6th. At kineticist level 16th, you can instead choose to gain a wild talent that requires kineticist level 10th. In any case, you can't choose a wild talent if you don't meet its prerequisites.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time, you must choose a different wild talent.
I have a question on this. Was there a reason for the 6th level limit? My characters just paid to retrain at 6th to ignore the limitation. And with the required point blank shot/precise shot, it's not like you can get it much sooner.
A lot of the problems with the class could be solved with the right Wild Talents. Here is my attempt at them:
** spoiler omitted **
Honestly, we need a way to overcome Elemental Resistance without throwing out at least two and likely three-four turns of attacks that do no or next-to-no damage.
Have a low-level Talent mimic the effects of the Winter Witch's Unnatural Cold (targets are treated as having half their normal elemental resistance). A high-level one can imitate Unearthly Cold (half of the Kineticist's elemental damage is not subject to resistance/immunity).
Make 'em Substance Infusions with a reasonable Burn cost (1 for the first; 2-3 for the latter) and you retain the threat of the resistant/immune creatures while giving the Kineticist a way to fight back.
Match it up with some way of beating DR-- ideally an Amulet of Mighty Fists equivalent-- and a better accuracy gain (at least for the non-touch blasts) and the Kineticist comes out looking a lot better. Still has a few minor issues to solve, but that takes care of the worst of them.
But needing to eat two Burn to turn Fire Immunity into "Fire Resistance you can't get over anyway", and then next round one more burn to turn it into "Fire Resistance you're still screwed against", and then next round another burn for "Fire Resistance you can actually deal damage against"... that's not the way to go. As a lover of the elemental attacks to the point that I eschew the others outright, I would not buy any of those. It's not going to matter; I'm still better off running away.
My option allows you to halve the energy resistance of most creatures and completely defeat the energy resistance of most others in a single blat. Most ideas upthread were just turn immunity into "fire resistance you can't get over anyway", mine at least stacks. Hadn't seen the Unearthly Cold idea befor (not a witch fan).
And if you would pass turning resist 20 into 10 for an entire fight for a doing it to single shot for the same cost, then it's your problem. I like having good options instead of traps.
Everyone likes waking up in the morning with a nice steaming cup of passive aggressiveness...
In thinking about how energy blasting kineticists need to overcome resistance and immunity, I'm reminded of the elegance of the Searing Spell feat from 3.5's Sandstorm.
A searing spell is so hot that it ignores the resistance to fire of creatures affected by the spell, and affected creatures with immunity to fire still take half damage. This feat can be applied only to spells with the fire descriptor. Creatures with the cold subtype take double damage from a searing spell. Creatures affected by a searing spell are still entitled to whatever saving throw the spell normally allows. A searing spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.
Not sure how something like this would be implemented for the kineticist or how much burn it would cost. That's something for others more familiar with the class to consider...!
Fire Keneticists remind me of Bright Wizards from WAR. They were all about fire, and could end up hurting themselves to get massive fire effects.
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Put together an Aerokineticist this morning:
Seems decent enough at both ranged and melee combat, good all around defenses (except will), and has the neat trick of raining chain lightning down from above all day long if desired. She's not going to win any DPR contest, but hoards of mooks will fear her.
- Assumed: kinetic form activated every morning, accepting 2 burn.
- Ranged attacks are maximized and use a move action to negate burn.
- Chain lighting uses a move action to negate the 3rd point of burn.
- Force Shield is deactivated before gathering energy and reactived after.
Except you're not really amazing at burning down cities and forests....