Pathfinder's most complex class? How to play the ANIMIST (with COMBAT DEMO!) (War of Immortals)

[@alessandrodellanno948]

YEAH COMBAT DEMO ARE BACK. I LOVE THEM. BRING MORE OF THEM!!!

[@darkerthanblack23]

64 spells to choose from at level 17 is something.

[@TheBearProphet]

Embodiment of Battle is what the Oracle of Battle focus spell should have been more like. The reactive strike and bonuses to hit/damage make the sustaining potentially worth it.

[@cheezeofages]

More like but hopeful not exactly like. The lack of ability to sustain it through a strike basically means you are Slowed until you decide to not keep it up past your turn and cutting yourself off from casting most spells and striking in the same turn plus your casting accuracy is taking a hit in exchange for saving your self a buff spell and gaining a reaction that doesn't pop most turns. Personally while Weapon Trance definitely needs a buff I personally prefer just popping a buff and then being able to churn out 6d6 damage in a 20ft AoE and then Striking for +1d6 from Bespell Strikes to just swinging at baselne martial accuracy with no bonuses and not being able to move and strike twice until mid levels.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

ADDITIONS/ERRATA: -8:03 The 10th-level bump in apparition slots is intentional! This used to be a 10th-level class feature but it was just folded into the table. -18:19 Protector Tree slept on the job and should've blocked the damage! It wouldn't have changed much in this combat though. -23:19 As a commenter points out, the Medium subclass's feature at Level 9, by RAW, does NOT give you an extra Focus Point, since at Level 7 you already were given a 2nd Focus Point and this just says you have a number equal to the number of apparitions you have, which is also two. The sentence has to mean something! So it's a mystery. -26:40 I had vaguely remembered Garden of Healing needing a nerf but didn't remember why. Here I saw that they nerfed it to not allow a SECOND casting to do more healing. But it still has the issue that it gives INSANE non-combat healing. I actually raised during the playtest but forgot! -38:48 I read the language backwards: the Whispers of Warning feat triggers when a foe has a NORMAL success attacking you (not critical success). Less good, but still good.

[@Zakiel97]

burning through your spirits in order to launch 3 quickened spells over a single combat sounds really cool tbh, a very dramatic hail mary sort of maneuver but I like the risk/reward there a lot. Just enough power to not solve a threat single handedly, just enough of a downside that you feel the sting without feeling like a liability going forward

[@KOkami03]

I don't want to be a devil! WAY too much paperwork. Also, Animist might be one of my favorite new Pathfinder classes, mostly because it makes me think of Shaman King.

[@Ein0r10]

The only thing I'm more excited about than the animist is a core 2 AoN update. But I'm really looking forward to the Animist.

[@jessepfau]

27:55 You can pair the extra reaction from Store Time with the Reactive Strike gained by Embodiment of Battle (cast one of them, Circle of Spirits to the other apparition, cast the other, sustain both). It kinda fills up your turn with Sustains, but combined with Litirgist's level 9 Dancing Invocation, you can get some nice action compression. Just treat it like a Rogue's Preparation.

[@snidramon]

As someone who has been playing an animist since the playtest came out (the flavor worked so so well since I was playing on being a ethical necromancer druid) I am flabbergasted that they only put a 10 minute cooldown on Garden of Healing. The exact time it takes to refocus and make it truly free to cast? As long as your party lives a fight, with just a 1 minute group hug, that's 10d4 per spell rank of healing to the WHOLE party. Perhaps I've still in the mindset of a certain other system being much more stingy with its healing, but rolling that many dice certainly make me feel powerful. That said, animist is an AMAZING class to play in both flavor and versatility, so I'm glad to see others so excited for it.

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

Yes, that healing is insanely good. One caveat for organized play, though: Often adventures give you 10 minutes between encounters. Garden of healing needs 11 minutes including refocus, so you might be out of luck if your GM is extra pedantic

[@N0kiz4ru]

I am happy that the "shaman" has finally come to 2e

[@Gamma-Mage]

I love the animist, it was the thing I was most looking forward to out of the new book, and it definitely gave me what I wanted in it. But I don't think I'm ever going to actually play one, because there's so much flexibility keeping it all straight in my head would be hard, and my turns would probably take forever. I'm really glad it exists though. :D

[@Nickelback8469]

Animist seems really interesting, but I can't help but believe that there's some missed potential. The absurd amount of versatility is great for those that want to delve into that customization, but I would've liked to see some more specialization options that sacrifice that versatility for more powerful singular focus.

[@TheGrandScoobah]

Really think they should have made it so changing your attuned apparitions was a lengthy downtime activity (e.g., 1 week) rather than a daily preparations thing. Yes, it would dramatically reduce the versatility of the class, but it already has MASSIVE versatility and would make choosing one's apparitions more weighty while also reducing the daily complexity of the class. Then they could have made one of the subclasses (e.g., medium) able to change their apparitions as a daily prep activity, as a unique benefit.

[@Kokszo]

The increased spellslots at 10 originally were from a feature that gave an extra apparition slot on max rank-2 but it was a bit confusing if it was included in the table or on top of it (ive seen arguments for both and imagine 3 repertoire slots even if at lower ranks...) so it wasnt printed probably to avoid argueing and is just included in the table.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

Ah, I see! Adding to my pinned comment

[@NuwTuhn]

Really appreciate your content dude. I am still very green, but can say for certain that I would not be as into the game as I am now if not for you. Thanks, and hope things are going well for you.

[@Cursedsama]

I really do like the versatility of the class but I think practically you will usually find that within your party you're needed for a certain niche and you will likely attune to fill that almost every day. If you've found a good setup for yourself you dont HAVE to change stuff around just because you can. LOVE this class tbh, it's up there with Psychic as my favourites.

[@nikidelvalle]

How in the actual hell did Spirit's Sacrifice survive the playtest? That feat makes you functionally immortal, especially because the trigger doesn't specify any limitations to what kills you. Disintegrated? Died of old age? The entire planet you were standing on exploded? Doesn't matter, Spirit's Sacrifice. And it restores your hit points so you immediately regain consciousness and can continue fighting. That feat singlehandedly makes it so TPKing the Animist's party is basically impossible, the Animist can stand back up 4 times a day with 36 hit points each time, meaning any Animist player with that feat likely has to be killed 5 times before it sticks. I remember literally pointing this out on the subreddit back when the playtest came out, I am in utter disbelief that not only is this feat still here without any changes, but they didn't even slap a rarity tag on it.

[@peregrinhodgkinson7294]

Grudge Strike also gives a +2 circumstance bonus to attack, plus the bonus damage. As a circ bonus this stacks with for example the Witness' status bonus from the Focus spell. This will probably be a popular choice!

[@elifia]

Yeah, grudge strike seems awesome. If the battle spirit focus spell brings you up to normal martial accuracy, then piling grudge strike on top of that would bring you up to fighter accuracy (assuming the fighter gets neither status nor circumstance bonuses). It's very rough on the action economy though, requiring all 3 of your actions to sustain the spell and make the strike, so it definitely works best on a level 9+ liturgist.

[@peregrinhodgkinson7294]

@@elifia it helps keep the pace with Fighters but you need to be at least level 6 to get Grudge Strike, by which point Fighter has Master proficiency and Animist still has Trained. But it's a great feat still.

[@elifia]

23:19 Do you get an extra focus point? It says the number of focus points you have becomes equal to the number of *primary* apparitions, which from that point on will always be 2. But you already had 2 focus points due to your level 7 class feature. So as written, all it seems to do is prevent you from getting the third focus point you'd normally get at level 15.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

It certainly is a strange sentence: it seems to have no effect! Your Level 7 class feature already gives you a 2nd focus point, and this says your number of FP is either the number of focus spells you have or the number of primary apparitions you have (which is now 2).

[@simmysims2923]

My thought is that they added the extra focus points at 7th and 15th levels to the class late in development, and this sentence is a relic from before that they forgot to clean up.

[@elifia]

@@simmysims2923 Yeah, it's probably a mistake somewhere along those lines.

[@ajb9854]

I wonder if the Medium's 9th level feature is a typo and supposed to be worded like the circle of spirits, where it's total apparitions (which would be 3), not just primary?

[@patvanderreest7416]

Oh hey, the PF1 shaman is back!

[@N0kiz4ru]

So happy about it was my favorite class from 1e

[@rosesanchez1252]

Animist has to be one of our favorite marraiges between flavour/lore and mechanics, and part of it is the complex versatility and book-keeping. Im glad it was unchanged. I think the archetype provides a good option for people who want the flavour but not the bookkeeping.

[@emdivine]

This is actually quite close to a homebrew Adept class adaptation from Golden Sun somebody made that I tried out in D&D. The Adept also relies on spirits (Djinn) to empower them, and those act as a second resource system that's exhaustible twice: Unleash for their individual effect then Summon based on the the unleashed number and type of Djinn. You get to acquire Djinn from a somewhat sizable list as you level up, and pick and choose between which ones you want to bring in the morning. So the Animist really excites me since it's basically another take of that same concept. Seems tight and fun! One interesting reversal compared to Animist is the Adept had their Djinn acting as the prepared spells while they themselves were spontaneous casters.

[@azurethescaletipper210]

Crafter in the Vault Avatar feels like it turns you into the Dungeon Man from Earthbound. You may not be a huge golem, but it’s in the same spirit.

[@ultrakitten674]

I feel like playing this on foundry might be a bit of a pain with the constant changing of spell lists but I would have a lot of fun making a journal for in person play for this class lol

[@acdcguy18]

The first five seconds had be belt out a good laugh. Thanks.

[@globaltrickster]

Is it just me or is melee animist not a good idea since the proficiency almost never raises?

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

Corrections: 17:25 - The tree does not protect the caster itself, since you don't count as your own ally. Also the trigger is not "takes damage". The tree only protects against strikes. So spells, etc. circumvent the tree completely 38:55 - The reaction only works on normal hits and explicitly excludes critical hits!

[@f1r35p1n]

gnome animist. obsessed with spirits.

[@zphayde]

Yes, I'd rather be an Archfiend but I legit thought that was a sequel video and I lost my mind for a little bit trying to find the god video once I finally had time for longform content.

[@brendantuthill6491]

I played the playtest Animist in a Halloween vampire one shot last year, it was a blast

[@Amanofan7777]

I need to make an alcoholic animist. The joke writes itself.

[@lorenzocazzoli7701]

18:19 shouldn't the protector tree have absorbed the damage?

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

Yes!

[@criminalmatrix6]

Animist is the best out of combat healer in the game.

[@digiaa913]

This has been said for so many new / remastered classes I think at this point, we just gotta say in p2e anyone can be a really good out of combat healer lol.

[@asclepeus-games]

As someone who values versatility, this seems like the most powerful caster in the game to me.

[@aechean]

Thanks for the sneak peek! Are you using any special foundry mod for the attack animations, or is that a part of the default pathfinder implementation?

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

Automated Animations, JB2A, and PF2e Animations I keep a list of my Foundry VTT mods on my Discord server, as a pinned comment under the #vtt-advice channel. (Discord: discord.gg/ruleslawyer ) I also have done a video series about my Foundry VTT setup: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIWlqqidjsunebs

[@neurolancer81]

After seeing the Animist, especially the Melee animist, in action, I am now wondering how it stacks up against the Battle Oracle. If you are taking recommendations form KZbin, would love to see a comparison.

[@Feralhyena]

The question I have is do I want to layer the Animist devotion onto the Flames Oracle build I already have lined up? Being locked out of their Vessel Spells and Wandering Feats make the returns not so great, though being able to choose a Suite of non-Divine spells every morning is pretty good anyway.

[@simonpelletier8047]

As a new player, I love the combat demo, I'd love to see more. Question tho : wouldn't it be possible for a Guisarme weilding combattant to attempt the trip maneuver using the reach of the weapon or do you still need to be within 5 feet?

[@elifia]

Yes, you can trip at reach with a reach trip weapon. In fact, the animist did so at 18:07.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

Yes, the Trip weapon trait and others like it say specifically you can use the reach of the weapon. It's why the apparition that gives you tentacles to do a reach grapple is pretty good!

[@simonpelletier8047]

@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Thanks for the answer!

[@Wyrmshield]

That thumbnail test was confusing because i got a notification for one but when i opened your channel later i couldnt find it and didnt realize they were both the same videos

[@charlespickering2726]

I am curious how many animists just have a couple things they like to use apparition wise and just stick with them and how many really go hog wild and use the full amount of versitility this class has and the bookkeeping involved in that.

[@firenabase9996]

Two strides, 2 shoves and a THP with 2 action?! Insane, ok, the THP need a successfully shove, but it's really insane feat

[@squid4545]

Animist seems really cool. Hoping for an opportunity to break it out at some point!

[@emmettbrown3463]

11:46 i am confused by this - is it a homebrew-ish thing? or is it akin to shooting, taking cover and then reloading?

[@elifia]

No, that's not homebrew, it's in the cover rules. Normally cover works identically in both directions, so if you have cover from someone then they have cover from you. But the rules then say that in some situations you can ignore cover, like when you're hiding behind an arrow slit or when leaning around cover (which allows you to calculate cover for your own attacks from a corner of your square instead of the center), and it says that leaning around cover "usually" takes an action at the GM's discretion. So in this case Ronald used his GM discretion to judge that leaning would indeed take an action.

[@emmettbrown3463]

@@elifia yeah i looked at this comment again after finding this section in the rules lol, thanks though

[@moshtradamus92]

Awesome combat demo, thank you! Could you possibly link all of the modules you are using in Foundry? Thanks in advance! ❤

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

The Animist sounds interesting mechanically, but in terms of flavor, I’m having trouble distinguishing it from the Witch, Druid, and Cleric.

[@jonathanl3945]

Kineticist seems more complicated by page count because it doesn’t defer the bulk of its abilities to the spells chapter of the book.

[@HunterOmbrégal]

is the animist the new Shaman ? the flavor of the animist reminds me A LOT of the Shaman =o

[@Bryanissmiling]

Not playing this class until a foundry module comes out

[@NoahLinden]

Where does the music at the end of each video come from?

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

KZbin free audio, "Brain Trust"

[@JaredHoy]

I'm confused about the Spirit Familiar.

[@Rage_Templar]

Good bye witch hello new shaman!

[@satiricalbard1]

Wow, that is one insanely complicated class.

[@alxtoad]

Love it but i'm starting to be afraid that my favorite class, wizard, fall behind every other caster :( I will still play wizard for the fluff haha

[@einkar4219]

yet another reason to not play divine sorcerer

[@MrTallFrog]

Whispers of warning is only if you are hit, not critically hit, so okay, but not great.

[@AnEvilEel]

:)

[@TheBall12]

Animist is just bloated and therefore a nightmare to keep track of. - What about using normal prepared casting with the unique class feature of choosing one per lvl you can freely upcast? And in that context Is an extra spell list for every apparition necessary? And if you really want to restrict for flavor, why not make it like "with this apparition you can freely heighten spells with the "fire" descriptor" for example. This way you can/have to choose a certain selection of spells so when you switch to a fitting selection of apparitions you can easily heighten. - Why have skills for every apparition? At this point why not make it similar to bardic lore (apparition lore)? - I could cut on the bloat with the focus spells too but lets leave it at that because i would need to go into more detail. There with these easy steps i cut at least 2 pages of unnecessary bloat and made the class not as ridicules to keep track of. In general, this class is terrible designed.