So Foundry seems to be one of the main methods for testing sf2e and honestly I am not sure where else to post this. On Foundry Solar Shots automation makes it use Strength for the to hit roll and adds nothing to the damage. Now this seems antithetical to what the books says on it but I did think it was an interesting idea for balance. It would keep it as a nice backup with some utility but would stop it from outclassing your solar weapon since the damage would be lower.
Alas, it was a bug. I reported it and it has since been fixed in the 6.0.3 update - it now properly uses Dex and damage scales properly.
However, slapping the Brutal trait on it - or making it like Kineticist blasts - where it uses STR I'm not opposed to.
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The longer I look at the current solar shot (not just in Foundry) the more I think that it has issues. The max range prevents them from being a dependable option to deal with ranged enemies, and not being able to get an item bonus to attack rolls is going to be an issue at a higher level.
Not sure if I would want or need brutal on them, but right now I think that the solarian crystal's item bonus to attack rolls not applying is likely a thing that should be reconsidered
One thing to consider in the design space is, what is the intended typical turn of a Solarian supposed to look like, and what does the class mechanically push you towards actually doing in a turn.
The only issue I see with buffing Solar Shot is if it goes too far, at some point it will outshine the Solar Weapon. Maybe the class needs the help, but doing so will result in the feel of the class being different.
If Solar Shot got the brutal trait, and could get weapon upgrades like either the Solar Weapon or weapons in general, would that be mechanically making the Solar Shot superior to Solar Weapon, relegating the Solar Weapon to the backup weapon?
I think a good question to ask is, what incentivizes a Solarian running into melee at every level, from the lowest levels to the highest?
Solar Shot using strength to hit, but not to damage makes some sense. Keeping it lower accuracy with similar damage as Solar Weapon also makes some sense. Using strength to hit, plus damage, plus full item bonuses and potency rune equivalents, is probably too much.
How much of a disadvantage does Solar Shot need relative to Solar Weapon to keep it a backup method instead of primary for a typical player.