Feats for a Shaper

[Tavar]

I'm making a character that's going to be using the Astral Construct power quite a bit. Besides Boost construct, are there any good feats to get? So far I'm taking Practiced Manifester(to get extra bonus PP, plus to expand my Manifesting cap) as well.

[Keld Denar]

Ectopic Form (Emerald Gyre) is pretty nice. Its in Complete Psionic. It gives your AC a 3rd arm, which basically functions as the Improved Grab ability. Now, thats a power off Menu A, for FREE. Large+ sized constructs are great grapplers, especially if you give them the Muscle option off Menu B. Normally you'd have to way till you get a 7th+ level AC to get both Imp Grab and Muscle, but this lets you have it with any 4th+ level AC.

Look around WotC or BG for a Constructor guide. There is a poster over there named Lycanthromancer who I believe posted a pretty good breakdown of the various Astral Construct modifying feats. IIRC, the ones that increase the duration of your AC aren't that good, because they'll generally die before the duration ends, but the ones that give you free menu options and increased resiliency are pretty hot.

[Psyren]

First - get the Personal Construct (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) ACF. From 5th-level onward, you can summon a specific AC as a swift action for 0 PP. The feat you sacrifice is refunded via free Quicken. Pick a shape that is universally useful - I tend to go for either a humanoid that can help me carry things + fight, or a mount (potentially with flight) that I can control mentally.

Second - for feats, consider the following:

- The holy trinity (Psionic Meditation/Psicrystal Affinity/Psicrystal Containment.)
- Overchannel + Talented (AC will benefit no matter how high you get.)
- Metapower
- Linked Power
- EK: Dimension Hop (get out of harm's way as a swift.)
- Extend Power

[Tavar]

Actually, I'm only taking one level of Psion, before moving onto a homebrew class/PrC combo. So the ACF seems out.

[Psyren]

Actually, I'm only taking one level of Psion, before moving onto a homebrew class/PrC combo. So the ACF seems out.

Hmm... then add Quicken Power to the feat list, and Ardent w/ Creation Mantle gains ground as a potential lead-in.

Though I hasten to add that if you title your thread "feats for a Shaper," I'm sort of going to assume you were planning to be a Shaper. :smalltongue:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Improved Grab is a Menu B ability. With Emerald Gyre and Boost Construct, a 1st level AC can get Muscle, or both Trip and Fly for example, in addition to Improved Grab.

Astral Construct has a 1 round manifesting time, but Quicken Power's cost knocks your AC down by three levels. That's why the Personal Construct ACF is so good, because you can basically Quicken it for no additional cost. That leaves the rest of the round for you to use something like Energy Stun or Entangling Ectoplasm. Better action economy is extremely powerful, that it's available as soon as 5th level is just amazing.