Overdrive and Int

[HumbleGamer]

I am working on an inventor and now I am twaking with stats, equip, ancestries, etc...

So, these are my considerations so far:

- Overdrive gives you full int on a critical hit, and half int on a normal hit. Half of 5 is 2.5, which is 2 rounded down. Same as 18 int.

- Standard DCs are pretty affordable to hit, but unlikely ( 20% more or less ) to crit.

- There are no items which give a proper crafting DC and, apart frokm the eyepatch, which might seem ridiculous enough with goggles, I couldn't find any ( but given the load of stuff they recently released, I may be definitely wrong ).

So here's the question.

Would you invest into INT past 18?
And also, would you start ( I mean lvl 1 stats ) your inventor with more than 14 int?

It's "nice" than you can go for the RNG lottery with overdrive if you have actions to waste, but I wouldn't probably spam it once the fight has begun.

ps: We cast anything with 1 min or less during combat ( initiative roll + action trade ). Stuff like stoneskin is ok also before it, but we don't play with buffs one ( like powercreeping from the 1e with full buffed characters before the fight ). This just to say I am not allowed to spam 2/3/4 times overdrive before the combat

[Blave]

I would pretty much always start with 18 and boost it every 5 levels. The extra chance for a crit on Overdrive alone (and the resulting bigger damage from more int) is worth it. But I also look at Int classes to be secondary skill monkeys, with lots of languages and trained skills.

That being said, I would most likely use the apex item for my attack stat instead of Int.

[Dubious Scholar]

Worth remembering also that Int boosts your class DC, for things like Explode.

[SuperBidi]

HumbleGamer wrote:

ps: We cast anything with 1 min or less during combat ( initiative roll + action trade ). Stuff like stoneskin is ok also before it, but we don't play with buffs one ( like powercreeping from the 1e with full buffed characters before the fight ). This just to say I am not allowed to spam 2/3/4 times overdrive before the combat

That's a pretty nasty ruling for an Inventor. I'd question the reason. If it's table time lost, you can just handwave the checks. Personally, I'd just let the player handle it as I have other things to do than handling PCs abilities myself.

You can even go on critical Overdrive for the sure fights before the initiative to be rolled. That's quite strong.

Also, in my guide, I've rated Intelligence at the same level than Strength and Dexterity. I don't see the point of playing an Inventor without maxed Int considering that most of your abilities are keyed of Int.
Otherwise, I'm pretty sure Fighter + Inventor Dedication should work out better than Inventor without high Int.

[Onkonk]

Am I missing something regarding spamming Overdrive out of combat, aren't you risking the CF effect?

[SuperBidi]

Onkonk wrote:

Am I missing something regarding spamming Overdrive out of combat, aren't you risking the CF effect?

It's one chance on 20. And you can find ways to get rid of critical failures entirely.

[Super Zero]

1 in 20 per roll. If you're spamming it until you crit it's one in four (at level 1--that'll vary). And you're eating up rounds of duration.

I find the value dubious, but you are more likely to critically succeed than fail.

Unless you tank your Int for some reason, of course. I think a better question is why you'd want to do that. In a game where improving one ability has an opportunity cost of not improving a different one, okay, but in PF2? Just take both.

[SuperBidi]

Super Zero wrote:

1 in 20 per roll. If you're spamming it until you crit it's one in four (at level 1--that'll vary). And you're eating up rounds of duration.

I find the value dubious, but you are more likely to critically succeed than fail.

Unless you tank your Int for some reason, of course. I think a better question is why you'd want to do that. In a game where improving one ability has an opportunity cost of not improving a different one, okay, but in PF2? Just take both.

I wouldn't try the critical success unless I'm 100% sure there's a fight ahead. And I agree I'd wait a bit after level 1 when the chances of critical success get far higher.

Anyway, the basic strategy is to start the fight under overdrive. Starting under critical Overdrive can be useful sometimes but it's a bit more annoying to trigger.

[Onkonk]

For me I see it like this: if you know combat is coming up it would be akin to casting a 1 min spell, i.e. not that reliable IME. If it isn't coming up you are constantly casting it every minute which seems you are having quite a high chance of taking damage.

If you can eliminate crit fails this is gone however, is there a skill feat for that?

[SuperBidi]

Onkonk wrote:

For me I see it like this: if you know combat is coming up it would be akin to casting a 1 min spell, i.e. not that reliable IME. If it isn't coming up you are constantly casting it every minute which seems you are having quite a high chance of taking damage.

If you can eliminate crit fails this is gone however, is there a skill feat for that?

You have (at least) 2 ways of achieving that:

- High resistances. For example, Ring of Energy Resistance can cover all the damage from critical failures
- Ageless Patience, that removes critical failure.
But there may be more.

Also, you don't need to cast it every minute. You just have to cast it every time you open a door or penetrate into a brand new area, as they are the situations where there's a high chance of combat.