The Starfinder Solarian harnesses the power of the cosmos itself to form physical weapons and melee attacks.
Starfinder Solarians are solar knights, or conduits for the forces of the cosmos. They can attune themselves to the powers of gravity and light, and use it to manifest and empower solar equipment. Their abilities are impressive and difficult to explain. But a Solarian is as likely to rush into battle, as to meditate on their powers, as to bore their crew members with talk of cosmic phenomena.
Jump to…
The Starfinder Solarian Basics
Solarians are a class that you could expect to jump into danger. They utilize a mixture of battlefield manipulation and heavy-duty melee attacks, and it’s not uncommon for them to get into the thick of things and get hands-on with whatever they are fighting. They take a boost to their Strength attribute at character creation, and begin with expert-level training in their Reflex and Will saving throws as well as Perception.
Solarians also start out with training in their Fortitude saving throw as well as Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons, Unarmed Attacks, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Unarmored Defense, Athletics, and a number of additional skills equal to their Intelligence Modifier plus four.
In combat, Solarians are likely to rush into the middle of a battle and attack with their solar manifestations. Depending on their attunement at the time, they will switch between battlefield control or more hands-on attacks. But if there is a fight, you can trust that your crew’s Solarian will be right in the thick of it.
In non-combat situations, a Starfinder Solarian will often let their solar aspect influence how they’ll act. They may be a smooth talker who can easily manipulate foes and make friends of standoffish NPCs, or the strong and silent type. There’s a good chance they can be found at the front of their group, keeping an eye out for danger and always ready for a situation to get suddenly dangerous.
Stellar Attunement
Starfinder Solarians existence cycles between the aspects of the stars. They begin with the two aspects, photon and graviton.The photon aspect is the power of the stars to emit heat, light, and plasma. While the graviton aspect is the ability of the stars to attract and hold other objects through gravity.
At any time, a Solarian is considered either photon attuned, graviton attuned, or unattuned. Many of their abilities will have additional effects that are based on their current attunement at that time. Similarly, some abilities will swap their current attunement to another.
Solar Manifestations
The Solarian’s understanding of the stellar force of the universe can manifest in a variety of tangible ways. As a result, they can create and maintain three different solar manifestations. Each will act differently and have different abilities. But each will vanish if the Solarian becomes unattuned.
Solar Flare: Solar flares manifest as a small mote of solar power that hover or appear to embed in part of the Solarian’s body, such as the palm of their hand. This mote can unleash directed blasts of energy as a ranged weapon. For the graviton attuned, this is a 1d8 bludgeoning damage weapon with a range of fifteen feet. With photon attunement, it is a 1d6 fire weapon with a range of thirty feet.
Solar Nimbus: The solar nimbus is a layer of energy that surrounds the Starfinder Solarians. It appears as a glowing light or solid darkness that surrounds them, depending on their current state of attunement. In general, the shape of the nimbus is up to the player, and this shape has no impact on gameplay.
The solar nimbus also gives the Solarian access to the Nimbus Surge reaction. With this surge, gravitation attunement, and a critical success, the strike will require the target to succeed on a Fortitude saving throw or become enfeebled. Similarly, critical success and a photon attunement requires a Fortitude saving throw or else the target will become clumsy.
Solar Weapon: Through force of will, a Starfinder Solarian can call forth a tangible weapon. This weapon is forged from the essence of the stars. This solar weapon is an extension of the Solarian themself, and can change form with meditation. With gravitation attunement, a successful strike with this weapon will make all spaces adjacent to the target into difficult terrain. Photon attunement will deal additional damage equal to half of the Solarian’s level rounded up.
Multiclassing a Starfinder Solarian
Any character can become attuned to the powerful forces of light and gravity. They will learn manifest the cosmic cycle into weapons that they can wield. Mystics can use this power to confront enemies on the frontline while using magic to boost and heal. And soldiers can use Solarian abilities to further their close-quarters fighting style while taking advantage of the Solarian’s cosmic weapons.
Characters who multiclass as a Solarian gain access to the feats Solarian Dedication, Basic and Advanced Stellar Attunement, Solar Weapon Customization, Solarian’s Resiliency, Solar Flare, Solar Nimbus, and Solar Manifestation Expert.
How to Play a Starfinder Solarian
In many classes, players will chose a sub-class very early in the character creation process. These are usually choices that will stick with your character for the rest of the game. And while a flexible GM may let you change this later, they are often a choice you make for your character once. But the Solarian manages to be a much more flexible player class in many ways.
No only are you able to change the Starfinder Solarian’s solar weapon, but their attunement is also always in flux. This can mean that a character’s play style can change many times throughout an adventure. Unfortunately, this sort of flexibility comes with many more things for you, as the player, to keep track of.
Different situations or battles may require different attunements or weapons. So take a moment at the beginning or your turn to use the attune action. Then manifest the right weapon for the job. And remember, each weapon will act differently depending on your attunement in that moment. You’ve got endless options! So try not to fall into the same-action-ever-turn trap that many of us do.
Happy adventuring!
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.
Don’t Miss:
Read more at this site