Thinking of making a Ysoki Hit and Run Soldier with blast weapons. Scatterguns don't seem to be very good, and the Brutal Blast gear boost also seems to be awful.
Any ideas for a blast centric character?
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I'm not a fan of the blast gear boost, I'd probably get the KAC boosting one since you'll be close to melee. Or you could get the one that boost projectile damage since most blast weapons are bullet using. Remember that while the damage may seem low compared to a single target gun the whole point it to multiply that by hitting a group of foes. You also might want the feat that boost your AC against attacks you provoke for shooting in melee, slippery shooter I think? That'll make it a lot easier to accept an AoO for catching one or two more people in the cone.
the other nice thing about Hit and Run is that you get a +1 insight to AC if you move during your round. Easy to do, with that technique. The other reason I thought Ysoki would be good is for the +5 acrobatics to move through opponents squares. Probably useful with a close range blast weapon.
You are right, the Bullet Barrage gear boost is better... the Brutal Blast is limited to 10ft. Even an extra 5ft is worth it, in exchange for the +1 damage from Brutal Blast.
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You won't get the bonus with flamethrowers and such, but still helpful. Particularly when tha range starts to get beyond 15'. Of course, if you hit 7 and take both, might be nice.
I'd take a look at the weapons you plan to use for the first ten levels or so. If you plan to be particularly mobile then unwieldy weapons don't have much of a penalty, you'd only get one shot off most of the time anyway. If you might stay still from time to time then the scatterguns aren't unwieldy and thus you can fire twice a round, which is kind of nice.
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Both gear boosts provide insight bonuses, unfortunately.Of course, if you hit 7 and take both, might be nice.
Sorry, working sans book. That is unfortunate but not unreasonable. Still plenty of ways to up damage. If you're not having any trouble hitting the bonus from deadly aim is a lot more attractive when you multiply it by two or three bad guys.
You also might want to give automatic weapons a look. There's a thread buried somewhere here in the archives where a few people game them a good shakedown. They have some definite down sides but they're better than they might appear at first glance. And if you're willing to pay the ammo cost they offer some of the advantages of both single target and blast weapons.
Hmm. I mostly just wanted to design a ranged character that is closer than most, that may even move around in what is basically melee.
As I previously thought, the idea is not great.
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Hmm. I mostly just wanted to design a ranged character that is closer than most, that may even move around in what is basically melee.
As I previously thought, the idea is not great.
I wouldn't go that far. Just think of it more as a switch hitter. You'll want plenty to hit bonus, but with a scattergun and a good melee weapon at level 5 you could take a shot and then move in for a melee attack with the bonus to hit from opening volley against whichever you did hit. A -4 to hit to get two attacks is generally a good idea, a -6 that lets you get 4 or 6 attacks is also pretty good. The AC on enemies is much lower than PC AC. You could also use that 5th level ability to get into just the right position to make those two shots and hit more targets. Or make those shots and the book it before retribution arrives.
I like it myself, I think it could be a fun high risk high reward combat style, one I'd enjoy playing with. You'll certainly want to pick up weapon focus, and try and make friends with technomancers, Supercharge weapon is lovely.
Edit, sorry, I was thinking you were going to be using the four armed race. So less benefit from opening volley. but still handy. Much easier to get a high dex at least.