
2ndGenerationCleric |
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So courtesy of multiple sources (MMCJawa/ Knowdirection/DaleMcCoyJr /Athos710) we know Gencon revealed the 7 classes:
Soldier: Weapon specialist, future of the fighter
Operative: Uses subterfuge, sniper, skill monkey
Envoy: Utility, leader-esque
Mechanic: fixes stuff and has a compainion
Technomancer: Magic meets Tech
Mystic: Cosmic Channeler
Solarion: Balance of the universe, mystical melee?
Unless they change a lot of stuff around, chances are characters will still have the same ability scores (Str, Dex, Etc) and it makes me wonder-how will they work? Which will rely on which stats?
In terms of the three "caster" classes, I'm guessing the Solarion will have wisdom for it's primary stat, that Technomancer will be intelligence, and that Mystic will be either Wisdom or Charisma based. I would guess Charisma, but I can't help but think both the Envoy and the Operative will have class skills based on Charisma, as the stats would be needed to be inspirational and to pull off deception. Mechanic I would say would be Intelligence as well, for obvious reasons.
Soldier and Operative definitely have some sort of physical base.
Operative I can see having some sort of precision damage, though maybe not sneak attack per say.
Mechanics definitely seem more dex-ish, but not locked in.
I also think there will be either a new stat, or an altered/additional form of BAB if soldiers are good at both ranged AND close combat. Envoy would probably do well there too? Maybe? Only way I can understand this being the Han Solo/Leia class. Also expecting some form of inspire from them, though again, not a carbon copy of the bard's.
That's all I've been able to gleam from it, but thats only just looking at them a little. Any other ideas for them?

XLordxErebusX |

i personally would like the Operative to have an ability to trade off their iterative attacks for a higher BAB to make a sort of Vital Strike, combining all the damage from a bunch of attacks into one single attack.
Perhaps a later ability to get multiple rerolls to hit the mark on that single powerful attack. Extra accuracy and a butt load of damage when they hit, without sneak attack's silly requirements.

Lord Mhoram |

Pretty sure they said 7 to start, but there's gonna be a bunch of archetypes
Yeah, the core PF book didn't have archetypes, so that really does expand the 7 out some - especially when they said that Mystic could sit in for a head-explody psychic type. I expect some "Archeologist" level archetypes that really change how the class is used out of this.

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2ndGenerationCleric wrote:Pretty sure they said 7 to start, but there's gonna be a bunch of archetypesYeah, the core PF book didn't have archetypes, so that really does expand the 7 out some - especially when they said that Mystic could sit in for a head-explody psychic type. I expect some "Archeologist" level archetypes that really change how the class is used out of this.
The Mystic could be psychic? Awesome!
...Now that I think about it, isn't D&D playtesting a psionic class called Mystic?

Lord Mhoram |

Lord Mhoram wrote:2ndGenerationCleric wrote:Pretty sure they said 7 to start, but there's gonna be a bunch of archetypesYeah, the core PF book didn't have archetypes, so that really does expand the 7 out some - especially when they said that Mystic could sit in for a head-explody psychic type. I expect some "Archeologist" level archetypes that really change how the class is used out of this.The Mystic could be psychic? Awesome!
...Now that I think about it, isn't D&D playtesting a psionic class called Mystic?
I think so. I may be misremembering but that is what I recall.

Coffee Demon |

I'd expect some heavy consideration is going into MAD / SAD class design, and I would expect more tendency towards MAD classes. Dumping stats seems like an artifact of a clunky design in point-buy 3.5/PF, rather than an intended feature. It draws more attention on mechanics than play.
I also wonder if they'll find ways to use Talents / Archetypes to change primary stats, more so than in PF. With seven total classes, I think they're looking for customization of base chassis rather than bloating out the base classes. More of a D&D 5e model.

Malwing |
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Umbral Reaver is probably spot on. It makes sense in order to cover your tropes by setting up your mechanical basis, attach concepts to them and then eliminate redundancies and keep from spreading things thin. Certainly how I would do it.
In this case:
Fightman = Soldier
Techman = Mechanic
Skillman = Operative
Spellman = Mystic
Fightspellman Solarion
Techfightman = Cyborg (Divided and allocated to other classes)
Fightskillman = Becomes redundant with Operative since all classes will have some kind of fighting ability.
Techskillman = Too many redundancies with Technomancer and Mechanic so divided between the two.
Techspellman = Technomancer
Skillspellman = Envoy

Philo Pharynx |

Will there be more classes in the final game, or are these 7 it? The reason I ask is that Pathfinder had 11, so this is 4 less than the original game.
Let's see. Successful game companies make money by releasing a steady stream of books that their customers want to buy. Books that give players new options generally sell well. Pathfinder is getting pretty mature and there's not as much room for strictly mechanical supplements. Starfinder is new and there's a lot of character types that won't be supported by the first book.
I can say that the only way there won't be more books expanding Starfinder is if people really hate it when it comes out. As in nobody buys it or the AP. The kind of hate that makes the fighting over 4e look civilized.

Malwing |

Which one is most closely going to resemble a sniper form of Adam Jensen? That's the only one I care about for the time being.
More than likely a Soldier but I haven't really played the games so I could be wrong. I think Soldier, Operative and Mechanic will likely handle a lot of mundane character types.
One thing to keep in mind is that even with the Core Rulebook and the lack of archetypes there are a lot of variants based on micropackages within each class whether it's talents, bloodlines, schools and so on. And archetypes are such a huge hit that its entirely possible that class-based packages will be integrated into the each class as if they were archetype selections effectively making archetypes a part of the class by default. (Which is also smart because it leaves design space for further material.) So between seven classes that can lead to a lot of things to do.

Coffee Demon |

lordofthemax wrote:Will there be more classes in the final game, or are these 7 it? The reason I ask is that Pathfinder had 11, so this is 4 less than the original game.Let's see. Successful game companies make money by releasing a steady stream of books that their customers want to buy. Books that give players new options generally sell well. Pathfinder is getting pretty mature and there's not as much room for strictly mechanical supplements. Starfinder is new and there's a lot of character types that won't be supported by the first book.
I can say that the only way there won't be more books expanding Starfinder is if people really hate it when it comes out. As in nobody buys it or the AP. The kind of hate that makes the fighting over 4e look civilized.
Absolutely, but more books don't necessarily mean more classes. Lots of ways to expand character possibilities without adding new classes, depending on the way they design the original 7 classes.

RighteousCause |

What I'm curious about is what some of these classes will actually do, archetypes aside. Some are pretty easy to work out: soldier will fight with BFGs, operative will handle physical skills and contribute to combat, mechanic will solve tech challenges (though there may be more to them that's spell-like). I'm hoping even the soldier will be able to contribute more outside of combat than Pathfinder's fighter.
But right now, magic is a pretty big mystery. We don't know how spells work, what flavour they use, their maximum levels, or even if they'll be presented in the same way. Even so, I'll hazard a guess that the technomancer can handle damage and utility, a mystic can heal and provide buffs while still contributing to combat, and solarian will be our classic gish, perhaps with weaker spells that can do a bit of everything but with a focus on combat.
That leaves the envoy, who I see as the greatest enigma. Certainly they will make the best diplomancers, but what will that mean in Starfinder? They seem to resemble a bard, but will they have spells or are they mundane? I'm quite interested to see how Paizo rounds out their class features.
As for setting, what does it mean to be an envoy? The name seems to imply that you need to be tied to an organization of some kind, so I wonder if we'll see rules for that, or perhaps you can merely be the envoy for your party.
What do you guys think we can expect from the default version of these classes?

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Here are my hopes/interpretations.
Soldiers are going to be based off of 40k Space Marines, with jacked-up physical abilities, absurd weaponry, and a lot of general utility skills that help them survive and assist in varying scenarios (for example, gear or exploration training)
Mystics will be wisdom-based psychic spellcasters, analogous to the psychic warrior but being flavored much more like a jedi. They will be a gish class similar to the magus or warpriest. This description could also apply to Solarions.
Technomancers will also be a 6-level casting class (arcane rather than psychic), with their abilities and spell list focusing more on utility and machinery (sort of like an alchemist). Some class abilities may be amped-up versions of the technomancer prestige class.
Mechanic will build upon what made the alchemist and 3.5 artificer great: lots of tools and some unique gimmicks that enable them to do things in a way that no other class can. No spells, but I wouldn't be surprised if an extract or infusion equivalent exists.

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I would imagine the Envoy would be something in the realm of characters like C-3PO and Uhura. Someone who can facilitate communications between your group and a different group that you may encounter and work as an intermediary, especially if there is a language barrier. Obviously, there would be a lot more than that in the class, but that's the sort of roll I imagine them filling

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I would imagine the Envoy would be something in the realm of characters like C-3PO and Uhura. Someone who can facilitate communications between your group and a different group that you may encounter and work as an intermediary, especially if there is a language barrier. Obviously, there would be a lot more than that in the class, but that's the sort of roll I imagine them filling
I hope that languages are taken a lot more seriously in Starfinder.