Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nobunaga Oda 06-22-07, 08:53 PM	Hello. I love psionics, but only recently brought the Complete Psionic. Despite having many flaws, this book has a class named "Ardent"...And I fell in love for it in the first sight. I always wanted to play a character that drew power from different philosofical views. I tried to emulate this with Clerics for years! Since the party is in need of a Healer, I decided to create a Ardent with his primary mantle being "Life". But I want to know: Does anyone wrote a build guide for the class, similar as the Psionic Warrior Compedium on these boards? Are the Ardent worth the donald?
kyeudo 06-22-07, 09:27 PM	Ardent is actualy one of the few classes where 20 levels in the class is worth it, along with Druid, Cleric, Wizard, and the rest. Life is okay, but a little on the substandard side. Your going to want that +1 manifester level on Life mantle abilities alot at early levels, so I suggest you get Psionic Meditation or a Psicrystal and Psicrystal Containment, which are good anyway for metapsionics. Creation is an good mantle, as you get Psionic Minor Creation and Astral Construct. The Ectopic Form bonus feat is sucky, but you can't have everything. Creation also works thematicly with Life. By the way, are you playing with or without the Astral Construct nerf?
Nobunaga Oda 06-22-07, 09:47 PM	Ardent is actualy one of the few classes where 20 levels in the class is worth it, along with Druid, Cleric, Wizard, and the rest. Life is okay, but a little on the substandard side. Your going to want that +1 manifester level on Life mantle abilities alot at early levels, so I suggest you get Psionic Meditation or a Psicrystal and Psicrystal Containment, which are good anyway for metapsionics. Creation is an good mantle, as you get Psionic Minor Creation and Astral Construct. The Ectopic Form bonus feat is sucky, but you can't have everything. Creation also works thematicly with Life. By the way, are you playing with or without the Astral Construct nerf? Without the nerf I think. Hm since the campaign setting is Eberron, will the Astral Construct blend into it? We already got Melee covered by the way(By a "Swordsman", homebrew Swashbuckler variant and a Barbarian) so my character can focus on other things.
CrimsonDeath 06-22-07, 11:18 PM	Ardent is actualy one of the few classes where 20 levels in the class is worth it, along with Druid, Cleric, Wizard, and the rest. There's actually not all that much point in Wizard 20 or Cleric 20 with all the zero-loss prestiege classes... Anyway, one of the things about the Ardent is that you need to decide what you want to accomplish, and you probably want to map out your entire build before you start playing (especially if you want to swap out your primary mantles). But the thing is... You can do pretty much anything you want. Blaster? Cool. Healer? Fine. Melee? Great. If you do it right, you can fill two or three functions at once.
Nobunaga Oda 06-23-07, 09:19 AM	There's actually not all that much point in Wizard 20 or Cleric 20 with all the zero-loss prestiege classes... Anyway, one of the things about the Ardent is that you need to decide what you want to accomplish, and you probably want to map out your entire build before you start playing (especially if you want to swap out your primary mantles). But the thing is... You can do pretty much anything you want. Blaster? Cool. Healer? Fine. Melee? Great. If you do it right, you can fill two or three functions at once. Yes I was planning the build this morning and it just like you said. The class can really do anything with the right planning. I feel that a Healer can mesh easily with other mantles, is that right? Just use Psionic Meditation with Life Mantle.
CrimsonDeath 06-23-07, 11:53 AM	Healer is one of the easier concepts to tack on, since it's pretty much all in one mantle. If you want to focus on healing, make it a primary; there's enough differentiation among the powers that you can justify learning almost all of them. If you only want to do a little healing, pick it up later and only grab the powers you like the most. Personally, I wouldn't suggest Energy as a primary, since the powers in it are largely redundant. ("Oh, you can make energy rays, cones, bursts, and lines? That's nice...")
lears_fool 06-23-07, 02:55 PM	Ardents are rapidly becoming my favorite manifesting class, but they also are, bar none, the most AGONIZING to make selections for (specifically mantles/powers) First and foremost, don't forget the mantle powers, they're generally minor but some are genuinely useful. Secondly, walk through the first dozen levels or so and see if you've always got a good power to choose. It's funny how often you'll decide to swap a level 1 mantle for the level 5 selection. With both creation and life you might want to double-check the other powers and ponder what you're doing in the future. Some people just take Creation for Astral Construct or Life for that nice mid level heal. If that's all you're doing you might be just as well off using Expand Knowledge. .since both of their mantle abilities are arguably substandard. Amazingly fun and versatile class though, and really the ultimate psi-gish
ck2001wendt 06-23-07, 03:03 PM	Something to consider: Ardent is one of the few classes that is a worthwhile component in a double progression. Example: Ardent 1/Cleric 3/Psychic Theurge 10/ Cleric PrC 6 Feats: Practiced Manifester, Practiced Caster Cleric CL 20, 9th level spells Ardent ML 15, 8th level powers Pick utility powers (Movement, Hustle), no SR attack powers (Crystal Shard) or Immediate action powers (Damp Power, Intellect Fortress) to free up slots for your excellent Cleric casting without feeling the reduced PP or ML.
Bacris 06-23-07, 03:25 PM	Ardents are rapidly becoming my favorite manifesting class, but they also are, bar none, the most AGONIZING to make selections for (specifically mantles/powers) Absolutely 100% agree. Picking my ardent's mantles and powers was something I literally spent hours on debating before I finally settled.
InkBlot 06-23-07, 03:34 PM	Hm since the campaign setting is Eberron, will the Astral Construct blend into it? Yes. Astral constructs are anything you want them to be. Anything you can imagine. A better word for astral construct would be tulpa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa). This is supported mechanically by the fact that you can make a craft (sculpture) check to make the construct look more accurate to your ideal (see page 185 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). Even if you have melee combatants already, you can still use your tulpas for many other tasks. Create a tulpa of a flying carpet to lift you across a chasm or up a sheer cliff; create a tulpa of a disembodied hand to crawl through tight spaces and retrieve an important object. Create a tulpa whale to ferry you across a narrow river (large astral construct with the swim menu choice). Anyway, it's up to you. In your situation, it doesn't sound like a must-have, and you could get as much utility out of many other mantles. For instance, the freedom mantle will get you over pretty much any obstruction or obstacle, and with the mental power mantle you could just charm powerful creatures into helping you do things you couldn't normally do.
lears_fool 06-23-07, 05:06 PM	Absolutely 100% agree. Picking my ardent's mantles and powers was something I literally spent hours on debating before I finally settled. And then afterwards of course you spend the occasional level saying 'what would have happened had I chosen THIS instead???' For me it's mostly around the 9-13 range when I run into odd gaps where I have to pick first level powers because I've taken the only level 5 and level 6 power I want ;)