When I saw the words “Combat Alchemist” in the latest patch notes for Pathfinder Online, I immediately brought to mind someone charging into battle furiously stirring a cauldron of ingredients to throw at their foes. Obviously that’s not the case, but the update does have something new for Combat Alchemists in the form of three new structures in the form of a Research Center, Combat Alchemist School, and Bombing Range, the recipes of which can be found as dropped loot. Presumably, these structures will let Combat Alchemists furiously stir their cauldrons in safety to make new things to throw at foes.
Incidentally, Combat Alchemist trainers that visit keeps have had their trainer levels dropped by one. These levels will continue to drop over future updates until they’re phased out altogether, so it’s probably in players’ best interest to look for these new support structures sooner rather than later.
The update has also added the Keepers of the Citadel Escalation to the MMORPG’s standard Escalation rotation, as well as put the encounter through a balance pass; the Escalation will now have its early phases clear faster, will drop more level-appropriate loot in each phase, and will make the final boss a more interesting challenge.
MMORPG fans will recall that Pathfinder Online was Kickstarted for over a million dollars back in 2012, but its development and funding has struggled since the 2015 layoffs. As of 2020, the game went into “open enrollment” and detailed its move to the cloud.
