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Every source and forum I've visited, when talking about Solarian revelations for a melee build, suggests Corona as a great revelation...but they always (in their own words) state that the damage caused by being directly adjacent to the Solarian (when they are attuned) affects enemies. It is their changing of the wording to "enemies" that has me confused as the text says that:

When you are attuned or fully attuned, any creature that starts its turn adjacent to you while your corona is in effect takes fire damage equal to half your solarian level.

That means any allies adjacent to you, at the start of their turns, will take that fire damage (equal to half level). Am I right? My group has a lot of situations with tight fighting (in corridors), and my character is large sized, so seems like a lot of situations where using it would be detrimental to my party as well.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I also have some racial cold ER (and do 2d6 electrical damage to enemies that hit me from the MK II Electrostatic armour mod - if that helps in whether this is a worthwhile revelation versus other options, like Glow of Life). I already have Plasma Sheath, Stellar Rush, and Gravity Boost. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dargon
    Mar 12, 2019 at 19:46

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Yes, it does

In the game, when an effect's description says any creature, it means literally everything but objects, living and non-living.

There will be abilities that will use the term allies, which will likely include your own character in the effect. Or even enemies or opponents, which will exclude your allies from the effect.

But that's not the case for Corona's aura, it affects everybody within range. But considering how mobile the solarian might be, all you have to do is get behind enemies and flank them with your allies, or even better, get right into the middle of several enemies, wrecking havoc while your allies shoot them down.

But keep in mind that this is only a problem when fully attuned, otherwise, it only deals damage to adjacent creatures that attack you.

The ability's damage is pretty low (1/2 your solarian level), so even the slightest fire resistance should turn this into trivial matter. The Thermal Capacitor armor upgrade (CRB, pg.207, level 5, 3600 credits), for instance, pretty much negates this damage.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for the clarification (as that is how I would have ruled it - seems lots of other folks potentially house ruled it to only affect enemies). Point of clarification, though, as the Aura absolutely does the 1/2 level in fire damage to all adjacent creatures at the start of their turn when simply attuned (and not only when fully attuned) - just to correct the information you provided (as per the description of the revelation in the core book). \$\endgroup\$
    – Dargon
    Mar 14, 2019 at 3:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ Our group has no other melee characters at all (no one ever uses anything other than ranged weapons - so no flanking really happens), and I am not really hit enough (for the 2d6 fire they would take) to really be worth spending the first round of combat just to activate it. Was wondering if other folks felt the same way about it (and whether Glow of Life is a better choice)? I do 2d6 electrical already to anyone that hits me in melee (and I have mods to avoid getting hit altogether - such as the move action for a single mirror image 50% negation, etc). \$\endgroup\$
    – Dargon
    Mar 14, 2019 at 3:17

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