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So . . . I haven't seen anyone talking about this, so I thought I would.
First of all, I LOVE the flavor of the weapons. In particular the card slinger is hilarious, and I want to use one. I know this is going to sound like a laundry list of things I don't like, but I do really appreciate the time and effort that goes into this playtest. People don't know how long and difficult it can be to write something, but I do, and I want to thank Paizo. But, and here's the thing, I think some weapons need to be rebalanced. They seem all out of wack.
Let's take the Puzzle blade as our base. D8 damage, simple weapons, like the Longspear but instead of reach it has breakdown. Great, fine. I'd argue reach is a little better than breakdown, but it's fine.
Now compare it to the hammer. Hammer is a martial weapons, but can essentially be made simple with the crafting skill. And it has shove, which isn't a great weapon trait. And because it requires two hands, it's just worse than a warhammer, OR the Longsper which (even though they are archaic) should still be available in the setting. Several deities have archaic weapons as their favored weapon.
And some weapons are at the other end of the spectrum. The bone scepter? D10 light martial weapon that bypasses B/P/S resistance by dealing cold or void? (Side note, why is the bone scepter not archaic? It's LITERALLY an enchanted bone. It's not made with UPBs and should be able to accept magic runes.) Sure, the void damage doesn't work on undead or constructs, but the cold damage should still work on MOST of those creatures.
The Dohshko is also kinda bad. I get it, it's a big, unweildy weapon. Sure, fine. But the only upside for it's unweildyness is the parry trait? Like, I get it, Parry trait is great, I love it, but you can't make reactive strikes with it or attack more than 1/round. I'd maybe give it Deadly d6 just to add some more oomph. Make it really tempting for that big hit, y'know? As it stands, its just a worse greataxe with the parry trait (and a greataxe should still be available.)
I'd maybe get rid of the agile trait on the Card slinger and up the damage to d6. As it stands it's kinda worse than the Semi-Auto pistol. Does a d4 instead of a d6, shorter range. Sure it has the breakdown trait, and deadly d6, but that d4 damage really hurts it. Really, the only class that could make use of it is the Operative, and they can't! It's an advanced weapons, so it caps out it's proficiency at your 'simple' weapon proficiency (not, 'simple with guns.') Plus, like having 1/3 the range of the semi-auto pistol is not great, AND it can be hacked.
Also, can we get some more support for the Striker? I'm not asking much, just the equivalent of a short sword so that in melee combat they can do a d6 damage? Maybe the Orc Knuckle-dagger?
Also also, can we get an upgrade or something that increases magazine size? Like, you can buy better batteries as you level up, giving you more shots with powered weapons. Can we get something that increases non-battery magazine size? That was a thing that just happened in the soldier field test. But now, a level 20 operative using an energy pistol has a ton of shots, but one using a Paragon Semi-auto pistol still only has 5?
If you want to go through the list of weapons in the Playtest you run into some issues in my opinion.
Seeker Rifle - Simple 2-handed, Has d10, 120ft,6 round magazine, only Analog. Projectile Group
Assassin Rifle - Martial, d10, 1 bullet magazine, Backstabber, Fatal d12, Breakdown but Unwieldy & Volley 30ft. Sniper Group
I am unsure is firing once with Fatal D12 is actually worth using an Assassin Rifle over a Seeker Rifle. It is pretty absurd that every weapon seems to not follow the weapon guidelines that Pathfinder 2E had. Am I missing something in the weapon design?
If you want to go through the list of weapons in the Playtest you run into some issues in my opinion.
Seeker Rifle - Simple 2-handed, Has d10, 120ft,6 round magazine, only Analog. Projectile Group
Assassin Rifle - Martial, d10, 1 bullet magazine, Backstabber, Fatal d12, Breakdown but Unwieldy & Volley 30ft. Sniper Group
I am unsure is firing once with Fatal D12 is actually worth using an Assassin Rifle over a Seeker Rifle. It is pretty absurd that every weapon seems to not follow the weapon guidelines that Pathfinder 2E had. Am I missing something in the weapon design?
Yes. Seeker Rifle is supposed to have a 1 round magazine, and it was an error.
Yes. Seeker Rifle is supposed to have a 1 round magazine, and it was an error.If you want to go through the list of weapons in the Playtest you run into some issues in my opinion.
Seeker Rifle - Simple 2-handed, Has d10, 120ft,6 round magazine, only Analog. Projectile Group
Assassin Rifle - Martial, d10, 1 bullet magazine, Backstabber, Fatal d12, Breakdown but Unwieldy & Volley 30ft. Sniper Group
I am unsure is firing once with Fatal D12 is actually worth using an Assassin Rifle over a Seeker Rifle. It is pretty absurd that every weapon seems to not follow the weapon guidelines that Pathfinder 2E had. Am I missing something in the weapon design?
That makes WAY more sense.
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I'm not sure the sniper rifles are all that useful. They don't have extra range over some other rifles, have only one shot before reloading, have unwieldy and volley. I'm not sure being a d10 with d12 fatal is that much more powerful than a d8 rifle. Plus the sniper specialisation is a paltry 1-2 points of extra damage - I think I'd prefer them getting their weapons special instead.
Maybe have a sniper trait that doubles the range (or add an extra 250' or whatever). Maybe some other benefit. I suspect down the line we will have energy snipers (why not, we should) and the magazine will have more shots before reloading (that or use 10 rounds per shot which would be ridiculous).
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Maybe have a sniper trait that doubles the range (or add an extra 250' or whatever). Maybe some other benefit. I suspect down the line we will have energy snipers (why not, we should) and the magazine will have more shots before reloading (that or use 10 rounds per shot which would be ridiculous).
This is actually pretty close to what they did in SF1. The Sniper trait had a second range increment and allowed you to take an action to aim and then use it. The second range increment was as low as 250ft but got up to 1000ft in the core book. I'm pretty sad to see that they got rid of that.
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Breakdown as a trait generally seems underwhelming. I wish you at least got the benefits of Concealable while a weapon's in the light object form.
Breakdown as a trait generally seems underwhelming. I wish you at least got the benefits of Concealable while a weapon's in the light object form.
That would make so much sense if you did!
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Honestly the concealable trait in general never made sense to me. Like yes, mechanically it's a really fun flavor thing for someone like an assassin infiltrating a high society ball or something, but what does and doesn't have it feels worse than arbitrary. Even within the confines of PF2e, do you seriously mean to tell me that a dagger is harder to hide on your person than a gun? When it's things explicitly designed to look like other objects like the various cane and umbrella weapons I'm right there with you, but seriously, why is a Dueling Pistol considered more subtle than a small knife or brass knuckle or what have you? I digress. Concealable would benefit a lot from granting Concealable benefits so snipers can have fun smuggling their rifles through security.
At level 6 the tactical smuggler's grip weapon upgrade (the old nullspace grip/stock) is what you need to easily smuggle stuff past security.
Oh damn! I just noticed it's now limited to one-handed weapons. No machine guns getting whipped out in the ballroom anymore without hauling out your null-space chamber first.
I digress. Breakdown would benefit a lot from granting Concealable benefits so snipers can have fun smuggling their rifles through security.
Typo I didn't notice in time