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I feel like the range on almost all of the area/automatic weapons is pretty anemic.
Particularly disappointing is only a 15-foot cone on the flamethrower, with no way that I see the increase that. And in fact the longest cone weapon that I can find is the machinegun, with only 20 feet.
And then you have the Stellar Cannon.
Which hits a 10-foot burst at a 50-foot range with a Reload value of 1 and the cheapest ammo type in the game.
I'm sorry what? That's amazing! That makes the missile launcher look like a joke, what with only having a 5-foot burst, doing less damage, and costing 30 credits per shot.
I don't want the Stellar Cannon nerfed - I want the other area weapons to be equally cool. Right now the Stellar Cannon far outstrips every other area weapon, especially when you consider that by 4th level the Soldier is laughing at that "unwieldy" tag and making three attacks with it per turn regardless.
In comparison the 15-foot cone on the flamethrower, which does the same damage but has reload 2 and more expensive ammo, feels like a bad joke.
Just me?
Definitely not just you. The stellar cannon really feels like it is the only on that is actually balanced right now.
The machine gun and (to a lesser extent) the rotary laser kinda work, but only if you pick one specific Soldier subclass. Which is not a good place for them to be in.
The flamethrower is just terrible. A 15ft cone in a ranged meta is just completely non-functional. Even if later versions of the weapon make it bigger that wouldn't change much (and it is unclear if that is still planned).
Yeah the Stellar Cannon is Martial and has 50ft range with a 10ft burst, while the Plasma Cannon is Advanced and has 40ft range with a 5ft burst. The Plasma Cannon also costs twice as much, expends 2 charges as well so only 5 shots vs the Stellar Cannon's 8.
I just now noticed that burst weapons must place the center of the burst within the first range increment. With the star cannon's 50 feet being the longest range of any burst weapon, if you're close enough to shoot someone with a cannon you're also close enough to take a double move and punch them in the face. This actually does give you a use case for the grenade and missile launchers. They can shoot more than 50 feet, at a cost of 10+ credits per shot.
Meanwhile in first edition a plasma cannon has a range increment of 100 feet and you can shoot up to ten increments away with the escalating penalties you'd expect.
The auto fire rules are largely unchanged but first edition machine guns and automatic rifles at least had 60 foot range increments, giving you a 30 foot cone. Zero cannon gave you a 60 foot line instead of 40. Some of these weapon ranges being oddly short is an actual change between first edition and playtest.
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Auto Fire being tied to range increment is going to cause so many design problems going forward, nearly every autofire weapon in the future is going to have terrible range increments because otherwise the autofire size would be "too big". Just separate them, there's no real reason to have 2 different mechanics doing the exact same thing as well. 1 mechanic, Area Fire, that lists a template size. If it is a burst, it can be done within the weapon's first range increment, otherwise you can just write
Area Fire (20ft cone)
Area Fire (40ft line)
Area Fire (10ft burst)
etc.
And buff the range increments of these weapons to not be terrible. Things that currently increase range increment can call out that they increase the size of area fire (like Scopes and Prismari's ancestry feat), and Action Hero can just double the size of area fire of certain shapes.
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I just now noticed that burst weapons must place the center of the burst within the first range increment. With the star cannon's 50 feet being the longest range of any burst weapon, if you're close enough to shoot someone with a cannon you're also close enough to take a double move and punch them in the face. This actually does give you a use case for the grenade and missile launchers. They can shoot more than 50 feet, at a cost of 10+ credits per shot.
Meanwhile in first edition a plasma cannon has a range increment of 100 feet and you can shoot up to ten increments away with the escalating penalties you'd expect.
The auto fire rules are largely unchanged but first edition machine guns and automatic rifles at least had 60 foot range increments, giving you a 30 foot cone. Zero cannon gave you a 60 foot line instead of 40. Some of these weapon ranges being oddly short is an actual change between first edition and playtest.
I didn't even really get into the actual problem with the missile launcher, though, which is that if you want to do respectable damage the cost is outrageous.
An advanced stellar cannon costs 1040 credits upfront and then only a single credit per shot to do 2d10 damage in a 10-foot burst with a +1 to accuracy.
A comparable missile launcher may only cost 500 credits upfront, but to do comparable damage with the missile (in a smaller burst) you are paying 100 credits per shot.
And this gets worse at higher levels - sure, an elite stellar cannon costs 20k credits, but can you look at me with a straight face and tell me you are willing to pay 3000 credits per shot just to match that damage with a missile launcher?
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I just now noticed that burst weapons must place the center of the burst within the first range increment. With the star cannon's 50 feet being the longest range of any burst weapon, if you're close enough to shoot someone with a cannon you're also close enough to take a double move and punch them in the face. This actually does give you a use case for the grenade and missile launchers. They can shoot more than 50 feet, at a cost of 10+ credits per shot.
Meanwhile in first edition a plasma cannon has a range increment of 100 feet and you can shoot up to ten increments away with the escalating penalties you'd expect.
The auto fire rules are largely unchanged but first edition machine guns and automatic rifles at least had 60 foot range increments, giving you a 30 foot cone. Zero cannon gave you a 60 foot line instead of 40. Some of these weapon ranges being oddly short is an actual change between first edition and playtest.I didn't even really get into the actual problem with the missile launcher, though, which is that if you want to do respectable damage the cost is outrageous.
An advanced stellar cannon costs 1040 credits upfront and then only a single credit per shot to do 2d10 damage in a 10-foot burst with a +1 to accuracy.
A comparable missile launcher may only cost 500 credits upfront, but to do comparable damage with the missile (in a smaller burst) you are paying 100 credits per shot.
And this gets worse at higher levels - sure, an elite stellar cannon costs 20k credits, but can you look at me with a straight face and tell me you are willing to pay 3000 credits per shot just to match that damage with a missile launcher?
Yes the cost of Grenades and Missiles to use them as a main weapon is absurdly high, they are basically the alchemical bombs of SF2e, I can't imagine spending that much money on using them so I can only imagine that either
A) They're intended to be looted off enemies (in which case why not sell them?)
or
B) There's a class that is intended to make them for free (similar to the alchemist) and they're not exactly intended to be used otherwise.
Also did you notice that the Grenade Launcher's area fire is 2 actions, negating one of the main benefits of grenades for their exorbitant cost - that they only take 1 action to Area Fire.
I do like that their DCs are tied to your class DC and wish that other item fixed DCs were tied to your class DC.
I can answer that. Starfinder modules hand out grenades like candy and items sell for 10% of list price.
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I can answer that. Starfinder modules hand out grenades like candy and items sell for 10% of list price.
Under 1e rules yes, items sell for 10%. Under PF2e rules they sell for 50%. Maybe SF2e will return with the 10% rule and continue dropping high level items like candy, or maybe it will stick closer to PF2e. Hard to say.
I feel like compatibility it be 50% but if items are given out like candies then that just make them easy to sell for quick and easy credits. Which may change the value of PCs which need to be fixed in some way and bombs in Pathfinder 2E are already an exclusive to the Alchemist, so let's fix it for Grenades and all classes in the system!
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I had a game the other night where another player had Obozaya. 20 foot cone aoe that takes two actions to use was really limiting their ability to do soldier stuff on open maps. At least they could still do ranged strikes since it was a machine gun. It's hard to imagine trying to use a flame thrower for any serious purpose. I haven't had chance to actually play a stellar cannon yet. It looks like 50' should be enough to be reasonably functional at the ranges we've been playing for all that it's laughably short.
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The standard 24x30 flip map represents a 120x150 foot area, and many of them are open outdoor spaces. The scenario Data Breach of the Dead takes place in a single 24x30 room. And let's not forget that Pathfinder adventures being set in cramped dungeons with primarily melee characters and doesn't stop the shortbow having a 60' range increment. The arbalest is up there with the best sniper rifles and the arquebus outranges everything Starfinder has to offer.