The starter ability of the Infestation Faculty,
When you form a cloud array or sheath array, you can use a nanite surge to damage anyone who contacts those nanites. Your cloud array deals 1d6 piercing damage (Fortitude negates) to each creature that starts its turn in or enters the cloud's area. Your sheath array deals 1d6 piercing damage (Fortitude negates) to any creature that hits you with a melee natural weapon, melee weapon without the reach special property, or unarmed strike. After a creature attempts a saving throw against either effect, it is immune to damage from this ability for 1 minute. You are immune to the effects of your malignant mist. As a reaction, you can grant one creature you can see within 30 feet immunity to your malignant mist until the beginning of your next turn. The damage dealt by this ability increases to 1d8 at 3rd level, to 2d6 at 5th level, and by 1d6 every 2 nanocyte levels thereafter.
Yes the damage goes up (in a bit of an odd pattern there at the beginning) but since it only affects an opponent effectively once (if they don’t save) it feels a bit meh to me.
Would knocking the damage to d4s but making it affect every round flow better?
Hard to say it basically is free damage to everything that hits you in melee or close range. Also as you go up in level it looks like you get a version that it becomes a longer lasting damage over time effect I think the initial version is mostly just your vector to do the higher level stuff.
You eventually make it fort half instead of fort negates, which I think makes it decent. Not a must have, but decent.
Ah I had missed that (wow and I read the section twice even >_<).
Hmm, not sure if it’s that good though, since things melee attacking you probably have decent Fort saves.
It's definitely made for using a cloud array over the sheathe array. Find the weaker enemies in the back, get in melee range and drop a cloud on them.
Then that raises the question of how viable/wise that is vs just, ya'know, shooting them.
I'm gonna focus on the cloud, because that's what I consider the cool thing and "the point". I don't care about damaging people who hit me; I'm playing Infestation, so I want to devour people with swarms of nanites. If the sheath option has to get stripped out to make that dream a reality, so be it. (Sorry, Hungry Nanites, but once per rest doesn't cut it.)
It's basically a limited-per-day ability, and fights generally don't exceed ten rounds. If you want to re-use your murder-cloud between fights, you need to inch-worm it along and move at half speed. It seems fair to rule that out.
Supposing I budget for four fights per day, you start out dropping this every combat. At level 7, you can afford to also pay for the cloud effect in each of those fights, so let's look at 1-6.
1: Save vs. 1d6. I run up to get close, and drop a 1d6 cloud on… probably two people per fight, average. My melee weapon is 1d6 or 1d8 + Str. I don't think I'd want to hit twice, though, so this seems decent for a full-attack alternative.
2: Save vs. 1d6. But, now I'm passing up on blocking 2 + Con damage. If I've got 18 Con to make sure people fail their saves, I could block as much damage as a max roll and I don't use an action.
3: Save vs. 1d8, and one extra square. My melee weapon has increased by at last three damage, even with no upgrade. Not feeling like such a good deal now.
4: See 3.
5: Save vs. 2d6. My melee attack is 1d8+5+Str. Here's the good thing, though- they don't save against the damage over time until after they take the first hit from it, so it's at least "save vs. 2d6 + 2 + Con". That feels relevant! Now the scaling on a failed save keeps up with the amount of damage I could be blocking with that point.
This is also setting aside the fact that we can get something else for not full-attacking. We can grab an unwieldy weapon.
My impression: 1-4, this feels a bit weak (especially 2-4, when you definitely have something better you could spend it on). 5+, it starts coming into its own a bit more. Because it's only hitting once in a fight and you spend a daily resource for it, starting with "save for half" seems… pretty reasonable to me?
I'd love to have a way to make nanite swarms the actual focus for a build, dealing damage every round, but that'd definitely require more standard action involvement.
So a bit off topic to get on topic.
I really feel this class has a lot of support to it, more than anything. Paired with a Biohacker with the Immunology theorem could be a great combo. Maybe even taking a dip for that... But the dip is too much setup...
I feel this os better off at higher levels with the other abilities that boost it.
I think removing the immune for a minute makes it significantly better. Maybe some/all:
- Less damage...
- Only able to damage for a number of rounds equal to Con - cool down = 1d4 rounds...
- Spend a surge to use more often...
- Each round the die count goes down. Rework the damage. So I did 6d6 round 1; 5d6 round 2 etc...