Hey all!
So I am about to join a game starting at level 5 and I rolled this as my block: 14; 13; 15; 12; 15; 15. I was wondering what I could do to make a viable Kineticist build with this block. I was hoping to use Aether as my element, but I don't quite know how I would guarantee a steady flow of ammunition...anyone know how I would do that?
I would do arrows... less weight to carry and more ammo per container. Just a thought. Or just tell your GM that you constantly pick up rocks all over when you start getting low on "ammo".
I dunno why...but I never thought of that, and that's incredibly simple. Both of you, thank you!
I'll probably buy some arrows and start gathering rocks from that point on to take the place of the arrows once they're gone.
Now...what should I do about race and feat choices?
I would do arrows... less weight to carry and more ammo per container. Just a thought. Or just tell your GM that you constantly pick up rocks all over when you start getting low on "ammo".
Obsidian Arrows specifically. Cheaper and lighter, with the only difference being they have the Fragile quality, which doesn't matter at all for ammunition.
Human is always a good choice with the floating Attribute bonus and two feats. I would highly suggest the standard ranged feats of Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Now... once you get telekinetic Haul Precise Shot won't be as big of a deal since you can fly above the battlefield and ignore Cover.
Also, I like Bloodrealm's suggestion on the obsidian arrows.
Also, I like Bloodrealm's suggestion on the obsidian arrows.
You can make shuriken out of obsidian, too. They're spent like ammunition (50% chance to be destroyed when "fired"), so the Fragile quality is no big loss there, either.
Don't forget that if you do run out of ammo, you can shoot sweat or spit as bullets, kill people with quills, random bricks, blades of grass, slice people apart with a strand of hair, etc.
Human is always a good choice with the floating Attribute bonus and two feats. I would highly suggest the standard ranged feats of Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Now... once you get telekinetic Haul Precise Shot won't be as big of a deal since you can fly above the battlefield and ignore Cover.
Also, I like Bloodrealm's suggestion on the obsidian arrows.
I hadn't seen Telekinetic Haul yet, but I just read it...am I wrong in assuming that it can basically be used as flight? Or are you even considered an object?
|
once you get telekinetic Haul Precise Shot won't be as big of a deal since you can fly above the battlefield and ignore Cover.
Oh, no, you can`t. Because rules on concentrations says:
ConcentrationThe spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can also break your concentration while you're maintaining one, causing the spell to end. See concentration.
You can't cast a spell while concentrating on another one. Some spells last for a short time after you cease concentrating.
So you can`t blast and haul at the same time even if you manage to reduce actions needed.
|
Remember that you can also use(if you really are short on expendable ammo) any gold coins or small valuables on your person. A coin fired at a speed necessary to inflict slashing, piercing or blugeoning damage is just as dangerous as a gunshot. Gather power for move actions if engaging at range for use of extended range infusion blasts while limiting unnessasary burn.
A steady supply of ammunition is not hard to come by if you are just able to have any object weighing less than 5 pounds on your person. It's kind of the catch off guard of kinetic blasts.
Until I picked up my 2nd element (and thus had a more reliable blast), I started every battle by throwing caltrops over an area... they're the Telekineticist's best friend for the first 6 levels. :P
Basically as far as I have read the Kineticist has some fairly odd rules that seem to be at odds with each other. More or less any of the Kineticists will do. You can more or less play any of them so long as you have good CON and good DEX, everything else is more or less just extra or icing on the cake.
Water is good, you get the discount heal for when the Cleric runs out of healing, but you can take Aether as well. The majority of your damage will come from Composite blasts.
The community is pretty set on this one: the Aether Kineticist will deal about 1/2 the damage of the other Kineticists since Force Blast does the damage of a simple blast.
As for Telekinetic Haul, be aware that your GM might rule that regardless of what you do with it, you can only do the blast damage that is notated in its text block (simple blast, if I recall).
With the Aether blast you can probably pick up any rocks or whatever and throw it. If not, then remember that 100 cps is effectively 1gp. The other point is: the game says you can use common rocks on the ground for slings, so you should be able to just pick up whatever you find on the ground and Telekinetic Blast it at people. If they drop their item, telekinetic blast that at them.
For ammo, I talked to the GM and I came up with little steel balls that can attach to my belt and I can fire them from the belt as they detach. Thry are re-attachable and I keep 6 on my belt. Usually I use rocks and other debris when I can find it.
As far as TK Haul, you can use it as 'flight' but it requires concentration to maintain. As soon as you fire a blast your TK Haul object starts falling. Remember, it is mage hand as a SLA.
For race, human, dwarf, and hobgoblin are good choices. Your two primary stats are dex and con. Put your last 15 to int or wis. Int for skill points or wis for a better will save.
The community is pretty set on this one: the Aether Kineticist will deal about 1/2 the damage of the other Kineticists since Force Blast does the damage of a simple blast.
Most like 3/4th, as long as you don't plan to burn yourself out.
The progression of a kineticist's attacks go a bit like this as they level:
Simple Blast->lvl 5: Simple+Empower->lvl 11: Composite Blast->lvl 16: Composite+Empower.
Empower, at level 5, lets you multiple the power by x1.5 for 1 burn (which you can cover with gather- it is your full attack, basically). Until level 11, gather power isn't strong enough to cover the cost of a composite blast in a single round- once it does though, that becomes your default 'full attack'.
At level 16, composite specialization makes it possible to cover both the composite and an empower with gather power. But by that point, you will already have had 2 expanded elements, which means you can grab other composites. So you are mainly just suffering for levels 11-15 in terms of damage, and not as severely as you think. At least if you try to diversify you elements.
Technically, with that set up, people that have aether as one of their elements actually have another stage in their 'full attack
->lvl 19: Composite+Empower+Aetheric Boost.
With metakinesis master, empower is free, so you can spare the extra gather power to cover the cost of aetheric boost, which gives +1 damage per hit dice (and then gets x1.5 from empower; total of +30 damage). So their later game is strong, and it is a good justification for grabbing aether at level 15.
it's +1 damage per damage die in their blast, not hit dice.
The 11 -> 16 mark is a little bit more nuanced than that too. Sometimes you might still do basic + empower because your infusions need the extra 1 from gather power. But even w/o that aether's empowered basic isn't far from a regular composite. At 11 composite has 11d6+11 for 49.5. But the empowered basic can do 1.5*(6d6+6)= 40.5. This is before empower modified other bonuses like overflow and CON. As you can see, before composite spec. the difference between empowered basic and plain composite is near negligible. With just a maxed overflow and a CON of +6, you are only 3 damage behind the composite but you can infuse for 1 more.
If you can, get an adamantine sword or something, and most likely your blast damage won't ever get through it's hardness for a long time.
Yes the Aether can do similar "sustained damage" to other elements, but has no way to nova. A "real" composite can do a pretty big nova. And that's why they feel it has poor damage, cause it can't ever do "big damage"
The 11 -> 16 mark is a little bit more nuanced than that too. Sometimes you might still do basic + empower because your infusions need the extra 1 from gather power. But even w/o that aether's empowered basic isn't far from a regular composite. At 11 composite has 11d6+11 for 49.5. But the empowered basic can do 1.5*(6d6+6)= 40.5. This is before empower modified other bonuses like overflow and CON. As you can see, before composite spec. the difference between empowered basic and plain composite is near negligible. With just a maxed overflow and a CON of +6, you are only 3 damage behind the composite but you can infuse for 1 more.
Oh, of course there is more nuiance. But people don't complain too much about aether's infusions and such- it is the raw attack power. So I was just stating that there wasn't TOO MUCH of a loss there.
it's +1 damage per damage die in their blast, not hit dice.
Forgetting my terminology for dice, yes. But with composite blasts, the dice is about your hit dice, isn't it? Sure, a lag every other level, but you are still getting 2d6 per 2 levels.
And yes- less nova. Which may or may not be important to a player. STill, it is enough that in general use, it is fine.