Kineticist Overcoming Immunity

[Draco_Lord]

Just posted this in the Occult Thread, but didn't get much in the way of answers. So I'll try here, and see what happens.


I am a little curious. For Kineticist if you go with just one element, and you fight something that has an immunity to your type of damage, is there any way to get around that at all? Or are you just kind of screwed?

[Ilorin Lorati]

Well, at 7th you get Expanded Element, which can be used to get a second element to get through immunity. Otherwise, though? I don't think there's any way to specifically bypass immunity - at least my search didn't show anything.

[Draco_Lord]

Yeah, that is a shame. I mean, I like the idea of splitting out into new elements, but both Energy Composite Blasts are single type, and I want a way to attack Touch AC at higher levels, and the force one is really tempting for a type of damage that is almost never ignored, but fire seems so much more fun to play with. At least I can make a decent debuffer in some ways.

[Kira_the_5th]

As someone who is in the process of uploading a handbook to the Kineticist at the moment, I've found a few ways.
- Draining Infusion lets you pull energy from elemental creatures directly. They get a save to reduce the damage to 1/4th normal, but it completely ignores resistance and immunity. This only works on enemies with the [element] subtype, though.
- Elemental Grip lets you cast Hold Person on elemental enemies as well. It doesn't do any damage, but it gives you something to do.
- Fire has Searing Flame, which breaks down Fire resistance. No dice on immunity though.
- Water gets Wrack via the Blood Kineticist archetype, which deals small amounts of unavoidable, typeless damage to anything that bleeds.
- If all else fails, hope you have a utility power like Celerity or some manner of blast that deals physical damage. Worst-case scenario, you take along a spear or a crossbow and poke it to death.

[Cyrocloud]

Not really bypassing so much, buy telekinisist if you take telekinesis a second time the comp blast is force damage, and I don't think anything in pathfinder resists force damage. In 3.5 there were force dragons in the epic level handbook, and maybe 1 or two others who resisted but it was incredibly rare.

[NightbringerGGZ]

Remember that simple physical blasts don't do elemental damage. So the Air, Earth, Telekinetic and Water Blasts don't have to worry about elemental resistance or immunity. Most composite blasts do half elemental and half physical damage, though some do entirely physical damage.

It's really only pure fire builds that have to worry about creatures being entirely immune to their damage. I would talk to your GM before the start of the game if you want to go pure fire.

[Draco_Lord]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm trying to build a kineticist, mostly for fun, and figuring out all the details is getting to me. It is a shame I can't build fire that well, rather like the element.