|
Just wanted to double check something here. As I read it, a normal Kinteticist gets:
1st basic blast, utility, infusion, gather power2nd elemental defense, utility
3rd elemental overflow +1, infusion
4th utility
5th infusion, specialization 1, metakinesis(empower)
6th elemental overflow +2, internal buffer +1, utility
7th expanded element
8th specializtion 2, utility
9th elemental overflow +3, infusion, metakinesis(maximize)
10th utility
11th infusion, specialization 3, internal buffer +2, supercharge
12th elemental overflow +4, utility
While an Elemental Annihilator Kineticist gets:
1st basic blast, devestating infusion, gather power2nd elemental defense, bonus feat
3rd elemental overflow +1, extended range infusion
4th ever present threat
5th blast training, specialization 1, metakinesis(empower)
6th elemental overflow +2, internal buffer +1, flurry of devestation
7th expanded element
8th specialization 2, bonus feat
9th elemental overflow +3, extreme range infusion, metakinesis(maximize)
10th bonus feat
11th PRAISE DESNA AN INFUSION WILD TALENT!!!!, specialization 3, internal buffer +2, supercharge
12th elemental overflow +4, flurry of devestation
So other than choice of feats and elemental focus, every Elemental Annihilator is going to look basically the same until level 11? Is that right?
I don't see anything that stops Elemental Annihilators from taking Extra Wild Talent from their normal feat slots, so there's that.
You can switch things around a bit with what you focus on.
Elemental annihilators can bring a perfect fusion of melee and ranged attacks for switch hitting- since all their attacks are the same weapon. You can also switch between 2 handed and TWF, so it is a double weapon too.
That is why there is variance in the build- which style do you focus on? 2 handed? TWF? Archery?
You can, eventually, handle all of them. If you abandon one (TWF seems like a contender), then you have room for different feats. But for actual class abilities?
Yeah, mostly the same. I will note that expanded element does give you an infusion as an option. Since you can't get utility talents or defenses from secondary elements, and you pretty much want to go all physical blasts, then you might as well go mono element and get the infusion. So 7, 11, and then normal progression of infusions.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Just like how all zen archers are the same, including feats...
I don't see anything that stops Elemental Annihilators from taking Extra Wild Talent from their normal feat slots, so there's that.
Thinking about it, the main problem with that is the fact that you can't get that feat until you could grab an infusion from expanded element anyway (since it needs kineticist 6, and you get a feat at level 7)
She can never use metakinesis or substance infusions with flurry of devastation.
But I guess you can empower your one hit version.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
She can never use metakinesis or substance infusions with flurry of devastation.
But I guess you can empower your one hit version.
And that is, in fact, one of the advantages of the archetype. It also has the option to go with a one big blast when it can only do standard actions. It can full attack at range, it can full attack up close, it can move in close and standard attack, it can move back and standard attack at range.
It also opens up to lots of infusions at level 11- about when a 'fighter' starts feeling like it isn't growing as fast as the casters. So it proper spell like abilities around when the caster/martial gap starts getting amping up.
She can never use metakinesis or substance infusions with flurry of devastation.
But I guess you can empower your one hit version.
And that is, in fact, one of the advantages of the archetype. It also has the option to go with a one big blast when it can only do standard actions. It can full attack at range, it can full attack up close, it can move in close and standard attack, it can move back and standard attack at range.
It also opens up to lots of infusions at level 11- about when a 'fighter' starts feeling like it isn't growing as fast as the casters. So it proper spell like abilities around when the caster/martial gap starts getting amping up.
The only true complaint I have about it as a melee character is that it pretty much 'has' to resort to standard action blasts when DR rolls around (due to the 'one big hit' overpowering the DR). I have never been sure what it is supposed to do against a demon with DR 10/Good besides turn into 'base kineticist with less infusions'. Cluster shot helps later on, but 2 handing suffers, and TWF might as well go out the window in that scenario.
Use energy instead, since it ignores DR? I don't know, maybe the hit to damage by using energy instead of physical is still worse than doing one big physical hit.
That would be good as your secondary blast, but your primary needs to be physical as the primary attack does not work with energy blasts.
Use energy instead, since it ignores DR? I don't know, maybe the hit to damage by using energy instead of physical is still worse than doing one big physical hit.That would be good as your secondary blast, but your primary needs to be physical as the primary attack does not work with energy blasts.
Yep. You can have an energy blast as a secondary blast, but you can't use it for the flurry stuff. So it is stuck as the basic standard action blast.
And really, if we are talking about the basic blast, then DR is not a problem. Kineticists are a one big hit class- it hit only encounters DR once, and hits hard enough that DR is negligible. At worst, the DR would just remove the extra damage you get over physical a lot of the time (or a point or two more taken away). If you are using a purely physical composite blast, then you will definitely hit hard with physical than energy.
Energy is about touch AC, mostly. It is actually the one that faces defenses that make it useless (no one really has melee immunity, or at least that is rare when your attack hits like it is magic, but lots of things have fire immunity, or even just fire resist 20)