Maker Mystic Build?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm looking for some build advice for mystics, since I've never played the class before and the guide on Zenith's Guide to the Guides is kind of outdated. Here's the basics:

Species: Nuar
Class: Mystic (Shaper Connection)
Theme: Tinker
Archetype: Starwright

I'm not sure how best to arrange her stats, what skills to select apart from that I want to be able to make stuff well, so things like Engineering, Medicine, Mysticism, etc., what feats I should select or weapons I should focus on, etc. What do you folks suggest? Thank you in advance for the advice.

[HammerJack]

I don't have enough here to answer the question. Just having full ranks invested in mysticism and engineering will cover being abe to build pretty much anything.

That leaves basically your whole build open. If you have some idea of what you intend to do (any other put of combat role, what approach in combat you want to focus on, etc), I may be able to give a good suggestion or 2 about how to do it.

[Pantshandshake]

Well, the first thing you'll need to figure out, what will this character do in combat? Will you be using magic as your primary combat role, swinging a big stick (advanced melee), a smaller stick (basic melee) or shooting (what kind of shooting? Small, Long, Heavy, Special?) I also like to figure out what I might be up to when my primary combat role isn't immediately needed. Maybe your mystic's plan is to beat people up first, cast spells second?

Figuring out what you want the character to do in a rough way first is a good way to figure out how to build your ability stats. It will also dictate what kind of feats you might want, or maybe even (gasp!) a dip into another class.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm not sure. I worry that trying to melee would take too many feats, which are only in great supply for a Soldier, a Human or a Ryphorian. I really like the idea of switch-hitting with a maze-core weapon, but that would require proficiency both in Advanced Weapons, as the majority of powered melee weapons are Advanced, and with Longarms, which means two proficiency feats along with Versatile Focus and Versatile Specialization, as well as Heavy Armor Proficiency since that's required if you're getting up close and personal in combat, which is a LOT of Feats.

This character's going to be used in The Threefold Conspiracy AP.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Some things I notice that may impact her combat style: Shaper grants blindsense (vibration) and the Blind Fight feat at 3rd level, which happens to be the earliest item level for blindstrike sonic weapons. Those look like pretty solid guns, especially as they can switch to nonlethal as well.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

And on a related note, how can I make her personality and backstory more interesting?

Spoiler:

Name: Weoren Starhoof
Race: Nuar
Theme: Tinker
Class: Shaper Mystic (Starwright)
Gender and Pronouns: Female, She/Her
General Backstory: Like many nuars, Weoren had a strong interest in technology and construction, but channeled that interest in a very different direction than most of her peers, focusing as much on how things are made at the deepest, atomic level. This eventually manifested in psychic power as she mapped and examined the connections between all forms of matter and how they interacted with one another. She quickly became interested in figuring out how to apply both her knowledge and her power, and was approached by the Starforgers, a guild on Absalom Station renowned for their work with starmetals.
Personality: Weoren likes to take a "holistic" approach to problem-solving, viewing science and spirituality, technology and magic, as complimentary forces that are both needed to make the connections between the small picture and the big one, between theory and application, between cause and effect.
Flaw(s): Her desire to connect things together can sometimes cause her to see connections that aren't actually there, and she's very stubborn when she thinks she's right.
Quirk(s): Has a tendency to sleep-talk, which she's taken to recording in case there's any scientific or mystical insights that come to her in dreams that she can use when she wakes up.
Reason on the Chimera: A sort of combination of Traveler and Entrepreneur, she was assisting with a geological survey in Near Space and is bringing the data back to the Starforgers on Absalom Station.

I feel like these are really solid basics, but nothing makes her "stand out" from an roleplaying perspective, as opposed to another concept I had, a NG Elebrian Cultist Mystic who got the Healer connection from Pharasma, having drama baked right in to her concept as a secret worshiper of the goddess of fate and death on the planet of the undead...

Also, I hate that I can't go back and edit posts after a set period of time. I've had to make new posts every time I get a new thought, and that makes it look like I'm spamming the forum. :(

[Xenocrat]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Some things I notice that may impact her combat style: Shaper grants blindsense (vibration) and the Blind Fight feat at 3rd level, which happens to be the earliest item level for blindstrike sonic weapons. Those look like pretty solid guns, especially as they can switch to nonlethal as well.

They'd be fine if they provided a duration for how long the echo effect lasts, but instead ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Hmm]

Ooh, I am excited that you are building a Shaper Mystic! I had so much fun writing this connection!

[The Artificer]

Hmm wrote:

Ooh, I am excited that you are building a Shaper Mystic! I had so much fun writing this connection!

Thank you for making this connection, it's like a near cousin of mine..

[Archpaladin Zousha]

THAT'S IT! I want my character to play like a D&D Artificer! But I've never played one before so I'm not sure what the best ways to imitate it in Starfinder would be...