KPR King Candidates
Submit your damage-focused build and read about others. Compare notes and find new exploits. See if you have what it takes to become the KPR king.
Intro
KPR King Candidates is a thread to gather builds focused on damage. We group them into level 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 and provide a sample monster to attack, made of tofu. While this isn't realistic, it provides a clean slate to compare builds. Below I take you through what KPR is, how to calculate it, the rules of the game, and at the end see the rankings. Obviously we'll see solarians at the top, but are there some tips from the highest technomancer you could use? Perhaps Envoys aren't as weak as you thought. Let's optimize together and build something greater!
What is KPR? What is DPR?
Unrealistic damage
So you've got a Reactor Core Hammer which deals 15d6 E & F damage and when it crits blasts through to another creature for another 8d6 and we attack 3 times as a solarian. So critting 3 times could theoretically deal 684 maximum damage alone, but the chances of that are slim. Can we get more realistic?
Average Damage on a hit
Instead of taking maximum we take averages, so let's start by ignoring crits for now. A d6 could be 1,2,3,4,5 or 6, which averages to 3.5 (ie. average between min and max (1+6)/2. Since we roll 15 of them the average damage is 15*3.6 = 52.5. 3 attacks means 157.5 average damage on a hit.
Damage on a hit = (number of dice rolled) * (die max + 1)/2 + static damage bonuses
DPR
Using triple attack imposes a -6 to your attack roll. We're less likely to hit but how do we account for this? We'd have to know the target's AC. We make an oversimplification by pitting you against a monster with CR=your character level. Not every battle is just you and a single leveled monster duking it out, but it gives us a good place to start from that all other builds will be compared against. Here are the guidelines for creating a monster. We'll use the Combatant. Feel free to argue for a different base, or an average of the 3 types of base creatures.
DPR accounts for one's chance to hit. Below we've picked out the HP and AC from the above monster creation guidelines. But if we wanted to calculate DPR for another level w/o looking it up we could use KAC=1.24*level + 12.5, EAC=1.24*level + 10.5
For our Level 20 character we're facing a CR 20 foe thus 1.24*20+10.5=35 EAC.
We have a +24 to hit after +20(BAB) +1(Weapon Focus) -6(Full Attack penalty) + 1(flashing strikes). We have to roll a 11 to hit, ie. 50% chance to hit. Thus we take our average damage on a hit and take 50% of that to get our expected damage before we attack, or how much damage we'll probably get per round if we tried attacking over and over again.
DPR = (chance to hit) * (average damage on a hit)
Chance to hit = 1-(DC-bonus-1)/20
Accounting for crits
But what if we crit? Since our damage is doubled 5% of the time and normal the other 95% we do X 95% of the time, and 2x 5% of the time.
0.95*x + 0.05*2x = 0.95*x+0.05*x+0.05*x = 1*x+0.05*x = 1.05*x
Put simply we multiply our DPR by 1.05. Any extra crit damage we average out and multiply by 0.05 and add it to our DPR.
For our Reactor Core Hammer we claim a foe is in position and add 0.05*28 = 1.4 DPR, not that much extra DPR in the end sadly.
KPR
DPR is great for estimating how much damage we will probably do to a leveled monster, but can we tell how good it is compared with other builds that are equally focused on damage but just at a different level? If DPR is like an ACT score, KPR is like getting a GPA score for whatever grade you are in. By factoring your level (age) out we get an effective grade that compares across levels (ages). We do this by simply dividing our DPR by this same nondescript combatant's HP we get a ratio of his HP that we expect we'll chew through each round, ie. how much of a monster we've killed each round, or Kills Per Round (KPR). This makes it easy to compare builds below apples to apples regardless of what level they are playing and judge them objectively.
Below I give you the HP to divide by, but if you want to do this math for a different level here is some math
Quote:
We use the following formula for HP (I used google sheets to get polynomial fit for the HP column)
Enemy HP = 0.896*Level^2 + 4.35 * Level + 19.1
KPR = DPR / (0.896*Level^2 + 4.35 * Level + 19.1)
Putting it all together
KPR = (1 - (1.24*Level + 10.5 - my_to_hit - 1)/20) * (average damage on a hit) * 1.05 / (0.896*Level^2 + 4.35 * Level + 19.1)
So what is a good KPR value?
A party of 4 facing 4 leveled monsters will typically last 4-5 rounds, so the average party member is contributing enough to effectivly kill 1 monster over 4 rounds, so dealing 25% of his HP per round on average, ie. 0.25 KPR. Now not every member is dishing out this much damage. The Envoy is relying on you to pack a big punch, so treat 0.25 as the baseline with a goal of 0.3 or 0.4 KPR. Your nova round you may be dealing 1.5 KPR, which is fine. Hitting 0.8 KPR every encounter and the DM may find it difficult to challenge you w/o one-shotting your team mates. Starfinder should be designed to limit this. The builds you'll see below may challenge that design goal.
Guidelines
- • You can use daily resources as long as you can repeat your setup 4 times per day. For example a Technomancer with 2x4th level slots and 3x3rd level slots spending a single 3rd/4th level spell for an enounter-long buff, must quote the KPR assuming he is using the 3rd level slot, not the better 4th level spell.
- • You can spend up to 70% of your Wealth By Level limit on gear.
- • You can buy items up to your Level + 1. If you craft it you have to have the engineering ranks.
- • Personal upgrades must be accompanied with what level you gain them as it matters for ability increases.
- • You must buy armor and list your defensive stats (KAC, EAC, Fort, Ref, Will). I'll be calculating the monster's KPR vs you so people know how much of a glass cannon you are.
- • Assume there is a Melee ally and a Ranged ally, each doing 0.25 KPR. If you give them a bonus to hit of +1 this effectively bumps their KPR by 5%, thus you claim 0.025 KPR for yourself.
- • AoE and multi-target attack will be marked explicitly. State the size/conditions for your AoE/Multi-target attack. No conversion to single-target KPR will happen and I'll decide where to place you.
Submitting a build
You only need to provide enough details to justify your KPR, provided you keep to the guidelines above. Everything else is optional.
Sample Build
Quote:
(Ranged)
Weak Willy
Soldier 4 / Operative 1
Race: Human
Theme: Athlete
- •Str: 19(10+4(points) +2(human) +1(theme) +1(5th))
- •Dex: 14(10+2(points)+2(5th))
- •Con: 16(10+4(points)+2(5th))
- •Wis: 12(10+2(5th))
- •Int: 10
- •Cha: 10
Feats: Weapon Focus(Small Arms), Mobility, Spring Attack
Weapon: Sting Pistol, Ant(2,150 credits) 1d8 A & B
Armor: Kalo Encounter Suit, I(1980 credits) EAC: 11(7+2 dex), KAC: 13(8+2)
Items: Ring of Resistance II(735 credits), Personal Upgrade MK1(1,400 credits) @5th level
Fort: +7(4(soldier)+1(Ring)+2(Con))
Ref: +6(1(Soldier)+1(Ring)+2(operative)+2(Dex)
Will: +8(4(Soldier)+2(Operative)+1(Ring)+1(Wis))
HP: 38(4(human)+7*4(Soldier)+6(Operative))
SP: 45(4*7(Soldier) + 1*6(operative)+ 4*2(Con)+1*3(Con))
Concept
This build is based on picking some arbitrary class choice and using a sub-optimal weapon just to showcase what an example build would look like, if I was trying to make it easy to read.
KPR
To Hit: +7(+4 (BAB) +1(WF)+4(Str)-2(full attack))
Damage: 6.5(1d8+2(Weap Spec))
KPR: (1-(17-7-1)/20)*2*1.05*6.5/70 = 0.1 KPR
Glossary and Cheese
Below you'll find common terms and names of exploit sets commonly used. If there is a particular valid interpretation of the rules that enough people say wouldn't fly at their table I'll likely tag your build with the name of that cheesey exploit so others know it relies on something questionable and to check with their DM before building around it.
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KPR Candidates
Level 1
Quote:
Target Enemy
KAC:13 ,EAC:11
HP:20
Fort +3, Ref+3, Will+1
Spending Budget: 700 credits
Melee
Ranged
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Level 5
Quote:
Target Enemy
KAC:19 ,EAC:17
HP:70
Fort +7, Ref+7, Will+4
Spending Budget: 6300 credits
Melee
Ranged
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Level 10
Quote:
Target Enemy
KAC:25 ,EAC:23
HP:165
Fort +12, Ref+12, Will+9
Spending Budget: 46200 credits
Melee
Ranged
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Level 15
Quote:
Target Enemy
KAC:31 ,EAC:29
HP:275
Fort +17, Ref+17, Will+13
Spending Budget: 350000 credits
Melee
Ranged
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Level 20
Quote:
Target Enemy
KAC:37 ,EAC:35
HP:465
Fort +21, Ref+21, Will+17
Spending Budget: 2642500 credits
Melee
Ranged
