Psicrystal advancement

[Deox]

For the sake of argument, let us assume that after selecting the Psicrystal Affinity feat, the psicrystal gets feats every 3 HD.

What would be your selections for feats for it to take?

[AMFV]

For the sake of argument, let us assume that after selecting the Psicrystal Affinity feat, the psicrystal gets feats every 3 HD.

What would be your selections for feats for it to take?

Skill Focuses can actually be good here, Flyby attack at 9 is an absolute absolute must, then it can deliver touch powers and move on. Darkstalker might be nice, Air heritage after 9 someplace.

[Anxe]

Leadership because my psicrystal is amazing.

[Rubik]

For the sake of argument, let us assume that after selecting the Psicrystal Affinity feat, the psicrystal gets feats every 3 HD.

What would be your selections for feats for it to take?It depends entirely on what I want to do with the character.

I currently have a character who is a factotum 3/psion 5/constructor 6/abrupt jaunt martial feat conjuror wizard 1 (for AJ and free use of cantrips, mainly) who has loaded his psicrystal up with Darkstalker (because he has Darkstalker himself and doesn't want his psicrystal to give him away when he's being stealthy), and the rest are Hidden Talent (Entangling Ectoplasm) for a bit of debuffing utility and metapsionic feats to siphon off using the Feat Leech power. I'll be giving my psicrystal an item of +Wis at my earliest opportunity, then taking Mindsight and Life Sense...as if my having Burrowing Power + Touchsight, improved low light vision, darkvision 120', and blindsense 30' wasn't enough already...

If I had a psywar, I might consider taking Expanded Knowledge (Feat Leech) for him, and load my psicrystal up with Hidden Talent and Psionic Talent, for the bonus pp.

If I had access to Metamorphosis and wanted the character to actively use it, I'd give the psicrystal a boatload of combat and stealth feats so I could use it as a multipurpose tool for scouting, fighting, and other many and various uses, and I'd procure a psychoactive skin of proteus at the very first opportunity.

You might also consider procuring an exotic saddle to wear as a hat and taking lots of ranks in Ride (which your psicrystal also gets). Then have your psicrystal take mounted feats, with you as the mount.

[Deox]

You might also consider procuring an exotic saddle to wear as a hat and taking lots of ranks in Ride (which your psicrystal also gets). Then have your psicrystal take mounted feats, with you as the mount.

This with Control Body and Solicit Psicrystal sounds pretty interesting actually.

[Psyren]

Alternatively you can use it as a "feat battery" for Feat Leech. Metapsionic feats are great for this because most of them have no prerequisites, so your crystal can pile them on and you can cherry-pick which ones to "borrow" without worrying about requirements yourself. This is particularly nice for the more situational ones like Transdimensional Power, Burrow Power, Delay Power or Enlarge Power. This frees you up to take the ones that you will want to have yourself, e.g. Quicken Power, Linked Power, Unconditional Power and Metapower.

[Rubik]

Martial Study is a great feat for a psicrystal. Grab a White Raven maneuver or two, then follow up with White Raven Tactics, which the psicrystal can use 1/encounter on anyone you like, including you. There are plenty of other maneuvers a psicrystal can utilize effectively, as well. Child of Shadow is great for giving it concealment for some added defense, and adding Craven to Assassin's Stance can be great to append to a The Big Guy's With Me build.

[unseenmage]

Leadership and Item Familiar of course. Because as previously stated psicrystals are amazing.

Mentor/Apprentice is nice too. Wild Cohort. Landlord (SBG) or Ancestral Relic; build an airship with them.

Least Legacy and Truebond are funny too.

[Chronos]

They're also good for party-support utility feats like Draconic Aura, or sense-giving feats like Lifesense (for which you'll need to buff its Cha slightly) or Mindsight (which it qualifies for automatically). And if you give it senses, and happen to be lawful, you should try to get ahold of a scroll of Planar Familiar and arrange to be able to UMD it, to give it the Axiomatic template (thus ensuring that if it's not surprised, neither are you).

[Rubik]

...Draconic Aura...Check out Draconic Vigor, from the PHBII. Fast-healing up to half your party's HP could save a lot of wands of Lesser Vigor in the long run. It's not a great feat to spend a character feat on, but a psicrystal's feat would be perfectly suitable.

How about the Open Minded (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#openMinded) feat? +5 skill points that stack on top of what it gets from its master.

I'd love to suggest some soulmelds, but constructs with Con -- can never take soulmelds, ever. Alas. It'd be a really good option, though I don't believe psicrystals have ANY body slots to stick soulmelds in.

How about Vow of Poverty? Since they have no body slots anyway, why not let them go VoP?

What about feats to make them better at wielding dorjes and wands? Give them a few wands and dorjes and let them do stuff with those.

[Chronos]

I'd love to suggest some soulmelds, but constructs with Con -- can never take soulmelds, ever. Alas. It'd be a really good option, though I don't believe psicrystals have ANY body slots to stick soulmelds in.
At the very least, they have the heart chakra (equivalent to a vest slot, IIRC), since all creatures have that. They lack the soul chakra due to having Con --. They also have spindly legs, though a count of those legs isn't given: If it's at least four, then they have the shoulders, arms, and hands chakras on their forelimbs, and the hindlimbs have the feet chakra. In general, you're supposed to err on the side of giving a creature as many chakras as possible.

Though I'm not sure what use they can get out of them, since as you state they can't shape soulmelds.

[Rubik]

There's at least one way for them to get soulmelds using Metamorphosis and Psychic Reformation (sped up via Linked Power or the Soul Crystal power, or through a psychoactive skin of proteus to extend Metamorphosis indefinitely), though I imagine that it would lose the soulmelds if it ever reverted to its basic psicrystal form.

[unseenmage]

I can't help but wonder if Psicrystals qualify for the Augment Automatons from Dragon 327 pg 72? If so then it would only be at creation. Extra Arms would be cool.

[Rubik]

Hidden Talent + Point Blank Shot + (Greater) Psionic Shot + Psionic Meditation; once the master reaches 7th level powers and Energy Conversion, he can share it with his psicrystal (which he's buffed up with Metamorphosis and shared Schism with). Hitting everything around with a Greater Psionic Shot on the (Overchanneled/Split Psionic Ray'd/Chain Power'd) Energy Conversion would be pretty nice... And prior to then, the psicrystal could use dorjes and wands which fire rays and ranged (touch) attacks.