Pathfinder 2's New Alchemist Class Previewed!

Following up on the fighter and the rogue, Paizo has posted a preview of Pathfinder 2nd Edition's Alchemist class!

By Wayne Reynolds



​

• Alchemist Class Preview --
  • Alchemist and oracle are the most popular character classes.
  • Alchemist features --
    • Alchemical Crafter (it's Crafting skill feat, but the alchemist gets it for free)
    • Four bonus formula (plus the four from the Alchemical Crafter feat) + 2 each level.
    • Quick alchemy action.
    • Spend resonance to create alchemical objects on the fly.
    • Empower Bomb (3rd level) -- multiples bomb damage. Multiplier increases with level to 6x at 19th level.
    • Mutagens (5th level).
    • Craft free poisons each day; can also heal and disable traps.
  • Class Feats --
    • Efficient Alchemy (4th level) -- create more items during downtime.
    • Enduring Alchemy (4th level) -- improves Quick Alchemy by making items last longer.
    • Calculated Splash (4th level) -- Int mod smash damage rather than 1 splash damage.
    • Powerful Alchemy (6th level) -- increase effect DC of items.
    • Precise Bomb (6th level) -- hit enemies only with splash damage.
    • Debilitating Bomb (6th level) -- inflict conditions; has greater versions a 10th and 14th level.
    • Feral Mutagen (8th level) -- gives teeth and claws, boosting Intimidate checks.
    • Stalker Mutagen (10th level) -- enhances stealth, allow movement at full speed.
    • Improbable Elixirs (18th level) -- create potions.
    • Perfect Mutagen (18th level) -- ignore mutagen drawbacks.
• There's also an interview about the Alchemist with Paizo's Stephen Radney-McFarland over at TechRaptor.

[FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Save[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Save[/FONT]​

 

[Charlaquin]

Thank you, that's a nice piece of the puzzle to have.

Any time.

It's going to make for an interesting dynamic. A healing elixir (or a bomb maybe?) for an alchemist is both like a spell *or* like a consumable magical item. If you are making them on the fly, the alchemist's resonance is used. If they are made in advance, the *other* PC's resonance is used.

I would assume bombs don’t cost anyone Resonance to use,and only cost the Alchemist Resonance to make. On the other hand, it seems from the podcast that Elixirs will cost the Alchemist Resonance to make and will cost anyone but the Alchemist Resonance to use. I would bet that poisons likewise only cost Resonance for the Alchemist to make, but not for anyone to use, and that Mutagens will cost the Alchemist to make and anyone else to use.

And what will be the cost of those "made in advance" alchemical items? Heck will made on the fly stuff have a cost too?

Now that will be interesting to see. My bet is that they will not cost Resonance to make (though it wouldn’t really be a big deal if they did, as that would just mean you have an upper limit to how many alchemical items you can craft per day of Downtime), but will cost downtime and ingredients, which ultimately boil down to a cost of either gold to buy them or more downtime to harvest them. I would assume elixirs and mutagens made during downtime will still cost Resonance to use, including for the Alchemist, and that potions and bombs still don’t cost anyone Resonance to use.

In this way, alchemical items made during downtime can be balanced without limiting the number that an Alchemist can make or how long they can last. You can stockpile a thousand elixirs and mutagens, but you can never use more of them in a day than the party has Resonance to spend on them. You can stockpile a thousand poisons but your weapon can only be coated with one at a time. You can stockpile a thousand bombs, but you can never use more of them in a turn than you have actions to spend throwing them. As long as their effects are balanced, it doesn’t matter how many you can make because they’re regulated by the game’s other resource management systems. Having millions of them will just mean you can use them consistently, which is actually a good thing for the designers to be able to assume, as such an assumption will make them easier to balance. If you can count on the Alchemist having enough bombs to use them every turn, you can have their damage scale the same way weapon attacks do and know they’re fair.

 

[Ancalagon]

If you can count on the Alchemist having enough bombs to use them every turn, you can have their damage scale the same way weapon attacks do and know they’re fair.

A few comments, some related to the above

1: I don't know if you know this (I can't keep track of who is familiar with what system sorry!) but in the small chance that you don't, in PF1 the alchemist has 2+int mod+level bombs per day. You definitely can run out.

2: If the bombs take resonance, they will "compete" with your "non-bombs" stuff such as elixirs.

2.5: On bombs and resonance: some things - like a flask of acid or "simple" alchemist fire, really shouldn't take resonance to use. That would seem silly. However, a higher level alchemist can do more damage with those... maybe *that* requires resonance? Or is it just skill in creating/using? Can other people use these bombs (the upgraded ones)?

3: I really wonder how varied the "non-bombs" are. Are they just elixirs that affect the body? Are there things like transmuting materials? Smoke generators (that could be a bomb I suppose)? Powders that purify food? Artificial food? gasses that slow people down (some kind of poison?) etc etc. It would be a shame if it was only bombs and pseudo-potions....

4: Speaking of bombs... are they bombs or "a bunch of dangerous devices of which bombs is an iconic example"? You could have some kind of fire projector, a flask with electricity stored inside etc...

Hopeful to see some creative stuff!

 

[Charlaquin]

A few comments, some related to the above

1: I don't know if you know this (I can't keep track of who is familiar with what system sorry!) but in the small chance that you don't, in PF1 the alchemist has 2+int mod+level bombs per day. You definitely can run out.

I didn't know that. I'm basing my speculation mainly on what we have been shown of PF2.
2: If the bombs take resonance, they will "compete" with your "non-bombs" stuff such as elixirs.

2.5: On bombs and resonance: some things - like a flask of acid or "simple" alchemist fire, really shouldn't take resonance to use. That would seem silly. However, a higher level alchemist can do more damage with those... maybe *that* requires resonance? Or is it just skill in creating/using? Can other people use these bombs (the upgraded ones)?

I doubt bombs will ever cost anyone resonance to use. From what we have seen, alchemist's fires definitely do not cost resonance to use (but presumably do cost it to make, at least with Quick Alchemy). And it sounds like the damage multipliers for bombs are automatic and based on Alchemist level.

3: I really wonder how varied the "non-bombs" are. Are they just elixirs that affect the body? Are there things like transmuting materials? Smoke generators (that could be a bomb I suppose)? Powders that purify food? Artificial food? gasses that slow people down (some kind of poison?) etc etc. It would be a shame if it was only bombs and pseudo-potions....

Well, we seem to have bombs, elixirs, poisons, and mutagens. There definitely seems to be more to know about poisons in particular that they're not ready to share yet. As for elixirs, it seems like there might be some interesting effects, like that Miracle Worker thing that lets you resurrect people with Elixirs of Life.

4: Speaking of bombs... are they bombs or "a bunch of dangerous devices of which bombs is an iconic example"? You could have some kind of fire projector, a flask with electricity stored inside etc...

Hopeful to see some creative stuff!

Well, we know that alchemist's fire, acid flasks, thunderstones, and tanglefoot bags are all going to fall under "bombs." I think "bomb" here is just being used as a general term for offensive alchemical items that you throw.

 

[Aldarc]

Sure, sure. It’s really too soon to tell. Just saying, the fact that the Alchemist uses INT for Resonance opens the door for other classes to use other non-CHA attributes, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do.

But perhaps there will be other nuances to resonance that amount to more than simply use stat A instead of stat B. Since we were talking about wizards, then perhaps wizards will be inherently better at using magical scrolls, such that scroll use up to their Int modifier would not count against their Resonance.

 

[Ancalagon]

An important details - I didn't read the poison section carefully (not a fan of poisons) but it tells us about other stuff:

"which he can craft for free each day just like other alchemical items"

I was also thinking about the bombs competing with alchemical items (like elixirs) this morning and well... that's a dilemma that spellcasters face too. "Do I use a fireball or a divination spell?". The alchemist used to be different that the bombs and the infusions were different "pools" of power.

 

[Adso]

The interview made it clear that alchemical items are not magical items so... I'm not sure if using alchemical items will use resonance. Making them in 3 second flat... yeah maybe that takes a bit of magical juice, but it doesn't necessarily mean that using them will require resonance. We'll see

[MENTION=6706]Adso[/MENTION] : I am very very intrigued by the updates to the alchemist design. It's a hard class to do well, and as far as I know Paizo, so far, has done it best. There are things that are hinted that, that I'm not sure I'm interpreting correctly, but the dropping of infusion for going all out in crafting alchemical concoctions... bold, very bold!

Well, thank you. That's always our goal to make the best design possible at any given time. It is bold, but we are not afraid of bold.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Kind of surprised that alchemist and oracle are most popular classes in PF1.

I'm surprised about the alchemist. I'm not at all surprised about the oracle.

The oracle is basically everything good about the sorcerer, but better. Better spells, more spells known, better class abilities, better stats and proficiencies. If you didn't want to go through all of the trouble of playing a prepared caster, the oracle was pretty much the only real alternative.

 

[Arakasius]

I would agree Oracles have better class features than the sorcerer. The flexibility of revelations trump the locked in nature of bloodlines. Spells known I think is the same, just for some reason oracles access their bloodline/mystery spells one level earlier. Stats should be the same with only one strong save and the same casting stat. But in no way does the oracle have better spells than a sorcerer. Wizard/Sorcerer spell list is much stronger than the cleric spell list.

 

[RangerWickett]

Alchemists use of Intelligence for resonance is due to an obscure knowledge of how those infusions work.

I think it would be better as a precedent if you just gave alchemists some bonus resonance, rather than keying it to a different ability just for them.

Isn't that pretty easy to balance?

 

[The Crimson Binome]

But in no way does the oracle have better spells than a sorcerer. Wizard/Sorcerer spell list is much stronger than the cleric spell list.

Oracles get healing/restoration spells, and every party needs a healer. The oracle can fill the role of healer by default, and their mystery lets them fill another role of their choice.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for, though. I always prioritize healing, damage, and buffs. The sorcerer spell list has more debuffs/control and weird utility spells, and no oracle can get quite the full combination of those that a sorcerer can. But sorcerers can't really get the good healing/restoration spells, and that's always seemed like an insurmountable gap to me.