Psychic Warrior help (3.5).

[Tempest Fennac]

I'm playing as an LA 0 Gnoll Psychic Warrior in a solo game, and I'm not sure which powers I should take. My character sheet (with details of my LA 0 Gnoll race) can be found at http://mydndgame.com/character/1711/sheet . I'm also limited to http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:System_Reference_Document and Crystal Keep (which lacks Psionic things anyway). I was thinking of getting the Claw-type powers to go with my bite attack once I have for Power Points but I'm not sure how good using Claws would be compared to using a weapon.

[goram.browncoat]

I'm not sure but I dont think Gnolls can take the rapidstrike and improved rapidstrike feat (draconomicon i think, not sure). If this is the case then claws will be better for a while but eventually you will get more attacks with a weapon and that's usually better.

If gnolls can somehow take rapid strike feats then claws will do just fine. They can in fact do rather alot (google: king of smack).

You could make it elligeble for the feat (if he isnt already) by making it a half dragon, but that offcourse has some LA going for it.

[Tempest Fennac]

I've tried looking up "king of smack" builds but a lot of them seemed to require multi-classing, which I want to avoid. Also, the game's already started, so changing my character into a Half Dragon now wouldn't work (I can't stand how they look, I class half-breed races as redundant and uninteresting and I hate LA anyway, so Half-Dragon was never an option for me). I'll look up Rapid Strike now and edit this post thanks.

EDIT: I found it: http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Rapidstrike,Dr . Gnolls are Humanoids, so it wouldn't work here.

[Assassin89]

Expansion might help, as it would give your Gnoll reach and more damage for claws.

[Tempest Fennac]

I was thinking about that. Woudln't a Glaive be better then claws, though? (I was thinking a weapon and the bite attack would be better once I have 2 weapon attacks due to not qualifying for Rapid Strike.)

[Draz74]

You have to pick one way or the other -- claws or a (probably reach) weapon -- and go with it. Either one of them can be very viable, but an amalgamation of both strategies will be weak.

Yes, Claws of the Beast PsyWars can do just fine, even without multiclassing or Rapidstrike. Claws of the Vampire, Metaphysical Claw, Prevenom, Schism to aid in mid-combat buffing; Metamorphosis as a last resort if you're ever feeling underpowered and need to cheese yourself up.

On the other hand, going with a reach weapon and playing battlefield control with Expansion works well too.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for the advice. Metaphysical Claw would need to be used separately for both the bite and claw attacks, right?

[Zaq]

Action economy is key for PsyWar builds. A lot of the good buffs are swift actions, but there's a few that aren't. It takes two feats, but Hustle + Psionic Meditation + Linked Power lets you essentially turn any self-buffing power into a swift action with a delay of one round. (You manifest Hustle, using Linked Power with your real target, say Prevenom. Hustle is a swift action to manifest, and gives you a move action. Since you expended your psionic focus to use Linked Power, you use the extra action Hustle gave you to get it back, since you have Psionic Meditation to turn it from a full-round action to a move action. End result, next round you get Prevenom on you, normally a standard action, with no more effort on your part than a swift action this round. Arguably choosing Hustle with Metapower can make this cheaper, but it's debatable whether that actually works.) This requires a few things, though... first, you need other powers that you want to Link, second, it requires enough power points to do this reliably, and third, it requires at least two feats, so you can't really do this at very low levels. (Well, you CAN, but it's not really worth it.)

I'm not exactly saying anything new here, but one of the most important things to remember with a PsyWar (or any psionic character) is that chosen powers are chosen for good, unless you use Psionic Reformation (which has its own problems). When you choose a power, make sure that it'll stay useful for the rest of your career. You don't get enough powers to be able to afford any dead weight in your brain. Regarding Claws of the Beast, Claw-using PsyWars can be good, but it's a decision you're making to stay with them rather than using a weapon. Look at the pros and cons:

Pros of CotB:
-Augments well.
-Swift action, great duration. Before long it'll last your whole adventuring day.
-One of the earliest ways to get multiple attacks (at full AB, no less).
-Other powers synergize with them very well.

Cons:
-Can't get them upgraded by outside sources. You can improve them with things like Metaphysical Claw, Duodimensional Claw, Claw of Energy, Claws of the Vampire, and so on, but those require 1) powers known slots, 2) actions, and 3) PP expenditure.
-Won't get iterative attacks with them. This is less of a concern than it might seem for a straight-classed PsyWar, since 3/4 BAB means you could only get a maximum of three swings without TWF (and you already get two swings), but it's there.
-Difficult to make them bypass DR/materials (it's a lot harder to get cold iron claws than a cold iron axe). Power Claws helps, but that's another power known, and you have to pay for every time you use it.

Personally, I like claws. They're cool, they augment well, and you can still have a backup weapon even if you intend to use the claws most of the time. Just don't get them with the mindset "I'll use these claws until I can afford a good weapon, then I'll use that instead" because that wastes a power known.

[Draz74]

@Zaq: Linked Power isn't in his list of available sources. Hence my suggestion of Schism as his main means of buffing while fighting.

Good explanation of why he shouldn't try to switch between Claws and weapons mid-career, though. I'd add that either path you pick will also require feats to support it, too.


Thanks for the advice. Metaphysical Claw would need to be used separately for both the bite and claw attacks, right?

Yeah, unfortunately it would even need to be used twice to cover your two Claws.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for explaining. The Hustle tactic sounds complicated, so I'm probably better off avoiding that while using a mnufactured weapon (incidentally, please could you give me a run-through of how Hustle works as though we were ina game? I may understand it that way).

EDIT: I just remembered this source, so I have more options: http://realmshelps.dandello.net/datafind/feats.shtml .

[Draz74]

While the Hustle tactic doesn't work for you since you can't take Linked Power, it's really not that complicated.

Hustle: spend 3 PP and a swift action. Gain a move action.

This move action can be used the same way any move action can. You can use it to move up to your speed (probably its main intended use, allowing move + full attack). You can sheathe or draw a weapon. You can stand up from prone. Etc., etc.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks (I tend to get confused easily so that helped a lot:smallsmile:). Which feats would you recommend? I keep forgetting that I have Up the Wall and Psionic Weapon.

[Zaq]

Sorry about forgetting that Linked Power is Complete Psionic. My bad.

There are several ways to go for feats on a PsyWar. The biggest question is "how often do you want to expend your psionic focus?" It's important to remember that you only get one focus at once (unless you spend two feats on Psicrystal Affinity and Psicrystal Containment... which CAN be worth it, but you have to know what you're doing.), so if you take a whole bunch of feats that say "Expend your psionic focus and do X," you're only going to get to do one at a time. There are ways to mitigate this (Psionic Meditation makes refocusing a move action instead of a full-round, and the power Hustle gives you an extra move action which you can then use to refocus, so you can essentially focus as a swift action for 3 PP if you spend one feat and one power), but it's an important limitation to keep in mind. Alternately, you can load up on feats that say "When you maintain your focus, X." like Speed of Thought or Up the Walls, and then never really expend it at all. A few Fighter feats can be good to get (You're a melee character, after all; you probably want Power Attack), but the Psionic ones tend to be juicier.

I think Expanded Knowledge can be very useful on a PsyWar, even though you can't take it until 4th level (so your 5th level bonus feat can be used on it, for example). Having more powers is always a good thing, and Expanded Knowledge means that you can take those fun Psion (or even discipline-specific) powers, like Mindlink or Minor Creation.

[Tempest Fennac]

I might go with Expanded Knowledge; I'm not even remembering about the Psionic Focus.

[Draz74]

There are several ways to go for feats on a PsyWar. The biggest question is "how often do you want to expend your psionic focus?" It's important to remember that you only get one focus at once (unless you spend two feats on Psicrystal Affinity and Psicrystal Containment... which CAN be worth it, but you have to know what you're doing.), so if you take a whole bunch of feats that say "Expend your psionic focus and do X," you're only going to get to do one at a time per encounter. There are ways to mitigate this (Psionic Meditation makes refocusing a move action instead of a full-round, and the power Hustle gives you an extra move action which you can then use to refocus, so you can essentially focus as a swift action for 3 PP if you spend one feat and one power), but it's an important limitation to keep in mind. Alternately, you can load up on feats that say "When you maintain your focus, X." like Speed of Thought or Up the Walls, and then never really expend it at all.

This is great advice, and makes it clear why Psionic Weapon is already an unfortunate choice. :smallfrown:


A few Fighter feats can be good to get (You're a melee character, after all; you probably want Power Attack if you're using a 2H weapon rather than, say, claws), but the Psionic ones tend to be juicier.

Yep. A lot of the strategy is just picking the same feats that would be best for a Fighter.


I think Expanded Knowledge can be very useful on a PsyWar, even though you can't take it until 4th level (so your 5th level bonus feat can be used on it, for example). Having more powers is always a good thing, and Expanded Knowledge means that you can take those fun Psion (or even discipline-specific) powers, like Mindlink or Minor Creation.

Heck yes. Expanded Knowledge is absolutely my #1 favorite feat for PsyWarriors.

[CthulhuM]

If you want to, you can also pick up a few powers to allow you to turn yourself into a powerful grappler pretty much at will. Expansion is already pretty much a requirement for any psywar (and gives you +5 grapple per size category), and you can throw on grip of iron for another +4 or more.

If you spend the feats to pick up improved grapple, that'll give you a total of +17 grapple at your current level (with both grip and expansion up). More than enough to pretty consistently lock down most things you'll be fighting.

[sonofzeal]

Is "Psionic Weapon" in there so you can qualify for "Deep Impact" later on?

[Tempest Fennac]

I think that is probably the case (I forgot about DI; thanks for the reminder). Do you think it's worth it? I've reached level 3 so I'lm going to take Expansion and that speed-boosting feat (I'll retrain it when I can afford full plate). I don't honestly like grappling that much, so I think I'll avoud that set-up.

[Draz74]

Deep Impact is definitely the best thing about the crappy Psionic Weapon feat. (I guess the feat is good at very low levels, but it doesn't scale.) So either retrain Psionic Weapon or go on and get Deep Impact. Even Deep Impact is only good, though, if you have Power Attack and wield a two-hander weapon.

You can go full plate if you want to, but you should note that this is hardly required for PsyWars. You can actually get a higher AC by just taking Inertial Armor. On the downside, this strategy will eat up a lot more of your precious PP every day. On the upside, it lets you use the Speed of Thought feat you're considering, and also lets you get nifty armor-enhancement boosts like Fortification -- cheap! -- in the form of +1 Padded Armor with various other enhancements tacked on.

[Tempest Fennac]

I'm pretty paranoid about running out of PPs, which is why I didn't want to rely on Inertial Armour or claws. (The DM is likely to let me retrain Powers, wich is helpful). I think I'll swap Psionic Weapon for Cleave being as I've never used it.