The Kineticist

So you really wanted to play a character straight from Avatar the Last Airbender in your Pathfinder game and a Monk/Wizard multiclass just wasn’t cutting it huh? Well, in the Occult Adventures book, a class came out fairly late in Pathfinder, and that is the Kineticist, masters of elements. Usually construed as blasters, but with a surprisingly good capability for being fairly versatile depending on your Elemental choices, I will be presenting five builds to help you do your Bender fantasy in Pathfinder.

Base Kineticist

This is a basic Kineticist build, of one who goes around learning all the elements and trying to achieve elemental unity within and without.

Class:

Kineticist 20

Race

We will choose human and put that floating +2 into Constitution.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 12/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 8

Put your +1 at lvl 4 in Dex, then everything else in Constitution

20Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 15/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 8

Round up Dex, then everything else in Constitution

25Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 16/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 10 Everything in Constitution

Traits

Reactionary for that +2 in Initiative is great, Indomitable Faith will help with our poor Will Saving Throw.

Favored Class Bonus

Let me be very clear. Because of the mechanics involved with Burn from the Kineticist, you will be dealing yourself Non-Lethal Damage to activate your various powers and this will put a hard cap on what you can do within a day. Non-Lethal damage is a secondary pool of hp that when it meets with regular hp you become Staggered and if it goes over, you fall Unconscious. Each time you accept a Burn, you take Non-Lethal Damage equal to your level. This is only one point at first, but it goes up really, really fast. And that Non-Lethal Damage from Burn specifically cannot be healed until you have an 8hours rest.

All of this to say: If one of my builds is not putting the FCB into HP, I must have either:

1-Gone completely mad

2-Have a very good reason to.

Skills

Perception, Acrobatics, Stealth, Craft and Profession.

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

Human Bonus-Tribal Scars(from People of the North and not the Adventurer’s Guide)

3-Point-Blank Shot

5-Precise Shot

7-Deadly Aim

9-Improved Initiative

11-Medium Armor Proficiency

13-Dodge

15-Mobility

17-Shot on the Run

19-Weapon Finesse

If you have followed the guide so far, at level one, with the help of Tribal Scars and Toughness you will have 23 HP. As the overwhelming majority of your Blasts will be at range, Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot are mandatory, Deadly Aim applies to your Physical Blasts. Dodge, Mobility increase your Defenses and help with Mobility, so does Shot on the Run, and finally Weapon Finesse lets you do melee if no other options are available.

Elements and Blast Chosen by Level

1-Earth (Earth Blast)

7-Water (Water Blast)

15-Air (Air Blast)

Infusion by Level

1-Pushing Infusion

3-Extended Range

5-Entangling Infusion

9-Wall

11-Impale

13-Tremor

17-Fragmentation

19-Torrent

Your Blasts can Bull Rush opponents, have a fairly long range, can entangle foes, pierce through several targets, take the shape of a wall, fragment for area damage. Great variety usable will all three of your elements.

Wild Talents by Level

2-Kinetic Cover

4-Earth Climb

6-Tremorsense

8-Kinetic Healer

10-Earth Glide

12-Healing Burst

14-Spark of Life

16-Weather Master

18-Cryokinetic Stasis

20-Seismic Master

You can summon covers, can gain a climb speed and a burrow speed, tremorsense which is great for scouting, you can heal allies outside of battle which is amazing for your clerics/paladins for resources conservation, you can create Elementals, Control Weather, Earthquake and put yourself in an almost indestructible sheet of ice into a Temporal Stasis.

Something something wanted to literally play Aang or something.

Equipment

You quite literally need nothing so go ham.

Final Thoughts on the Build

You can call forth three of the four classical elements, blasting enemies and yet being a quite versatile character with much maneuverability and even some supporting ability, via Gather Power you can reduce Burn for your healing meaning you have unlimited healing, and while not useful in battle, it will be invaluable after each fight. And despite your low AC, via your Kinetic Cover Wild Talent and Wall infusion, you are still great at defense and battlefield control.

Soul Swallower

The four classical elements, however, are not all the elements the Kineticist gets access to. One such element is Void, and with it power many would call…unnatural.

Let’s toy around with it. We will take the Archetype and the Souldrinker Prestige Class. Our leveling should look like the following:

Kineticist (Void)7/Souldrinker 10/Kineticist (Void)3

Race

Let’s go with the Gray Dwarves, the Duergar, as it is weirdly thematically appropriate, plus it gives us a bunch of quite good resistances

Ability Scores

Round up Intelligence or Dex if either is odd then everything in Constitution.

15Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 10/Con 20/Int 16/Wis 9/Cha 3

20Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 10/Con 20/Int 17/Wis 10/Cha 3

25Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 11/Con 20/Int 18/Wis 10/Cha 3

Traits

Pragmatic Activator to Use Magic Devices via Intelligence rather than Charisma, Reactionary for some extra Initiative.

Favored Class Bonus

HP

Skills

Stealth, Use Magic Devices, Knowledge(Arcana), Knowledge(Planes), Knowledge(Religion) Spellcraft, Perception

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

3-Fiendish Obedience

5-Point-Blank Shot

7-Great Fortitude

9-Precise Shot

11-Medium Armor Proficiency

13-Heavy Armor Proficiency

15-Ability Focus(Kinetic Blast)

17-Spell Penetration

19-Greater Spell Penetration

Toughness is a no-brainer for the Kineticist, Fiendish Obedience into one of the four Horsemen(I recommend Famine), Precise Shot is a big duh, Ability Focus increases the DC of our Infusions on our Blast, Heavy Armor Proficiency gives us a ton of resilience, and Spell Penetration help us with our more energy focused blasts.

Elements and Blasts Gained by Level

1-Void(Gravity Blast)

7-Void(Negative Blast)

Infusions Gained by Level

1-Pushing Infusion

3-Pulling Infusion

5-Weighting Infusion

19-Vampiric Infusion

So you can use your Gravity Blast to push, pull or crush targets under their own weights, or your Negative Blast to drain the life of your targets

Wild Talents Gained by Level

2-Void Healer

4-No Breath

6-Gravity Control

18-Healing Burst

20-Corpse Puppet

You can alter gravity to propel yourself in the air, heal undead(and self when you get Vampiric Infusion) and can raise zombies under your control.

Souldrinker

You can eat the souls of people and drain their life forces to fuel spell-like abilities, gain a cacodaemon familiar and gain a few neat immunities, plus your Horseman’s Boons and Obedience which are usually pretty darned good.

Equipment

Chainshirt and a cloak with a hood for dramatic effects. Eventually a Full Plate Armor.

Final Thoughts on the Build

You are extremely resilient as you are the one archetype who can heal their Burn by raking souls to fuel your powers. We double down on destroying souls via Souldrinker which allows us to fuel Spell-Like abilities or magic items creation by digesting stolen souls, and we can use Enervation a number of times per day that is downright not okay (up to 6/day). Plus we can crew around with gravity, mucking up our enemies positioning, making us a great battlefield controller.

Pirate Lord

Ahoy Matey, we goin’ to sell seashells on the sea shores. That’s right, we’re making a Pirate build for a variety of reasons, one being that everything is better with pirates.

We will be taking the Deep Sea Pirate Prestige Class, and our leveling should look like the following:

Class

Kineticist 7/Deep Sea Pirate 10/Kineticist +3

Race

What kind of unholy abomination race shall we make this rapscallion? We’re going for a Merfolk. Because I am an absolute madman I guess. We’re also taking the Secret Magic Alternate Racial Skill which will allow us to cast Fins to Feet once per day, allowing us to pass for a human…*ish* for at least a while. Also, Merfolk gains bonuses to all the stats we wanted anyway.

Ability Scores

Round up Dexterity if odd then everything in Constitution.

15Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 11/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 13

20Point-Buy

Str 9/Dex 15/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 13

25Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 18/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 13

Traits

Reactionary for obvious reasons, Touched by the Sea to get reduced penalty for combat underwater.

Favored Class Bonus

HP.

Skills

Appraise, Profession(Sailor), Swim, Stealth

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

3-Point-Blank Shot

5-Precise Shot

7-Weapon Finesse

9-Piranha Strike

11-Deadly Aim

13-Improved Initiative

15-Weapon Focus(Kinetic Blast)

17-Weapon Focus(Rapier)

19-Improved Critical(Rapier)

Toughness is obvious, so is Precise Shot, as we will be passing off as a regular pyrate we are taking Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike.

Elements and Blasts Gained by Level

1-Wood(Wood Blast)

7-Water(Water Blast)

Infusions Gained by Level

1-Extended Range

3-Kinetic Blade

5-Pushing Infusion

19-Toxic Infusion

Longer range, pushing enemies out of ships, being able to form a blade out of wood or water to smack people over the head with, and making enemies hit with your wood blast sickened. Nice stuff

Wild Talents Gained by Level

2-Kinetic Cover

4-Merciful Foliage

6-Warp Wood

18-Water Manipulator

20-Watersense

Great defensive abilities, Warp Wood on a ship can one shot an entire encounter, Control Water is equally an encounter ender if used properly, and Tremorsense on water what. Very powerful abilities.

Deep Sea Pirate

You get +4d6 Sneak Attack and yes, you can, in fact, add that to your Blast. So more damage is always welcomed! You also get a bunch of Pirate Tricks as followed:

9-Drink for Free

10-Storm Sailor

12-Rigging Monkey

13-Defensive Climber

15-Foot Sweep

16-Shipboard Authority

You get a few fun bonuses, like a few taverns where you get a bonus in Diplomacy and Intimidate and get to drink for free, reducing the effects of Storm, easier climbing and rigging combat on a ship. Very piraty stuff which works great for what we’re going for.

Equipment

Nothing at first really, but eventually investing in a Hat of Disguise and a Rapier of some sort.

Final Thoughts on the Build

This is a wildly powerful build when in comes to a naval campaign, capable of instantly ending ship battles, and fight with great efficiency both on ship and underwater, makes for an excellent marine scout too, and your blast damage remains competitive via Sneak Attack. Impressive, very nice!

Elemental Knight

So, since we basically built Darth Nihilus earlier with our Souls Swallower build, let’s try to build a friggin Jedi now. Fortunately for us, the Aether element fits perfectly with this idea and Esoteric Knight not only keeps encouraging that path, but also cumulates with the Kineticist for Blast, Infusions and Wild Talents. Yes, yes, all the yes. Our leveling should look like the following:

Class

Kineticist 10/Esoteric Knight 10

Race

Half-Elf, putting that floating +2 in Constitution. Also taking the Ancestral Arm Alternate Racial Trait.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 12/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 10 Put everything in Dex and cry.

20Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 15/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 10 Round up Dex, then everything in Constitution

25Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 16/Con 20/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 10 Everything in Constitution

Traits

Sword Scion to get a +1 Attack bonus and start with an Aldori Dueling Sword for free,

Reactionary for that sweet +2 to Initiative.

Favored Class Bonus

This is where I am telling you Skills and you call me a madman, but to embody the idea of a Jedi we need many, many skills.

Skills

Acrobatics, Sleight of Hands, Stealth, Perception, Disable Devices

Feats by Level

1-Weapon Finesse

Half-Elf Bonus-Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Aldori Dueling Sword)

3-Weapon Focus(Aldori Dueling Sword)

5-Slashing Grace

7-Toughness

9-Piranha Strike

11-Psychic Sensitivity Bonus

11-Quick Draw

13-Point-Blank Shot

Bonus 13-Aldori Dueling Mastery

15-Precise Shot

Bonus 15-Weapon Specialization(Aldori Dueling Sword)

17-Iron Will

Bonus 17-Improved Critical(Aldori Dueling Sword)

19-Greater Iron Will

Bonus 19-Greater Weapon Focus(Aldori Dueling Sword)

So we take Toughness later in exchange for being able to use Dex with our Aldori Dueling Sword via Weapon Finesse and Slashing Grace. Precise Shot remains as mandatory as usual and Iron Will helps us protect our one bad saving throw. Via Esoteric Knight, we continue investing in our Aldori Dueling Sword with Weapon Specialization and Aldori Dueling Mastery.

Elements and Blasts Gained by Level

1-Aether (Telekinetic Blast)

7-Air (Air Blast)

Infusions Gained by Level

1-Kinetic Blade

3-Extended Range

5-Bowling Infusion

9-Foe Throw

12-Blade Whirlwind

16-Disintegrating Infusion

You can wrap your blade in Telekinetic energy, blast enemies with pure energy at a fairly long distance, throw enemies at each other, trip enemies with your telekinetic blast, make your kinetic blade essentially Whirlwind Attack and even Disintegrate people you hit with your blast.

Wild Traits Gained by Level

2-Kinetic Cover

4-Telekinesis Finesse

6-Telekinetic Haul

8-Air’s Leap

10-Force Barrier

14-Suffocate

18-Telekinetic Maneuvers

Let’s get this straight, we can all but Telekinesis at will, jump really really long distances, can use telekinesis to open/close doors, and we can even force choke people.

Esoteric Knight

So, Esoteric Knight gives us a High BAB and better hit die(see? Told ya I knew what I was doing for that FCB in skills), a bunch of combat feats and a few powers called Psychic Esoterica that we gain at the following levels:

12-Bonus Feat(Empath)

14-Mind Connection

16-Bonus Feat(Spell Penetration)

18-Psychokinesis

20-Bonus Feat(Combat Casting)

We can now superficially feel the emotions in people and even connect telepathically with them. Like a Jedi.

Equipment

You start for free with an Aldori Dueling Sword, just pick a Chain Shirt and be on your way. Later on, pick a Mithril Breastplate. Don’t forget your brown robes with a hood!

Final Thoughts on the Build

We are as close to playing a Jedi as we can get. We can use our sword one or two handed with good dexterity and get four iterative attacks per round with it, can jump super high, use telekinetic powers for subtle and less subtle effects, can feel the emotions of the world around us, can do great acrobatics, and can fight both in melee and at range with great efficiency. Only remember friends:

There is no death, there is the Force.

Wrath of Nature

We have talked about all the elements so far, including more eastern ones like wood or more theoretical like the Void or Aether.

Except for one.

That’s right baby, we are building Azula. Well, okay, a non-crazy, not necessarily evil Azula. You get the point. We are taking the Cinder Adept Archetype to focus solely on fire.

Class

Kineticist (Cinder Adept) 20

Race

Kitsune, Actually. Probably didn’t expect this one.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 5/Dex 12/Con 18/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 14

Put at least +2 in Charisma then everything else in Constitution

20Point-Buy

Str 5/Dex 14/Con 18/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 16 Throw everything in Constitution

25Point-Buy

Str 5/Dex 16/Con 18/Int 10/Wis 10/Cha 17

Round up Charisma then everything else in Constitution

Traits

Reactionary for that juicy +2 to Initiative, Trustworthy to get a bonus to both Bluff and Diplomacy and make Diplomacy a Class Skill

Favored Class Bonus

HP

Skills

Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Perception, though do throw a rank in both Handle Animal and Ride by level 4.

Feats by Level

1-Tribal Scars

Bonus 1-Mounted Combat

3-Toughness

5-Magical Tail

7-Magical Tail

9-Magical Tail

11-Magical Tail

13-Magical Tail

15-Magical Tail

17-Magical Tail

19-Magical Tail

You get a bunch of HP from the get go and over time which is great. You also have all nine Kitsune Tails by lvl 19, granting you several very powerful spell-like abilities such as Dominate Person or Invisibility for more social and scouting capabilities.

Elements and Blasts Gained by Level

1-Fire(Fire Blast)

7-Fire

15-Fire

Infusions Gained by Level

1-Replaced by Galloping Siphon

3-Burning Infusion

5-Fan of Flames

9-Detonation

11-Eruption

13-Extended Range

17-Pure-Flame Infusion

19-Explosion

So now your Fire Blast can take the form of a Cone, set enemies on fire, explode around you, completely bypass Spell Resistance, Erupt from the ground etc. And since you are only using Fire, by level 7 your Fire is blue like Azula, no seriously, it is a legit Composite Blast you auto get for double specializing in fire and turns all your flames blue.(and deals waaay more damage)

Wild Talents Gained by Level

2-Fire’s Fury

4-Replaced by Mount

6-Flame Jet

8-Replaced by Mount

10-Greater Flame Jet

12-Replaced by Mount

14-Trail of Flames

16-Fire Steed

18-From the Ashes

20-Improved Fire Steed

You replace three Wild Talents in exchange for getting a Horse Animal Companion at a Druid level equal to your level-3, which is still pretty darned good. I recommend looking up the Cavalier Builds for a good horse build. You deal even more damage with your Fire Blast, can shoot yourself into the air and maintain yourself in the air, when you use the Withdraw action you leave behind a Wall of Fire as per the spell and you can even do the whole Phoenix thing to die and resurrect yourself. Plus you grant a Fire Resistance to your Horse so that’s neat.

Equipment

A Chain Shirt, make it look fancy.

Final Thoughts on the Build

Okay, so you are a good face with your high Diplomacy and various Spell-Like Abilities and Change Shape ability as a Kitsune, and you are a very powerful blaster capable of dealing very high amounts of damage very rapidly, remaining extremely mobile between your Horse and your Fire Jet. You are The Blaster and the Blaster was named after you. Live it fully.