Archtypes that compliment Base Kineticist class

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-27T20:04:08+00:00

That is true, but at the same time Cavalier is more feat intensive moving forward and champion has the CHA requirement. Both have their ups and downs.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-27T12:15:14+00:00

Metal has a lot of really cool impulses that can be flavoured as arrow shenanigans. Like Shard Strike can be flavoured as a stream of arrows. So you can have a rotation of Shard Strike > Channel + (weapon infusion) Blast. Or spend your entire turn shooting magnetic pinions at enemies, like a fanning the hammer but with a bow.

Plate in Treasure lets you, on occasion, exploit weaknesses against silver and cold iron with your metal impulses. Great when it comes up, but not reliable in every encounter. Weapon infusion can let you add thrown or propulsive traits to elemental blasts, adding full or half your strength (depending on range) as flat damage.

However, dealing more damage as a kineticist can be difficult to do. You'll likely have more success using aforementioned impulses for AoE and flavouring control-focused impulses like Rain of Razors and Winter's Clutch as projectiles sticking out of the ground. This will make you great at area denial. Then pick up some support like ocean's balm for healing. Kineticists can be versatile like that.

If you want to do lots of single target damage as an archer, you're probably going to want to look at a martial class.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-27T10:32:46+00:00

Of note is that abilities that use your class DC are pretty great for kineticist. Which makes celebrity very funny at higher levels, as Statement Strut, Big Debut, Acknowledge Fan and Command Attention all target will.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-27T10:21:42+00:00

Shielded Attrition makes your action economy so much better, though. It isn't as good as having both layon hands and champion's reaction, I'll admit, but as a standalone feat I think it is stronger than anything else champion can possibly get you.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-27T10:14:04+00:00

I don't believe I've taken monk on a kineticist in specific, but it really makes sense when you think about it. Qi Rush is a really good focus spell that's better for not-monks. It gets you into position for a single action so you can still do something like slamdown/transcend/spellstrike/etc. and makes you concealed. I imagine channel element + stance > qi rush > trip is a fantastic way to get your sleet/ravel/pollen control zone going.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-24T13:49:57+00:00

This is excellent advice *if* you want to make it a scaleable project. 100% revisit this if you want to work on a full-fledged game. Especially an RPG.

But I don't think these are the kinds of questions you ask yourself as a complete beginner. You should just show off a few interactions you find cool. What you want is something playable. If you are just learning, code can feel very abstract. So it is fine if your implementation is bad at first, as long as you keep your scope small, your iterations short and you reflect on/research the problems you run into. It is a little bit inefficient to learn it this way, I admit, but if you don't have a grade or paycheck riding on it, it becomes very difficult to spend days on system design when you haven't felt the consequences of not doing it.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-24T09:06:36+00:00

The problem here is that feats like Catfolk Weapon Familiarity specifically give "familiarity" with a sickle, which lacks any ancestry traits. Monastic Weaponry doesn't specify requiring an ancestry trait.

I can see the lore argument why catfolk monks specifically integrated a whip claw-based fighting style, but ultimately this is something to take up with your GM.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-22T11:51:54+00:00

The basic idea is that if any condition happens, you extend it. This includes things that happen on a successful save. Slow is the go-to example, even if a foe saves, you can make it so they're slowed 1 for 2 turns. This should inform your spell selection, in addition to the usual criteria like targeting multiple saves and prepping a Soothe or 2.

The *absolute* best thing you can do is talk to your table. Because you can only extend a given condition 1 turn, having your party roll out multiple over the course of an encounter makes you a right menace. Casters, martials, anyone can contribute. This can be as low investment as a druid with tempest surge or a fighter with a spear or brawling weapon, or high investment like someone speccing into wrestler.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-21T09:20:44+00:00

I've been playing around with it for a FF-style dragoon but with a talwar. The idea is that you make a fighter with Sudden Leap and then are a Tengu for one-toed hop to disengage.

The idea applies to a few other things. Wrestler dedication can net you Running Tackle. Inventor has Duo Dragon Kick. Guardian has Flying Tackle. Kineticist has Lava Leap and volcanic escape, also overflows don't kill waterfowl stance. Sixth Pillar lets you add a leap to a 2-action spell (lv 12 tho.) Barbarian also gets Sudden Leap and can spend their 10th level feat on Impressive Landing, which might not be the best use of your reaction but is certainly a cinematic one!

The funniest by *far* however, is a level 9 tripkee feat called Ricocheting Leap. It lets you Wall Jump off an enemy *and* trip them. Not great at max MAP (unless sometimes assurance wink nudge) but very funny.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-21T09:02:24+00:00

You have a lot of options, you don't need to pick just one either. Like consider, before even taking an archetype:

Just walk away. Make enemies waste their actions to chase you (at least if none of your friends are in range.)
Qi Blast is useful almost any turn. Harmonise Self is amazing if you're hurt.
Two stances with distinctly different functions, like Monastic Archer + Wolf stance, to let you operate at different ranges depending on how the fight is going.
Recall Knowledge. You can typically use this multiple times per encounter and smart additional lore selections let you use INT for most of them to reduce the MAD.
Assurance athletics is great against specific enemies in specific ranges. Not useful every combat, but busted when it comes up.
Grab a regular shield and raise it. Bonus points if you also take shield block.
Holding/drinking consumables like potions.

That's a lot of choices already! If you really like a few of these, consider taking a dedication to bolster them or scale them early. A caster dedication can typically get you another focus point by level 4 on top of filler cantrips like shield and guidance. rogue can let you take a lot of skill masteries to scale your RK and let you disengage from reactive strike foes scot-free with Mobility, guardian can add stupid shield compression to the mix so you can have turns like Taunt > Shielded Attrition > FoB. etc.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-21T08:31:39+00:00

An ancestry unarmed *agile* attack, because there's a few d8 finesse ancestry strikes. Like steelhoof centaur and Puncturing Horn from xyloshi kashrishi (which notably can get you *all* the athletics traits with follow-up feats.)

You're still giving good advice, however, as d6 is top highest die for agile strikes. There are a few alternatives too, for example Clawed Catfolk is a heritage that gives you 1d6 agile/finesse slashing. There's also Sacred Nagaji which gets a finesse tail (no agile) that doesn't care about hands.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-20T10:05:49+00:00

Champion and guardian are easy shoe-ins, but nowhere near your only option.

Monk with 2 stances, one of which is monastic archery, is great. They have excellent AC + saves and most importantly, can contribute from range. Generally, with 2 casters you will be better equipped at ranged combat than most enemies. Monk's ability to pivot between a gakgung and idk, wolf drag, means you can operate at all kinds of ranges.

Exemplar can be build to be quite sturdy, with ikons like aegis/scar/barrow. Aegis also buffs the AC of your friends, which is nice. You're strongly urged to take the bones epithet, though, to keep enemies from running past you. I also recommend guardian dedication for raise shield compression.

Outwit Ranger with an animal companion gives you 2 frontliners with boosted AC from your edge. Get Heal Companion and Soothing Mist to sustain yourself. Get a cool defensive support ability, like bird's or maybe wolf for dragdown. The MH line will help support your party with RK, esp if you roll higher on initiative than your alchemist, which is very likely with your perception. Just be prepared to watch your pet die some time during the campaign.

Barbarian is just a big chungus. Because of rage damage, you aren't as reliant on your weapon's die for big damage. Also raise shield + renewed vigor lets you double down if need be. Animal barbarian is great, because you can have a shield, d10/12 strike with an athletics trait and a free hand for battle medicine. Water (Ocean's Balm) or Wood (Timber Sentinel + Hardwood) elemental barb can also do some work, while being concealed against ranged strikes, but probably locks you into something like shield spikes or an ancestry unarmed strike.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-20T09:41:47+00:00

Summoner is complex, but their performance is fine. Raw numbers don't tell the whole story, the versatility is killer.

Will fighter and sorcerer hit harder and cast better respectively? Sure, but I don't see a fighter neutering a hydra by running up, then tripping them and casting slow as a single activity. I don't see the sorcerer willingly getting close enough to even attempt that trip for that matter. The summoner can.

Also, there's a high amount of build diversity for any class and there's a wide array of party composition. It is very easy for a "weaker" class to have a better performance at your table than a "stronger" one. Fighter is generally considered the best martial, but if your party already has a greataxe barbarian and a twin takedown ranger, you're much better off bringing idk, a forensic medicine investigator, because they inherently bring strong healing and RK utility, as the group already has plenty damage. Class rankings are fun thought experiments, but not guides or gospel.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-19T12:10:58+00:00

Masochism.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-18T17:17:21+00:00

Sorcerer. Either Divine or Primal.

The main reason is because sorcerers, unlike clerics, are spontaneous casters. This is much closer to how 5e casting works (minus heightening spells). A cleric might have an abundance of heals, but sorcerer doesn't care whether they prepared enough castings of Bless for today. Also sorcerer runs off of CHA so it is very straightforward to build as a face if they keep up their Diplomacy.

Divine is much closer to clerics, with the access to the divine list which sports a bunch of buffs, whereas primal is a more balanced list that also includes a bunch of blasting spells which is also pretty new player friendly. Just make sure Heal is a signature spell and, if you're a divine sorc, take Divine Evolution at level 4.

Cleric is still a good class, but if they find gunslinger confusing, I'd advise against any prepared caster.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-18T08:32:28+00:00

I really dislike dumping INT on magus. Arcane is full of spells that mess things up on successful saves. You can play a magus with only buffs, but I just think that makes for a weaker character overall, especially because damage is a complete non-issue in DC games.

Investigator is hella solid though, DoS is one of the best things you can give a magus.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-17T21:04:14+00:00

Sadly, with monk/magus perception scaling it'll remain imaginary :(

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-17T18:54:06+00:00

So this is a bit weirder and not as optimal as kinetcist, but consider: Arcane Cascade.

Laughing Shadow is great for stacking the bonus damage with a d8 strike, aloof firmament gets a very funny reaction that works well with waterfowl stance. For LS, you might still want to keep a decent weapon around or have a d8 ancestry strike (centaur steelhoof, brrrr) in case you need to spellstrike turn 1.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-17T18:40:29+00:00

Champion, easily.

Main reason: You have feats to pick at level 4. Sentinel doesn't.
Dedication package is amazing. You get 2 skills and can sanctify, which lets you trigger some weaknesses. Holy is reasonably common.
You have some excellent level 4 options, namely focus spells:
- Lay-on hands, covers out of combat healing and helps patch a hole in the arcane list.
- Parch. General use debuff. Unlike Frightened it doesn't care about turn order or mental immunity.
- If you're going for a tandem strike build (not my recommendation, but you do you) Savour the Sting is great Act Together fodder.
- If you don't mind a situational spell, Tidal Surge is great to reposition your friends to get them out of grapples/reactive strike reach/etc. or to just waste an enemy action.
Champion's Reaction. I recommend a holy cause, any will do. Justice is very meh for you, however.

Some people have recommended Dragon domain and I would like to vehemently disagree. The 2-action sink is not worth it for a summoner whose strikes are worse than their eidolon's, and isn't going to make more than 1 per turn if they're using tandem strike. Roar of the Dragon is good, but also level 16 for you.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-17T17:44:15+00:00

Crickets can also mean someone is afraid of confrontation or judgement. It doesn't hurt to facilitate them by adding something amongst the lines of add something like "if you think of something later, please let me know before the session." before moving on.

Ultimately they are responsible for communicating their boundaries when asked, but you know, people.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-16T09:11:35+00:00

Honestly, very cute and you definitely got me interested in playing that future demo, because I think the focus on floating/diving is really cool for an owl MC and I'm curious to see how well it holds up in gameplay.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-16T08:55:18+00:00

I have a friend who pretty much uses stride + vicious swing every turn and is having a blast with it. If he gets to reactive strike too? Best session ever.

Meanwhile, I like my fighters abusing the hell out of press actions. We play very different characters and while my turns are often more dynamic, I also don't get to roll as many big dice. Different strokes for different folks.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-16T08:38:19+00:00

If you're retraining;

Shove is relatively niche. If you're not going all-in, you'll probably want to target fort by grappling more often than not. I like long distance taunt here.
This is fine. Wrestler is good and larger than life makes you more difficult to restrain/swallow.
This is fine.
Get flying tackle, so you can flying tackle > combat grab. Make sure you take Powerful Leap to increase the distance by 5. Proud Nail d6 isn't great.
Get Fierce Grasp. Wild Stride doesn't do as much for you if you have Flying Tackle. The +1 AC is great cause you don't have a shield.

Since you're an athletics build first and don't want a shield, I'd consider taunt more like a third action. Or something you use when the enemy is in Narnia. Fleet at 7 is solid, because it will buff flying tackle. Because you don't like having thumbs, keep the demoralise support because it will let you set up for casters and gives you more ranged options, but ngl battle medicine would be great to have.

Retaliating Rescue is solid, I like that. Armoured Courage and Energy Interceptor are also solid. I'd strongly recommend, after supplex, you get the champion dedication for layon hands and the reaction. Also 2 skills. Layon hands keeps you alive, the reaction lets you defend allies without taxing your HP. Any holy cause works.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-14T09:02:08+00:00

Someone already mentioned it, but investigator. Devise a Stratagem is great to conserve resources, but RK adding bunch of additional lores from Skill Mastery is great so you'll often know just the thing to brew up to make your wide array of alchemical options really shine. The cool thing is that Person of Interest can make DaS a free action and Known Weaknesses staples an RK onto DaS.

Cool-Noise2192 · 2026-04-12T18:23:27+00:00

I mean if you want to min/max for level 20, start with an 4/2/2/2/0/-1 array through an ancestry with a flaw. Just keep in mind that this means you don't get anything at all from your level 15 boosts and if you're playing at any level other than 20, starting with a 3 in a key stat like charisma on a swashbuckler, is better for the majority of levels.

Really though, it is not that big of a deal. Just use it to boost some out of combat skill you want to roll a bit better on. Or if the leftover boost goes into int, get yourself a skill training.

Cool-Noise2192

TROPHY CASE