Suggested TWF Soulknife Builds (PF)

[Katana1515]

Hey, been looking at the pathfinder fix for the Soulknife and was wondering if anyone had any suggested builds. only full guide I could find was Sharpening the Mind (link here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203014) but its not finished. Mostly wondering if anyone is aware of good combinations of feats and blade skills for a fairly optimised Soulknife.

I play quite a lot of pathfinder and 3.5 but mostly end up being the primary caster so would like advice about melee optimisation (I have suggested to my group that its time I let someone else don the wizard hat for a change!)

Thanks for any comments (and apologies if this has been covered before or has been posted in the wrong place, first time on this forum)

[Drelua]

Don't forget to take a look at the archetypes. My favourite is Deadly Fist combined with Gifted Blade, but obviously that doesn't work for TWF. Cutthroat for Sneak Attack could work pretty well, even though it costs you your bonus feat, or just Gifted Blade by itself. If you go with GB, you should see if your DM will let you take Practiced Manifester from 3.5, since your manifester level is your Soulknife level - 3, and if you want some healing you could take Expanded Knowledge to get Natural Healing on your power list.

For Blade skills, I'd strongly recommend Focused Offense to use Wisdom for attack and damage instead of Strength, especially if you take Gifted Blade for some Wisdom synergy. I'm afraid I haven't reached high enough level with a Soulknife to take much more than that in years, so I don't really know any others for a TWF Soulknife. I hope there's something useful in here somewhere! :smallsmile:

[Katana1515]

thanks for the advice :smallsmile: will take a look at focused offence! had not really considered the idea of a wis based Knife before, though I might struggle with some of the high dex requirements for the TWF feats.

[Drelua]

Right, that could be a problem.

The thing I love about Dreamscarred Press' Psionics is that all the archetypes do exactly what it says on the tin, and they do it fairly well, whereas Paizo archetypes usually suck, so it's pretty easy to see which one is good for the character you have in mind. Nimble Blade is designed to be a DEX based Soulknife and get's some cool abilities, but your damage will suffer until level 7 when they're mind blades get the Agile (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/magic-weapon-special-abilities/agile) property. The other abilities aren't bad, but none of them really stand out except for their level 10 ability to switch around one blade skill as an immediate action, which could be nice. It's also compatible with the Gifted Blade, though that won't be quite as powerful when you're not Wisdom based. Still, if you like to play Wizards you might like having some powers. One thing I really like about Gifted Blades is that they can switch their powers known everyday, giving them a lot of flexibility.

If you want some more specific advice, just post your level and stat generation method, and I'll get back to you when I can. :smallsmile:

[JusticeZero]

..level 7 when they're mind blades get the Agile (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/magic-weapon-special-abilities/agile) property.
How? I didn't see it on the list, though I might be missing an addendum that adds to it somewhere.

[JadePhoenix]

How? I didn't see it on the list, though I might be missing an addendum that adds to it somewhere.

It's one of the abilities Nimble Blade gets.

[Katana1515]

Haha! my thanks, the Nimble archetype should fix all my MAD problems :) the games starting at level 8 so only getting agile at level 7 shouldnt be a problem and the edition of piranha strike as a bonus feat is well worth the cost of the blade skill (didnt even know that feat existed previously, probably because i havent played melee outside 3.5). As for specifics its a 25 point buy. so with the 3 blade skills I'll have left im looking at twin strike, Full enhancement and bonus enhancement (so my mind blade will still scale like normal) while potentially burning a feat on Extra Blade Skill to pick up either the Ice or Shock blade skills so i have an option vs DR. Criticism is welcome

[Submortimer]

Nimble gifted blade is the way to go. Currently playing an Elan with that, and I'm a monster in combat. Granted, we started with more powerful builds than normal, but a dex of 21(23 with belt) is not hard to achieve at level 7. Use WoD as your second and use the elan's natural +1 pp per level favored class ability, and you'll be drowning in pp.

Bit of a house ruling, my DM decided that double slice still applies to the dex based damage of an agile weapon, and that double slice allows you to get full power attack/piranha strike damage in your off hand. I would also suggest taking the emulate melee weapon blade skill, and pick zephyr knife/wakazashi (mechanically the same thing). If you're taking the TWF route, getting two weapons that do 1d6, 18-20 x2 is certainly better than 1d6 and 1d8, 19-20 x2. Once I hit level 10 and get my floating blade skill, that will normally go to deadly blow. With my keen, agile, +2 zephyr knives, ITWF, and piranha strike, my attack chain is +15/+15/+10/+10, doing 1d6+14, 15-20 x3. Pretty beastly, in addition to getting GB powers.

[Fax Celestis]

Mind Daggers and Enhanced Mind Blade are almost requirements. You can do a really incredible TWF throwing build if you pick up Double Throw, Ricochet, and Far Shot (80' range increment on throwing weapons and you don't even need LOE? Yes plz). Get the collision property for +5 to damage (so you can basically ignore your STR score), and it gets pretty ridiculous.

[stack]

Decide if you want gifted blade or not. Its great, but not what everyone wants. If you don't, make sure to grab absorbing blade and the skill that boosts psychic strike damage. It won't stop the highest level spells/powers, but getting to say "No" is nice.