So...does the class seem balanced throughout the level span? I haven't played or ran a campaign yet, but on first blush that seems really strong compared to other classes.
The drone... actually it isn't very reliable. It isn't a good shot, it can't use very good weapons without sinking feats into it, it might as well be made of tissue paper to equal-CR attacks, and it's hard to keep repaired unless you invest heavily in the options (which reduce your own combat effectiveness, as you're taking the repair tricks instead of, say, Overcharge or Overclocking or Over-whatever.
In short, it's actually pretty reasonable as a class feature. Yeah, you get an extra attack per round, but the soldier can Full Attack, too, and probably with better bonuses.
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Since the drone gets feats for leveling up separate from your feats, I fail to see how the sinking feats is an issue.
Everyone is made of tissue paper in Starfinder to enemy attacks, but the drone's AC actually compares pretty favorably and doesn't cost resources to maintain.
As far as hard to repair, it does cost some resolve points, which may make your PC more vulnerable and doesn't get back as much as a PC would (it only gets 25% back with a resolve point with the mechanic trick instead of approximately 50% with a normal character) but this isn't really a rules discussion aspect, so much as its an opinion about a class feature.
Happy to provide the math in another forum.
Since the drone gets feats for leveling up separate from your feats, I fail to see how the sinking feats is an issue.
It limits your options. Only the combat drone starts with any appreciable combat skills, and getting them something other than a club or pistol takes some doing.
If you're sinking feats and drone mods into the combat, you're not picking up the fun other stuff a drone can do.
Not saying that it is a bad choice, by any means, but the supposed "two attack advantage" for a drone mechanic is just not that significant a factor.
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If you want to focus on something besides combat its combat prowess isn't an issue, but say you do want to focus on combat.
Lets take level 5 as an example:
A level 5 hover drone has 2 feats and 3 mods. Weapon Proficiency is a mod not a feat, so you take, Weapon Proficiency - Long Arm, Weapon Mount, Enhanced Armor. For your feats you take Versatile Specialization and Weapon Focus - Long Arm. For your mechanic tricks you take overcharge and Repair Drone
The Drone has:
HP: 50
EAC/KAC: 20/20
To Hit: +8
Damage: Azimuth Laser Rifle 1d8+1d6+5 average of 13 per hit
a 5th level operative with 14 con (high but doable) and a 4 HP race has:
HP: 40 SP 34 HP = 74 Total, so 50% more but no backup like the mechanic.
EAC/KAC with best level+1 armor and 20 dex = 22/22
To Hit (assuming Weapon Focus Small Arms) = +9 with flat-footing a fair bit
Damage: Azimuth Laser Pistol with Trick = 1d4+3d8+2 for 18 damage per hit, so about 40% more
So the drone as 50% less HP total, hits 5-15% less of the time, gets hit 10% more of the time(but doesn't have to pay for the armor to get hit less) and does about 60% of the damage.
When you couple this with the mechanic himself, you can see that the drone mechanic is perfectly viable in combat.
I am new to Starfinder and am having difficulty understanding what Mechanics and Drones can do per turn.
Can the Mechanic spend a Move Action, Standard Action, and Swift Action on his/her turn which is then followed by their drone spending a Standard Action--essentially meaning that the Mechanic attacks twice per round at level 1?
Thanks for any help
Mechanic: Full Drone: Standard action to attack, or Move
Mechanic: Standard, Move, Swift Drone: Standard action to attack, or Move
Mechanic: Standard, (Move), Swift Drone: Any Standard action and Move
Mechanic: Standard, (Move, Swift) Drone: Any Standard action and Move and Swift, OR Full [/runestalker]
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The Operative isn't a raw damage dealer. That trick attack is only part of the package combined with their effectively 10 ranks/level (only get 4 before int), passive bonuses to skills, exploits, and flat footed with that trick attack.
Sure, the mechanic does suffer a bit in the skill department compared to the ultra skill focused operative, but since Int is the primary stat for a mechanic they can make up a bit of the ground since int is secondary for the operative.
The above example is dedicating the drone to dealing damage, and that 1d6 is the mechanic using a class feature on the drone. Which he could also do for the operative. Additionally, a mechanic is going to have difficulty keeping both him and his drone up to par on weapons and gear.
Sure but the +3d8 damage is also a class feature. Its not one of the operative exploits, but remember the mechanic can use the 1d6 on the drone and the 1d6 on himself, making for a pretty potent 1-2 punch.
The drone doesn't need any gear besides a weapon it gets its AC boosts for free, so basically the mechanic needs to keep up the weapon and that's it.
Remember that my analysis assumed that the operative was spending on the best level+1 armor, which is a healthy chunk of WBL.
It's a flexibility thing, naturally. A mechanic going heavy on skills with a skill-focused drone will do some things better skill-monkey-wise than an operative too. But the operative is able to be really good at both by default.
I like to baseline other class builds against operatives, not because operatives are overpowered, but because they have a ridiculously high optimization floor; it's hard to make a bad one. Making a good drone mechanic on the other hand requires a certain amount of planning and care.
Double-pike combat drones are pretty fun too, by the way.
Double-pike combat drones are pretty fun too, by the way.
Wh...why do you need two pikes on your robot?
In case we have to pole vault away from the Graboids.
OIC.
So you can full-attack, naturally!
So you can full-attack, naturally!
sarcasm detector is broken so sorry in advance if i missed something but...
that doesn't work. Unwieldy weapons can't be used as part of a full attack, so if you dashko other dashko you're violating the rules for unwieldy
I'm pretty sure it was just a joke.
Because pikes aren't unwieldy.