Can You Put a Fusion on a Solarian Weapon Crystal?

[baggageboy]

Yes! Designer input! Thank you Owen :D

[HWalsh]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Yes, you can add fusions (or even fusion seals) to solarian weapon crystals.

I love you! Like, seriously, this one has been an issue of contention since day one!

*is happy*

[bookrat]

Rock on Owen! Thanks for the input!

[Vic Wertz]

I have deleted "FAQ Request" from the title of the thread, as it's unneeded (and perhaps implies that this question is somehow deserving of special attention that other questions are not). If you think a question is FAQ-worthy, just click the FAQ button on it.

[bookrat]

Vic, now that it's been answered, that's fine. But the FAQ Request was for other posters to press the FAQ button.

Considering that 63 people wanted to know the answer enough to press the button (which is a majority of posters on the SF boards) AND that the question was contentious AND that it took over a month for an answer seems that it was worthy of "FAQ Request" in the title.

Please don't try to admonish me for seeking a clear answer when a lot of fans were confused over the rules.

[HWalsh]

Well the great thing is that we are all set now for using Fusions in Crystals.

[baggageboy]

Now I have a functional question, if you put a fusion on a crystal that modifies damage such as a thundering fusion does it modify half the damage of the base solar weapon, half the damage added by the crystal, or half of both? In cases like the photon crystals this is an important question.

[HWalsh]

baggageboy wrote:

Now I have a functional question, if you put a fusion on a crystal that modifies damage such as a thundering fusion does it modify half the damage of the base solar weapon, half the damage added by the crystal, or half of both? In cases like the photon crystals this is an important question.

This is pretty cut and dry:

This is from the CRB:

"The frost fusion imbues a weapon with the icy cold of a dead world far from its system’s sun. Half the weapon’s damage type is replaced with cold damage. You can activate or deactivate the frost fusion as a swift action. If the weapon already deals two types of damage, replace one of them with cold (you decide which damage type to replace each time you activate the frost fusion). You can add this fusion only to a weapon that does not already deal cold damage. This fusion never causes a weapon that normally targets KAC to target EAC."

So, lets say we have a Weapon Crystal that adds fire damage:

"If a solarian crystal’s damage entry lists an abbreviation after the damage, however, the additional damage the solar weapon deals is of the indicated type."

So...

If you add a Photon Crystal, Minor to a Level 8 Solarian's blade (slash) - The Solarian's Blade becomes:

2d6 (slash) 1d6 (fire)

This is 2 damage types.

-----

So, if you add a Frost Fusion to the Mote we see the following:

"If the weapon already deals two types of damage, replace one of them with cold"

-----

The weapon deals Slashing and Fire, which is two types of damage. So you pick one of them, either Fire or Slashing, and replace it with the kind you want. So you can make it 2d6 (Cold) 1d6 (Fire) or 2d6 (Slash) and 1d6 (Fire)

-----

For me, personally, I plan on going a Gluon route. At level 12 I'll have it set up for:

Solar Weapon, 4d6 (Slash)
Gulon Crystal, Lesser +2d6 (same type, Slash)

Shock Fusion
Thundering Fusion
Holy Fusion

So mine will do: 3d6 (Electrical) 3d6 (Sonic)

And on a crit potentially sever limb(s) unless a DC 22 save is made. So all those baddies building for laser resists are going to be in for a bad day.

[baggageboy]

Hmmm by that interpretation, a solorian's weapon is better than any other weapon in relation to damage type fusions as you can change more than half of the damage's type. So I could be level 20, and be doing 12d6 base damage, add a level 5 photon crystal with a cold fusion and now do 12d6 cold and 1d3 fire damage. Am I understanding it correctly?

[HWalsh]

baggageboy wrote:

Hmmm by that interpretation, a solorian's weapon is better than any other weapon in relation to damage type fusions as you can change more than half of the damage's type. So I could be level 20, and be doing 12d6 base damage, add a level 5 photon crystal with a cold fusion and now do 12d6 cold and 1d3 fire damage. Am I understanding it correctly?

You *could* but I don't see why you *would* because by that point using a level appropriate fusion will give you more than enough extra damage to overcome DR/Resistances.

Though that isn't so much an interpretation that is what the fusion says, I gave you the text verbatim. You change one of the types if it does two types.

Honestly the best thing a Solarian can do is to use Plasma Sheath and convert ALL of the damage to fire (unless they are facing something immune to fire) to minimize the resists/DR that gets involved.

Heck, it might even be better to not use both fusions to retain a physical attack to use with Deflection.

[baggageboy]

Well I understand the text fine, but a crystal is an odd case. One could argue that the crystal only does 1 type of damage and the fusion is on the crystal. So you get to change half of the damage the crystal does to the type the fusion allows. I'm not arguing that that is the case, I think that it's clear that the designers intend that the solarian weapon be the king of melee weapons and that's fine. I'm just pointing out that it is not as cut and dry as the usual case.

As for why you would use a low level crystal with a fusion, well it only costs 3670cr, which at high levels is almost nothing, plus you may have several that you've kept during your career. For monsters with high resistances the math would work out about the same actually. The average of 6d6 is 21, so by switching to a low level crystal with a damage type fusion you do 21 damage less (on average), but if they had 20 resistance you don't have to deal with you are in about the same place. If they have higher resistance than that or an immunity or a vulnerability you can take advantage of (I don't know if any of these will be the case, but we'll see) then you are in a better position. And for something that has negligible bulk and which costs a pittance.

Also of a note, a similar thing can be done with many of the utility type fusions such as entangle. And instead of paying the 135000cr or a level 20 fusion, you take reduced damage, but utilize the once daily effect. And then just swap back.

Instead of having a limited weapon that was still arguably better than any other, now there is no contest. It is the most versital melee weapon in the game by far. Whether or not that is a good thing is in the eye of the beholder. Though to be fair as more equipment comes out that may change.

[Sebastian Hirsch]

Could we maybe get Owens answer added to the Starfinder FAQs?

[Rei "V Flower" Paige]

Cap Yesterday, Compulsive FAQer wrote:

I have made a positive contribution!!

Well with armory we have a fusion that clarifies it can only be used on a crystal, implying that all fusions can be used on solarion crystals normally.

[Themetricsystem]

BUMP!

I would like to use this opportunity to similarly ask a year later for this answer to be added to the FAQ.

It to this day is still hasn't been updated to the FAQ even though that got an update Feb 9th, 2018, months after the clarification here.

[jim reynolds 283]

Don't know if this counts as a Necro, but yes this needs to be added to the FAQ.