Post/Author/DateTime	Post
hovnarr 12-26-07, 10:35 AM	In this thread, I thought we could examine general strategies for playing psions at any level, build and game configurations. Especially how to advance over the course of a long career, without gimping yourself at any point. I'll start with painting levels 1-10 with broad strokes, and we can flesh it out more as we go along. LEVEL 1 Do: *Buy a mule. For 8 gp, you solve carrying capacity and get a tank that should at least defend itself if attacked, and provides a mobile source of cover. Like a permanent Astral Construct at this level. *Buy a light crossbow. Infinite 1d8 damage at no pp cost at range is good. *Buy leather armor. +2 to AC for a few gold, no drawback. *Take psicrystal affinity. Three feats in one (the crystal, alertness, personality bonus) *Take multi-purpose powers. Vigor for defense, something for offense (matter agitation is cheap) and something utility (attraction for social situations, call to mind for a know-it-all). Don't: *Take Ray powers. Unless your Dex is very high, you're more likely to waste pp than even on save negates powers (like Mind Thrust). Better to take a power that doesn't require a roll at all (like matter agitation). *Take Overchannel or metapsionic feats. You can't afford to use them anyway. LEVEL 2-4 Do: Continue upgrading mundane equipment. These are all cheap and effective upgrades: *Masterwork crossbow: still useful on petty foes *Mithril chain shirt: upgrade from leather armor. MW studded leather is good too. *Darkwood shield: even more AC. *Riding dog: more convenient than the donkey, can trip foes. Don't: *Waste pp on AC boosters. Use your gold to invest in permanent AC boosters (armor and shields). Inertial Armor etc. are only worthwhile at higher levels. *Waste pp on dealing damage. Your crossbow and animal can do that, as can the other party members. A 1 pp Grease can do a lot more than a 4 pp Mind Thrust. LEVEL 5 This is an important level, and may be your last as a psion before going into a PrC. You now have a sufficient amount of powers spread out over 3 power levels to start covering all the bases your party might expect of you. You can't do it all at once though, and other party members may be able to cover some areas too. Try to fit as much as possible of the following by the time you hit 5th level: *Area or wind damage: For swarms. Something that cannot be handled with weapon damage. *Support/control: Anything that helps your side or make life less pleasant for your opponents. *Social powers: The party would probably count on you to do mind tricks, communication and persuasion. Unless there's a bard or enchanter available. *Reconaissance: Most stuff in clairsentience is very useful (not only the discipline specific stuff). Your psicrystal helps here too. *Other utility: This can be anything. Minor Creation, Identify or Time Hop are typical examples. LEVEL 6 At this point you can probably lay down your crossbow for good and forget about it. Your riding dog has probably perished too, and been replaced by a Handy Haversack. You now need a good bodyguard substitute. There are a few alternatives: *Leadership: A 4th level cohort. Pick any that suits the party composition and work out the details with your DM (if he allows the feat). A spiked chain fighter makes for a decent bodyguard for now. *Thrallherd: You'll be a level behind for manifesting, but get a better sidekick (ECL 5) that respawns if killed. All in all, a sweet PrC. *Astral Construct: Finally, ACs start lasting long enough to get decent damage out of them. Ideally, you're a shaper with the 5th level quickend construct option (see expanded classes). If you also have overchannel, you can pick a boosted AC-IV as your personal, instant bodyguard. Costs pp though. *Party member: If there's no other option, a party member will have to protect you when necessary. LEVEL 7-8 This is an important level because it marks the transition from the low level environment to the mid level one, and provides you with the tool to make that transition: Psychic Reformation. Make no mistake, it may have been available before as a service, but now you can handle it yourself whenever you need an update. So, What to drop: *Low level offensive powers with poor augmentation. Mind Thrust, Matter Agitation and perhaps Grease should be dropped now. *EK feats that have served out their purpose. By now, you have so many powers to choose from, that those feats may be better spent elsewhere. What to pick up: *Metapsionic feats: Empower, Extend and Split Ray are all good now. Psionic Meditation is also necessary. *Ray powers: Your BAB and Dex has increased, while average opponent touch AC has actually DECREASED since level 1. In comes the rays. Entangling Ectoplasm gets special mention here. *AC improving powers: For difficult battles, pumping AC with pp is starting to get worthwhile now. *Discipline gems: There are some great level 4 powers in many, but not all, disciplines - worth building character concepts around. NOTE: Psychic Reformation can also be used to optimize your cohort/thrall, or other party members (split XP). LEVEL 9-10 You continue rounding out your repertoire. Aim for *Variety in damage types (energy + force is good) *Variety in save types (the good fort save powers don't show up until later) *Means for physical damage (astral construct, metamorphosis, your sidekick) *Battlefield control/support *Social powers *Utility *Counter measures (to concealment etc.) If you went with Leadership and a Cohort (or otherwise too), consider spending <6k gp on Genesis. You now have Planeshift, which means your party could do their R&R in this plane, when the wizard's Rope Trick feels to confined. It's also a great place to keep those followers/believers that start piling up. Creating your own place in the multiverse is probably easier than buying land from some king etc. and building a costly fort (only to have to defend it against roaming monsters). LEVEL 11-20+ There are pretty good general guidelines on these levels in the psion build guide. At high levels, builds tend to get so complex that several possibilities are good and it's hard to pinpoint any "DOs and DON'Ts". Paying for Chirurgery to get the powers you want is important here, and well worth the investment.
Lycanthromancer 12-26-07, 12:48 PM	I'm reiterating, of course (from the minor creation guide), but at lower levels, using the Craft skill (even untrained) can save you a lot of money, and will allow you to get much better gear (ie, masterwork). +4 - Int 18 +3 - Skill Focus: Craft (Alchemy) or Craft (Poison) +3 - Psicrystal Affinity: Artiste +2 - Aid Another (Psicrystal) +2 - (MW) My Little Book o' Poisons +4 - Ranks in Craft (Alchemy) or Craft (Poison) ------- +18 on Craft checks at level 1. Of course, you can also use other things to help, as well. +2 - Animal affinity +2 - Precognition Reroll Once - Second chance +4 - Greater precognition +2 - Aid another (schism) +2 - Skill synergy with Survival? You don't have to specialize quite that much, but it's amazing how high you can pump your Craft check with just a little creative finagling. Also don't forget that you can hire your manifesting skills out in your spare time. Since psions don't have to worry about taking the time to scribe scrolls (wizards) or praying at the local shrine (clerics) or raising zombies (evil wizards and clerics) and so on, and if you have some downtime in the campaign, you can make quite a bit, and it costs you pretty much nothing in the way of resources.
The_Mess 12-26-07, 04:56 PM	Wouldn't it be better to post different guidelines for different disciplines? I mean, you advise to avoid damage dealing powers at low levels. Fair enough, but you've sucked out most of the reason for playing a Kineticist.
hovnarr 12-26-07, 06:14 PM	Ah yes, self-creation for the cheapskate. I've yet to find a DM to object to it, as long as you put 1 rank in the relevant craft rank. Why else would you put skill points in craft? And at high levels, you can always reform when you don't need to make mundane equipment anymore. It's amazing how much more you can squeeze from your low level wealth when that mithril chain shirt costs 1/3 normal price. Not to mention on the spot creation of 4000 gp/dose poisons for free (minor creation). Wouldn't it be better to post different guidelines for different disciplines? I mean, you advise to avoid damage dealing powers at low levels. Fair enough, but you've sucked out most of the reason for playing a Kineticist. Kineticist is so much more than blasting! The discipline list is easy to dismiss when energy powers already abound, but there are many gems in there. Energy Missiles and Energy Current are simply the cream of the energy crop, but look at the rest: *Control Object: Works very much like matter agitation at low levels, but broader application. *Control Air: Archrpwr brought my attention to this in a recent build. No save/PR, when augmented in full (ML 9), you basically lock down all opponents of large or smaller size - or do something worse. *Fiery discorporation: Cheating death is easy to achieve in psionics, but the kineticist gets it first. *Dispelling Buffer: Ha! Isn't that a nifty thing for the high level psion? *NPF: A must have for epic levels with Permanent Emanation (switch it on and off as a free action). *Reddopsi: What, wait - did they stick Spell Turning on the kineticist too? *Telekinetic Sphere: Combine with BURROWING POWER. All 15th level psions will wish they were kineticist, so they could get this ultimate defense a.s.a.p. Only at will Disintegrate brings it down (or possibly epic effects). *Tornado Blast: The best way to deal damage in the epic environment. In fact, the best way to deal damage at all. Why not use a burrowing one, while your friends are safe inside your TK sphere? Enormous radius! The kineticist that merely blasts is using abot 1/3 of his discipline's power. He is fit to be shown the true power of this battle station by meeting a kineticist with reddopsi! In fact, I now realize this was something like the discipline specific guide you asked for. I might comment on the other disciplines later on :)
archerpwr 12-26-07, 06:22 PM	*Control Air: Archrpwr brought my attention to this in a recent build. No save/PR, when augmented in full (ML 9), you basically lock down all opponents of large or smaller size - or do something worse. That'd be radical toaist, not me. It was my psion, but RT showed us the awesomeness that is control air.
hovnarr 12-27-07, 07:28 AM	Archerpwr: So noted! Here's a closer look at the Nomad discipline and how it fits into the above. The bad news is, your class skills are perhaps the worst of all disciplines. A small nomad on a riding dog may benefit from Ride, but mostly they are all wastes of skill points and easily surpassed by power use. THE Nomad power of low levels is Dimension Swap (also, picking levitate is more beneficial to the nomad than to other psion types). This will affect how your party works in combat, so be sure to notify them of the consequences. Swapping positions with your Psicrystal can also be very useful. The Swap gives more power to your bodyguard, whether it's a riding dog or an astral construct. Fly is probably still worth it as a 4th level power (compared to the arcane level 3 version). If only there weren't so many good 4th level psi/wilder powers to choose from! The mid level nomad could fly and dim door about while adding constructs to the battlefield and moving allies about with Dim Swap. As well as supporting with Ectoplasm, wall effects etc. I'd rather fly by virtue of Metamorphosis though, but Fly is still an acceptable power. The strategic reason to play a Nomad in a party (rather than any other discipline) should be access to Teleport at level 9 - the earliest any psionic character can get it. If you already have this function in the party, you may want to pick another discipline if you'll play mostly at mid-high levels. At low-mid levels however, the Nomad can be a pretty useful for support and utility - important roles for an optimized psion.
hovnarr 12-27-07, 04:13 PM	I've covered Kineticist and Nomad, now for a board favorite: the Shaper! Playing a Shaper is pretty easy and rewarding. Playing him well is challenging, but even more rewarding. Skills: UPD is right up there among the most powerful skills in the game. You may think you don't need it as a psion, but there are so many things outside your chosen field that you'd want to use. Take Bluff if it suits your character or if the party needs it. Otherwise, Craft skills give the Shaper even more than the average psion thanks to Psionic Minor Creation. PMC only requires a skill roll for complex (DC 15+) items however. Powers: The shaper list has a collection of useful, situational and downright bizarre powers. Look to the psion build guide for tips on how to make use of situational or rarely manifested powers like Quintessence or Astral Seed without actually wasting power slots on them. Astral Construct is the signature power, and something almost every psion grabs either way. I think it's a mistake to grab it too early though. It can wait until your first Reformation. PMC - a power that has its own guide - is much more useful from the get go and should be grabbed at level 1. The Cocoon powers are immensly powerful and should be grabbed a.s.a.p. They can be used both offensively (no PR/SR save-or-die) and defensively (consider it a man-shaped wall of ectoplasm). Crystallize is not really better than other solid fort save powers (Decerebrate, Fuse Flesh), but it's a decent pick if you're a shaper anyway. The biggest weakness of the Shaper list is the lack of good level 2 powers. Kineticist has Energy Missile, Nomad has Dimension Swap etc. etc. Ah, but there is a cure: Play a warforged! This turns Psionic Repair Damage to an awesome healing powerhouse. As many board regulars can attest to, the warforged shaper is among the most powerful low level characters that can be played. Almost completely self-sufficient, nigh-unbeatable AC at low levels, and a wide variety of utility and offense. The warforged shaper continues to thrive at high levels just as well as any other psion, and gets tricks like Mass Cocoon and Astral Seed earlier, easier or cheaper than the others.
Lycanthromancer 12-27-07, 09:52 PM	Also note that a shaper has little need for most mundane equipment, and makes an excellent item creationist with his access to UPD.