Does Far Shot apply to starship weapons?


Rules Questions


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Does Far Shot apply to starship weapons?


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No. You don't make attack rolls with starship weapons, you make a special check that is basically a skill check.


Hmm. Feat doesn't refer to attacks, just range penalties.

Liberty's Edge

The feat does not specifically state that it applies to starship combat so it does not.


That's a very shaky interpretation though. Stat damage doesn't specifically say it applies to starship combat so does that mean my paralysed pilot is OK to pull evasive maneuvers? Is the BAB of my level drained soldier still good for Gunnery? My deliriously ill/poisoned engineer still 100% in the engine room?

More clarity required.

Liberty's Edge

Because the DCs in space combat are based on stats, stats damage would come into play.

If a pilot has the paralyzed condition, they would be unable to do anything per the condition. The pilot wouldn't even be able to roll the pilot check at the Helm phase. Someone else needs to step into the role.

Negative Levels, CRB 252 wrote:
If you have 1 or more negative levels, you take certain penalties and might even die. For each negative level you have, you take a cumulative –1 penalty to your ability checks, your AC, attack rolls (including combat maneuvers), saving throws, and skill checks.

Since Gunnery is based on BAB or pilot skill, and if a gunner was using their BAB and not their Pilot skill, I believe a gunner would not be impacted by negative levels during starship combat, as odd as that sounds. So yes, using BAB is still good for Gunnery.

As for Sick or Poisoned characters, it all depends on what stage they are at in the condition. Some stages will no impact, others will. Impacts that say DCs are affect, then I think it would affect the DCs in starship combat.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

The starship combat rules clearly state most class abilities do not apply. I know of no such restriction for feats. Thus, it would likely fall to far shot's wording.

If it only referenced wielding manufactured weapons, for example, then I doubt it could be applied to starship weapons, since you can't hold them, much less wield them.

Edit: Here is the feat's exact wording.

Far Shot (Combat)
You remain accurate at longer ranges.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You take only a –1 penalty per full range increment between you and your target when using a ranged weapon.
Normal: You take a –2 penalty per full range increment between you and your target.

Seems ambiguous to me. Starship weapons definitely have range increments, though I am unsure that they count as ranged weapons.

Liberty's Edge

It is not explicit in the rules if feats that are used by characters in normal combat also impact space combat. I will default to "If it does not state in the feat that it impacts space combat than it does not.

So I don't think far shot, by RAW, impacts space combat.

Liberty's Edge

As a FYI, I have flagged this thread as a double post. There is another thread currently active called "Buffing Starship Weapons".

Since the question is basically the same and that other thread is the beginning of a FAQ, I feel this thread should be merged into the other thread.


The question is not about buffing starship weapons. It's really more of a request for clarity about when the effects of personal combat stop and the effects on starship combat start.

Feats appear to have been left out unless you count feats as class features. The idea that BAB might be unaffected while piloting is doesn't sit well with me either.

It's a really basic question, there shouldn't be that much room for interpretation.


I don't think that this is ad ouble post..
This is a very specific question. It may potentially fall under buffing.
but it really is a broad topic about Feat application..

I'm of the thought that.. the starship stuff pretty strongly calls out class abilities don't apply to star combat.. Didn't reference feats. So doesn't seem like they're ousted as of yet.

Are there any feats that specficially worded to apply to starship combat? I.e. are there any starship specific feats? There a category (like combat and such)
because if there aren't any yet. I rather assume they didn't block all feats intentionally for later stuff.

Liberty's Edge

There is one example of a Feat that specially states it can be used in starship combat. It is Sky Jockey. It allows the pilot to increase the ship speed by 1.

Since the developers did say it once, if they intended for a feat like Far Shot to effect Starship Combat I have to believe they would have stated it again.

There are no category of feats dedicated to starship combat in the Core Rules Book.


Attacking with a handheld weapon and attacking with a piece of artillery are two completely different skillsets, and the weapons operate in completely different ways over vastly different scales. If you are firing an artillery weapon you are probably not even looking at the target, you are looking at a "radar" tracking diagram of the target and its projected trajectory. I do not think that an equivalent feat which acted as Far Shot for artillery / ship weapons would be overpowered in any way, but it is also pretty clear that the Far Shot feat itself only applies to man-carried weapons.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

If Far Shot did apply to starship combat, I can't help but think that, that would be really broken. You could just sit around in a fast ship with long range weapons keeping yourself a goodly distance away and pelt the enemy with near impunity. Unlike your own weapons, any returning fire would be severely penalized giving you a distinct edge.

That's a hell of an advantage for just one feat.

Now imagine if it was the NPCs doing that to the players. The players would likely be screaming bloody murder.


Remember, most encounters start at close or medium range. Those kinds of ranges to make an artillery Far Shot especially good usually only happen if someone has a smaller and faster ship (in which case they /need/ an edge because they have less hull, shields and damage output) or they set up an ambush (in which case they should have an edge for strategic thinking). Honestly it's really not broken at all, so long as it's a separate feat and not rolled into the same Far Shot feat as personnel weapons.


I don't think its any worse or weird than a sniper rifle with far shot, any other weapon type with it.

You've gotta either build for it "super speedy GTFO ship" sacraficing other bits. Or you've gotta set up a perfect ambush, at the correct distances and maintain that distances. Be pretty easy to force all teh shielding in one direction against that kind of attack as well. While escaping themselves.

Gotta have set that up before hand, and with enough time a small range ship in the same situation could probably send a big rock flying on an intercept course; covering their approach, and maybe exploding the rock at the right distance to create a shotgun blast that they open fire while the target ship gets their butt kicked or something.

It really is a corner case, with very specific circumstances.
It can easily go off the rails. but in a way that I find appropriate.

That being said I can totally see how people would find "not cool" for their groups. There is still a maximum range already, far shot just lessens the penalties right? (haven't re read the starfidner version but I dont' remember it being terribly different).

All the above being said. That is all assuming that feats do apply whole sale.


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Fuzzypaws wrote:
Attacking with a handheld weapon and attacking with a piece of artillery are two completely different skillsets, and the weapons operate in completely different ways over vastly different scales. If you are firing an artillery weapon you are probably not even looking at the target, you are looking at a "radar" tracking diagram of the target and its projected trajectory. I do not think that an equivalent feat which acted as Far Shot for artillery / ship weapons would be overpowered in any way, but it is also pretty clear that the Far Shot feat itself only applies to man-carried weapons.

This is my take too.

When you are shooting a starship weapons, your ability to keep your pulse calmed, to slowly breath, to properly align your weapon's cannon, etc, has no point. You are basically trying to match a cursor in a radar, looking at a screen, while heavily aided by targeting computers (because it will be impossible for you to hit a target moving at thousands of miles per hour, several miles away, with a non-instant-traveling weapon such as a coilgun).

You are basically doing this:

klingon targeting monitor
xwing targeting display

Or, if you dislike the "old look" of those, something more modern, such as
Ironman's targeting hud

The tricks your father told you when hunting deers don't apply to those, they are a very different skill set. Similarly, "versatile weapon specialization" does not add your level to damage with starship combat either.

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gustavo iglesias wrote:
Fuzzypaws wrote:
Attacking with a handheld weapon and attacking with a piece of artillery are two completely different skillsets, and the weapons operate in completely different ways over vastly different scales. If you are firing an artillery weapon you are probably not even looking at the target, you are looking at a "radar" tracking diagram of the target and its projected trajectory. I do not think that an equivalent feat which acted as Far Shot for artillery / ship weapons would be overpowered in any way, but it is also pretty clear that the Far Shot feat itself only applies to man-carried weapons.

This is my take too.

When you are shooting a starship weapons, your ability to keep your pulse calmed, to slowly breath, to properly align your weapon's cannon, etc, has no point. You are basically trying to match a cursor in a radar, looking at a screen, while heavily aided by targeting computers (because it will be impossible for you to hit a target moving at thousands of miles per hour, several miles away, with a non-instant-traveling weapon such as a coilgun).

You are basically doing this:

klingon targeting monitor
xwing targeting display

Or, if you dislike the "old look" of those, something more modern, such as
Ironman's targeting hud

The tricks your father told you when hunting deers don't apply to those, they are a very different, skill set. Similarly, "versatile weapon specialization" does not add your level to damage with starship combat either.

Though perhaps a feats such as the Gunnery series from Ultimate Combat might be candidates for adaption to Starfinder.


Eh, I'd say that because the 'how big is a hex' is kind of a nebulous thing to start with, that character level feats may not apply unless they already specify starship appropriate.


I'd buy that except Far Shot doesn't work by hard numbers either, it just works by "range increments". ;)

Liberty's Edge

I think it is reasonable to think that there are plans to add more feats that affect space combat in the future.

Right now, there is only one.

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