Kineticist: Which element is best? Specialize or generalize?

[KillianHawkeye]

Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Heart Force.

What do people think about how the five elemental focuses (ignoring the ones from other sources) stack up against each other? What is everyone's favorite element?

Is it better to mix elements, or do you prefer tripling-down on a single one of them? Are some combinations better than others?



I'm working on my second ever Pathfinder character and I really love the Kineticist class, but I'm having trouble deciding which way to play it. My first instinct was to have ALL the Fire, but Air and Aether both have some interesting options to consider. Even Earth and Water have a lot of potential, although I'm not really looking at either of those for my current character (maybe in the future, though).

Mostly I'd love to hear opinions from anyone with experience playing the class or who's done a more thorough comparison of the various abilities available.


Also, am I right to assume that all of my feats after 6th level should be going into Extra Wild Talent?

[Arutema]

Have you checked out N. Jolly's guide? (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1utgJVtJStEtZ8B923VWFYKIx6kbWQS_44zSMOb8rkT0/edit?usp=sharing)

I'm personally a fan of water for it's flexibility, but the raw but situational damage potential of fire is hard to ignore.

[Rerednaw]

Earth is one of the few elements with a group of racial bonuses.

Dwarves can get toughness as bonus feat have a racial con bonus, can get +1 cl with earth (that includes blasts), and have damage as a favored class bonus. And it has one of better defense talents with DR/Adamantine.

The new splatbook may also influence your decision. PDF is out in a few days.

[KillianHawkeye]

Have you checked out N. Jolly's guide? (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1utgJVtJStEtZ8B923VWFYKIx6kbWQS_44zSMOb8rkT0/edit?usp=sharing)

No, but I'll take a look at it.


Earth is one of the few elements with a group of racial bonuses.

Dwarves can get toughness as bonus feat have a racial con bonus, can get +1 cl with earth (that includes blasts), and have damage as a favored class bonus. And it has one of better defense talents with DR/Adamantine.

Yeah, I'd assume that a dwarf would make a good geokineticist. Something to keep in mind for the future, definitely.


The new splatbook may also influence your decision. PDF is out in a few days.

Oh really, do you know what it's called?

[Arutema]

Oh really, do you know what it's called?
Psychic Anthology

[Xuldarinar]

Which is best is first and formost situational. That being said, lets list things. These are from memory, not from book reference, so take with a grain of salt.


Aether: Decent damage coverage, but requires things be on hand. Neat toys though.

Air: Energy and physical damages covered, has some nice toys.

Earth: Physical damages covered but no energy. Some good toys.

Fire: Stuck on fire damage, the most common element for resistances and immunities. Has some toys though.

Void: Some damage coverage, both physical and negative, but can be made useless with one choice the momemt undead show. Good toys, but very few.

Water: See Air.

Wood: Decent on physical damage, but has the least toys out of any.


Now, if we step into the kineticists of porphyra books, we get more tools for each and several more elemente to discuss, but thats 3rd party.