Help with my Cerebremancer build

[autCyrius]

Hi guys, this is my first post here on giantitp!

Well as the topic says I'm looking for some help regarding my cerebremancer. Sources are CORE ONLY!!! (DMG; PHB; MM) (you will noticed that I got practiced spellcater and practiced manifester from complete arcane and complete psion, but they were allowed by my DM - no other feats/items/whatsoever are allowed though besides core stuff)

Build in detail (the formation of the "tables" is off, I hope you can read it anyway):
Class Level
Psion 3
Wizard 3
Cerebremancer 3

Abilties scores are rolled with 4d6, reroll 1s drop lowest
Ability Name Ability Score Racial Bonus Level based stat bump Item stat bump Final score
STR 12 -2 0 0 10 (+0)
DEX 16 0 0 +2 18 (+4)
CON 15 +2 0 +2 19 (+4)
INT 17 0 +2 +4 23 (+6)
WIS 16 0 0 0 16 (+3)
CHA 10 0 0 0 10 (+0)

Current MAX HP: 63
Current AC: 18 (10 natural, 4 dex, 3 shield, 1 size)

Saves
Fortitude Reflex Will
9 9 14

Skills:
Ranks in Concentration, Craft(Alchemy), Knowledge(Arcana and Psionics), Listen, Spellcraft, Spot, Psicraft.


Starting Gold: 36.100 gp (something like that, I don’t remember correctly)
Items bought:
Headband of Intellect +4 16.000
Amulet of Health +2 4.000
Gloves of Dexterity +2 4.000
Cloak of Resistance +2 4.000
Shield, light steel 9
- Mithral Cost Modifier 1.000
- +2 Magic Modifier 4.000
Wand, Extend 3.000
36.009

And of course some basic adventurer stuff.

Feats:
Improved Initiative
Overchannel
Talented
Practiced Spellcaster (Wizard)
Practiced Manifester (Psion)

Spells:
1s:
Color Spray
Enlarge Person
Grease
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
True Strike

2s:
Glitterdust
Gust of Wind
Rope Trick
Shatter

3s:
Deep Slumber
Ray of Exhaustion
Slow
Stinking Cloud

Powers:
1s:
Astral Construct
Crystal Shard
Entangling Ectoplasm
Minor Creation, Psionic
Vigor

2s:
Control Sound
Detect Hostile Intent
Ego Whip
Inflict Pain

3s:
Ectoplasmic Cocoon
Energy Wall
Mental Barrier
Time Hop



So that's it. Please let me know about your opinion of the build (yes, I know, Cerebremancer sucks and multiclassing spellcaster/manifester sucks even more, but I'd like to play them anyway).

My goal is to improve my Shaper capabilities - I want to be freakin' awesome with my powers, but don't tell me any OBVIOUS powerplay stuff - I still want the game to make fun.

Btw, I read some guides recently were powers for psions were suggested, all were like "this power is good, because it's the ultimate utility power" - Whilst this sounds good, I have no idea what to do with power XY (I'm not so creative when it comes to actually do stuff with that kind of powers/spells). If it's possible, could you link threads to post were topics like that are handled? I have searched the forums a bit already, but couldn't find anything yet.

What I'm also looking for is some neat tricks, either regarding psions/wizards and/or cerebremancer, or tactics in battle (like I didn't know you could ready action to give the spellcaster a hard time even if he was casting defensively) and utility stuff like "cool stuff you could do in situation XY" .

Another very specific question is about the astral construct. It says it spawns the ectoplasma, but it has to be formed with a craft(sculpting) check. What if I fail it? What if I didn't want to sculpt it. Why would I want to sculpt it anyway?


Thanks for reading and of course for your advice and suggestions,
Cheers!


edit #1: Another thing is "Researching" new powers. I know it costs XP, but if I really should get power XY, even though I can pick only Z powers in a power level (say I have picked 5 1st powers which are all great and should be kept, but there is a 6th one that would be freaking awesome too), please tell me then.

[Spuddles]

Are you allowed any early entry methods, like precocious spellcaster? If so, use it! Then you can be psion3/wizard1/cerebremancer5.

Use shield on the wizard side. It'll save you 5 grand. Invest that in a lesser metamagic rod of extend. Your shield will last 16 minutes. Put up before combat, ignore magic missiles. Speaking of magic missile, Replace it with something useful like identify or mount. You can blast with the psion side. I would trade shatter for web, and use web anytime you would use deep slumber. Get fly instead of deep slumber.

[autCyrius]

I'm not allowed to use early entry methods (the early entry on arcane trickster was forbidded, so I guess this is more or less the same here).

I was thinking mage armor with lesser metamagic rod of extend (+4 armor for 18 hours? I like). Shield is cool too, but I can't recall that my DMs ever used magic missile in their encounters.
I'll take a closer look to the spells you suggested, but I like it so far.
What did you mean by "you save 5 grand"? Did you mean the mithril shield I've got?


Anyway, I totally forgot to mention our party setup, so here is what we've got:

rogue, party face
barbarian, well... what do you expect?
wizard/fighter, he's going for eldritch knight
2 rangers
1 cleric, (i think he left the party, not sure on that)
1 bard, he's a flake person

[Arcanist]

Are you allowed any early entry methods, like precocious spellcaster? If so, use it! Then you can be psion3/wizard1/cerebremancer5.

This is a very good method of making most Theurges. Most of them are fairly good and the rest are just god if you really force it :smallsmile:

A personal favorite of mines is the Psionic Theurge (Human Spell Focused StP Erudite 9/ Ur-Priest 2/ Psychic Theruge/9). Not to feat intensive and directly to the point... but you didn't ask my favorite Theurge did you? :smalltongue:

Getting double 9's on a Psion is... "fairly" hard... For the most part you're going to want to get up to 4th level manifesting for Psionics, specifically Telepathy for Schism. This allows you to use you're powers to there fullest and to completely exploit and destroy the action economy. It effectively covers up and removes the greatest weakness that a Theurge has :smalltongue:

Ugh... I wish I had enough time to work on my handbook :smallfrown:

EDIT: ooo... No early entry methods? :smallconfused: That is a tough nut to crack with Psionics... If you want you can go Wizard/Ardent with some feat tricks you can get 9th level Psionics... Not good ones imo, but they're still alright I suppose... I guess you can take Substitute Mantle (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) and just take the powers from the Telepathy discipline... I mean it is thematically fine... At 3rd level you can take Practiced Manifester and your 6th level will be as a Cerebremancer :smallsmile:

[autCyrius]

Well I'm not entirely sure if I want to go for the Telepath discipline - I'd need expanded knowledge to get the power at level 12, but I'm certain there are wiser options to spend my feats on.

I just read through the schism spell... It sounds good, but not too great to me honestly. Casting at -6 manifester lvl is bad for most of lower level powers other than utility spells, which happen out of combat anyway.

Since my first question was a bit unclear, I'm also looking for a collection - more or less- for spells and/or powers and all the cool stuff you could do with it.

f.e. I didn't think about the possibility that Time Hop could actually be manifested upon subjects (like doors, ropes etc.)... I almost missed one of the most epic things I've ever stumbled across, and there might be other stuff I didn't recognize yet.

[eggs]

Your wizard isn't specialized or domained at all, so you could probably gain something with one of the spinoff wizard options (even if you don't want to give up schools for extra spells, a domain or elven generalist wizard is free stuff).

If you have access to Dragon Magazine, the Psiotheurgist feat from DR#349 lets you stack manifester and caster levels for certain sets of associated schools. It can be broken about as easily as you can say "Astral Construct," but it could give you a unique tool for making a focused shaper. YMMV.

Also from Dragon, the Dual-Plane Summons feat from DR#313 lets you apply astral construct Menu options to summoned monsters. Your summons might be pretty weak with 3 lost wizard levels, but if you can finagle some more level-appropriate summons (sadly, this probably means early entry tricks or other system-abusing chicanery), it could contribute to a fun and distinct Shaper.

If you just grabbed those powers off guides' recommendations and what to know the appeal of all of them:

Astral Construct creates extra mooks to do whatever you want. The cheap ones could be used at very low cost to go on various suicide missions like springing traps, or pumped with PP to turn into pretty hard-hitting bruisers (they have less versatility than summon monster spells, but with some +ML effects or PP-cost reducers, they come out hitting much harder). Even after their nerf in Complete Psionic, they're still strong astro-meat walls
Crystal Shard is blasting that doesn't have to deal with saves or spell resistance. It didn't have to deal with damage resistance either until Complete Psionic nerfed it. Post-nerf, it's not decidedly better than Energy Ray, but it's still fairly reliable blasting.
Entangling Ectoplasm is a no-save/no-SR debuff with a decent duration even at low levels, and it only costs 1 PP.
Minor Creation means having any tool you want at hand for a PP. Any time you want a lever, a hammer, a wagon wheel, whatever, it can fill in. But the more fun use is vegetable-matter poisons.
Vigor is a big pile of Temp HP. Its big uses are either as a linked power (which essentially turns it into action-free preemptive healing that also guards against manifesting-interruptions) or sharing it with a psicrystal along with Share Pain, which gets really good mileage (it's essentially 10 temp HP per PP, but it works out to more than that because the Psicrystal's Hardness makes its share of the vigor manifesting last even longer).
Detect Hostile Intent is a no-save divination that tells you when someone or something wants to kill you. Punch through lies, ambushes, invisible stalkers, and do it with a decent duration/low cost. Plus, it has one of the best parts of Foresight (not giving other people the surprise round) for 3 PP.
Ego Whip does big piles of ability damage and steals enemies' actions at the same time. Ability damage is nasty because it doesn't normally take much of it to drop someone who doesn't rely on that ability, and even one hit nerfs targets who do rely on that ability (different from normal damage which doesn't negatively affect something's ability to beat you up until it drops to 0).
Inflict Pain... I can't say much good about that one.
Ectoplasmic Cocoon is a Reflex-based save-or-die, which is rare for a psion (whose nasty powers usually have both will saves and mind-affect tags, and the ones that don't tend to hit fort saves).
Energy wall is battlefield control and a bit of blasting; psions don't have a whole lot of battlefield control powers, so that makes it somewhat useful.
Mental Barrier might be useful for essentially cranking your armor class without shelling gp out for rings of deflection, etc. But with that duration, a fairly steep cost and the typed bonus, it's not all that great.
Time Hop is the best power. First, it's a will-based save-or-isolate without the mind-affecting tags. So you can blast one enemy to the future, deal with an easier encounter against one less opponent, then get the whole party to smash up the target when it comes back into being. Or you can use it to temporarily throw a wounded or incapacitated enemy to the future to protect them from a fight. Or you can touch all its crazy utility purposes - throw the evil knight's horse into the future, throw a trap or door into the future if you don't want to deal with it, throw the barbarian's axe into the future and beat him up unarmed, etc.


EDIT:
No Torc of Power Preservation? Magic Item Compendium nerfed the item, but at the revised price, almost every psionic user is going to want one by around ECL 6.

[autCyrius]

Ok thanks for the heads up. No, I'm not able to use those ressources.

@Torc of Power Preservation: It costs 36.000 gp, I only have about that to spend... I'd be giving up all the +stat items, my shield and my wand. Is it worth it? I don't think the item is tooooo great. It lowers my PP cost by 1, so?
edit: Oh you were talking to the nerfed version. Well unfortunately I'm not allowed to use MIC. CORE only :(

[Arcanist]

Your wizard isn't specialized or domained at all, so you could probably gain something with one of the spinoff wizard options (even if you don't want to give up schools for extra spells, a domain or elven generalist wizard is free stuff).

Ah, damn I didn't think about specialization... I am a failure to the guild :smallfrown: *Ahem* Ask your DM if he is allowing Domain Wizard, because if he is... DO IT! He knows not what he has just unleashed upon the world... Otherwise I'd just take Focused Specialist Immediate Magic Conjurer. It's not free, but it's still good. If you don't want to give up a school just go with Immediate Magic (Conjurer) because it is still really good no matter what really :smalltongue:


If you have access to Dragon Magazine, the Psiotheurgist feat from DR#349 lets you stack manifester and caster levels for certain sets of associated schools. It can be broken about as easily as you can say "Astral Construct," but it could give you a unique tool for making a focused shaper. YMMV.

Also from Dragon, the Dual-Plane Summons feat from DR#313 lets you apply astral construct Menu options to summoned monsters. Your summons might be pretty weak with 3 lost wizard levels, but if you can finagle some more level-appropriate summons (sadly, this probably means early entry tricks or other system-abusing chicanery), it could contribute to a fun and distinct Shaper.

If you just grabbed those powers off guides' recommendations and what to know the appeal of all of them:

Astral Construct creates extra mooks to do whatever you want. The cheap ones could be used at very low cost to go on various suicide missions like springing traps, or pumped with PP to turn into pretty hard-hitting bruisers (they have less versatility than summon monster spells, but with some +ML effects or PP-cost reducers, they come out hitting much harder). Even after their nerf in Complete Psionic, they're still strong astro-meat walls
Crystal Shard is blasting that doesn't have to deal with saves or spell resistance. It didn't have to deal with damage resistance either until Complete Psionic nerfed it. Post-nerf, it's not decidedly better than Energy Ray, but it's still fairly reliable blasting.
Entangling Ectoplasm is a no-save/no-SR debuff with a decent duration even at low levels, and it only costs 1 PP.
Minor Creation means having any tool you want at hand for a PP. Any time you want a lever, a hammer, a wagon wheel, whatever, it can fill in. But the more fun use is vegetable-matter poisons.
Vigor is a big pile of Temp HP. Its big uses are either as a linked power (which essentially turns it into action-free preemptive healing that also guards against manifesting-interruptions) or sharing it with a psicrystal along with Share Pain, which gets really good mileage (it's essentially 10 temp HP per PP, but it works out to more than that because the Psicrystal's Hardness makes its share of the vigor manifesting last even longer).
Detect Hostile Intent is a no-save divination that tells you when someone or something wants to kill you. Punch through lies, ambushes, invisible stalkers, and do it with a decent duration/low cost. Plus, it has one of the best parts of Foresight (not giving other people the surprise round) for 3 PP.
Ego Whip does big piles of ability damage and steals enemies' actions at the same time. Ability damage is nasty because it doesn't normally take much of it to drop someone who doesn't rely on that ability, and even one hit nerfs targets who do rely on that ability (different from normal damage which doesn't negatively affect something's ability to beat you up until it drops to 0).
Inflict Pain... I can't say much good about that one.
Ectoplasmic Cocoon is a Reflex-based save-or-die, which is rare for a psion (whose nasty powers usually have both will saves and mind-affect tags, and the ones that don't tend to hit fort saves).
Energy wall is battlefield control and a bit of blasting; psions don't have a whole lot of battlefield control powers, so that makes it somewhat useful.
Mental Barrier might be useful for essentially cranking your armor class without shelling gp out for rings of deflection, etc. But with that duration, a fairly steep cost and the typed bonus, it's not all that great.
Time Hop is the best power. First, it's a will-based save-or-isolate without the mind-affecting tags. So you can blast one enemy to the future, deal with an easier encounter against one less opponent, then get the whole party to smash up the target when it comes back into being. Or you can use it to temporarily throw a wounded or incapacitated enemy to the future to protect them from a fight. Or you can touch all its crazy utility purposes - throw the evil knight's horse into the future, throw a trap or door into the future if you don't want to deal with it, throw the barbarian's axe into the future and beat him up unarmed, etc.


EDIT:
No Torc of Power Preservation? Magic Item Compendium nerfed the item, but at the revised price, almost every psionic user is going to want one by around ECL 6.

Ah yes, the manditory list of things that make Psionics awesome... every single thread :smallsigh: Dual-Plane Summoning is good if you want to use Conjurations past a certain point... But most Astral Construct builds are only good if you can get your Manifester level to 17 or so and have full access to the entire menu. Applying that to the summon monster list makes your summons have quite the variability :smallamused:

[autCyrius]

Ah, damn I didn't think about specialization... I am a failure to the guild :smallfrown: *Ahem* Ask your DM if he is allowing Domain Wizard, because if he is... DO IT! He knows not what he has just unleashed upon the world... Otherwise I'd just take Focused Specialist Immediate Magic Conjurer. It's not free, but it's still good. If you don't want to give up a school just go with Immediate Magic (Conjurer) because it is still really good no matter what really :smalltongue:

I don't really know what that is? Is it d20 material? Problem is I'll probably have to explain what that is to my current DM who is doing a RP-campaign including only CORE sources and thus doesn't want US to use anything else like the complete series.



Ah yes, the manditory list of things that make Psionics awesome... every single thread :smallsigh: Dual-Plane Summoning is good if you want to use Conjurations past a certain point... But like I said most Astral Construct builds are only good if you can get your Manifester level to 17 or so...

Um... My first version of the above build had a psion(seer) instead... Would that be the better choice? Or is something else more recommended? I just though that shaper and astral construct & minor creation & fabricate are that awesome that I HAD to take them (read it on psion handbooks (here: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10238.0 ))

[eggs]

@Torc of Power Preservation: It costs 36.000 gp, I only have about that to spend... I'd be giving up all the +stat items, my shield and my wand. Is it worth it? I don't think the item is tooooo great. It lowers my PP cost by 1, so?
My bad on the resources.

It's still a really fantastic item, it just has to be pushed back a ways to buy. The nice thing about reducing the PP cost is that it effectively raises your augment cap. The reduced cost is just gravy.


Ah yes, the manditory list of things that make Psionics awesome... every single thread :smallsigh:
The OP asked for explanations...

EDIT:

I just though that shaper and astral construct & minor creation & fabricate are that awesome that I HAD to take them (read it on psion handbooks (here: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10238.0 ))
They are awesome.

Your build will already have access to Astral Construct 6. That's a 10 HD/+17 Attack/+22 Grapple monster, compared to an equal-level Druid's 8 HD/+15 Attack/+20 Grapple Polar Bear (with Augment Summoning).

[autCyrius]

Ah yes, the manditory list of things that make Psionics awesome... every single thread :smallsigh:


If there was a sticky guide were all that stuff would be kept and not naming psion guides like "I'm gonna sigh hard tonight!" rather than "Psions: powers from A to Z and their true power" then it would be much easier for ppl like me of actually tracking those threads down. I'm not asking of any of you to take the time and explain every little trick to me, but I'm asking for you, if by any chance you have a bookmark or something to a thread that deals with... let's say the PROs and CONs of Astral Construct, then you could post it.


Back to the build: So what do you think? Is it playable or will I end up in 1 or 2 levels and crying because it sucks? :smallbiggrin:
Also: I haven't made any research regarding the psicrystal (I've just taken a psicrystal affinity (craft for minor creation)) and thus I'm experience what I can use it for.

Btw, what happens if I lose my psicrystal? I played a telepath for a very short time last year and my psicrystal was tossed out of the atmosphere and kept in orbit...

[eggs]

It should be completely playable, unless the rest of the group is pushing the system hard enough that not having Planar Binding or Polymorph means you'll be riding the sidelines.

If early entry shenanigans are off the table, the only things I'd be sure to change would be swapping Mental Barrier and Inflict Pain for Dispel Psionics and Demoralize (Dispel Psionics for two reasons: it partially scales on its own, and augments for some excellent checks; Demoralize because it has more targets, longer duration and stacks with itself to make enemies Frightened or Panicked, which are just devastating effects).

EDIT:
On the Psicrystal, I don't know if that's defined anywhere. I've ruled that it can be replaced like the Paladin's mount, but I'm not aware of an official verdict.

[autCyrius]

Oh, ok. Well I'm looking into Demoralize.

I took Inflict Pain because of various reasons, and here is why:
9 min duration (for now) seems pretty long - it's unusual for my DMs to have much longer encounters
it debuffs even on succesful saving throw. -2 on to-hit, skills and abilitie checks is still a great debuff.
it's augmentable for higher DC and more targets, making it more likelier to live up to it's full potential of a -4 penalty.

Demoralize becomes good (at least in my eyes) when you stack it 2 times so the enemy is at least frightened. (btw, didn't know that shaken debuffs stack with each other making it more intense). Then on the other hand, it's super effective if the enemy is panicked.
It's cheaper to augment for higher DC, so it would become (if max. augmented with my level now: DC of 26 which is huge (I'd still have to roll a 12+ if it was cast on me, and I have pretty good equip/saves)

Both seem pretty compareable to me, demoralize is power level 1 and inflict pain power lvl 2 though, making demoralize better than inflict pain. Inflict Pain seems more like the immediate debuff, whilst demoralize needs some time to kick in. That said I have to spend 3 full rounds of casting demoralize over and over to get the maximum of effect. Make that 4 because I'm certainly going to cast my astral construct first - in large battles at least.

I'm gonna give that a more intense thought later.


Do you mean by Planar Binding that I make my Astral Construct a permanent servant of myself? That wouldn't work because Planar Binding is targetting elementals and outsiders only.

[Spuddles]

Looks like most of us missed the core only part. :S

Schism is AMAZING. AMAZING. And remember, you get to add practiced manifester to it, so it'll be psion levels + cerebremancer +4 -6 ML.

[eggs]

Do you mean by Planar Binding that I make my Astral Construct a permanent servant of myself? That wouldn't work because Planar Binding is targetting elementals and outsiders only.
No, I probably could have phrased that better. I meant that your build probably won't be notably weaker than the rest of the group unless they're all playing at a very high optimization level. I used Planar Binding and Polymorph as examples because they set a very high benchmark for optimization.


It might also be worth pointing out that Inflict Pain, even in the best case, is only penalizing attack; Demoralize also hits saves (which are often more important to psions). I'm not sure what you mean about the saves, though - fully augmented, both of them should be DC 16+Int at this level.

[autCyrius]

Right I missed that part about the DCs.

To the rest of the party: They aren't really optimizing... They are just progressing in their classes and picking feats, that's it. Not even clever feats. The barbarian for instance picked cleave and things like that (I read that cleave is a waste because it's a very rare use).
I always spend more time on creating my character. What I want is usually an optimization with taking f.e. the most useful powers, but I don't want to feel like I'm powerplaying at the same time (like the Ubercharger build and stuff like that).

So Schism gives me one extra standard action for mental actions, is that right?

What happens if it's my first round in battle and I cast Schism? My primary mind then has no standard action left, but my secondary has? Meaning I could be casting twice in the first round already? (whilst the main action would be casting schism in the first place).

Well practiced manifester doesn't go above my HD, so it's only
psion levels + cerebremancer + 3 - 6 ML = 3 ML.
Which is still useful though... I could cast Vigor to get 15 HP, and some entangling ectoplasm or some ego whips :)

How do I get the power though? Can I aquire it as a Shaper? (Besides taking it with Expanded Knowledge, I don't really want to give up that Improved Initiative).


edit: I'm going to get Demoralize. Problem is it's a 1st level power whilst Inflict Pain is a level 2 power. So I have to trade a 1st level power with Demoralize. Inflict Pain also gets replaced then, but by what? What should I get instead of Inflict Pain and what 1st level power should I drop for Demoralize?
Dispel Psionic IS great although it's not going to help me much. My 2 DMs (of the whole campaign essentially) aren't that familiar with psionics themselves and thus don't use powers and psionic monsters/NPCs ... So that gives me the adventage to only fight MM monsters and d20 NPCs.

I also want to somehow get rid of Energy Wall... it's good, but not too great. I'd much rather have another buff/debuff or utility power instead.

[eggs]

edit: I'm going to get Demoralize. Problem is it's a 1st level power whilst Inflict Pain is a level 2 power. So I have to trade a 1st level power with Demoralize.
Any time you learn a power, it can be of any level you can manifest. So you can be learning first-level powers until level 20, if you wanted.

Schism is pretty much going to come out of Expanded Knowledge, which is going to keep it off the table until level 12, or from being one level higher and a Telepath.

[Kelb_Panthera]

For a cerebremancer in an SRD only environment, direct offense is probably going to be a less than stellar choice. You'll want to focus on buffing, battlefield control, and maybe minionmancy. Debuffing can work, though you'll need to try and pick effects that give a partial debuff on a save. And every wizard should be up to his eyeballs in utility spells.

You'll probably be okay no matter what you do though, after looking at the rest of the party.

In the land of the blind the man with one eye is king.

In D&D sight is magic and you're the only one in your party with "eyes." Hell, as a cerebremancer you've got 3 eyes to the rangers' 1 each.

In case that was too metaphorical, you're a full caster. You win.

[Psyren]

So that's it. Please let me know about your opinion of the build (yes, I know, Cerebremancer sucks and multiclassing spellcaster/manifester sucks even more, but I'd like to play them anyway).

Actually, Cerebremancer is one of the few theurges out there that is worth standard entry. A common complaint of theurges is that when you get to Class A 3/Class B 3/Theurge 3, then compare yourself to a straight Class A 9 or Class B 9 you usually end up crying because you're so far behind and unlikely to ever catch up. But a Wiz 3/Psion 3/Cerebremancer 3 with Practiced Manifester can actually keep pace with a Psion 9, at least power-wise if not ammunition-wise. You are also SAD (unlike many theurges) and can achieve synergy between your abilities as well (e.g. banning Enchantment/Evocation on your Wizard, then relying on your Psion's Telepathy and Psychokinesis to cover the slack)

For instance, you want to be a good Shaper - well, you've already got the number one Shaper power, and yours hits just as hard and lasts just as long as that of a pure Shaper. It's better in fact, since you can cast magical buffs on yours (e.g. Fly and Haste) that the Psion would have to find some way to finagle - this lets you pick menu options for your AC that a pure Psion might not have the luxury to choose.

[Spuddles]

Right I missed that part about the DCs.

To the rest of the party: They aren't really optimizing... They are just progressing in their classes and picking feats, that's it. Not even clever feats. The barbarian for instance picked cleave and things like that (I read that cleave is a waste because it's a very rare use).
I always spend more time on creating my character. What I want is usually an optimization with taking f.e. the most useful powers, but I don't want to feel like I'm powerplaying at the same time (like the Ubercharger build and stuff like that).

So Schism gives me one extra standard action for mental actions, is that right?

What happens if it's my first round in battle and I cast Schism? My primary mind then has no standard action left, but my secondary has? Meaning I could be casting twice in the first round already? (whilst the main action would be casting schism in the first place).

Well practiced manifester doesn't go above my HD, so it's only
psion levels + cerebremancer + 3 - 6 ML = 3 ML.
Which is still useful though... I could cast Vigor to get 15 HP, and some entangling ectoplasm or some ego whips :)

How do I get the power though? Can I aquire it as a Shaper? (Besides taking it with Expanded Knowledge, I don't really want to give up that Improved Initiative).


edit: I'm going to get Demoralize. Problem is it's a 1st level power whilst Inflict Pain is a level 2 power. So I have to trade a 1st level power with Demoralize. Inflict Pain also gets replaced then, but by what? What should I get instead of Inflict Pain and what 1st level power should I drop for Demoralize?
Dispel Psionic IS great although it's not going to help me much. My 2 DMs (of the whole campaign essentially) aren't that familiar with psionics themselves and thus don't use powers and psionic monsters/NPCs ... So that gives me the adventage to only fight MM monsters and d20 NPCs.

I also want to somehow get rid of Energy Wall... it's good, but not too great. I'd much rather have another buff/debuff or utility power instead.

According to a rules of the game on the wizards website, you can apply effects in the most beneficial order, so apply schism penalty before practiced manifester to get +1 more ML.

And yes, opening with schism lets you take another mental action. You won't be able to get schism until you can manifest 5th level powers, if you're using expanded knowledge. The only other was is to ask the DM if you can pay a 17 level psion to use psychic chiguery on you. It's very expensive, by RAW, though.

According to the rules with astral construct, some claim that you can shape it as power around your body.

[autCyrius]

... you usually end up crying because you're so far behind and unlikely to ever catch up.
Well I don't care personally if I'm behind any full spellcasters or not. Goal is to play a fun, core-only char that has RP background and thus the cerebremancer makes it a perfect choice for me. Even if I don't care if I'm weaker than a full-caster, I do care about getting most of the juice out of a character without actually powerplaying.

So you suggest to drop 2 wizard schools? I have several questions on that:
a) If so, what schools-to-be-dropped would fit best for my current power selection?
b) Why would I be doing that? What's the benefit (in comparison with keeping all schools and be more versatile)
c) I'm not sure about the rules here: If I drop... say evocation and I find a evocation spell on a scroll, can I write it into my spellbook and use it afterwards? Or are all spells, no matter how I acquire them BANNED for this character?


According to a rules of the game on the wizards website, you can apply effects in the most beneficial order, so apply schism penalty before practiced manifester to get +1 more ML.
Well that sounds not correct to me. The Schism description says "... as if your manifester level were six lower than it is". For me "as if" is a keyword that you are still at your normal manifester level, but the rules won't allow you to cast anything higher. Am I wrong here?
If I am, isn't practiced manifester a PERMANENT effect and thus I have no way of applying the Schism penalty, right? Please clearify



And yes, opening with schism lets you take another mental action. You won't be able to get schism until you can manifest 5th level powers, if you're using expanded knowledge. The only other was is to ask the DM if you can pay a 17 level psion to use psychic chiguery on you. It's very expensive, by RAW, though.
That's cool. So I'm going to cast Schism, then Demoralize. Next round I cast Demoralize twice and an entire army of enemies are panicked? Neat :)



According to the rules with astral construct, some claim that you can shape it as power around your body.
To get higher AC? I've already seen the thread were it was described. I don't think though that I'm going to be hit often, because with my current item build I have 18 AC (+4 additional if I cast mage armor). But it's good to know I've more options than summoning it as a minion that just hits my foes.



PS: I'm going to face with high certainty a green dragon (maybe even a green draco lich). I'm fine against it's minions but what about the dragon itself? It has high saves, high AC but low touch. I'm not certain how I should deal with enemies like this "boss-monster", as I call it.

[Spuddles]

Well I don't care personally if I'm behind any full spellcasters or not. Goal is to play a fun, core-only char that has RP background and thus the cerebremancer makes it a perfect choice for me. Even if I don't care if I'm weaker than a full-caster, I do care about getting most of the juice out of a character without actually powerplaying.

So you suggest to drop 2 wizard schools? I have several questions on that:
a) If so, what schools-to-be-dropped would fit best for my current power selection?
b) Why would I be doing that? What's the benefit (in comparison with keeping all schools and be more versatile)
c) I'm not sure about the rules here: If I drop... say evocation and I find a evocation spell on a scroll, can I write it into my spellbook and use it afterwards? Or are all spells, no matter how I acquire them BANNED for this character?


Well that sounds not correct to me. The Schism description says "... as if your manifester level were six lower than it is". For me "as if" is a keyword that you are still at your normal manifester level, but the rules won't allow you to cast anything higher. Am I wrong here?
If I am, isn't practiced manifester a PERMANENT effect and thus I have no way of applying the Schism penalty, right? Please clearify


That's cool. So I'm going to cast Schism, then Demoralize. Next round I cast Demoralize twice and an entire army of enemies are panicked? Neat :)


To get higher AC? I've already seen the thread were it was described. I don't think though that I'm going to be hit often, because with my current item build I have 18 AC (+4 additional if I cast mage armor). But it's good to know I've more options than summoning it as a minion that just hits my foes.



PS: I'm going to face with high certainty a green dragon (maybe even a green draco lich). I'm fine against it's minions but what about the dragon itself? It has high saves, high AC but low touch. I'm not certain how I should deal with enemies like this "boss-monster", as I call it.

In the case of permanent effects, you can still choose the order you wish to apply them. I can't think of any particular examples atm, but maybe someone can help clarify. Regardless, caster/manifester level cheese with practiced feats is a little powergamey.

Are you playing with SRD material? Because there you can get a trait that gives you +1 caster level in a school of magic and -1 in the rest. If you already have practiced manifester, you may as well get it, because hey, free +1.

18 AC is absolute trash. It's not even very good at level 1. Don't expect 22 AC to do much at level 9, other than stop iteratives and very weak minions from hitting you. I suspect the rest of the party will have similarly bad armor classes, though. Astral construct around you will also let the astral construct take you with it when it burrow or flies or swims, which can be handy.

Oh yeah, dispel psionics works on magic, just like dispel magic works on psionics. I would seriously consider picking it up, as it's a great ability to have spontaneously.

You can ban 2 schools, decision must be made at level 1 of wizard. You can never use any spells from those schools as a wizard- scroll, wand, whatever. Exceptions would be a magic item that cast it (like a helm of brilliance), use magic device, or from another class. In return you get to prepare one extra spell of the school you specialize in.

Another option would be domain wizard, as found on the SRD. That option is a bit cheesy, as you aren't giving up much of anything and hey, free spells!

[Psyren]

According to a rules of the game on the wizards website,

Whatever happened to "general consensus is that FAQ is not RAW?" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13915652) :smallamused:

Funny how you guys are quick to cite FAQ when it does what you want to do.


Well I don't care personally if I'm behind any full spellcasters or not. Goal is to play a fun, core-only char that has RP background and thus the cerebremancer makes it a perfect choice for me. Even if I don't care if I'm weaker than a full-caster, I do care about getting most of the juice out of a character without actually powerplaying.

...Did you read the rest of my post, or just that part? :smallconfused: Because I just told you that you're NOT weaker than a full caster, or at least not significantly so. You're at least on par with a straight Psion. Cerebremancers are not like other theurges.



So you suggest to drop 2 wizard schools? I have several questions on that:
a) If so, what schools-to-be-dropped would fit best for my current power selection?
b) Why would I be doing that? What's the benefit (in comparison with keeping all schools and be more versatile)
c) I'm not sure about the rules here: If I drop... say evocation and I find a evocation spell on a scroll, can I write it into my spellbook and use it afterwards? Or are all spells, no matter how I acquire them BANNED for this character?

a) Enchantment and Evocation, like I said. In fact, you don't even have any enchantment spells, and just a couple of evocations (which you can replicate or do without), so you're not missing anything by doing so.
b) You get an extra wizard slot of each level, including your highest level slot. In Psionic terms, you'd be gaining a bunch of extra PP that would scale with your level. And as I pointed out above, you're not actually losing any versatility because you barely have any spells of those schools.
c) They are totally banned. But you're also a psion. Any blasting you want to do (which can't be much - you don't have any blasting spells on that list) can be done with your psion half, or with conjuration spells.

[Spuddles]

Whatever happened to "general consensus is that FAQ is not RAW?" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13915652) :smallamused:

Funny how you guys are quick to cite FAQ when it does what you want to do.

Some know-it-all told me that the FAQ is ok to use when it clarifies a rule :smallwink:

[autCyrius]

...Did you read the rest of my post, or just that part? :smallconfused: Because I just told you that you're NOT weaker than a full caster, or at least not significantly so. You're at least on par with a straight Psion. Cerebremancers are not like other theurges.
Yes I did real you whole post, I just thought I should clearify how I feel about the theurge theme at all.




a) Enchantment and Evocation, like I said. In fact, you don't even have any enchantment spells, and just a couple of evocations (which you can replicate or do without), so you're not missing anything by doing so.
b) You get an extra wizard slot of each level, including your highest level slot. In Psionic terms, you'd be gaining a bunch of extra PP that would scale with your level. And as I pointed out above, you're not actually losing any versatility because you barely have any spells of those schools.
c) They are totally banned. But you're also a psion. Any blasting you want to do (which can't be much - you don't have any blasting spells on that list) can be done with your psion half, or with conjuration spells.
Great, I'm going to do the changes then.
@c) I always thought that blasting as a caster isn't such a good idea anyways, that's why evocation is considered the worst school, isn't it? I got the crystal shards to - only if I really have to - ready action against enemy spellcasters or if I can coup de grace someone, although then the rogue might try his best :)

[Psyren]

Some know-it-all told me that the FAQ is ok to use when it clarifies a rule :smallwink:

Sounds like a smart guy :smallbiggrin:



Great, I'm going to do the changes then.
@c) I always thought that blasting as a caster isn't such a good idea anyways, that's why evocation is considered the worst school, isn't it? I got the crystal shards to - only if I really have to - ready action against enemy spellcasters or if I can coup de grace someone, although then the rogue might try his best :)


It's often suboptimal but there are times when it's appropriate. For instance, blasting is one of the best ways to deal with swarms, or a crowd of weak mooks that would be annoying to deal with individually (many bosses have a setup like that.) And many times, you have the wrong battlefield control for a given situation (e.g. you have Grease prepped, and your DM attacks you with fire elementals, or pixies or something) but there aren't many monsters that can ignore a force orb or sonic ray, which allows you to contribute.

Rambling on the nature of blasting:


The reason blasting is looked down on is because it often doesn't shut down attackers the way a SoD or battlefield control spell can. A monster at 1HP does the same damage as one at full, so if the party uses all their actions and a bad guy is still alive, they're wasting tempo (and potentially resources, if he's able to counterattack successfully.) Meanwhile, locking one of the ogres away in a Resilient Sphere may not hurt it, but as far as the overall battle is concerned he may as well be dead/absent.

In practice however, your party members (especially melee) are usually focused on dishing out damage too. So if they get a bunch of monsters down to single-digits with their full-attacks and you wipe them out with an area spell, it's functionally the same as if you had used battlefield control to lock them all down. The end result is that they can't hurt anyone.

Besides, in practice it's just fun. You point at the grid, yell for your allies to duck, and roll a bunch of dice. Not to say that other casting styles aren't equally fun, but lockdown CAN make the other party members feel like they're just there to slit the throats you've laid out for them, and such a binary outcome (monster is normal/useless) can also be disenfranchising for the DM. Blasting almost never runs into these problems, unless you're doing such obscene amounts of damage that your blasting spells may as well be SoDs.

[Spuddles]

Multitarget blasting works well with allies that took cleave or great cleave, too.

[Keld Denar]

Don't disparage Cleave. Cleave is not a bad feat. 1-2 extra attacks per combat are well worth the price of a feat. Great Cleave, however, is a waste of space. Urge your Barbarian friend NOT to take that one. Instead, encourage him to invest in the Intimidate skill. If you use your Demoralize power on a foe, and then he does the standard action Intimidate, that stacks on another level of fear. Not great against large numbers of targets, but great against a single foe. Making a foe Frightened or Paniced is delightfully awful for that foe, and fear always lasts as long as the longest effect, so even though normally Intimidate only lasts for 1 turn, when it rides on the back of the Demoralize power, it lasts much longer. Next level you get 4th level spells, you can also get the Fear spell there. It makes a foe Paniced on a failed save, but even a successful save makes them Shaken. Stack that up with Intimidate and Demoralize and foes will have no choice but to wet themselves and cry for their mothers.

[autCyrius]

In the case of permanent effects, you can still choose the order you wish to apply them. I can't think of any particular examples atm, but maybe someone can help clarify. Regardless, caster/manifester level cheese with practiced feats is a little powergamey.
This doesn't seem too powergamey to me. I'll use that RAW (I guess thats's what you guys called it (yes I know what it means)).



Are you playing with SRD material? Because there you can get a trait that gives you +1 caster level in a school of magic and -1 in the rest. If you already have practiced manifester, you may as well get it, because hey, free +1.
I actually am. SRD (CORE) only in fact. I don't know if traits are allowed though. 1 DM said he wouldn't care if we allow it, couldn't contact the other one yet.



18 AC is absolute trash. It's not even very good at level 1. Don't expect 22 AC to do much at level 9, other than stop iteratives and very weak minions from hitting you. I suspect the rest of the party will have similarly bad armor classes, though. Astral construct around you will also let the astral construct take you with it when it burrow or flies or swims, which can be handy.
Whaaat. :smalleek: I thought it was rather good as a spellcaster. Well our maincaster of the group has spell focus on evoc/ench ans has 14 AC.



Oh yeah, dispel psionics works on magic, just like dispel magic works on psionics. I would seriously consider picking it up, as it's a great ability to have spontaneously.
Freakin' sweet! So wait, does that mean if I use a power on a monster with spellrestistance, I have to check if my power is denied or not? :S




You can ban 2 schools, decision must be made at level 1 of wizard. You can never use any spells from those schools as a wizard- scroll, wand, whatever. Exceptions would be a magic item that cast it (like a helm of brilliance), use magic device, or from another class. In return you get to prepare one extra spell of the school you specialize in.
Right, so I'll be banning Evocation and Enchantment. I'm think of either specialising in conjuration or transmutation. What's better for me(and my build)? Or should I choose something else.[/QUOTE]



Another option would be domain wizard, as found on the SRD. That option is a bit cheesy, as you aren't giving up much of anything and hey, free spells!
Well if it's something "odd" that is used as a substitution-rule. I don't want to ask my DM about if something is allowed if I actually have to explain him afterwards what it actually means and what it's used for. (Don't judge harsh on the DM. I think he's doing a great job especially in RP campaigns, but as a regular player he doesn't know most of the stuff - and he doesn't care about knowing them unlike me)



edit: Since I decided to drop evocation and enchantment, and your point of view on direct damage dealing: what would you suggest? Any certain spells or powers I should learn in substitution of my current build? As you can see I don't have damage spells (but crystal shards).

edit2: Why would our barbarian be intimidating? If he's threatening then he's more useful if he dishes out flat damage to the opponent. What does he have a party for? ^^

edit3: Is flee (form the fear condition) the same as withdraw? So does fleeing provok AoOs?

edit4: I somewhere someone answering a question in this forum about what spells to use on creatures (will, ref or fort). He answered it by: create a monster type cheat sheet. Does such sheet already exist out there or do I have to create it on my own? // sry for off-topic here :S

[Psyren]

Wait a sec: If this build is core-only, how are you getting Practiced Manifester and Practiced Spellcaster?



Another very specific question is about the astral construct. It says it spawns the ectoplasma, but it has to be formed with a craft(sculpting) check. What if I fail it? What if I didn't want to sculpt it. Why would I want to sculpt it anyway?

This bit is just for fluff; it lets you make your AC look like a specific creature or even individual if your sculpting is classy enough. It has no effect on the construct's capabilities, and it never stops your AC from looking like ectoplasm.Your DM could potentially give you a bonus to something (say, Disguise, if you were dressing it up) if you sculpt it well enough, but your enemies are unlikely to marvel at your craftsmanship as it pummels them into paste.


edit: Since I decided to drop evocation and enchantment, and your point of view on direct damage dealing: what would you suggest? Any certain spells or powers I should learn in substitution of my current build? As you can see I don't have damage spells (but crystal shards).

edit2: Why would our barbarian be intimidating? If he's threatening then he's more useful if he dishes out flat damage to the opponent. What does he have a party for? ^^

edit3: Is flee (form the fear condition) the same as withdraw? So does fleeing provok AoOs?

edit4: I somewhere someone answering a question in this forum about what spells to use on creatures (will, ref or fort). He answered it by: create a monster type cheat sheet. Does such sheet already exist out there or do I have to create it on my own? // sry for off-topic here :S

1) You don't need many. Energy Push is nice. Concussion Blast is great for both hitting creatures and breaking down doors. Crystal Swarm has no save and no SR etc.

2) Can't help you with the barbarian thing, Intimidate builds aren't my forte.

3) Fleeing due to fear does provoke.

4) Generally you can tell what to use on a given creature. e.g. if it's a spellcaster, they usually have high Will, or if it's a sneak, they have high Reflex, or if it's a big slab of beef they usually have high Fort.

[Spuddles]

The barbarian flexing his guns at a scared enemy can make the enemy frightened. If you are fighting, say two fire giants, it is doubtful that both you and him will be able to kill it in a round of damage. But if you stack fear, you end up with a cowering monster that pisses itself in a corner.

It may be situational- element type monsters and an energy psionic power can be doing 50% more damage. Fireballs can be really good on frost giants cause even if it hits for avg 30 damage, that gets bumped up to 45, on multiple targets it's now multiplied.

If you want to blast efficiently, pick up energy missile with expanded knowledge. For your build, it is the best decision, imo. It hits 5 targets, comes in 5 flavors, and the DC augments totally unfairly- goes up for every power point you put in. In most cases, it is strictly superior to any blasting a wizard gets. Orb of Fire or whatver (from material you cannot use anyway) are widely regarded as awesome, but they take quite a lot of investment to make useful. Energy missile needs a feat, then kerplow.

As far as domain wizard goes, explain to your dm that your wizard gets a domain kind of like a cleric, but with no special power. So an extra slot per level, predetermined. Depending on your backstory, you can choose battle or storm or something.

If you are going to specialize, core only, you should realize that there are a handful of evocations that you give up that are really useful, and should always have in scroll form (speaking of scrolls, get rid of that shield and spend the 5k on some utility scrolls or magical ink if you'll have down time/dm will let you start with crafted items). These spells are windwall and gust of wind. Gust of wind ironically counters some of the best battlefield control out there- clouds of sinky stuff or thick fog or acid or any clouds, really. Windwall makes archers weep.

For specialization, I would be leaning transmutation. Summoning monsters while you are three wizard levels behind will suck. Battlefield control works best whn your party isn't scrubs that will run in and get in your way. Plus, you're a shaper with astral construct. Won't it be cool to put haste and fly and bull strength on it? For your build, having larger (or deeper) repertoire of buffs will be more useful than an extra web. One web goes a long way in a battle, but two flies goes further. 3rd level transmutations are glorious.

[autCyrius]

Wait a sec: If this build is core-only, how are you getting Practiced Manifester and Practiced Spellcaster?


(you will noticed that I got practiced spellcater and practiced manifester from complete arcane and complete psion, but they were allowed by my DM - no other feats/items/whatsoever are allowed though besides core stuff)



I'll look into the powers suggested. After you confirm on my decision about specialization and I know what school to take I'll change the power setup a bit.

[autCyrius]

If you want to blast efficiently, pick up energy missile with expanded knowledge. For your build, it is the best decision, imo. It hits 5 targets, comes in 5 flavors, and the DC augments totally unfairly- goes up for every power point you put in. In most cases, it is strictly superior to any blasting a wizard gets. Orb of Fire or whatver (from material you cannot use anyway) are widely regarded as awesome, but they take quite a lot of investment to make useful. Energy missile needs a feat, then kerplow.
Hm I'm just thinking about losing the shaper discipline and becoming a kineticist. Worth it?



If you are going to specialize, core only, you should realize that there are a handful of evocations that you give up that are really useful, and should always have in scroll form (speaking of scrolls, get rid of that shield and spend the 5k on some utility scrolls or magical ink if you'll have down time/dm will let you start with crafted items). These spells are windwall and gust of wind. Gust of wind ironically counters some of the best battlefield control out there- clouds of sinky stuff or thick fog or acid or any clouds, really. Windwall makes archers weep.

Ew, I was always bad at spell selection, even when it comes to scrolls^^ I'll see what I can do.

[Psyren]

Hm I'm just thinking about losing the shaper discipline and becoming a kineticist. Worth it?

If all you want out of Shaper is Astral Construct I'd say yes. That's just one feat, as opposed to all the blasty powers you seem interested in from PK.

Now if you were playing Pathfinder it would be REALLY worth it.

[autCyrius]

I now changed the build a bit according to your tips. Text in bold is still requiring discussion

So here it was I did:
I changed nothing but the specialization of the wizard. It's now a Transmuter (prohibited schools are Enchantment and Evocation).
I changed the Psion discipline from Shaper to Kineticist.

Spells and powers: (I'll try to give a reason why I took it, please correct if I'm wrong or mislead)

Spells
1st level spells:

Enlarge Person - giving our melee reach? it's always nice especially with cleave
Identify - utility for items... what else?
Mage armor - I have a rod, lesser extend... that gives me a 18h +4 AC buff. Yes or no?
Ray of Enfeeblement - Debuffing like intended
True Strike - Well... I dont need that, right?

I still have 2 1st level spells left. Any suggestions? I'm thinking Grease and maybe.

2nd level spells:

Glitterdust - making enemies visible in combination with Touchsight seems like a good tactical move.
Rope Trick - save resting in dungeons/danger zones? I like it.
Web - Battlefieldcontrol

I still have 1 2nd level spell left. I'm thinking of either Acid Arrow, Fog Cloud or Invisibility.

3rd level spells:

Fly - yay, movement!
Ray of Exhaustion - Debuffing
Slow - Debuffing
Stinking CLoud - Battle field controll

You spoke of epic transmutation spells at lvl 3? What are the best to choose from?


Powers
1st level powers

Demoralize -AoE fear effect with good DC
Entangling Ectoplasm - Entangling single foes if Web would be a waste.
Precognition, Defense - higher saving throws... I don't care about AC anymore, really^^.
Vigor - Helping me staying alive.

I still ahve 1 1st levle power left. Maybe Call to Mind for utility?

2nd level powers

Control Sound - Utility for distractions etc.
Detect Hostile Intent - No, I don't want that dagger in my back!
Ego Whip - "You're ugly, b****!"
Energy Missile - WTF how could I've missed that great power.

3rd level powers

Dispel Psionics - now that I know it can targets spells as well it's a high priority pick.
Time Hop - ^.^
Touchsight - "You're blinded" - "I still now where you are, taste my Energy Missile!"

I still ahve 1 3rd level power left. I've no idea what to pick.

[Spuddles]

Control Light, Matter Agitation and Control Flame are awesome powers. You can give control flame to your schism or your psi crystal, which means very efficient DPS. Control Light is actually the only way to make real darkness, and your barbarian can see in it if he has darkvision.

Haste is a great 3rd lvl spell. Grease is unbelievable. Make sure you read all the details on balance checks. It is basically the ultimate lockdown spell. My Wizard player practically specializes in the stuff, and he's 13th level.

Synesthete can be really useful, too. Like a lower level touchsight.

What level is telekenetic thrust? That is awesome. Hurl boulders. Useful in all kinds of situations.

Haste is nifty, especially if there are more than two allies making full attacks. Shrink item is SICK. Need a portable fire for your control flame? What about a puddle of lava? A boulder to use telekinetic thrust on? A 50 gallon drum of lantern oil?

Greater Magic Weapon ends up being highly efficient. A 3rd level pearl of power costs 9000 gold, while a +3 weapon costs double that. When your CL is 12, you save everyone who bought a pearl 9000 gold, at least. Eventually they can stak sweet enchantments while you cover the bonuses. Imagine if a +5 weapon cost a flat 9k.

Keen edge can be cute on a kukri or falchion, but at this point, not worth the slot or spell known.

[Kelb_Panthera]

The "cheat sheet" for monster save progressions is Table 4-1 on MM pg 290. Copy it or memorize it, and make sure you can identify at least creature type with a knowledge check at all times.