Ultimate Psionics Dread; how to build a good one?

[EisenKreutzer]

I'm thinking of playing a Dread in a friends campaign, but I can't seem to find any build advice on the class.

Does anyone have any tips for how to build a good Dread?

[Abd al-Azrad]

I've run a few as NPC villains, which hardly makes me an authority but at least I can give a bit of feedback on the class.

IMO, Dreads are great at disrupting enemies. Their main shtick is to spam Fear attacks which bypass immunity. Coupled with some nice defensive psionics, a few debuffs, and some weird tricks, you can flesh yourself out enough to keep things interesting, but your primary role will be single-target debuffing. In general, pick your powers to support this purpose.

Right off, you will want to decide whether you want to invest in Mindlock, Nightmare Form, or neither of the above. Mindlock is a mind-affecting Terror which allows you to use your main abilities at range, but being a single-target, Will negates, non-fear mind-affecting ability, it doesn't really have a ton of strengths. Loads of things are resistant or immune, it doesn't benefit from your Aura of Fear, and you need to further invest in it with other Terrors before it becomes really valuable. I'd personally pass on the Mindlock options.

Nightmare Form isn't super-powerful on its own, but it opens up a lot of other Terrors which can turn you into a pretty potent warrior. I'd mostly call this an all-or-nothing choice; you either invest heavily in becoming a partially-corporeal monstrosity, or you pass over the option wholly. If you do invest in it, you can gain a load of defenses and neat tricks.

If I were to build an ideal Dread, I would focus more on something similar to an Antipaladin built around its Corrupting Touch ability. Pick Terrors which layer on debilitating debuffs, such as Terrified Escape (which is bolstered by your Aura of Fear) or Soul-Chilling Fear (bolstered as well by the Aura of Fear, can stack negative levels to further cripple foes).

I would also recommend a Conductive (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/magic-weapon-special-abilities/conductive)weapon, to channel your Devastating Touch through your melee weapon and boost its damage + add a Terror to your attacks, and the use of the Untouchable Aura (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/u/untouchable-aura) power whenever needed (another Fear effect, benefiting from your Aura of Fear). Overall, this sort of build will make you an extremely disruptive and annoying melee opponent, capable of waltzing into enemy lines, smacking foes with incapacitating single strikes and negating counterattacks as you wish.

EDIT - ADDENDUM: As for feat selections, the Disheartening Display feat combined with your existing fear-stacking powers will allow you to pretty easily reduce foes to Cowering, which is basically dead. If you can get a Rogue or someone with Sneak Attack into your party, force them to invest in Dastardly Finish (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/dastardly-finish-combat).

[Psyren]

Nightmare Constructor effectively makes you a summoner, so that is probably the best way to beef it up. Beyond that the focus is narrow and the powers are dull, so Expanded Knowledge is your friend. I don't have much more else to add than that.

[EisenKreutzer]

Thanks for the reply! I hadn't even thought of using a Conductive weapon, thats a very handy tip.

Is multiclassing as Antipaladin worth it? A 3 lvl dip would seem to aid Intimidate actions, unless the two penalties don't stack.

[Ssalarn]

Thanks for the reply! I hadn't even thought of using a Conductive weapon, thats a very handy tip.

Is multiclassing as Antipaladin worth it? A 3 lvl dip would seem to aid Intimidate actions, unless the two penalties don't stack.

Penalties, unlike bonuses, almost always stack, and should in this instance.

Beyond that, Abd al-Azrad said pretty much everything I would have.

[EisenKreutzer]

So, if I was to choose half-orc (for the Intimidate bonus), dip three levels in Antipaladin for Aura of Cowardice, what strategies should I focus on?
What is the best way of taking advantage of Intimidate? Disheartening Display looks very abusable, and as a half-orc I assume I get access to Bullying Blow (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/racial-feats/bullying-blow-combat-orc).

Are there any other good ways of abusing Intimidate for this build?

[Abd al-Azrad]

Re: Intimidate, you basically want to use it first before starting to fire off your other Fear abilities. The two key options are with Dazzling Display for area debuffing, or your choice of strike-based feat (Enforcer requires you to deal nonlethal damage, Cornugon Smash requires only for you to Power Attack but it comes from a non-core book, etc).

Intimidate abuse doesn't get all that much better with a Dread than any other class. You get loads of bonuses to your check (especially with the Fear Incarnate Nightmare Form Terror) but not much that saves you an action. Recall that your goal, when fear-stacking, is to get enemies to the Cowering condition ASAP. So look for options that progress targets one or more stages through the Fear path (Shaken, Frightened, Panicked, Cowering) as fast as possible.

Really the best plan I can think of is just to use the Incite Fear Terror. If you get yourself a Cruel weapon, you can freely inflict the Sickened condition on Shaken foes after striking them, further stacking penalties. This sounds like it would depend on how the DM rules it, but in theory you could take two attacks (once your BAB allows for such, or through Haste), the first being your Intimidating Cornugan Smash strike, then you take a Swift action to activate Incite Fear, then strike with your second attack with your Cruel Conductive weapon to inflict the Sickened and Frightened conditions at once, all at a save penalty.

[Tulya]

I was under the impression that Pathfinder FAQ or errata had nerfed Intimidate's demoralization effect, preventing it from stacking with any other source of Shakened for the purposes of escalating the condition to Frightened. If so, the APG Thug archetype for the Rogue might be a good one level dip for its pseudo-escalation ability.

[EisenKreutzer]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I can really feel this character concept coming together, especially with the Thug Rogue archetype dip.

[Abd al-Azrad]

Do you have a Save-or-Lose-style caster in your party? Or a Sneak Attacker?

I ask because, as I feel I have explained in my posts so far, the Dread is a support class, designed to set up other characters to take their killing shots. Your abilities mostly delay fights and temporarily incapacitate foes, and you have loads of abilities which can stack save penalties or leave enemies flat-footed and vulnerable. The Dread doesn't necessarily win fights, it more keeps foes from winning for a few seconds (certainly long enough in any Pathfinder combat).

Who is the killer that you want to set up?

[EisenKreutzer]

Hehe, the other players havent made their characters yet, so thats difficult to say. I'll keep that in mind, though.