So, question. Maybe I haven't read the thread or the guide thoroughly, but why exactly is armor Solarion so bad? The two main points seem to be a) the primary benefit of armor Solarion doesn't actually work with heavy armor, which is apparently a necessity, and b) it requires you to sink additional creds into both weapons and armor, which makes the build slightly more strained since Starfinder puts even more emphasis on gear than Pathfinder. But my question is is it still playable, even in the somewhat competitive Starfinder Society?
It truly just boils down to how much hyperbole you want to buy into. Bad is entirely subjective and it is kind of disheartening to see people read things over and think "seems like there is only one way to do this".
An Armor Solarian is just different. In terms of sheer combat effectiveness you don't sacrifice that much. It can be about 1 point of EAC/KAC in the end yet you get free Fire or Cold resist 20. You also get this resistance at level 5 which is far earlier than you can buy an equal upgrade for your armor or take the feat. You will likely sacrifice ability points in Con, Int, and Wis though. Just how much of that is acceptable for your gaming needs is up to you. Yes, doing something different from this build's set path will dramatically lower your skill points. If you're ok with that, then go hog wild with possibilities. Let's look at quick example!
You could for instance play a Vesk as a Solar Armor build and eventually hit EAC 42/ KAC 42 with the maximum light armor at level 20 (EAC 22/KAC 22, +2 Solar Armor, +1 Racial Bonus, +7 Dex). By default a Heavy Armor build will hit 41/42 with a +5 Dex modifier.
The Dex Vesk looks like:
Str 26, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 22 - after all of the max level upgrades.
A Str Vesk could look like:
Str 26, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 24 - after all upgrades. The AC of the Str Vesk will be a little higher.
And these two examples are by no means the only way to go. You could shift some ability points into Int if you want more skills from either Con or Cha if you wanted.
But this build guide focuses on pushing Str, Dex, Int, and Cha so alternatives will not be as strong in skill point diversity.
At the end of the day, the continued drum beat that a "dex" build can't do the same damage just ignores multiple attribute configurations. A "dex" build can get the exact same Str bonuses to damage with a different set of dice off the weapon (advanced melee vs solar weapon) and most likely 1 less EAC/KAC. You'll gain a feat back, and you could make use of the feat Fleet (as mentioned already) if you wanted to. If you're cool with those trade offs, then there you go. However, you may hear that building in this manner "just won't work" or is "not optimal".
Take it all with a grain of salt.
You can, as I even stated in my previous post here, get close to the same. Is dex optimal? No. It isn't.
Side note:
With the right armor enhancements the Vesk Heavy Armor can get to 43/43 not 41/42Now does "Not optimal" mean it is "bad" exactly? No.
What it does mean is that you work harder, limit yourself in other areas, and give yourself a potentially nasty weakness. In my opinion, it simply isn't worth it. It is literally forcing a square peg into a round hole.
That is why all of the examples of Solar Armor Solarians we have in the book are all gun users. Because going dex is better for gunning than swinging a weapon. Doesn't mean you can't break the mold if you don't mind losing the con, the wisdom, and the skill ranks.
True, that +1 EAC upgrade can be used with a Solar Weapon which is nice. I was comparing base heavy armor at level 20 which is 41/42. Maybe I should have been more clear. Though I did address that the Str Vesk would have slightly higher Armor which is still the case with your addition.
Anyhoo, we actually agree that there are very drastic trade offs going Solar Armor + Advanced Melee Weapon. However, I feel like it is up to individual players to decide just how "bad" or "not optimal" that is.
"then there are clear ways to do build to be as good in that aspect as you can"
Which is the point of this specific guide
For the first *snip*, I agree. Starfinder builds are actually pretty straight forward and practically write themselves.
The second statement, I still think that is debatable. The guide itself stacks Intelligence all the way to level 20 while diminishing the value of Constitution.
The front-liner aspects of this build boil down to...
Heavy Armor to have the highest EAC/KAC as often as possible, Check.
Enough Strength to be competent in melee, check.
And, that's it for front lining. Everything else is personal preference and then the conversations devolve into circular arguments.
I feel like the point of the guide is to show what is possible with a melee Solarian like adding more skill points to contribute to the group in a variety of ways. It does a great job at that, but it is only 1 build and it isn't the only way to play the class in melee.
"It is important to note that in Starfinder Con Bonuses have been effectively reduced by a tremendous amount.
In Pathfinder a d10 hp character with Con +3 at level 3 could take an average of (assuming 7 on the die rolls) 10+14+9 for 33 damage before dropping.
In Starfinder a fighter type with a 4 base from race and a +0 con has: (4+21) HP and 21 SP for a total of 46.
The +3 Con in Pathfinder comes to be nearly 1/3 of the total durability of the character, in Starfinder it is less than 20%"
*Forum ate my formatting
What? Constitution applies to Stamina at every level and it is retroactive. A level 20 Solarian with 10 Con has 140 HP (7x20). A level 20 Solarian with 16 Con has 200 HP (7+3 x 20). 20% of 200 is 40, but the Constitution is granting +60 Stamina or 30% of 200. **edited for brain fart
If you wanted to start the game with a 16 Con you'd have 10 Stamina at level vs base 7 assuming no Con modifier. That is also a significant boost in starting durability with significant opportunity costs in other stats.
Also, the monsters we have seen so far in Starfinder have disproportionate chances to hit relative to their EAC/KAC. So far everything I have seen out of the Dead Suns Adventure is fairly likely to be struck by the players, but a similar statement can be made for monsters. It gets even worse as the CR scales in that same module. There are going to be diminishing returns at some breaking points, but still Con isn't worthless. I would stress that the additive to the Fort Save is the bigger draw to me. Again, a build discussion ultimately boils down to opportunity costs on attributes and what you are willing to trade.
On wounding weapons, it is certainly something to be aware of. It is nice perk for Solar Weapon players. If you want to keep telling people they are wrong for wanting to Advanced Melee Weapons due to a possibility of wounding, then please make the Kasath a higher value race. Their 4 arms are clearly a superior advantage in the world of decapitated limbs.
yeah that +1 trade off to higher saves seems worth it to me
You can also go
1) 16 13 10 10 8 16
5) 18 15 10 10 10 18
10) 19 17 12 12 10 18
15) 20 17 14 12 12 18
20) 20 18 16 14 14 18
or
1) 16 13 10 10 8 16
5) 18 15 10 12 10 16
10) 18 17 12 12 12 18
15) 19 17 14 14 14 18
20) 20 18 16 14 16 18
or My favorite...
Human (the old standby +Feat and +1 Skill per level):
1st 16 13 10 10 10 14
5th 18 15 10 12 10 16
10th 19 17 12 12 10 18
15th 20 17 14 12 12 19
20th 20 18 16 12 14 20
Or maybe
1st 16 13 10 10 10 14
5th 18 15 10 12 10 16
10th 18 17 12 12 12 18
15th 19 17 14 14 14 18
20th 20 18 16 14 16 18
But I also really like leaning towards...
1st 14 13 10 12 10 14
5th 16 15 12 12 10 16
10th 18 17 12 12 12 18
15th 19 17 14 12 14 19
20th 20 18 16 12 14 20
The very last iteration starts with higher skill points from the get go but eventually catches up to the first array presented. Human is important especially for a Str 14 because you could grab Weapon Focus faster. You'd be 1 point damage behind but...
ALL of these build options hit a +4 Str bonus by level 10. All of them. Even the HWalsh's guide has a 19 Str by 10th level which is the exact same +4 hit and damage as everything I list above. This is significant to note because SFS caps at 12th level. I've been toying with my own builds to basically "end" around level 10.
You could slow Str progression down to 18 to gain a higher Int if you like, but you can also go to a 12 or 14. The Human is significant with this alternative because of the +1 skill point per level.
I like a very high Charisma build by 10th, achievable in a number of ways, but you could stop at 18 which lets you pump Con or Wisdom. My character concept for a Solarian with high Charisma would likely lean towards being a Captain role in Ship Combat. Theme could practically be anything that grants a Str, Dex or Cha bonus.
I don't feel a Wisdom of greater than a 14 is worth it, but then again I'd be planning to take Iron Will as a feat. So your mileage may vary.
Please stop putting words in my mouth. I have never said anyone was wrong. I have pointed out possible issues based on math-based extrapolation. You need to not take any of this so personally. I have repeatedly, repeatedly said that other builds are perfectly viable, and only have pointed out the pitfalls and risks.
You're right. You may not have said exactly "you're wrong". For that, I do apologize.
I'm not taking it personally, but I feel some of your responses have been condescending. Beyond that statement I don't wish to turn this into an argument. You may very well feel the same way about me, and for that I am sorry. That was never my intent.
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huh that is something I havent noticed
Con is important, but in terms of increasing durability it seems, I dunno less prevalent than in it was Pathfinder though only in terms of combat durability, because Fort saves are pretty important to resist those wounding weapons10 + 1/2 the item's level + Attack Ability Bonus
So a level 6 wounding weapon with a +4 bonus behind it forces a DC 17 save.
A Solarian has a +5 base, with a +3 that gives them an 8 - That is a 40% chance to fail it, that is assuming you have a +3. Likely you'll have a +1 on a Solarian (Strength or Dex) so you'll only have a +6, so requiring a 12 or higher is a 55% chance of failure. Either way, high or low con, you have a decent chance to fail it.
A level 10 severe wounding weapon, with a +5 from Ability Score (my projections put a +6, so using that) calls for a DC 21, with a +8 base, and by both of our builds grants a +2 to Con, so a +10 still only gives us a 50% chance of success and they get 2 rolls on the chart.
(I should note: A common mistake I am seeing people make in builds, and something I should have put in the guide, is how debilitating wounding weapons are when they go off. I may look into adding that, and potentially raising the value of the Improved Critical Feat.)
I should point out its a Reflex save for the arm getting cut off, not a Fortitude save. Legs are Fortitude. You should be pumping Dex if you don't want to lose a hand. Also, if you have a +6 bonus, and the save DC is 17, you succeed on an 11 or higher, which is 50% odds of success.
At level 6, your typical Solar Armor Solarian is going to have a 18 dex (+2 personal upgrade, +2 level, 14 starting). +2 from class +4 Dex = +6. 50% odds. Your build is likely to have +4 (15 Dex, +2 from class), which is 60% chance of failure.
Losing a hand is not that debilitating. You make it sound like a Solarian using a 2-handed weapon can do absolutely nothing, which is not true. It doesn't affect your Solarian revelations, unless the revelation is used your weapon to attack. You can still Supernova. You can still Crush. Basically it makes Stellar Rush and Solar Acceleration weaker. Although you could just bull rush them with Stellar Rush for fire damage.
Your damage is reduced only by 50-60% if you have a level 1 one-handed advanced melee weapon backup (like a 110 credit starknife, maybe with the called fusion for 120 more so it doubles as a thrown weapon backup). About half your damage until very high level is from static bonuses. For example, level 10, you are doing 3d10 + 6 Str + 10 level + 5 Plasma Sheath = 37.5 average. Using a Starknife its 1d4 + 21 = 23.5 average. Thats 62% of your damage with a 1 handed level 1 weapon. At level 11 and higher, you can buy an extra arm, which makes the entire point moot.
Also, you make it sound like this is some common occurrence. The odds of any given Severe Wounding weapon actually cutting a hand of is 1/20 (Critical) * 19/100 (Severe wounding chance, roll twice, choose 16-17) * chance to fail saving throw (50/100) ~ 1/210.
23 weapons/crystals out of over 274 (excluding grendates) have the wounding proprty in the CRB. That is less than 1 in 10.
In SFS play, let us make the following assumptions:
3 Scenarios per level
11 levels
4 encounters per Scenario
3 humanoid enemies per encounter
Say 20% of humanoid enemies with severe wounding weapons (more than twice the % of the wounding weapons to other weapons)
6 rounds of combat
All severe wounding weapon attacks are against you
1/210 chance of any given hit actually removing a hand
3*11*4*3*0.2*6/210= 2.26 Hands
That is 2-3 fights out of 132. With the above assumptions all your allies lose no hands because the wounding weapon enemies just want to hit you.
I'm curious what math calculations you did to come to the conclusion you would be losing a hand often enough to warrant completely avoiding 2-handed weapons?
Lastly, you can put a hand back on in the wild with an Advanced Medical kit and a premade prothestic in 80 minutes (10 minutes to put up kit, 1 hour with Medicine skill of 1, break down kit). It is going to affect you for a single fight even when it does happen.
Besides, you could always pick up that Plasma Sword after the fight, if that is what cut your hand off.
Choosing your build because of the Severe wounding property's existence is like choosing your build to have maximum Con so you can survive triple critical hits at level 1 from Space goblins (22.5 average damage) in a single round. Requires 23 hit points, so a Con 16 Vesk should work.
You are worried about low probability events which you can mitigate the impact from. Sure you'll lose a hand, maybe once or twice during your career to level 12 in SFS. It is something to be prepared for. Just like you should be prepared for being disarmed, or entangled, or unable to move. But I feel constantly bringing it up is misrepresenting the statistics.
Why not include in the guide how to mitigate that problem? That you should always carry a backup weapon, thrown preferably so you can use your Strength to hit at ranged as well.
I'm not denying that Solar weapon being 1-handed is an advantage. But so are 2-handed weapons which have the Reach or Block property. There are trade offs here, and the disadvantages I feel are not nearly as bad as you seem to be implying.
You are worried about low probability events which you can mitigate the impact from. Sure you'll lose a hand, maybe once or twice during your career to level 12 in SFS. It is something to be prepared for. Just like you should be prepared for being disarmed, or entangled, or unable to move. But I feel constantly bringing it up is misrepresenting the statistics.
Why not include in the guide how to mitigate that problem? That you should always carry a backup weapon, thrown preferably so you can use your Strength to hit at ranged as well.
I'm not denying that Solar weapon being 1-handed is an advantage. But so are 2-handed weapons which have the Reach or Block property. There are trade offs here, and the disadvantages I feel are not nearly as bad as you seem to be implying.
Hiruma Kai, I kinda love you. What you state in these final paragraphs captures how I feel, but presents it far better than I have been capable of.
25 HP 30 SP = 55 Durability - Bonus to durability from Con is only 16.36% of total health.vs Pathfinder:
10 (level 1) +14 (7 for levels 2/3) +9 (+3 con x level) = 33 Durability. - Bonus to durability from Con is 27.27% of total health.
AH, ok! Sorry, I wasn't considering Hit Points as a total of the durability which does diminish some of Constitution's benefit. I'm still on the fence about having a Con score of a 14 for a melee class but that is probably decades of DnD play. I would also be a bit concerned about the saving throw hit too, but that would just make Great Fortitude more attractive to me.
I see where you are coming from with your build decisions. The discussion here has gotten me to look a lot closer at things like equipment and other rules to really get a better grasp on character generation.
I didn't read everything (there were a lot of long posts) but my only nit is that Step-Up by itself is a complete waste of a feat. It will be extremely rare that it works for you.
Let's say you're next to an evil caster, the guarded step to cast. You use your reaction to Step Up. They cast. You stand there and watch them because you've already used your reaction and can't make an Attack of Opportunity.
Even with Step Up and Strike, it gets better because you get an extra attack you wouldn't normally have had, but you won't stop the actions of your target because you can no longer take AoO's
Don't forget that it is easier to recover stamina than it is to recover HP. Those extra stamina points are going to be a factor in every fight a Solarian gets into. Ideally, anyway.
The reason why wounding comes up - primarily because plasma weapons target EAC over KAC which are more likely to be used as they are easier to hit with (which is also my go-to for advanced melee weapons) - Then the number of rounds typically in melee (3) with 2 of those being full attacks - With the average encounter length being 8 rounds - This meant on average I assumed 2 melee enemies in those periods - So the melee'er is likely to eat a total of 5-7 melee attacks per opponent.
Meaning typically an average of 14 per encounter. Critical hits came up an average of 1/Encounter - Wounding/Severe Wounding was about 30% of those times.
I also deduced that Wounding was preferable to Bleed or Burn damage for the capability to inflict greater hindrance on an enemy based on the large amounts of health.
On Wounding weapons there is a 10% chance of losing a hand.
There is a 20% chance of losing a hand on a Severe Wounding weapon.In both cases there is only a 50% chance on average for that to stick.
It happened enough times that I was typically seeing it 4-5 times over a character's lifepsan between 1-12.
Of the times it happened about 50% of the time it ended in the character's death in a vacuum.
Thus, I extrapolated that it is a significant risk that, while easily recoverable after the fact, can result in the permanent loss of the character before that point.
In short: A heavy drop in combat effectiveness, forcing of a backup melee weapon which impacted WBL significantly, in addition to a heavy loss in HP/SP from the crit itself made losing a hand very bad. Not that the other wounding results are a picnic either, save for the Bleed (which is the most common, happening on a 1-10) and the Con Damage ones which were little more than a nuisance.
Basically - It isn't going to happen every session. It is going to happen to you more than once or twice in the course of a career. If one isn't ready for it, when it does happen, it can cripple a character.
The Solar Weapon route was the easiest way I found to nullify this. Hence, even though it does lag by 3 damage on average it still ended up ranking as the best option.
I've got to ask, where are you getting that wounding weapons account for 30% of the critical hits in a series of encounters? Wounding weapons don't start to show up until level 5 or so, and we don't have any examples of APs or Society modules of that level that I'm aware of. At this point we have no idea how common plasma weapons and powered doshkos are going to be in official content, but something tells me you're only going to see named NPCs carrying hardware like that while the mooks just pack longswords. If your DM loves to try and constantly wound his players, sure it might be a problem. Given what we know now, though, it seems like you're making a lot of assumptions in this argument.
Furthermore, outside of Society play, it's not hard to keep a backup weapon up to date without impacting WBL by looting upgrades whenever they come along, and similarly leveled one handers typically do 80-90% of the damage of a two hander. That puts you back in the fight at the cost of a move action. It's a downgrade for the remainder of that one encounter, but it's certainly not insurmountable (though this is admittedly more of a problem in Society play).
Then I ran through a lot of simulated encounters, which, granted were against humanoids with book weapons because that is what I had available at the time. I added some simulated encounters later once I had some examples of enemies from the AP/SFS scenario.
These ranged at a number of different levels but the bulk of which took place in the 6-12 range.
I started noticing trends and refined.
The reason why wounding comes up - primarily because plasma weapons target EAC over KAC which are more likely to be used as they are easier to hit with (which is also my go-to for advanced melee weapons) - Then the number of rounds typically in melee (3) with 2 of those being full attacks - With the average encounter length being 8 rounds - This meant on average I assumed 2 melee enemies in those periods - So the melee'er is likely to eat a total of 5-7 melee attacks per opponent.
Thanks very much for posting these numbers.
So its looks like we are diverging around the % of wounding/severe wounding weapons (you expect 30%, I expected 20% or less), and you expect to suffer slightly more attacks per combat with said wounding weapons.
So if I stick your numbers together, I get:
1/20 chance to crit * 14 attacks per encounter * 0.3 chance of a wounding weapon * 0.2 chance of severe wounding picking hand * 0.5 chance of failing the reflex save = 0.021. Multiply by the number of average encounters to get to 12 (11 * 13.33 = 146), I get 0.021*146 = 3.
Ok, so increase the assumption that wounding weapons are 20% of all weapons (which I personally think is an over estimate) to 30% of all weapons, boosts the odds by 50%. This makes fire resistance a must have for all melee, as in the case where you're losing a hand, this helps reducing incoming damage by 25% or so.
I think overall we're in reasonably good agreement. Using your slightly more generous 1 critical per encounter number, in 4 encounters out of 146, you'll be doing 50% damage for the rest of the fight once the critical happens. Critical hits should be distributed evenly between the beginning and ending of fights, so some fights it'll happen right at the beginning and in others it'll have no effect since its right at the end. On average you'll be missing 50% damage for 50% of those 4 fights.
If your party has issues with one party member doing 50% damage in a few fights, how is it going to handle having their melee immobilized (critical hit with Anchoring infusion, no save), staggered (no full attacks) or even mind-controlled?
I contend that a Solarian using a reach weapon will have a larger impact on more encounters even with the possibility of losing a hand and being forced to a back up weapon at 12th level and below. Even the humble Tactical Pike with an Entangling fusion can prevent a melee charge from one of these severe wound wielding enemies 50% of the time once per day.
For above level 12, I recommend everyone buy an extra arm. Its just generally handy (pun intended).
Although, I was wondering if the Solarian was standing at the end of the fight after taking 14 attacks on average? At level 6, a Solarian with 12 Con has 94 hit points. Typical level 6 NPC damage with a Plasma Doshko is 1d10+6 (level) +4 (Str) = 15.5 average. Assuming 50% hits, that is like 108 damage. Similarly at level 12, an NPC with a Yellow Star Plasma Doshko is probably doing 2d10+12+6 = 29 per hit. Times 7 hits = 203 vs a total of 196 hit points. Those strike me as some rough fights.
It was stated in the section right above where you started the quote:
Then I ran through a lot of simulated encounters, which, granted were against humanoids with book weapons because that is what I had available at the time. I added some simulated encounters later once I had some examples of enemies from the AP/SFS scenario.So, yes, assumptions had to be made based on what was available. However since this is the most common melee weapon effect it is not unreasonable for it to be the most common melee effect to appear.
Right, but you're looking at it from a statistical perspective and not a design perspective (though even at that, wounding melee weapons make up 20% of the advanced melee weapons in the game, so from a purely statistical perspective 30% is still high). You cite that plasma weapons are the best in the game because they target EAC. Generally speaking, every third mook in an RPG doesn't carry the best tier of weapon in the game. Most often, those kinds of weapons are only used by named NPCs, and the very best by a minority of named NPCs. I'd argue that 5-10% of NPCs using wounding weapons is much more realistic, and 10 might honestly still be high.
What do you mean by "don't compound damage?" Additional crit effects are in addition to double damage rolled, not in place of it.
Assuming even distribution of weapons according to their frequency on the weapons table is kind of baffling. I expect fewer sonic ranged weapons to appear because they are really low damage and have a weak bonus crit, not because there are relatively few tiers of them. I expect few plasma weapons because they don't even appear until 7th level for melee and are particularly vulnerable to resistance spells and armor mods with two chances to reduce it. Then there are cultural factors. Iomedean crusaders are going to favor longswords, Hellknights their order weapons, etc. For many the melee weapon is just going to be a cheap backup to their ranged primary.
Well 50% (25% for Severe Wounding) they do via a small bleed effect. Given I expect PCs to prioritize fire resistance and deemphasize combat healing I actually think Bleed might be more dangerous than Burn, and Arc isn't dangerous to the target that was hit.
One-Handed Advanced Weapons:
7/38 have Severe Wound
Burn 1d8
Burn 4d2
Arc 1d4
Arc 2d4
Arc 3d4
Arc 6d4
4/38 have Knockdown
Injection DC+2
Bleed 1d8
Bleed 2d6
Bleed 2d8
Bleed 6d6Making it the most common critical event of all 1 handed melee weapons by almost 2:1 over any other option.
-------
18.42% of all 1 handed advanced melee weapons possess wound or severe wound.
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Two-Handed Advanced Weapons:
Staggered
Wound 3/33
Severe Wound 5/33
Bleed 1d6
Knockdown 6/33
Bleed 1d8
Bleed 2d6
Bleed 3d8
Bleed 5d6
Bleed 6d6Making Severe Wound the second most common of the two handed advanced melee weapon critical events, and once combined with wound, the most common.
-------
27.27% of all 2 handed advanced melee weapons have wound or severe wound.
-------
I actually am thinking like a designer, and as a designer if I were Paizo, I would use wounding weapons more commonly than any other type simply because they don't compound damage and thus result in less outright PC deaths from a critical hit.
But as energy weapons, they also hit more often, and can lead to more PC deaths from sustained damage. You said so yourself they're your go to.
The numbers aren't even the point I was trying to make though, it's more a matter of world building. Plasma weapons are strong because they target EAC and can sever limbs. They're cool because they're freaking lightsabers. Strong and cool weapons aren't generally used by your average mook. In fact, your average trash mob is generally using low end equipment compared to the PCs. All of the early, unnamed NPCs in Dead Suns are using Laser Pistols and Clubs, not Laser Rifles and Long Swords. Foot soldiers carrying Plasma Swords isn't something that I would expect to be common until very late in a campaign.
Furthermore, losing a limb is a narratively significant event. All wounding weapons are flashy, narratively exciting weapons. If every encounter carried that risk because every trash pack in your campaign contains wounding weapons, that event and those weapons lose a lot of impact. Ignoring the numbers all together, it just seems like an odd choice in terms of world building to make wounding weapons as common as you're suggesting.
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But as energy weapons, they also hit more often, and can lead to more PC deaths from sustained damage. You said so yourself they're your go to.
The numbers aren't even the point I was trying to make though, it's more a matter of world building. Plasma weapons are strong because they target EAC and can sever limbs. They're cool because they're freaking lightsabers. Strong and cool weapons aren't generally used by your average mook. In fact, your average trash mob is generally using low end equipment compared to the PCs. All of the early, unnamed NPCs in Dead Suns are using Laser Pistols and Clubs, not Laser Rifles and Long Swords. Foot soldiers carrying Plasma Swords isn't something that I would expect to be common until very late in a campaign.
Furthermore, losing a limb is a narratively significant event. All wounding weapons are flashy, narratively exciting weapons. If every encounter carried that risk because every trash pack in your campaign contains wounding weapons, that event and those weapons lose a lot of impact. Ignoring the numbers all together, it just seems like an odd choice in terms of world building to make wounding weapons as common as you're suggesting.
You can't use the intro levels of an intro module to justify these things.
You're talking about level 1-3. That really isn't a good level to make judgement calls. If, and I say if, I find down the road that the devs took a different direction than seems likely based on all of my past experience with Paizo products then I'll amend the guide.
If that isn't acceptable to you, I don't know what else to tell you. If you think you can do a better job than I have done, then please, by all means, write your own guide. I am sure the community could stand to have multiple views.
I'm not using the intro levels of an intro module to justify these things. If I'd never even seen Dead Suns, I'd say the same thing due to past experiences in other RPGs. Common mooks just don't use special weapons, they don't even commonly carry +1 weapons until well into the mid game of a campaign in Pathfinder. Those flashy, effective weapons with on hit effects are generally reserved for named NPCs and not mooks. That's not a Dead Suns specific thing, that's just normal campaign building.
We seem to disagree on just how to categorize Plasma Weapons and the like. I think they're a special kind of equipment and will be treated as such, you think they're just a common item that any old NPC will use. That's fine, no harm no foul.
I apologize if I came across as hostile, that certainly wasn't my intent. I think the content of your guide is excellent, I simply disagree with the assertions you've made about wounding weapons in this thread. I don't expect this conversation would have any impact at all on your guide, since I don't expect a Solar Weapon Solarian to be using a 2-handed Advanced Weapon any time soon =p
I didn't read everything (there were a lot of long posts) but my only nit is that Step-Up by itself is a complete waste of a feat. It will be extremely rare that it works for you.
Let's say you're next to an evil caster, the guarded step to cast. You use your reaction to Step Up. They cast. You stand there and watch them because you've already used your reaction and can't make an Attack of Opportunity.
Even with Step Up and Strike, it gets better because you get an extra attack you wouldn't normally have had, but you won't stop the actions of your target because you can no longer take AoO's
Just to clarify this, Step Up and Strike does stop the spellcasting of your target if you play it right. From the feat description:
"You can also either make an attack of opportunity against the foe, or wait to see if the foe provokes another attack of opportunity at any point before the end of its turn. Either way, this attack of opportunity does not count toward the number of actions you can usually take each round"
In other words, if you are in a caster's face and they guarded step away, you can follow them, and then hold your strike until the caster provokes with a spell. If they do cast and your strike connects, the spell is lost.
So not only does Step Up and Strike keep you in melee for full attacks, it gives you an extra attack you can either use immediately, or hold to potentially interrupt a spell. Both feats are fantastic and must-have for all melee builds.
So speed suspensions are cheaper than jetpacks, wouldnt it be better to have gravity boost since you would be able to move farther than a jetpack could carry you, and you wouldnt be flatfooted if you tried to hover
You can't charge with Gravity Boost (you spend a move action to fly). You can charge with jetpacks (jetpacks just grant a fly speed, and charge works with any movement type).
Edit: Oops, thought you were talking about Defy Gravity, not Gravity Boost.
Jetpacks are still a very attractive option because they allow you to charge, regardless of the difficult terrain or available charge lanes on the ground.
So speed suspensions are cheaper than jetpacks, wouldnt it be better to have gravity boost since you would be able to move farther than a jetpack could carry you, and you wouldnt be flatfooted if you tried to hover
Sadly, if you're refering to Gravity Boost (the 2nd level power), it functions as Spider Climb and thus provides a 20 foot climb speed (less armor speed penalties) which is independent of your land speed and land speed enhancements. Now as a move action, you can move double your climb speed as long as you can make the climb check at -5.