Magic Weapons

[Locotomo]

Are there no more attack bonuses for magic weapons?

[kaid]

I don't recall seeing an accuracy boosting fusion although I am rereading that part of the core book right now so I may have missed it. Most of the weapon fusions which makes your weapon magical seem to be there to add bonus effects/abilities to them and or change damage types to penetrate various damage reduction types.

[rook1138]

There are VERY few ways to get bonuses to hit beyond BAB/Stat/Focus. The envoy has an ability, and you can give some conditions to lower ACs. But no, magic doesn't increase to hit OR damage anymore. But given what I've seen of CR appropriate bad guy ACs, it's not that necessary anyway.

[Ventnor]

Nope! Magic weapons in Starfinder are there to add more utility to the weapon that has been enchanted (like extra damage types, getting through certain kinds of damage resistance, debuffing enemies, and so on) rather than strict metagamey plusses.

The idea is that magic weapons, while certainly nice to have, aren't going to be things that are absolutely necessary for you to have a fun and effective character.

[ryric]

It makes me sad that there's no way to have a magic weapon that's better at being, well, a weapon. Most fusions just seem to bypass DR or change energy types, or add rare crit effects. And since fusions get more expensive based on the level of the weapon being enhanced, there's no real ability to stay up to date with magic weapons. I can't see myself actually using weapon fusions much as a PC.

[McAllister]

ryric wrote:

It makes me sad that there's no way to have a magic weapon that's better at being, well, a weapon. Most fusions just seem to bypass DR or change energy types, or add rare crit effects. And since fusions get more expensive based on the level of the weapon being enhanced, there's no real ability to stay up to date with magic weapons. I can't see myself actually using weapon fusions much as a PC.

I read the Arcane Assailant specialization for Soldiers, and I was like, this is not impressive.

Then I read about how fusions work, and I was like, actually, just making a weapon be magical for free is kinda nice. I'm not going to bother otherwise, likely as not.

[Shinigami02]

There was discussion during the development that they were intentionally avoiding simple "+X" gear (and feats) in favor of flavorful utility-type stuff.

[ryric]

I remember that discussion. I've never accepted the arguments to eliminate +x gear because sometimes you just want weapons and armor that are better at being what they are. I'm perfectly fine with losing the +1 requirement for adding special abilities.

It's compounded by that fact that most of the Starfinder special abilities seem weak and situational, and you have to rebuy them over and over for ever increasing costs as you level up.

[Metaphysician]

One of the system design assumptions, IMO, is that you *aren't* always using a max level weapon. Especially if your fighting the kind of foe that requires a special type to damage. The general idea is, you run across a demon that requires a Holy Fusion to damage, you pull out the Holy Fusion weapon from your ship's armory that's 4 levels "old", and use that.

Anyway, if you want a more damaging weapon, buy a higher level weapon. Which is a big part of *why* there are no +Damage fusions- damage is *supposed* to track with level.

[Illeist]

This is indicative of a broader theme in Starfinder. If you want a weapon that's better at being a weapon, you should probably just invest in a higher level weapon. If you want a weapon that's better at solving odd problems, you should look at fusions. Magic occupies a very different place in Starfinder than it did in Pathfinder; technology is generally better at performing simple tasks well.

[kaid]

McAllister wrote:

ryric wrote:

It makes me sad that there's no way to have a magic weapon that's better at being, well, a weapon. Most fusions just seem to bypass DR or change energy types, or add rare crit effects. And since fusions get more expensive based on the level of the weapon being enhanced, there's no real ability to stay up to date with magic weapons. I can't see myself actually using weapon fusions much as a PC.

I read the Arcane Assailant specialization for Soldiers, and I was like, this is not impressive.

Then I read about how fusions work, and I was like, actually, just making a weapon be magical for free is kinda nice. I'm not going to bother otherwise, likely as not.

It is actually seems like a pretty decent spec. At level one you have a magic weapon already of whatever type you prefer. As you get higher you can basically make it a magic weapon of the various different elemental types which is nice so if you have an idea what you are fighting you can mold your weapon to best fight your opponent.

Also given the way gear works and upgrading adding fusions to your weapon can get pretty costly as you go and fusion seals which are more convenient for switching between weapons can get pricier still. So always having your main weapon always stay enchanted even as you upgrade from weapon to weapon for free is a lot of creds freed up for other stuff.

It is in some ways like the bombard spec one of its biggest bonuses is saving a lot of money on consumables or enhancements.

[Malk_Content]

ryric wrote:

I remember that discussion. I've never accepted the arguments to eliminate +x gear because sometimes you just want weapons and armor that are better at being what they are. I'm perfectly fine with losing the +1 requirement for adding special abilities.

It's compounded by that fact that most of the Starfinder special abilities seem weak and situational, and you have to rebuy them over and over for ever increasing costs as you level up.

The weapon that is better at being a weapon is the next better weapon. Same for armour. You kinda had to have static bonuses in PF because once you've got your Longsword, that is it you are set, the next best thing is Longsword +1. Same for armour. Now once you've got your Longsword you aren't set, because there is a Sintered one to look forward to.

[the real steelwraith]

Malk_Content wrote:

ryric wrote:

I remember that discussion. I've never accepted the arguments to eliminate +x gear because sometimes you just want weapons and armor that are better at being what they are. I'm perfectly fine with losing the +1 requirement for adding special abilities.

It's compounded by that fact that most of the Starfinder special abilities seem weak and situational, and you have to rebuy them over and over for ever increasing costs as you level up.

The weapon that is better at being a weapon is the next better weapon. Same for armour. You kinda had to have static bonuses in PF because once you've got your Longsword, that is it you are set, the next best thing is Longsword +1. Same for armour. Now once you've got your Longsword you aren't set, because there is a Sintered one to look forward to.

cheers , thats a good way of looking at it