So how good does it look from the live streams I am missing?
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Pretty interesting. It seems they have abilities called "Directives" or "Directions" or something that give a minor bonus to your allies, but you can then choose to "Lead by Example", doing the action that gets a bonus, and the bonus is even better.
Like one combat started with I think "Let's Go" from the Envoy giving everyone a +5ft bonus to their walking speed, and then they stride, leading by example, which also let everyone else stride as a free action.
There was another "Get 'em" which I think gives a target an AC Penalty, and then when the Envoy attacked him, gave a bonus to damage rolls on that target.
It encourages a more active playstyle from the Envoy, not just hanging back and telling people what to do.
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We love to see someone leading from the front.
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Support heavy Envoys have been many of my favorite characters.
I get it that some people want to play a more combat-centric role. I just want to make sure there remain options for people who want to be more Support and less Combat-y.
At a certain point, when other classes say "I wish we were more like the Soldier or Operative", we have to consider the option of "Then just play a Soldier or Operative."
The Envoy we have seen so far seems like it is pretty close to being the best of two worlds, as you have a good reason to directly participate in everything you are supporting.
I do hope we get an INT-based key ability score Envoy option. It would be nice to be able to mechanically represent the "tactical, strategic warlord-type" in addition to the base "silver-tongued, smooth-talking warlord-type".
I'm pretty sure the Envoy's key ability is DEX (possibly DEX or STR), not CHA. It's not quite having an INT KAM, but you should be good either way. If anything, that is better because you can still represent the INT-focus well and be very effective at directly participating in combat. Having your main attack stat and KAM not being the same has rarely worked out for martials.
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Seemed to play kind of like an enhanced version of the Marshall archetype.
Thematically perhaps, but not in actual playstyle. Marshal was all about positioning your (relatively small) aura so that you can cover as many allies/enemies as possible, plus maybe some fear exploitation and/or athletics maneuvers, plus positioning to set up for reactions. Envoy sounds like its core mechanic is taking actions that give all of your allies relatively short-term buffs without concern for distance. Strategically speaking, it's a very different setup.
Now,I'm definitely going to be looking to see if I can usefully fit some sort of Marshal-style ally-buffing stance aura on my Envoy (possibly via archetype) so that I can buff my friends while I buff my friends, but it doesn't look like that's baked into the class at a fundamental level or anything.
It's also going to be interesting to see how well the Envoy does at offering buffs to the Soldier, given that it looks like they might wind up wanting all of their attacks to be based on Class DC.
Support heavy Envoys have been many of my favorite characters.
For starfinder this isn't a thing. Envoys bring roughly the same level of support. The question isn't support heavy or support light but whether you add your own dakka to the party or not.
For starfinder this isn't a thing. Envoys bring roughly the same level of support. The question isn't support heavy or support light but whether you add your own dakka to the party or not.Support heavy Envoys have been many of my favorite characters.
For SF2 we don't know if it's a thing. That's not yet been decided... and people are allowed to ask for what they want.
Now, I tend to think that the lazylord is kind of silly, and has some implications on balance and usability that might make it not worth doing, but I've certainly seen people who want that playstyle. It's not entirely without value.