so I'm starting a starfinder game soon and I'm really divided on the character
both soldier and solarian appeal to me because I want to be a mobile damage dealer but also ahve some out of combat utility
The soldier with blitz seems to have the mobility and damage that I want, and I can have the feats to spare to shore up my out of combat skills
But the solarian has a better skill list, boosts to skills, and interesting powers that can boost my versatility both in and out of combat. However, in order to shore up my defenses I would need to burn a feat on heavy weapon proficiency.
Also in terms of damage, is it better to jsut use advanced weapons isntead of my solar weapon wiht the solar crystals or no?
Please any and all help would be liked as the game starts in a week from now
1) Soldier can pick STR for resolve; Solarion is stuck with CHA. This forces you to divert points into CHA just so you have resolve. I am currently playing a human soldier with 18STR 14DEX 10CON 10INT 10WIS 11CHA. As a Solarion, I probably would have played a Korasha with 16 14 10 10 8 15
2) You can't beat a tactical pike at first level for reach.
3) If you want to be good at social skills, Solarion is better. If you want to be good at technical skills, pick soldier, because Solarion can't afford to boost INT.
You can only have one +2 item, one +4 item and one +6 item. A Solarion wants STR and CHA for sure, so you would be prioritizing INT over DEX if you boost INT.
Also, is it better to just use advanced melee weapons or boost solar weapon with crystals, seeing as you can use photon mode and plasma sheath with any weapon you wield.
You can do more damage with advanced melee weapons. Your solar weapon will do less damage, but at a lower cost - especially if you just use crystals you find.
For instance at 1st level your solar weapon does 1-6. A pike does 1-8, doshko 1-12.
If you want to play a solarion, there's nothing wrong with the class. I picked soldier because I wanted to also be good at ranged combat. It's also more straight forward.
well at level 20 you have
dimensional slice longsword: 14d8=avg 64 (727300 credits)
dimensional slice curve blade: 12d10= avg 66 damage (815000 credits)
max level solar weapon with true boson crstyal: 18d6= 63 (80600 credits)
well at level 20 you have
dimensional slice longsword: 14d8=avg 64 (727300 credits)
dimensional slice curve blade: 12d10= avg 66 damage (815000 credits)
max level solar weapon with true boson crstyal: 18d6= 63 (80600 credits)
Id say its intermittent cost at best
Also, wow you're right, that kidna sucks for boosting stats
wonder why they did that?
I think the question is do you want a character with skills and solid down to earth abilities or one with a variety of powers both in and out of combat.
The solarion has a better skill list and presuming you go with the weapon it's worth remembering that you'll save a significant amount of money on weapons that you can spend on other things. And there are some handy items already out and more bound to come. I don't think the MAD issue is as bad as people are expecting because of the way they're doing stat boost in SF. Raising 4 skills, more than half of them, by up to 2 is going to bring people who max a stat at start and those who bring it to a 14 or 16 to the same result very early on. I'd go human or lashuntas damaya for the feat or great stats.
The soldier is going to give you feats to spare, you can spend them for more skill abilities and still meet or surpass most others on the battlefield. solid reliable and with a lot of options at your fingertips. They're a great class that go almost anywhere depending on your build.
Do you really save that much with the solar weapon as you level?
Well, you do in my mind. Just look at what you won't need to buy. Presuming you replace your weapon every 5 levels, though you'd probably want to do it more often, and keeping in mind that the weapon you've had is only worth %10 in resale. At 5 3-5 thousand, at 10 17-25, at 15 95-185 thousand, at 20 815-905 thousand(those were based off a quick look at two handed advanced melee). That's a lot of money, particularly when you think about how 90% of each of those vanishes instead of paying for the next version. I'm sure that some of that will go for crystals, but personally I don't think you need to buy new ones nearly as much. Plus that's not even counting the cost of fusions which you'll have to pay half of again each time you get a new weapon too.
Soldiers can be just as good as Solarians at skills, they have feats to spare for extra class skills and skill focus. Works better if they are ranged though, melee doesn't have the stat points to spare to be good at a mental stat, that's the solarians problem.
1. Solar Weapon is one handed, meaning you can use a phase shield or gravity shield with it. This should not be brushed aside as an advantage.
2. Maximum damage bonus for a pure Solarion is +53 fire - Though realistically 52 fire.
71-160 damage per attack vs Dimensional slice curved's 62-172 slightly higher minimum for slightly higher maximum. The average damage variance is exactly 3 higher for the 2-Hander.
The ability to have a weapon that can never be sundered, run out of power, or be disarmed? Priceless.
3. Solar Weapons can be swapped out easily vs Advanced Melee weapons. Also, remember, they can never be taken away.
4. A critical hit can take your advanced melee weapon away. Remember "Wounding" is a thing now. One crit? Oops. No more using an arm. No more advanced melee.
Let's not turn this into another Solarion vs Soldier debate.
They're both fun classes so have fun whichever is picked.
No absolutely, I hope I didn't sound too much like I was advocating one over the other, they're both great. I've got a soldier and he's a lot of fun. But I also like how the solarion looks, I think it's got a lot of great options and fun tricks. I think this is really a matter of play style.
Hmm okay, so at this point I've decided to go solarian, it seems like a lot of fun, and despite the difficulty of mental stats and martial classes I think it should be ok.
So in terms of revelations, specifically for damage output and increasing mobility, what do you guys recommend?
Hmm okay, so at this point I've decided to go solarian, it seems like a lot of fun, and despite the difficulty of mental stats and martial classes I think it should be ok.
So in terms of revelations, specifically for damage output and increasing mobility, what do you guys recommend?
1. Don't worry about mental stats - They won't be a problem.
lvl 20: 26, 20, 16, 16, 12, 22 - You are less than +3 bonus away from complete and total maximized damage, you are at maximized defense (if you go heavy armor), and are within +2 on maximized revelations. On top of that your final numbers give you a boatload of HP/Stamina, a truckload of skill points (140 skill points!) and have good saves and rounded ability bonuses to be good at virtually any skill you select.
2. Feats: (in no particular order)
Heavy Armor Proficiency - I can't stress this one enough. You can't maximize melee attack/damage and go light armor (this is another reason why you don't want to take Solar Armor on a melee Solarian, you won't have the damage you want.)
Weapon Focus - Duh
Nimble Moves - This will help deal with difficult terrain. It will also help you use one of the revelations that is a must have for a melee Solarian.
Deadly Aim - If you want damage this is the way to go.
Jet Dash - This is to help with those really long distance enemies.
Step Up - Yes. This will let you stay on enemies using guarded step, so you can full attack on the following round. Remember 5ft steps take a move action now. A must have.
Step Up and Strike - Even more yes. This will let you step up, attack (or save the action to interrupt if they cast!), and still full attack on the following round. 10/10 a must have.
Penetrating Attack - It is easy in this game to get DR and Resistances - Since you will face both DR and Fire Resistance a lot being able to reduce that somewhat is good. 10/10 will take again.
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3. For Revelations (again, no particular order... Well save for one.)
Stellar Rush - This is your level 2 Revelation. This is the first one you select. You. Want. This. Stellar Rush lets you charge an enemy as a standard action without penalty. If you are in Photon Mode you can also bull rush at the end of it and deal 2d6 fire damage. Not bad, not great, it also scales as you level.
Plasma Sheath - This you can take later, but it adds 1/2 of your level to your damage if you are in photon mode (and you will be in photon mode for maximum damage) and converts your damage into fire, it stays active as long as you are in Photon Mode.
Corona - This is a neat one, though it doesn't help your main melee damage. If you are in Photon Mode this stays active until you leave it. It gives you cold resistance and scaling damage to things being near you. So if you are up on something, using step up or step up and strike, this is free damage.
Gravity Boost - Parkour! This helps with mobility. Doesn't require being in Gravity Mode to activate (it is part of the action) and if you do happen to be in Grav Mode its benefits double. It also eventually lets you run up walls and across ceilings.
Dark Matter - DR that you can get for a move action, or stays on as long as you want if you are in Graviton Mode. Not bad, a good one to look into especially at lower levels. You need Grav Revelations to keep balance anyway. Useful, especially if you have to charge an enemy, the DR is practically free. Why not?
Defy Gravity - A trap. Just get a Jet Pack and later a Force Pack.
Reflection - Not terribly useful, but if you did go defensive unlike the feat version, this version doesn't care if you have the right weapon type to do it. Something to consider but not required.
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Your damage:
Your damage is going to come from the following:
1. Solar Weapon - Okay this is obvious.
2. Solarian Crystal - Again, obvious.
3. Strength Bonus - Of course.
4. Photon Mode Bonuses - Gain a +1 at 1, a +2 at 6, a +3 at 12, and a +4 at 18. That is as good as getting 1 1/2 strength damage from Soldier, though it takes time to kick in.
5. Weapon Specialization - Again, pretty obvious.
6. Deadly Aim
7. Plasma Sheath - +1/2 level to damage while in Solar Mode.
8. Corona - While attuned this does 2d6-4d6 + Solar Mode Bonus in Fire damage to any enemy that starts its turn within 5 feet of you. Nice.
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Assuming that you have all of these in a line (I feel like a broken record recently) you end up with (assuming a 24 strength)
4d6+4 16d6+7+4+20+10+10 - Potentially this is the highest damage in the game of any melee class. You *could* sacrifice some stats to get a slightly higher strength bonus... But it isn't really worth it... But between 75 and 175 damage in a single attack (with Corona). Or, an average of 339 damage if all 3 parts of a full attack hit.
Basically... You're going to kill anything you attack at max level if all 3 attacks hit. If you step up and struck this goes up to an average of 446 with all of the above and the Step Up and Strike attack.
Using PC HP/SP as an example a level 20 PC (with an 18 con) has around 137 HP and 220 SP. That is 20 Fire Resistance, 15 after Penetrating Strike is applied to every single attack (corona, step up and strike, all 3 attacks). That is still done, leaving the target at -14 HP.
You can, in theory, wipe out a maxed level PC with maxed resistance and an 18 con in literally one attack of opportunity and a single full attack without any crits or other shenanigans needed assuming average damage. They might survive with toughness... Barely.
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I might be a melee Solarian fanboy... Just a little bit...
Solarians are the most powerful melee class in the game hands down.
It literally has the total package:
It is amazing at skills...
Amazing selection of Class Skills
The ability to ADD extra Class Skills
Combines with the Lashunta for getting EVEN MORE skill bonuses.
It is the highest damaging melee class...
You literally can't match their damage output with any other class.
Has amazingly versatile Revelations...
The revelations are incredibly versatile. You can build for mobility and damage and you can even toss in some revelations for UTILITY such as STEALTH.
I mean seriously... It is hard for any class to beat the total package of the Solarian. It is my favorite class in Starfinder. The problem is when people don't think about it and try to start multiclassing it with Soldier and they are thinking in terms of Pathfinder. Starfinder isn't Pathfinder. It is a different game with different needs.
My personal solarian? It is an amazing Pilot...
+8 at level 1
(+1 Dex, +1 Rank, +3 Class Skill, +1 Ace Pilot, +2 Lashunta Racial Bonus)
+13 at level 5
(+2 Dex, +5 Ranks, +3 Class Skill, +1 Ace Pilot, +2 Lashunta Racial Bonus)
+19 at level 10
(+3 Dex, +10 Ranks, +3 Class Skill, +1 Ace Pilot, +2 Lashunta Racial Bonus)
+26 at level 15
(+5(e) Dex, +15 Ranks, +3 Class Skill, +1 Ace Pilot, +2 Lashunta Racial Bonus)
+31 at level 20
(+5(e) Dex, +20 Ranks, +3 Class Skill, +1 Ace Pilot, +2 Lashunta Racial Bonus)
Without doing skill focus or anything to it...
And by that point, for any of the skills I decided to pump up, it will have around a +29 - +30
And I'll have at least 6 fully specced class skills and then a smattering of lower level ones for posterity.
In this case:
Pilot
Acrobatics
Diplomacy
Mysticism
Engineering
Perception
With some ranks split between a couple others... (namely Stealth/Intimidate/Culture/Sense Motive, which I don't plan on being my mains but will be at each +15 or so.)
I have feats to spare - So I can go utility if I want... Great...
I can craft anything I need, so heck yes.
I can fly anything.
I can fight on par with anyone.
I'm always armed. I'm always dangerous. It is incredibly great.
Also does crafting reduce weapon cost at all or no?
No but it does have some advantages. Pg 235:
Rather than buying mass-produced, mass-marketed equipment, characters with the right skills can construct their own equipment. This takes time, and due to the economies of scale enjoyed by multisystem corporations and shops with dedicated construction machines and drones, it does not save you any money. However, it allows you to acquire exactly what you need, as long as you can meet the construction requirements.
...
Custom-built equipment has a few advantages over mass produced items. If you have a skill that allows you to repair an item you crafted, you can do so in half the normal time. When determining the hardness, Hit Points, and saving throws of an item you have crafted, treat its item level as if it were 2 higher.
Also I just realized looking at HWalsh's skills Solarians can be good trap spotters and disablers. Since you'll probably be in front this can come in handy. Engineering for physical traps, Mysticism for magical traps, Perception to see traps before you step on them, and a Trapsmith Tool Kit to get +4 to checks to disable traps. Not too shabby.
You can do more damage with advanced melee weapons. Your solar weapon will do less damage, but at a lower cost - especially if you just use crystals you find.
For instance at 1st level your solar weapon does 1-6. A pike does 1-8, doshko 1-12.
Did you do the math for how high Solarian damage is with powers? That makes it stronger than a long sword.
Also seems strange to let a person walk into a night club or a high rise building with a pike. If I was the GM it would have a guard say, "Sir that isn't a walking stick. You aren't coming in here with that." No only does a Solarian do more damage for less with its power activated you can also go anywhere if. "Captured? Who cares, I carry the power of the sun with me."
You can do more damage with advanced melee weapons. Your solar weapon will do less damage, but at a lower cost - especially if you just use crystals you find.
For instance at 1st level your solar weapon does 1-6. A pike does 1-8, doshko 1-12.
Did you do the math for how high Solarian damage is with powers? That makes it stronger than a long sword.
Also seems strange to let a person walk into a night club or a high rise building with a pike. If I was the GM it would have a guard say, "Sir that isn't a walking stick. You aren't coming in here with that." No only does a Solarian do more damage for less with its power activated you can also go anywhere if. "Captured? Who cares, I carry the power of the sun with me."
The highest tier 2 handed advanced melee weapon will get an average of 3 more damage than the 1 handed Solar Weapon. None of the 1 handed advanced melee weapons competes with the Solar Weapon. Also the Solar Weapon allows for a Phase Shield, Titan Shield, or Gravity Shield which 2 handed weapons do not.
At lower levels a Solar Weapon will do typically 4-10 damage, a pike 4-11, a doshko does 1-16 but a doshko is unwieldly. Believe it or not you CAN full attack at that level, also you CAN hit with a full attack at that level.
We ran into enemies at level 1 with KAC 11-12
+4 attack meant I could Full Attack with an effective +0 and I did hit twice. Rolled a 3 and a 4 for the actual damage dice for 8+9 damage or 15 damage. That is dead average damage a Dosko's average is only a 6-7 with a +3 strength and +1 from Photon mode an 11-12.
There are still Gloves of Holding. It's the obvious second slotless item for a lot of characters after the saving throw ring.
You also need to consider fire resistances and especially immunity. While I hope Alien Archive will define immunity such that the feats that reduce resistances by 5 will change an immunity to resistance 30 or something, that's still not going to help the solarium fighting devils, succubi, and fire elementsals.
I don't remember what the others did, but I do know I went before Cpt. Kosh. I used a move action to turn on Dark Matter and used my standard action to turn on Stellar Rush.
I charged in and struck with my Solar Weapon. I rolled a Natural 20. Kosh had DR 3-4.
I rolled 2d6+1d4+2+6+5 damage (Had +2 enhance to my strength for a +5 total) twice.
Kosh was a beast, I found out from the GM that he had a Con of 21 and something like 46 HP and 84 SP.
I remember my damage was good, but not that good. Around 22-23 damage. A significant hit, but not enough to end the fight.
I rolled 1d20 and got a 17 on the Wounding Chart.
Cpt. Kosh had to roll Fortitude he had like a +10 to this roll. Unfortunately he rolled a 6.
So he had a 16.
The Item Level of the crystal was a 6, so 10+3 (6/2) +5 (my Str Bonus) was DC 18.
Result? Severed hand.
The GM looked up, his eyes went wide, and he went, "Oh (censored)."
Why? Dude only had a 2 handed melee weapon and a Heavy Cannon. GG I win.
so I'm starting a starfinder game soon and I'm really divided on the character
both soldier and solarian appeal to me because I want to be a mobile damage dealer but also ahve some out of combat utility
The soldier with blitz seems to have the mobility and damage that I want, and I can have the feats to spare to shore up my out of combat skills
But the solarian has a better skill list, boosts to skills, and interesting powers that can boost my versatility both in and out of combat. However, in order to shore up my defenses I would need to burn a feat on heavy weapon proficiency.
Also in terms of damage, is it better to jsut use advanced weapons isntead of my solar weapon wiht the solar crystals or no?
Please any and all help would be liked as the game starts in a week from now
Solarians do a lot more than mobile damage in combat. If you want to focus on that go soldier. Solarian will give you more out of combat utility.
Solar weapon is only with it if you are going to wear heavy armor. Adv melee weapons offers more flexibility for a very slight damage lost in a majority of levels.
Your solar weapon still counts as bludgeon, piercing, or slashing damage, unless you have plasma sheath or something up.
Or certain Solarian Crystals. We are still waiting on word about Weapon Fusions too which could modify them.
I posted this on the other thread about fusions:
Solarian Crystals are "essentially" fusions for your Solarian weapon. You can't fusion a fusion.
I read this in a very strict manner.
"A weapon fusion is a small, prepackaged add-on that can be attached to any weapon to infuse it with magic." That's why it doesn't mention it anywhere in the book.
