Full Build Friday - Trigger
- bjacobt1
- 9 hours ago
- 12 min read
I'm sticking to Starfinder for this build and continuing the exploration of Zenless Zone Zero with one of the best leading ladies that it has to offer. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
I put something a little extra into the video for this one, so I hope you check it out AND let me know what you think!
Steady your sights and let's take a look at this build for Trigger from Zenless Zone Zero!
TRIGGER
CHARACTER ???
SOURCE Zenless Zone Zero
BUILD GOALS
o A sniper of the Defense Force, Trigger lost her entire squad when the all-consuming Hollow Zero caused the fall of the old capital
o This same event greatly hampered her vision but left her with the ability to detect etheric fluctuations
o She wields an electric sniper rifle that can be modified for all ranges of combat
o In-game, Trigger is an electric stun agent, designed to daze and shock her enemies
o When Aftershock attacks hit a foe, her Soul-Searching Gaze passive increases their stun damage multiplier
o Outside of her standard attacks, she can enter a Sniper Stance to gain Purge, which will allow her to make Harmonizing Shots while off-field to deal damage and apply daze
o The Flash Burial special attack features her making a slash before leaping up and firing a powerful shot
o Her ultimate is Underworld Requiem, which launches a powerful shot that deals massive electric damage
o Trigger has several abilities making use of her critical hits and damage and can also gain Armor Break Rounds that deal heavy electricity damage
o Through her signature Spectral Gaze W-Engine, her aftershock attacks reduce a target’s Defenses and increase her Impact
Summary of Goals: As a character built around attacking from off-field with Aftershocks, a major design point of Trigger will be finding a way for her to attack from off-field. She’s also a sniper who is able to limit the actions of enemies, switch up combat styles to various ranges, and pull off some crazy maneuvers. I want to find a way to demonstrate her etheric vision as well as her limited vision though the fact that it’s limited rather than fullout blindness might actually be a bit rough.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Prismeni Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Strength
o Ancestry Feat: Living Battery
Background: Defector
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Wisdom
o Skill Increase: Stealth (T), Warfare Lore (T)
o Background Feat: Terrain Stalker – Rubble
Class & Subclass: Sniper Operative
o Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Arcana (T), Athletics (T), Occultism (T), Society (T)
o Class Feat: Keep Them in Your Sights, Weakening Shot
o Skill Feat: Without a Trace
o Gear: assassin rifle, bayonet, second skin
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +2, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +0)
I considered using the vlaka ancestry and leaning into their blindness features but the fact that Trigger isn’t actually blind led me to sticking with the human ancestry. I did mix things up a bit by including the prismeni heritage, which leans into her ability to wield electricity, starting with Living Battery. Then, there are a number of ways you could go for Trigger’s background and have them make sense. I settled on the defector background to specifically reference her departure from the Defense Force for a time until she finally returned to it following her encounters with Phaethon. There’s two main classes that stand out to me when it comes to building Trigger, but I think the better option lies in the operative, which features a sniper specialization. Through this, she gains the Keep Them in Your Sights feat to Aim at creatures beyond her first range increment. It also grants her a Stealth feat, which she uses to take Without a Trace so that she can disappear and cover her tracks using her Stealth, making it appear as though she was never even there. She also gets another class feat, which she’ll use to take Weakening Shot, allowing her to make enemies more vulnerable through the clumsy condition, based on how Spectral Gaze reduces the Defense of enemies.
For her starting gear, the second skin armor just makes the most of her Dexterity whereas her primary weapon will be the assassin rifle. This weapon is why she invests into Strength as much as she does because she still has to contend with the kickback trait – though at least her sniper specialization removes the unwieldy and volley traits of it. As one final note, I would slap a bayonet on the assassin rifle since her weapon in game does feature a blade under its barrel.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Kill Steal
o Skill Feat: Arcane Sense
o Gear: retinal reflectors
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Arcana (E)
o Specialized Skill Set: Terrain Stalker – Underbrush
o Gear: tactical assassin rifle, retinal reflectors, stalk goggles
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Devastating Aim
o Skill Feat: Eye of the Arclords
o Gear: darkvision capacitors, tactical assassin rifle, +1 bayonet, stalk goggles
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +4.5, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +3, Cha +1)
o Ancestry Feat: Tech Caster
o Skill Increase: Stealth (E), Survival (T)
o Gear: advanced assassin rifle, darkvision capacitors, commercial akashic lens, +1 bayonet, psychopomp mask, stalk goggles
With the Kill Steal class feat, Trigger will have a way of attacking outside of her own turn and specifically follows on from the attacks of her allies, which fit her Harmonizing Shots the best. Significantly different to that, she takes Devastating Aim so that she can dish out more damage with her aimed attacks. This might seem a bit odd to take on a stunner type character, but the single-shot nature of sniper weapons in addition to the action tax of Aim means that Trigger won’t be making many attacks per round, so we have to get the most out of it that we can. This could also fit some of her more powerful shots, such as her Underworld Requiem. With her skill feats, we explore options to resemble her etheric vision. Arcane Sense is a step towards letting her see things beyond the norm, which is taken even further by Eye of the Arclords. This very cool feat briefly but greatly expands her vision, but then leaves her dazzled for some time afterwards, which I think fits her limited vision quite fantastically! Incredible Initiative hopefully helps her act faster and will actually build into her operative’s edge class feature down the line. Tech Caster gives her some more electricity-based stuff including superhcarge weapon, which doesn’t quite measure up to the first edition version of it, but might still be useful given her high attack bonus.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Hair Trigger
o Skill Feat: Shadow Mark
o Gear: tactical second skin, advanced assassin rifle, +1 striking bayonet, darkvision capacitors, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Stealth (M)
o Specialized Skill Set: Swift Sneak
o Gear: vaultbreaker’s harness, tactical second skin, tactical dark capacitors, advanced assassin rifle, commercial akashic lens, bracelet of dashing
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Parkour
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: cloak of illusions, spiritsight ring, stoney hag eye, tactical second skin, advanced assassin rifle, +1 striking bayonet
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Gunslinger Dedication (Way of the Sniper)
o Skill Increase: Occultism (E), Thievery (T)
o Gear: advanced second skin, cloak of illusions, boots of bounding, spiritsight ring, +1 striking bayonet, advanced assassin rifle
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +5, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +2)
o Class Feat: Impeding Shot
o Skill Feat: Aura Sight
o Gear: advanced sniper’s scope, advanced second skin, commercial shock module, cloak of illusions, advanced assassin rifle, +1 striking bayonet
Just like the first class feat from our last block, the first feat for this block provides Trigger with Hair Trigger – essentially giving her a Reactive Strike at range. Parkour covers some of her mobility, and then we finally gain Impeding Shot. This doesn’t technically stun the target, but it will leave them slowed, which does at least limit their actions. Related to this, she uses her ancestry feat to take Multitalented, which will grant her a Gunslinger Dedication. Naturally, she chooses the way of the sniper to become trained in Thievery, but doesn’t get much out of it beyond that for the time being. On the skill side of things, Shadow Mark makes it much easier for Trigger to stalk the player characters in Zenless Zone Zero – which she legitimately does. Quick Jump means that she doesn’t have to Stride before making a Jump and shortens the actions needed to do outside of that. It’s also worth remembering that Parkour has the flourish trait, so it isn’t something that she can use more than once per turn. She also grabs Aura Sight through her Occultism skill increase with the intent of further representing her etheric vision.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Athletics (E)
o Gear: superior assassin rifle, advanced sniper’s scope, tactical akashic lens, advanced second skin, cloak of illusions, +1 striking bayonet
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Basic Shooting – Risky Reload
o Skill Feat: Steady Balance
o Gear: superior second skin, +2 striking bayonet, superior assassin rifle, advanced sniper’s scope, shock module, lesser clarity goggles
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Confident Actualization
o Skill Increase: Athletics (M)
o Gear: elite assassin rifle, superior second skin, nano-optics node, +2 striking bayonet, advanced sniper’s scope, tactical akashic lens
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooting – Munitions Crafter
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Gear: greater cloak of illusions, +2 greater striking bayonet, elite assassin rifle, superior second skin, daredevil boots, advanced sniper’s scope
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +5.5, Con +2, Int +3, Wis +4, Cha +3)
o General Feat: Barricade
o Skill Increase: Medicine (T), Stealth (L)
o Specialized Skill Set: Legendary Sneak
o Gear: elite second skin, greater cloak of illusions, tactical truesight sight, elite assassin rifle, nano-optics node, +2 striking bayonet
She immediately starts taking advantage of her gunslinger archetype with Basic and Advanced Shooting. With the first one, she takes Risky Reload, which is purely mechanical. As a sniper operative, Trigger has her enhanced exploit to reload as a free action on a failed shot. However, I still want some more action efficiency for her, and this gives her a solid rotation of actions. If she spend a round to make a Strike as part of a reaction, she can Aim, Risky Reload, and then spend her final action to reload so that she’s ready for another reaction. If she didn’t spend a reaction, she can instead use one of her two action abilities such as Impeding Shot or Weakening Shot. There’s also Munitions Crafter though you might have to talk to your GM about this a bit since it allows you to make alchemical ammunition, which might not work with SF firearms. The main point behind taking this is that it will allow her to make electrical elemental ammunition, fitting her nature as an electric agent. Sure, you could just use a shock module, but I always try to find a way to make a character as self-sufficient as possible. Steady Balance is a little inspired by how she balanced on a door skidding down the road in her character demo and Wall Jump works nicely with Parkour, letting her swiftly ascend to her sniper nest.
Confident Actualization draws from her likely futile hope that her squad is still alive, a belief that she refuses to let go. For her general feats, there’s Toughness simply to increase her survivability and then Barricade so that she can set herself up to take shots from behind cover.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooting – Stab and Blast
o Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o Gear: tactical shock module, elite second skin, greater boots of bounding, greater cloak of illusions, +2 greater striking bayonet, elite assassin rifle
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Persistent Confidence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (E)
o Gear: ultimate assassin rifle, advanced akashic lens, tactical shock module, elite second skin, greater cloak of illusions, tactical truesight sight
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Hampering Shot
o Skill Feat: Dive for Cover
o Gear: hypernerves, ultimate assassin rifle, +3 greater striking bayonet, tactical shock module, elite second skin, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: True Perception
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (M)
o Gear: ultimate second skin, hypernerves, superior sniper’s scope, ultimate assassin rifle, advanced akashic lens, tactical shock module
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +6, Con +3, Int +3, Wis +4, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Infinite Aim
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: paragon assassin rifle, ultimate second skin, spectacles of piercing sight, hypernerves, quicklock, +3 greater striking bayonet
Trigger takes another gunslinger feat to grab Stab and Blast, which I think is one of the best ways to represent her Flash Burial. This is another action with the flourish trait, so keep that in mind when figuring out which actions you want to use for a round. She switches back to her operative class feats with Hampering Shot, allowing her to leave an enemy off-guard – reducing the target’s Armor Class and thus resembling her Spectral Gaze’s ability to reduce a target’s Defense. Then, I would love to take Combat Reflexes and allow her to make multiple Aftershocks per round, but that simply doesn’t work with a sniper weapon. If Paizo ever adds an ‘extended mag’ upgrade for weapons in Starfinder, then grab that and go Combat Reflexes. But otherwise, we’ll have to go for Infinite Aim, which is still handy but doesn’t mesh well with the double action abilities that involve and Aim and debilitating Strike that Trigger uses. She then delves into Acrobatics for the skill side of things, becoming a master of it to grab Cat Fall, Dive for Cover (inspired by her encounter with Grim Vulture), and Kip Up so that she can bounce back to her feet quickly after using that Dive for Cover. Persistent Confidence suits her unwavering belief, but perhaps more important is True Perception. This is the last feat meant to resemble her etheric vision, allowing her to see beyond what most others can.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Obviously, Starfinder is still sorta slacking when it comes to archetypes, meaning she’ll have to rely on PF archetypes for the time being. Obviously, she’s been investing in gunslinger and she could work that into her build sooner and use it to grab options like Running Reload for greater action efficiency. Doing so would also free up some of her operative class feats and could also lead into her using the Sniping Duo Dedication. This will allow her and her spotter to deal extra damage, resembling the increased stun damage multiplier that she can afflict. There’s also more reactions here that Trigger could potentially make use of.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Trigger is a prismeni human operative with the sniper specialization and a background as a defector based on her departure from the Defense Force after the loss of her squad. We couldn't quite cover the loss of her vision, but her ability to see etheric fluctuations will be covered by the likes of Eye of the Arclords, Aura Sight, and her True Perception. Getting a little more mechanical, she goes the route of a gunslinger archetype for Munitions Crafter so that she can make elemental ammunition - since she is, after all, an electric agent. She's also a stunner, which leads to the inclusion of Impeding Shot among her feats, even if this slows rather than properly stuns foes. I'll treat the Aim action as her Sniper Stance and she can make her off-field Harmonizing Shots with Kill Steal or Hair Trigger. She gets further use out of her gunslinger archetype by taking Stab and Blast to represent her Flash Burial though the jump back of it might have to be something you do on your own with a Quick Jump. Underworld Requiem is simply a very powerful shot, so Devastating Aim works well for that, especially when you factor in the extra damage from her critical aim and the sniper weapons that she wields. This, along with the advanced proficiency of the operative's attacks, also works in nicely for the critical hit aspects of Trigger's kit. Ending on her Spectral Gaze's defense reduction, she has Hampering Shot to leave an enemy off-guard and therefore easier to hit - setting them up for her allies to knock down.
A sweetheart but a stalker supreme, this sleek soldier snipes sinister suspects with sudden shots, severing a sidekick's sequence to shock and stun in a split-second suspension of stunts.
Please let me know what you think and what other builds you'd like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and a YouTube channel filled with video formats of these blog posts. We're still in Starfinder next week, but we're gonna keep it chill.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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