hidden talent + diamond mind: is it worth it?

[Darth Stabber]

I am working on a warblade (straight wb20, no dips, no prcs) focused on diamond mind. I saw the instant clarity feat, and I wondered if it was worth taking either a psionic race or hidden talent to allow me the ability to take 15 on a concentration check(since I will be making a lot of concentration checks)? Beyond that feat I don't see investing much in it (except maybe instant clarity), and I don't have the stat points to be able to take psionic meditation, nor will I have enough PP for psychic renewal, but psionic weapon is on the table. Also I need some help with feats in general, I'm just not sure what will work

Stats
Str16dex14con14int14wis8cha10
Feats
Human:??(might just go with elan or synad)
Lvl1:power attack
Lvl3:??(maybe psychic weapon)
Lvl5(bonus):Blade meditation(diamond mind)
Lvl6:leap attack
Lvl9:??(instant clarity)
Lvl9(bonus):no clue
12+???

Currently working on lvl 10 with the following manuevers (after swaps)
Moment of perfect mind
Disrupting Blow
Elder Mountain hammer
Ruby nightmare blade
Insightful stike
Emerald Razor
Iron heart surge
Charging minotaur
Stances:pearl of black doubt, punishing stance, hearing the air

[docnessuno]

With a PP reserve you might also consider taking levels (5/6) in the War mind PRC, it would still let you gain 9th level manouvers, but the Sweeping strike ability is amazing when combined with strikes

[Darth Stabber]

With a PP reserve you might also consider taking levels (5/6) in the War mind PRC, it would still let you gain 9th level manouvers, but the Sweeping strike ability is amazing when combined with strikes

Tempting, but I want dual stance at 20 (such a cool ability). And given my very low wis, I realy don't see taking warmid without getting any powers.

[Soranar]

The dimension hop power (teleport 10ft as a swift action) can be quite good even out of combat.

An elan would be able to use it 4 times a day and use the elan's racial abilities to get you out of trouble (bonus to saves, 8 emergency hitpoints or simply not dying from starvation).

As for taking 15 on a concentration check, a lot of diamond mind abilities use concentration checks (replace saves for examples). They can also replace damage (insightful strike, greater insightful strike). So I think it'd be worth it.

Finally, psionic weapon is meh at best but deep impact (attack becomes a touch attack) can really help you land a power attack and you only need +5 BAB so you can take it as your level 5 feat (assuming it's on your bonus feat list, not sure if it is).

[Essence_of_War]

I can't really think of a better martial feat that requires you to burn your psi focus than Deep Impact. But if you don't get a PP reserve from your race, getting Hidden Talent + the other three feats you'll need (Instant Clarity + Psionic Weapon + Deep Impact) is pretty feat intensive for a somewhat modest benefit.

You've got a couple of potentially interesting opportunities here, though.

Are you married to be being human? If not, I noticed that you seem to like Charging Minotaur. If you were a Half-Giant rather than a human, this could synergize nicely with bullrushing, open up the Knockback feat, and give you a powerpoint reserve that you could use to qualify for psi feats. It is LA +1, but you might ask your DM about LA buyoff, or ask about the pathfinder variant that is LA+0 (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/races/half-giant). The Elan is always an interesting psionic race choice also as it has a built in mechanic to actually do something with its PP, and even though they're LA +1, it would be worth checking out the Duergar for expansion/invisibility PLAs.

If you were willing to explore a non-20th level warblade, perhaps dips in psychic warrior (for feats) and war mind (for sweeping strike), I think you could do something interesting with instant clarity+ deep impact (maybe pick up psionic meditation while you're at it?) to initiate strikes as touch attacks AND hit multiple targets with sweeping strike.

There is a warblade handbook in my sig that can give you some good ideas for feat chains and multiclassing. For a straight warblade, I actually find Runestar makes an interesting point that:



These small bonuses [from weapon focus, weapon spec. greater versions, melee weapon mastery, slashing fury, weapon supremacy] are all the more meaningful in the hands of a martial adept.

One difference they have over a fighter is that if you build them around their standard action strikes, combat will typically involve 1 attack each round. Either you hit for a ton of damage, or you miss and don't deal anything. Compared to a fighter who can make 4-6 attacks each round. Assuming you hit with at least 1 attack, you should be doing at least a bit of damage each round.

This makes hitting (and by extension, all those attack bonuses) all the more crucial. Granted, the attack bonus from weapon spec/mastery isn't so attractive when you are limited to 1 attack/round (compared to a fighter's 4-6).

At least for me, I am willing to invest at least 3 feats to acquire melee weapon mastery, and maybe eventually work my way up to weapon supremacy.

[Big Fau]

Might I suggest using Kalashtar instead of Human? You end up with more PP, and can use that PP for the Psionic feats in the Bo9S (specifically, you can use the one that lets you recover expended maneuvers).

[Answerer]

Kalashtar and Half-Giant are both quite-good ideas.

[Darth Stabber]

Sweeping strike from warmind is pretty tempting, as is psychic warrior, and while they don't have a major wis dependance, it still requires some investment, either from stat points or my necklace slot. Now a 1-2 level dip in psion(egoist or nomad), is nice because of the shared int dependance. It gives a couple nice options for a small investment, but very few that stay useful, though it gives a bonus feat, and skate is too stylish to ignore. Klashtar are interesting, but unless I am dipping a psionic class I really have no interest inpsychic renewal, and if I do, I would much rather get my human feat and skills or elan for free powers, and I really don't thing that I want to go that route anyway. Any race with powerpoints would do the job, or human spending his feat. Deep Impact is better than I remember (I thought it required greater psionic weapon, but instead only psionic weapon), and would let me grab another maneuver in place of emerald razor. Half giant is tempting, but really don't like LA outside of gestalt, and pathfinder races are far and a way better than their 3.5 versions. I only have charging minotaur as a prereq for elder mountain hammer, and it will likely be traded at my first opportunity.

[Stegyre]

Might I suggest using Kalashtar instead of Human? You end up with more PP, and can use that PP for the Psionic feats in the Bo9S (specifically, you can use the one that lets you recover expended maneuvers).
I believe the OP is contemplating Warblade, which already has the best recovery mechanic. There are probably much better feat choices.

[Big Fau]

I believe the OP is contemplating Warblade, which already has the best recovery mechanic. There are probably much better feat choices.

This is true, but the feat is still useful for certain things (recovering IHS with the feat allows you to negate a second spell without needing to wait a full round).

[Answerer]

I believe the OP is contemplating Warblade, which already has the best recovery mechanic. There are probably much better feat choices.
I'd argue that the Crusader's is somewhat better. The randomness matters little, while not having to waste a turn not initiating is excellent.

[Darth Stabber]

I believe the OP is contemplating Warblade, which already has the best recovery mechanic. There are probably much better feat choices.

Psychic renewal is still potentially worth a feat slot if there are enough PP to support it. If I want to spam certain manuevers then psychic renewal + psionic meditation is an amusing combo (and big fau's mention of repeated IHSing), and with kalashtar I could do it lvl/3 times per day. If I were going to be a swordsage/warmind I would grab kalshtar psychic renewal and psionic meditation in a hurry. The problem for me is that psionic meditation requires 13 wisdom, and wisdom is my dump stat (and charisma), and instant clarity is nice, but it's only 3 times per day, and eats up the same swift action that psychic renewal does, also leaving no room for changing stances or boosts.

[moritheil]

I can't really think of a better martial feat that requires you to burn your psi focus than Deep Impact.

Yes. Deep Impact + ToB Initiator Maneuvers = your DM had better prepare more than one big bad enemy monster, or it's going to be a short encounter. As long as you can close in, you will be able to drop the enemy you really want to drop in a fight.