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I've gotten an idea for a character concept and was looking for advice on how to most effectively build her.
Raokshna is the daughter of vesk expatriates living on Absalom Station, having grown up outside mainstream vesk society. She's developed a sense of honor very different from that of the Veskarium, as she came to worship Iomedae and joined the Knights of Golarion. Perhaps as a way of putting her own unique spin on vesk combat doctrines, she fights using a dragonglaive rather than a doshko.
So I have a bunch of questions, but the most important one is what Raokshna's actual class should be. My initial idea IS Soldier (especially with the Blitz fighting style everyone loves so much), since it compliments her both as a vesk and as a Knight of Golarion, but with the Star Knight archetype other classes like Mechanic (especially with an exocortex) and Envoy (which'd make for a great inspiring general type) become tankier, and I'm concerned that Star Knight feels a little redundant when used by a Soldier.
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My favorite build is Soldier/Exo-Cortex Mechanic, because you get a whole pile of personal bonuses and there aren't really many down levels where you're not getting something fun. The main problem with this is that you have to choose which of these classes to apply the Star Knight archetype to, and that limits when you get the Star Knight buffs until later.
That said, look at the Armor Storm style Soldier. You get a very strong melee attack at first level for free, an extra armor upgrade slot and power armor proficiency at fifth level, combine an attack with a buffed bull rush at 9th, +1d6 damage for your punch or power armor weapons at 13th, and incredible battlefield mobility at 17th.
Blitz is a cool option, but it's kinda overdone, as you know. It is totally front-loaded, with significantly less impressive powers as you move up the ranks (Against the Odds is cool, but you are almost never going to get a bonus higher than 4, which is not that fancy for a level 17 power). Blitz is my go-to for a Secondary Fighting Style at 9th level.
Guard is a solid, if boring, option that is at least consistent with the Star Knight theme.
It is unfortunate, but Solarians, contrary to the text, make bad Star Knights, because they lose Stellar Revelations, which are the bread and butter of the class.
One unconventional choice would be a Technomancer using the Junksword spell from Pact Worlds. It requires the investment of a little more Intelligence for a Vesk, but the combat versatility of the Junksword cannot be over-estimated, and, if well built, doesn't lose much from taking on an Archetype.
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I'm unsure if Raokshna will use power armor. I do want her to use heavy armor with her dragonglaive, but power armor just seems like overkill. Would Armor Storm be useful if you DON'T want to use power armor?
How would that muilticlassing soldier/exocortex mechanic build look? It does look tempting since mechanic DOES provide more skill ranks than soldier, which is always a plus in my book, but it feels like Starfinder carries on the trend Pathfinder'd been pursuing to make each level feel like it's got something so multiclassing doesn't look as attractive.
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In that case, is Armor Storm a good idea? Or should I look elsewhere, assuming I take Blitz as my secondary style instead of my first?
I'll admit Arcane Assailant looks tempting, though if I take Star Knight, the Knights of Golarion version gets a similar power that grants the holy fusion on its own, which is the fusion I'd probably use the most with Arcane Assailant anyway.
In that case, is Armor Storm a good idea? Or should I look elsewhere, assuming I take Blitz as my secondary style instead of my first?
I'll admit Arcane Assailant looks tempting, though if I take Star Knight, the Knights of Golarion version gets a similar power that grants the holy fusion on its own, which is the fusion I'd probably use the most with Arcane Assailant anyway.
PF conversions aside, I've found the Alien Archives (including AP ones) to include surprisingly few monsters with DR or energy resistances that a fusion could even affect. Remember that fusions are both limited to dragons/outsiders of the appropriate type and they don't overcome immunities, which makes them pretty useless for dragons - any fusion will overcome DR/magic, and they tend to have energy immunities, not resistances.
Divine Champion archetype (to avoid outsider/dragon restriction) or Divine Blessing (Iomedae) feat (to avoid immunities) are better choices than fusions if you want that sort of capability.
I see...the catch with Divine Champion is that I won't be able to use Star Knight. What I'm looking to represent Raokshna's membership in the Knights of Golarion, as opposed to being a priestess of Iomedae's church.
Divine Champion is more of a holy warrior/paladin than a priest. You get save boosts (divine grace) and DR/ER avoidance (smite) plus some SLAs (4th level casting), there's nothing here about leading congregations and the combat abilities are front loaded.
In any case, my point is that the alignment fusions aren't very good, and there are better options mechanically if you do want that sort of capability. Star Knight with Divine Blessing (Iomedae) and keeping Guarded Attack (which also isn't great, but at least it's something) might be worth considering.
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I see. If you take Guarded Attack at 6th level, do you have to take Willpower at 12th level? Or can you take Shield Other instead? Is that even a good idea? Divine Blessing certainly would take care of the Iomedaean connection as a Knight of Golarion if not taking the Knights-of-Golarion-specific ACFs...
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I'm unsure if Raokshna will use power armor. I do want her to use heavy armor with her dragonglaive, but power armor just seems like overkill. Would Armor Storm be useful if you DON'T want to use power armor?
Hammer Fist is better than any other one handed level 1 weapon if you have 18 Strength. 1d4+4 (strength) + 2 (effective Melee Striker gear boost) = average 8.5 damage (minimum 7) compared to your assault hammer that does average 7.5 and minimum 5. And while that tactical doshko has an average 10.5 damage, it is still minimum 5 and can't be used in full attacks or attacks of opportunity. There have been many times where my vesk has just dropped his doshko and gone in punching.
Hammer Fist is better than a vesk's natural weapons until level 5 or so, and scales up significantly better unless you sink a feat into Improved Unarmed Strike (which is a good level 8/9 investment anyway, but it can sometimes be hard to find room in your build for it).
Anyway, with the current power armors in the CRB, Armor Storm simply isn't an attractive fit for a power armor spec anyway. You're encouraged to go high Strength at 1st level for Hammer Fist, but then you're actually taking a Str debuff to put on the power armor until you get that Jarlslayer at the end of your career. Armor Storm also lets you install power armor upgrades on heavy armor at level 5, so you can rock that Titan Shield even without a power suit.
That said, maybe the armory book will correct the power armor discrepancy. We're looking for a level 5 armor that gives 22 strength (and probably not much else).
How would that muilticlassing soldier/exocortex mechanic build look? It does look tempting since mechanic DOES provide more skill ranks than soldier, which is always a plus in my book, but it feels like Starfinder carries on the trend Pathfinder'd been pursuing to make each level feel like it's got something so multiclassing doesn't look as attractive.
Upon reflection, Soldier/Mechanic is a bad choice for an Archetype, because you either need to apply Star Knight to Soldier, which means you're taking more Soldier levels than you need to get your Archetype traits, or to Mechanic, which makes you lose your Mechanic's Tricks, which are basically the entire purpose for crossing classes in the first place.
If you're curious anyway, it goes a little like this (hidden because it is now off-topic:
At this point you have all weapon specializations and a gear boost (Melee Striker is by far the best for a close combat beater), great BAB, and a pile of health.
Take Exo-Cortex Mechanic 1.
Decide if you really need any more Soldier levels. If you really want that level 5 style power, I'd take those levels now or alternate with Mechanic levels, maxing out your soldier stuff by character level 6 or 7.
After you decide against more soldier levels or collect those last 2, it's all Exo-Cortex, all the time. Overclocking, Energy Shield, Overcharge... I like Neural Shunt a lot for being a failsafe in case of a Will save fail. By Mechanic level 7, you're getting Miracle Worker for the elusive Enhancement bonus to attack and damage, and probably a Speed Mod. Again, the attraction of this build is the Mechanic's Tricks, so it is a bad choice for an Archetype. You might as well stay a Soldier because all you lose are feats.
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I see! So...it looks like Armor Storm will probably still be worth it, when paired with Blitz, take the vanilla Star Knight archetype and the Divine Blessing feat for Iomedae.
I do like the idea of Raokshna just decking baddies in the face if they're too close for her dragonglaive!
What other feats should I be looking into besides Divine Blessing?
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I do love that Armor Storm/Blitz, at level 13 (14 if you have an Archetype, I guess), can do a Charge Bull Rush at no penalty AND apply a Hammer Fist (with +1d6+2 damage over standard) at the end. And if you've picked up Improved Combat Maneuver: Bull Rush (best by level 9 when you get Smash Through), you are essentially just attacking their KAC instead of their combat maneuver AC (which is an unpleasant +8 from their regular KAC).
Starting off you're going to want feats like Coordinated Shot (who says you need to be an Envoy to buff!), Weapon Focus, Step Up (& Strike), & Close Combat (from Pact Worlds). Spellbane is cool if you don't intend to ever cast spells; if your stats allow it, you might want to instead grab Connection Inkling or Technomantic Dabbler for Mystic Cure I or Supercharge Weapon.
Eventually Improved Unarmed Strike is worthwhile. Remember that, without IUS, you can't really unarmed strike without taking a swift action to take a hand off of your dragonglaive.
The 17th level Armor Storm bonus benefits from Mobility, Shot on the Run, and Spring Attack. While that is a long way off, those feats do pretty well embody the purpose of the style specialization.
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I see!
Speaking of stats, I forgot what I should look into. I know I need 18 STR at least to use the dragonglaive effectively, and I probably want solid DEX, CON and WIS for the purposes of saves. What would be a good way to set up stats assuming something like a 10-point buy?
This has all been very helpful! Thank you all! :)
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No problem!
My Vesk Soldier went 18/14/12/8/10/10 at 1st level and used his 3rd level personal upgrade on MORE STRENGTH because punching things into next week is really important to him. With Dex 14, you top off at 22 at 20th level, which is about the highest Dex that heavy armor can accomidate, ensuring the highest possible AC.
Since you can upgrade four stats every 5 levels, you can easily buff all four of those stats every time, if you wish. For me, I want my guy to eventually be a competent engineer and have some skill points to throw around, so at level 5 I'm buffing Str, Dex, Int, and Wis, then at 10 I'll buff Str, Dex, Con, and Int. After that it'll be Str, Dex, Con, & Wis because I like making saving throws.
I would review the feats you want and make sure you can get to the requirements by the time you get to the levels you want to get them at. If you find yourself falling short, you can apply the personal upgrades to those stats, but, barring that, Str/Con/Wis are good choices for saving throws; heavy armor melee soldiers are kinda the rare exception that you don't really want to use a personal upgrade on Dex because your armor kinda limits the benefits.
Personally, my power armor plans start and stop at the battle harness right now, without increasing my str aside from personal upgrades, and using light armor under the PA with my much higher dex for my AC needs.
I'm pretty sure that you use the better EAC or KAC and the worse Max Dex Bonus and Armor Check Penalty between the light armor and the power armor when you're wearing both.
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How would this change if Raokshna went FULL Exocortex Mechanic coupled with the Star Knight archetype? Obviously stats would change around to result in higher intelligence overall, making her more of a Genius Bruiser.
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How would this change if Raokshna went FULL Exocortex Mechanic coupled with the Star Knight archetype? Obviously stats would change around to result in higher intelligence overall, making her more of a Genius Bruiser.
Your skills would be considerably better, but, without the majority of Mechanic's Tricks, you'll largely just be a slightly mediocre soldier, combat-wise. You also would need to take Advanced Melee Weapon Proficiency and Versatile Weapon Specialization to use your Dragon Glaive effectively.
The Exo-Cortex mods (which seem mostly not affected by archetypes) start at level 7, so you'll also be hurting for mechanic-specific buffs.
You might even be better off going Drone instead of Exo-Cortex, since they get a more regular progression... you could theme it as your knight's horse?
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I see. It seems sticking with Soldier would be the better idea, then. I can use the glaive right out of the box, so to speak, instead of needing to wait for my exocortex to provide it at 7th level. Yes, I can't get the glaive until 4th level, but that's sooner than 7th.
Actually, as a Mechanic, you can use Advanced Melee Weapons right out the gate at 1st level if you want to sink your feat into it. You would then need to grab up Versatile Weapon Specialization at 3rd level. Since you can buy items at Level +1 in nearly any major settlement (and level +2 on Absolom), your Star Knight Mechanic would be able to be rocking that Dragon Glaive at level 3... IF he or she sank all of his or her feats into it.
Exo-Cortex gives you heavy armor/longarm proficiency and specialization at 1st and 3rd level, respectively. 7th level is when you get to start tricking out with drone mods.
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I see...so it'd work just fine, just not AS fine as an optimized soldier?
Correct. You would lose some flexibility because your 1st & 3rd level feats would be going towards your basic functionality with your weapon of choice, and your attack bonus would suffer because you wouldn't be able to get Weapon Focus (advanced melee weapons) until 5th level. You also gave up 2 of your first 3 Mechanic's Tricks, if I remember Pact Worlds correctly (you probably want Overcharge for +1d6 damage with your powered melee weapon).
Wheras the soldier gets to 3rd level and it is already rolling with high Strength, Melee Striker, and specialization in everything.
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I see. Definitely sticking with Soldier, then.
What would be a good supplementary ranged weapon to carry just in case? I want to do something different from the starknife my Solarian's carrying around as a backup for his sword (he's got solar armor, so it's a regular sword).
I was just about to say "Called Starknife" until I saw your caveat. Thrown weapons are just better for melee soldiers, because they use Strength instead of Dex, including the damage bonus.
That said, I'm partial to explosive heavy weapons because they basically never miss, as you aim towards a map vertices, not an opponent. Easier if your Dex modifier is lower than your Str modifier. Hard to go wrong with a huge frakoff plasma cannon, if you can spare the bulk.
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I see. What skills should I focus on? I realize that as a vesk, I'll have an Intelligence penalty, and I'm not sure what theme to go with, which may impact my skill selection.
I've noticed that it feels like there are very few "guides" for Starfinder aside from Hiruma Kai's and HWalsh's Solarian guides. Apart from stuff I've overheard on the boards (Blitz being so good for example) I feel like I don't have much of a frame of reference for setting up characters of any class that ISN'T a Solarian...
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A Vesk Soldier without an Int upgrade only has 3 skill points per level. Each level, what I do is drop 1 in Athletics (essential for moving around in a combat zone, including zero gee or underwater, put 1 in a "specialty" like Engineering, Survival, or Medicine, and then spread the third point around the other Soldier class skills, so you at least get a chance to make a variety of skill checks.
Zoggy, at 3rd level, has:
3 ranks Athletics
3 ranks Engineering (he dropped out of Power Armor college)
1 rank Survival
1 rank Profession (Mercenary)
1 rank Perception
Though Perception isn't a class skill, I felt it was worthwhile to grab Skill Synergy (Perception/Engineering) at 3rd level because Perception is such an important trait, in and out of combat, and the +2 to Engineering offsets his bad Intelligence.
At 5th level I will upgrade Int, which will grant an immediate windfall of skill points to let me grab a second "specialty" and continue gradually placing ranks around the list to take advantage of the +3 trained class bonus.
So at 5th level I will probably have:
5 ranks Athletics
5 ranks Engineering
5 ranks Perception
1 rank Survival
1 rank Profession (Mercenary)
1 rank Medicine
1 rank Acrobatics
1 rank Piloting
At this point he has ranks in all the Soldier skills except Intimidate, and he would have Intimidate if he hadn't picked up Perception with Skill Synergy.
As for guides; Starfinder is pretty new, still, and part of the issue is that most of the classes are (currently) fairly straightforward. Solarians are the only one that have really bizarre stat requirements and require tinkering to work right. Everything else works just fine if you simply crank your primary attribute and hope for the best. The iconic pregenerated characters except for the Solarian all work very well.
Now, as you are now seeing, this state of affairs is ending, as archetypes come out requiring a lot of judgment calls as to what works and what doesn't on various classes. Maybe YOU can write a guide!
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Something I've been wondering is if I should consider the Divine Warrior Archetype instead of Star Knight. One of the biggest benefits to being a Star Knight is getting Heavy Armor, which Soldiers already have out of the box. On the other hand, Divine Warrior doesn't have as strong connections to the Knights of Golarion as an organization, since the Knights are explicitly not part of the hierarchy of Iomedae's church...
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Something I've been wondering is if I should consider the Divine Warrior Archetype instead of Star Knight. One of the biggest benefits to being a Star Knight is getting Heavy Armor, which Soldiers already have out of the box. On the other hand, Divine Warrior doesn't have as strong connections to the Knights of Golarion as an organization, since the Knights are explicitly not part of the hierarchy of Iomedae's church...
I wouldn't worry about the fluff so much. You can have your Divine Warrior be a Knight of Golarion even without the Knight of Golarion archetype, with GM approval. Archetypes are just a set of mechanical benefits/changes. You don't need to be a Starfinder Forerunner or Data Jockey to be a Starfinder, after all.
While the Fortification buff on Star Knight might save your hide someday when it cancels a crit, you indeed might be better off getting spell access with Divine Warrior. That's really up to you.
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If I took Divine Warrior, would I essentially HAVE to take Priest as my theme, or could I get away with Mercenary? Divine Warrior basically takes Priest's benefits up to eleven without being redundant, but Mercenary fits more with Raokshna's backstory: she's a fighter first and foremost, not a theologian.
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If I took Divine Warrior, would I essentially HAVE to take Priest as my theme, or could I get away with Mercenary? Divine Warrior basically takes Priest's benefits up to eleven without being redundant, but Mercenary fits more with Raokshna's backstory: she's a fighter first and foremost, not a theologian.
There are no requirements for race, class, or theme for any of the archetypes, as far as I can tell.
Sometimes Priest isn't even a good fit. Like wouldn't the AI aspect of Triune be better served by a Roboticist than a Priest? A divine warrior of Abadar may just be a Corporate Agent of AbadarCorp.
From an optimization standpoint the dreamer/Liavara theme is the only one to take. Two rerolls a day is far superior to a 1/day use of a 1st level spell.
Priest theme is actually kind of garbage mechanically. You can just pickup Connection Inkling and get much more bang for the buck.
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The Priest theme's spell bonus is kinda tiddlywinks. A 1st level spell at 12th level? Why not just take the Connection Inkling feat at 5th level? How many 1st level Mystic spells do you think you're going to need? The Mercenary bonus at 12th level for auto aiding is actually kinda cool if you stick to the spread-out skill distribution I provided above because you are able to make nearly any skill roll by that point (you're just really bad at them), so you automatically buff your allies (which is a super Iomedae thing to do, right?).
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Just remember you need 15 Wisdom for Connection Inkling, which can be a tough nut to crack for your build...but if you throw your extra point into Wisdom (Wis 11 at 1st level), you can get it by level 10 (still earlier than Priest theme) if you buff Wisdom at 5 and 10. Wisdom is a good choice anyway, though, because your Will save can never be too good.
Alternatively, start with Wis 13 and buff it to 15 at level 5 to pick Connection Inkling up as soon as it is available.