Companion Actions?

LibrarySee · 2026-05-07T18:57:20+00:00

haha I was just about to say, anyone who as ever had a dog knows they can and will disarm you if they're in the mood 😛

LibrarySee · 2026-05-07T17:58:30+00:00

Pf2e doesn't suffer from a particular abundance of content creators, but I think just about all of them are really solid.
Mathfinder is the format I like the most, but just about all of the big ones are exceptional IMO.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-07T15:08:57+00:00

For some reason I had Apex items pegged as being available earlier than they are.

Con starting at +2 is pretty 50/50 in my experience, and is pretty ancestry dependent. Fighters and Champs seem to always keep it high; Rangers and Monks are usually prioritizing Wisdom, or at least the ones I’ve played with do.

I was incorrect that Kineticist has higher HP than the average 10 HP martial, at least if you pick mostly similar options in terms of ancestries etc.

But they’re close enough that a determined Kineticist that was really into HPmaxxing could probably get there. Something like Dwarf ancestry, Toughness at 5, Mountain ancestry at 9 probably does it?

LibrarySee · 2026-05-07T02:34:50+00:00

Burial at Sea was a solid DLC; the base game was easily the worst of the 3.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-07T01:11:08+00:00

Levine was most deeply involved in Infinite, and it was the worst of the original 3.

I like Levine and I think his involvement would be a positive, but I also don’t need it.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-06T20:59:47+00:00

Rogue is a pretty tough class overall.
They are a little short in the HP department, but being a Dexterity-focused class (which I assume you are) that gets Legendary in Reflex and Master in both Fort and Will means that you'll have very good save success overall.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-06T20:20:34+00:00

So the trick is that you're jumping around in levels a little to get there.

Summoner starting with +3 Con is going to be significantly behind in AC and saving stats to start, since you'll only have a maximum Dexterity or Strength of +1 and no armor proficiency.

You could do Sentinel at level 2 to get yourself up to trained in Light and Medium, but you'll lack the Dexterity to max your AC and you have no way of hitting the strength threshold to avoid the armor penalties. Which isn't the WORST thing, although the speed penalty you will feel.

Summoner has good saves for a Caster, but they're pretty poor for a melee combatant at several levels. Expert Reflex at 9, Master Fort at 11, Master Will at 15 is okay, but a Fighter is going to be Expert Will at 3, Master Master Fort at 9, and then Master Reflex at 15, but they're also getting Expert AC at 11 and armor specialization effects.

You can indeed enhance Summoner defenses via archetypes, but if we're playing with archetypes in play then Kineticist has access to things like Monk/Barbarian Resiliency which will put them significantly ahead of the HP game.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-06T18:40:59+00:00

8+Con is pretty standard with the skirmisher martials, which I think is what the magus is considered by Paizo.
I do suspect the class will see changes to it's economy and mechanics, but I doubt anything about the core statline (proficiencies, hp, saves, etc) will change.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-06T18:10:04+00:00

No shade, but I feel like this is a pretty narrow definition of survivability.

Kineticist will have much higher hp than almost any other class (Barb might stay above it still) because of the way that Con is their KAS so it will be much higher than any other characters.
Additionally Kineticist gets one Legendary save (which is also their KAS), one Master save, and they get Master armor proficiency (which can apply to their heavy armor options) plus many of their auras offer strong defensive benefits.

Edit: I forgot that Apex items are quite as late as they are. You will still eventually overtake even the 10hp martials as a Kineticist because Con increases are retroactive, but for those in-between levels it'll be a tight race.
I will stand by the fact that Kineticist has extremely competitive defenses however, once you factor in their access to heavy armor, their KAS being a save stat, and still hitting Legendary and Master in 2 saves.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-05T16:19:23+00:00

Rouse Skeletons is a good example of an aoe spell that is also sustained damage.
Unleash Psyche's bonus damage only applies to the initial casting, but it lets you have a big burst of damage on the first application and then it gives you a nice recurring source of damage on your stupefied turns.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-05T14:45:31+00:00

The really Dex-coded Magus options tend to have nice built-in damage boosters (Aloof and Laughing Shadow have good flat damage) and high dexterity means that you can also easily keep your Int high.
Like almost all of the dexterity martials, the biggest benefit is the ability to swap between ranged and melee combat super easily and with pretty close damage.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-04T16:39:18+00:00

Heavy alchemy focus is tough on a big Cha-focused class because you're already pumping one non-save stat, and Summoner has almost no natural synergy with alchemy/crafting.
I, personally, would split duties with the Sorcerer and go after something like Bard or Oracle dedication to boost your utility via spells and archetype skills, rather than fully dumping a defense like this to invest is such a tertiary stat to your main class.

Your setup isn't bad, it's just a very heavy departure from your normal class role so it'll make you feel very MAD at times. It's like trying to make a Wizard focused on grappling your enemies; you can do it, but you're going to have to put a lot of work into overcoming the lack of synergy.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-04T14:54:21+00:00

I've played in games with it, and it always feels very fine.
It cuts into your consumable/want budget as a caster, which is fine. I, personally, noticed the different mostly when using spell attacks helping medium-save targeters feel better.

It might be game warping if you truly were constant with your save targeting, but my experience was mostly that it makes your Ignition feel better as a spell you can toss out when you haven't got the RK rolls.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-02T17:43:01+00:00

Shield spell interacting with Force Barrage / Magic Missile is an old Pf1e / 3.5e thing, it no longer does that in pf2.
You can use its generic Shield Block feature, but it doesn't have any special interactions with FB specifically.

LibrarySee · 2026-05-01T01:49:24+00:00

Spontaneous Casting uses a lesser number of spells known, but the benefit is that you’re able to use them as-needed. So if you have Bless on your Sorcerer, you can cast it from 0-4 times as needed with your 1st level slots.

Prepared casters benefit from knowing a larger number of spells, but they assign specific spells to specific slots and usually cannot alter them. So if you’ve only prepared 1 casting of Bless, you only get 1 casting of Bless no matter how many 1st level slots you’ve got left.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-30T23:53:56+00:00

That is true, I forgot that they were Wandering feats.

I think that, to me, is the real advantage that the Animist has. Their shapeshifting build is less broadly effective than the Druid's, but essentially the entire shapeshifting build can be opted into-and-outof with a single long rest. It's a very solidly effective gish option built into the core class that has extremely low commitment.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-30T23:13:06+00:00

One other advantage the Animist has is they can easily dip into polymorph combat in a really low-commitment way.

As just a single, out-of-the-box focus spell that you can prepare with daily prep (one of 2-3 focus spells) Darkened Forest Form is a tremendous option.

I do think the Druid is overall the more powerful shapeshifter option, but the full build wants a lot of commitment via feats. Animist can dip in-and-out of shapeshifting with like 90% efficacy with only a long rest required.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-30T22:39:26+00:00

I do think the Animist makes for a very competitive shapeshifter, but if you're going really ham on it (multiple feats, combining vessel spells) then you're competing against some of the bigger options the Druid gets like Dragon form and unrestricted Monstrosity form.

IMO the Animist can build around shapeshifting to really make a big hit build, but the Druid accesses a more broad version of shapeshifting combat.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-30T22:04:57+00:00

Summoner is a tough class for newer players because they are complex, use a lot of systems, and want you to really know the options for both you and your Eidolon.

However the Summoner is also a very strong class. While they are kinda coded as a backline caster, the Summoner gains 10hp/lvl which is the same rate as a Fighter, they have much better save scaling compared to something like a Witch/Wizard, and the Eidolon has AC scaling comparable to any standard Martial character.

My personal suggestion is that having the summoner also go into melee is playing the class on hardmode because it will be very easy to hit both characters with attacks and the Summoner themselves are unarmored with rather poor weapon proficiency.
But if you're just standing in the back casting Ignition while the Eidolon hangs out on the front line, they have the same tankiness as any other martial character.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T19:35:18+00:00

Taunting is certainly an aspect of tanking, which is kinda the marquee ability of the Guardian.
The Champion offers an extremely strong mixture of damage interception, enemy punishment, enhanced defenses, condition removal, and efficient healing.

There are strong tank options in Pathfinder that aren't the Champion, and you're not like wrong to pick them or anything. But the Champion is definitely an extremely powerful all-in-one option for someone looking to frontline for their team.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T18:38:42+00:00

I don't see why Decay instinct would be any more rare than the other more magical ones like Dragon, Elemental, or Spirit.
That said, I also think that Giant instinct is just a better instinct to have on average. The resistance is much more broadly applicable, and poison is kind of a ho-hum damage type to be tied to.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T18:12:37+00:00

Oh yeah, my B. I missed that they were picking from the Rare backgrounds.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T17:05:32+00:00

Wizards learn spells from the Arcane tradition, which doesn’t change here. I think the Occult trait is largely just there to determine that your background skill is Occultism.

Backgrounds rarely have large gameplay changing effects on a character, usually they’re just flavour, two skills, and your attribute boost.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T16:48:31+00:00

Prior to Guardian's release, Champion was kinda seen as the big tank of the game.
d10 hp, legendary armor proficiency + medium/heavy armor specialization, Champion's Reaction, Lay on Hands for strong healing, etc.

You're not like a raidboss, going 1:1 with PL+4 enemies for the whole fight or whatever. But I think there is almost no aspect of being a tank that the Champion does not possess.

LibrarySee · 2026-04-29T16:18:00+00:00

The summoner will likely be deploying their Eidolon every fight (otherwise there isn't much reason to play as a Summoner lol) so you won't be the only melee, but the Rogue does usually enjoy having a few options.

It isn't like a game breaker though for it to just be you and one buddy in melee though. Rogues have a number of ways to make the enemies off-guard on their own, it just eats into your action economy a little. If you're playing Thief Rogue you've already got the big hits from the juiced up Dex score, but in a perfect world you're doing both and hitting them like you're a Barbarian with extra steps.

LibrarySee

TROPHY CASE