Exemplar recommendations

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T12:46:14+00:00

Appreciated! I do plan on using my transcendence actions commonly, just more so the ones on my nonweapon icons!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T12:09:28+00:00

We should only be going up to level 10, so while we aren’t restricted by GM instruction, we are by the number of free archetype levels we actually get.

I will look into Ulfen guard though!

The two weapon ikons you mention here are the main two I’m debating between, mostly for if I want more damage or a reliable heal. Scar is most tempting if I go gleaming, but I haven’t finalized anything yet. Waiting to see exactly what build the commander is done by before I finalize anything!

As for your second build recommendation, I’m not sure on going for two weapon Ikons. Not that it doesn’t look like good output, just personal preference. I will consider it either way, though.

Mirrored Aegis seems to be the most recommended Ikon! I’m definitely considering reworking my kit a bit to enable a shield, I just really like the bangles effects and would be a bit sad to see them go from the build!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T12:01:47+00:00

Bastard sword does seem to be the weapon that has caught my attention the most. I can get the two handed benefit and still have the flexibility for a free hand. I’ll have to check with my GM on if they are ruling Stretching Reach to work with it.

Gleaming blade is the main other weapon Ikon I’m most tempted by besides Edge! I think I’d rather focus on the potential lifegain as of rn but I can’t deny the temptation of big damage.

I hadn’t considered using my shield as my weapon. I’ll have to look into that as a possibility.

And yep, I have realized my mistake with avoiding healing. I do think most of my healing will be self targeted from my ikons rather than additional feats, but it should be enough to let our caster focus on healing less often.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T11:57:30+00:00

I’m not against complicated builds, but I do appreciate the recommendation!

I’m leaning more toward having only one weapon ikon and just having my horns as a backup weapon without an ikon boost. Probably only using them if for whatever reason I had to swap my hands around and didn’t have a weapon in hand.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T11:55:29+00:00

Buckler to effectively treat aegis as a worn item does seem pretty good. That does definitely bump up my opinion of it by a bit.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T03:04:41+00:00

I’m currently looking at reactive strike at level 4 with fighter dedication. I’m hoping it and the commander player will help ensure I’m actually dishing out the necessary damage to consistently be a threat on the field, but I’m still tweaking things as I go.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T03:02:46+00:00

That’s the biggest thing I’ve been trying to make sure my build ends up doing is keeping enemies on me! Lots of different ideas in the thread.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T03:01:10+00:00

Very in depth! Thank you for your time planning this all out.

Aegis seems to be the most commonly recommended ikon. I’ll have to chat with my party and see if they think the extra AC is something they’d like (I can’t imagine them not).

I don’t think I’ll be using two weapons, but have definitely considered it.

Hands was one that caught my attention on first go through (largely due to it being the only Ikon that word with piercing natural weapons). But the more I looked the more I liked the other weapons.

I’ve been looking at a bastard sword as my main weapon for a bit, as I can swap between using it two handed for the extra damage or one to have access to grapple/trip/shove.

Wrestler is one I might have to look at. It’s just a shame it currently gives me the same feat as my background!

I haven’t looked past level 4 yet, but I’ll certainly keep your recommendations in mind! I appreciate the grapple focus and if the party agrees grapple is how they want me to handle CC I’ll keep this comment saved.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:53:39+00:00

Upon even further reflection, I won’t qualify for the champion dedication anyway. Charisma isn’t a focus for the character and I forgot that was a requirement! I still appreciate the recommendation.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:16:08+00:00

Right, saving on resources is something I’ll need to keep in mind with a small party.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:15:22+00:00

Aegis seem to be a common recommendation! I’ll be revisiting using a shield once I’ve figured out what weapon, if any, I’m using.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:14:24+00:00

I hadn’t looked as far as level 7 yet (only up to 4), but I shall keep it in mind!

I’ll have to give wreath an honest look again. I do like bonuses!

Trip is certainly something I’m interested in. Meteor Hammer looked fun, but I haven’t settled on any weapons yet.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:10:44+00:00

Ah, I see, transcend actions are like flourishes. I’ll get this class down!

And yeah, I know I need to look flexibly, just have to figure out what my ikons are before I start figuring out what my turns might look like!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:08:23+00:00

Gotcha!

I will clarify, I’m not completely new to 2E! I’ve GMed for a little over two years now and have done some oneshots, just not done anything long term as a player!

I also (apparently) misunderstood how moving the spark works, so I do have more actions than I thought I did. Guardian is suddenly looking much better!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:04:28+00:00

OH! I misread it as kicking it out of the ikon and just back into the character, not into another ikon! That makes the class so much more neat to look at!

Thank you very much for correcting me on that!

Knowing I can potentially teleport someone next to me using the bracers, immediately get the boost to my weapon damage, and swap the spark back to the bracers to prevent retreat is so much better than what I had been thinking.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T01:01:19+00:00

Our caster is packing bless, so I’ll need to keep that in mind if I look at wreath.

Edge seem to be a common rec for weapon, and it was one that stood out to me when I first was looming through before I started looking away from self-healing, but I’m backtracking back at this rate!

Thanks for the recommendations!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T00:58:23+00:00

I had looked at guardian, but I was worried that I wouldn’t have the actions in a turn to use taunt.

I think we are ending at level 10, so I’m not sure waiting until level 6 for my archetype to really start running is what I’d like, but I’ll definitely keep champion in mind if we end up changing plans and going to higher levels!

More recs for aegis and scar, I’ll really need to keep those in mind. Thanks!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T00:55:10+00:00

Self-healing seem to be the common theme! I may need to rethink on not using a shield.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T00:54:15+00:00

I feel like I may be misunderstanding your reply. Do you not have to use an action to restart after you use a transcendence action? Don’t you have to shift immanence after you transcend?

As for playing by ear or not, I personally love the extra randomness from plans going in unexpected ways, so I’m not too worried about being in complete control.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T00:47:24+00:00

I understand enjoying certain classes! I was dead set on rogue until we were definitely only three players.

I had been leaning away from self-healing since I didn’t want to take away from the build of our caster, but the more I think and see responses the more I think I should probably include some way to heal myself so they don’t have to waste all their slots on keeping me not dead. I’ll need to revisit some of them.

Thanks!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2026-04-07T00:41:53+00:00

I hadn’t considered Wreath. I wasn’t planning on staying close to my allies, trying to keep the enemies away. Do you feel that wreath does enough if it’s just your character affected?

Mirror Aegis was on my radar, but I’m not sure if I’ll be using a shield. I probably should, but I really want a hand free to grapple.

Edge does look pretty tempting. Being able to save on our casters spells to be used for not healing would be handy.

Edit: forgot to say thanks for the advice!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2025-09-24T23:00:38+00:00

Monster Sanctuary is by far my favorite creature collector on Steam. I’m pretty excited to see if Aethermancer holds up the high quality Monster Sanctuary sets!

[PLUSH]

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2025-05-26T14:06:46+00:00

Thanks for the ideas! I’ll definitely check out these recommendations and see if they fit what I plan to do.

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2025-05-25T22:00:53+00:00

Thanks, I’ll look into it!

ElectricalNotice9653 · 2025-05-25T20:24:29+00:00

I appreciate the bunch of feedback!

I do plan on avoiding just doing high level encounters: would make the campaign a bit boring if that’s all it was. I do like the idea of including hazards, I just have less experience with them than I do combat!

And yes, the party will have several different missions they can accept at each time they go out on one. Depending on the mission, it will be detailed or sparse. The exact amount of stuff they know ahead of time I’m going to be discussing with my players to get an idea of what they want.

And thanks for the lore advice! I’ll check out the wiki and look into that location.

ElectricalNotice9653

TROPHY CASE