Yeah, I'm discovering that about Paradox Tinkers.
Edited tons for clarity, and to reflect deathless Insane win (though sadly, not on Roguelike, because I don't need that stress in my life).
https://te4.org/characters/4806/tome/64 ... b6f2264ce9To be clear - not arguing Oozemancers are S tier, I can see how their damage would be inadequate there and they haven't cleared Madness. But on Insane, I find their 4-29 game easier than a Paradox Mage (and, depending on race choice for PM, their 30 might take a good while longer than a Cornac Oozemancer's). Because an Oozemancer (unlike a PM) can get what they really need out of their class with only 2 Cat points (Oozing Blades and Eyal), a Cornac Ooze can run 5 Inscriptions + Tinkers. I think the inclusion of tinkers lifts Oozemancers up notably more than some other classes on account.
I auto-trigger Mucus on sight of enemy in order to lazily manage equilibrium and spawn mucus oozes, but it also means I'm usually ready to Oozewalk a square (or over to Acid Splash, if relevant) to remove 2 physical or magical effects. Also, given that cornac is a strong race for them they're starting out with 4 inscriptions, which means wild: phys, wild: mental, movement, and regen are there for the taking starting out. That's not top-tier status clears by any means, but it's not terrible for a low level character, either. Once they get tinkers rolling @ 20 the salves help a lot with choice and number of status clears, grounding strap is grounding strap, and other tinkers buff your resists & saves (both directly and indirectly through stats) in conjunction with PES. Post Wyrm you can run Regeneration, Heroism (and, as needed, start fights by triggering both of these and then Slime Roots-ing to reset them), Movement, and double Injector, which I'd argue is pretty good status control once you've managed stun immunity through other means.
Their damage... I think it's fine if you're running Superpower and PES, and it's not like there's a defensive Prodigy you need more (I never felt the lack of Spine of the World). It's more grinding down with a layering of DOTs, DOT-esque AoE's, and summons than the savage burst beatings that DPS melee / ranged classes can dish out, with your big hits being Call of Ooze topping out with crits for mid 5k, but is that worse than Necro?
Anyway, no big deal if Oozemancer's don't belong by some criterion, just wondering what it was given their toolbox. If the consensus is their damage and limited status clears are enough to keep them out, fair enough, but I thought the criterion for A was "virtually unkillable when played right" which I think Oozemancer can qualify for, and to paraphrase Sun Tzu, "if you don't lose you'll win eventually."