Exemplar is the Coolest Class PF2 Has Ever Produced (IMHO)

[Alexander Augunas]

Title says it all. I'm getting ready to play my exemplar on Saturday, and this is by far the coolest class in this game. It literally has everything I wish other martial classes had:

1) It's not weapon locked. I know there's concerns about it not having an unarmed attack ikon yet, but Mike Sayre's comments make it pretty clear that it's on the table. That means this is one of the only martial classes that has support for every possible weapon style. Most other classes get locked into specific weapons like an MMORPG classes, and the exemplar can just do anything and has support for everything. I would like to see this as the standard for PF2 classes going forward.

2) Cinematic as Hell. The class just DOES cool things and makes you feel cool as you level up. I'm a big fan of the ability that just drops lightning bolts onto people. It's also got a ton of neat feat options.

That's it.That's all I've ever wanted. This is by far my favorite martial class, and I can't wait to report back on it after our game on Saturday!

[Squiggit]

It's definitely a very evocative and cool class.

I worry a little about its gameplay loop, especially for ranged builds, but it's got a very cool core to it.

[Dubious Scholar]

Hmm. I feel like you're underselling how many classes can run the major weapon archetypes (unarmed, 1h, 2h, ranged are how I'd break it down).

Support all of them:
Monk
Rogue
Champion
Inventor
Investigator
Magus

Support most:
Fighter (need to archetype for unarmed attacks)
Ranger (weapon-locked)
Barbarian (no ranged weapon support)
Swashbuckler (no 2h iirc)
Thaumaturge (no 2h)

Gunslinger:
Gunslinger

What are "weapons"?:
Kineticist
Summoner

Which isn't to say you're wrong about Exemplar being great for working with any weapon type or that it has very evocative abilities. Just I disagree that it's unusual for a martial class to play nice with all the weapon types

[Squiggit]

... Feels weird to list monks and rogues as having the broadest support when both have extremely restrictive weapon lists by design, but put rangers and fighters as being limited when none of their core features have weapon requirements.

[keftiu]

Squiggit wrote:

... Feels weird to list monks and rogues as having the broadest support when both have extremely restrictive weapon lists by design, but put rangers and fighters as being limited when none of their core features have weapon requirements.

I still can’t make a Monk who uses axes, for some reason.

[aobst128]

Wrong. It's thaum.

(Exemplar is a close second)

[aobst128]

keftiu wrote:

Squiggit wrote:

... Feels weird to list monks and rogues as having the broadest support when both have extremely restrictive weapon lists by design, but put rangers and fighters as being limited when none of their core features have weapon requirements.

I still can’t make a Monk who uses axes, for some reason.

The hand adze is available through a few hoops technically

[rainzax]

+1 OP

[Dubious Scholar]

Squiggit wrote:

... Feels weird to list monks and rogues as having the broadest support when both have extremely restrictive weapon lists by design, but put rangers and fighters as being limited when none of their core features have weapon requirements.

Rogue is getting upgraded to full martial proficiency in the remaster, and their class features work with any weapon you have proficiency in (as long as it's finesse/simple), so even though they may not use every weapon, they can make use of every weapon type, in a broad sense. If you want to make a 2h wielding rogue, you can do that, etc.

Monk, similarly, can pick up several options for weapons if you want to use them, and have their entire class's kit function with them. It costs a feat but you'd be spending a feat on a stance anyways usually.

Fighter I probably should have put in the everything group, I'd misremembered whether their feats required weapons. They do need to pick up better unarmed attacks from somewhere, but the same applies to the rogue so.

Ranger does, however, require weapons specifically for basically all of their feats. Hunter's Edge is compatible with unarmed at least, but they run into some issues trying to fight unarmed. You'd probably want to go with an animal companion based build, picking up warden spells and such, but it's extremely limiting on what feats they can take.

[graystone]

keftiu wrote:

Squiggit wrote:

... Feels weird to list monks and rogues as having the broadest support when both have extremely restrictive weapon lists by design, but put rangers and fighters as being limited when none of their core features have weapon requirements.

I still can’t make a Monk who uses axes, for some reason.

Sure you can: Ancestral Weaponry allows Boarding Axe [Azarketi] and Hand Adze [grippli] to gain the Monk trait.

[The Raven Black]

Alexander Augunas wrote:

Title says it all. I'm getting ready to play my exemplar on Saturday, and this is by far the coolest class in this game. It literally has everything I wish other martial classes had:

1) It's not weapon locked. I know there's concerns about it not having an unarmed attack ikon yet, but Mike Sayre's comments make it pretty clear that it's on the table. That means this is one of the only martial classes that has support for every possible weapon style. Most other classes get locked into specific weapons like an MMORPG classes, and the exemplar can just do anything and has support for everything. I would like to see this as the standard for PF2 classes going forward.

2) Cinematic as Hell. The class just DOES cool things and makes you feel cool as you level up. I'm a big fan of the ability that just drops lightning bolts onto people. It's also got a ton of neat feat options.

That's it.That's all I've ever wanted. This is by far my favorite martial class, and I can't wait to report back on it after our game on Saturday!

I feel it is actually locked on one weapon (your Ikon) where other classes, including Fighter, can validly use several different weapons when the need arises (different traits, different materials).