Cracking the Egg: Kineticist

"There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang - positive energy and a negative energy. Only a select few Firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance: creating lightning."


I don't like most class guides. It's no secret that I think most people who talk about Pen and Paper games on the Internet have really suspect opinions. Really, you should take everything you read online with a grain of salt and put in your own research. This applies to everything you're able to research by yourself, but it applies doubly so to pen and paper game mechanics. People get funny ideas, and a lot of them persist simply on the basis of some kind of cultural momentum.

A lot of what people want out of guides are feat, archetype or spell suggestions anyway. Most people see particularly Pathfinder and 3.X as being heavily reliant on system mastery and want a leg-up on thumbing through huge amounts of content to find the gems. That's not necessarily the case, but I can't really fault them. Especially when your game allows everything in the system, resources like PFSRD.com can make it feel like you need to sift through huge mounds of dirt looking for gold.

I never felt like that. There are far fewer "smoking gun" feats and abilities than people think. I never thought I'd do class guides at all, until I read Kineticist. So we're going to start with one of the strangest classes I've ever seen, then move on to other, more easily understood classes. I definitely feel like it took me weeks, off and on, to completely understand this class. Today I'm going to share thoughts on the class so maybe other people won't have to do what I did and make a conspiracy board complete with red string all over it to try and make sense of this class. It's fun and effective, but the way it's put together is a deceptive mess, because it was designed by a MIT Polymath. It makes perfect sense to him with his double handful of degrees and massive IQ. Today I'm going to crack the egg for the rest of us.

First off, you're going to need to read along with me. Second, I won't be discussing Void or Wood, I'm not as adept with them and they weren't created concurrently with the other elements. You'll see why that's important momentarily. Second, I might miss a feat or two from the Kineticist splat since I haven't been able to grab that book yet due to financial issues.

A final note. Holy shit, is this long. Sorry! I promise other class guides won't be this hefty. Kineticist is very complex.


Part One: Ability Scores. 


This is pretty simple. Dexterity is going to be vital for your attack rolls since you never get an enhancement bonus, and Constitution determines your maximum burn. The class is centered around you taking burn sparingly, and trying to reduce your blast's burn cost to zero as often as possible, only going higher in important or dire situations. Your burn cap never goes up over the whole course of the class, it's always going to be 3+CON mod. Keep this in mind and don't go ham when you don't need to. If you want race suggestions, Caligni Dark Folk and Hobgoblin are the "power" races, and Tiefling is nearly always a good choice. You also have the freedom to choose small sized races like Gnome since none of your damage is determined by size. I'd lean on taking a DEX race before CON if you're not going for a "power" race, because Kineticist has limited sources for hitroll bonus, but either/or would be fine, I think.


Part Two: Primary Element Selection.


Yeah sorry, we have to dive deep already. The most important thing to understand about Kineticist is that every element gets something. They don't all seem equal at first glance, especially with Fire getting the only energy compound blast. You need to look at the element as a whole to understand where its strengths lie: Utility talents, infusion talents, defense talent and blasts. They all get something good somewhere, and that means there's going to be a "must take" ability somewhere regardless of your element. Since this research is the most time consuming part of understanding this class, I'm going to give you a leg up.


Aether: Take this element if you want excellent battlefield control and some damn good out-of-combat utility. While you're in combat, you get things like Telekinetic Maneuvers, Kinetic Cover, Telekinetic Globe and Force Barrier to control things. You get some okay options for damage, including being one of the three elements that get Suffocate, and having okay direct damage options in Foe Throw or Many Throw. Disintegrating Infusion is unique to Aether, and provides a way to gamble for more damage, since your base damage will be low. Even if you double up on Aether with Expanded Element, all you get is basically an energy simple blast. By level 10 or so, you can expect your main job to be fucking up the battlefield and inconveniencing the fight's major players, and also doing a little damage.

Your non-combat utility is probably the best out of the base elements. You get Telekinetic Invisibility and Telekinetic Finesse, which kind of makes you the party rogue. Touchsight and its brother the reactive one are great for spying on people, which most parties will end up doing at least once. Telekinetic Haul and even Basic Telekinesis are good for solving environmental challenges and you get an ad-hoc fly via Self Telekinesis and its upgrade...which may or may not be useful in combat. This is also one of two elements that can heal. It's not a huge amount and forces somebody to take burn, so you're not likely to use it in combat except for emergencies. For between-fight healing, though, Kinetic Healer is great.

Aether really doesn't have any stinker abilities, and I had to force myself to stop just naming all of them in the suggestions paragraph. Your damage isn't going to be great(You'll never get a real composite blast) but the utility more than makes up for it. You might be tempted to take Pushing Infusion, but I'd recommend against that. I'd sooner take Extended Range or an early Kinetic Blade. If you want Many Throw, you need Extended Range anyway. Pushing Infusion is quite expensive to really get use out of. Bowling Infusion at level 2, however. Great stuff.

Air: Air is the first element I'd say is a good middle of the road. It'll do more damage than Aether, but still has some decent utility and buffs. It has the highest range of all the elements if you're into that and some great AoE infusions like Chaining, Cylone, Torrent and Cloud. In fact, only air and water get Cloud, which can make for some nice area denial, especially when stacked with grappling infusion.

But let's not beat around the bush. You're here for Wings of Air. Yeah you have to take Air Cushion(or the less useful Air's Leap) to reach it, but you have the Fly spell at will with no strings attached by level 6. This is what you showed up for. You also get Haste as a utility wild talent. It takes a point of burn, sure, but for burn-to-damage efficiency in a party of 4 or more you can't go wrong with haste. You also get evasion via Aerial Evasion as well. Later on you get some non-combat utility with weather control spells. They're powerful, and a little underrated since it's not so obvious how you apply them to situations. Never underestimate how useful it can be to destroy structures and encampments and also avoid direct blame for it. Applied carefully and they might not even realize someone used a spell.

Air is a pretty good switch hitter. You can deal decent damage, and you still have some other stuff to bring to the table. As for stinker abilities...I don't think Air Shroud and its upgrade are likely to come up that often, and you've got limited slots. Magnetic Infusion could be great if you've got someone to coordinate with, but it is two burn, so I'm just not sure it's better than just using empower or maximize. Unless there's only one foe on the battlefield, there's better things to be spending your limited burn cap on. Its defense ability is lackluster, but you're stuck with it unless you shoot for another with expanded element, which may not be worth your time. I also don't see the point of Windsight. It's pretty fiddly to use.

Earth: I feel bad for earth. I honestly don't want to say something like "Just take Aether" but I'm struggling to avoid that phrase. It doesn't have a whole lot going for it, though. For combat, it doesn't have much in the way of AoE, just impale, Deadly Earth, and Fragmentation. They're not bad, they're just all unreliable in some way. You don't really get extra single-target damage to make up for it, though. In fact, Earth gets Rare Metal Infusion to get past substance-related DR, which is a solution to a problem the other elements don't really have. It has only one simple blast. Fire and Aether only have one as well, but they both get something nice later to make up for it: Aether gets a force composite blast, and Fire gets the game's only energy composite blast. Earth...don't really get anything for it.

As for non-combat, a lot of it is limited to working with earth and stone, but that's not a turn-off just yet. Let's face it, a lot of games are going to be dealing with or being around earth and stone constantly. Even big cities use stone in their structure. So your key utilities being Earth Glide, Shift Earth and Stone Sculptor isn't that bad. You sure do get the nice stuff late, though. Earth Glide also requires you to take Earth Climb, which doesn't really remain useful after you get Earth Glide. That's a pet peeve of mine.

I want to like Earth. I do, but it doesn't bring much to the table. Stinker abilities? To avoid saying "most of them" I'll point out Enduring Earth is pretty useless. It's a duration buff, but I can't really find anything except for Deadly Earth that would really benefit from it. There might be a niche build in here that just buffs the shit out of Deadly Earth blasts...but you do have to wait for level 12 for that build to work out. So I'm just not sure. Earth's just not very good. Sorry.

Fire: Okay, so there's this advertisement for Planet Fitness. It's a pointlessly insulting dig at "Gym Rats" where it's implied that a bodybuilder can't think beyond "I LIFT THINGS UP AND I PUT THEM DOWN". I hate to relate anything to that ad, but if you replace his phrase with "I LIGHT THINGS ON FIRE" then you have Fire Kineticist. It has a load of AoE infusions, it has a blinding substance infusion, and it has the class's only energy composite blast. It also has Pure-Flame infusion for ignoring spell resistance, and Searing Flame for reducing fire resistance. Fire's Fury also means they get bonus damage. It's also the only one who gets Unraveling Infusion to pair blasts with Dispel Magic.

Sounds awesome, right? Remember how I said every element pays for what it gets? First off, all of your utility begins and ends in combat. You get essentially the same ghetto flight as Aether in Flame Jet. You get smoke storm for a bit of area denial. You don't get any out-of-combat utility. The other problem is that while the other elements get at least two types of damage, Fire only gets one. Fire can deal with fire resistance, but it can be shut down by an enemy who's immune to fire, and...I don't know what to tell you about that. I know it sounds really mean because it basically shuts you down entirely, but it's gonna happen at least once. Fire is the most common resistance and immunity.

Beyond that (potentially large) disadvantage, treat Fire like playing a fighter. You've still got your skills, but they're the only non-combat utility you get. All of your abilities are focused toward fighting. Fire doesn't have a lot of bad abilities, at least. I'd steer clear of heat adaptation unless you want Heat Wave later. I don't see the point of Fire Sight at all, except for gimmicking with smoke storm. Even then, it won't help your friends, and you can still just aoe the smoke storm area. Trail of Flames doesn't seem very good either. It sounds decent, but you're going to already try not to move at all, and Wall of Fire just isn't very much damage. Oh, and your defense talent is the worst of all the elements. Have fun with that.

Water: Water is the other switch hitter like Air. It gets similar AoE options like Spray and Torrent, it has some control like Kinetic Cover and Slick, and it also has a bit of utility. It's the other element that gets Cloud(see above) and it also gets the unique Chilling Infusion to potentially caused the staggered condition. Through careful movement and lucky failed saves, this can shut down a crowd of people pretty well if combined with spray, cloud or torrent. Tsunami comes late, but it can serve as decent area denial or a way to sweep up and group people up to blast with an aoe. Water is also likely the best defensive element, with Shimmering Mirage being a permanent 20% miss chance and Shroud of Water being a shield bonus to AC. Water also gets Suffocate like Aether and Air does.

You do get some utility too. You get Ice Path, which is air walk at will. It requires you to take the not-very-useful Icewalker, however. You get Kinetic Healer like Aether does. If you're playing a game near water, you get the awesome Waterdancer(and its upgrade) and Water Manipulator.

I'll be blunt. Water will do pretty good if you're in a traditional game and amazing if you're in a sea-focused game or one that will see a lot of coastline. It doesn't have a whole lot of powers I'd steer clear from, either. I mean, unless you need me to tell you Ice Sculptor isn't going to come up.


Part Three: Expanded Element


Your next big choice is Expanded Element at levels 7 and 15. For choosing another element, you get one of its blasts, all the composite blasts you qualify for, its "basic" utility, and the ability to take that element's wild talents, qualifying at -4 your effective level. If you choose your primary element, you gain your other simple blast(if available), all of the composite blasts, and a single infusion or utility wild talent.

Most of the time, you're going to pick your primary element for your first Expanded Element, and here's why. First off, you get infusion wild talents at levels 1,3, 5, 9, 13, 17 and 19. Notice those gaps at 7 and 15? Choosing your primary element again and taking an infusion wild talent puts you a little ahead of the game for infusions, and 3rd level infusions is where most elements start getting the nice meaty ones. If you pick a second element, it puts you behind.

Second, your second element's utility wild talents are only available at -4 effective level. Especially at 7th level, this means your second element abilities are competing with primary element talents which are just starting to get really meaty. Between 6 and 10 you're still going to be beelining for utility wild talents like Telekinetic Maneuvers, Wings of Air,  or Shimmering Mirage. Unless you plan on taking a lot of Extra Wild Talent feats(something you actually might be doing) you still have a ton of things in your primary element to take between 7 and 15.

So the advice is to choose your primary element at 7, then make the decision to take an additional element later at 15 if you want. There might be something to be said of someone who takes three separate elements just to cherry pick all the best utility, but I'm a bit suspicious of this plan. Every element except for Earth has a ton of utility wild talents you want to be taking, and I wouldn't recommend Earth for your primary element in the first place.


Part Four: Feats


Right here is where a tumbleweed blows by. Extra Wild Talent is something a lot of kineticists are going to end up taking to bolster or patch holes. It lets you take talents at -2 effective level, even if it's an expanded element. Kinetic Leap isn't a bad choice for anyone who isn't taking Air. Delay Blast might have some uses if you're being sneaky. Otherwise, what you're doing with feats is taking Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, then choosing between three schools of thought, which weave together simply because there's not a whole lot of purely kineticist feats.

One. A whole lot of non-combat utility. I kinda like this one since you're already "set" for combat just by being a kineticist. You can take skill bonus feats or some of the various utility from Ultimate Intrigue with complete impunity. You can load out a build that other classes might call a "social character" or rogue without losing any damage. Delay Blast can help out this type of character a lot, since a delayed blast will attract attention to the spot you were five rounds ago. While sneaking, you can make it 150 feet away assuming you don't have the ability to sneak at full speed. That's a lot of ground.

Two. Extra Wild Talent. You can take Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and one other(like Weapon Focus or Weapon Finesse) then just take Extra Wild Talent a shitload of times. I don't know if you can find something useful EVERY TIME but I bet you could. Since Extra Wild Talent is nice for your secondary elements, this is probably the only route for a Kineticist that doesn't double up his element at level 7.

Three. You can set up for combat by taking feats relevant to Kinetic Blade and Kinetic Whip like Weapon Finesse, the Combat Expertise tree, or other melee focused feats. Kinetic Blade/Whip is (usually) superior damage so I can see plenty of Kineticists going this route. See below for commentary on Kinetic Blade.

The world is kind of your oyster here. Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are really the only "Required" feats, along with possibly Weapon Focus since Kineticist has very few options for to-hit bonuses. Kinetic Blade builds will also require Weapon Finesse since you'll want to stack DEX for when you need a ranged blast, and you don't ever get STR on these melee attacks anyway.


Part Four-B: Notes on particular Wild Talents


I was going to put this later but that seemed a bit disingenuous. In the sense of organization, I'm shoving this in here to keep your decision making suggestions in the same place. I'm going to go over some specific universal talents, because a few of them are really fucking important.

Kinetic Blade. This infusion is your path to your best single target damage, and there's very little reason to skip it. Kinetic Blade is a level one infusion, and there's not a whole lot at that level to take anyway. It lets you take iterative attacks with your kinetic blast, which is a huge amount of potential damage after level 8. You may have a lower chance to hit with your attacks after your first, but you're only giving up elemental overflow damage for that chance: Hitting twice will more than make up for it, since even at level 18, elemental overflow bonus damage is +12.

Kinetic Whip. This is a damn good infusion, since it gives you reach with your Kinetic Blade and lets you take Attacks of Opportunity with it. Hitting with those is going to be a lot of fucking damage, and you're prime to be making them in a very wide area. The 10ft reach also helps out your positioning to make and keep making full attack actions. It's a damn good infusion, but since it comes at the same level as a lot of other decent infusions, I can understand putting it off or skipping it entirely. If you want to focus on Single Target damage, however, this is a must-take along with its little brother Kinetic Blade.

Kinetic Fist. You'd only take this infusion if you're taking the Elemental Ascetic archetype which centers around it, or if you're multiclassing into an unarmed build. Multiclassing a Kineticist isn't a bad idea, but it's such a can of worms that I'm not going into it right now. If you want something for melee strikes, Kinetic Fist won't be more damage than Kinetic Blade unless you're building around Kinetic Fist entirely...and at that point, you should be seriously considering Elemental Ascetic anyway.

Flurry of Blasts. If someone can explain to me why you'd ever take this, I'd be grateful. It's so bad that I'm actually suspicious that I'm missing something vital about it.

Mobile Blast. Here's the thing. It costs a move action to direct it, and by level 5 you'll have Empower Metakinesis. So if you have to move it every time, it won't ever be better damage than just using Gather Power. That means this power is only useful in the following situations: Enemies who won't or can't move, spamming people with a substance infusion, or trying to herd people away from making full attack actions. I don't see any of these happening very often, and level three is very crowded with nice infusions. Kinetic Whip is the same or better deterrent to Full Attack Actions, and won't cost your move actions.

Wall. This isn't a terrible infusion or anything, but you need to be aware that the wall isn't ever going to actually block movement. It's just cover and damage. If you want a wall to block movement, only Aether can do that with Force Barrier. I should also note that this isn't a good infusion if you want to purely deal damage, since its damage isn't that great. Like Cloud, you'll be using this to deny an area or punish people for moving around.

Kinetic Form. It's only one burn, but all this is getting you is carry weight, +1 to CMD, and reach bonuses. If you're primarily using Kinetic Whip, this is a way to stack reach along with the feat Lunge. Otherwise, this isn't great for a 5th level utility wild talent.

Spark of Life. You're summoning creatures who are an absurdly low CR for the level you get this power at. This doesn't mean it's a terrible power, but it sure as hell isn't your secret path to huge damage. Consider their out-of-combat applications first and actually using them in combat a distant second.

Ride the Blast. This is a pretty good power, I just want to point out that this can not only get you into melee combat, it can put you at the other side of the target, immediately into a flanking position with someone who charged.


Part Five: Dealing Damage


Okay so we're done with the choices your making on a macro level, since I don't think you guys need help with skills. I made a skill tier list already, so I'm going to respect your intelligence and not make a big list of "skills Kineticists should take". This means I've skipped to some commentary on how to act in combat.

If you're primarily concerned with single target damage, you're looking at Kinetic Blade or Kinetic Whip, as I said. This turns you into a more traditional melee role, with your actions focused on positioning for and making full attack actions. You can happily switch-hit, and will probably be doing a lot of blasting before 8th level anyway, but the second you can somehow get two attacks, Kinetic Blade becomes very important.

In D20 games, AoE damage is a superior total amount of damage but usually not as important as good single target damage since you're not putting any targets down. This is sometimes a design thing where some GMs refuse to use multiple lesser enemies or design around individuals being more tough. Even though your mileage may vary with this sort of thing, Kineticist excels at AoE. Ranged blasting and most of the AoE infusions keep you safe via range, and it can be brutal if you stack up damage with an arcane caster or another kineticist.

If you're at range, whether you're planning on AoE or single target, you want to be reducing your burn to zero as often as possible, and, related to that, using Gather Power often. Gather Power reduces your total burn cost of a blast, and so does Infusion Specialization. You want to plan around a combination of infusions and either empower or maximize that gets you to a total cost of zero, and only go over it in dire or important situations. This means a kineticist optimized for combat is going to have at least one substance infusion he can use for when he's dealing single target damage, Kinetic Blade or Kinetic Whip, and probably at least one reliable AoE like Torrent. You can also lean on using empower or maximize if you're "short" on things to add to your blast. In fact, don't ever forget Empower is extra damage for a measly 1 burn. Otherwise, they're pretty good to be adding to "special" blasts you're taking positive burn on to down important foes.

There is also the idea of taking burn to maximize your damage via Elemental Overflow. It's one of the few sources of additional to-hit bonuses the class has, and to-hit bonus means damage in D20. In this case, if you really want to do this, you're simply going to race toward your "break point" defined by your level. At levels 6 through 10th, you're going to race to 3 burn. At 11th through 15th it's 5 burn, and after that it's seven.

Be careful, though. Your cap never goes up simply by virtue of leveling, and there's no feat you can take for extra burn. At 16th level, let's say you have a 20 in CON and a +6 CON item. That puts your burn cap at 11 points. It'll go to 13 assuming Elemental Overflow bonuses raise your burn cap via putting the +4 into CON, which I'm not entirely sure is the case. Nonetheless, racing to 7 isn't giving you a ton of wiggle room for spending it on utilities or emergency beefy blasts. It's your call, honestly. Racing to the Elemental Overflow cap is definitely something Fire kineticists will be doing a lot, but the others? I'd say it's up to your preference and the situation.


Part Five-B: Blasts


If you can, you should probably start with your element's energy blast, but it's okay to start with the physical one if you need that for pre-reqs or something. By level seven, you're going to (likely) have a physical blast, an energy blast, and at least one composite blast. Basically, the energy blast is for if you're not hitting well, if you're fighting something with a hilariously low touch-AC, or AoEs. You want to be using the higher damage blasts if you can, especially as soon as you've got a composite blast. You don't get the additional hitroll of an enhancement bonus at any time, but this is mitigated somewhat.

The fact is that most people usually hit with their first iterative attack. Hitroll is for hitting on the 2nd or 3rd attacks. That's why hitroll bonuses are your best source of damage. Kineticists load most or all of their damage into a single attack roll, so you'll be better off than if you needed to rely on full attack actions. As for Kinetic Blade? Well, a single attack does do less damage, but it's not THAT much less. Your lesser iterative attacks should be seen as a chance for bonus damage.

To sum up, you want to be using your composite blast as much as possible, but you may end up using your energy blast if you need the to-hit bonus, or if you're using an AoE infusion. Energy blasts always deal "Extra" damage on AoEs, which means it's the same damage as a composite for less burn. If you're using Kinetic Blade, though, two successful hits with a composite blast is more damage than three successful hits with a simple energy blast, so you only want to switch to it if you feel you have to. I can't make that judgment call for you.

Oh, and if you're a Fire or Aether Kineticist, the decision is pretty obvious. Aether's low damage "composite" blast is why I called it low damage earlier, and Fire has no reason to use its simple blast ever again after 7th, unless you really, super need the burn points for some sort of helpful infusion.


Part Six: Equipment


Boy is this section easy. Let's go over your must-take magical items.


Defensive Items. You have the same defensive needs as a rogue does, meaning light armor with as much Max DEX as it can allow, or even Bracers of Armor as your DEX climbs. You want a cloak of resistance just like anyone else, and helpful AC items like Amulet of Natural Armor or Ring of Protection. Simple Stuff.

Belt of Physical Might. You only get one source of hitroll and one way to raise burn cap. You also don't need STR. Race toward a DEX/CON version of this item. It's your one important item. If you were on a desert island and could only take one thing, it should be your Belt of Physical Might. Like, not even a fucking boat.

Wish and/or Stat Books. See above. Soon as you're a rich high-level bastard, you want to be looking for these for DEX and CON.

Kineticist's Diadem. This thing is very expensive for not a whole lot of benefit, but it's your only source of bonus damage, so suck it up and buy one. Maybe wait a while until it's not such a huge purchase, though.

Magic Weapon. Fire, and maybe Aether Kineticists might want to invest in a magic weapon. I don't know what to tell you, other than a Fire Kineticist is going to end up in a fight against fire-immune enemies at least once. If your GM is careless and/or loves outsiders, it might even happen a lot. You want something around for this since you can't just swap to your other blast like the other Kineticists.

That's really it. You don't rely on items much. You can't benefit from a lot of them. Next I'm going to go over the few Kineticists specific weapons in the Occult Adventures book.

Overflowing Rod. This thing seems expensive for what it does, but I can't blame you if you want one, since there's very few sources of bonus damage Kineticist can take. I'm not a fan, though, since this is something you won't get until mid levels, then sell by the time you're level 18. If you get that far, anyway.

Vril Staff. You might think you want this, since a Kineticist can use it. It might even seem awesome for Fire Kineticists since they only get the one damage type. It's just too fucking expensive. It's so very not worth it that it's astonishing. Even if you actually got one in a treasure hoard, I'd seriously recommend selling it.

Hollow Rod. It can save you two points of burn. That'd be nice if it wasn't so fucking expensive. I guess if your game has a giant amount of cash and you can't think of what else to spend it on, this isn't bad. I mean, I guess it lets you bust the burn-per-turn cap. I can just think of a lot more stuff to do with 121k.


Part Seven: Final Thoughts.


So that's it. I'm sorry this doesn't include any of the stuff from the splats, but I'd be very surprised if any of it really shook up the class. I know I also didn't go over the other two elements, but I don't know them very well and they weren't designed with the same sort of perfection of the base class. I skimmed them, so here's a super quick first impressions.

Wood looks fine. Playable. Maybe this is the go-to if you want to throw into a dedicated healer kineticist. Is doing that worthwhile? I don't know, but I don't think so.

Void seems nice, but I don't know how useful pushing and pulling people around is really going to be, especially since none of this movement provokes AoOs.

And there we go. Otherwise, everything in the class has some sort of balance somewhere. If you're ever confused, you can sometimes clear it up by looking for that balance. It's not as complex a class as it seems at first glance.

This guide is already over-long, so I'm going to keep commentary on Kineticist's damage per round for later. My estimate is that you're going to be doing less than a fighter, but still respectable amounts of damage. Your damage on AoEs will likely be similar to a wizard or sorcerer properly built for it, maybe even a little more.

There's also a feat called Kinetic Invocation in Pathfinder Player Companion: Psychic Anthology. It's an okay feat to take on its own(it just expands your options), but the real gem is the idea that races with an elemental affinity(like Sylph or Oread) essentially get it for free for their affinity element. I think this is a pretty good idea, even if you don't own that book. Giving them an expanded list of things to take with utility wild talents is a great way to express a logical affinity for that element.


Part Secret Bonus Time: The TLDR Guide. 


I don't know how you got this far if fast advice is all you wanted, but here we go.


Play a DEX race. Not anything with a CON penalty.

Take Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Weapon Finesse.

Take Kinetic Blade. Use it for Single Target DPS.

Aether for Utility, Fire for Damage, Air or Water to split the difference.

You're gonna love that fire damage but you're gonna regret taking Fire at least one time.

Stack as much DEX and CON as you can.

Hit your burn soft cap from Elemental Overflow. Afterward, carefully manage your burn costs, or don't and go fucking bonkers every fight, see if I care.