Looking at the weapon choices, it seems like you're constantly needing to buy the newest weapons in order to stay actually playable, so who would pay to enhance a weapon you're just going to throw away in a couple sessions? You can't seriously be expected to pay for a really high level Fusion Seal at low level, so is it just for the weapon types that only have a few versions spaced out across large gaps, or am I missing something?
You can transfer the fusions.
It still costs half the price in order to transfer it, and that's half the price of a Fusion on the new Item Level rather than the old one.
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Unless you level up possibly multiple times in your games every single session then you're going much longer than a couple. You're probably only buying a new weapon every 4-6 levels. Unless you absolutely demand having the highest possible damage option at all times, even if it's only by a few points. And then still not all the time. Fusions aren't that expensive, so transfering them will be minor compared to the new weapon price. Since damage increases based on getting a new weapon instead of getting +1 on an old one I like that they've gone for a focus on extra effects and different damage types. I wish there were more non-crit fusions but those will appear in time. I'm a fan of glamour and some of the once a day options myself, why not surprise the team of melee enemies who swarmed my heavy weapon soldier to try and lock him down with a blast effect from a reaction cannon, or slow down that dashing solarion with an entangle shot.
Okay, so what I'm getting is that Starfinder is yet another game built entirely on disposable/consumable items. Why is everything like that these days?
The Fusions are a bit proportionately cheaper than I thought, true. Maybe I just hate the thought of essentially having to throw out your previous investments (i.e. weapons and armour).
If you plan on doing a lot of transferring of Fusions, just get Fusion Seals. They cost 110% of what the Fusion would cost, but can be moved as much as you want. Only downside is that they take 24 hours to become active after they're moved.
They also have a maximum level of item they can be applied to, and the price is set according to THAT level.
My understanding is that that was something of a design goal. They wanted to get away from the I start with a sword at level 1 and the only thing that changes is I upgrade it throughout my career. It's fun to do occasionally, but in Pathfinder that was the norm, which makes characters less interesting. You never have to make any real designs on your weapon after your character creation when it works that way.
There are good aspects to it, and I wish that there was more of a provision to do something along that line in starfinder, but I understand the reasoning behind the game setup changing. The best thing that they did was make proficiency groups instead of specific weapons so you aren't locked in to a single weapon you are good with, instead it's a group of similar weapons, and even that isn't too bad since they added the versital feats.
I agree about the broader proficiencies, but it would have been nice if those groups were closer to the Fighter Weapon Groups, with several weapons all with their own characteristics. Most weapons of each type in Core Starfinder are just damage type swaps and/or swaps of the very-unlikely-to-be-used critical effects (since crits are only on natural 20 with no way to increase the range). There are only really 3 or 4 weapons in most categories, at least for guns. I swear I was going cross-eyed looking at the charts of identical weapons trying to focus on each.
Well you kind of can. You just use it as a part of crafting the new weapon. Though the math works out the same, you can fluff it as improving on the weapon you have now. It's not great, but it is something. If you do that the tactical longsword you started with could have been "upgraded" to the dimensional slice version you have now. The benefit of this is that players can have the "same" weapon without braking the wbl expectations.
I dunno, that feels kind of cheap unless the character had some sort of attachment to the weapon beforehand, like if it belonged to a parent or a teacher. I think what MagicA meant was having a weapon with you and MAKING it mean something. That's how weapons become important in the first place.
It still can, it can have whatever sentimental notion attached to it (I go my first kill with this, it was my dad's, my girlfriend gave it to me, I named it/her Bettsy). You just don't get to have it do as much damage as a better weapon without ingestion in it, to the tune of the cost it would be if you sold it and bought a different one.
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I think the most cost effective route is to transfer it. But going for fusion seals lets you be more flexible and change them around as needed. You could have one of each alignment in seal form and swap them around based on what you expect to fight. You pay a premium for greater flexibility. And you're only likely to have the funds for a seal that's a few levels above your current weapon I think, so you won't only have to buy the seal once in your entire career I think.
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They also have a maximum level of item they can be applied to, and the price is set according to THAT level.That's how all fusions work. Either buy a higher level seal you can use on multiple items, or buy a fusion and spend money based on item level each time you transfer it.
Incorrect.
All fusions have a minimum weapon level they can be applied to (the level of the fusion), but can be installed on any weapon of that level or higher (as long as the total levels of the fusions is less than or equal to the weapon level). Regular fusion costs are determined solely by the level of the weapon they are installed on (or half that if being transferred from another weapon)
A fusion seal, on the other hand has both a minimum and a maximum level: the minimum is the level of the fusion, while the maximum is the level at which the fusion seal is "bought" at. A fusion seal cannot be installed on a weapon that has a higher level than the level at which the fusion seal is "bought" at. Period. This is one of the main drawbacks of fusion seals; it makes it much easier to switch the fusion seal from one weapon to another, but the weapons that it can be switched to are more limited.