Modular Weapons (Talon) in Starfinder 2E

[Tyson Hinrichs]

I'm confused about how the modular damage type applies, specifically regarding the Talon (knife).

Interact to change - OK.

Acid damage - cool.

Critical (corrosive) - so, if I don't have access to critical specialization yet with my character, there's no benefit to choosing this?

Tech - Is there ANY benefit to this option? Seems like it just makes the weapon vulnerable to enemy abilities.

Slashing and Analog - I can see some benefits to Analog, isn't affected by abilities targeting tech weapons, but it says runes don't work if the weapon isn't also Archaic. Does this mean I can apply weapon runes to the Talon, and they'll work as long as I don't switch to this configuration?

[Xenocrat]

Tech for the moment is pure downside. (But Glitching as published in the final game isn't much of a downside.) But it's necessary if you want to access big battery magazine sizes or a broad array of energy damage types.

There may be future spells or tech abilities (e.g. Technomancer or Mechanic class abilities) that buff rather than debuff Tech trait items.

No, you can't apply weapon runes to the Talon in either configuration. Your basic weapon quality and any attached upgrades apply to both modes.

[Tyson Hinrichs]

Thanks for the explanation!

[kaid]

The advantage of tech is generally you are going to get other features on weapons that have it. Ability to use batteries or other ammo for energy/special type attacks. The fact you have a knife that you can interact with to change it to deal acid damage to potentially trigger specific weaknesses is something you will mostly find on a tech weapon.

So there is the tech tag itself seems like a downside built into the budget of tech weapons tends to be special effect/options on those weapons.

[Tyson Hinrichs]

You know what? I'm sorry, but the mechanics of this in gameplay still feel confusing to me. Let me try to break it down for gameplay.

First and foremost, this is a weapon, and it deals damage when you succeed on a strike. The damage type listed on the weapon is 1d6 Modular. Here's the actual entry.

Group Knife; Weapon Traits Agile, finesse, modular (A, critical (corrosive), tech, or S and analog)

Now, it is a knife, so, for the sake of argument, let's say the default setting is the last option, "S and Analog." That makes sense to me. You hit with it, and it deals slashing damage.

Ok, so now let's use an interact action to switch it over to the first option, A (Acid damage). When you hit, you're dealing acid damage, makes sense, and useful for bypassing resistance, or taking advantage of a vulnerability. At this point, it should lose the Analog trait as well. Not very meaningful mechanically, but OK.

Now, though, let's interact to switch the weapon to its second option, Critical (Corrosive). So, now the weapon isn't "S and Analog," and it isn't "A (for Acid)." What damage type is it dealing now? Critical (Corrosive) isn't a damage type. It just adds on an extra feature, if you critically succeed, and IF you have access to critical specialization.

The same goes for the Tech option. There's no such thing as Tech damage.

Does it simply deal whichever damage type it most recently dealt? S or A? Or, is the entry miss-typed? Is it really 2 choices? S and Analog is one choice, and the other is A, Critical (Corrosive), AND Tech?

More and more, I think it's just two choices, but wow, it's really unclear, if that's the case. It really needs that AND just before Tech.

[Xenocrat]

You just don't know how to read the modular trait yet.

First, knife is the base group if not otherwise changed. We'll get to that. But all it really means is that it's the knife critical effect (unless changed).

Now you have two modular options that come with different baskets of active traits depending on which you select:

1. Acid, critical (corrosive), tech or
2. Slashing and analog

If you're in mode 1 you do acid damage, your knife critical effect is replaced by corrosive, and you can suffer effects that target tech.

If you're in mode 2 you still have your knife crit spect, you do slashing damage, and you're in analog and immune to tech targeting effects.

And that's it! Take a look at any other Modular weapon to read the same way: break it up to the two groups of traits before and after the "or." You get all those traits when in the appropriate mode, and if one of them is a critical category it overrides your normal weapon group crit.

The only ones that get slightly more complicated than this are where the tech side is also powered. If you use that mode at all that day you use up a charge from the battery. If you don't, you don't. Minor bookkeeping, but a stickler GM may care.