Gestalt Pathfinder Soulknife//X

[Elfkin_King]

I'm gonna be in a Gestalt campaign, and I decided to use the Soulknife. I was thinking about either going Sword sage or Warblade. My DM has approved all Multi-classing feats, as well as any other feat that I can find in a book. Book feats are instantly granted, and any that I find online must be approved. We are going to be Mythic (Pathfinder) and my DM said to start the characters at level 7. Equipment has yet to be determined.

If I went Soulknife//Sword Sage I was thinking that I might throw in a monk level and use a feat so that my Sword Sage levels would stack with the monk for initiator levels and the levels in sword sage would continue to improve Unarmed Strike. The character would use only one Soul blade and have his other hand free to punch when needed. AND using another feat so that the Soulknife would continue the Sword Sage's initiator levels when/if I prestiged into the Shadow Sun Ninja. (I know this method uses the often hated Monk, and it might be considered wasted feats and levels)

As far as using it for the Warblade.... Warblades are just badass. They can replenish their maneuvers with a standard melee attack, great health (d12) and some pretty strong maneuvers. This is a build that, after I thought of it and looked for more options I found out was a pretty staple combination.

[Propagandalf]

I'm gonna be in a Gestalt campaign, and I decided to use the Soulknife. I was thinking about either going Sword sage or Warblade. My DM has approved all Multi-classing feats, as well as any other feat that I can find in a book. Book feats are instantly granted, and any that I find online must be approved. We are going to be Mythic (Pathfinder) and my DM said to start the characters at level 7. Equipment has yet to be determined.

If I went Soulknife//Sword Sage I was thinking that I might throw in a monk level and use a feat so that my Sword Sage levels would stack with the monk for initiator levels and the levels in sword sage would continue to improve Unarmed Strike. The character would use only one Soul blade and have his other hand free to punch when needed. AND using another feat so that the Soulknife would continue the Sword Sage's initiator levels when/if I prestiged into the Shadow Sun Ninja. (I know this method uses the often hated Monk, and it might be considered wasted feats and levels)

As far as using it for the Warblade.... Warblades are just badass. They can replenish their maneuvers with a standard melee attack, great health (d12) and some pretty strong maneuvers. This is a build that, after I thought of it and looked for more options I found out was a pretty staple combination.

If you want to use the monk UA damage for your mindblade, you might want to take the Emulate Melee Weapon bladeskill and choose a monk weapon (like a Cestus for example).

This way you can full-attack/flurry with your mindblade (and its delicious bonuses) while getting the bigger damage from monk UA progression.

Dunno about the warblade. Gestalt characters usually take only the other half in a class with full BAB. But warblade is a badass class so it would work nicely nevertheless.

[Xsatra]

Another option for you is to go Meditant psychic warrior (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/psychic-warrior/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/meditant) along with Deadly fist soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/deadly-fist). Gestalting these two would net you d10 hit die, all good saves, full bab, flurry of blows, unarmed damage dice progression, Wis to AC, 6th level manifesting keying of Wis and enhancement bonuses to your unarmed strikes. At 2nd level you can pick up a bladeskill that allows you to use Wis for hit and damage while maintaining psionic focus.

[Elfkin_King]

If you want to use the monk UA damage for your mindblade, you might want to take the Emulate Melee Weapon bladeskill and choose a monk weapon (like a Cestus for example).

This way you can full-attack/flurry with your mindblade (and its delicious bonuses) while getting the bigger damage from monk UA progression.

Dunno about the warblade. Gestalt characters usually take only the other half in a class with full BAB. But warblade is a badass class so it would work nicely nevertheless.
I was considering that option (Cestus), but Sword Sages don't benifet from them at all, unless you consider them UAS. Taking the Deadly Fist Arch might be a better choice then? At that point it would be a fully UAS Sword Sage and wouldn't need the monk level at all. Not to mention the bladeskill that turns him into a WISKnife works great with the Sword Sage.

The reason I would Gestalt with Warblade is for the maneuvers and how the class regains them. Those points alone make it a great combination, and that's before actually picking any maneuvers.

[PsyBomb]

just out of curiosity, which piece is getting ported in what direction? I'm assuming you are playing PF, with the ToB classes ported over. In that case...

Unarmed Swordsage//Deadly Fist Soulblade is a nifty pair. Wis goes to AC, Attack, and Damage. Dex and Con secondary. You will only use Light armor, but that is all you need. Str, Int, and Cha can literally all be dumped at will. Grab Focused Offense FIRST, then the Flurry abilities as they pop up. Absorbing Blade, Reflective Blade, Dual Imbue, Combat Slide, and Improved Enhancement are VERY nice bladeskills for this. Also consider the elemental imbues (particularly Ice) and the Topple series. Center your Swordsage side in Boosts, Counters, and mobility options with just a couple of good strikes in case you are forced to move.

[Feint's End]

Well if you want to go double melee then I suggest combining with stalker (which should be fine since they are also from dsp), which have some great synergies.

Personally I'd combine with a contemplative wilder though and take focused offense for the soul knife side. Use the contemplative side in conjunction with educated wilder and grab the buffs you like most. Change them every day as needed. Would definitely be the more powerful and more versatile version (and contemplatives are just awesome for soulknifes).
You could even blast if you wanted.

[Elfkin_King]

After talking to a friend, reading the Tome of battle for Dummies, and taking my play style into consideration, I think I've basically scrapped my original idea.
We are playing PF with ToB classes ported over.

I decided to go Warblade//Soulknife before adding Sword Sage in there every now and then. My DM approved the Soulsage multiclass feat (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Soulsage_%283.5e_Feat%29).

So, projected level progression is:
Warblade 1// Soulknife 1
Warblade 2// Soulknife 2
Warblade 3// Soulknife 2/ Sword Sage 1
Warblade 4// Soulknife 3/ Sword Sage 1
Warblade 5// Soulknife 4/ Sword Sage 1
Warblade 6// Soulknife 5/ Sword Sage 1
Warblade 7// Soulknife 6/ Sword Sage 1
Warblade 8// Soulknife 6/ Sword Sage 2
and then just continue leaving Sword Sage at 2

My character is Human, so he gets the favored class option for the Soulknife (+1/6 new blade Skill/level).
I decided that capstone for Soulknife wasn't as nice as the Warblade capstone.
The Sword Sage levels are for extra Maneuvers, as well as the bump in Initiator Levels and the bonuses here and there from Quick to Act and Discipline Focus, and to use the extra maneuvers as foundation for preReqs for the Diamond Mind (and Stone Dragon when I have nothing else) So I can focus more on Diamond Mind and Iron Heart stuff.

I figured that choosing to put my Discipline Focus abilities into Diamond Mind wouldn't be a bad idea, and I would be using Wisdom from the SoulKnifes Blade Skill. Add Power Attack when using the SoulBlade as a Katana (Two handed) and it gets nasty quick. Especially when I'm taking Storm Guard Warrior and Combat Reflexes.

I think that's the best way to optimize that?
Any advice on this is greatly appreciated. :> And corrections if needed.

[Seerow]

To go a different route from others posting, I'd actually Gestalt the Soulknife with a full caster. I mean, the Soulknife already has 2 good saves, full BAB, and d10 HD. Its chasis is solid, what it lacks is meaningful actions to use when hitting something in melee is not applicable or optimal. Toss on Wizard/Sorcerer, Psion, or Cleric, and focus on utility, mobility, and self-buffing. The Meditant Psychic Warrior someone else mentioned isn't a bad option either if you're set on using the mindblade with unarmed strikes, but I tend to find Psiwars a bit weak on the utility side of things, especially when compared to a real caster.

[Elfkin_King]

To go a different route from others posting, I'd actually Gestalt the Soulknife with a full caster. I mean, the Soulknife already has 2 good saves, full BAB, and d10 HD. Its chasis is solid, what it lacks is meaningful actions to use when hitting something in melee is not applicable or optimal. Toss on Wizard/Sorcerer, Psion, or Cleric, and focus on utility, mobility, and self-buffing. The Meditant Psychic Warrior someone else mentioned isn't a bad option either if you're set on using the mindblade with unarmed strikes, but I tend to find Psiwars a bit weak on the utility side of things, especially when compared to a real caster.

Yeah. That's why I decided to drop the monk levels and instead put in the Warblade and Sword Sage together into it. The Warblade is the main focus here because of it's ability to replenish all his maneuvers by making a single melee attack, plus the Disciplines that are set up for the Warblade are pretty good. The couple of levels that I'm putting into Sword Sage are just to gain a few extra abilities as well as stances, and to springboard my warblades Initiator levels.

The Manuevers function the same way a spell would, as far as being a meaningful action. There are boosts (buffs) and a lot of the maneuvers do cause a debuff effect on the target. The Soulknife helps this character not be so MAD, using a blade skill to put WIS in place of STR for attack and damage, and the Sword Sage allows Wis to be added to your AC if wearing light armor (which is just fine to me). The Warblade uses INT as a damage bonus, which helps with skill point gain too. So Wis, Int and Con would be my best stats, Dex for a little bonus to AC.

So AC would look like this: 10+ equipment + DEX+ WIS + Misc
Melee attacks would look like this: BAB+ WIS+ misc (feats, buffs/boosts, etc) + DC
Melee Damage would look like this: DC (weapon) + 1.5WIS (Two-Handed)+ INT (if Flat Footed, or it's AoO)+ WIS (if using a specific set of Maneuvers) + DC (maneuvers, boosts, stances)+ X (power attack) + Y (Storm Guard Warrior)
At level 7 I would have 7 Known and 4 Readied maneuvers from warblade, and 6 known and 4 readied maneuvers for Sword Sage. As well as 3 stances (before feats) and at level 8 I would have 7 Known and 4 readied maneuvers from Warblade, 7 known and 4 readied from Sword Sage (4 stances between the two). That's 8 maneuvers before I need to replenish 4 with a melee attack.

It's really complicated, but it makes Melee as much fun as being a spellcaster without being one.

EDIT

So, I'm going to be using the Emulate Weapon Blade skill to have my mind blade shaped like a Katana/bastard sword TWO HANDED.
The issue comes into play for DC. In Pathfinders a Katana does 1d8 18-20/x2, a Bastard Sword does 1d10 19-20/x2, and the Two-Handed Soul Blade does 2d6 19-20/x2.
Which set do I use? Do I mix them?

In Diamond Mind it says one of the favored weapons is the "Bastard Sword (Katana)" and in Iron Heart it says "Bastard Sword". Do they both work for each other?