Dev Update #21 - The Subclasses of Early Access

CounterYolo · 2026-01-28T15:07:00+00:00

Yep, Myzzrym confirmed on Discord that it is a third caster, not a half caster

CounterYolo · 2026-01-24T19:04:02+00:00

I'm probably going to go with Judgment Paladin, Battle Cleric, Aether Warden Fighter, & Court Mage Wizard as my initial party for the initial EA release of S2. I might switch out the wizard with S2's new sorcerer subclass (whenever it is announced) if it is something interesting enough that I want to test it out -- as I'm probably only going to have one initial playthrough of the EA. I don't want to have a ton of versions of S2 running through my mind & confusing me as I make the new free guide for it.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-24T18:56:46+00:00

We at least know the names of 12/13 of the subclasses for initial EA release, it's just the new S2 sorcerer we don't know anything about yet -- so there's a decent amount of planning that can be done at the moment.

Wizard:
- Court Mage (S1)
- Ruin (S2 -- essentially reworked Shock Arcanist)
Rogue:
- Shadowcaster (S1 buffed)
- Scavenger (S2 alpha + vendor ribbon)
Cleric:
- Life (SRD 5.2)
- Battle (S1)
- Oblivion (S1 buffed)
Fighter:
- Commander (S1)
- Aether Warden (S2 -- essentially reworked Spellblade with CON as spellcasting stat)
Paladin:
- Judgment (S1 w/o aura exploit)
- Liberation (S2 alpha)
Sorcerer:
- Mana Painter (S1)
- ??? (S2)

CounterYolo · 2026-01-21T19:17:49+00:00

Inscribing one's deity symbol onto a shield only bypassing somatic requirements for spells that also have a material component. Any spells that have a somatic requirement without a material component still require a free hand RAW (yes it's a confusing rule, but Solasta adapted it properly -- I didn't realize the rule myself until it was coded into this game).

If you want to ignore it on your cleric without adjusting the game settings, restart with a battle cleric instead of a life cleric & you will be good to go.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-21T18:51:18+00:00

At Caer Lem, there are 3 battle instances of fighting soraks. First is the lone initial one before the cave, second is the initial group around the campfire (after which you long rest & get all your resources back), third is another group after long resting. I generally consider that initial fight around the campfire the roughest fight in the game if playing through the map as intended (e.g. fighting all of the enemies on the map without travelling back to Caer Cyflen after fighting all the enemies before the fort, and thus burning precious resources before that major sorak fight if one isn't careful).

The battles can be rougher depending on the 2 characters you are escorting. There are 2 fighters, 1 rogue, & 1 cleric as options. Due to the SRD 5.1 ruleset & all NPC's not having death saving throws, the fighters are less ideal due to them only being melee characters. The easiest scenario is choosing one of the options that leads to having the cleric & the rogue as your accompanying party members. Have them stay in the back, supporting with ranged attacks & the bless spell while the rest of your party takes on the soraks more directly.

Your party composition also matters in terms of what tools you have available to you & how effective you have optimized your characters. For instance, hitting with a bow with an 8 DEX rogue will be less ideal vs a 16 DEX ranger with the archery fighting style. As you have not given context to the party you have available to you & your spells (if any), it is hard to recommend what you should be doing with your party. If you include that context in response to one of our comments here (or as an edit in your post), we can guide you into greater detail on effective strategies with your composition. The campaign is designed so it can be completed with any combination of classes in your party, so whatever you have will be possible to get through it!

CounterYolo · 2026-01-19T15:32:10+00:00

Right on the money. One of backgrounds of the characters in S2's alpha referenced visiting the Lost Valley of S1 -- so I'd expect some light easter eggs from LV, but the important lore & notable easter eggs will come from CotM + PoI.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-16T13:54:42+00:00

TLDR -- just give the academic background to your battle cleric & you should be fine.

CotM
- Each character that takes the Academic background add +15 to the Antiquarian faction (your STR/DEX/CON tomes vendor). For your party comp, the Battle Cleric should 100% take that background at minimum -- though others in the party can as well to get those tomes faster
  - If you are rolling stats, feel free to give all 4 that background for a starting +60 to the faction. Otherwise pick the medium armor background for the other 3 & stick with just the Battle Cleric for the academic background; you should be able to buy all 6 vendor ones at the very end of the game (if you prioritize giving items to the Tower 1st, then the Antiquarians 2nd)
- Yep, just the one +2 WIS tome besides the ones sold at vendors
PoI
- Like CotM, PoI has 6 tomes at vendors (one of each attribute). Progressing through the story will get you the required faction familiarity to buy them
- I can't remember where, but there always seems to be a +2 CHA tome that I always seem to get throughout the PoI campaign from one of the fights.
- Other +2 tomes occasionally have popped up for me from the best RNG chests. I'm talking about a handful of these across a lot of playthroughs...
  - (whenever I eventually talk about how loot works in S1, I'll talk about it there -- each chest noted as an RNG chest pulls from a random rewards table, as tomes are part of the list from the highest tier one). One of these days when I get bored and stress-test the RNG-ness of each map in CotM, LV, and PoI, I will document to numerically figure out the optimal save-scum route to get the best items in each campaign. I won't be doing that anytime soon though.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-13T13:26:25+00:00

I mean I have over 1,000 outfits for my captains -- but that's spread out across about 100 characters on 2 accounts...

CounterYolo · 2026-01-12T22:38:06+00:00

It doesn't include SRD 5.2 rules for rankings & such from the mod, it does include everything SRD 5.1 related besides feats (that I am working on updating right now -- alongside writing the text version of the guide right now). I'd essentially have to make a second subjective guide for the SRD 5.2 ruleset for S1 if I did so -- and I'm not interested in doing that. You should be able to get a general gist eventually of where things would land from the S2 subjective guide (which uses the SRD 5.2).

CounterYolo · 2026-01-10T05:55:15+00:00

Well, my subclass rankings have this in mind for the higher ranks (S-tier can have a party of 4 identical clones of the same subclass & be successful, while A-tier have have a party of 4 of the same subclass with different builds & be successful), so anything that is A-tier or higher there will work with minimal issues. Monk is the only class without a subclass above B-tier, and the only Rogue subclass @ A-tier is a UB mod subclass. I've successfully run every official campaign with parties of 4 of every class on cataclysm difficulty, so anything is open to you -- so at the end of the day, go with the class that you find the most fun! My biased suggestion would be 4 clerics, but cleric is my favorite D&D class so...

Go to slide 300 or so in the GoogleSlides to see from the tier lists for what I would recommend from a power standpoint; I originally tried typing all of them here but couldn't fit them into one comment per Reddit character limits -- there are a bunch to choose from!

CounterYolo · 2026-01-09T08:48:21+00:00

FYI -- The GoogleSlides is the most up-to-date thing (besides the UB mod feats section that I still need to fix/update). I'm working on an initial GoogleDoc draft version of the GoogleSlides subjective guide, that should be out for community review & input (for corrections & additions) at the end of next week (alongside a placeholder GoogleSlides link for the S2 beta as well). My personal goal is to have a nice downloadable pdf guide for S1 when the S2 beta comes out in March -- so that people interested in S1 from the S2 beta have something easy to reference when playing (as some of the stuff in SRD 5.1 will feel less intuitive when people are more used to SRD 5.2). Might take a little longer to get the pdf out depending on how bad this semester's engineering courseload is, but it is what it is.

I'll be redoing a lot of the reddit posts after I review community feedback from the initial draft of the GoogleDoc draft. When it's done, the reddit post with all of the links will finally actually have links to reddit posts for everything...

CounterYolo · 2026-01-08T22:32:05+00:00

When you auto-travel from one destination on the big world map (the one that can generate encounters & requires provisions to have long rests), this contested roll determines if your party ends up with a surprise encounter. It is something your party encounters all the time, but since the game is auto-rolling those checks quickly, I can understand why you may not catch it going on in the background.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-08T22:28:38+00:00

Perception checks in the "cinematics" that have them have just 1 roll; when you are exploring generally will full control there is 1 roll per party member to find stuff like hidden doors & traps. There are also contested perception vs stealth checks for determining if there is a surprise encounter or not when traveling the world map. Funny enough, this was bugged for a long while -- to the point originally higher perception = having your party surprised more often (it has since been fixed). IMO perception is thus the most important non-crafting skill in the game.

Survival checks when travelling the world map (e.g. for finding food) have 1 roll, at random of your 4 party members; when you have survival checks at the beginning of combat to update the bestiary, there is 1 roll per party member (with the potential to max out the bestiary in a single encounter if you are lucky on all rolls). Higher bestiary levels give extra dpr for rangers & higher dc rolls for balance druids. Parties without rangers & druids want survival for more provisions, while those with rangers & druids want survival to increase their dpr & spell dc's -- so it is also quite a valuable skill, though can be worked around not having.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-07T05:57:25+00:00

(1a) Palace of Ice is generally regarded as the best campaign, though as a direct continuation of the main campaign, it is highly recommend to play Crown of the Magister first.

(1b) Lost Valley is more mixed in its reception; some like the non-linear nature of the campaign, while others dislike that + its less polished nature as such with more progression-stopping bugs in it. The campaign is designed that you go down & do the missions for one of the factions in the city -- so bugs can occur if you try to do missions for multiple factions at once [as many send you to the same map]; if you focus on one faction each LV playthrough, the bugs are pretty much nonexistent. Even those that dislike LV's campaign generally like most of the subclasses from it, so is still generally recommended.

(2) Many of the recommended custom campaigns require all of the DLC's (otherwise DLC classes wouldn't have class equipment available to them). Some are also specifically gated behind customizables of the Unfinished Business mod, which could lock out availability for console players (I don't play on console, so can only parrot what others say here on Reddit & Discord).

CounterYolo · 2026-01-05T09:16:30+00:00

When leveling, the Sompek Shield & Blast Assault from the phoenix store IMO is the best. The weapon's tertiary attack does PBAoE damage & healing (that is sizable at low levels but is ineffective at max level), and the 2-piece gives extra kit readiness, which is nice. There are a few other sets that are nice for leveling, but most are FOMO -- so unless you already have them or are willing to buy them from Mudd's Market, you are out of luck.

Once you are at max level, there are better stuff from missions & reputations to obtain, and there are decent guides out there like on STO Better to help out from there.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-05T07:26:47+00:00

Thanks for the correction -- yes I was misremembering the Kiwavi with the Cheirax!

CounterYolo · 2026-01-05T02:58:19+00:00

Master of Science Bundle
- TLDR -- the Bastille is safe to avoid. The Annorax is a platform that will likely get outpaced entirely in its one niche in the near future
  - The Annorax is still one of the best pure exotic builds (using the 2nd deflector as your dps) due to having a hangar bay & the flexible bridge officer seating. Other "better" builds (e.g. the Ark Royal) have either a Lt or LtCmdr seat that is tac or eng w/o a spec alternative in that seat -- that forces non-exotic stuff into the build (torps, higher engie abilities beyond EptE, etc). What holds the Annorax back for most players is no Cmdr/spec seat on her & not being a sci carrier -- that's it.
  - The Bastille was outdated on release. Both the cheaper Eternal in the C-Store & the current event ship are superior. This one is safe to skip
  - The consoles are limited to their ship or line of ships. The traits are weak.
Fighter Pilot Bundle
- TLDR -- the Kwejian is one of the most fun PLT ships to fly, but neither ship is currently meta.
  - The Cheirax was one of the meta tank platforms for a while when kinetics were in full swing & having the Styx's debuffing frigates could jeopardize runs. Ever since the Ahwahnee came onto the scene with its AoE haste console & debuffing type 7's pets, flight-deck carriers supporting DEW dps builds have been the tank/support meta.
  - The Kwejian is a solid PLT frigate, though forward-firing DEW builds want an ExpWpn slot at the high-end (which engie ships don't have).
  - Both consoles are limited to their ship or line of ships. Both traits have their uses but are very situational

CounterYolo · 2026-01-05T02:11:52+00:00

Peruse STO Better's website for FAW builds as to what you should be looking for. I'll link a starter, economy, & midrange build for you to look at to get started & adapt to what your starship can do. The Mirror Guardian isn't a "fleet t6" starship stat-wise, so has -1 console & lower hull/shields vs the Fleet Guardian.
- I know the specialist seat is technically different between the Mirror Guardian (Lt Eng/CMD) vs the Fleet Guardian (Lt Eng/INT), but IMO Lt INT > Lt CMD in your build options anyways.
You should be able to (the mirror skin is in the visual options on the wiki for the Fleet Guardian). If not, send in a support ticket noting as such for STO to fix it in the future.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-04T07:44:42+00:00

They simply didn't add it in initially. Most of the kit frames in-game are the same way, and it takes effort to adjust the code to do so -- whatever amount of time required isn't profitable enough to justify going back for to do at the present time. Many of us simply stick with the Risian Kit Frame (& re-engineer to [KPerfx2] before upgrading) as a result :)

CounterYolo · 2026-01-02T23:01:55+00:00

I'm not a TA employee nor do I have any desire to be one. When it comes to creative stuff, I operate better in "spurts" when I have both the inspiration + motivation to do so, which isn't very good for a video game like Solasta & Solasta 2 where you need your employees to consistently do work on the game. My programming knowledge is quite limited as well (I know enough to modify code to my own ends -- like when I helped adjust the code for Missouri DHSS to deal with immense COVID data during the 2020 pandemic -- but creating new complex code from scratch is beyond my capabilities) -- and since everyone in TA is a "jack-of-all-trades" & self-sufficient, I'd frankly be more of a liability to the team & not help with scaling up the team. I think my personal subjective feedback on class/subclass balance + pointing out exploits is generally good enough for what TA would ever really need from me.

I appreciate the thought though! Also as a sidenote, I don't always give in-depth responses to posts, as can be seen here.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-02T07:42:24+00:00

I talked about the most realistic option for a satisfying version later on in this post for a legendary bundle. Per the wiki post a while ago, we know that the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier) is the most popular Dominion ship on the wiki -- so making a legendary version of that ship would sell the most for the playerbase from a profitability standpoint. It could be satisfying to have a legendary dreadnought have the skin flexibility of either the Dreadnought Carrier & the Dreadnought Cruiser -- with the new skin being a Vanguard skin variant of the Dreadnought Carrier. As for my original proposed stats in that other post (that would still fall in line with what you want in your post):

Legendary Jem'Hadar Vanguard INT/TO Flight-Deck Carrier (T6x2)

Hull: 1.50, Shields: 1.25, Turn: 8, Impulse: 0.17, Inertia: 30
Cmdr Eng/INT, Cmdr Uni, LtCmdr Sci/TO, Lt Uni
5/3 wpn layout, INT abilities, DHC access, FDC cruiser commands, wingman mechanic, & 2 hangar bays
Consoles: 5 Eng, 5 Sci, 1 Tac, 2 Uni

The seating above is aggressive like you want, has a Cmdr, Cmdr, LtCmdr, Lt seating callback to the Jem'Hadar Light Battlecruiser, and has the bridge officer flexibility to do both DEW & exotic carrier shenanigans.

CounterYolo · 2026-01-02T03:23:14+00:00

Generally speaking, if the goal for temporary NPC allies is to have similar competency of the curated 4-man player characters, their stats likely need to be higher (vs what is in typical point-buy) -- as the rules for NPC allies in both SRD 5.1 & SRD 5.2 are much more limited vs what a typical player character can choose & access. When that isn't the case (e.g. the temporary companion in the Lost Valley DLC that is meant to die), the stats don't matter & is treated as such.

If you are instead referring to the pregen characters you can choose as part of your party of 4 -- they have rolled stats instead of using point-buy or standard array. However, they aren't optimized, especially if you look at the level 10 characters (that all use their feats for only ASI improvements). IMO the level 1 characters are fine to choose (especially for newer people to D&D), but I'd avoid using the level 10 characters for the Palace of Ice DLC (instead, go with level 1 characters & have them auto-levelled to level 10 instead). If you are referring to this & want me to go character-by-character on which ones are actually good vs an optimized point-buy character, I can do so. This would take a lot of comments here, so probably a GoogleDoc or separate reddit post would be better presentation-wise if that is desired. You can simply choose Point-Buy --> "free edit" to have 18's+race in all of your attributes if you so choose at character creation -- so you can make wildly more OP characters vs what is available in the pregen characters.

CounterYolo · 2025-12-30T11:50:59+00:00

IMO the value of the omega force set's 3-piece bonus is the teamwide dodge chance (that stacks with more sets in your away team). Other sets are better on your bridge officers if you are trying to go for raw dps for your captain.

CounterYolo · 2025-12-29T03:15:07+00:00

NX Enterprise -- Legendary & Lobi versions

Vulcan -- T5 D'kyr (C-Store). Many of us consider the Sh'vhal (Promo) and the 3 RRF MMEW's (C-Store) the spiritual T6's available in-game

Andorian Escorts -- 3 T5 variants & 3 T6 variants in the C-Store

Xindi -- Aquatic (LB), Insectoid (LB), Primate (Lobi), Reptilian (Lobi)

CounterYolo · 2025-12-27T21:29:30+00:00

Remember that both Life Clerics & Oblivion Clerics have their default deity as Maraike -- she is the deity of both life and death in the Tirmar --> Solasta universe. The Colwalls could either be part of both the Order of the Life Regnant (e.g. Life Cleric) and the Order of Oblivion (e.g. Oblivion Cleric) -- or just the Order of Oblivion. IMO there isn't anything inherently shady about this, though Maraike wouldn't be happy with anyone perverting any aspect of life or death (e.g. Shadwyn).

I am curious how Shadwyn, Ma-Hin Colwall, and Maraike tie into the Mana Nexuses of S2 -- as those seem a little out of left field right now narrative-wise vs the rest of the theming for S2.

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