It's similar to the caster v martial disparity. A Martial in super magic gear could very well be equivalent to a far far far less geared wizard. They are equivalent because the martial has far more wealth and is slightly better at wielding weapons and wearing armor. But this doesn't make the martial feel equivalent because the magic gear is not dependent on his class features and he requires a massive wealth advantage to get the edge (and perhaps even custom magic items).
So how will Starfinder make the tech class equivalent to the magic classes without arbitrarily locking tech to specific classes? We know that actual technology is designed to be used by people who did not make it. Iron-Man can loan out his suits to Fighter-pilots and those tech noobs can be just as dangerous in combat. If Iron-man and Warmachine were in the same party, Warmachine is the worse character even if he has a +2-5 bonus to hit.
I would say that Iron-man and Dr. Strange could be in the same party without either being the object worse. But Tony Stark is vastly more wealthy than just about any other Marvel hero. Tony Stark with a Spiderman budget is just a normal person.
For technomancers to stay equivalent to innate magic characters, I think the tech characters will need class features to generate extra money.
But what about poor Warmachine? Star-Lord seems the better example of a mundane character done right. He doesn't build tech, he doesn't normally use magic, but he does seem to have a higher action economy than the more extraordinary members of the cast. It doesn't take him 2 rounds to switch weapons, deploy grenades, rig a ship to explode, and flip on his mask while blowing away 5-6 people. He flies around in fights, but he doesn't have alien reflexes. He seems to just be using his complex arsenal very quickly with great ease. I don't think the other guardians aside from Raccoon, could perform similarly with the same gear.
I do hope these issues are addressed. Warmachine makes a great cohort, not a PC class. I don't want to see Warmachine classes in Starfinder. I also don't want to see classes that try to justify their existence with slightly higher accuracy.
I wouldn't be surprised if they used the fact that it's Science Fantasy rather than Sci-Fi to justify why you can't just hand your class-feature gear to allies, like the alchemist has in PF.
This is a question I am very confident the SFDT is greatly debating at this time. :)
They'll probably scale back the cost of equipment but not material components.
It's similar to the caster v martial disparity. A Martial in super magic gear could very well be equivalent to a far far far less geared wizard. They are equivalent because the martial has far more wealth and is slightly better at wielding weapons and wearing armor. But this doesn't make the martial feel equivalent because the magic gear is not dependent on his class features and he requires a massive wealth advantage to get the edge (and perhaps even custom magic items).
So how will Starfinder make the tech class equivalent to the magic classes without arbitrarily locking tech to specific classes? We know that actual technology is designed to be used by people who did not make it. Iron-Man can loan out his suits to Fighter-pilots and those tech noobs can be just as dangerous in combat. If Iron-man and Warmachine were in the same party, Warmachine is the worse character even if he has a +2-5 bonus to hit.
I would say that Iron-man and Dr. Strange could be in the same party without either being the object worse. But Tony Stark is vastly more wealthy than just about any other Marvel hero. Tony Stark with a Spiderman budget is just a normal person.
For technomancers to stay equivalent to innate magic characters, I think the tech characters will need class features to generate extra money.
But what about poor Warmachine? Star-Lord seems the better example of a mundane character done right. He doesn't build tech, he doesn't normally use magic, but he does seem to have a higher action economy than the more extraordinary members of the cast. It doesn't take him 2 rounds to switch weapons, deploy grenades, rig a ship to explode, and flip on his mask while blowing away 5-6 people. He flies around in fights, but he doesn't have alien reflexes. He seems to just be using his complex arsenal very quickly with great ease. I don't think the other guardians aside from Raccoon, could perform similarly with the same gear.
I do hope these issues are addressed. Warmachine makes a great cohort, not a PC class....
The characters you're referring to aren't properly tech or fantasy characters but superheroes which is a different kettle of fish. More than likely Starfinder is going to look a lot like Dragonstar when it comes to mechanics and classes, but not setting.