So, with Starfinder 2e's playtest giving 1e credit and a con I'm going to running the Starfinder-Pathfinder croasover specials, I decided to try out Starfinder for myself. And as I started out, I found things pretty familiar, being a veteran of 3.5. And then I tried to buy rquipment and hit a brick wall. I have no idea what to buy. All of the guns I see listed have exotic, in universe names I don't understand. AoN doesn't provide a convenient list of the item's source, so its tricky to figure out if I even have access to the item. I think I found a suit of armor I like (Second Skin), but then there's the matter of misc. equipment.... And so, I beseech the forums for help.
Concept wise, the character is a Forlorn* Elf Activist who is a bit of a cultural rebel and tries to encourage young elves to venture out into rhe wider galaxy. I think Padme and Leia are probably the biggest inspirations in terms of how I want the character to function (A diplomat and leader who sometimes ends up in "aggressive negotiations"). I'm on the fence as to what starting feat to take, so grabbing Longarm Proficiency is an option.
I have looked at some envoy guides, but I didn't see much help for this sort of thing. If I missed something, please feel free to link an appropriate guide.
Edit: I found VampByDay's guide, but it was a little light on details for my tastes. I think I'll pick up the core rulebook so I have everything in a more readable format that AoN.
I would always recommend picking up the Core Rulebook, even though Starfinder Society doesn't require you to own a copy in order to play. AoN is wonderful resource, but as you found, it's sometimes hard for new players to identify which stuff is available to them vs. which isn't, or where to find essential rules. The CRB also presents a lot of that information in a much more user-friendly way, if you just want to get a feel for the basics.
Every Starfinder PC needs, at minimum, armor, a melee weapon, and a ranged weapon. Envoys have limited proficiencies in each of those, which will limit your choices, especially at 1st level.
- Second skin is almost always the first set of armor that any PC limited to light armor will buy, and it will be a couple of levels before you can afford something that's enough better to be worth the expense of upgrading.
- Unless your envoy favors Str over Dex, you'll probably want a weapon with the operative property (which can substitute Dex for Str on attack rolls), so you're pretty much limited to the tactical baton or survival knife.
- There are slightly more choices for level 1 small arms: a laser pistol (lowest damage, best range), pulsecaster (nonlethal), or semi-auto pistol (best damage, but targets KAC, which is almost always a couple points higher).
Taking another weapon proficiency at 1st level is one way to open up your choices, but once you reach 3rd level and get Weapon Specialization, you'll need to take another feat to gain the same bonus damage with weapons your class didn't give you proficiency in.
As for other gear, here are a few suggestions for stuff to look at:
- If there's a toolkit available for any of your trained skills, you may need one to use the skill, or want one to give you bonuses in certain applications of the skill. If you're trained in a Profession, professional's tools and professional's clothing are solid choices (and pay for themselves after just a few day job rolls).
- Backpacks are cheap, and help increase your carrying capacity.
- Mk 1 healing serums are 50 credits, and are life-savers if a fight goes poorly. (Even if you have a mystic at the table, they will have very few spell slots at low levels.)
- Few armor upgrades are affordable at 1st level, with the notable exception of infrared sensors (200 credits). They're very popular for characters who lack darkvision and have the credits to spare.
- If you have 120 credits to spare, you might consider a weapon fusion for a 1st-level weapon. Regardless of what else the fusion does, it makes your weapon magical for the purpose of overcoming DR. (That's not the most common need at 1st level, but it does occasionally happen.)
Thanks for the help. I think I'll still go with a laser rifle. 1d8+3 vs. 1d4+1 is a pretty substantial difference, even if it does cost 2 feats.
For any 1st level character's weapons, a tactical skipshot pistol is usually a pretty decent choice at 105 cr. Unless there are other character considerations (injection weapons for biohacker, tactical starknife with called fusion for a Str-based character with proficiency in advanced melee weapons, etc.).
For an envoy, you may want to consider taking Longarms Proficiency and investing in a dazzler flare rifle. It's a bit pricy at 445 cr, but the harrying special synergizes well with an envoy using a move action improvisation (like the "standard" Get 'Em) and then using harrying fire to give the next attacker an extra +2 (circumstance bonus) on the attack roll.
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While I imagine it is not as much of an issue in Society Play, one thing you should generally remember about Starfinder gearing is that you are typically going to be extremely dependent on 'drops' from your foes for weapons and armor: The '10% resale value' and 'no discounts for crafting' rules for items makes it really difficult to just purchase/craft the exact gear you want...