Math time! Doesn't Kineticist arguably have 21 subclasses? 6 choose 1 = 6, plus 6 choose 2 = 15. I haven't seen much of the Kineticist in play, but I have to think that, say, a Water-Fire Kin would play and feel at least somewhat different than a Water-Wood Kin, for example.
That is a good point. I suppose I sort of count the "combo" sub classes as singular though. For example, I don't count the Thaumaturge subclasses as more than the # of implements, even though you do pick up extras and have multiple combinations as you move along. To be fair thought, that is different than the kineticist since that kineticist can have "two subclasses" at level 1. Hm. I guess this is my thinking: # of subclasses = # of rulebook entries to read. 6 elements, 6 rulebook entries, 6 subclasses. 66...6 oooooooh no what have we done. Also Psychic and Wizard have dual-subclasses, but with both of those one of the subclass options feels more impactful than the other so it's almost like a 1.a, 1.b kind of situation in my mind.
(2 weeks later) I've seen the Alchemist in Player Core 2. It's generally better... except for Toxicologist which has gotten nerfed. By practically giving a Bomber, Mutagenist, and Chirurgeon 6 items that last 10 minutes for every half hour outside of combat they can run into each encounter with plenty of resources to spend. This core mechanic *heavily nerfs the Toxicologist* however as their whole concept was based on pre-buffing the party's weapons. Since the temporary items only last 10 minutes the Toxicologist is in a bad situation where they either need to guess up to 10 minutes before any fight is about to occur and quickly get the poisons placed, or they risk starting combat with no weapons poisoned as they wait for their resources to recharge. Their subclass features and feats only aid poisons they apply to themselves, and often only in combat (which even with the subclass buff is horrendous action economy) while also doing little to alleviate the atrocious hit-rate of poisons themselves (by level 5, when fighting an equal level monster they will succeed on their Fortitude 65-70% of the time, and it stays that way to the endgame). Sure, they can now target the 30% of the bestiary that was immune to poisons, but even those monsters will resist the vast majority of the time. The only alleviation was to use a *lot* of poisons, and just accept most will do nothing. Now the Toxicologist can't even do that, with the limitation of 6 renewable items. A great state for Alchemist, a dirge of doom for the Toxicologist.
5:07 Off braandd for me perhaps, a bit, But I agree that a Debuff specialist (that competes on par with the buff specialist) An effective Debuff specialist, called a Witch or Hag? Beautiful
3:41 Ranger : Changes : Pack Hunter? Could you elaborate? As is, the Ranger + Beast master, already can have 2 or more stronk kompanions, that can bring a large nukber of either, Bonus precision dmg, or, bonus accuracy with Flurry. Flurry can bring Agile, and really decrease the total amount of map inside a +5 Strike turn. Precision, across those 5 low MAP strikes, could also add up fairly significantly. Even without Flurry.
The braggart suffers from the fact that you can only demoralize someone once every 10 minutes (until level 9), and some creatures can't be demoralized at all. The battledancer's performance can work on ANY creature, as you just have to beat their will DC, not actually fascinate them. Also, leading dance at level four complements impaling finisher beautifully, and the ability to take virtuosic performer for a constant buff to perform checks really makes it shine.
2:38 I'd like to see beast shape forms that approximate Barbarian, Fighter, and Rogue archetypes. Stealthy Sneak Attacks Panther , Accurate Strikes Eagle, or Reckless Raging Badger/Boar etc.
My favorite is actually Gunslinger! I just really love how they are designed around reloading, it makes each subclass feel so unique and makes planning out your actions really interesting. I could see the pattern you describe being boring but I found myself moving a lot to get a better position and had some other actions that provided interesting options. On the other hand my least favorite is Investigator so I pretty surprised that it is so popular. it just feels very boring and lackluster to me. Just like Gunslinger and Inventor might be off-flavor for some I feel like the Investigator just belongs in a less action-filled game.
It really is a good class, and I do like that you can pick up additional reloads as you progress to keep things interesting. I think that since I'm playing through Agents of Edgewatch and Outlaws of Alkenstar right now maybe I'm just a bit burned out on guns and gears and cities and would prefer to get back to swords and magic basics.
Interesting point about the investigator. I'm also kind of surprised at how popular it is. In fact I would dare say that's the class whose popularity most surprises me. It almost reminds me of how sometimes a band writes a whole album, has one song on it that they think is only ok, but it turns out to be their biggest hit.
Haha. It is a perfectly fine class, and I actually would almost prefer playing in a party that went full steampunk in one campaign and used Gunslinger, Inventors, Alchemists, and an Investigator. That would be really, really fun. I suppose it's just maybe that after having played in Alkenstar and Agents of Edgewatch for the last 2 years now I'm itching to be a druid in the mountains.
Mostly whether there are any glaring mechanic problems (only a few classes still have them pre PC2), and then a lot of personal opinion. When I tried a numeric grading system pre PC1 (1) trying to numerically measure criteria other than strict DPS or healing ability results in an opinion anyway, and (2) there were so many ties I just had to go to a personal opinion tiebreaker.
I have an 11th level Elf Monk currently. Role play wise, he's from a small Elven martial academy where all are trained in elven weaponry and are of woodland descent. And crosstrained later as a wizard. It's been fun.
@RebelThenKing It was very cool to make him at first level with a long bow. Not needing armor provided the proper cash flow. It's not until the 13th level that I'll be as good with the bow as my Unarmed and Simple weapons, though.
these are cool vids. can you please place your window in a location on the screen that doesn't block the knowledge you are talking to the audience about. It would make it a lot easier to follow along. perhaps upper right corner and smaller.
For me top 5 5) Magus 4) Gunslinger 3) Bard 2) Swashbuckler 1) Thaumaturge I think the big thing the gunslinger needs for spice is alternative reloads. Aid, Inventory, or running 10 feet to get into position could be real fun And then also alternative openers, like recalling knowledge, setting aid, or enhancing an ally's initiative God for me Fighter is nice, but yeah I agree I'd rather have subclasses, and I think there are elegant ways they can do that. Like... *Fighter Paradigms* • Weapon Master - Gains heightened Proficiency with a single weapon type including their Advanced Weapons and a bonus starting Feat with an Activity involving a Strike that you can use with this weapon. • Brute - Gains heightened proficiency with simple weapons, unarmed attacks, and improvised weapons • Arms Master - Gains heightened proficiency with all weapons, and once per turn can swap equipment drawing or exchanging one weapon for another as a free action
I just switched from playing a wizard to a kineticist in one of my campaigns (we soft TPK'd and decided to retire some characters, who are literally retiring due to old age). I opted to stay in a protection/support role and use Timber Sentinel. I feel like I'm doing more magic-based protection than I ever could as a traditional caster.
You call that heavy hitting? You couldn't toss a pebble, RebelThenKing! - Amiri, probably. Slightly more serious: Other content creators have gained the PC2 PDF now and are releasing videos. You wouldn't soon have yours and release a remaster version? :)
I did, rather unexpectedly, get my copy last night! I, rather unfortunately, have a lot of un-cancelable work and personal commitments and won't be able to get around to new videos for a few days.
I'm playing my first Pathfinder game (after decades of D&D) as a Kobold Ruin Delver Battledancer in Ruins of Gauntlight, and I have NEVER had more fun. My GM is letting me incorporate player core 2 when it comes out, and I'm so excited!
21:39 Will Save Penalty Bon Mot. Definitely applies to Demoralize. But Daze and Evil Eye Cantrips target Will. And I found Faerie Dust focus spell, Which creates a slightly weaker version of the penalty you can impose with Bon Mot. Status penalty to Will saves and Perception. Obviously, any Higher Level spell or ability, with limited uses, will be all the more CLUTCH, by imposing a Bon Mot penalty to will saves, which can allow Demoralize to Evil Eye (sickened) to hit and perhaps Critical for increased impact.... Frightened 2 + Sickened 1 or 2, already Sucks, but with an additional - 3 penalty to Will saves... Could be a game changer tide turner.
21:42 I suspect someone else will point out, or you'll notice. Demoralize targets vs Enemy Will Save. So yes. Bon Mot penalty to Will saves, benefits party Demoralize, and other benefits. Ie. Charms. Ie. Curses. Ie. All manner of mental attacks. Bon Mot, has a further benefit that it lasts 1 minute, unless they reply in similar fashion. But doesn't have an immunity like Demoralize. So... In those regards, it can be quite good. It might not be useful vs everyone. Ie. Linguistic trait requires shared language. Ie. Auditory trait requires target hear the speaker. Etc.
21:16 If you have a teammate, using Stealth to Hide vs Perception... Frightened + Bon Mot should be a nice combo to reduce the enemy Perception vs Stealth Hide. Also. - 3 Will saves, makes Frightened easier to land. Not, shabby. And if the party has an abundance of Off Guard sources, trip or Grapple sources, this is a decent alternative strategy tactic. The reply, theoretically, uses the same formula as your original bon Mot, But many enemies will lack the training or expertise or Charisma you invested. Ffoor example, perhaps that Ogre or Troll or Hill Giant, seems tough, but this targets a charismatic / will weakness, and leaves them extra vulnerable, with low base will saves, to nerfed will saves, And leaves them vulnerable to party.
17:24 But, assurance athletics, is a great 3rd action, And a great follow up after a finisher to regain Panache. Perhaps you tumble through to open the combat and get into position, and gain Panache. Perhaps you drop a finisher as your attack. With your 2nd action. Then you make a trip or grapple, using assurance to shed the MAP, and using the reach wpn you chose, makes that easier all around. Enemy might need to spend an action to close into adjacent melee range. Anf might need to spend an action to stand if your trip goes off. Assurance Trip / Shove is great against certain foes that have a 'weakness'. Then you cna kinda exploit their vulnerability to your tactics, and dance around them... But whenever you can assurance for Panache, you're in great shape. All things considered. For a Swashbuckler, that is.
7:25 Invigorating Is a neat one. Either you demoralize, or your witch creates fear, or your melee allies do. Many sources of fear in the team. And while spotty, rare access temp hp can be mediocre... Almost constant almost free temp hp, sounds quite decent. Especially at lower levels, when 3-7 hp might make a big difference. Especially in like a boss fight against a Party Level +4 enemy. That's gonna be a noticeable buffer.
2:43 Indeed. Perhaps the most reliable of the subclasses, is the gymnast, which can gain Panache with athletics attacks, such as grapples and trips and such. Those benefit the team, are repeatable, can use assurance vs some enemies... And have fewer or less common immunities... But that perhaps means that there is one decent Swashbuckler, And the others struggle more. Ie. VS a solo monster, even if you can Demoralize it once. That's it. Now you have fewer options remaining.
0:18 followup. I'm going to lead with... I'm optimistic about finding something within the Swashbuckler.... Like Forensic Medicine being a shining diamond within the current Investigator... Hoping, for something... Positive... Hoping. Fingers crossed. I'll enjoy the video either way.
0:18 I'm going to start. With thank you Rebel Then King. Thank you for this series. And another detailed video. Looking forward to these mockups, and to the eventual comparisons against the PC2 rebuilds.
That Kobold Wit build would work well with one of the house rule options in my group: "The Hype Kobold." The concept of a "Party Hype Kobold" was a running gag in our games, so I created a unique Kobold Heritage for our games. Heritage: Hype Kobold Some Kobolds find themselves in service to powerful beings & quickly master the art of stroking their master's ego. They learn how to project their voice in order to proclaim the exploits of their master far & wide! Hype Kobolds are Trained in Deception (or another skill of their choice if already Trained in Decption). The Hype Kobold gains a +1 Circumstance Bonus on Deception checks on behalf of allies (so long as the Deception paints the ally in a positive light). Finally, Hype Kobolds can make their voices heard clearly at double the normal distance.
To me the first level Feat “One for All” remedies most of my issues with Swashbuckler, especially now that the Aid DC is tremendously easier. For one action and a reaction, it’s practically rote Panache through the power of friendship. Or also with the remaster, I bet the Gymnast will also gain Panache through reposition, which could be nice for using on some of your lower Con allies. I feel like if they let that support be baked in when using your associated subclass skill, it’s a pretty fantastic and flexible class.
20:23 Assurance Medicine, works excellently with Forensic, As you can guarantee a Known Success vs a chosen DC. Ie. With level 3, and Trained Medicine, you have Assurance 15. Auto pass the DC 15. But at level 5 and Expert Medicine, you autopass DC 20 Assurance. Similarly, lvl 14, and Master Medicine, will autopass DC 30 Assurance. Excellent for Forensic 1hr timeouts.
20:08 What I... Like... Or Approve, of the balance of Devise a Stratagem vs target 1, becoming the attack roll vs that target in a Strike that turn. As opposed to the house rule I read above. Allowing you to use the DaS roll for the attack roll against the target, if you like it... But ignore the DaS roll for the Strike attack roll, if you do not like it... (and we usually discover AC thresholds fairly quickly, gaining a sense of 'if we dislike the attack roll') That house rule functionally grants Fortune (Advantage) almost always on. Considering that DaS serves dual purpose, and includes your attack roll, against that target, IF you attack it that turn, It already grants you a form of Seeing the Future... Knowing you rolled well or poorly on the Attack roll for the Strike, Allowing you to redirect a failed attack roll, before spending the action, to some other action. That's already great. The house rule, would let me roll twice to hit. In a game with limited access to 'fortune' ...
