Ardent Gish Advice[3.5]

[Kaustic]

I am currently undergoing a rebuild on my 15th level warforged and am looking for advice to see if i can fit or flow with what I've got right now.

Final build so far: Psychic Warrior 2/Fighter 2/Ardent 11
We are allowed to have 2 flaws.
I am going with a Spiked Chain build for CC and damage.
Mantles Chosen: Freedom/Time[Primaries], Conflict, Fate, and Creation
I am using the Dominant Ideal ACF for Freedom.

My Feats up to 15 are: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Adamantine Body, Exotic Weapon Proficiency:Spiked Chain, Mobility, Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Spring Attack, Weapon Focus(Spiked Chain:Conflict Mantle), Whirlwind Attack, Knockdown, and Practiced Manifester

Our Party consists of a Bard, Beguiler, Crusader, Scout/Ranger, Archivist/Runecaster and myself.

[shadow_archmagi]

I am currently undergoing a rebuild on my 15th level warforged and am looking for advice to see if i can fit or flow with what I've got right now.

Final build so far: Psychic Warrior 2/Fighter 2/Ardent 11
We are allowed to have 2 flaws.
I am going with a Spiked Chain build for CC and damage.
Mantles Chosen: Freedom/Time[Primaries], Conflict, Fate, and Creation
I am using the Dominant Ideal ACF for Freedom.

My Feats up to 15 are: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Adamantine Body, Exotic Weapon Proficiency:Spiked Chain, Mobility, Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Spring Attack, Weapon Focus(Spiked Chain:Conflict Mantle), Whirlwind Attack, Knockdown, and Practiced Manifester

Our Party consists of a Bard, Beguiler, Crusader, Scout/Ranger, Archivist/Runecaster and myself.

I'm not sure how helpful Adamantine Body is. At level 15, a lot of things will bypass DR, or be dealing enough damage that the DR you get isn't meaningful.

Why not pick up Linked Power instead, so you can pull off buffs faster?

[Kaustic]

That's a great idea, I was wondering half-wittingly how I was going to manifest all these powers in the middle of combat, then have all these powers still lingering with no enemies in sight.

[Vaz]

What does Dominant freedom get you that that Dominant Time doesn't? It is one of the few PP recharge techniques availabale without Incarnum, and it might be considered Cheesy, as you can break the Action economy over your knee, but if you don't link you syncronicity to syncronicity to link your syncronicity etc, you are Golden. You don't have enough Powers known to make it that worthwhile and in worlds where DMM persist clerics and God Wozards are running about, it is not that broken (the psionixs equivalent of persist).

What does Psywar give you that more levels in a more flexible class don't? For example Cleric for Psitheurge and getting Travel Devotion etc, and eventually getting The ability to make a short term Psionic Save Game trick for yourself if you wish.

[Kaustic]

Psy War gives me a few more Feat slots for the Spiked Chain combos: Whirlwind and Knockdown.

Our DM does have some limitations in place to stop the breaking of Action Economy(for good reason). Temporal Acceleration is out right banned. As I was looking at the Time Mantle, I didn't see Syncronicity listed.

Totally open to moving things in the build, I'm just trying to stay with the core of being a Psionic Spiked Chain wielder of doom.

[shadow_archmagi]

Speaking of Incarnum, it's rare to find a build that couldn't be made more fun by adding some Incarnum!

[Kaustic]

I'm still kind of iffy on the Incarnum book. I've dabbled with it a bit before with a Druid/Totemist Gestalt game, but we are at level 15, I have already purchased several powerful items: a Ring of Freedom of Movement, and a Phoenix Cloak. I know that Incarnum locks up item slots which may or may not be a problem.
Plus I have no idea how to handle an Ardent/Insert Incarnum class here.

[shadow_archmagi]

Actually, only Chakra Binding locks up slots, if I remember correctly.

[Kaustic]

Don't you have to bind the Chakra to have the ability though? I think the Incarnate is pretty cool, and I've only heard terrible things about Soulborn.

[Karnith]

Don't you have to bind the Chakra to have the ability though?
You can shape a soulmeld to gain some abilities, and you also have the option of binding the soulmeld to gain further abilities (well, once you gain the ability to bind soulmelds to your chakras, anyway). Simply shaping a soulmeld doesn't interfere with magic items occupying the same slots, but binding a soulmeld to a chakra does.

[Kaustic]

Understood. Thinking of other options now, but due to the rules of how we are running our game, I will have to start with either Ardent or PsyWar for a psionic character. I'm not sure I can keep with the Spike Chain usage as an Incarnate.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Use Substitute Powers (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) to fill holes in mantles and even swap out some powers you don't expect to use for something more useful/fitting.

Consider going with this Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 1/ Ardent 4/ Slayer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/slayer.htm) 9/ Sanctified Mind 6. Say you visited the Otyugh Hole in CS to get the feat prerequisite for Sanctified Mind without spending a feat on it, and you have zero feats spent for the build apart from Practiced Manifester. That loses only one point of BAB, gets mostly d8's for hp, and has tons of useful class features, especially later on. May have to put the first Ardent level before Ranger, but it would still work.

Get Psicrystal Affinity, plus the powers Share Pain and Vigor. Keep Share Pain active on the psicrystal so you take half damage from all sources, the psicrystal's Hardness 8 reduces every instance of damage it takes from share pain by that much regardless of the original attack's damage type. Keep it in a compartment on your person and it cannot be attacked directly or hit by area effects. You can even share powers like Vigor and Psionic Repair Damage with it. Put a Healing Belt on it and it can use its own actions to heal you during combat when needed.

[CyberThread]

You don't get wild shape until level 5 ranger.


Why in the world would you use it for a level one dip?

[Zombulian]

You don't get wild shape until level 5 ranger.


Why in the world would you use it for a level one dip?

For the leather armor. DUHHH

Edit: wait we're talking about Ranger... For the fast movement and skill points! Duhhh- wait. That's sort of reasonable.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You don't get wild shape until level 5 ranger.


Why in the world would you use it for a level one dip?

It gives you Fast Movement at the 1st class level. If you're only dipping one level of Ranger, there's absolutely no reason to not use that variant.

[Vaz]

You don't get wild shape until level 5 ranger.


Why in the world would you use it for a level one dip?

Track as a Bonus feat, Fast Movement.

[Kaustic]

I'm really not comfortable using the Substite Powers ACF of the Ardents, only because I'm not well versed in Psionics. This is my first real adventure into the world of a Psionic character and used the Spiked Chain build to keep it in a bit more familiar territory.

I am also a Warforged, so I do come with some built in armor, I won't take an Armor feat if it's not going to help ex. Adamantine Plating and Mithril Plating.

[CyberThread]

Honesly with how shaky you are being, maybe it is best , if instead you go with a warmind?

[Red Fel]

I am also a Warforged, so I do come with some built in armor, I won't take an Armor feat if it's not going to help ex. Adamantine Plating and Mithril Plating.

This is sort of an aside, but have you considered the Psiforged Body feat from MoE? (This is assuming you haven't generated your character yet). On the one hand, it leaves your composite plating as-is, so no Mithral or Adamantine upgrade. But on the other hand, it gives you the effect of a Cognizance Crystal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/cognizanceCrystals.htm), storing 1 PP + 1 PP/2 character levels. At level 1, that's the equivalent of a 1,000 gp item, and pretty useful as a bonus PP battery.