Tassadar

Trying to fit Tassadar into a singular tidy role is a battle well known by Heroes of the Storm players. There, he is perhaps the most reworked hero, and even took the unprecedented leap from Support to Damage.

But if we take the sum of the things he excels at – area denial through force walls, area denial and damage through psi storms, damage and ability denial through feedback – he fits pretty well into the Controller role as we define it.

To tap into those actions, we'll build Tassadar as a Sorcerer, while making use of the Ancient Elf heritage to start at level one with a Psychic dedication as well. These will work in tandem with each other to provide the varied tools, spells and feats Tassadar needs to be the High Templar of our dreams.

On the battlefield, Tassadar has a very reactionary, non-repetitious gameplay loop. He is always surveying his surroundings, trying to stay a step ahead of the enemy in order to hinder their plans – whether that is through a well placed force wall, a bunch of extra area damage or a debilitating status effect.

Like many characters with a lot of tools at their disposal – and like his HotS counterpart – Tassadar doesn't necessarily excel at any one thing. But the sheer volume of his tools, and the many opportunities he has to use them, makes him a versatile companion anyone would want supporting their team.

Outside of combat, Tassadar can be a valuable resource of knowledge as the party adventures through the land. His high Occultism, and relatively high Diplomacy, Society and Arcana, make him perfect for gathering (or remembering) information that can be useful.

Ancient Elf

Thematically, something about the Ancient Elf just seems to fit with a Protoss High Templar. And it's a good thing the vibe check out, because it is a super hlpful fit mechanically as well.

The uber-powerful ability to choose a dedication at level one via the Ancient Elf Heritage is the closest thing to multiclassing we have without using variant rules like Free Archetype or other funky setups. Nothing wrong with those, of course, we just don't use them in Pop Culture Pathfinder builds.

But Ancient Elf for Tassadar lets us grab a Psychic dedication that meshes so well with his main class, it would be dificult to imagine the build working without it.

Beyond that, the ancestry also gives a few other of the classic Elf feats. They aren't as pivotal to the build as that heritage, but they're nothing to shake a psi blade at.

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Scholar (Occultism)

Is a Scholar the same thing as a High Templar? No, is the obvious answer, but it can fill in here in a pinch.

The Scholar background doesn't give us a Charisma boost we're looking for, but the extra Wisdom for a high perception is welcomed. Additionally, Tassadar gains Assurance in Occultism right from level one, smoothing out the curve on checks into the spooky or mysterious.

Harrow Sorcerer

Sci-fi characters built in Pathfinder 2e rules require perhaps the most imagination of any build type. The flavor is never going to match one-to-one – instead, it is always an exercise in pushing the rules to create a flavor or feeling that somehow captures the essence of the character.

For Tassadar, there are a lot of ways we can start that process. Oracle, perhaps. Psychic, definitely. But with Heroes of the Storm in mind, a Sorcerer provides a ton of opportunties to meet that fantasy, combined with spontaneous spellcasting for that innate High Templar power.

When it comes to bloodline, things start to get specific. Since we're taking a Psychic Dedication at level one, we want a Sorcerer bloodline that complements occult psychic spellcasting. This way, that Psychic dedication becomes a bit of a battery – 9 additional spell slots cast at the same legendary proficiency as the rest of Tassadar's sorcerer spells.

There aren't that many occult sorcerer bloodlines, and the Harrow is the closest to feeling right.

So we pick up the Harrow bloodline, the psychic dedication and every psychic spellcasting feat. Before you know it, we're psi storm and psi beaming the entire tabletop.

For the Psychic Dedication, we'll pick up The Infinite Eye conscious mind with Charisma spellcasting and the Guided standard cantrip.

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Occultism may seem like the wrong word, but in the Pathfinder mythos, that is the tradition of "psi" characters. As a High Templar, Tassadar is undoubtedly "psi", so he must be legendary in Occultism.

As a High Templar, he also must be somewhat skilled in Diplomacy and Society. Finally, Archons are fairly intimidating.

Legendary: Occultism

Master: Diplomacy, Society

Expert: Arcana, Intimidation

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