It’s LAUNCH DAY For The Pathfinder 2 Playtest!

Today’s the day! You can now download the Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest book!

Head on over to Paizo.com to download it for free.

Its tinged with a little sadness for those of us who preordered the hard copy, as issues with Amazon means that our copies have been delayed by an indefinite amount.

’’When Paizo was planning this year's Pathfinder Playtest, we expected to exceed our own ability to fulfill orders on a timely basis, so we decided to use Fulfillment by Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon's reports indicate that most customers will not be receiving their orders by tomorrow's release date. They shipped 3 orders on July 28, 3 more on July 29, and no orders on July 30 or 31. Today, they have shipped almost 10% of the outstanding orders, and they are continuing to ship through the night and into tomorrow. They have so far been unable to tell us when they will complete shipping.”

However, at least the PDFs are still available for free in the meantime.

Adventure chapters are also available alongside the rule book, with the first being available today. They are as follows:

1. The Lost Star, Aug 7 - Aug 26 (Also available at Gen Con on Aug 2.)
2. In Pale Mountain’s Shadow, Aug 7 - Sep 9
3. Affair At Sombrefell Hall, Sep 10 - Sep 23
4. The Mirrored Moon, Sep 24 - Oct 8
5. The Heroes Of Undarin, Oct 9 - Oct 21
6. Red Flags, Oct 22 - Nov 4
7. When The Stars Go Dark, Nov 5 - Nov 18

 

[mellored]

What do you guys think the optimal state distribution is in the endgame?

Str is an easy dump for many classes. If your not wearing heavy armor and a heavy weapon, there isn't a big need for it.
Cha and Int are also somewhat weak. As 2 out of your 20 resonnance (at level 20), or 2 extra trained skill (you don't extra get skill feats...) is probably worth losing for +1 to hit.
Fort / Ref / Will are not easy dumps, but probably not worth the 2 boosts for. Con as hit points isn't a huge thing. So 18's for them.

So that's 2 or 3 stats you could potentially leave behind.

So...
For the non-strength classes, I would say...
22 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 12 (str)

For the Str classes it still seems worth getting 22.
22 (str) / 18 / 18 / 18 / 16 (int) / 16 (cha)

I could also see some multi-classes going...
22 / 22 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 16 (int/cha) / 10 (str)

 

[Kaodi]

What is the basis for dumping Str with Divine casters? That you just use Chill Touch and Reach Spell for offence?

 

[mellored]

What is the basis for dumping Str with Divine casters? That you just use Chill Touch and Reach Spell for offence?

I could see all 3 clerics.

22 Str clerics, with (mostly) support spells that don't depend on Wis. (i.e. bless).
22 Wis clerics, who use chill touch and DC spells.
22 Str / 22 Wis / 18 Con / 18 Dex / 14 Cha / 12 Int clerics, who can both attack, cast chlll touch, and use DC spells.

Also, ranged attacks use Dex, so Str isn't a huge deal.
Though, the +1 AC from medium armor means you might not want Str to be at least 14, even if your going full spell caster.



But mainly, I see 22 in your main stat (and 18 in Con/Dex/wis) as being the winner most of the time.
With 22/22 being worth it in some cases (hopefully one of those will be Con/Dex/Wis).

Not that 20 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 16 (int or cha) would be awful or anything...


Really, with 4 choices and a reason to take each stat, it's hard to screw up.

 

[Kaodi]

Actually I do not think you can get 22/22 because you cannot get two 18s at start?

I think the most stacked set of even numbers you can get is 22, 20, 20, 20, 10, 8 with an 18, 14, 14, 14, 10, 8 starting array.

 

[Zardnaar]

Actually I do not think you can get 22/22 because you cannot get two 18s at start?

I think the most stacked set of even numbers you can get is 22, 20, 20, 20, 10, 8 with an 18, 14, 14, 14, 10, 8 starting array.

You get boosts later in the game.

18 to start with +1 at level 5,10, 15 not sure where you get the other +1 from. In 5E terms you get 4 ASIS at those levels but once you get an 18 you only get +1 instead of +2.

 

[Kaodi]

Level 20. You still get ability boosts at level 20.

 

[mellored]

Actually I do not think you can get 22/22 because you cannot get two 18s at start?

You're right.

I think the most stacked set of even numbers you can get is 22, 20, 20, 20, 10, 8 with an 18, 14, 14, 14, 10, 8 starting array.

That might work well for a Bard. Dumping Str and Int, and picking up Eclectic Skill to fill in the gaps.

But I'm not sure I'd take that for most.

 

[mellored]

Level 20. You still get ability boosts at level 20.

Well... now that you mention that...
Having 22 for only 1 level of play probably isn't worth skipping +1 resonance form 15-19 (and +2 resonance at level 20).


So, unless I was starting at level 20 I'd probably would do 20 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 16

Or maybe 20 (@ level 10) / 20 (@ level 15) / 18 / 18 / 18 / 12

 

[Zardnaar]

I don't think I would boost anything above 20. Maybe even 18.

 

[CapnZapp]

Talk about inflation.

What happened to the wisdom that says strength needs weakness to stand out.

If you can easily get multiple 18's then a 12 or 14 will start to feel like a weakness.

What's next? Starting with 20 in all abilities, so you never have experience getting only a +4 to your roll?