We all know poor old Harsk is the bane of random PFS play. You see the kid next to you playing Harsk and have to wonder if your character is going to survive the scenario.
Prejudice against Harsk from rabid min/maxers? Maybe, but the fact is a lot of people think of Harsk as a subpar pregen (even among the other pregens whose reputation isn't exactly shining).
So the question is: how would YOU redo Harsk as a pregen? What would it take to make him playable and fun? What's YOUR version of Harsk the iconic Ranger?
The only 3 things you need to keep consistent are his crossbow, his two handed axe and, later on, Biter, as those are defining traits for Harsk imagery.
How would I change him?
For 1st lvl not much, really.
Harsk
Dwarf ranger 1
LN Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
Defense
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 14 (1d10+3+1)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2; +3 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities
Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge bonus to AC vs. giants)
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee battleaxe +3 (1d8+2/×3)
Ranged heavy crossbow +4 (1d10/19–20)
Special Attacks +1 on attack rolls against goblinoid and orc humanoids, favored enemy (humanoids [giants] +2)
Tactics
During Combat Harsk prefers fighting with his crossbow over his battleaxe. His hatred for giants often motivates him to target creatures of that subtype to the exclusion of others.
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 5
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 16 (20 vs. bull rush, 20 vs. trip)
Feats Point Blank Shot
Skills Handle Animal +1, Knowledge (geography, nature) +4, Perception +6 (+8 to notice unusual stonework), Stealth +6, Survival +6
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ track +1, wild empathy +0
Gear studded leather, battleaxe, heavy crossbow with 30 bolts, antitoxin, backpack, smokestick, trail rations (4), signal whistle, tea pot, 11 gp
Harsk is actually built fairly well in my opinion. His main problem is that is that designers chose flavour over function. Particularly given the game mechanics a crossbow just doesn't make any sense for an archer. Give him a longbow and replace his crossbow related feats and he'd be fine.
We all know poor old Harsk is the bane of random PFS play. You see the kid next to you playing Harsk and have to wonder if your character is going to survive the scenario.
Reason #930297 never to play PFS.
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Level 7 Harsk could be okay if he took crossbow mastery instead of far shot, and retrained rapid reload into deadly aim or rapid shot. But you're not likely to see an APG feat on an iconic character from the core rulebook because of PFS core campaign. And without crossbow mastery it's pretty much impossible to use a heavy crossbow effectively.
For the same reason you probably won't be seeing Boon companion either. But if someone just wanted to try out Pathfinder for the first time using iconics, I would likely retrain Harsk like this.
1 Rapid Reload -> Point Blank Shot
2 Precise Shot
3 Deadly Aim, Endurance
5 Boon Companion/Iron Will
6 Crossbow Mastery
7 Rapid Shot
So level 1 and 4 get's Rapid Reload, which gets swapped out on the level 7 that's taken crossbow mastery. It's not incredibly optimized, but you don't have to change any gear, and does a lot better than the 1d10+2 damage that level 7 Harsk does right now. And even does a little better than the 1d10+1 level 4 Harsk does as well.
Indeed. You can achieve "mediocre" with crossbows with supplements, but a core crossbowman, especially with a heavy crossbow, is just irredeemably terrible, and choosing Harsk is trolling the table.
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Every pregens terrible...
The wizards spellbooks thinner than the the sharp edge of reality
with valeros dual wielding calling miss is mere formality
The one to pick I fear I must prognosticate
with cons that low i doubt at all they can coagulate
Why anyone would play a toon this bad remains a mystery
I can't believe you'd tolerate them in your character history
with Merisiels lack of social skills you will achieve
a little less p a then if you'd maxed out ranks in basket-weave
That I'd rather eat an otyug may speak to my neurology
but the saranite is limited to healing methodology
the thought of picking any one of them's unbearable
Harsk is bad beyond the worst but every pregens terrible.