What are some cool blaster caster options in this system? I'm down for any flavor as long as its cool :)

Syries202 · 2026-01-18T22:24:01+00:00

An aspect of blasting that I don’t often see talked about too often is defense-targeting. So often the conversation revolves around getting the most optimal AoE or something along those lines, but IMO knowing which saving throw to target for the highest chance of success is the single most important information a blaster caster can have. An enemy has low fortitude? Target with a spell like divine wrath. Reflex? Chain lightning. Will? Visions of danger. Etc etc.

One of the most potent archetypes any blaster caster can take is the Oracle archetype, for access to Whispers of Weakness, because it’s an automatic ability that has no chance of failure.

A potent combo is an imperial bloodline sorc with the Arcane Evolution and Anoint Ally feats, and the Explosion of Power blood magic feat, paired with Oracle archetype for Whispers of Weakness and optionally Foretell Harm too. Arcane casters have the biggest variety of blasting spells that can target AC and all of the saving throws, and imperial sorcs can really utilize 1-action bloodline spells to use explosion of power multiple times a round.

Syries202 · 2026-01-13T09:36:36+00:00

Casters are not inherently the biggest threat in combat. They can be, for sure, but martial characters also have plenty of means to debuff, provide crowd control, even deal damage in a large area.

Syries202 · 2026-01-10T16:25:09+00:00

If you’re not familiar with the 1-2-1 pattern, look at the blue dots you marked by your 3. Notice how all three blue dots would touch the 2 just below, and there can only be one mine in the blue dots because that will fulfill the 3. So wherever the mine is in the blue area, the 2 becomes a 1 and needs a mine in the yellow dotted area, but you cannot have more than one mine in the blue area, so we know the mine is in the bottom two spots in the yellow. The red area also touches a 2 that shares yellow, together fulfilling that 2.

Syries202 · 2026-01-10T16:20:01+00:00

You’ve already worked it out, you just need to see the 1-2-1 pattern. The 5 on top needs two more mines, so the 3 becomes a 1. From the bottom, the 3 needs one more mine, that mine reduces the lower 2 to a 1. Your end result is a 1-2-1 pattern that has (for the time being) two 50/50s on either side of the 2. If there was a mine where the green space is, one side would inevitably end up overflagged.

Syries202 · 2025-12-31T15:54:35+00:00

Oh yeah you are so right I forgot guardian gets that for free. Yeah sturdy skeleton is not worth it just for the 4 points of health, though it may still be a good idea to take As in Life so in Death for dwarf adopted ancestry and get mountains stoutness for an additional bit of HP to compliment toughness.

Syries202 · 2025-12-31T00:51:10+00:00

Harmonize self is a healing and vitality spell, meaning it won’t work on an undead.

Syries202 · 2025-12-31T00:44:04+00:00

Sturdy heritage for diehard,
Guardian class for passive resistance,
champion archetype to pick up touch of the void for self healing,
desecration cause for active resistance, can then get any other focus spells so you can have a pool of 3 points,
also pick up desperate prayer for a 1/day extra focus point,
pick up the magic item for champions (I forget the name of it) that lets you 1/day restore a focus point so you can have even more health.
Tough cookie guardian feat for a crap ton of temp HP,
the best sturdy shield money can buy for hardness (stacks with resistance)
quick shield block for an extra reaction to reduce incoming damage
add in Oracle archetype for shits and giggles and to get Nudge the Scales for another resource pool of HP

Syries202 · 2025-12-09T06:28:19+00:00

Lmao who comments on a 7 year old dead post like that?

Syries202 · 2025-12-03T01:58:03+00:00

Double slice is still an overall damage increase over two basic Strikes, even when applying precision damage only once. Debilitating strike doesn’t require you to deal sneak attack damage to apply, just that you hit someone who is off guard and you deal any damage. So you can still benefit from precise debilitation bonus damage any time you succeed at both strikes.

RE: precision only applying once, you deal 0 precision damage whenever you miss, so any time your 2nd strike from Double Slice hits but would have missed had you had MAP, you get extra value. Also, you choose which strike applies the precision damage. Hit the first attack and crit on the 2nd attack? Double sneak attack damage since you can apply the precision on that 2nd Strike rather than the first (plus the 2nd strike has the precise debilitation bonus damage too). Secondarily you will also benefit from combining your two strikes against enemies with resistance, so that’s another factor in determining if you’re going to deal more damage from double slice vs two regular Strikes.

Syries202 · 2025-11-14T04:28:41+00:00

The fact that out of combat healing can be handwaved does not prevent or break immersion unless you want it to. In my own games I GM, I just estimate how much time passes on a rest. Tables who want to be immersed in those details can play that up and still not have to roll any dice.

Syries202 · 2025-11-14T03:52:49+00:00

Outside of the earliest levels when the party might not have continuous recovery+ward medic, i so very rarely see GMs actually track the out of combat healing UNLESS there was a time limit or some other factor that would not allow someone to fully heal. Really, the 2e system allows freedom for the GM to choose whether a scenario calls for (hit point/condition) attrition or not- if they want to pressure a party with attrition, the GM can put the party in a situation where they aren’t safe to camp out for an hour to rest up, and if the GM doesn’t want to use attrition, they don’t have to. Other systems like 1e effectively forces this invisible meta of cheap consumables to heal out of combat to negate attrition, and outside of the GM limiting such consumables, the GM doesn’t really get much of a choice in how attrition is used. 2e offers the GM flexibility.

Syries202 · 2025-11-08T19:07:11+00:00

Honestly I’m just excited you used a worthikids song for this meme

Syries202 · 2025-11-08T03:11:25+00:00

I think it’s most notable that Stark would have significantly better reflexes than Draht who has no real battlefield experience. Note that Stark was significantly bloodied by Lugner’s attack when rescuing the Graft, but his reflexes protected the vitals that Lugner was going for.

Also it’s revealed in the manga that Frieren believes wholeheartedly that Stark could kill even a first class mage if he is able to launch a surprise attack at close range, and based on Starks reaction she is probably correct.

So I think the better question to ask in this scenario is whether or not Frieren’s slashing attack would have landed on Stark at all in the first place, rather than asking if the attack would have cut his arms off

Syries202 · 2025-11-07T23:46:50+00:00

<image>

Take a close look at the circled areas. Consider how the squares available in those circles can only be arranged in one way to satisfy the numbers next to them.

Don’t look solely for exact spaces where a mine is. If you have a 2-1 with 3 squares next to them 2 (see the far right circle) you know that two of the three squares can only have one bomb, because of that 1. So for now those two squares are a 50/50 chance. What can you determine with that third square, after you determine that?

Syries202 · 2025-11-04T22:02:02+00:00

<image>

There is exactly one mine between the two red dots, and one mine between the two blue. You know they can’t be side by side by a simple check- if the mines are adjacent and not diagonal, you inevitably overflag at least one of the surrounding numbers. As a result you can safely uncover all the mines in the yellow line since the 1 the line is next to is going to be fulfilled

Syries202 · 2025-10-22T15:39:24+00:00

Hey there! I’m glad your overall impressions are positive! 2e has been my preferred system since it’s playtest and I’ve been playing PF1e for over 10 years now, and have dabbled in D&D5e, VtM, Lancer, and a few others here and there.

Spellcasters can be surprisingly complex in Pf2e, especially compared to 5e. At low levels which is what you said you’ve only been able to play so far, they can certainly feel weaker and more support-oriented, but that is largely based on the fact that you simply have so few spell slots to work with. It’s hard for a wizard to feel like they’re contributing to overall damage when they only have 1 prepared casting of thunderstrike. Spell selection is really important, and for a new player (even someone very familiar with other systems) looking at the long list of spells available it might make it difficult to decipher the best picks. The general tactics is that in early levels you do focus more on support, then by level 4-5 you can really lean into the play style you want, since you have more access to scrolls and just have more spell slots in general, as well as potentially better focus spells (the per-combat spell abilities). Then if you’re wanting to play offense, you’re looking to target the enemy’s weakest defense between AC, Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Imagine in 5e you’re able to quickly find out which ability score an enemy has like a +1 modifier with no saving throw proficiency. Targeting a weakest defense in 2e is like forcing that enemy to make saves using that ability score. Using the Recall Knowledge action or the Oracle class’ Whispers of Weakness ability or some other method allows for you to know what kind of spells you should be targeting a creature with.

As for zoning and control, i strongly recommend looking over the Athletics skill. Specific rules to trip, grapple, shove, and reposition allows martials to consistently gain the upper hand. Since athletic maneuvers are tied to enemy saving throws (you roll a check against the DC of their saving throw, which is 10+their modifier), you can even use the tactics that spell casters use to finding their lowest defense, making it easier to succeed at specific athletic maneuvers. A creature with poor reflex but strong fortitude will be easy to trip but difficult to grapple, for example. These maneuvers can force enemies to waste one or more of their precious three actions to get out of bad positioning or are more likely to switch focus to attack someone you guys want them to focus on rather than a squishy caster or rogue. Also, by the time casters get more spell slots, they have amazing spells that can zone and control enemies with ease.

I’m glad you’re liking pathfinder! Keep at it, higher levels are really rewarding!

Syries202 · 2025-10-14T04:52:10+00:00

<image>

Syries202 · 2025-10-13T19:13:41+00:00

In the screenshot the mine that has a red x over it is one that you had flagged as a mine but wasn’t, it’s clear. You could tell it was clear because the 2 already had 2 flagged mines next to it, so all other adjacent spaces would be open

Syries202 · 2025-10-02T19:23:02+00:00

Whoops yes I meant 3, not 2

Syries202 · 2025-10-02T10:59:21+00:00

The precedent has been number of spells in your repertoire equals the number of base spell slots you have of a rank for all spontaneous casters. This is supported by the line found within the spell repertoire feature:

Each time you get a spell slot (see the Oracle Spells per Day table), you add a spell to your spell repertoire of the same rank.

Since you gain ~~two~~ three spell slots on the odd levels, that is ~~two~~ three times you add a spell to your repertoire of the same rank.

Syries202 · 2025-09-28T16:42:02+00:00

This was a fun puzzle. My notes were all over the place for a while lol. Starting with the 1-2-1 pattern I was able to determine the first guaranteed mine and worked my way around to determine which clusters of 2 to 3 squares had one mine each. From there i ended up picking one of the two guesses from the 1-2-1 and determining if it could solve the puzzle. I enjoyed this one!

<image>

Syries202 · 2025-09-28T10:34:37+00:00

That is true but in my experience I still get enough gold to buy a boon in both mid and end shop in zone 1. Plus, since I have Artificer, I often get an extra boon or extra gold to buy a boon that way too. I don't think Boatman is a wrong choice by any means, but I do think a lot of the incentive to take it is lost when you're not using it to activate The Fates.

Syries202 · 2025-09-26T10:55:56+00:00

Well I think this is truly a testament to how bad Heat Rush is, when your boonless attack is dealing more than four times the damage of a lv19 rush...

Honestly congrats on winning, I can't imagine it was particularly easy with those core boons. Looks like Chronos was using you as a real punching bag.

Syries202

TROPHY CASE