Sphere-specific drawbacks must be chosen when a practitioner first gains the associated sphere, and grant the practitioner an extra combat talent in the prerequisite sphere. Drawbacks may be removed in place of gaining a new talent through your class progression or by taking the Extra Combat Talent feat.
Wiki Note: If a Base Sphere grants an additional talent (such as via a package selection or drawback) the additional talents do not count as talents spent for abilities that count the number of talents spent in a sphere. (This most often applies to gaining skill points or improving unarmed damage.)
Utility Starts
The [utility start] tag is described in Spheres of Guile. It is only possible to take advantage of a combat sphere as a [utility] talent if your game includes a way to gain combat talents restricted to those with the [utility] tag, such as using one of the variants in Chapter 1.
Piecemeal Utility Starts: If you have a progression or optional replacement that grants a [utility] combat talent or a [utility] magic talent, you can use it to gain a base sphere if you apply a drawback or combination of drawbacks that removes all of that base sphere’s benefits other than skill ranks and [utility] talents (and actions necessary to use such talents).
Defensive Pugilist
You do not gain the counter punch ability from the Boxing sphere and cannot select (counter) talents. You must take Tight Guard with the bonus talent gained from this drawback.
Observant Fighter
You do not gain the counter punch ability and cannot select (counter) talents or other talents that rely on counter punch. You gain Read The Rhythm with this drawback.
Incompatible: Defensive Pugilist, Wily Dodger.
Retaliator
You do not gain Improved Unarmed Strike from this sphere, nor do boxing talents count as unarmed sphere talents for the purpose of improving your unarmed strike dice damage. You cannot take this drawback if you gained the Boxing sphere through associated feat with Improved Unarmed Strike. You must take either Heavy Counter or Hair Trigger as your bonus talent with this drawback.
Incompatible: Defensive Pugilist.
Shadowboxer
You do not gain the counter punch ability and cannot select (counter) talents or other talents that rely on counter punch. You gain Shadowboxing with this talent.
Incompatible: Defensive Pugilist.
Wily Dodger
You do not gain the counter punch ability and cannot select (counter) talents or other talents that rely on counter punch. You gain Headfake with this drawback.
Incompatible: Observant Fighter, Defensive Pugilist.