I don't have archive yet. is their a lot of monsters with elemental immunities?
Weapon Fusion (my opinion)
The best melee fusion is grabbing yourself a level 2 (cheap) weapon and put the Spellthrower Fusion on it. Then pick up a Reflective Armor Spell Gem.Tactics: Just before enter a place where you know you'll be in combat. Take a Full Round action to trigger this 10 minute duration spell. Then once combat happens and you take damage, as a immediate action, can reflect the same amount of damage back at the attacker.
While this is a bit expensive at low levels, it get's cheaper for the damage done as you climb in levels.
Just so you're aware, you can't put a 1st level spell gem in a Spellthrower weapon of item level 2. The maximum spell level you can put in is 1/4 the weapon's item level, so you need at least a level 4 weapon. You can only put 0th level spells into a 2nd level weapon.
I think real question is what fusions are beatifically to solarian besides ghost touch and severe wound.We already have good damage so we just need couple of elemental ones keep dealing damage since plasma sheath wont help in long run due more monsters gonna get fire resistance or immunity solarian gonna need different elements to keep the damage going
I'd say that a Holy Fusion is actually a really good idea for a Solarian to get. That way, their Plasma Sheath allows them to deal full fire damage to all manner of evil dragons, outsiders, and undead in the game. The biggest boon is probably ignoring the energy resistance of outsiders, if their boatload of energy random energy resistances from Pathfinder remain.
So you are basically saying because the Solarian doesn't use Dex to-hit and damage, that Solar Weapon does 1d6 damage at 1st level, and because its key stat is Charisma, it was poorly designed?
I didn't say anything about Dexterity. You did. ;) You're talking about melee stuff, where I was talking about Solarian primary stat for DC, resolve, etc.
If they went to DEX-to-hit & damage, they'd need to do it for the whole game system, not just for the Solarian. Like they did in 5e D&D. I'm not against that idea at all, but it'd need to be a system-wide change, and would require a lot of rebalancing.
But yes, I do think the 1d6 base dmg is indeed a problem at low levels. Clearly when a level 5 Solarian with weapon manifestation can ignore a primary feature of their class by picking up a Pike or Doshko, and do more damage... That's a problem.
But changing it to 1d8 isn't the direction I'd go personally, because, as you showed, multiplying that to 2d8 as they level up becomes problematic. If I were to design it, I'd probably make the weapon manifestation be whatever weapon the solarian manifests, (analog weapons only, of the appropriate level range of course) and use the appropriate dice and rules for that weapon. That way they are more-or-less equal to whatever other characters have.
This would also opens up the possibly of balanced DEX-based solarians, using operative weapons. I find it annoying that Solarians can't take advantage of the "operative" feature on a lot of weapons. They probably wouldn't be very good without an operative's trick attack damage, but at least it'd be a possibility if a player wanted to go that direction.
But back to Charisma, the problem is complicated, but boils down to this: You can demand three stats from any particular class, but demanding four is too much. This goes all the way back to 1st edition AD&D paladins that needed STR, WIS, CON and CHA all to be any good. This was fixed in later editions that took the focus off of Wisdom and Charisma, and completely eliminated the need for Wisdom at all in 5th edition. A Light armor wearing Solarian is no different, because light armor means you must have DEX. Why do you think this guide recommends taking Heavy Armor proficiently so early? It really is a great choice, not only for the reasons detailed in this guide, it solves the DEX problem.
The alternative is to make Charisma a dump stat, and use revelations that don't use DC's, and live with reduced Resolve points. There's plenty of Solarians that do this, and that's pretty sad, in my opinion. But giving Solarians Heavy Armor proficiency baseline solves these problem. And I'd rather see that than changing Charisma as their primary stat.
Just my two cents worth. Sorry to derail the thread.
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But back to Charisma, the problem is complicated, but boils down to this: You can demand three stats from any particular class, but demanding four is too much. This goes all the way back to 1st edition AD&D paladins that needed STR, WIS, CON and CHA all to be any good. This was fixed in later editions that took the focus off of Wisdom and Charisma, and completely eliminated the need for Wisdom at all in 5th edition. A Light armor wearing Solarian is no different, because light armor means you must have DEX. Why do you think this guide recommends taking Heavy Armor proficiently so early? It really is a great choice, not only for the reasons detailed in this guide, it solves the DEX problem
Needing four stats is indeed probably too much. However, Solarian only needs three: Str, Dex, and Cha. What other stat do they need?
And being MAD in general is much less of an issue in Starfinder than it ever was in Pathfinder due to the way ability ups work.
You seem to be bringing a lot of Pathfinder assumptions to Starfinder, and that's not actually gonna result in accurate conclusions about a Class's power/viability.
But yes, I do think the 1d6 base dmg is indeed a problem at low levels. Clearly when a level 5 Solarian with weapon manifestation can ignore a primary feature of their class by picking up a Pike or Doshko, and do more damage... That's a problem.
The Solarian weapon damage die is plenty and scales well (if not better) then the other 1 handed weapons.
Little fact people seem to keep missing. Paizo wanted to try and change the Pathfinder system where combat was over in 1 to 3 rounds. This change looks like they reduced weapon damage dice, the static modifier, & the crit damage. While upping every beings health.
Now if Paizo succeeded with this change, is still unknown but from what I've seen it's been a partial success. Your SF characters output damage is less compared to PF character and health seems to be a lot higher.
He's specifically talking about low levels though, and he's correct. If you wanted to optimize a Solarian from level 1 to 5, the best way to do it is to drop 375/475 to pick up a Long Sword or Pike and use it until weapon crystals become available at level 5. There's an argument to be made that it isn't an efficient use of your WBL, but by level 2 or 3 that's a pittance to increase your damage die to 1d8 and gain reach for your next 4-10 gameplay sessions.
I don't plan to do it on my Solarian cause the Solar Weapon has way cooler flavor, but he's not wrong when he says its a problem that the optimal way to play a low level Solarian is to not use your Solar Weapon.
But yes, I do think the 1d6 base dmg is indeed a problem at low levels. Clearly when a level 5 Solarian with weapon manifestation can ignore a primary feature of their class by picking up a Pike or Doshko, and do more damage... That's a problem.
The Solarian weapon damage die is plenty and scales well (if not better) then the other 1 handed weapons.
Little fact people seem to keep missing. Paizo wanted to try and change the Pathfinder system where combat was over in 1 to 3 rounds. This change looks like they reduced weapon damage dice, the static modifier, & the crit damage. While upping every beings health.
Now if Paizo succeeded with this change, is still unknown but from what I've seen it's been a partial success. Your SF characters output damage is less compared to PF character and health seems to be a lot higher.He's specifically talking about low levels though, and he's correct. If you wanted to optimize a Solarian from level 1 to 5, the best way to do it is to drop 375/475 to pick up a Long Sword or Pike and use it until weapon crystals become available at level 5. There's an argument to be made that it isn't an efficient use of your WBL, but by level 2 or 3 that's a pittance to increase your damage die to 1d8 and gain reach for your next 4-10 gameplay sessions.
I don't plan to do it on my Solarian cause the Solar Weapon has way cooler flavor, but he's not wrong when he says its a problem that the optimal way to play a low level Solarian is to not use your Solar Weapon.
Think someone has already ran the numbers and proven that the Solarian Solar weapon is not the best in the slot. It's not even the cheapest once you factor in Weapon crystals and weapon fusions.
It is the best in the slot for it's "coolness" features ^_^
Are you talking about where they compared it to the best TWO handed weapons? and it was still a marginal difference?
Also you cna look at the crystals and see their cheaper not much math needed their and both weapons need fusions I feel that cancels.
But yes, I do think the 1d6 base dmg is indeed a problem at low levels. Clearly when a level 5 Solarian with weapon manifestation can ignore a primary feature of their class by picking up a Pike or Doshko, and do more damage... That's a problem.
The Solarian weapon damage die is plenty and scales well (if not better) then the other 1 handed weapons.
Little fact people seem to keep missing. Paizo wanted to try and change the Pathfinder system where combat was over in 1 to 3 rounds. This change looks like they reduced weapon damage dice, the static modifier, & the crit damage. While upping every beings health.
Now if Paizo succeeded with this change, is still unknown but from what I've seen it's been a partial success. Your SF characters output damage is less compared to PF character and health seems to be a lot higher.He's specifically talking about low levels though, and he's correct. If you wanted to optimize a Solarian from level 1 to 5, the best way to do it is to drop 375/475 to pick up a Long Sword or Pike and use it until weapon crystals become available at level 5. There's an argument to be made that it isn't an efficient use of your WBL, but by level 2 or 3 that's a pittance to increase your damage die to 1d8 and gain reach for your next 4-10 gameplay sessions.
I don't plan to do it on my Solarian cause the Solar Weapon has way cooler flavor, but he's not wrong when he says its a problem that the optimal way to play a low level Solarian is to not use your Solar Weapon.
Think someone has already ran the numbers and proven that the Solarian Solar weapon is not the best in the slot. It's not even the cheapest once you factor in Weapon crystals and weapon fusions.
It is the best in the slot for it's "coolness" features ^_^
It depends on the level range actually. At 20 it lags 3 points behind the best two hander in the game, but at 7 and 13, for example, it's actually slightly ahead of the best two handers at those levels. Seven and Thirteen are also much more relevant levels than twenty :)
Are you talking about where they compared it to the best TWO handed weapons? and it was still a marginal difference?
Also you cna...
Yes, yes I am. That's kind-of a no-brainer. With a lack of shields in the game (other than the Phase Shield armor upgrade at level 6, which requires heavy armor, that normal solarians cant get, by the way) there really is no reason why anyone would ever use a 1H weapon. Some may say that having the other arm open for a small arms weapon is advantageous... Considering you can hold a 2H weapon with one hand and draw the small arms as part of your move action with BAB +1, they'd be wrong. So yes, let's look at 2H weapons.
lvl 1: Tactical Doshko, 1d12 (unwieldy) - Sure you can only make 1 attack per round with it, but considering you're only level 1 and probably not willing to take the -4/-4 of multiattack, chances are 1 attack per round is all you really want. Marginality is subjective, but personally, I don't consider twice the damage potential to be marginal. My DM let us have up to level+1, as suggested in the Core Rulebook, page 167. So instead I took the Pike below...
lvl 2: Tactical Pike, 1d8 (reach) - Now here, I'll admit that 1d6 vs 1d8 is a rather small upgrade... But to me, the biggest reason to use a Pike over a Solarian weapon is because reach weapons are awesome. Those of us who are long-time gamers know the power of reach weapons... And if you aren't, I'd suggest looking up D&D 3.5 Spiked Chain Fighter builds.
lvl 4, Carbon steel curved blade, 1d10, 1d6 bleed on crit - Like the Doshko above, the marginality of 1d10 vs 1d6 is subjective, but I consider that significant. -But if you crit? Forget about it... I'd personally keep my pike, but min/maxers will want to swap to this from the Doshko, since you probably have enough +hit to use multistrike.
But any of these three options are better than your crappy 1d6 weapon manifestation, that does absolutely nothing special.
lvl 5 - Solarians finally get weapon crystals! So your damage potential goes up to 1d6 + 1d4, average of 6. We are finally getting close to the 1d12 Doshko (avg 6.5) our Armor Solarian had at level 1! /golfclap And it still doesn't compare to the battlefield control you have with a reach weapon. (pike)
Things get a whole lot better at level 6 when you finally get 2d6, but until then... There is absolutely no reason to take Weapon Manifestation. None. Nadda. Zilcho.
Just a corrective note on the above... Pg.167 of the rulebook states the game assumes that in typical settlements you can find and purchase anything with an item level no greater than your character level + 1, and at major settlements items up to your character level + 2. So my notes about level availability get even worse with more liberal DMing, and could include getting a 2d8 Devastation blade at level 5... Completely eliminating any advantage you got from weapon crystals at level 5. Getting the 2d6 at level 6 is simply playing catch up...
I wanted to just thank everyone who frequents my guide... As of the time of me writing this it has gotten over 10,000 hits. Amazing. I am touched.
Its a solid guide for a brand new class, in a brand new game system! Thanks for putting in the time and effort of writing it! Please don't think my criticisms of the class design is meant to take away from your guide, because it isn't meant to do that at all. Huzzah to you, good sir.
Just a corrective note on the above... Pg.167 of the rulebook states the game assumes that in typical settlements you can find and purchase anything with an item level no greater than your character level + 1, and at major settlements items up to your character level + 2.
Level+2 gear is like half your WBL, so is usually going to be prohibitively expensive. I wouldn't base any theorycrafting around that assumption.
The main problem with Solar Weapon is it seems to be balanced around being a Level+0 weapon, meaning at any clutch level where a best-in-slot Advanced Melee weapon is available for purchase at Level+1 Solar Weapon will be the worse option. This is a pretty minor problem except at level 1-5 because Tactical Pike is available and affordable at character creation and is clearly superior.
In general this is a problem with the system which should have had all characters scale like the Solarion, in loading some of the damage bonuses on character level and some on the gear making all weapons work mechanically like Weapon Crystals. Having all of the damage scale by the weapon also introduces some problems in encounter design and verisimilitude.
As for the doshko, unwieldy weapons also don't allow you to make AoO with them further limiting their utility for a primarily melee combatant. Also I'm pretty sure full attacking is the superior option even at level 1. The unwieldy melee weapon only seems useable by the Kasatha or some other multi-limb wielder who will also have another weapon for AoO, Step Up and Strike, full attacks, et cetera. Of course affording two weapons is another issue.
Mine just absolutely rocks. It feels like a dominating engine of destruction. I have made the GMs jaw hit the table when I moved 75 feet (25 normal, then a 50 ft charge) at level 2 and still attacked.
At level 2, I like being able to moving 40 feet on the ground over to a cliff wall, then being able to charge vertically up the cliff 40 feet to hit people at the top shooting down at us.
Mine just absolutely rocks. It feels like a dominating engine of destruction. I have made the GMs jaw hit the table when I moved 75 feet (25 normal, then a 50 ft charge) at level 2 and still attacked.At level 2, I like being able to moving 40 feet on the ground over to a cliff wall, then being able to charge vertically up the cliff 40 feet to hit people at the top shooting down at us.
How is this possible at level 2? Wouldn't you need Gravity Boost and Stellar Rush?
I'm using Stellar rush for standard action charge. As noted, I play a light armor Solar Armor Solarian with the Fleet feat. At level 2 I spent 1,200 credits on climbing suckers, which provide 20 foot climb speed (on vertical and horizontal surfaces). Climbing suckers require you to have bare feat or using custom clothing, and must be in light or no armor, in order to benefit from the climb speed.
Climb is restricted from using the run action, but the charge action is not forbidden.
Given climbing vertically with a climb speed is not difficult terrain, I can't see any reason why you can't charge up a 40 foot wall or cliff by using your sucker feet as a Standard action using Stellar Rush.
I'm using Stellar rush for standard action charge. As noted, I play a light armor Solar Armor Solarian with the Fleet feat. At level 2 I spent 1,200 credits on climbing suckers, which provide 20 foot climb speed (on vertical and horizontal surfaces). Climbing suckers require you to have bare feat or using custom clothing, and must be in light or no armor, in order to benefit from the climb speed.
Climb is restricted from using the run action, but the charge action is not forbidden.
Given climbing vertically with a climb speed is not difficult terrain, I can't see any reason why you can't charge up a 40 foot wall or cliff by using your sucker feet as a Standard action using Stellar Rush.
Sounds legit (and awesome) to me.
I'm using Stellar rush for standard action charge. As noted, I play a light armor Solar Armor Solarian with the Fleet feat. At level 2 I spent 1,200 credits on climbing suckers, which provide 20 foot climb speed (on vertical and horizontal surfaces). Climbing suckers require you to have bare feat or using custom clothing, and must be in light or no armor, in order to benefit from the climb speed.
Climb is restricted from using the run action, but the charge action is not forbidden.
Given climbing vertically with a climb speed is not difficult terrain, I can't see any reason why you can't charge up a 40 foot wall or cliff by using your sucker feet as a Standard action using Stellar Rush.
“What’s that weird popping sound coming froOH CRAP!!!”
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Hi Guys... Just coming here to comment that ive just played #1-04, im level 3...
And my Lashunta Solarian (Solar Weapon) Ace Pilot...
just...R O C K S...
=) ...
I guess a soldier would also rock, and maybe better this level due to a better weapon... However, i dont think im so far behind...
;*I'm very glad. :)
Are you using a guide build?
Mine just absolutely rocks. It feels like a dominating engine of destruction. I have made the GMs jaw hit the table when I moved 75 feet (25 normal, then a 50 ft charge) at level 2 and still attacked.
Level 4 on mine and it feels soooooo good.
Yeap! Im using the build in the guide...
Though im finding weird that, at SFS, im getting more money for my level than i should...Lvl 3 i already have Upgraded my Str and we've found a Photon Crystal, and i have enough money to buy it... (It appeared in the CHronicle sheet , so i can buy it even though it is lvl 5 item and im lvl 3) ... And im buying it...
When i get to lvl 5, ill probably have enough money for a nice armor and maybe movement enhancement already...
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If you have a Operator in your party, at 4th level, the target they get their trick attack off against is flat footed for the round.
So the Feint line of feats is more of a *meh* in my opinion.
What makes you think the Solarian is attacking the same target as the Operative?
What if the Solarian goes first in initiative order?
What if you get engaged by an enemy who hasn't been targeted by the operative?
The Feint line of feats provides a level of agency to everyone, rather than relying on another player to provide the de buff.
If you have a Operator in your party, at 4th level, the target they get their trick attack off against is flat footed for the round.
So the Feint line of feats is more of a *meh* in my opinion.
What makes you think the Solarian is attacking the same target as the Operative?
What if the Solarian goes first in initiative order?
What if you get engaged by an enemy who hasn't been targeted by the operative?
The Feint line of feats provides a level of agency to everyone, rather than relying on another player to provide the de buff.
I think he was pointing out it has diminishing returns the more other classes in your party can provide an identical, non-stacking debuff. Operatives basically auto-succeed at 7th level in providing that debuff. Envoys have the Clever Feint and Clever attack improvisations (along with the ability to add an expertise bonus in combat to bluff). If you've got 2 other characters in your party which can do it (and are more likely to succeed at the check), a 3rd with 50/50 odds clearly is less needed, and could potentially put their feat and move action resources elsewhere.
Certainly I think it is a good feat chain if you are the only one in the party that can provide the debuff, and it is probably not actively bad as a 2nd character. However, there are a number of revelations the Solarian also have that it wants to turn on at 7th level (the earliest you can get Greater Feint) or use with a move action: Plasma Sheath, Dark Matter, maintain Crush, Glow of Life. You have to weigh that diminishing returns (situations where a 2nd or 3rd flat footed target is useful) versus other feats you could have taken (Coordinated Shot, Weapon Focus, Nimble Moves, Adaptive fighting, Step Up, Step Up and Strike,etc). Many of which don't have a 50/50 odds chance (or worse if you're not literally maxing Charisma).
However, to answer your posed questions:
The value of an effective +2 to hit drops the fewer characters are taking advantage of it. If 5 characters benefit, its like 50% more damage from one character. If 1 character benefits (like only your Solarian attacking a different target than the Operative) its only worth 10%, and that only succeeds half the time with a 50/50 odds bluff roll, dropping it to an effective 5% damage boost. Kinda expensive in terms of feats for such a low bonus.
If my melee Solarian goes first in initiative order, I'm probably activating Dark Matter or Plasma Sheath and then using Stellar Rush. Or perhaps using Adaptive Fighting to get Nimble moves so I can Stellar Rush through difficult terrain. Or simply moving to get to melee and then attacking. At high levels I'll be activating Gravity Shield on the first turn, and at the very least providing cover to my allies. I probably wouldn't be using Greater Feint until the 2nd turn or later.
Also, compared to the build in this guide, a 7th level Operative is going to typically have 23 Dex (+6 initiative bonus) plus their Edge (+3) for a +9 initiative bonus, compared to the Solarian's +2.
If I get engaged by an enemy who hasn't been targeted by the operative, I'm probably full attacking back in melee, so I don't have a move action to spare. I mean, all the ranged people can still attack the target of the Operative, so not providing a to-hit bonus doesn't matter to the rest of the team. At 7th level, you've got Flashing strikes, which already makes the full attack penalty only -3 instead of -4. Even if you make the 50/50 bluff roll, you're still not generally ahead of the full attack. Say 60% odds of hitting is worse than 35% chance of hitting twice.
I do have a "controller/caster" style Solarian written up that does use the Feint feat tree, mostly to improve odds on Disarm and trip attempts, or be combined with ranged control abilities which don't require you to move to get in range or guarded step to keep up. However, I probably would change the build if it was in a party with a Clever Attack Envoy and an Operative.
Certainly I think it is a good feat chain if you are the only one in the party that can provide the debuff, and it is probably not actively bad as a 2nd character.Again, you assume every group has an Operative. In this case, I don't think every group will, I think there is a 50% chance of Envoy and a 50% chance of Operative.
I think we may be in furious agreement. :)
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I think we may be in furious agreement. :)Certainly I think it is a good feat chain if you are the only one in the party that can provide the debuff, and it is probably not actively bad as a 2nd character.Again, you assume every group has an Operative. In this case, I don't think every group will, I think there is a 50% chance of Envoy and a 50% chance of Operative.
Starfinder society says hi. Where the groups are random and team play not guaranteed.
I agree with your breakdown of the benefits though. Definitely diminishing returns. I took improved Feint at first level to compensate for my strength only being 14 vs my Dex of 16.
For my build, which is armour Solarian, switch hitting ranged and melee, it's a great feat and more than makes up for the loss in hitting power that comes with lower strength.
Why, when combined with things like Get 'em, is this so potent?
A 10th level Solarian can Full Attack for a -3 Penalty and strike twice, at that level, on average, they'll do (if following my guide at least) around 3d6+1d6 (Severe Wound) +6 +10 +2 +5 (if Plasma Sheathed) Fire damage.
Or 4d6+23 Fire Damage - Which is significant.
Due to Flashing Strikes they only suffer a -3 penalty when Full Attacking.
Get 'em + Flat Footed + Improved Feint and Greater Feint allows a set up of:
Photon Attune
Move Action Feint
Standard Action Stellar RushFor a healthy single attack of 4d6+18 (on round 1) or an average of 32 damage.
If the enemy moves, you'll likely have Step Up (or potentially Step Up and Strike) meaning if they guarded stepped away, you can full attack in the following round and the target is still feinted.
At this point, you have an effective +0 penalty and, if you followed my advice so far around a +17 to attack, you're very likely to connect with both attacks to mete out an average of 64 damage. Potentially dealing 96 damage on average in 2 rounds.
At this level a PC has around 74 HP and 70 SP - A total of around 144 durability. In 2 rounds you can potentially cleave through over 2/3 their health. That is pretty darn good and something that Soldiers aren't likely to be able to do (without help) because of their generally lower Charisma.
Wouldn't you be better off in your build and the situation you describe taking Advanced Melee Focus and Coordinated Shot instead of Feint and Improved Feint, as then on the 1st turn you can:
Photon Attune
Move action Plasma Sheath
Standard Action Stellar Rush
Providing a guaranteed +1 to hit for yourself, and a +1 to hit for your ranged allies?
You deal 15% more average damage (32->37) per successful hit. Which on average does more damage than an extra 5% improved chance to hit would provide.
Since bluff is basically 50/50 odds (or worse) for your build against CR to CR+3 enemies on average, you'll actually get the same number of misses turned into hits with Advanced Melee focus. Similarly, ranged allies get the same benefit to hit. But you've now freed up a move action every other round.
Plus if you do have an ally which can make the enemy flat footed, all the bonuses stack then. I mean if you've got a 10th level Envoy providing Improved Get 'Em as a move action, they may have also grabbed Clever Attack to provide flat footed as a standard with a bonus attack. Certainly if you have the opportunity to coordinate builds, that is overall much stronger. Thats not even including the fact they can force the Feint to succeed with a resolve point, or simply have much better odds than you with their Expertise bonus that they can use in combat unlike Sidereal influence.
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Just a minor note, a 50% chance to hit is a hit on a roll of 11 or higher. 1-10 misses, 11-20 hits.
In this test build I focused on bluff so at level 1 I had a +9 bluff, by 10 it was a +19 bluff.
I assume that means you are Lashunta with 16 Charisma and Student (Bluff). 1 rank + 3 Charisma + 3 Class + 2 Student = +9 at 1st.
To feint an opponent, you need to hit a DC of 15 + 1.5*CR. The earliest you can do it in that build as a move action is level 7. At level 7 (assumed bonus of +16), against a CR 7, that is a DC 25, succeeding on a 9 or higher (60% of the time), but against a CR 9 (boss) that is a DC 28, succeeding on a 12 (45%).
At 10th level, that is a DC 30 vs a CR 10, where you only succeed 50% of the time (and a CR 12 boss is 30%). Without greater feint yet, it only applies to the next attack, so it doesn't apply to both rolls of a full attack. It also can't help allies. It also doesn't let you avoid AoO from reach enemies.
I feel like either finishing the Step Up and Strike Tree or finishing the Greater Feint Tree makes more sense than splitting them in half. Focus on one, then the other.
A move action for an average +1 to +0.6 to hit for a single attack just feels weak. That move action will literally make a difference in about 1 in 20 to 1 in 33 attacks where you've spent the move action. I feel like you can use move actions to make more of a difference than that. Like straight up full attacking. Or activating Plasma sheath. Or moving to a flanking position. Or getting out of your allies' way for coordinated shot.
A move action for an average +1 to +0.6 to hit for all attacks until the end of your next round, and preventing AoOs/reactions from an enemy is much better, as you get to multiple by all attacks made against that target and avoid damage on the way in.
I believe a Feint build is also better in a build using a reach weapon, as you can sacrifice taking Step Up/Step Up and Strike to actually focus on getting Improved and Greater Feint by 7th level. At least at lower levels, where Feint is more useful anyways. If you're playing at level 13 and higher, you can probably afford both - but again, the odds of success drop quite a bit at 13th (40% chance of success vs equal CR, 25% vs CR+2).
This is going to force me to re-evaluate the Heavy Armor build. As the Heavy Armor isn't going to stop attacks and, if you start with a 14 in Dex you might be able to get close enough with Light Armor. I'll have to look, now that we have the numbers it makes analysis easier. If it looks like Light Armored Solarians are getting hit on similar numbers...
Which I can plot real fast, assuming a 14 starting Dex raising until 18, and using your secondary personal upgrade, which would drop Charisma at 20, to 20 from 22...
Level 01: 13/15 (14 Dex)
Level 05: 18/19 (16 Dex)
Level 10: 27/29 (20 Dex - +2 Personal Upgrade)
Level 15: 33/35 (22 Dex - +4 Personal Upgrade)
Level 20: 38/38 (22 Dex)Light Armor / Heavy Armor / Solar Armor + Light
CR 01: +08 (They need to roll a 5/7) (5/7) 6/8
CR 05: +14 (They need to roll a 4/5) (6/8) 5/6
CR 10: +22 (They need to roll a 5/7) (5/8) 7/9
CR 15: +28 (They need to roll a 5/7) (7/8) 7/9
CR 20: +34 (They need to roll a 4/4) (7/8) 6/6This really does reinforce how much of a good idea Heavy Armor actually is for a melee Solarian. Unless you hyper pump dex, and I brought it to a theoretical 22, you end up lagging behind. Granted, this is only around 10% - 15% more damage avoidance, but you also gain higher resolve, higher DCs, and your array is tighter. In theory someone who started with a 16 would be slightly better off, but without Solar Armor to match it, going Light Armor just is the inferior choice.
Bolded sections are my additions to the chart.
I find it interesting with the exact same Dex as you show here (starting 14, secondary bonus to Dex), but going Solar Armor instead of Solar Weapon, puts you ahead at 1st, 10th and 15th levels. Solar Armor + Light armor with a 14 Dex really does seem like it was balanced against Heavy Armor. I'm just saying a melee Solarian could reasonably choose Solar Armor + Light armor, get roughly the same protection with a modest initial investment in Dex, and free up a feat, at the cost of a +1 stat modifier elsewhere.