5 Reasons to Take Skill Focus on an Envoy


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I've seen a couple of times in build threads people ask "why take Skill Focus on an Envoy", then proceed to point out that since they're Insight bonuses they don't stack with Expertise. While this is true, Skill Focus is actually really good on Envoys.

Reason 1: Once per day roll twice. This is the weakest reason, but it is hard-baked into the class. Getting a roll 2 take better on your expertise die is hugely useful, particularly on hard checks like Intimidate. Don't underestimate that power.

Reason 2: Early level power. With bonuses of the same type, when you get them you always simply take the better of the two. So when you have 1d6, and roll your skill say that die turns up 2, then the Skill Focus +3, is greater. So you basically get +1d6 (min 3) to your Expertise skills early.

Reason 3: Expertise Talent forgo abilities. Many of the Envoy talents involve forgoing your Expertise die for additional benefits. This isn't forgoing an Insight bonuses in general, so any of these checks you forgo that die, but still get that +3 to the skill roll without it.

Reason 4: Not every skill gets Expertise. In particular, if you're the Captain role on your starship, Expertise can cover every skill except Piloting. So Skill Focus: Piloting is pretty good for Captain Evnoys to hit that high Orders DC, particularly since Pilot is one of the few roles that can't have multiple people in it.

Reason 5: Expert Advice is one of the greatest Envoy abilities ever. While I mentioned forgo die abilities already, this new one from Armory is a special case. This one lets you give your Expertise die to an ally when using Aid Another. With Skill Focus, between Class Skill bonus, and ability mod you can put a single point into an Expertise skill in order to pretty much 100% of the time aid another character and give then your Expertise die. This is huge for things like Computers, Engineering, and Medicine where you may not want the Int investment for it, but giving your die to your Mechanic, Technomancer, Operative or Mystic is huge, and will let you spend those points on the skills you want to focus. (I would also be interested to know if you can apply your Expertise die roll twice to the aided character. Potential FAQ?)

Bonus Solarian Reason: Sidereal Influence doesn't apply in combat. I dunno why Solarians seem to constantly get the shaft where skills are involved, but the same better of two bonuses applies as Envoys, and since you can't get the Sidereal bonus in combat, this is useful for things like Intimidate to demoralize in combat.

So yeah. Skill focus, still really good for Envoys. Perhaps not every build, say I'm not going to get any forgo Engineering abilities or whatever... But it is well worth the feat investment.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Good points all. I will take it under advisement.

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