Contributor
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I've had a blast the few times I've had the opportunity to play my tengu brawler, Mister Rook. He's proving challenging to master--there are SO MANY combat feats for him to choose among--but he's the first character I've played since high school who's main deal is to just hit things. Refreshing!
Venture-Agent, Massachusetts—Boston Metro
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I've had fun with my Faith Psychic tank (I'm 100% sure there's a more optimal way to play one, but he fits what I do)I was looking at this as an option. Are you taking advantage of the lack of ASF for psychics and wearing lots of armour without proficiency? If so how are you getting round the penalties on Initiative for being non proficient? I could do it with a Cha based Psychic but the better disciplines (including Faith) are all Wis.
You can dip one level of Battle Occultist to help you on that front.
EDIT:Im playing a Mesmerist and Promethean Alchemist. Mesmerist is a great class outside of me forgetting its got the defenses of a rogue which got me killed in a 7-9 scenario though I was only out 3000 gp really. Promethean Alchemist is kind of odd given that I am roleplaying two characters. Combat capability at low levels is practically nil since Im so focused on keeping the homunculus alive but its not like I can't help in other ways.
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I played a bloodrager through emerald spire (not PFS though) and it was awesome.
My pfs warpriest just hit level 11 last weekend. He's a huge beast. I walk around with my Scythe vital striking everything with a big chance of a crit because my wife has Butterfly's Sting.
But my favorite class is the hunter. Hunter Tactics is awesome. Animal Focus is awesome. Having both the ranger and the druid spell list is awesome. Pack Flanking + Outflank (outflank for free because hunter) is awesome.
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I've only been able to play my monk once since converting him to an Unchained Monk. He was right at 11 when Unchained came out, so I never played him at that level under his old build, but it was pretty much an across the board Upgrade. Higher BAB, higher to-hit on all his flurry attacks. Added flying kick. His Will save took a little bit of a hit, but I made my 11th level feat Iron Will, so it wasn't too bad. I think the only abilities I lost were spending a Ki to move an extra 20 feet, and Gaseous Form. The latter was replaced with Abundant Step.
I dipped three levels of Warpriest on my melee Oracle. I don't know if it was the most efficient path, but a swift Divine Favor to start most combats helps, and so did the bonus feat at 3rd to pick up Vital Strike (9th level overall, Oracle 6/Warpriest 3).
My Investigator has turned into a really fun character. Skills were his thing right from the beginning, and worked pretty much from the start. It took me a while to figure out combat for him. Once I started going the Alter Self route things improved greatly, and now with Monstrous Physique combined with Studied Combat and a long list of 10 min/level buffs (Heroism, Barkskin, his mutagen, See Invisibility, Resinous Skin, and False Life, plus Shield and Displacement when he has time to drink them), and he's more effective in melee than most of my character were at 9th level. He dishes out more damage than the Oracle/Warpriest for sure, and usually with a better AC.
My Brawler I've had fun with, but he feels a little underpowered. He deals decent damage, but it's tough to get his AC up to a good level.
I just made up my first Arcanist, who will start at level 2 due to GM and pregen credit. Looking forward to trying him out.
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My Geokineticist has been doing pretty well. I'm interested to see how it'll scale as I get him up in levels, but he's only level 2 at the moment. My unchained summoner does well, but I've found I enjoy playing her less and less as time goes on, mostly because I have learned I don't like the type of personality I gave her as much as I thought I might. I can switch it around, but a lot of it is worked into the build. Mechanically though, it works fine.
Unfortunately, we don't have a community who plays with much Occult here! I think I'm the only one with my Kineticist, though our VL is making a psychic that he hopes to play with in the near future.
As for ACG, the brawler and hunter have been magnificent to me. My brawler is level 10 (11 tomorrow night) and is capable of dropping attack roles in the 40s with ~120 damage a round on an average full attack (assuming I hit, and I'm fighting evil... the damage drops to just under 100 on average if not). I tweaked the hell out of his sense motive and I use Snake Style so I basically dodge one attack a round at the cost of an immediate action, and I can't be lied to (currently +27).
My hunter is a lot of fun, and I enjoy the flank shenanigans I've managed with it. It has a splash of Unchained rogue, and my plan is to have Hunter 8 / UC Rogue 4 at level 12 with 5d6 sneak attach damage against practically anything my AC and I can attack due to pack flanking. He's also a MASSIVE skill monkey with over 60 skill points at level 8, and the hunter spell list is phenomenal in granting you advantages in various situations. He has been my most adaptable character yet. And as I'm crit-farming with a falcata, he still can dish out decent damage (~50+ on a crit) with a decent to-hit modifier. Mixed with the animal companion he does pretty well both in and out of combat.
I have just created a Skald as one of my party-oriented support character options and while I have a great concept for him, I haven't gotten to play him. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I play a strength-based Investigator and he's a total beast. The alchemist spell list has a LOT of really good buffs on it, and Studied Combat is amazing. On the skill side he's mostly about social skills and while not the best diplomancer ever, does fair on higher DCs and autosucceeds in scenarios written to give average Joes a chance.
I retrained my Occultist Arcanist to wizard after the reprint because he was (due to Magical Lineage shenanigans) too much of a one-trick pony. My new build tends to prepare any single spell no more than 1x except a double helping of Haste, and it's been much more fun.
I have a Slayer that's getting Thunder & Fang online and that's kinda fun. It works but it's not the most brutal thing I've ever played.
Apart from that I've seen just about every ACG class in action a couple of times, but the one that most impressed me was the Abyssal Bloodrager. Pregen-wise, the Slayer is just sweet to work with. Ideal as a fill-out party member because he's both simple and effective.
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I haven't seen much of the Occult classes. I've got a L1 psychic but I'm kinda daunted by the chore of getting to L4. After that stuff should get more interesting I suppose. I've seen some effective Occultists though. I've also seen the kineticist pregen at L4 and L7, but it seems abit of a one-trick pony.
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I've seen quite a lot of unchained rogues recently, including as pregens for two scenarios. The class seems to work pretty well as advertised. Paizo really did some good here compared to the old rogue; Debilitating Injury is a fun ability.
I've seen a Flying Kick unchained monk in action and it is THE ki power. Moving and also full attacking, while enemies don't have that ability, is just super nice.
I haven't seen any unchained barbarians or summoners.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Finland—Tampere
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I haven't had a chance to play most of my characters with ACG and Occult levels enough to know how they manage.
The one character I've played a lot is my Emerald Spire character, who is currently a skald 8/dragon disciple 3. She struggled a bit in the earlier levels, but she's come into her own recently. Tons of HP, great AC even with a two-handed weapon, more spells than I ever find use for (the rest of the party is a card caster magus, a life oracle, and a fighter), and if we didn't have the Improved Critical line dwarf fighter with his heavy pick, she'd easily be the single-target damage MVP of the party. Still, she has a good niche in the party as a buffer and secondary damage dealer. Plus spell kenning has more than once saved our hides. (Thank goodness for aqueous orb...)
I built a bloodrager during the playtest and boy do I regret it. He's one of my worse ideas (kids, don't touch the flying blade, just don't - not even with a full-BAB class) and pretty much just stands around being a body on the battlefield. He's going into Bonekeep 2 on Sunday. I fully expect him to die there. Great character, but terrible AC and a worse to-hit make him a really worthless melee character. Yep, you read it here first - someone made an ineffective bloodrager.
I also have a brawler 2/hunter 1/slayer 1. The concept is a character that can disarm anyone, grab their weapon, and then beat them over the head with it. So far, I haven't really had an opportunity to do so - he'll be picking up Kick Up at level 5, taking brawler levels from here on out, and we'll see how it goes from there.
My white-haired witch took a level of strangler brawler (and a level of fighter) and will be taking two more to get better at grapple and pull out combat feats if she really needs to. She's the definition of a glass cannon, but so far at level 4 she hasn't really had a chance to get seriously hurt. (As a side note: I find it very amusing that a strangler brawler does not qualify for the Strangler feat.)
My kitsune unchained kitsune trickster rogue started taking arcanist levels and is heading into arcane trickster. Dimensional Slide really adds some interesting magical acrobatics into his fighting style, and buffs always help.
I made an investigator/witch because I wanted a witch who can pick locks. No, I don't know why. They're nothing to write home about - not super effective, not super ineffective either. They've managed to land in a lot of scenarios that weren't suited to their talents, though.
The most recent character I played is my undine amnesiac psychic. He very quickly got nicknamed "the most spontaneous caster" due to my tendency to roll very well on the amnesia table. The amnesiac archetype in specific really needs you to be flexible in your planning - sometimes the table lets you cast something you normally can't, and you usually want to take that opportunity, so you're constantly flipping through spells looking for possibilities. Keep an open mind and an open spellbook.
I'm also working on a flying blade swashbuckler who will be going into the Startoss Style line. It'll be interesting to see if that ever goes anywhere other than knife-throwing jokes.
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My Empiricist Investigator is to skills what archers are to combat. I'm actually starting to feel that she's infringing on the fun of others at the table with her utter domination over nearly any check. And while she's not overpowering in combat, she holds her own. And she's a nosy teen detective!
My Roc-riding Hunter is mostly GM and AP credit, but the few times I've played him have been a lot of fun. The Hunter may be one of my favorite classes.
My slinging Warpriest does very well in combat and contributes decently in social situations and with condition removal. I like the character, but I do find the lack of skill points a bit of turn-off.
My Brown-fur Transmuter Arcanist has been generally well-received for the massive buffs he provides, and he has the flexibility to take on other roles once everyone's buffed. Like most of the ACG classes, the Arcanist's greatest strength is its versatility.
I haven't played my Spiritualist since Occult Adventures was released. Looking forward to doing so soon. I don't think he'll be stealing any spotlights, which is fine. I'm just hoping I can find a niche for him to contribute effectively. To borrow some baseball nerdery, the class doesn't seem to have a high ceiling in WAR (Wins Above Replacement).
ETA:
Oh, and the Spell Warrior Skald I'm playing in RoW is surprising everyone with how useful he is. I totally underestimated that class.
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I've noticed a lot some of the occult classes (namely Mesmerists) struggle in some of the older scenarios I've GM'd, particularly ones with undead only or a plethora of creatures that are immune to mind affecting abilities. I've not played a mesmerist or any occult class personally so I'm not sure if it's the player's not constructing them correctly, but it seems a sort of universal issue.
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PFS Mesmerists should strongly consider taking Bold Stare: Psychic Inception at L3
Psychic Inception: The hypnotic stare and its penalty can affect creatures that are mindless or immune to mind-affecting effects (such as an undead or vermin). The mesmerist can also partially affect such a creature with his mind-affecting spells and abilities if it's under the effect of his hypnotic stare; it gains a +2 bonus on its saving throw (if any), and if affected, it still has a 50% chance each round of ignoring the effect. Ignoring the effect doesn't end the effect, but does allow the creature to act normally for that round.
Or take the Spirit Walker archetype which specifically deals with undead:
Undead Inception (Su)
At 1st level, a spirit walker can affect undead creatures with his hypnotic stare as the psychic inception bold stare ability. This allows him to affect only undead; he must actually choose the psychic inception bold stare improvement if he wants to also affect other mindless creatures. At 3rd level when the spirit walker uses this ability, undead targets don't receive a saving throw bonus (if they did to begin with), have only a 25% chance of ignoring the spirit walker's mind-affecting spells and abilities, and no longer need to be under the spirit walker's gaze to be affected. At 5th level, when the spirit walker uses his mind-affecting spells and abilities, they affect all undead normally, with no chance of failure.
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I made a Strangler 5/Savage Technologist 2 who routinely drops 8d6+40(or more if animal fury hits) grapple routines on top of hostile stuff. He's also often either way too powerful or completely useless, like all grapplers. I've stopped buying grappling gear, like demonspike pauldrons and shirts of immolation and started investing on technology just to teach that pony more than one trick.
My Slayer is okayish. I'm still kinda iffy about not having Ranger spells and too much of his damage is reliant on sneak attacks(TWF+shield master), but there's nothing particularily bad about the class. I find it kind of funny that when archetypes hit back in 2009 it was favored terrain that frequently saw the back end of the boot, but now I'm salivating about its possibilities. I think it's the spells, really. Without them as a crutch I start to hoard boni pretty hard. Camouflage blankets are also super fun. Blankets and boots of friendly terrain...it's like a deadly wardrobe!
Then I've got a Dwarven bloodrager in Reign of Winter. He's a powerhouse, but I miss my Barbarian hd(-2 ac AND d10 is painful) and rage powers and frequently find out I've forgotten to cast spells. You get so few that it's almost like an afterthought. I absolutely adore the archetypes though. Blood Conduit and Untouchable are crazy interesting and I need to try them out at some point. I've avoided making a Bloodrager for PFS mainly because none of the bloodlines either pique my interest or offer anything I haven't tried(got a dragon disciple already, my RoW dwarf is destined, etc), but now that they've started to release cool ones(Kyton, Black Blood), I think I'm game.
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In your parlance I have reached 7th level as an Empiricist Investigator. I find that the Decemvirate always seems to send me off on missions with the strangest groups of people. It's fantastic! I've met so many interesting folks, and they generally seem to appreciate how useful I am at knowing all kinds of things, and being able to pick locks, as well as talk the pants off a Taldan noble (the poor fellow). I'm always finding ways to make my allies more capable in combat and keep enemies from hitting them.
Bartok is my current favorite character and I find he basically crushes most skill challenges, and auto-aids with his helpful +4 when someone else can take point. For early levels he mostly just aided another in combat, but with bodyguard feat buffing with his AoOs, plus studied combat he's been taking a more direct combat roll in recent levels.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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I have an Ifrit Gunslinger (Mysterious Stranger) 1 / Swashbuckler (Piccaroon) 3 / Investigator (Slueth Mastermind) / Shield Marshal X Aside from having to juggle an obscene number of swift actions, it is pretty cool (I have 4 offensive swift actions and 3 defensive immediate action, and I have to pick one each turn...)
I have a wayang protean summoner who is delightfully disturbing, though I am still waiting for the build to really come online. Though reach - strike - grab - move adjacent has been hilarious. (Especially when fighting on catwalks... Adjacent doesn't necessarily mean there is anything there to hold you up...)
I have a Nagaji Skald Spell Warrior built, but not played yet, and an idea for a Tengu Tekko Kagi Sunder\Disarm Warpriest.
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Dwarf Unchained Monk (Currently level 10) - takes advantage of Flying Kick often. I think I actually prefer it to pounce in some ways. It gives up a good bit in terms or range, but makes up for it in terms of flexibility. I don't have to have an open charge lane, and I can use it before or after any one of my attacks. Drop the target next to me with the first attack? I can move to engage another and finish my flurry.
Undine Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade)/Ranger (Freebooter) - Fun to play but by no means optimized. Inspired Blade is a decent 1 level dip for some swashbuckler deeds getting some free feats as well as getting to add two attributes to my Panache Pool. But I only plan on taking ranger levels from there on out and making the most of the Dirty Tricks line of feats through the Faithful of Besmara combat style. Has a variety of skill useful in social situations and subterfuge as well as action oriented skills. Can quickly disguise herself due to her Flesh Chameleon racial trait, Augment Disguise trait, and her Sleeves of Many Garments. Only level 2 right now, so it will take some time to see how she plays out.
Human Fighter (Eldtrich Guardian)/Inquisitor (Spellbreaker) - Only a 1 level dip into fighter but staying inquisitor the rest of the way. Maybe a bit of an oddity in that he's an Eldtrich Guardian that doesn't have a mauler familiar. He took a hedgehog emissary familiar. I get a couple of decent benefits from the combination. Hedgehog gives +2 will, emissary has at-will guidance, so the hedgehog mostly sits in the familiar satchel constantly refreshing guidance on my PC so that he always has a floating +1 bonus to use under normal circumstances. Plus if my PC fails a save against a mind effecting effect, his familiar can try to bail him out once per day by making a save of its own. At level 3, I pick up the Boon Companion feat, which will let my familiar use the benefit of the Family domain once per day, allowing him to transfer a negative effect on my PC to itself.
Wayang Dark Tapestry Oracle - Haven't gotten to play with him much, but he is mostly geared towards sneaking around (+16 Stealth) and messing with the minds of other creatures. Still level 1 and doesn't have a whole lot to do against mindless enemies at this point.
Sylph Unchained Rogue - Level 4 so just got access to the first ability of his scout archetype. Zips around and tries to stab things with an Elven Branch Spear to hamper them. Will eventually have the ability to spring attack and fly. Otherwise has skills useful in exploring out of combat.
Tengu Slayer (Vanguard) - Currently level 2, likes to tear into things with claws and bite but has a few backup weapons. I roleplay him has a lover of languages who desires to collect things that are written and often repeats himself by saying the same thing several different ways just so he can use more words. He'll keep his Linguistics maxed out and pick of Skill Focus as level 3 so that he can grab Esoteric Linguistics at level 5 which will allow him to use a variety of scrolls and should improve his versatility in that manner.
Those are the ones I can think of that I have been playing recently.
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Gosh. I have too many. And they're all good.
12th level Thunder and Fang Warpriest going through Emerald Spire. He's a beast.
9th level Ifrit Swashbuckler that's usually the primary damage dealer in her groups.
7th level Overwhelming Soul Aerokineticist with a Bodyguarding Eagle Animal Companion.
2nd level Empiricist Investigator that rolled a 39 Diplomacy.
Statted up a Ganzi Bloodrager, an Elf Psychic, and a Grippli Spiritualist that look great on paper.
7th level Overwhelming Soul Aerokineticist with a Bodyguarding Eagle Animal Companion.
How dose the Overwhelming Soul vs normal kineticist compare?
My Aerokineticist is having a blast (heh) in Skull and Shackles. She's sneaky, scary, and doesn't need any equipment to murder things.
Can't wait to play my Rebirth Discipline Psychic. It's pretty much a straight upgrade from Sorcerer. Flexible spell known every day and a perfect list of class skills? Perfect!
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I've had no complaints. The regular Kineticist is (IMO) overpowered, so losing Burn options probably brings the class in line with other characters. Ranged PCs are strong, and flying ranged PCs are brutal. And I'm nowhere near what others would consider "optimal", either.
In my area there's another Aerokineticist who has no archetype. He does a little more damage, but he also has no face skills. I like the balance of the two. The character would probably be dismally boring if all I could do was blast.
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I didn't go Empiricist on my Investigator, but I did dip a level of Sleepless Detective, which gave me Int to Perception, Sense Motive, and Diplomacy to gather information, in addition to the normal stat bonuses. At 10th level, my Perception is +29+Free Inspiration, which includes Alertness (a prerequisite for Sleepless Detective), but I don't have Skill Focus. I've seen builds that were higher on Perception, but it's still nice to have a take 10 of 40 (to 45). It's a little too easy for an Investigator to outshine on skills. I try to remember that while playing him and step back sometimes. I also find a lot of my skills to be very swingy because of Inspiration. Most of the knowledge skills I only put 1 rank into (plus Breadth of Experience), which at this point gets me a +12, or 13-18 after Inspiration. Which means I could get as high as a 38 or as low as a 14. Since my take 10 can't quite reach 30, I tend to roll even out of combat. Which means I could know all the things or nothing. But in general, I can easily hit 30+ on more skills than just about any other character I've run into, and it's been that way for several levels. I'm sure there are many ways to make an even more skill oriented build than mine. I haven't even put any favored class bonuses into skill points.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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I've seen a Dhampir Arcanist (Brown-Fur Transmuter) in action, she's great. She either buffs her familiar or someone else to ungodly levels, then tears through scenarios. If she's got time to prep, combat is over.
I've seen several Bloodragers. As Ascalaphus said, the Abyssal bloodline is amazing, but other than that, it's a cute variation on the regular Barbarian.
Not that impressed by the Brawler, myself, but I appreciate the flexibility it offers.
Hunter is a great class for combat-focused Druids. The spell list is pretty amazing.
I've seen Ascalaphus' Investigator in action. He's terrifying. I like the powerset he has access to, makes him really versatile.
I'm undecided on the Shaman. They're great buffers, but I still don't know what their place is.
Haven't seen a Skald yet. I saw a mockup in a non-PFS context and I like what it does, but not that wowed by it.
I really like the Slayer, but he's pretty bland. He's a Rogue with better tricks up his sleeve, as he has access to a lot of combat feats the Rogue doesn't, and full-BAB, medium armour and d10 HD is what the Rogue was sorely lacking, IMHO. He offsets that by having less sneak attack, but you can't have it all. Also, the pregen is amazing. While most APG pregens are pretty difficult, the accessibility of the Slayer is wonderful.
Swashbucklers look fine on their own, but I'm not that impressed by them at higher levels. They thrive off parry and riposte, but later on monsters have a way better to-hit than PCs that they can't really keep up anymore.
Warpriest is fun. I like the "selfish Cleric" aspect of them. Like the Magus, they're great in their action economy and while they don't have the offensive spell power of the Magus, they're still powerful combatants. The Blessings aren't that amazing, though.
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I've seen a few Kineticists around, and they're pretty fun, but I can't get the hang of the class. I don't know what it does. Also, the pregen is pretty terrible, IMHO.
I know there's a Medium somewhere in our playgroup, but I haven't seen him in action yet. Not that amazed by the class, there's only one or two great spirits and you should ignore the rest, I feel.
I've seen a Mesmerist in action, and it drives me to despair. Whenever he's at the table, I go "you do WHAT now?" Great debuffer. Mental Block can go die in a fire, though.
I love the Occultist. I have one at level 10 now, and I love how versatile he is. He has a pretty limited spell selection, but he makes up for it with spell-like focus powers. Add to that the fact that he can also be a beast in melee and it's an instant favourite. I seem to be the only one in my playgroup with an Occultist, though.
I've seen a low-level Psychic, but I'm not that impressed yet. The ability to upgrade your spells does seem pretty fun, though.
Never seen a Spiritualist. Like the Shaman, I'm not sure what it's trying to do. It's got an Eidolon-like thing but way crappier, bland spell selection, and weird abilities, and I'm not sure what he's supposed to do.
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I think most of them are quite strong and I've played quite a few of them myself.
I have swashbuckler/cleric who is quite good with combat and does alright in skills. Parrying can be quite effective in some instances but if there's lots of ranged combat he will fare a lot worse.
I also made medium for the playtest version who used natural attacks but now after the changes he mostly uses reach weapons and champion spirit in combat. It's alright in combat but doesn't really break anything.
My Hunter is fun to play if there's some melee combat because he can have a lot of fun with teamwork feats with his trusty panda companion. This can be very effective if you get into a good position because their attack of opportunity bonuses are very good.
For Kineticist I made a grippli and I have fun playing it but there's not much variety for combat yet. Has been quite powerful in the lower levels but we'll see how he fares when he get higher.
For Emerald Spire I have Brown-Fur Transmuter who buffs our melees and after that proceeds to blast the enemies. He's quite powerful with all the buffs and makes our groups melees even more deadly.
i like my brawler ( nuck chorris) a dwarven bouncer from cheliax
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Bearing in mind I GM mostly for newer players, my players tend to stick to the core classes. Exceptions are my girlfriend (witch) and one D&D 3.5 veteran and powergamer (magus kensai bladebound/fighter).
When I GM in our FLGS the owner tends to play an inquisitor while the VL goes for an investigator.
Most other players played core classes IIRC.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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My level 2 psychic detective almost got killed playing up but we had a number of bad decisions and die rolls that didn't help.
I've enjoyed him so far, and look forward to keeping him alive. Taking the undead affecting pherenic enhancement and spell focus enchantment will help
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I've got a Skald 4 sitting on the bench, a Hunter 5/Medium 1 archer that wrecks face pretty consistently (Deadeye Bowman covers up a lot of problems), and a Bloodrager 4/Brawler 1/Cavalier 4 that does too many things in combat.
The scariest tables in the 5-9 tier right now are ones where my archer and the VL's wereshark hunter are tabled together because of pheromone arrows. It's amazing how effective a 15gp "consumable" can be.
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Oh, and the Spell Warrior Skald I'm playing in RoW is surprising everyone with how useful he is. I totally underestimated that class.
Is it due to the weapon enchantment or the counterspelling abilities? I keep looking at it and wondering how it would work as it doesn't look like it stacks as the Paladin ability does. The counterspelling looks great in early levels, but seems like it'll slowly get outpaced as you climb in levels.
I'd really like to hear how you've been finding it effective!
My group has a Spiritualist. It's hands down the best at dealing with locked/barred doors, simply phasing through and unlocking from the other side.
The low-level Occultist is pretty effective, having all elements on tap and the knowledges to ID weaknesses.
My Bloodrager was a beast. Much more fun than Barbarian, since a little casting goes a long way and reach-rage made for a very creepy effect.
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Venture-Agent, Nebraska—Lincoln
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I get a lot of slayers in my local PFS game, and a hunter and kintecist. These aren't super-experienced PFS players, they just want to use their new books. Everyone's having fun with it which is the important thing.
I played my unchained summoner the first time this weekend and was really effective. When I play in Omaha, I don't think I see a lot of occult classes, but a lot of unchained rogues and a few unchained monks and barbarians, and a few of the ACG classes. My main character is a warpriest and I have a warpriest buddy and we do pretty well together. Omaha just has fewer casters overall it seems, though.
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The scariest tables in the 5-9 tier right now are ones where my archer and the VL's wereshark hunter are tabled together because of pheromone arrows. It's amazing how effective a 15gp "consumable" can be.
Pheromone arrows are amazing with hunters.
Arcanists might be the most powerful full-caster class thanks to spellbooks and quick study. Their ability to "borrow" schools and bloodlines makes 1-level dips in Wizard or Sorcerer particularly good, especially for blaster shenanigans. They tend to start slow, though, due to their slow spellcasting progression.
Brawlers are really freakishly good at combat maneuvers, not just hitting things. They seem fun but I haven't played one.
Hunters are really really fun. The combined spell list is an amazing option for a spontaneous 6-level caster, and the animal companion stuff is great. Not so overpowered as some of the other classes in terms of being able to shut down encounters, but they're good nonetheless.
Investigators are another excellent rogue replacement.
Swashbucklers are fun but mid-powered until they get a keen weapon or improved critical, and start parrying and riposte-ing all the time. I haven't played one so I might be missing some utility early in the class there.
I've got a low-level medium, post-playtest, who is very good at hurting things. Mediums seem to hold up well as long as you're using the Strength spirit. The caster spirits seem like they'd be more useful at later levels once you can start getting actual, useful spellcasting from them, but they're terrible early.
Mesmerists aren't quite witches, but they're close.
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Venture-Agent, Missouri—St. Louis
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Swashbucklers are fun but mid-powered until they get a keen weapon or improved critical, and start parrying and riposte-ing all the time. I haven't played one so I might be missing some utility early in the class there.
Swashbucklers don't actually need Keen or Improved Critical. They get it for free for all Swashbuckler weapons at 5th.
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From my experience (a very tiny experience in fact), the new Occult classes are too complicated to play.
This. I have not been able to get into any of the occult characters, personally, despite the theme and fluff of the book being very appealing. (And I used to play Star Fleet Battles and Harpoon, so too many rules is not generally a turn-off.) I love the idea of the occultist, the mesmerist... but the rules realization just seems like a lot of detail for little game impact.
We see a lot of ACG classes here (arcanists, investigators, shamans, and bloodragers are most common that I've seen, with some swashbucklers and a smattering of others), but very few occult classes.
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I haven't played the occult classes yet, and only seen them at tables a few times, but I agree that there's a steep learning curve there.
With the ACG and Unchained classes, at least you could look at the older classes and say "It's like X, except...".
With the occult classes, the whole game is redefined, so you really have to spend the time learning all the details before diving in. I've looked through them all briefly, but don't feel like I've really wrapped my head around any of them enough to make a PC.
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Swashbucklers don't actually need Keen or Improved Critical. They get it for free for all Swashbuckler weapons at 5th.
Swashbucklers are fun but mid-powered until they get a keen weapon or improved critical, and start parrying and riposte-ing all the time. I haven't played one so I might be missing some utility early in the class there.
Oh, do they? Didn't realize. That explains a lot, then, although there's at least one local swashbuckler who has paid for a keen weapon...