GeneticDrift |
The next bit, for Black Hole and Supernova, while both are nice aoe abilities Black Hole is very situational, and Supernova doesn't seem like a great trade off for the buff to damage from being photon attuned. By that I mean, unless you're running a build with...
After using supernova you can become attuned at the start of your next turn. Not really losing damage. Doing 2d6+1 (or half) at level 1 is a great ability and its an aoe.
Deadmanwalking |
7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Squeakmaan wrote:So what we learned from this playtest is that a Solarian is worse at being a Soldier than the Soldier is. Got it.What we learned is that the solarian is worse at being a front line combatant than a soldier is, despite the solarian being designed to be a front like combatant.
At level 1.
Solarian has this slight issue at level 1 specifically that almost none of its advantages are actually super great at that level (+1 damage is close to all they get...there's Supernova, too, but that's only really good if there are still multiple foes in the third round). But as you rise in level, its advantages become much more pronounced and the downsides much less severe. The extra money from not having to buy a weapon, for example, can't be used for much at 1st...but certainly can at, say, 10th.
It's also a bit MAD and all it gets from Cha at 1st level is Resolve...but the uses expand as level rises, and, as others mention, being a little bit MAD is much less of a penalty in Starfinder than it was in Pathfinder.
Let's examine a decently maxed out 10th level Solarian and similar Soldier. Assume Str 22 for the Soldier and 20 for the Solarian (to represent being MAD). The Soldier has +16 to hit (or +12/+12) for 4d8+16 (34 average), the Solarian, meanwhile, could have +15 to hit (or +12/+12) be doing 4d6+20 (34 average) with a cheap crystal and the Solarian can thus afford 1 level higher armor, which at that level can be +1 or +2 to both types of AC.
And that's leaving aside the extra 15k or more they get from not having had to sell old melee weapons. And is only one example. Soldier has its own tricks, certainly, but Solarian does fine all things considered.
Is one level of Blitz Soldier maybe a good call on Solarian? Yeah, quite possibly, +4 Initiative is awesome as are using your high stat for Resolve and free Heavy Armor Proficiency, but that has more to do with that being an absurdly good dip for anyone without spells who intends to engage in combat (with the exception of Exocortex Mechanics) than it does with Solarian being weak.
In short, it's not that Solarian is weak, it's that Soldier (especially the Blitz version) is amazingly front loaded...and thus looks really good at 1st level.
Heladriell |
The solarian seems to, in concept, fill a niche similar to a mix of paladin and kineticist. Those classes have abilities that make them great at something, what is the solarian great at? From what I've seen, nothing. It's a sub-par striker, tank and face, with no special advantage against any type of enemy. The solar weapon does (whitout crystals) basically the same as improved unarmed strike. The class pays heavily for it's "at will" powers, but the revelations that are worth something are limited to 1 per rest, or once every 3 rounds (effectively, once per combat). What makes so many people frustrated is that the class has a great concept that is reflected by the rules.
I don't think the solarian has to be as great as the soldier in combat, but hast to be the greatest in something. I would start with:
-more out of combat utility powers;
-unique moves with the solar sword;
-some special form of defense (precognition, deflection, better resistances, etc...)
Starbuck_II |
IonutRO wrote:Squeakmaan wrote:So what we learned from this playtest is that a Solarian is worse at being a Soldier than the Soldier is. Got it.What we learned is that the solarian is worse at being a front line combatant than a soldier is, despite the solarian being designed to be a front like combatant.At level 1.
Solarian has this slight issue at level 1 specifically that almost none of its advantages are actually super great at that level (+1 damage is close to all they get...there's Supernova, too, but that's only really good if there are still multiple foes in the third round). But as you rise in level, its advantages become much more pronounced and the downsides much less severe. The extra money from not having to buy a weapon, for example, can't be used for much at 1st...but certainly can at, say, 10th.
It's also a bit MAD and all it gets from Cha at 1st level is Resolve...but the uses expand as level rises, and, as others mention, being a little bit MAD is much less of a penalty in Starfinder than it was in Pathfinder.
Let's examine a decently maxed out 10th level Solarian and similar Soldier. Assume Str 22 for the Soldier and 20 for the Solarian (to represent being MAD). The Soldier has +16 to hit (or +12/+12) for 4d8+16 (34 average), the Solarian, meanwhile, could have +15 to hit (or +12/+12) be doing 4d6+20 (34 average) with a cheap crystal and the Solarian can thus afford 1 level higher armor, which at that level can be +1 or +2 to both types of AC.
And that's leaving aside the extra 15k or more they get from not having had to sell old melee weapons. And is only one example. Soldier has its own tricks, certainly, but Solarian does fine all things considered.
Is one level of Blitz Soldier maybe a good call on Solarian? Yeah, quite possibly, +4 Initiative is awesome as are using your high stat for Resolve and free Heavy Armor Proficiency, but that has more to do with that being an absurdly good dip for anyone without spells who...
But 22 is too high for level 10 (unless we are counting Personal upgrade str to stats)
1st: Str 18 Dex 13 Con 12 Wis 10 Cha 10 is best you can get for a human with added theme.
5th: Str 19 Dex 15 Con 14 Wis 12 Cha 10
10: Str 20 Dex 17 Con 16 Wis 14 Cha 10
Now the Solarion:
1st: Str 16 Dex 13 Con 12 Wis 10 Cha 12 is best you can get for a human with added theme.
5th: Str 18 Dex 15 Con 14 Wis 10 Cha 14
10: Str 19 Dex 17 Con 14 Wis 12 Cha 16
So, yes, you have have 1 more Str and better Will saves than a Solarian, likely.
And no, it would be 22 vs 21 Str (if both have Personal upgrade).
Deadmanwalking |
But 22 is too high for level 10 (unless we are counting Personal upgrade str to stats)
1st: Str 18 Dex 13 Con 12 Wis 10 Cha 10 is best you can get for a human with added theme.
5th: Str 19 Dex 15 Con 14 Wis 12 Cha 10
10: Str 20 Dex 17 Con 16 Wis 14 Cha 10Now the Solarion:
1st: Str 16 Dex 13 Con 12 Wis 10 Cha 12 is best you can get for a human with added theme.
5th: Str 18 Dex 15 Con 14 Wis 10 Cha 14
10: Str 19 Dex 17 Con 14 Wis 12 Cha 16So, yes, you have have 1 more Str and better Will saves than a Solarian, likely.
And no, it would be 22 vs 21 Str (if both have Personal upgrade).
I was assuming a +2 Personal Upgrade for both and a starting Str of only 14 for the Solarian, actually (as was recommended earlier in the thread). Not that the 16-21 Str route changes much of anything at 10th if you go with that version...
F. Castor |
The solar weapon does (whitout crystals) basically the same as improved unarmed strike.
Just a minor nitpick, but unless I am forgetting something about the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, the solar weapon is better, since the feat does not remove the "archaic" quality from unarmed strikes. Thus, even with the feat, one still deals 5 points of damage less to armored enemies when fighting unarmed.
Voss |
Why do people keep listing Solar Weapon as free? The crystals necessary to keep its damage competitive are just as expensive as weapons.
Because by and large weapon crystals don't really matter that much until you're into double digit levels. You really can get away with picking up a w-boson around level 5 and then not caring at all until level 10 or 11. You lose 1 point of damage on average. Whee.
Odds are pretty good that in most campaigns, you won't ever replace it, because they won't last long enough.Also keep in mind that plasma sheath and photon attunement push damage up more than the chart would indicate.
Deadmanwalking |
Why do people keep listing Solar Weapon as free? The crystals necessary to keep its damage competitive are just as expensive as weapons.
"Just as expensive" is kinda misleading. You need to replace them way less often to stay competitive. You might easily use a grand total of 6 Crystals in 20 levels, whereas weapons ideally need to be replaced way more often than that.
And remember, old weapons only net 10% of purchase price when sold. So that's a fairly hefty monetary savings. The crystals aren't free, no, but they're cheaper.
Long post following up my previous one on the Solarian/Soldier comparison forthcoming.
Deadmanwalking |
8 people marked this as a favorite. |
Actually, my above numbers are wrong again (sorry, still absorbing all Starfinder's stuff). The Solarian should actually have +2 damage more from Photon Mode. So his damage winds up +2.5 over the Soldier and he has 15k+ more worth of gear to boot. He's down several Feats...but still.
Let's show those revised numbers, and also examine 5th, 15th, and 20th level as well, and see how Solarian does.
Solarian: Str 16/18, +8/9 to hit, 1d6+1d4+12/13 (18/19 average) damage, and the same AC.
Yeah, the Soldier has initiative and charging bonuses, plus two Feats, but the Solarian is dealing better damage, and has a Stellar Revelation (other than Plasma Sheath, which all these damage numbers assume) to play with...along with a bunch more out of combat options (Sidereal Influence and two Class Skills of his choice).
Solarian: Str 20/21, +15 to hit, 5d6+22 (39.5 average),
So, yeah, as noted, with revisions for all the stuff I missed, the Solarian winds up higher on damage than my initial contention, though lower on money. And certainly higher than the Soldier.
Solarian: Str 23/24, +21/22 to hit (effective +1 when Full Attacking), 10d6+31/32 (66/67 average).
Okay, at this level, the Soldier pulls ahead in raw damage. However, to do so, he's paid 100k more than the 3d6 Crystal the Solarian using. So...that's a thing. And enough, at that level, to jump from from 'Enginerunner' armor to the 'Aegis Series Elite' and, even with less Dex, have AC 36/40 to the Soldier's 35/36. So that's -2 or -3 damage for +1/+4 AC. Sounds like a fair trade to me.
Yes, that costs a Feat for Heavy Armor, but so? It's eminently worth it.
Alternately, the Solarian can get a 4d6 crystal...and actually pull ahead in damage. That's a bit overly price, though for this level specifically.
Solarian: Str 26, +28 to hit (same Full Attack as the Soldier, though), 18d6+42 (105 average),
And here, the Solarian pulls ahead again in damage. Though AC is comparable again.
Really, a Solarian geared for damage (ie: using Plasma Sheath and Photon Attuned) is generally higher damage than a Soldier of the same level.
Now, it's at least partially Fire damage, and vs. KAC, and the to-hit on single attacks is sometimes a point lower...but they have Full Attacks that are at least as good, and if they run into something immune or resistant to fire, they can easily switch to Graviton Mode, and gain shitloads of DR (and potentially other defensive stuff) if they've built with a backup option in mind.
Frankly, all the analysis of the Solarian I've seen thus far has just ignored the damage from Photon Mode and Plasma Sheath...which is super weird. I mean we're talking +14 damage by 20th level, and +5 as early as 6th. Of course ignoring that much damage makes the class look weak, DPR-wise.
Now, the question of whether a Solarian should actually use a Solar Weapon is slightly different, and more ambiguous, since both those damage enhancers apply to other weapons (though I think the fact that the Solar Weapon stays fairly competitive with other weapons while costing less money, as noted in my previous post, is a pretty compelling reason)...but Solarian is a very solid damage dealer.
Voss |
One other thing I think is being ignored is SF is... really awful at level one, even for d&d derivatives. Damage is way down, progressions are neutered (trick attack is just weird), and the point buy is actually oddly restrictive (especially since resolve adds another area to build for, which smacks several classes in the face)
It really starts waking up at third level, once you've made some choices and gained options. As well as getting into flat damage bonuses and weapons that aren't damp spittle. And at fifth, really, the universe suddenly opens up. The chains come off and you're allowed to fly.
But I have the feeling that slogging through the low levels are going to be the barrier to entry for pathfinder, and the obstacle for retention.
Varun Creed |
I think:
- For one-shots, Soldier & Solarion are comparative damage,
maybe a small edge to Soldier.
- For mult-level modules/AP's, the Solarion will be better damage as he gets auto-upgrades to his weapon. The Soldier won't be able to afford new weapons immediately at each tier without giving up other credit-costly goodies.
- Soldier is more versatile in a different weapons approach, and Solarion is more versatile in CC approach.
Fardragon |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think:
- For mult-level modules/AP's, the Solarion will be better damage as he gets auto-upgrades to his weapon. The Soldier won't be able to afford new weapons immediately at each tier without giving up other credit-costly goodies.
This is very dependent on the GM. It seems that a lot of people posting on there forums are expecting their GMs to throw unlimited credits at them.
Aratrok |
Varun Creed wrote:This is very dependent on the GM. It seems that a lot of people posting on there forums are expecting their GMs to throw unlimited credits at them.I think:
- For mult-level modules/AP's, the Solarion will be better damage as he gets auto-upgrades to his weapon. The Soldier won't be able to afford new weapons immediately at each tier without giving up other credit-costly goodies.
I would at least expect GMs to stick closer to WBL, since Starfinder characters are considerably more gear reliant than their fantasy cousins.
Glord Funkelhand |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I had built my solarian as best as I could: Strength 18, Dexterity 14, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Weapon Focus (advanced melee weapons), a tactical pike, and hidden soldier armor. Unfortunately, this left me with exactly 1 Resolve Point, and made Black Hole and Supernova nigh-unusable. This means that for all intents and purposes, my character was a...
Sorry to ask: You didn't put any points in your main stat, yet are saying that you made the character as good as you could?
Basically, you gimped your character, because you had the idea that the two stats you pushed "should be" more valuable. And got proven wrong.
Ikiry0 |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry to ask: You didn't put any points in your main stat, yet are saying that you made the character as good as you could?
Basically, you gimped your character, because you had the idea that the two stats you pushed "should be" more valuable. And got proven wrong.
That's not really right. The Solarian's 'Main Stat' doesn't honestly do very much. Charisma has no real innate uses (Outside of boosting social skills) and a Solarian's 'Make a save' effects are kinda weak/take several turns to charge.
Rysky the Dark Solarion |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Glord Funkelhand wrote:That's not really right. The Solarian's 'Main Stat' doesn't honestly do very much. Charisma has no real innate uses (Outside of boosting social skills) and a Solarian's 'Make a save' effects are kinda weak/take several turns to charge.Sorry to ask: You didn't put any points in your main stat, yet are saying that you made the character as good as you could?
Basically, you gimped your character, because you had the idea that the two stats you pushed "should be" more valuable. And got proven wrong.
Resolve Points. Those are kinda good to have.
Rysky the Dark Solarion |
They are, yes but so is 'Attack bonus' and 'Armour Class'. Which is part of the reason why multiclassing soldier is such a boon to the Solarian. Resolve based on a stat that actually helps you.
If you are playing a Solarion Charisma does help you since the Revelations DCs are based off of it.
IonutRO |
Ikiry0 wrote:They are, yes but so is 'Attack bonus' and 'Armour Class'. Which is part of the reason why multiclassing soldier is such a boon to the Solarian. Resolve based on a stat that actually helps you.If you are playing a Solarion Charisma does help you since the Revelations DCs are based off of it.
Most revelations are very situational and hardly worth using, especially the starting 2 zenith powers, so increasing their DCs at early levels doesn't really benefit you much.
Rysky the Dark Solarion |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:Most revelations are very situational and hardly worth using, especially the starting 2 zenith powers, so increasing their DCs at early levels doesn't really benefit you much.Ikiry0 wrote:They are, yes but so is 'Attack bonus' and 'Armour Class'. Which is part of the reason why multiclassing soldier is such a boon to the Solarian. Resolve based on a stat that actually helps you.If you are playing a Solarion Charisma does help you since the Revelations DCs are based off of it.
If you want to use them it does.
And for "Early Levels" we have Flare, which lets you blind enemies, and Gravity Hold, which lets you yank enemies around, both very useful things available at level 2.
Porridge |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
IonutRO wrote:Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:Most revelations are very situational and hardly worth using, especially the starting 2 zenith powers, so increasing their DCs at early levels doesn't really benefit you much.Ikiry0 wrote:They are, yes but so is 'Attack bonus' and 'Armour Class'. Which is part of the reason why multiclassing soldier is such a boon to the Solarian. Resolve based on a stat that actually helps you.If you are playing a Solarion Charisma does help you since the Revelations DCs are based off of it.If you want to use them it does.
And for "Early Levels" we have Flare, which lets you blind enemies, and Gravity Hold, which lets you yank enemies around, both very useful things available at level 2.
And, even better, Radiation!
Sickened isn't as big a debuff as (say) Blinded. But it lasts for as long as they're near you instead of just 1 round. It affects everyone within 10', instead of just one target. And best of all, you can just kick it in and it stays up; no burning an action every time you want to use it.
Captain Hawley Cromwell, "The Mad Barnacle" |
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:IonutRO wrote:Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:Most revelations are very situational and hardly worth using, especially the starting 2 zenith powers, so increasing their DCs at early levels doesn't really benefit you much.Ikiry0 wrote:They are, yes but so is 'Attack bonus' and 'Armour Class'. Which is part of the reason why multiclassing soldier is such a boon to the Solarian. Resolve based on a stat that actually helps you.If you are playing a Solarion Charisma does help you since the Revelations DCs are based off of it.If you want to use them it does.
And for "Early Levels" we have Flare, which lets you blind enemies, and Gravity Hold, which lets you yank enemies around, both very useful things available at level 2.
And, even better, Radiation!
Sickened isn't as big a debuff as (say) Blinded. But it lasts for as long as they're near you instead of just 1 round. It affects everyone within 10', instead of just one target. And best of all, you can just kick it in and it stays up; no burning an action every time you want to use it.
Yarr! Not quite, matey! Only adjacent and blocked by any non-archaic armor out there, including 95 credit starter suits, yarr!
Porridge |
Yarr! Not quite, matey! Only adjacent
Yeah, for all of this I was assuming you're in photon mode (otherwise the aura only stays up for 1 round, not indefinitely). And when you're in photon mode, the aura extends from 5' to 10'.
and blocked by any non-archaic armor out there, including 95 credit starter suits, yarr!
As Captain Yesterday said, I think it's pretty clear that the "low level field of radiation" in the description is descriptive fluff, and not related to the levels of radiation described later in the Environmental rules section. But I also agree that the terminology used here is confusing, and could use a FAQ; here's a thread in the rules forum trying to get one.
jimthegray |
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:That is factoring in ability score boosts every 5 levels. The benefits for spreading your points around are vanishingly small.Aratrok wrote:Until you factor in every 5 levels and the boosts they give. Specialization is not encouraged in a Starfinder unless you're only going to play at level 1 forever.Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:I know how the point but works in Starfinder.
And uh, no, Starfinder encrouages spreading points around, especially with how the stat increases at every 5 levels work. Dumping all your points into one thing at the. Grinning just leaves you a glass cannon.
You get a marginal benefit of a net +1 to a secondary or tertiary ability score over the course of your entire career if you don't buy an 18 at level 1. That's it. You don't even get any benefit at all until level 5.
A point buy system that made higher ability scores more expensive per-point than lower ability scores would encourage spreading your points around. Point-for-point costs encourages specialization, since it costs just as much to get another +1 on your most important score as it does to add +1 to something less important.
not played one yet but the solarian crystals seem like they would make there weapon pretty good,
Crayfish Hora |
Second, blackhole is actually pretty good, with a reach weapon. Assuming you can angle it so that the enemies are adjacent to you after using it they have to waste a whole turn to get away from you without provoking. Yeah you can't use it every turn but still it works.
Do reach weapons work differently than they do in Pathfinder? If not, I bring up my earlier point. The Solarin is a lightly armored, not-Dex based class. Their AC is poo-poo if they put more points into Charisma (Wee!) to use their "special" powers more effectively. If the Solarin does manage to pull lots of enemies in close, they will likely not want to escape and will likely ground pound full attack the Solarin. Who now has a reach weapon for no real reason. And if the player manages to blunder and pull enough creeps in to surround them, a reach weapon is a guaranteed death if you can't swing it.
"Aha! You'll never escape my lightly armored self! You'll provoke an attack of opport-ahhh, not the face! My beautiful/ugly face!"
Under the Blackhole text, I am 95% sure it says that the movement caused by Blackhole does NOT provoke attacks of opportunity. It is just for moving people closer to your sweet Solarin self. You can't proc attacks for your friends or your reach weapon. You only burn your enemies and friends in your other mode, as well. You also can charge ahead of your friends on round 1, building up that solar burst. But by round 3, it's pretty certain your other melee friends are going to help you out because you suck at front-lining. And what do they get for helping you? Fire damage, with a save of course. That you pumped up to make it harder to avoid. Someone thought this was a great design, I assure you.
Also, you don't need stats to roleplay. A full strength/dex Solarin roleplays just as well as a full Charisma Solarin. Just because you don't have a bonus to Charisma, doesn't mean you never use diplomacy or intimidate. I mean, if the DM says the target isn't convinced by your dice roll, you convince them, through roleplay. Roleplay is really more player orientated than class orientated.
The Solarin is like an ineffective wizard. He just wants to ride piggyback on the other characters at 1st level and pray he survives into the later levels. And has to be very conservative when he uses his power or he gets killed. Which isn't the best class design ever.
Daedalaman |
Black hole moves any creatures within 20 ft of you ten ft closer. If enemy A is 40 ft away from enemy B you can stand in the middle and bring them both 10 ft closer to you. Then you start charging your supernova and play keep away for a couple turns. After that you pop supernova and hit them both if they're still alive. Might actually invest in Mobility spring attack. Just one potential use for black hole and supernova. You need to figure out how to combine your skills in fun ways. The solarian is clearly not a class for new and uncreative players.
Deadmanwalking |
Do reach weapons work differently than they do in Pathfinder? If not, I bring up my earlier point. The Solarin is a lightly armored, not-Dex based class. Their AC is poo-poo if they put more points into Charisma (Wee!) to use their "special" powers more effectively. If the Solarin does manage to pull lots of enemies in close, they will likely not want to escape and will likely ground pound full attack the Solarin. Who now has a reach weapon for no real reason. And if the player manages to blunder and pull enough creeps in to surround them, a reach weapon is a guaranteed death if you can't swing it.
In fairness, a Solarian using a weapon with reach probably took the Solar Armor option, which helps AC somewhat, and, as another option, Heavy Armor is one whole Feat away while Solarian doesn't really need much in the way of Feats, so saying they have crappy AC is...misleading.
Something Something cast Sleep |
Then you start charging your supernova and play keep away for a couple turns.
Please explain how you play keep away after you spent your turn positioning yourself so the early set up even works. You just Burned your turn on
A) A Move Action: So you can proc the ideal Black Whole set up
B) A Standard Action: To use Black Hole.
Now the two goons you just moved moves, either both engage in melee, one plays cover fire while the other shoots, or both just move and shoot.
Any way you put it, you burned your turn to do effectively nothing to two units and now you're three turns away before you can even use the Supernova (which you likely won't use now that neither of the intended targets are in good positions to nuke.)
Not to mention this doesn't factor in to if you have another Melee team member or that you give the enemies two opportunities to save against your two abilities (again, assuming you actually get them in the proper position to even get it off).
At the end of the day, the two starting Revelations are super situational and require a moderate Cha mod if you want them to actually do anything of value.
That wouldn't be a bad thing if Solarian had more boons from Cha.
1st lv, you get Two bonus Skills (Skill Adept), two revelations with very situational abilities that require three turns to charge, the Stellar Mode (Which is either +1 attack and Dam or +1 Reflex depending), and a choice between a Solar Weapon or Armor (and you're likely going to go weapon considering a fair amount of the better revelations require a melee weapon, and the weapon is "not bad" to "Really Good" in terms of damage once you get crystals and get to the right levels). That's not a lot to work with.
Crayfish Hora |
In fairness, a Solarian using a weapon with reach probably took the Solar Armor option, which helps AC somewhat, and, as another option, Heavy Armor is one whole Feat away while Solarian doesn't really need much in the way of Feats, so saying they have crappy AC is...misleading.
A class that needs specific things to make it viable is not a valid class design. Feats weren't in the radar of speculation because everyone can take feats. What makes it bad for the Solarin, is that it NEEDS heavy armor because of bad class design.
Or it NEEDS a level in something else to begin with. Be it Soldier, Priest, or whatever. Because it's level 1 is so terrible and it's resolve points are somewhere where they don't need to be! Is bad class design.
Or it NEEDS to take certain powers over others to do what it's designed to do (close-combat), that benefit from its core stat (Charisma). I personally like the DR/- Graviton power, but that works off of level and the level of my character gives not a single crap whether I have negative Charisma or positive.
Lastly, I don't want my DM to tell me, "Oh, you're playing a Solarin? Maybe you should take a level in something else first? Or maybe you should take Heavy Armor Proficiency." I am playing a Solarin right now and I flatly told the DM I have 10 Charisma. All the players rolled their eyes, like, great, now the Solarin is useless. Charisma is a stat for later, if I ever want to pick up other powers.
But joke's on them, my Dex and Con and Wis is fabulous and I'm waiting on some credits to get me a blast-augmented gun. Oh, and level 2 for some DR/-. And I'll stay in DR/- mode forever with no need to increase Cha. Every 6 seconds of my life, DR 1/-. I can actually use my skills with my Wis stat, shoot things, and have plenty of stamina for space ba--I mean combat.
Deadmanwalking |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A class that needs specific things to make it viable is not a valid class design. Feats weren't in the radar of speculation because everyone can take feats. What makes it bad for the Solarin, is that it NEEDS heavy armor because of bad class design.
I never said they needed it. Indeed, the Solar Armor option removes the possibility of getting Heavy Armor (they don't stack). I said it was one possibility, and one that seems reasonable for a melee oriented character to take.
Or it NEEDS a level in something else to begin with. Be it Soldier, Priest, or whatever. Because it's level 1 is so terrible and it's resolve points are somewhere where they don't need to be! Is bad class design.
It doesn't need a level in anything else. That was sorta my point.
Or it NEEDS to take certain powers over others to do what it's designed to do (close-combat), that benefit from its core stat (Charisma). I personally like the DR/- Graviton power, but that works off of level and the level of my character gives not a single crap whether I have negative Charisma or positive.
True. I never said more abilities based on Chr were a bad thing. And any Class with powers needs to take ones to help it in the area it chooses to focus on. That's how Classes that grant powers work.
Lastly, I don't want my DM to tell me, "Oh, you're playing a Solarin? Maybe you should take a level in something else first? Or maybe you should take Heavy Armor Proficiency." I am playing a Solarin right now and I flatly told the DM I have 10 Charisma. All the players rolled their eyes, like, great, now the Solarin is useless. Charisma is a stat for later, if I ever want to pick up other powers.
I suspect you'll regret this, and that your GM misunderstands how Solarians work.
But joke's on them, my Dex and Con and Wis is fabulous and I'm waiting on some credits to get me a blast-augmented gun. Oh, and level 2 for some DR/-. And I'll stay in DR/- mode forever with no need to increase Cha. Every 6 seconds of my life, DR 1/-. I can actually use my skills with my Wis stat, shoot things, and have plenty of stamina for space ba--I mean combat.
Resolve is important enough that, as I said, I suspect you'll regret this decision, but good luck to you. I hope you have fun with it.
MageHunter |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
If someone only played the first level of a Pathfinder they would be convinced a barbarian was the best class. Incredibly high damage due to high strength and two handing, even without rage, and regardless excellent HP. Especially because 1st level is always so wonky.
Yet once Paladins level up, their smite becomes a lot more comparable.
So I'll accept that soldier is the best at 1st level, but after that it comes down to individual build.
JetSetRadio |
If someone only played the first level of a Pathfinder they would be convinced a barbarian was the best class. Incredibly high damage due to high strength and two handing, even without rage, and regardless excellent HP. Especially because 1st level is always so wonky.
Yet once Paladins level up, their smite becomes a lot more comparable.
So I'll accept that soldier is the best at 1st level, but after that it comes down to individual build.
This isn't his first rodeo. Beautifully written.
WolfRitter |
Right, my point is that it feels like the only reason "Spells, Divine Grace, and others" use CHA is to make CHA useful.
Bob: "Everyone but bards are dumping Charisma"
Paul: "Well then we should make some class-features that work off Charisma for no apparent reason"
I think the 3.x Paladin being garbage was another reason, it reduced the insane amount of MAD that the 3.X Paladin had to have: High strength for hitting, Con for soaking, at minimum 14 Wisdom by 14th level if they want full spellcasting, and good Cha for class features like lay on hands, divine grace,