It is definitely a fact that the nastiest melee operatives are the ones that favor strength, and can consider Trick Attack optional, because their full attack and multi attack work so well.
Ok, so I searched it up. You're right.
Vanguard Normal attack:
Min=50, Max=110; Crit Min=122, crit Max=182
Full attack:
Min=150, max=330; 1x Crit Min=222, 1x Crit Max=282; 2x Crit Min=294, 2x Crit max=474; 3x crit Min=366, 3x Crit Max=546
Normal attack average=80, crit normal attack=152, normal full attack=240, 1x crit=252, 2x crit=384, 3x crit=456
Wow, even miscalculating DEX belonging in damage for Vanguard, the no crystal averages are still lower than the Vanguard.
Solar Flare Solarian w/ crystal=12d4+20+6d6:
Normal Attack-
Min=38, Max=104; Normal crit attack Min=86, Max=152
Full Attack-
Min=114, Max=312; 1x Crit Min=162, 1x crit Max=360; 2x crit Min=210, 2x crit Max=408; 3x crit Min=258, 3x crit Max=456
Solar Flare w/ no crystal=12d4+20:
Normal Attack-
Min=32, Max=68; Normal crit attack Min=80, Max=116
Full Attack-
Min=96, Max=204; 1x Crit Min=144, Max=252; 2x Crit Min=192, Max=300; 3x crit Min=240, Max=348
With crystal Statistics:
Normal attack average=121, normal crit attack=119, normal full attack=213, 1x crit=261, 2x crit=309, & 3x crit=357
No crystal Statistics-
Normal attack average=50, normal crit attack=98, normal full attack=150, 1x crit=198, 2x crit=246, 3x crit=294
I added the Solar Flare for it too
What you are basically saying is : If you want to melee properly : play either a blitz soldier or a solarion.
The aforementioned harness and bipod are available to anyone, regardless of class.
No. What I'm saying is that there are a lot of ways melee can overcome the problems you're laying out. Haste circuit and jetpacks are bottom line optimization for melee. Swift action, 70 feet of movement, and whack is good enough for most fights. 140 feet of movement followed by a whack is also really, really doable. It's a pretty rare fight thats going to be further away than that.
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Ok, so I searched it up. You're right.
Vanguard Normal attack:
Min=150, max=330; 1x Crit Min=222, 1x Crit Max=282; 2x Crit Min=294, 2x Crit max=474; 3x crit Min=366, 3x Crit Max=546No crystal Statistics-
Normal attack average=50, normal crit attack=98, normal full attack=150, 1x crit=198, 2x crit=246, 3x crit=294I added the Solar Flare for it too
Vanguard do not get three attacks in a full attack, only 2.
They are the only full bab class to not get three attacks in a full attack by class.(don't know about special cases here)
So I believe the only max applying here is the 2x crit one.
BigNorseWolf said]No. What I'm saying is that there are a lot of ways melee can overcome the problems you're laying out. Haste circuit and jetpacks are bottom line optimization for melee. Swift action, 70 feet of movement, and whack is good enough for most fights. 140 feet of movement followed by a whack is also really, really doable. It's a pretty rare fight thats going to be further away than that.
I find it odd that Ranged playstyle can get attack roll advantages through gear alone, giving them an innate advantage in accuracy, they avoided this at first, this is what I liked about starfinder in the first place.
Wether they use a jetpack, haste circuit or WE, melee will always have to close the gap wich gives them an innate disadvantage against range, it's not that they cannot close the gap but that they have to.
This in addition to Ranged attackers getting the only easily accessible attack roll increase in the game skews it in their favor.
4 attacks from a ranged character are going to do more damage than 3 from a melee character and like you said, combat tends to be short.
But I also support the idea that melee has their own role in the party to hold the line.
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Take a look at how haste works in starfinder. Its not an extra attack when you hold still anymore, its full on pounce.
4 attacks from a ranged character are going to do more damage than 3 from a melee character and like you said, combat tends to be short.
Depends on the level. Before 10 the sniper is shooting at a -2, or if you want to be fair and not insist that you include 1 particular class ability, ranged should all have a -4 because they're not all sharpshooting soldiers. They're also shooting for 1d8+3 vs 1d8+9 : three hits from the latter is worth more than 4 from the former. (30 for ranged vs 40.5 for melee)
On top of that there are things that don't into a spreadsheet: how often reach comes up. Flanking.
At the levels I've played ranged has been both boring and underwhelming compared to melee. I'm pretty sure thats why ranged got some extra toys :it needed the boost.
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Take a look at how haste works in starfinder. Its not an extra attack when you hold still anymore, its full on pounce.
Haste circuit consumes a swift action, so you cannot full attack on the turn you use it as a full attack requires all your actions on that turn.
Flanking is no certainty.
Gunner harness is available to everyone so all non sharpshooters are going to at most have a -2.
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Looking at those early numbers, without a lot of optimization or build tricks involved, I'm going to add a few entries. Still leaving the extra 5% damage for possible critical out right now, for convenience over complete accuracy.
Full attack vs average CR 12 KAC : 27
Melee full attack: +14/14(10bab)+7Str+1focus) 3d10+(10feat+10striker)
36 damage per hit on average : with a 35% chance to hit.
Average 25.55
Melee single attack (moving up) +18 to hit
55% chance to hit
Average 20.075
Ranged full attack: +17/+17(10bab)+7Dex+1focus) 3d10+(10feat)
26 damage per hit on average : with a 50% chance to hit. 55% with bipod.
Average 26.5
Average with bipod: 29.15
Now I'm going to throw a wrench in. What if these characters are part of a party, and an operative makes the target flat-footed?
Melee full attack: +16/16 3d10+(10feat+10striker)
36 damage per hit on average : with a 45% chance to hit.
Average 32.85
Melee single attack (moving up) +20 to hit
65% chance to hit
Average 23.725
Ranged full attack: +19/+19 3d10+(10feat)
26 damage per hit on average : with a 60% chance to hit. 65% with bipod.
Average 31.8
Average with bipod: 34.45
Now what if instead of an operative, we had an envoy, who both makes the target flat-footed with greater feint and adds an extra +2 with Improved Get 'Em?
Melee full attack: +18/18 3d10+(10feat+10striker)
36 damage per hit on average : with a 55% chance to hit.
Average 40.15
Melee single attack (moving up) +22 to hit
75% chance to hit
Average 27.375
Ranged full attack: +21/+21 3d10+(10feat)
26 damage per hit on average : with a 70% chance to hit. 75% with bipod.
Average 37.1
Average with bipod: 39.75
What if they are equipped to target EAC 26, in our envoy example? Our melee can still get 3d10 with a level 10 interference blade, and our sharpshootercan get very close with a 6d4 aurora cannon, also level 10.
Melee full attack: 3d10+20 +18/18 3d10+(10feat+10striker)
36.5 damage per hit on average : with a 60% chance to hit.
Average 43.8
Melee single attack (moving up) +22 to hit
80% chance to hit
Average 29.2
Ranged full attack: +21/+21 6d4+(10feat)
25 damage per hit on average : with a 75% chance to hit. 80% with bipod.
Average 37.5
Average with bipod: 40
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So melee will pull ahead against a flat footed enemy with
improved get'em.
Considering the melee in these calculations is running around with melee striker, wouldn't it be fair if the ranged also ran with a gear boost?
Bullet barrage for a reaction cannon would add 4 damage at lvl 10
laser accuracy is another rare attack roll increase.
Absolutely they could. The whole reason I ran those numbers at all is that, as I said earlier, we'll have a trend of outside accuracy bonuses benefitting the melee soldier, with more damage per hit, more than the sharpshooter, and trying to get some baseline out there for how much. Bullet barrage would reduce that gap, and a more damaging melee soldier would increase it.
If we want compare more optimized damage, the biggest question is only how far we want to go with it, as that us a much deeper hole than I can dig in one post.
The more detailed, more fully built comparisons will also vary a lot based on what level we compare at. Lower levels heavily favor static damage mods over weapon dice. Getting a 4rd attack is huge. The sharpshooter level 13 ability is also extremely powerful.
We could also get really into the weeds and start trying to measure things like how much damage output the melee soldier can add to the party with Coordinated Shot and Advanced Coordination, bring in cover (which the sharpshooterbis only partially ignoring while full attacking but the melee soldier will often not have to worry about) or try to estimate how often AoOs come up, and how much they add to the melee bruiser's output (which can be quite a lot), but obviously these things bring in a lot of other questions that you'd have to answer to get anything resembling a usable number.
Resistances on the target will also tend to have some impact (at least in any scenario where everyone isn't using Sonic weapons), since the melee soldier will lose less (either from losing less of their damage and benefits from weapon mods, when they switch to a backup, or by having a smaller percentage of their hits resisted, if they elect to power through.)
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My experience from playing Dead Suns was that my melee dragonkin soldier usually did the most damage, and harassed ranged enemies, and I didn't have to dance around avoiding melee enemies that closed in on me like ranged attackers did, who are now suddenly running (away) and gunning.
I also had some neat tricks that gave me bonuses while in melee combat, that I don't think ranged characters have an equivalent of. And with my ability to charge into combat and make multiple attacks I never really felt like I was missing out on damage.
Usually combats would start with us being ambushed by something, which often meant that the enemies were behind cover or inside something trying to draw us into a bad position were multiple enemies could focus on one person. Usually my ranged allies were moving every round to get around cover/concealment that was in the way.
Enemies used smart tactics, hid behind things, used smoke grenades etc and generally did a lot to prevent ranged characters from just being able to stand still and continuously fire.
Mathematical analysis doesn't capture the battlefield conditions or reflect the real flow of combat if the GM plays enemies intelligently and uses items and swaps "useless" items for more useful ones.
Ozymandius
Male dragonkin gladiator[pw] soldier 12 Alien Archive 41
N Large dragon
Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +1
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Defense SP 108 HP 90 RP 9
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EAC 33; KAC 34
Fort +10; Ref +9; Will +9; +2 vs. effects that cause paralysis, +2 vs. critical hit effects
DR 12/—; Immunities sleep; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
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Offense
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Speed 60 ft., fly 30 ft. (Ex, average)
Melee throwing returning shock spear of fates +19 (5d8+21 E & F; wound [DC 22]; thrown [30 ft.]) or
. . unarmed strike +18 (3d6+33 P; archaic)
Ranged (M) spear of fates +13 (3d10+12 E & F; burn 1d10; boost 1d10) or
. . throwing returning shock spear of fates +19 (5d8+18 E & F; wound [DC 22]; thrown [30 ft.]) or
. . temporal disruption grenade +18 (explode [20 ft., stunned 1 round [Fortitude negates], DC 20])
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Offensive Abilities primary fighting style (blitz), breath weapon (30-ft. cone, 1d6+18 F, Reflex DC 18 half), charge attack, secondary fighting style (hit-and-run), melee striker, soldier's onslaught
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Statistics
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Str 22 (+6); Dex 20 (+5); Con 15 (+2); Int 16 (+3); Wis 12 (+1); Cha 10 (+0)
Skills Acrobatics +18, Athletics +19 (+20 to Athletics checks to perform the activity that the clothes are designed for), Computers +18 (12 ranks), Culture +18, Disguise +0 (+1 to Athletics checks to perform the activity that the clothes are designed for), Engineering +21 (12 ranks), Intimidate +16, Profession (gladiator/video personality) +15; (reduce the DC of Culture checks by 5 when recalling information about entertainment combat, fighting styles, and gladiatorial traditions)
Feats Blind-fight, Close Combat[PW][PW], Coordinated Shot, Deflect Projectiles, Dive For Cover, Enhanced Resistance, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Kip Up, Opening Volley, Skill Focus (engineering), Skill Synergy (computers, culture), Weapon Focus (advanced melee weapons)
Languages Aklo, Ancient Daimalkan, Ancient Kishaleen, Azlanti, Castrovelian, Common, Draconic, Drow, Elven, Eoxian, Ignan, Infernal, Shirren, Starsong, Triaxian, Vercite, Vesk, Vulgar Kishaleen
Other Abilities deflecting smash[AR], draconic immunities, famous fighter, keep fighting (3d6+12 stamina), part of the outfit, partner bond, plasma immolation
Combat Gear temporal disruption grenade; Other Gear vesk monolith I (upgrade: mk 1 electrostatic field, mk 1 mobility enhancer, mk 1 thermal capacitor, thrower arms), [i]throwing returning shock spear of fates with 1 ultra-capacity battery (100 charges)[/i], athletic clothing[AR], battery, ceremonial clothing[AR], [i]dented kasa[/i][AR], engineering tool kit, formal clothing, holographic sashimono[AR], kishalee battery, personal comm unit, reconfigurable clothing[AR], [i]ring of fangs[/i], travel clothing, uniform clothing[AR], video camera scanner[AR], credstick (80,303 credits); Augmentations mk 1 synaptic accelerator (dexterity), [i]mk 2 force soles[/i][AR], mk 2 synaptic accelerator (strength), standard speed suspension
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Special Abilities
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Partner Bond (Ex) (Ex) A dragonkin can form a permanent bond with one willing non-dragonkin creature. Once this bond is made, a dragonkin cannot form another partner bond unless its current partner dies. A dragonkin and its partner can communicate with each other as if they both had telepathy with a range of 100 feet. In combat, when a dragonkin is within 30 feet of its partner, both creatures roll initiative checks separately and treat the higher result as the result for both of them.
Haste circuit consumes a swift action, so you cannot full attack on the turn you use it as a full attack requires all your actions on that turn.
Flanking is no certainty.
Gunner harness is available to everyone so all non sharpshooters are going to at most have a -2.
A gunner harness does not help you with cover.
You will either have cover from your melee, or you're going to be the melee.
You're relying on the cheap toys for ranged in order to keep near melees damage. if melee had those same toys they'd be blowing ranged out of the water.
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You will either have cover from your melee, or you're going to be the melee.
This used to be true, but now we have Coordinated Barrage and Advanced Coordination to help with that.
Yeah, if you go into power armor you can easily mount a ranged weapon until you get into engagement range for melee.
And powered armor is a pretty easy investment for Soldiers.
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...Because you get to hit things with a sword.
Melee is way more fun for me. It's got a lot of small unit tactics that just *work* for my play style. There's a ton of options and gear that feeds my habit.
Why harsh someone else's joy?
I believe the attempt in saying that X option is bad is trying to get the powers that be to make x option better.
I don't think a good case is being made for it however. Whatever the OP is experiencing locally or mathing out doesn't seem to match actual play experience. The mathematical assumptions are taken at a small sample size of levels, and only take assumptions favorable to one side.
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I believe the attempt in saying that X option is bad is trying to get the powers that be to make x option better.
I don't think a good case is being made for it however. Whatever the OP is experiencing locally or mathing out doesn't seem to match actual play experience. The mathematical assumptions are taken at a small sample size of levels, and only take assumptions favorable to one side.
Whining on the forums is silly and does not work, I am reasonable enough to know this.
Hammerjack showed some solid math that shows that ranged will pull ahead of melee but that melee also benefits much more from combined arms.
The Argument being made afterward was solid but my point still somewhat stands somewhat, ranged pulls ahead but jolly cooperation helps melee much more than it does ranged, allowing them to outperform ranged with teamwork.
Nevertheless, Hammerjack convinced me in the end so I stopped partaking.
This is what general discussion is for, asked a question, we discussed, got a satisfying answer.
Almost to a player my group favors ranged over melee.
Of the 24 player created characters in my campaign: 18 are ranged only (only using melee if they half to), 5 are ranged first, but not adverse to using melee and 1 is a melee first character.
All my players max their Dex out and take improved initiative at first level.
Dex is the only stat that increases you ability to hit with a weapon and increases your armor class.
Strength is somewhat a dump stat around my table.
We play a lot of Starfinder Society adventures around my table, which are designed for a part of 6.
Most time the end battle is comprised of 1 or 2 high level opponents.
Usually it is a one-sided affair even when the CR is higher than the group.
One or two opponents cannot adequately cover 6 properly spaced PCs.
The other reason I think my table prefers ranged to melee is to make Starfinder feel different than Pathfinder (which is mostly melee over ranged).
As always YMMV.
Almost to a player my group favors ranged over melee.
Of the 24 player created characters in my campaign: 18 are ranged only (only using melee if they half to), 5 are ranged first, but not adverse to using melee and 1 is a melee first character.
All my players max their Dex out and take improved initiative at first level.
Dex is the only stat that increases you ability to hit with a weapon and increases your armor class.
Strength is somewhat a dump stat around my table.
We play a lot of Starfinder Society adventures around my table, which are designed for a part of 6.
Most time the end battle is comprised of 1 or 2 high level opponents.
Usually it is a one-sided affair even when the CR is higher than the group.
One or two opponents cannot adequately cover 6 properly spaced PCs.
The other reason I think my table prefers ranged to melee is to make Starfinder feel different than Pathfinder (which is mostly melee over ranged).
As always YMMV.
Well, outside of a soldier or solarion (for core classes) no one else can really melee well, so it drastically shapes weapon choice. You have to have a class that well supports melee options.
Secondly, basically everyone should improve dex because it affects lots of skills and saves, init, and AC. It's because does so much that having an attack method that relies on dex rather than strength is beneficial to most characters. But soldiers, and really solarions too, can rely on strength and dex. Solarions need a little charisma, but honestly if you avoid revelations with saves you don't need any charisma either. So even melee focused characters will still invest in dex. It's because dex is too good, not because melee is worse than ranged as a damage/combat option.
And if you're not doing melee, then absolutely strength can remain at 10 basically. You're either all in, or don't bother because it does little for you outside of melee.
But soldier and solarions can basically focus on strength, dex, con and be good.
Well, outside of a soldier or solarion (for core classes) no one else can really melee well, so it drastically shapes weapon choice. You have to have a class that well supports melee options.Secondly, basically everyone should improve dex because it affects lots of skills and saves, init, and AC. It's because does so much that having an attack method that relies on dex rather than strength is beneficial to most characters. But soldiers, and really solarions too, can rely on strength and dex. Solarions need a little charisma, but honestly if you avoid revelations with saves you don't need any charisma either. So even melee focused characters will still invest in dex. It's because dex is too good, not because melee is worse than ranged as a damage/combat option.
And if you're not doing melee, then absolutely strength can remain at 10 basically. You're either all in, or don't bother because it does little for you outside of melee.
But soldier and solarions can basically focus on strength,...
Not surprisingly the 5 player created characters that use ranged first, but will melee when necessary are all soldiers.
No one at my table has created a solarion yet.
The soulfire weapon fusion makes dumping charisma less than optimal i think. By the time the +cha stops mattering as much, whether you started with a 16 or an 18 stops mattering as much as well.
I suspect that's why it was added. Too many solarions going "Charisma? Wheeeee...." and bailing.
Making a melee character out of a non-melee class is an art form. Just look at my Junksword Technomancer, who routinely frustrates GMs by being an effective tank.
Or my Operative/Mystic who I decided would be a melee character at 4th level, and has managed to make a legitimate go of it.
Melee is just more fun to me. I remember in 3.5E, my favorite character was a druid that would wild shape into a dog or wolf and trip people like crazy, allowing the Barbarian or the War Priest to skewer them.
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The soulfire weapon fusion makes dumping charisma less than optimal i think. By the time the +cha stops mattering as much, whether you started with a 16 or an 18 stops mattering as much as well.
I suspect that's why it was added. Too many solarions going "Charisma? Wheeeee...." and bailing.
Perhaps it was added so solarians feel somewhat good early on without crippling their resolve pool?
I mean, it was and still is common for solarians to start with one blitz soldier level to fix their initiative and resolve pool.
AH, the Blitzlarian! The One True Build™.
But to be fair, it did give a lot of bang for the buck. Speed bonus, init bonus, and allowed you to use str instead of cha for resolve.
Honestly, if Solarions just had a choice to use Str instead I think it would have been fine, but I guess a weapon fusion to make up for it works okay too.
Honestly, if Solarions just had a choice to use Str instead I think it would have been fine, but I guess a weapon fusion to make up for it works okay too.
I sort of prefer the solution they went for. Martials that get mileage out of their mental stats are an underutilized niche imo (both in Starfinder and in Pathfinder before it) and I think that makes the Solarian really neat, it just so happened that in the CRB it didn't have a lot of support and it kinda make it feel more like a punishment than a feature.
I'm generally really happy with how the Solarian looks right now but I do wish they'd done more in the CRB to make Cha more interesting for them... and given them more skill points.
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I'm generally really happy with how the Solarian looks right now but I do wish they'd done more in the CRB to make Cha more interesting for them... and given them more skill points.
My thoughts exactly...I am perpetually frustrated that the broad skill base I feel my Solarians SHOULD cover is stymied by the comparatively low number of ranks they can get.
The only work-around I've discovered is using the Starfinder Data Jockey archetype allowing me to substitute Computers for a number of knowledge skills.
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Making a melee character out of a non-melee class is an art form. Just look at my Junksword Technomancer, who routinely frustrates GMs by being an effective tank.
Or my Operative/Mystic who I decided would be a melee character at 4th level, and has managed to make a legitimate go of it.
Melee is just more fun to me. I remember in 3.5E, my favorite character was a druid that would wild shape into a dog or wolf and trip people like crazy, allowing the Barbarian or the War Priest to skewer them.
Wait, Dracomicron what does you Junker Technomancer have? I am actually curious.
It does seem like ranged is better since it can pick stuff off from a distance, but melee can just be ridiculous. I mean the Solarian deals the highest melee damage period. The Operative can possibly do it through Trick Attack with Operative weapons like Paragon Retractable Spike, but even with their successful skill checks, it will be hard for them to hit.
Wait, Dracomicron what does you Junker Technomancer have? I am actually curious.
Nuar Technomancer 9 with Steward Officer Archetype. Typically uses Junksword, Mirror Image, Fog Cloud, and Displacement as spells (but can bust out a Magic Missile or an Arcing Surge in a pinch). Magic Hacks are Empower Weapon and Enchanted Fusion. 20 Str, 20 Int. Heavy armor proficiency. Force Soles augmentation for airwalk charges.
Basically cast Junksword, buff up with defensive spells, and burn spell slots on Empower Weapon to improve accuracy and damage. Empower Weapon lasts until your next turn, so with a Reach Junksword there is a good chance you'll get two attacks out of a single spell slot. Add to that 1x5xlevel bonus damage from the Junksword, and you get some respectable output. Full attacks aren't very good, but you can't have everything.
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The computer interface helps melee. It can turn on your jet pack or haste circuit.
Ranged and Melee are quite bad for classes with 3/4ths BAB. Ranged damage just isn't that truly powerful, well except if you have Deadly Aim and Double Tap. Melee is just something that has already been fun. My technomancer is quite squishy with only 21 SP and 19 HP. It also has the most average scores with racial/theme traits. I know that my Technomancer is gonna die anyway. My party has 2 operatives, 1 mechanic, 2 technomancers, and 1 soldier. What I know of is that the other technomancer has far better scores than what I have. My modifiers to my scores are only +2 and +3. When my technomancer dies, my brother's soldier is gonna leave too and then my backup character is gonna come in with my brother's new one. Granted our characters are iterally from anime, but they are Kendo Rappa and Kai Chisaki(Overhaul). Melee is something that just sounds really fun to me.
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Deadly aims attack penalty more than offsets its damage bonus, meaning that you've taken a feat to do less damage on average.
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The computer interface helps melee. It can turn on your jet pack or haste circuit.This is a great catch - getting the full benefit of the haste circuit going on you first turn is an excellent boon!
Well the end of your first turn assuming you activate it with combat banter as a free action before your turn. Still, it helps.
2) The heavy gunner harness has bulk of 2 - if you're low strength (which presumably you are if you need a harness) this is going to cause trouble with encumbrance, so you'll move slower and your armour class will drop, so it'll be easier to avoid your line of sight and easier to lock you into melee and easier to squish you.
Nah. Just get a starfinder backpack and the load lifters armor upgrade.
3) It takes two move actions to deploy and then stabilise a bipod, I wouldn't expect people to go around with their bipod deployed at all times. Since you rarely start a fight in the ideal position to fire from (whether that's for line of sight or cover reasons) you could be looking at two whole rounds before you're ready to start full attacks.
I don't think thats correct. Since there's no difference between using a bipod as a forward grip or a bipod, you can just walk around with it out in two hands and then spend the move action to brace yourself. What you're describing is how a bipod probably SHOULD work but as is there's no penalty for walking around with it out that you wouldn't have for walking around with a heavy weapon to begin with.
4) A harness is expensive - so (assuming all else is equal) you wont be able to afford an equivalent weapon to a melee fighter. The bipod also has cost but yes relatively cheap.
At the levels you can buy them they're cheap. Starfinder income and costs are almost exponential. Paying a little more now costs you effectively nothing later.
5) Its pretty rare that a sharpshooter soldier needs to move after round 1. My Soldier 1 envoy tends to park herself somewhere and then she's usually fine for the whole fight
Starfinder backpack is for stowing stuff, I don't think an item can be both in your backpack and attached to your weapon at the same time.
While wearing a Starfinder backpack, treat your Strength score as 4 higher for determining your carrying capacity. This increase doesn’t stack with other backpacks. When you seek an object stowed in the backpack, you find it immediately, allowing you to retrieve the object as if you were drawing a weapon. In addition, you can stow objects of 1 bulk or less in the pack as if you were sheathing a weapon.
The ability to reach back and go "there it is! The toilet paper i bought at level 1!" is dependent on something being in the backpack. The bulk increase is... because magic. Its not a handy haversack where you have x pounds of gear in it to lighten your load.
While it does burn a magic item slot, the draw on the move ability is so handy anyway that entire parties have this.
The load lifter upgrade isn't cheap - and it means you're taking up a slot in your armour upgrades. Yes you CAN do it, but that means you're having to give those up to make the ranged build viable. This still works out to disadvantage it compared to melee.
I think melee is overall the better fighting style. The OP picked level 10 with a level 10 weapon and the sharpshooter soldier fighting style for their comparison point.
At this point, weapon dice have started to matter (make dice great again?) compared to melees static 1.5x str damage bonus, and the -4 for having vesk tail in the way of your shot is eliminated. (something every other ranged build should factor in a -4 or a -2 if they're going to dip (and they should dip!))
At what level do you think 5600 cr is cheap? And if the build is only superior from that level onwards, then you're admitting that it is not superior until that level...
You only need the 1400 k gunner harness up till level 10. At level 10 5600 is cheap (thats half of a scenario)
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You would activate it as a free action, so you can use you full-action on your first turn. I don’t see why you would get the benefit at the end of your first turn. Please explain.Well the end of your first turn assuming you activate it with combat banter as a free action before your turn. Still, it helps.The computer interface helps melee. It can turn on your jet pack or haste circuit.This is a great catch - getting the full benefit of the haste circuit going on you first turn is an excellent boon!
"If the trigger occurs, the computer automatically activates the linked system. This occurs at the end of your next turn after the condition occurs."
The Qi Adept's 9th level ability with plasma blasts is unspecified for explode. Does anybody know the Explode property's radius for it?
Its in the FAQ/errata page.
"Page 90: In the qi adept fighting style, change the text of Plasma Blast to the following.
You condense your body’s qi into a beam of superheated plasma, allowing you to make a special ranged unarmed strike that targets KAC, requires one hand, is not archaic, has a range increment of 30 feet, deals lethal electricity and fire damage, and has the stunned critical hit effect. For the duration of this ability, you gain a special version of the Weapon Specialization feat that adds 1-1/2 times your level to the damage of this unarmed strike (rather than adding your level).
Page 91: In the text of Plasma Blast, remove “automatic” and add “(10 ft.; DC = 10 + half your character level + your Constitution modifier)” after “explode”.
Page 91: Change the text of Abundant Qi to the following.
Whenever you use gather qi, you can gain one qi power with its associated bountiful qi enhancement without spending any Resolve Points, two such powers by spending 1 Resolve Point, or all three such powers by spending 2 Resolve Points."
So I didn't know Qi Adept existed, and now I want to make a Vesk Armor Storm soldier that picks up Qi Adept as their secondary style.
So I didn't know Qi Adept existed, and now I want to make a Vesk Armor Storm soldier that picks up Qi Adept as their secondary style.
I'm not sure to what extent Qi Adept works with Hammer Fist (probably does not work), but it should be fine with Natural Weapons.
Would have been awesome for Zoggy, but is sadly not legal in Society.