One of the things I've been looking forward to in SF2 is building Arendi, my ysoki Mechanic from SF1. (Technically, he was a dual-class Technomancer, but that was more to get a drone and an exocortex. In SF2, that'll just be a free archetype game with the Technomancer multiclass archetype.)
Arendi had a comfortable live growing up on Verces, and studied to become a programmer and engineer. He took a shot at becoming a tech Space!YouTuber, as many such people are wont to do. He was starting up a series of programming tutorial vids, and tried to include some humor in it. So when he was covering how to run a program on a set schedule, he jokingly picked "daily prayers of appeasement", automating his prayers to Lao Shu Po, Grandmother Rat. Basically like if you programmed your computer to say "bless you" when it detected a sneeze.
He woke up the next day with a rat sitting up at the foot of his bed, carrying a messily written note on ancient rice paper. It expressed disappointment that he refused to speak to his own grandmother and concern that Verces' cities were no place for a young ysoki to learn what life was really like. The writer had made arrangements for him to participate in a planetary expedition in six months. The letter was signed with a bloody pawprint.
He spent the next couple of months cobbling together a drone with sonic weaponry and an aim-assist AI chip in his head, since that was faster for him than trying to train himself up to competence with weapons.
The drone is named Ban, short for "Banshee", and the AI is named Shasa, short for "Rakshasa".
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So, for Arendi, we want: martial proficiency and a big drone with sonic weaponry. Fortunately, the class starts with martial progression rather than needing a subclass for it, so we'll just flavor his exocortex as providing aim-assist. Well be going with the drone subclass.
Ancestry: Ysoki
Heritage: Akitonian (representing training rather than actual birthplace)
Ancestry feat: Cheek Pouches
Background: Tech Support
Stats: +4 Int, +3 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Cha, +0 Wis, -1 Str
Level 1 Mechanic:
- Custom Rig: Bundle a bunch of toolkits together and save 1.2 bulk from the total.
- Modify: When you draw a weapon or consumable, get a nice little perk- or just modify it for an action if it's already out. Nicely flavorful.
- Exocortex: Love that tinkering with your nervous system is how you do your class feature better than other people. Going with Drone for this, naturally.
- Drone: Looking at the drones, I was worried because of the melee-only options, but it looks like integrated weapon mount comes free! So we'll pick up a sonic weapon to install. Hmmm... it looks like there's no defined class DC for area fire with weapons? Flavor-wise, tank is the right pick for the drone, but I'm not shooting a weapon with a +1 Dex, that's a waste of everyone's time. Agile chassis it is. It doesn't quite fit Ban, but it's close enough.
- Drone feature: Let's see, what else do we get... DAILY FULL REPAIR! Wooo! That's huge, whew. We also get modify actions for temp HP and bonus damage. Robot companions also get a commercial customization- ah, armor plating! That helps sell the feeling of Ban despite the agile frame.
- Feat: Either High Voltage for getting back some AoE on Ban, or High-Tech Medic because Arendi wants Ban to be able to keep him alive.
Question: High-Tech Medic has you store medical items in your custom rig, and lets you have your drone deliver them. At low-levels, your drone has to be adjacent for you to use this so it makes sense. At higher levels, though, you now have medicine teleporting from your rig to the drone? It's also a little weird how you have to be adjacent to your drone, and... maybe it needs to be adjacent to the target? It says you command your drone; does it get the two actions from being commanded? The wording could use a little clarity.
Note: Not for this character, but I love Multidisciplinary Mechanic! Especially Necrotech! It does feel like "Necrograft Lore" is a lot narrower than the others, and wouldn't let you roll for (as an example) recalling knowledge about Eoxian necrotech ships.
Level 2:
Feat: Modify Drone seems like a good long-term investment, being able to keep its damage a lot higher at the... not inconsiderable expense. Hunker Down would be thematic, though.
Level 3:
Mechanic's Ingenuity: Love it- really helps them from becoming a one-trick "Computers and Crafting" pony, freeing up one skill advancement track for a third skill. Arendi is probably using it for Society despite being stuck on a planet without sapient life, but Survival is an option.
Mobile Exocortex: Heeey, nice! More efficient movement. Reduces the pressure to take things like Hunker Down.
Level 4:
Feat: *scrolls through* Not much for drone... ah, that's why; Tactical Drone. Yep, pet class is pet classing.
Level 5:
Yay, weapon proficiency and damage type flexibility and crit-spec!
Level 6:
Feat: Oh man, looot of good options here for drones. Auto-Target and Defensive Programming both help Ban protect Arendi better. Tactical Customization is really nice, and I kind of wish that one were included in the subclass... maybe that's asking for too much, though. Echolocation fits Ban's sonic weaponry, Hardened Chassis lets Ban feel more tanky, and Share Charge means no reloading battery-powered sonic weaponry. Tough call...
Level 8:
Feat: Refined Chassis, naturally. I assume "nimble" = "agile" and "burly" = "savage"? Obviously, nimble is the only real choice here since it's the accuracy stat. (I'll probably want to take Advanced Targeting System to represent Shasa if there's a chance.)
Level 9:
Remote Mods: Yay, more flexibility! ... Are there any mods you don't need to be adjacent to use normally?
Level 10:
Feat: Advanced Customization. Right, yes, now upgrading also usually involves a follow-up feat. Hmmm... Resistant Panels are nice, but I think that Ban being a simple combat drone means that Sapience isn't such a big deal as it would be on drones with more personality. Let's check the other feats. Flickering Shield is really nice, and I think fits the somewhat cowardly nature better. (It does seem like it turns off if you mod again, so probably good to use judiciously.)
Level 12:
Feat: Glitch Pulse is nice, but I think it might be a good chance to go back and grab Advanced Customization or even a level 6 feat we passed up. I don't need more mods, Ban isn't a melee-focused drone, and Deploy Bunker uses its limited health pool. The feats at this level might actually benefit from a bit of a glow-up? I'd also love to see some kind of bulk deal, spending a 12th level feat to get multiple lower-tier drone customizations.
Level 13:
Enduring Mod: Woooo! A day-long mod! That's... +6 damage to the drone, probably- a nice, reliable passive that's a pain to apply regularly.
Level 14:
Feat: Advanced Drone, naturally. Synchronized Advance and Advanced Targeting System are options to keep in mind.
Level 15:
Manifold Mods: Heeey, nice! Two-for-one is a great deal.
Level 16:
Feat: Ooh... fast healing 5 for the drone is pretty nice. Uhhh... Superior Customization requiring Advanced Drone, while Advanced Customization doesn't? That's unnecessarily confusing. Nothing on the list fits Ban, so fast healing or a level 14 feat is the move.
Level 18:
Feat: Elite Drone, naturally.
Level 19:
Instant Mods: Very fun! I take back the "not needing more mods" from earlier.
Level 20:
Feat: After twenty levels of keeping this disaster of a rat alive, Ban is blessed with free will by Triune themself.
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Overall impression: I enjoy this class a lot, and it does a good job of letting me make a good drone controller. It does feel like I'm dumping an awful lot of feats into a companion, like... a lot a lot. With all the customization feats on offer, it feels like at least Modify Drone should be a freebie. Once you hit level 4, you're going to be investing the drone a bunch, so having such a boring tax feat before then instead of something fun? It's a bummer!
I know that the game doesn't take free archetype into account, but this particular subclass does feel like Mechanic might not be bringing much to the table vs. a robot companion via archetype. That said, if that's really the case, you can always go Mechanic-Turret/Mines-Robot.
I'll definitely need to look at turret and mines in depth later, but I'm happy at Arendi feeling like Arendi.
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I do find myself wanting more out of combat. The class gets three things:
- Combining three toolkits into one. I... would not count this, because the only thing that weighs the one bulk is basically a 3D printing table. The feature feels like "save the party one bulk".
- Gain hover for one action. Yeah, it's fun.
- Three skill proficiency increases and skill feats. Absolutely, a very important and useful thing for the class that lets them feel like a Mechanic!
I don't know what else exactly there should be, but... I could definitely use another thing, or making the custom rig feature actually matter. Maybe make it hands-free?