CC Tank Solarian Viablility

[Pathfinder Zoey]

I've been tinkering with a Solarian build I really like the look of that's (hopefully) a melee CCer with decent damage but since I've never been able to play a game yet I was looking from some advice from people who have played or at least understand the system better than me on if this was a viable build and maybe some ways to improve it or if I should just scrap the idea

Character Sheet

[Deadmanwalking]

With Dex that low you'll need Heavy Armor Proficiency at 1st to have decent AC. You should also go Str 16, Cha 14. The +1 to hit and damage is better than what Cha gives you.

Other than that, looks okay to me.

[Pathfinder Zoey]

Can bump skill focus for heavy armor pretty easy my only worry with lowing Cha is that my saves will be pretty low and I didn't see a way to improve them outside of Cha but they are kind of limited so good point on Str being worth more

thanks for the help

[Deadmanwalking]

Pathfinder Zoey wrote:

Can bump skill focus for heavy armor pretty easy my only worry with lowing Cha is that my saves will be pretty low and I didn't see a way to improve them outside of Cha but they are kind of limited so good point on Str being worth more

thanks for the help

Cha doesn't help with Saves at all, so I'm a bit confused.

And you're quite welcome. :)

[Pathfinder Zoey]

Deadmanwalking wrote:

Pathfinder Zoey wrote:

Can bump skill focus for heavy armor pretty easy my only worry with lowing Cha is that my saves will be pretty low and I didn't see a way to improve them outside of Cha but they are kind of limited so good point on Str being worth more

thanks for the help

Cha doesn't help with Saves at all, so I'm a bit confused.

And you're quite welcome. :)

Sorry I ment the DC for my revelations so other peoples saves

[Deadmanwalking]

Ah! Yeah, Save DC is important, but you don't use it every round. You do use Str bonus every round.

[OtrovaGomas]

Why no use a Korasha Lashunta? The +2 str and cha is what you need the -2 wis is not a big deal

[Pathfinder Zoey]

OtrovaGomas wrote:

Why no use a Korasha Lashunta? The +2 str and cha is what you need the -2 wis is not a big deal

Human is just for RP reasons but Yea that would be better stat wise

[Kyron "Death Knell" Shess]

Charisma is way too low. Your save DCs will be horrible. I would drop the dex and invest in heavy armor prof over skill synergy. Especially since you get Sidereal Influence at 3rd, and the two bonuses dont stack.

[Deadmanwalking]

I must agree with Kyron. The Skill Synergy just isn't that good for you in the long run. You're much better off going Dex 12, Cha 14 and grabbing some Heavy Armor.

Also, on a mechanical note, Toughness does not grant you any extra HP, so your HP should be 10. Frankly, I don't think Toughness is worth it at very low levels, I'd probably swap it and Spellbane in the progression.

[MR. H]

This is how I would build that:

NG Android Solarian Mercenary ||15str 12dex 10con 12int 10wis 14cha||
Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Culture, Diplomacy, Stealth
1. Fleet, Skill Adept (Bluff, Culture), Solar Armor, Black Hole, Supernova
2. Gravity Boost
3. Jet Dash, Sidereal Influence(Diplomacy, Stealth), Weapon Specialization
4. Stellar Rush
5. Enhanced Resistance(Kinetic Damage) ||17str 14dex 12con 12int 10wis 16cha||
6. Crush
7. Iron Will, Flashing Strikes
8. Blazing Orbit
9. Blind-Fight, Zenith Revelations(Star Acceleration, Wormholes)
10. Stealth Wrap||18str 14dex 14con 14int 10wis 18cha|| Skill: Bluff
11. Deflect Projectiles, Sidereal Influence(Culture, Bluff)
12. Soul Furnace
13. Weapon Focus (adv melee), Solarian’s Onslaught
14. Gravity Shield
15. Improved Iron Will ||18str 16dex 16con 16int 12wis 18cha|| Skill: Sense Motive
16. Astrologic Sense
17. Great Fortitude, Zenith Revelations(Ray of Light,Time Dilation)
18. Gravity Hold
19. Lightning Reflexes,Sidereal Influence(Intimidate, Sense Motive)
20. Hypnotic Glow, Stellar Paragon ||18str 18dex 18con 18int 14wis 18cha|| Skill: Intimidate

With personal upgrades in str, cha, and dex

I recommend solar armor to boost AC not heavy armor because what you really need is speed. If you are providing soft cover for the enemy from your allies then your battle contributions could even be negative with a large enough party. You need the speed to position better.

[Deadmanwalking]

With Dex 12-18 you are eventually losing something like 3 AC in each category to gain 5 feet of movement. That's eminently not worth it.

Stellar Rush lets you make a move action and charge, that's 60 feet even at -10 movement, and more than enough the vast majority of the time (especially since you can stick to -5 movement armor the vast majority of the time...that makes it 75 feet).

Adding points to some of the secondary stats also gets you a lot less than maxing your primary ones in many ways. And should only done after careful consideration.

[Alassë Edasseril]

I suppose theres absolutely no reason to leave Str 15... You should move that odd number from STR to DEX, so you qualify for feats...
A lot of mobility and necessary feats need DEX 13 or 15... In the chart ive opened, unless you're qualifying for some INT 13 pre-req feat, i'd recommend DEX 15...

[MR. H]

2 AC less with stellar armor 1 or -3 with the grav shield power.

The fleet feat only works with light armor. You can get 3x movement while attacking with stellar rush. That's a net loss of 45ft assuming fast heavy armor.

[Hijiggy]

I'd toss out strength. If you're Tanking and CCing then damage isn't a priority. Go solar armor and get some operative weapons for when you need to hit. Otherwise focus on Corona, Radiation, and combat maneuvers that work with Dex. Coordinated shot feat could help too.

[Space McMan]

I'm honestly not seeing what you're trying to accomplish with this build. You've got a few feats and revelations for increasing your tankiness, and then a bunch of random things.

I don't see any feats for improving combat maneuvers or revelations that CC enemies. What you have taken for survivability is unfocused and less than optimal.

If you want to actually focus on survivability, drop str, drop solar weapon, and go high dex with solar armor and longarm weapons. Build around staying in graviton mode to boost survivability and mobility.

A high dex solar armor build also works better if you want to boost your cha for save DCs, since you can ignore str and con (in fact, always ignore con, it's almost worthless in this system outside of fort saves). Then you can take the CC revelations like Crush, Gravity Hold, and Hypnotic Glow and have them land more often.

If you want to go melee with damage and combat maneuvers, you should probably just roll a soldier for the bonus feats. Melee solarian are pretty pigeonholed into one optimal build at the moment. It involving heavy armor, photon revelations, and feats spent on mandatory melee feats like the step up chain, nimble moves for charging, adaptive combat for versatility, and the improved save feats so you don't fail against every spell inevitably cast against you while charging into the enemy line while the rest of your party cowers behind full cover 100' away with their ranged weapons.

If doing big melee damage is what you want, go high str, heavy armor, solar weapon and check out the melee solarian guide already floating around the forums.

If being tanky and disruptive is what you want, go high dex, solar armor, ranged weapons and pick revelations that either give mobility or battlefield control ( but stay away from defy gravity, it's a trap).