I wanted my first SFS character to be a melee focused Soldier early on branching out to blowing things up when needed.
Race Kasathan so I could wield a 2 handed melee weapon and a heavy weapon.
Starting Str of 18 Dex of 14. Lets me do good melee damage and heavy armor has good AC. I would bump Dex at 5th and 10th level.
But as I read more I am growing disenchanted with the style abilities.
Grenade Expert: A free grenade is nice and it levels with me. I doubt many people will be buying high level grenades. And the extra range is nice.
But: The save is based on my Dex. And any penalties to my attack decrease the save DC.
Heavy Fire: Add my strength to ranged damage vs multiple targets.
But: Automatic is a credit suck and drains the ammo in the first round, Explode weapons have the same issues as grenades. Dex based saves and any attack penalty reduces the save DC. As for Unwieldy that just leaves Blast for crowd control but blast says class abilities that increase single attack damage doesn't work.
Debilitating Attack: 1 resolve point to debuff multiple targets for multiple rounds.
But: Actually nah, This is a great ability by itself. I'm just unhappy it doesn't mesh well with Heavy Fire. Oh. They get a Fort save. At least it is based on my Str.
So my best option if I want to combine Heavy Fire and Debilitating Attack seems to be Shock Caster + Powerful Explosive and hope they roll low on the save.
Let me look at the numbers.
Level 5. Str of 21, Dex of 16, Shock Caster, Static +9 to hit AC 5. Spend a move action using heavy fire. Assuming no penalties dmg will be 1d12 +10 with a Ref save of 16. (10 + half item level + dex mod)
So about 11 dmg to maybe 2 targets.
Level 7. Slight increase in dmg. No change to save. Increased radius may include 3 enemies now.
Level 9. Upgrade to Aurora. Add Blitz style for total init of +11 including Improved Initiative. Now at +13 to hit for 2d12 + 14 dmg Ref 18 to save. Radius is now 20 feet and I can spend a resolve to debuff all enemies.
My thoughts on this build.
Pros: I can utilize any enemy grenades we find. I only have to buy 3 new weapons in my whole career and 2 of them are not until about level 9. (aurora and advanced pike). Good vs swarms. My goal of fighting in melee with a pike isn't greatly improved by the other styles so I don't lose much.
Cons: Other then my free grenade I won't be hitting multiple targets until level 5. The saves on the Explosions are so low I may as well just accept that they will be made. I will envy Technomancers for their higher damage and higher saves.
I can be tank with a pike and Bombard goes fine with that. Blitz is probably a better style for melee but what style would I take at 9th level?
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Two issues with that.
1. Grenades actually use Str on attack and Dex for saves. The FAQ "cleared" that up. Not that I'm worried about hitting a DC 5 anyway.
2. My main focus is melee. The Bombard stuff will probably only matter on the first round of combat. After that (And possibly before that) I'll have to worry about hitting allies.
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Personally I like bombard, but it really is built for the heavy weapons user. Your problems seem to focus around the fact that you're not a heavy weapons user, your a melee fighter that can use heavy weapons, and that the stats you want aren't working perfectly for for something that's not your main thing. My suggestion would actually be to move 2 points from str to dex. You'll miss all of +1 to hit and damage, and gain +1 to AC, skills, and ranged to hit. Then level 5 rolls around and suddenly your str bonus is just as high as if you'd put everything in it to begin with. If you still can't find a way to make it work that you're happy with I'd suggest the hit and run style. It's fun and particularly great for your race.