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I built a quartet of dedicated kineticists to playtest and I couldn't justify taking elemental familiar or elemental weapon over Flexible Blast.
With CON as a key ability score I needed Flexible Blast to ensure accuracy for the character. Also Geokineticists get the most from STR with their brutal Blast.
I suggest Flexible Blast be automatically part of the Kineticist suite of 1st level abilities or even 2nd level.
Or as some people have suggested Constition should do more for the class.
It's a tax for earth and water mainly.
Well it also allows a dex build that has earth or water a D8 finesse attack which is pretty good.
I, too, choose the elemental combos around the availability of finesse. One PC's combo is Earth/Water because of the blasts, and another Dual Gate PC (Air/Fire) is using the finesse from Orc Tusks to compensate in melee.
The Developers should think about what combinations of gates are rewarded by the system, and which ones are being taxed.
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I don't think it's a tax, I think it's a very strong feat.
You could choose to just attack at range, or just up close but this feat lets you do both with one feat. It's a "make your melee weapon finesse" or "make your ranged attack use strength" feat. Perhaps one of the strongest first level feats in the game.
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I feel like even if your primary strategy is ranged combat and you're going Dex Secondary, there will be times where you get caught in melee, and having a finesse option with your Fire/Air blast is still best in slot.
Which to me says: If this feat is possibly the strongest, you're a fool not to take it, which in turn makes it a tax.
I built a STR based Air Kineticist (just to see if it was viable), and Flexible Blast was a must.
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I feel like even if your primary strategy is ranged combat and you're going Dex Secondary, there will be times where you get caught in melee, and having a finesse option with your Fire/Air blast is still best in slot.
Which to me says: If this feat is possibly the strongest, you're a fool not to take it, which in turn makes it a tax.
I built a STR based Air Kineticist (just to see if it was viable), and Flexible Blast was a must.
With this logic half the feats in this game we straight up taxes
But I agree it's a strong feat.
The melee side of things can be accomplished just as well with elemental weapon (with finesse) so you still go earth or water and be Dex if you want, only you can also use MC feats that require weapons. If you are air or fire, there is a good chance you might not have anything to gain at all from Flexible blasts.
I would prefer just to have one more basic 1st level Kineticist feat that is not a familiar or a weapon.
I would prefer just to have one more basic 1st level Kineticist feat that is not a familiar or a weapon.
Well, there is the big bunch of impulses that elements can choose at 1st level. You get some of these from your choice of gate, but there might be another one you want.
I think the bigger issue than Flexible Blast is that it's not immediately clear what Elemental Weapon adds other than "you can melee attack without provoking."
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I'd say it's almost mandatory if you're going Strength primary, because having a good ranged attack is essential if you're focusing on that, but for a Dex character.. Air and Fire get finesse for free, and a Dex-focused Water or Earth kineticist honestly might just not care enough about melee options to be bothered.
Even for a strength based character it's best if you're looking to pick up armor, since otherwise you might be pumping your dex anyways.
Great feat for certain builds, but others might not care about it at all. Puts it in the same place as crossbow ace or hunted shot or something.
I feel like even if your primary strategy is ranged combat and you're going Dex Secondary, there will be times where you get caught in melee, and having a finesse option with your Fire/Air blast is still best in slot.
Why? If you're worried about AoOs, blasts provoke regardless. If I'm making a dex based water character, it's just not a very big deal. I might take the feat, but eh.
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I would prefer just to have one more basic 1st level Kineticist feat that is not a familiar or a weapon.Well, there is the big bunch of impulses that elements can choose at 1st level. You get some of these from your choice of gate, but there might be another one you want.
I think the bigger issue than Flexible Blast is that it's not immediately clear what Elemental Weapon adds other than "you can melee attack without provoking."
It is also the only way to take an archetype that needs you to have a weapon, so it is necessary for anyone wanting to MC into something martial. It has a clear and useful purpose for some builds, which is good enough to justify existing.
I said it earlier in another post, this feat will be the most popular feat in the whole playtest, and it desperately needs to be turned into a class feature.
I'd say it's almost mandatory if you're going Strength primary, because having a good ranged attack is essential if you're focusing on that, but for a Dex character.. Air and Fire get finesse for free, and a Dex-focused Water or Earth kineticist honestly might just not care enough about melee options to be bothered.
I see it as mostly the way the way to enable a strength based kineticist, and it's a die size increase in melee for a dex-based hyrdrokineticist.
Strength Based Kineticists in PF1 didn't really exist before the Kinetic Knight archetype and the evil archetype in Ultimate Wildness, so it's good strength based kineticists are enabled from the get go.
Though I have to say a feat that says "your ranged blasts get brutal and you get medium armor proficiency" would be much more useful for Strength-based kineticists since than trying to let Flexible Blasts work both ways.
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Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.
Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.
But is Flexible Blast more valuable than taking Elemental Weapon with a finesse weapon?
Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.But is Flexible Blast more valuable than taking Elemental Weapon with a finesse weapon?
Yes, because you aren't limited as far as range/melee with flexible but you are with elemental weapon.
Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.But is Flexible Blast more valuable than taking Elemental Weapon with a finesse weapon?
For the d8 water/air blasts? It's a matter of whether you trade damage for not provoking reactions.
Yes, because you aren't limited as far as range/melee with flexible but you are with elemental weapon.Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.But is Flexible Blast more valuable than taking Elemental Weapon with a finesse weapon?
Sure, but I think there are plenty of options to deal with a ranged enemy if you happen to have a sword out. Between moving into melee, using an Overflow ability, or simply re-Gathering it shouldn't be a big problem.
Sure, but I think there are plenty of options to deal with a ranged enemy if you happen to have a sword out. Between moving into melee, using an Overflow ability, or simply re-Gathering it shouldn't be a big problem.Yes, because you aren't limited as far as range/melee with flexible but you are with elemental weapon.Flanking bonus on your attack would be a reason to go finesse melee blast.But is Flexible Blast more valuable than taking Elemental Weapon with a finesse weapon?
You can do that but you're spending extra actions to do so: IE, there is a value attached as you don't have to spend such actions if you can instead use a different stat and use your blast in both melee and ranged. On top of that you're doing more damage with your finesse blast then your finesse weapon. The only time the finesse weapon wins out is when your opponent had a reaction triggered by concentration/manipulation.