We're having a lot of discussion about very specific options and general theme, but there are not a lot of build discussions out there. There is a little bit of this over in the playtest character thread, but I think a more focused discussion is useful to get a feel for the class.
Basically, what options would you pick in specific/general? What would you imagine your normal turn would look like? And most importantly - why?
To keep with the theme, my character would definitely have a nephilim or other extraplanar heritage. Human or orc base ancestry. STR key stat all the way, this class with DEX-focus just doesn't speak to me at all.
For weapon choice, I'd normally be a hard choice between a reach spear/polearm, a greatsword or a maul. Reach weapons are obviously the strongest, it is just much better than a minor damage upgrade. But Noble Branch's Transcendend ability is terrible no matter which way it is clarified - both 1-4 or 1d10 damage are bad in the long run, even if you get it automatically. It's neither good nor fun. So it's between greatsword and maul. Both Gleaming Blade and Titan Breaker seem very solid, but I prefer swords over hammers aesthetically. So Gleaming Blade it is. Shame there is literally only one generally good two-handed STR sword aka the greatsword. If my GM lets me, I'll reflavor (and regroup) a halberd into a sword. What my characters would give for an actually good reach sword...
Defence is a problem, so DEX 16 with studded leather is non-negotiable. To complement that, I'd choose the Scar of the Survivor body ikon. Eye-catching Spot is just... no and Skin Hard as Iron is just too situational for me (it is either very good or completely useless). Gaze Sharp as Steel isn't terrible, but has several problems. One is that you can also get Reactive Strike normally and in that case the active part of Gaze is completely redundant. Two is that the Transcend ability is just pretty bad in general. An action to just unlock a reaction plus the fact that it uses up your one transcend ability per turn? This would be super lame as a regular action, much less on one of your "super abilities".
The worn ikon is a much harder choice. Skybearer's Belt is the only one I can eliminate straight up, this character doesn't have the free hands/weapon traits for any of this. I've got offense and ranged defense covered already, so I'll choose Palisade Bangles to support me and my team in melee. Especially the other guy I'll be almost certainly be sharing the frontline with will appreciate that.
Root: Cunning doesn't matter to this build and Mournful is too weird for me. The choice is between Brave and Radiant. This would come down to how much my team would benefit from extra healing, with a preference towards Brave. It would certainly ease up on the movement demand.
Dominion: Peerless under Heaven would be the obvious choice here for what shapes up to be a blademaster type character.
What is strange here is that it only gets the damage type upgrade while everyone else gets more. Granted, you can choose between three types. That said, the only one of these that actually matters is bludgeoning, which two of the others get as well, because that is the one that works well against creatures that are immune to spirit damage - mostly constructs. In any other case spirit damage is just better because it ignores physical resistance. So really, that choice is completely irrelevant unless your enemy is weak to slashing and your weapon doesn't already deal slashing.
Anyway, choices. Whose Cry is Thunder is just way too cool not to take. Just for this choice, I'll take my DEX to +5. I don't get any benefits from the passives aside from the damage type choice, which is a shame. Is it an optimal choice? With the Transcendent ability being ranged, probably not. But I think I've optimized enough for that not to matter too much. Also, rule of cool.
Sovereignty: Honestly, the choices here are really underwhelming in their variety. They are way, waaaaay too specific. Don't have specifically specced into Intimidation? Last Ruler is not a good option. You (understandably) haven't bothered with RK because you have neither the skills nor the actions for it, like living and most certainly don't like being weirdly forced into the mentor archetype? Teacher of Heroes is out. You aren't a sneaky character? Thief in Moonlight is not for you. This excludes so many character concepts it's just disappointing.
Just because I hate its theme the least and the mechanics are pretty awesome, I'll pick thief. If I were actually playing this character, this part would 100% be reflavored into something else.
Going into feats with any depth here would make this already too long wall of text unbearably long even for me, so I'm skipping that. I'm just gonna say that it is really slim pickings especially at early levels. Either because you only have one choice due to your weapon type (e.g. 4th level) or because there is only 1 actually attractive feat at that level (Thorns of Mortality at level 2 for me).
This would actually be very straightforward when you look at how complicated this class seems at first look.
During my turn, I'll move to a priority enemy and use one of my Transcend abilities, probably Mirrored Spirit Strike, to deal some good damage while I have my weapon ikon active. Because if I don't have it active, my damage will be pretty unimpressive. I pity the people going DEX in melee already, they'll do absolutely nothing. To compensate for the fact that I can't do this every round and my class doesn't offer any 1-action offense alternatives (which I hope changes with the release) I'd definitely go pilfer something off the Fighter or something. The Palisade Bangles have a chance to alleviate this so I can go Embrace of Destiny into Mirrored Spirit Strike (which is the intent I think), but that assumes an enemy is within 30 feet and they fail their save (which is often unlikely).
Once my weapon ikon is spent, the spark goes to whatever defense ikon is best depending on what situation I find myself in. Palisade Bangles have a much higher priority due to the aforementioned combo. When I have taken a bit of a beating, Survivor will keep me in the fight on my off-turns. Feats don't really change anything about this dynamic before possibly level 8 with Additional Ikon. That'd let me cycle my offense, but I'm not sure how to feel about Barrow's Edge, so that's a hard "maybe". But yeah, I wish feats did more here.
How about you?