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Hello I have a 1st level mystic I am not sure what feats to pick.
Character concept: cleric of Pharasma concerned with life, positive energy & death, negative energy
Race: Human
Theme: priest
Class: Mystic
Ability Scores
Str: 10
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Int: 12
Wis: 16
Cha: 11
Skills: Culture: 5, Diplomacy: 4, Life Science: 5, Medicine: 5, Mysticism: 7, Perception: 7, Profession: Doctor 5, Sense Motive: 7
Feats: ?
Class abilites
Connection: Healing
Connection Power: Healing Channel
Connection Spell: Mystic Healing
Healing Touch
Spells:
0): Detect Magic, Detect affliction, stabilize, Telekenetic projectile
1): Mind Thrust, Mystic Cure
What feats would you suggest, I am trying to build a healer.
Thank you
Every Mystic and Technomancer needs to take Longarms Proficiency at level 1. I would also boost Dex to 14 or 16, drop Con and Int.
Yeah, about the only feats I feel are really necessary for a Technomancer or Mystic are Weapon Proficiency Longarms and Weapon Versatility at level 3.
Nothing else is very exciting, and more all to character taste.
I'd skip the longarms for a simple reason. That is you can do the party channel heal on demand. Otherwise, you need to spend a Swift Action the round before to let go of the rifle.
Of course, I'm assuming you need a free hand to do that.
As far as a feat: Skill synergy to bump skills to fill the captain role. Or be like everyone else and be a pilot/gunner.
Not only do you not need a free hand, spell casters never need their swift action.
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Depends on what you're going for.
If you want to be "useful" in combat beyond just healing others, longarm proficiency and specialization are good.
If you want to be "useful" in space combat, using the ace pilot theme and taking pilot skill would help, but that goes against your core concept of being an actual priest (which I think is cool).
Dropping CON and INT to 10 each, and bumping DEX to 16 helps for both of the above.
Otherwise, you might consider Skill Synergy. If you'll be the party face, then Skill Synergy in Diplomacy, Culture, Bluff or even Intimidate (depending on what you're going for) to get +2 to two skills can be useful. If you want to be more of a Physician/Life Sciences type, then you could take the Skill Synergy in Life Sciences (Or Life Sciences and Diplomacy). Note that the Healing connection gives you bonuses on Medicine and Mysticism that don't stack with Skill Synergy's bonus.
Just be aware that you have a very limited number of uses of your spells so you're not going to be using them to zap enemies round after round in combat. Even if you use ALL of your level 1 spells on combat, that's only 3 rounds worth of spells for the day. If you're willing to not be "useful" insofar as doing damage in combat goes, then you're fine. Using a 1d4 laser pistol to go "pew" "pew" really sucks, and the telekinetic projectile cantrip isn't any better.
Also, consider carefully whether you want to have the healing connection. Channeling is crazy good when you need it, BUT Channeling and the Cure spell ONLY heals hit points, not stamina. As the PCs go up in level, you might find yourself regreting your connection choice.
And in the end, have fun (but try to be useful)!
It seems odd to me that you don't need a free hand to apply touch-range effects. Do you just shoulder-tackle people better? A swift, motivating kick in the ass?
In any event, I'm not a big fan of having to use a swift action to change grips anyways, so I'm not overly bothered.
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I'm not sure about the Longarm Feat.
As you go up in levels you'll end up getting more spells. These spells are probably what you'll be using in combat. Haven't played anything but low end games so far, so no idea. BUT, I'm basing this off of playing a cleric in normal pathfinder.
That last part is your mistake. 6-level casters (unlike 9-level ones) lack the spells to do this effectively as a primary combat tactic every round. The spells they get will be pretty effective, but it's something they do once or maybe twice a combat, not every turn.
Longarms are highly recommended for turns where you don't cast a spell, and those will be pretty common.
Let's look at a 10th level Mystic as an example. A Wis 22 Mystic at 10th will have three 4th level spells per day and four 3rd level spells. They have a bunch of 1st and 2nd levels too, but their offensive punch by 10th level is seriously lacking, making casting them in combat a seriously suboptimal choice most of the time.
That's 7 combat use spells per day assuming you don't use any out of combat. That's less than two per combat assuming 4 combats a day. Not anywhere close to enough for one per turn, especially since Starfinder combats take longer than Pathfinder ones if anything.
I'm not sure about the Longarm Feat.
As you go up in levels you'll end up getting more spells. These spells are probably what you'll be using in combat. Haven't played anything but low end games so far, so no idea. BUT, I'm basing this off of playing a cleric in normal pathfinder.
Your best combat spells are mind affecting. Even if Mind Thrust could be cast 100x per say you’d need a longarm for oozes, plants, undead, constructs, etc.
What's the average damage difference between small arms and longarms? Is it worth the 2 feats to make useful (Proficiency and specialization)?
At tier 1 it's 1 damage difference.
I looked at Tier 10 projectile weapons.
Small arms is 3d6, avg 10.5 +5 for spec.
Longarms is 3d8, avg 13.5 + 10 spec. So -2 avg with only proficiency and +8 with specialization.
Decide for yourself if 8 points at lvl 10 is worth 2 feats.
Yes eventually almost everybody is going to probably want long arms. Early on its not as necessary as the damage gap is not very large but as weapons scale up small arms lack of damage combined with the half spec bonus really hurt them for anybody but operatives.
What's the average damage difference between small arms and longarms? Is it worth the 2 feats to make useful (Proficiency and specialization)?
At tier 1 it's 1 damage difference.
I looked at Tier 10 projectile weapons.
Small arms is 3d6, avg 10.5 +5 for spec.
Longarms is 3d8, avg 13.5 + 10 spec. So -2 avg with only proficiency and +8 with specialization.
Decide for yourself if 8 points at lvl 10 is worth 2 feats.
That’s a 51% damage boost, requiring only 2/3 as many hits to kill something. That’s amazing!
And did you compare the small arm blast and automatic weapons to their longarms equivalents? How does the 50 Shot, 50% enhanced range laser pistol compare to its longarms equivalent? I’m assuming there is one, I just can’t find it.
I'm looking at that as 8pts for 2 feats when the combat specialists are doing (Ultrathin Doshko) 26 + 10 + 1.5 str mod (7?), so 43. At that point, flanking dealing 4pts on average.
There are a lot of factors, but trying to make a damage dealer out of a mystic seems a miscasting to me.
I'm just trying to offer an alternative view point
The main problem is that neither the mystic or the technomancer have enough spell casting prowess to constantly be casting damaging spells, even doing something offensively useful with their spell slots every round. They just don't have that kind of staying power.
You will want/need something else to do when you can't afford to cast spells.
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I'm looking at that as 8pts for 2 feats when the combat specialists are doing (Ultrathin Doshko) 26 + 10 + 1.5 str mod (7?), so 43. At that point, flanking dealing 4pts on average.
There are a lot of factors, but trying to make a damage dealer out of a mystic seems a miscasting to me.
I'm just trying to offer an alternative view point
At 23.5 per attack, the guy with the Longarm actually does more damage if both his shots from a full attack hit. You can't full attack with the doshko. It's lower DPR, but not nearly as much lower as you're implying. Now, a combat specialist with a Heavy Weapon or Advanced Melee Weapon that lacks unwieldy will do better damage than the Longarm guy, too, but not nearly as much as in that example.
But the point isn't that a Mystic will ever do the same damage as dedicated combat characters, they won't. It's that they'll do a enough to matter. And that's what they need on turns they aren't casting (which is more turns than they are, to be honest), to do something that matters.
I'm also taking full attack as a sucker's bet, at least at low level.
Most mystics I've seen spend a lot of time playing medic especially after the first 2 rounds of combat.
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I'm also taking full attack as a sucker's bet, at least at low level.
It's not. It's mathematically pretty universally the correct course of action.
Most mystics I've seen spend a lot of time playing medic especially after the first 2 rounds of combat.
At what levels? At low levels this is somewhat to be expected. At higher ones not so much, since it'll take that long at least to run through Stamina, and a Mystic can't heal Stamina losses.
Also, the spell limitation I mentioned previously makes the amount of time they can spend being a medic in a meaningful and level appropriate fashion limited.
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Thank you all for your suggestions.
While looking through the feats, I didn't find anything that was terribly appealing.
The skill synergy sounds interesting.
If my character is going to go and use laser rifles, and other ranged weapons, Is there an equivalent of point blank shot and precise shot?
I did have my eye on Harm Undead.
What sort of ship board rolls are there? I assume pilot, gunner, engineer...
Is there someone who mans the sensors and communications? that might be a useful
Thank you for your suggestions. They have been helpful.
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What sort of ship board rolls are there? I assume pilot, gunner, engineer...
Is there someone who mans the sensors and communications? that might be a useful
Sensors uses Computer Skill
Engineer uses Engineering SkillPilot uses Piloting
Captain uses a variety of skills like Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy (not sure off the top of my head exactly which ones)
Gunners generally use their BAB
It's all in the ship combat section.
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Thank you all for your suggestions.
While looking through the feats, I didn't find anything that was terribly appealing.
The skill synergy sounds interesting.
Skill Synergy can be cool, though I'd be inclined to grab Longarm Proficiency and Specialization before it. The skill list for Mystic is already solid.
If my character is going to go and use laser rifles, and other ranged weapons, Is there an equivalent of point blank shot and precise shot?
Nope. There's no longer a penalty for shooting into melee. All you need is Proficiency and Specialization.
I did have my eye on Harm Undead.
At later levels, feel free. I'd definitely grab Longarm Proficiency, Longarm Specialization, and Spell Focus first, though.
What sort of ship board rolls are there? I assume pilot, gunner, engineer...
Those plus Captain and 'Science Officer' (basically does sensors stuff).
Is there someone who mans the sensors and communications? that might be a useful
As noted, there is, it uses the Computers skill, though, so probably not your character's strong suit.
You're a doctor, not a sniper!
One option is to take Skill synergy (computers, piloting), and move culture and diplomacy ranks to computers and piloting. Maybe also move your con from 12 to 10 and your int to 14.
Some other feat options are Mobility (so you can take Agile Casting later), and take Great Fortitude (so you can take Improved Great Fortitude later). Mobility is also good because it allows you to run away from monsters more safely, and then cast a spell at them.
If you go with Skill Synergy, consider Skill Focus (computers) as your second feat, so that you are an excellent science officer (total +9 with 14 int at 1st level).
Note that you get 1 extra 1st level spell known (mystic cure is free from your connection).
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Thank you all for your suggestions
Character concept: cleric of Pharasma concerned with life, positive energy & death, negative energy
Race: Human
Theme: priest
Class: Mystic
Ability Scores
Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 14
Wis: 15
Cha: 10
Skills: Computers 6, Culture: 6, Diplomacy: 4, Life Science: 6, Medicine: 6, Mysticism: 8, Perception: 6, Physical Science 6, Sense Motive: 6
Feats:
Skill Synergy: Added computers and Physical Science as class skills.
Long arm proficiency
Class abillites
Connection: Healing
Connection Power: Healing Channel
Connection Spell: Mystic Healing
Healing Touch
Spells:
0): Detect Magic, Detect affliction, stabilize, Telekenetic projectile
1): Mind Thrust, Mystic Cure, Share Language
I did pick skill synergy, and expanded my class skills adding Computers and Physical Science. I thought this would help to give my character a starship roll, namely a science officer.
While I have picked long arm proficiency because plenty of people have suggested it, I am not sold on it.
Instead of Long Arm Proficiency, I think the feat: Medical Expert sounds interesting. I am also considering taking a skill synergy a second time to boost a couple of skills, perhaps computers, and maybe medicine....
Anyways thank you for your advice, and I am still curious about what you think about my choices.
Thank you