Why is STP Erudite tier 1?

[Story]

Why is STP Erudite tier 1? Sure they can break the game in many ways, but the fact that they have to pay XP and find a spellcaster to learn from limits the number of spells they can actually learn. Plus there's the limitation on unique powers manifested per day. Overall, it seems like they have more in common with Sorcerers then Wizards, so why aren't they tier 2?

[Gavinfoxx]

The actual limit of the number of 'locked' powers really depends on which version of the Erudite you are reading...

-The Complete Psionic gives the Erudite unique powers per day equal to 1+1/2 class level (rounded down) per level, This means a level 20 Erudite can manifest 99 unique powers a day, 11 per power level.

-A common claim of RAI is that the Erudite should have 1+1/2 class level unique powers per day, no matter the level.

-The Dragon Magazine version has this, where the first level you can manifest a new level power you can manifest one a day, the next two level you can manifest three a day, the next three you can manifest 3 a day and every level after that you can manifest 4 a day. (Exceptions being 8th level powers where you skip one level of manifesting only 2 a day and 9th level powers where every level from 17th to 20th increase the number you can manifest daily by one.)

And they can also rip all the prepared spells from the mind of an unconscious spellcaster.

Also, xp is a river.

[CyberThread]

the answer is, because folks say so.

[Story]

-The Complete Psionic gives the Erudite unique powers per day equal to 1+1/2 class level (rounded down) per level, This means a level 20 Erudite can manifest 99 unique powers a day, 11 per power level.

-A common claim of RAI is that the Erudite should have 1+1/2 class level unique powers per day, no matter the level.

Oh, I had misread it as being 11 unique powers/day total. That makes a lot more sense.

[Jack_Simth]

Oh, I had misread it as being 11 unique powers/day total. That makes a lot more sense.
Even without that, they, they come with the ability to make power stones, so can store up powers without too much trouble. Oh yes, and they retain the ability to manifest powers from power stones without burning them up that all psionic characters theoretically have.

[Zanos]

Oh, I had misread it as being 11 unique powers/day total. That makes a lot more sense.
That is most likely the intentional reading, because 11 unique powers of every level is not really a limit that I think anyone would ever run in to in the course of play. I think I'd struggle to find 11 powers of every level I'd even want to manifest in a given day.

Even you play with 11 unique powers per day total, you can use arcane fusion and greater arcane fusion to get around this. Moreover, the STP erudite has access to all arcane spells, which makes it at least as powerful as a wizard. However, this also means it has access to sorcerer only, bard only, etc. spells, and can cherrypick lower level versions of spells from various arcane lists. You can also, if you try hard enough, find a dragon or a wyrm wizard to learn divine spells from, meaning that a STP erudite can, with proper optimization, learn every power, arcane spell, and divine spell in the game.

And again, XP is a river.

[T.G. Oskar]

STP Erudite, regardless of the amount of unique powers per day, has a specific peculiarity that makes it interesting.

The Erudite's peculiarity is the concept of the repertoire: given enough time, it can learn every single power, ever. You can only manifest one unique power at first, so while you can learn lots of powers, you end up only manifesting a small amount; however, this restriction eventually lessens. The "Behind the Curtain" section of the Erudite explains it better: the Erudite is better at the beginning of the day than at the end, because it's the most versatile there (once you manifest the power, you're effectively locked into it).

The Wizard's power isn't because of its spell slots or its spellcasting; the Sorcerer has more slots and the same spells, with only minor differences (Wizards get Mnemonic Enhancer and a few others; Sorcerer gets Arcane Spellsurge in exchange). The power of the Wizard is in the ability of, given enough time, learn all spells and prepare exactly what you need for the day.

These two bits should give you an idea why STP Erudite is so powerful: take the versatility of a Wizard and its spellcasting, and then add psionic powers on top. Thus: after a certain level, use one of your spells or powers to learn what may be the challenges of the day, and keep which powers may be useful in mind. Once that happens, fill your unique powers per day with the spells that you'll definitely need, and if you need to use them again...well, that's why you chose them. Essentially, you have the versatility of the Wizard, the utility of the Sorcerer, and the nova potential of a Psion on top of that.

A better logical argument would be: a Wizard is Tier 1, therefore anything that almost completely replicates a Wizard is Tier 1 by definition. A STP Erudite is Tier 1 because it resembles a Wizard in nearly all aspects. Even more: a STP Erudite is MUCH more powerful than a Wizard because it also has Psion powers on top, which are usually quite good in terms of utility.

Note that ALL you need to sacrifice for it is your free Psicrystal. Psions don't get Psicrystals for free, so you can spend 1 feat to regain it.

Now: the sole limiting factor of the Erudite is its amount of Unique Powers per day. If by the end of the day the Erudite only has access to 11 Unique Powers per day, it's still MORE powerful than a Sorcerer because it can still prepare for the day with the spells it requires, and complement with powers; take one or two of the Energy * powers if you need to deal damage, then cover with utility powers or spells that will cover you for the day like Shapechange, and the rest are your "specialized" tools. If it's 11 Unique Powers per level per day, then the argument is moot; you get far too more powers than you actually need, and the versatility you get is far beyond the power of a Wizard. Even if you limit the number of Unique Powers per Day, the STP Erudite has enough versatility to cross for the day, as some of the Psionic Powers count for 4-5 spells.

[Psyren]

There are several easy tricks to access the entirety of an Erudite's repertoire without cheese, should you need to. Two of the simplest ones are Metaconcert, and Soul Crystal from MoI.

[Story]

I didn't think of that either.

Incidentally, is it me or is Metaconcert really good on a Thrallherd? You basically get +9 on all DCs for free. The only real limitation is that your movespeed is reduced to 10 and it's harder to stealth around.

[Psyren]

Metaconcert typically isn't very useful in a fight because of the 10-round manifesting time. So typically you call captain planet set it up before you kick the door in, or the BBEG already has it up with his dragon or something.

There are a couple of cheesy ways around that too, like Linked Power, but few DMs are likely to be thrilled with the idea of reducing a 1-minute casting time to a single action.

[Big Fau]

A note about the StP Erudite: Losing a full level's worth of XP is enough to learn 50 new powers. As anyone who's played a magic item crafter will tell you, this isn't nearly as bad as you think and actually means you get more XP from encounters than normal.