Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Wild Rover 11-13-05, 04:59 PM	hey board, long time since i needed help w/ a build but now i do, thinkin about making a soulknife as a back up character because there are times when i'm not exactly sure how safe my current monk is with the rest of my party (particularly a chaotic evil psycho who hasn't tried to kill the rest of my party only because he needs us to survive) i think my monk would put up a good fight and it would be close but he can just simply make better rolls and deal much more damage than i can handle so better safe then sorry. anyways i was thinking of making a soulknife because i love the class, it'd probably look something like this kalashtar lvl 20 soulknife16/swashbuckler3/fighter1 BAB: +16 saves 10/11/11 feats: TWF soulblade warrior ITWF?? psionic meditation?? psionic weapon?? dodge mobility spring attack mindblade: 2 +3 shortswords with +4 enhancement bonuses on each, most likely wounding and either 2 +1 enhancements or 1 +2 enhancement class abilities worth noting: blade wind greater weapon focus int to damage free draw psychic strike +4d8 knife to the soul weapon finesse i wasn't really sure about the fighter bit but the extra feat is always useful, i was gonna go the twf route with this guy and have wounding on his blades, so he'll end up doing a whole lot of damage this way. the feats are really quite a mess right now, the only two i know for certain that i'd want to take are twf and soulblade warrior, the others like psionic meditation and psionic weapon are iffy because they need good str and wis, both of which i wouldn't really focus on with this build so it's not entirely certain i'd even qualify for them. if anyone could help me out here i'd really appreciate it, i want the build to be mostly soulknife, it doesn't have to be kalashtar and it isn't really ebberon specific, we can take stuff from anywhere really i just picked kalashtar so i can have soulblade warrior. i have access to almost any book except for incarnum (i simply don't own it) and none of the dragon magazines are allowed. some unearthed arcana stuff is allowed just as long as it's not gestalts or anything
The Wild Rover 11-14-05, 02:25 AM	er... bump?
X-Codes 11-14-05, 02:40 AM	Wait a full 24 hours to bump your thread. Anyway, it seems pretty solid to me. You might be better using a Bastard Sword two-handed however. If you took EWP and dipped one level for Exotic Weapon Master I think it would let you add x2 strength through uncanny blow (Weapon Focus might not even be required since you already have it for your bastard sword mind blade). That just seems better to me than pulling in Intelligence as a required stat for a skill list that is honestly pretty well covered by the 4+level skills.
FabulousRex 11-14-05, 03:02 AM	First off, with that build you're gonna suck up at least one 20% XP penalty, as the Kalashtar's favored class is Psion. Secondly, using TWF as a Soulknife is generally a BAD idea, as you have only 3/4 BAB and no real easy way to add alot of extra damage (like Sneak Attack or multiple Elemental enhancements). Here's a good build if you only want to 'dip' Soulknife. It suits the Kalashtar mentality well and adds some much-needed Psionic capablities to the mix. Soulknife6/Warmind6/Kensai8 Start off with the Substitution levels from Races of Eberron, losing Psychic Strike is OK with so few levels in the base SK class. Gaining Holy for your mind blade and additional AC while full-attacking is great! The feats can go any way you want. You could actually do the TWF route, since you can now add a couple extra damage dice to the mix. Imagine wielding 2 +5 Holy, Shocking, Sonic, keen mindblades at high levels! Combine with offensive precognition to actually have a decent chance of hitting things with all of your attacks. Here's a great battlefield control build that has no XP penalties, great abilities, and good RP value as well. Soulknife12/Atavist6/Exotic Weapon Master2 To become good at battlefield control, here's the fastest shortcut way to do so: SK1-Combat Expertise SK2 SK3-Improved Trip SK4 SK5 Atavist1-Exotic Weapon Prof. Bastard Sword AT2 AT3 AT4-Combat Reflexes AT5-*Reach gained for Mindblade from Atavist class feature* Exotic WM1-Exotic Trip EWM2-Focused Blow, Deft Opportunist Finish up with one more level of Atavist to avoid the BAB penalties, then follow up with the rest in Soulknife. You know have a reach tripper with an un-sunder/stealable weapon that doesn't look like he is carrying a reach weapon. Your BAB is only 15, but you get alot out of using a 2-Handed bastard sword Mindblade. With a +4 combat enhancement and Greater WF: Mindblade, you should have a decent chance to hit things at high levels.
loraque 11-15-05, 12:14 PM	The real power of a soulknife, IMO, is when you don't multiclass. Or at least not much. Why? Well, having played one from creation, I think there is one particular SK ability that needs to be focused on... knife to the soul. Yes, I know there are some creatures that are immune to ability damage, but you take care of them the same way you got to level 12 in the first place; With Power Attack, and two hands on your bastard sword mind blade. But for the majority of critters that DO take ability damage, think about it. At 12th, the SK can blow his mind to do 3 CHA, WIS, or INT damage. He can do this every round. He can do it when throwing his mindblade. He can use it in conjunction with Bladewind (though not every round). Now, how much CHA does your average monster have? How much WIS does the average raging ogre barbarian have? How much INT? Most everything will have a weak spot in one of those, and usually you will choose correctly as to which it is. Even at 12th level, there is a significant number of creatures that a SK can take down in two hits, from range potentially. At 20th level, he can do 5 points of ability damage. Every round. Against most targets. What would that do to YOUR character? It is just plain FUN using bladewind in a crowded area, and dropping multiple guys into comas. I need to make a feat for Improved Bladewind... Anyway, that is my take on them after having played one. Pretty late payoff, but consider- You are good at the one big swing. Early, you do good damage just swinging once with your extra d8's of damage. You can easily throw your bastard sword sized mindblade too. Unless you need to shield a party member, always make them come to you by throwing brain pumped mindblades. Take power attack early, and use it when needed to bypass DR or when something is immune to you blowing your mind on them. Don't stack weapon enhancements like wounding in your mindblade, because damage is a secondary way for you to kill. And if things are immune to ability damage, wounding won't work anyway. 17th level mindblade lets you throw as many mindblades as you would have in a normal full attack. With the right feats, this can make you a devastating thrower. Think master thrower with the improved crit mod on a mindblade, in conjunction with the brutal throw feat. 17-20 crit range/x3 damage mod, WITH power attack damage "thrown" in. Oh yeah, d10 base damage too. Fun stuff. My SK Feat Chain- Human Soulknife 18/rogue1/master thrower 1 H-Point Blank Shot 1-Power Attack 3-Precise Shot 6-Improved Toughness 9-Staggering Strike (1 rogue level required) 12-Combat Throw 15-Brutal Throw 18-Improved Precise Shot/Rapid Shot Low levels- Before you can shape your mindblade, grab a large shield. Start throwing it as soon as you are able- don't give them a full round on you unless you have to. Use your tumble, spot, listen, hide. and move silent. And NEVER forget autohypnosis. That WILL save your life someday. Remember to memorize the map occassionally ;). 6th Once you can shape your blade, wrap two hands around it. Dump the shield, or maybe grab a buckler (and possibly improved buckler defense if you like). Still throw it when you can. You should probably stick with pumping up your mindblade with mental energy during your move... real low AC's might get you to change your mind, and you have power attack. Use it when you need to bypass DR, which WILL be an issue sometimes for you. 9th Take 9th level as a rogue so you can grab Staggering Strike. Work in attacking from invisible/hidden/flanked. Now when you hit them with your big one swing and do good damage, if you get to add SA damage, dish them a large FORT save or have them be staggered for a round. If you can keep up the SA attacks, this is an effective way to shut down a target permanently. 13th Knife to the soul. Now you only need dish enough damage to ensure a failed fort save on staggering strike, and they can't get away from you while you whittle their brainstem to mush. Bladewind this for fantastic effect, then tumble away ;). 14th Master Thrower level Increase your crit mod on your mindblade to x3. About now you need to start working on a greater invis item, as well as a quickened True Strike item. Don't need to spend money on your weapon ever, so you might manage this. At the end, you have a guy that CAN deal decent melee damage to any opponent, but prefers to throw his blade into things souls. By the time your target knows what you are doing to him, if he takes ability damage, it is probably too late for him to stop you doing it. Tread carefully with lots of targets, but your d10 HD, great skill selection, including tumble, can get you out of a jam. You will not do well as the primary fighter, though you make an excellent flanker and backup fighter. Sometimes you just need someone to take a beating for a couple rounds. A second level in master thrower would net you evasion, which wouldn't suck.
The Wild Rover 11-17-05, 02:30 AM	ok, keeping in mind the very helpful comments thus far i've decided to take a new approach, the str focused pwr attack does seem to be the better route to take so illumian soulkife 16/ fighter 1???/ shadow sentinel 3 this gives me : BAB: +16 saves : 10/13/11 feats power attack combat expertise improved sigil AESH psionic weapon greater psionic weapon psionic meditation improved trip improved combat expertise maybe? the fighter is more just filler so i can get +16 BAB, i'd take a 4th level of shadow sentinel but it would be a bit fruitless since all i'd get is a bump to two saves (4th level gives shadow sentinel umbral blade +2, i already have a +4 blade from soulknife so it is not possible) i figure this build is pretty feat starved as is so a bonus feat couldn't hurt this guy is gonna be dealing ability score damage whenever he can, and for those guys that are immune then his power attacking falchion with +4d8 psychic strike and +4d6 psionic weapon damage tacked on is gonna have something to say about it. i will be taking ranks in all the stealthy skills, i'm going to make him a lightly armored fighter once i get a feel for the enemy i'll be able to use imp. expertise to a greater advantage already cleared the whole mindblade=umbral blade thing up with my dm so that's not a concern.
Todd 11-17-05, 09:22 AM	Personally I would take more levels of Shadow Sentinel. Why 16 levels of soulknife if you have a PrC that's going to make your mind blade better?
The Wild Rover 11-17-05, 09:45 AM	well i want to have as many psychic strike dice as possible while still being able to have a +16 BAB, so i need at least soulknife 15. now both the 16th level of soulknife and the 4th level of shadow sentinel increase the 'to attack and damage' enhancement on my mindblade, and souknife 15 fighter 1 shadow sentinel 4 still gives me the same BAB, just slightly different saves. i could forgoe that level of fighter and take it soulknife 15/ shadow sentinel 5 but that'd be the same as trading a feat and a bump in fort sav. for morphic blade (material). do you guys think it would be worth it? i'm not really factoring number of shadow points into the argument here because with 3 levels i'll have 5 points, which replenish every 8 hours, and 4 abilities that use shadow points, each only use one at a time, one of which lasts 24 hours. and i don't even see myself using shadowbane all that often
SoulGamit 11-17-05, 12:41 PM	shadow sentinal's level 5 ability is arguably the only reason to take it. Honestly, even then I don't think it's worth it, as there are so many over-lapping abilities. He can use it in conjunction with Bladewind (though not every round). Are you sure it can be used in conjunction with bladewind, as in, effect everyone you can reach? Reading it, that doesn't seem to be the case since bladewind is still multiple attacks, not one. If you want to focus on melee mindblade, Soul Knife 15 / Warmind 5 is probably the best way to go. Also, take the first and last kalashtar substitution level if possible, but not the middle one as it generally sucks.