About Psychic Warriors [Archive] - Wizards Community

About Psychic Warriors [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
CopyCat_Blade
09-10-07, 12:16 AM Ok I have two questions that relate to psychic warriors:

1. Why dosen't the Psychic Warrior have a power in lvl 6 powers, that is a last resorte power. The black dragon breathe sometme is not strong to get the job do, and when the company you are with are already dead then why doesn't the Psychic Warrior have a power that ether brings back his allies or kills just about everything in the blast but at the cost of his life.

2. I have looking for a good prestige class for a psychic warrior?
InkBlot
09-10-07, 12:37 AM This is psionics, not magic. 1st level powers can be as powerful as 6th level powers so long as you're paying 11 power points.

The Psychic Warrior is a melee bruiser, not a blaster. If he were going to have an emergency "OMG we're toast if I don't pull something big" power, then it wouldn't be an area-of-effect direct-damage power. And in fact he has several, and they aren't.

Look at form of doom, psychofeedback, immovability, dimension door, vampiric blade, psionic lion's charge, dimension swap, and empathic transfer. There are your powers for bringing your allies back from the brink of death, pulling them out of harms way at the last moment, and killing everything in sight at the cost of your life.
sijigs
09-10-07, 01:22 AM *rinngg*

Hello?

Hello.. I need some healing please.

Sorry, you've reached the wrong number. This ain't the cleric line. I just destroy things.

:D
Bacris
09-10-07, 08:40 AM 1) Because that's not what a psychic warrior does

2) Have you looked at the following classes? Illithid Slayer, Sanctified Mind (from Lords of Madness), Ghostbreaker (from Hyperconscious), Elocater, etc.?
Harbin_Dunewalker
09-10-07, 11:01 PM Illithid Slayer (Slayer in the SRD) and Sanctified Mind are the two good prestige classes for pis-gishes. Both get you full base attack bonus and only lose one level of manifesting, plus they come with some nifty abilities.
Deveral
09-10-07, 11:12 PM I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war.

Their powers, imo, are amazing. They can do many things that would make a fighter puke. However, they arent blasters, thats for the psion/wilder. Psy-Wars do kill everything in sight but not by nuking.
Salla
09-10-07, 11:22 PM I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war.

Their powers, imo, are amazing. They can do many things that would make a fighter puke. However, they arent blasters, thats for the psion/wilder. Psy-Wars do kill everything in sight but not by nuking.

And if you insist on blasting, there's always Expanded Knowledge.
Fireclave
09-11-07, 12:49 AM 1) Because healing and blasting is not what the psywar does. Augmented martial/ranged combat is what he does*. If you want healing, you need to play a cleric, druid, or favored soul. If you want blasting, you need to play a wizard, sorcerer, psion, or wilder.

2) Slayer and Elocater can work for a psywar. But IMO, the psychic warrior is one of those classes that works just fine all the way to 20th. Don't forget that, if you want your psywar to get an unusual ability, that he can take Expanded Knowledge as one of his many bonus feats and basically build his own PRC

Metamorphing, astral-dino creating, mind-reading psywar with force grip action? Yes pls.

*The Psywar can heal and blast, but he doesn't excel in those areas. If you want to play a pseudo-cleric, you can do so with Empathic Transfer, Body Adjustment and/or Vigor, Body Purification, and use Expanded Knowledge to take Psionic Revivify. If you want to blast, use Expanded Knowledge to take any blasting power off the psion list (Energy Ball and Energy Bolt are good choices) and try combining the Mind Over Body and Body Fuel feats and prioritizing wis to grant yourself some additional PP.
InkBlot
09-11-07, 01:04 AM Blasting requires a large power point reserve. If you want to blast, you'll have to take lots of Psionic Talent feats and amp up your Wis as high as possible.

There's a good psywar blaster build called The Crystal Archer. Psywar 20, take the feats (15 feats) Expanded Knowledge (crystal shard), Zen Archery, the standard achery feats, and as many Psionic Talents as you can. You never fully augment crystal shard - instead you use Psionic Shot and your psywar buff powers to up the damage to respectable levels.

The trick also works with energy ray, but Energy Archer doesn't sound quite as romantic.
cnahumck
09-11-07, 12:43 PM If you take the EK feat, you can always get a dojre or a psi-crown and use that instead. It's not the same as doing it yourself, and it forces you to be reliant on items, but it may work nicely as a surprise attack or fit into a theme.
InkBlot
09-11-07, 03:11 PM With the Crystal Archer build, a dorje would indeed work nicely, since you wouldn't want to fully augment the power anyway.
The_Shaman
09-11-07, 05:28 PM Ok I have two questions that relate to psychic warriors:

1. Why dosen't the Psychic Warrior have a power in lvl 6 powers, that is a last resorte power. The black dragon breathe sometme is not strong to get the job do, and when the company you are with are already dead then why doesn't the Psychic Warrior have a power that ether brings back his allies or kills just about everything in the blast but at the cost of his life.

The same reason why a wizard doesn't have full BAB: because that's not what he's supposed to be doing. As others have said, resurrection is something that is best left to the deities, and their respective servants - clerics, favored souls, druids etc. IF a PW really has to do it, s/he can (EK: psionic revivify), but it's not supposed to be their shtick. How many resurrection powers does a rogue have? As for last resort power, unfortunately PWs aren't the best in ""going nova" either. Most of the blast powers are on the psion/kineticist list. Even better - leave blasting to the warmages, it's the ONE thing they can do . Tell you what, though - there's very little that they do that I'd trade for something like Form of Doom or Inconstant Location.

2. I have looking for a good prestige class for a psychic warrior?

Slayer is a great one, Sanctified Mind is awesome too. PW 14/SM 6 is a good way of getting both a lot of the PW bonus feats and the SM abilities. Other PrCs such as elocator, shadowmind or cognition thief might be stranger choices but can still be quite versatile imo. Ultimately, it boils down to 1 thing - what do you want to be able to do?
PhaedrusXY
09-11-07, 06:20 PM With the Crystal Archer build, a dorje would indeed work nicely, since you wouldn't want to fully augment the power anyway.There is a feat called Dorje Mastery in one of the Eberron books (Magic of Eberron?) that augments powers manifested from a Dorje with four power points for free. It would be perfect for this kind of build.
Vharuck
09-11-07, 06:33 PM I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war.

Actually, I consider War Mind a terrible PsyWar PrC choice, since you restart the levels for your new powers. I think War Mind was meant more for a non-PsyWar melee build to get that touch of Psychic Warrior later in the game without being stuck at level 15 with only a few 1st and 2nd level powers to show for it.
InkBlot
09-11-07, 06:33 PM There is a feat called Dorje Mastery in one of the Eberron books (Magic of Eberron?) that augments powers manifested from a Dorje with four power points for free. It would be perfect for this kind of build.
Good idea. Craft Dorje + Dorje Mastery could easily save a lot more power points than two Psionic Talents would grant.

The Crystal Archer build was first thought up (not by me) before ComPsi or most of the Eberron splatbooks came out, so it could probably do with an update.
CopyCat_Blade
09-13-07, 10:07 PM "Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do?
CrimsonDeath
09-13-07, 10:20 PM "Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do?
It gives you an extra psionic power, from any class's list. However, it must be of a power level lower than the highest-level power you can manifest. So, a Psychic Warrior wouldn't qualify until 4th level, and at that point he could only learn level 1 powers with it. At 16th level, he could use Expanded Knowledge to qualify for powers of up to 5th level. (I know a single-class psychic warrior doesn't get feats at these levels, but a multi-classed one might.)
sijigs
09-13-07, 10:21 PM Actually, I consider War Mind a terrible PsyWar PrC choice, since you restart the levels for your new powers. I think War Mind was meant more for a non-PsyWar melee build to get that touch of Psychic Warrior later in the game without being stuck at level 15 with only a few 1st and 2nd level powers to show for it.

I wonder how this would pan out:

Maenad (or half giant) > Duskblade > Warmind

You'd have terrible blasting potential and suck against dispelling, but man.. you'd be dropping a whole lotta dice when you attack.

Must work this out
Moosh Nailo
09-13-07, 10:27 PM How about using the new ability option for PsiWars in the Expanded Psi thing. Replacing a bonus feat with access to the Life Mantle from Complete Psionics. Offers some psionic healing, including stuff that makes you not dead.
Fireclave
09-13-07, 10:56 PM "Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do?

It does this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#expandedKnowledge).
InkBlot
09-14-07, 12:36 AM How about using the new ability option for PsiWars in the Expanded Psi thing. Replacing a bonus feat with access to the Life Mantle from Complete Psionics. Offers some psionic healing, including stuff that makes you not dead.
They don't get enough power points to be healing all the time, and they don't get enough powers known to take all the best healing powers. So if you took that variant, you'd probably be best off taking one or two powers off the mantle and not touching the rest. It's slightly better than Expanded Knowledge (psionic revivify), unless you hate the idea of delaying access to combat feats that are higher up on their respective trees.

Also keep in mind that there several healing powers already on the Psychic Warrior list. In particular, share pain + claws of the vampire is an extremely efficient way to keep your friends alive (this also works with vampiric weapon).
Lycanthromancer
09-14-07, 02:46 PM You could take the mantle and then use dorjes. Note that you don't have to have the power on your list of powers known, just have it on your class list.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
CopyCat_Blade 09-10-07, 12:16 AM	Ok I have two questions that relate to psychic warriors: 1. Why dosen't the Psychic Warrior have a power in lvl 6 powers, that is a last resorte power. The black dragon breathe sometme is not strong to get the job do, and when the company you are with are already dead then why doesn't the Psychic Warrior have a power that ether brings back his allies or kills just about everything in the blast but at the cost of his life. 2. I have looking for a good prestige class for a psychic warrior?
InkBlot 09-10-07, 12:37 AM	This is psionics, not magic. 1st level powers can be as powerful as 6th level powers so long as you're paying 11 power points. The Psychic Warrior is a melee bruiser, not a blaster. If he were going to have an emergency "OMG we're toast if I don't pull something big" power, then it wouldn't be an area-of-effect direct-damage power. And in fact he has several, and they aren't. Look at form of doom, psychofeedback, immovability, dimension door, vampiric blade, psionic lion's charge, dimension swap, and empathic transfer. There are your powers for bringing your allies back from the brink of death, pulling them out of harms way at the last moment, and killing everything in sight at the cost of your life.
sijigs 09-10-07, 01:22 AM	rinngg Hello? Hello.. I need some healing please. Sorry, you've reached the wrong number. This ain't the cleric line. I just destroy things. :D
Bacris 09-10-07, 08:40 AM	1) Because that's not what a psychic warrior does 2) Have you looked at the following classes? Illithid Slayer, Sanctified Mind (from Lords of Madness), Ghostbreaker (from Hyperconscious), Elocater, etc.?
Harbin_Dunewalker 09-10-07, 11:01 PM	Illithid Slayer (Slayer in the SRD) and Sanctified Mind are the two good prestige classes for pis-gishes. Both get you full base attack bonus and only lose one level of manifesting, plus they come with some nifty abilities.
Deveral 09-10-07, 11:12 PM	I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war. Their powers, imo, are amazing. They can do many things that would make a fighter puke. However, they arent blasters, thats for the psion/wilder. Psy-Wars do kill everything in sight but not by nuking.
Salla 09-10-07, 11:22 PM	I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war. Their powers, imo, are amazing. They can do many things that would make a fighter puke. However, they arent blasters, thats for the psion/wilder. Psy-Wars do kill everything in sight but not by nuking. And if you insist on blasting, there's always Expanded Knowledge.
Fireclave 09-11-07, 12:49 AM	1) Because healing and blasting is not what the psywar does. Augmented martial/ranged combat is what he does. If you want healing, you need to play a cleric, druid, or favored soul. If you want blasting, you need to play a wizard, sorcerer, psion, or wilder. 2) Slayer and Elocater can work for a psywar. But IMO, the psychic warrior is one of those classes that works just fine all the way to 20th. Don't forget that, if you want your psywar to get an unusual ability, that he can take Expanded Knowledge as one of his many bonus feats and basically build his own PRC Metamorphing, astral-dino creating, mind-reading psywar with force grip action? Yes pls. The Psywar can heal and blast, but he doesn't excel in those areas. If you want to play a pseudo-cleric, you can do so with Empathic Transfer, Body Adjustment and/or Vigor, Body Purification, and use Expanded Knowledge to take Psionic Revivify. If you want to blast, use Expanded Knowledge to take any blasting power off the psion list (Energy Ball and Energy Bolt are good choices) and try combining the Mind Over Body and Body Fuel feats and prioritizing wis to grant yourself some additional PP.
InkBlot 09-11-07, 01:04 AM	Blasting requires a large power point reserve. If you want to blast, you'll have to take lots of Psionic Talent feats and amp up your Wis as high as possible. There's a good psywar blaster build called The Crystal Archer. Psywar 20, take the feats (15 feats) Expanded Knowledge (crystal shard), Zen Archery, the standard achery feats, and as many Psionic Talents as you can. You never fully augment crystal shard - instead you use Psionic Shot and your psywar buff powers to up the damage to respectable levels. The trick also works with energy ray, but Energy Archer doesn't sound quite as romantic.
cnahumck 09-11-07, 12:43 PM	If you take the EK feat, you can always get a dojre or a psi-crown and use that instead. It's not the same as doing it yourself, and it forces you to be reliant on items, but it may work nicely as a surprise attack or fit into a theme.
InkBlot 09-11-07, 03:11 PM	With the Crystal Archer build, a dorje would indeed work nicely, since you wouldn't want to fully augment the power anyway.
The_Shaman 09-11-07, 05:28 PM	Ok I have two questions that relate to psychic warriors: 1. Why dosen't the Psychic Warrior have a power in lvl 6 powers, that is a last resorte power. The black dragon breathe sometme is not strong to get the job do, and when the company you are with are already dead then why doesn't the Psychic Warrior have a power that ether brings back his allies or kills just about everything in the blast but at the cost of his life. The same reason why a wizard doesn't have full BAB: because that's not what he's supposed to be doing. As others have said, resurrection is something that is best left to the deities, and their respective servants - clerics, favored souls, druids etc. IF a PW really has to do it, s/he can (EK: psionic revivify), but it's not supposed to be their shtick. How many resurrection powers does a rogue have? As for last resort power, unfortunately PWs aren't the best in ""going nova" either. Most of the blast powers are on the psion/kineticist list. Even better - leave blasting to the warmages, it's the ONE thing they can do . Tell you what, though - there's very little that they do that I'd trade for something like Form of Doom or Inconstant Location. 2. I have looking for a good prestige class for a psychic warrior? Slayer is a great one, Sanctified Mind is awesome too. PW 14/SM 6 is a good way of getting both a lot of the PW bonus feats and the SM abilities. Other PrCs such as elocator, shadowmind or cognition thief might be stranger choices but can still be quite versatile imo. Ultimately, it boils down to 1 thing - what do you want to be able to do?
PhaedrusXY 09-11-07, 06:20 PM	With the Crystal Archer build, a dorje would indeed work nicely, since you wouldn't want to fully augment the power anyway.There is a feat called Dorje Mastery in one of the Eberron books (Magic of Eberron?) that augments powers manifested from a Dorje with four power points for free. It would be perfect for this kind of build.
Vharuck 09-11-07, 06:33 PM	I guess War Mind isnt bad either. If it werent for the terrible skill selection, I would go full psy-war. Actually, I consider War Mind a terrible PsyWar PrC choice, since you restart the levels for your new powers. I think War Mind was meant more for a non-PsyWar melee build to get that touch of Psychic Warrior later in the game without being stuck at level 15 with only a few 1st and 2nd level powers to show for it.
InkBlot 09-11-07, 06:33 PM	There is a feat called Dorje Mastery in one of the Eberron books (Magic of Eberron?) that augments powers manifested from a Dorje with four power points for free. It would be perfect for this kind of build. Good idea. Craft Dorje + Dorje Mastery could easily save a lot more power points than two Psionic Talents would grant. The Crystal Archer build was first thought up (not by me) before ComPsi or most of the Eberron splatbooks came out, so it could probably do with an update.
CopyCat_Blade 09-13-07, 10:07 PM	"Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do?
CrimsonDeath 09-13-07, 10:20 PM	"Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do? It gives you an extra psionic power, from any class's list. However, it must be of a power level lower than the highest-level power you can manifest. So, a Psychic Warrior wouldn't qualify until 4th level, and at that point he could only learn level 1 powers with it. At 16th level, he could use Expanded Knowledge to qualify for powers of up to 5th level. (I know a single-class psychic warrior doesn't get feats at these levels, but a multi-classed one might.)
sijigs 09-13-07, 10:21 PM	Actually, I consider War Mind a terrible PsyWar PrC choice, since you restart the levels for your new powers. I think War Mind was meant more for a non-PsyWar melee build to get that touch of Psychic Warrior later in the game without being stuck at level 15 with only a few 1st and 2nd level powers to show for it. I wonder how this would pan out: Maenad (or half giant) > Duskblade > Warmind You'd have terrible blasting potential and suck against dispelling, but man.. you'd be dropping a whole lotta dice when you attack. Must work this out
Moosh Nailo 09-13-07, 10:27 PM	How about using the new ability option for PsiWars in the Expanded Psi thing. Replacing a bonus feat with access to the Life Mantle from Complete Psionics. Offers some psionic healing, including stuff that makes you not dead.
Fireclave 09-13-07, 10:56 PM	"Expanded Knowledge" I never read this feat, what does it do? It does this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#expandedKnowledge).
InkBlot 09-14-07, 12:36 AM	How about using the new ability option for PsiWars in the Expanded Psi thing. Replacing a bonus feat with access to the Life Mantle from Complete Psionics. Offers some psionic healing, including stuff that makes you not dead. They don't get enough power points to be healing all the time, and they don't get enough powers known to take all the best healing powers. So if you took that variant, you'd probably be best off taking one or two powers off the mantle and not touching the rest. It's slightly better than Expanded Knowledge (psionic revivify), unless you hate the idea of delaying access to combat feats that are higher up on their respective trees. Also keep in mind that there several healing powers already on the Psychic Warrior list. In particular, share pain + claws of the vampire is an extremely efficient way to keep your friends alive (this also works with vampiric weapon).
Lycanthromancer 09-14-07, 02:46 PM	You could take the mantle and then use dorjes. Note that you don't have to have the power on your list of powers known, just have it on your class list.