Best Straight Psion

[Jackofalltrades]

Sooo...... I'm making a elan Psion as a backup character if my hero Crusader dies. this is probably my 6th back up character (just keep thinking up builds):smallbiggrin: anyways i know in the past i said no Psionics, but hey! things change. so i was wondering what everyone's favorite Lv 1-20 psion discipline (no prestige classes unless some one can mention one that gives full manifesting progression.) was thinking maybe egolist, but shaper and kineticists look awesome too. the idea was to create Ken Okamoto from a show called Kaijudo. (Psi Crystal as as spider looking creature that is one of my eyes, just like in the show for flavor fluff) he seemed in D&D terms a egolist but i don't have to be 100% like him. but yeah, your favorite Discipline and why. not worried about damage that much (have fighter, ranger, rogue and possibly soon a wizard.) so there's enough damage dealers on the team.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Anarchic Initiate in Complete Psionic gets full manifesting. You can get Overchannel to qualify for it, then once it gives you Wild Surge it meets its own prerequisite and you can Psychic Reformation your Overchannel feat into something else, like Quick Recovery in LoM to shake off psychic enervation when it happens. Paragnostic Apostle in Complete Champion can be adapted to psionics, and doesn't lose any casting either.

Shaper if you want to use Warforged for your race. Here's a handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10238.0), I suggest you read the whole thing if you've never played a Psion before. Just remember that you can use Share Pain on your psicrystal so you take half damage from every attack, and its Hardness 8 reduces every instance of damage it takes by that much. You can keep it in a compartment on your person so opponents never have line of sight/effect to it and it cannot be hit by area effects or attacked directly. Put a Healing Belt on it and it can spend its actions in combat to use that on you when needed. You can share buffs with it, such as Vigor and Psionic Repair Damage. Never augment Psionic Repair Damage outside of dire circumstances in combat, it's more efficient to just manifest it multiple times.

[goto124]

Why can't the psion be gay?

:P

[ben-zayb]

Personally, I prefer being Telepath. Psionic Charm is pretty Flexible. You get Schism, which is one of the best economy breakers in psionics. You can also get the Telepathy ACF in exchange of the feat, opening up Mindsight.

[sparky9042]

To add to the Shaper suggestion, though it does lose two manifester levels, the Constructor PrC (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625b) is usually considered a good deal, since you get much stronger Astral Constructs (as a swift action, with the Favored Construct ACF (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a)!) using the PrC than you otherwise would without it. Pick up Psicrystal Containment and Psionic Meditation to allow you to keep an extra psionic focus around and replenish it as a move action, and take Vigor as one of your powers, since that synergizes with Share Pain.

[Kraken]

How much cheese are you up to using? It's possible for any psion of any discipline to know every power that exists (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/psychicChirurgery.htm) hypothetically, assuming you can track down a source of each one. With that in mind, you're then left with the decision about what class features and ACFs are most optimal.

[Jackofalltrades]

How much cheese are you up to using? It's possible for any psion of any discipline to know every power that exists (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/psychicChirurgery.htm) hypothetically, assuming you can track down a source of each one. With that in mind, you're then left with the decision about what class features and ACFs are most optimal.

that's depends on how powerful the cheese is. i don't mind any thing in the moderate/somewhat high end of cheese. but nothing overly complicated and drawn out. only playing to lv7 or lv8 maybe a little longer if interest holds.

[Rubik]

Maybe straight is simply his preference :PAside from blatant ignorance, I don't see why people use the word "preference" when it comes to sexual orientation. It's not my preference that I'm gay. I never had a choice, and I feel no attraction to the opposite gender whatsoever, no matter what I may or may not "prefer."
Ahem.

Anyways.

Shaper is, by far, the best discipline. The powers in the discipline list give you options in literally any situation. A bit of judicious picking of powers means you will never, ever, ever be without a potential course of action, whether it be using Bluff in a social situation, creating an astral construct to tank for you (or as a disposable tool for trap removal, etc), creating a tool/weapon/substance/whatever using Psionic Minor Creation, blasting using crystals, or whatever. It's also really, really good at helping with power point conservation. A lot of metacreativity powers don't require any augmentation at all, and yet they're still useful in late-game. Spending 1 power point to create 23 cubic feet of (Overchanneled) plant material for 23 hours is ridiculously useful, especially when you combine it with a low-cost power and the Linked Power feat to reduce the manifesting time to 1 round or less.

And a number of tools in a shaper's arsenal are incredibly versatile. How many different uses can you find for the vaguely defined term, "plant matter"? Pine pitch can be used as glue, waterproofing, and as an accelerant for fire. Various oils can be used as both fire accelerants and as lubricant (for everything from happy-fun-time to escaping grappling to tripping up pursuing foes). Cotton is great for insulation, kindling, clothing, and as a soft stuffing for an otherwise rather uncomfortable bedroll. Various extracts can be used as paint or dye. Many, many plant products can be used as food or drink (including alcohol). Several plant fluids are highly antimicrobial. Wood has tons of uses, from fuel for fires to building materials to vehicles to weapons and armor to raw materials for an Animate Objects construct. Amber is a valuable monetary resource, used in jewelry and (potentially) as currency. Flour or other powders make for great flash-fires with a spark to ignite them. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.

And that's just one single low-level power!

[Jackofalltrades]

Aside from blatant ignorance, I don't see why people use the word "preference" when it comes to sexual orientation. It's not my preference that I'm gay. I never had a choice, and I feel no attraction to the opposite gender whatsoever, no matter what I may or may not "prefer."
Ahem.

Anyways.

Shaper is, by far, the best discipline. The powers in the discipline list give you options in literally any situation. A bit of judicious picking of powers means you will never, ever, ever be without a potential course of action, whether it be using Bluff in a social situation, creating an astral construct to tank for you (or as a disposable tool for trap removal, etc), creating a tool/weapon/substance/whatever using Psionic Minor Creation, blasting using crystals, or whatever. It's also really, really good at helping with power point conservation. A lot of metacreativity powers don't require any augmentation at all, and yet they're still useful in late-game. Spending 1 power point to create 23 cubic feet of (Overchanneled) plant material for 23 hours is ridiculously useful, especially when you combine it with a low-cost power and the Linked Power feat to reduce the manifesting time to 1 round or less.

And a number of tools in a shaper's arsenal are incredibly versatile. How many different uses can you find for the vaguely defined term, "plant matter"? Pine pitch can be used as glue, waterproofing, and as an accelerant for fire. Various oils can be used as both fire accelerants and as lubricant (for everything from happy-fun-time to escaping grappling to tripping up pursuing foes). Cotton is great for insulation, kindling, clothing, and as a soft stuffing for an otherwise rather uncomfortable bedroll. Various extracts can be used as paint or dye. Many, many plant products can be used as food or drink (including alcohol). Several plant fluids are highly antimicrobial. Wood has tons of uses, from fuel for fires to building materials to vehicles to weapons and armor to raw materials for an Animate Objects construct. Amber is a valuable monetary resource, used in jewelry and (potentially) as currency. Flour or other powders make for great flash-fires with a spark to ignite them. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.

And that's just one single low-level power!

okay.......... well that sounds pretty good. what race would you recommend for a shaper? wanted to be a elan but Biffoniacus_Furiou suggested that i should be a warforged. if warforged should i take the psi forge body?

[Segev]

Why can't the psion be gay?

:P

She's neither pretty nor witty enough.

[Psyren]

It's worth noting that the commonplace aversion to losing caster levels around here really should not be applied to manifesting. They are very different systems. Thanks to augmentation, so long as you have the same ML as a spellcaster (a simple task), you will very often lose nothing in terms of power at all.

For instance, an Enchanter 9 and (for sake of argument) a Telepath 7/Fighter 2, where the latter has ML 9 such as through Practiced Manifester or items, both get Charm Monster at exactly the same time. There is no delay in progression. Not only that, but the Telepath will be able to cast it many more times per day than the Enchanter would, assuming equal ability modifiers and gear.

This is important because while many psionic PrCs lose ML, it's easy to find a PrC where the tradeoff is very much worth what you give up. A Shaper 10/Constructor 10's Astral Constructs are far more powerful than those of a regular Shaper 20, he has other class features besides, and he only needs +1 ML for the first 19 levels of his career to not be behind the base class build. And I would go with Psion 10/Meditant 10 any day of the week over Psion 20, and I'd even pick it over Psion 10/AI 10, which has fluff/alignment limitations that don't necessary jibe with every psion I want to build.


Aside from blatant ignorance, I don't see why people use the word "preference" when it comes to sexual orientation. It's not my preference that I'm gay. I never had a choice, and I feel no attraction to the opposite gender whatsoever, no matter what I may or may not "prefer."


I was gonna let the comment slide myself - but yeah, very much this.

[ZamielVanWeber]

It's worth noting that the commonplace aversion to losing caster levels around here really should not be applied to manifesting. They are very different systems. Thanks to augmentation, so long as you have the same ML as a spellcaster (a simple task), you will very often lose nothing in terms of power at all.
That may be true, but you tend to lose more "equivalent spells" with manifester level loss because of the fact that bonus PP scales with manifester level, so you really have to strive to get it back. The Psionic PrCs tend to be a lot more balanced though, so I find it rare that the loss is not worth the abilities you get.


I was gonna let the comment slide myself - but yeah, very much this.
As someone who has gone through a lot of crap because of this thought line, I appreciate people pointing it out.

[Jackofalltrades]

when meant "straight" psion i meant pure lv1-20 psion, please stop the Gay comments.

but yeah i heard egolist, shaper, seerer and kineticists are about equal on power.

[Segev]

Shaper is really the best, unless you have a specific schtick you want to go for out of the others.

I'd stay away from kineticist, myself. It has some fun toys, but it's mostly clogged with evocation-like effects, and there are just better things to be doing with a manifester.

Personally, I'm fond of Telepath, but it's definitely got its pros and cons. You need to be willing to play at least neutral, if not evil, to get the maximum coverage, because you need to be willing to Charm and control minions into filling in the gaps in your own ability, particularly when dealing with things that have no minds.

You'll really want that orc bodyguard when you face skeletons, for example.

[ZamielVanWeber]

My biggest complaint with Telepath is its heavy reliance on mind-affecting. Its Charm and Dominate and overall better than their magical counterparts (you get access to monster options earlier) which is a huge plus.

[Psyren]

That may be true, but you tend to lose more "equivalent spells" with manifester level loss because of the fact that bonus PP scales with manifester level, so you really have to strive to get it back. The Psionic PrCs tend to be a lot more balanced though, so I find it rare that the loss is not worth the abilities you get.

Even with the loss (and FYI, it is base PP that are lost actually - bonus stays the same so long as you keep your ML=ECL) - even with that, the manifester is not really any worse off. In low-op games they are unlikely to run out anyway, or moderate their output to conserve power instead of augmenting everything to the nines. And in high-op games there are all kinds of power conservation and recharge tricks you can use instead.


My biggest complaint with Telepath is its heavy reliance on mind-affecting. Its Charm and Dominate and overall better than their magical counterparts (you get access to monster options earlier) which is a huge plus.

Not only do you get them earlier, you also don't have to learn a second power to get them like, say, a sorcerer would.

As for dealing with mind-affecting - a single Expanded Knowledge for Astral Construct can generally deal with anything whose head you can't mess with.

[Segev]

My biggest complaint with Telepath is its heavy reliance on mind-affecting. Its Charm and Dominate and overall better than their magical counterparts (you get access to monster options earlier) which is a huge plus.

Yeah; like I said, you have to rely on the fact that you can Charm or Dominate and bring along somebody who can help you deal with things that are immune to mind-affecting. Yes, you can't hit those, but it doesn't matter if Bob is immune to mind control if the mind-controller has a couple of ogres there to beat Bob up...

[RolkFlameraven]

It really depends on just what you want to do. Kenetisist is a LOT of fun, so long as you just want to blast the holy hell out of things. Depending on your table that could be perfect or the absolute worst thing you could do.

I would still say Shaper is probably the 'best' but expanded knowledge can make just about any Psi work well and cover problems with powers off of one of the other lists (Astral Construct being a main one that all non-shapers should think about unless a Conjurer is also in the party.)

[Rubik]

okay.......... well that sounds pretty good. what race would you recommend for a shaper? wanted to be a elan but Biffoniacus_Furiou suggested that i should be a warforged. if warforged should i take the psi forge body?Warforged make excellent psions, but it's hard to make a BAD choice with race, so long as you don't penalize Int or Con.

I'd suggest dragonborn warforged, myself, since all you lose is your body-armor (which can be replaced with actual armor, preferably mithral chain shirt) and your slam attack (which you probably won't use anyway, and it can be replaced with a cheap gauntlet). You keep your type and the living construct subtype, which means you keep all of the abilities inherent to them -- which is 90% of what a warforged has.

I'd suggest NOT taking the Psiforged Body feat. It's...not very good. You don't get much out of it, defenses-wise, and the cognizance crystal effect is pretty darned crummy.


when meant "straight" psion i meant pure lv1-20 psionPsion 1-20 is okay, but I'd go with a suitable PrC or two. The 3.5 constructor is my favorite (though I don't take the last level, since it's fairly replaceable with the Linked Power feat, as is the personal construct ACF).

I'd suggest the Tashalatora and Linked Power feats. Overchannel is also a favorite, and Psicrystal Affinity (and the feats that assist with gaining and using psionic focus, as well as a few metapsionic feats) is pretty much mandatory for just about everyone. Expanded Knowledge is really useful to nab powers you normally wouldn't get otherwise, though spending money on a few Psychic Chirurgeries is preferable.

I rather like the various ways of lowering manifestation costs and boosting ML, such as the Earth Power feat (which requires Earth Sense, which is a shame), Midnight Augmentation, Linked Power + Metapower (the Synchronicity power), an orange ioun stone, and a few pairs of a psionic version of arcanist gloves (from the Magic Item Compendium).

As far as powers go, take all the ones you're interested in taking from the shaper-specific list. Most are amazing and incredibly useful. Follow up with Synchronicity, Vigor, Share Pain, Time Hop (which is just as ridiculously versatile as most of the shaper list), Wall of Ectoplasm, Psychic Reformation (combine with Linked Power to swap powers and feats on the fly), and a few blasty-type powers for when you need damage. (I suggest looking into Energy Current, for DoT, Gemstone Breath, from Dragon Magic, for repeated blasting for little cost, and Energy Conversion for the same [but with a much higher output] when you get to higher levels; in the meantime, only choose 2-3 regular blasty powers, preferably with rider effects, such as Energy Push or Energy Stun. Entangling Ectoplasm and Psionic Grease are also major keepers. Temporal Acceleration is also pretty amazing.

Try to spend the fewest resources on overcoming each challenge, using the cleverest solutions you can think of (as shapers are great for that). Spending 1 pp and your psionic focus (for Linked Power) to create 1 cu ft/lvl of amber marbles to roll downhill is much more pp-efficient than coating that same hill with numerous applications of Psionic Grease. Time Hopping a druid's animal companion is far more useful overall than trying to blast it with Energy Balls or grappling it with an Astral Construct.

When I play shapers, I generally do my best to think outside the box. I once had a level 16 shaper/constructor who faced down a blinded, epic level shadow-dragon dracolich wyrm who immediately paralyzed me with its breath weapon, so I used my already-extant, Huge-sized construct to pick me up and flee into the surrounding forest, rather than risk getting snatched up and adventurer-napped. While spending my rounds "riding" the construct, I created dozens of me-shaped astral constructs using some action economy shenanigans, and since the dragon could only "see" me using its blindsense, it couldn't tell which "me" was me, and which wasn't. Then I had my big construct stuff me in a hollow tree and then grapple the Gargantuan dragon with a swarm of all the smaller me-shaped constructs until they managed to pin the thing. It was glorious.


but yeah i heard egolist, shaper, seerer and kineticists are about equal on power.Power, maybe. Versatility, not even close.

-----

Might I suggest using this spreadsheet (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7XkmnK-DY9YRkU5SVhCNWZqS0U/view?usp=sharing) if you choose the Astral Construct power? It'll help out. A LOT. You'll have to download and use it in Excel for best results.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Not only do you get them earlier, you also don't have to learn a second power to get them like, say, a sorcerer would.

As for dealing with mind-affecting - a single Expanded Knowledge for Astral Construct can generally deal with anything whose head you can't mess with.

Still costs a feat which is unfortunate, but there are options even without it. Kineticist is the only one that disappoints me because of there being a plethora of powers that deal damage even without its unique powers.

[danzibr]

I'll throw in my two cents for Constructor. Throwing in the... whatever they're called, Quori Battle Shards or something, makes them absolutely unfair. Even without the shards they're still really good. I mean, your AC can do just about anything, combat-wise (and out of combat, too). Mobility, no problem. Huge attacks, no problem. Tank, no problem. Invisible, no problem. So good.

[Rubik]

Oh, and you may want some maneuver-granting items from ToB. A diamond mind ring (added onto a ring of sustenance) or two for Concentration checks instead of saving throws could come in really handy for when you REALLY need to make a save, and an iron heart vest is useful when you need to IRON! HEART! SUUUUURGE! away a status- or spell-effect.

Also, look up Heward's fortifying bedroll. You're welcome.

[LooseCannoneer]

Telepaths have some really good powers, but those are easy to get with Expanded Knowledge. Go Shaper and mass-produce Black Lotus Extract, since its a plant-based poison.

[Jackofalltrades]

ok so. i guess shaper is the best all round psion. seerer is also looks good but messing with people minds is not my style, though making constructs to fight for me and crafting things is pretty sweet. so i guess my next what build is best for a shaper? i'm allowed 2 flaws, either i'll be a elan, human, or warforge, 1st feat will be getting a psi crystal. so that gives me 3 feats to work with, 4 if human build, (humans are great if you want a extra feat, but i like races with a lot of rascal abilities)

[danzibr]

ok so. i guess shaper is the best all round psion. seerer is also looks good but messing with people minds is not my style, though making constructs to fight for me and crafting things is pretty sweet. so i guess my next what build is best for a shaper? i'm allowed 2 flaws, either i'll be a elan, human, or warforge, 1st feat will be getting a psi crystal. so that gives me 3 feats to work with, 4 if human build, (humans are great if you want a extra feat, but i like races with a lot of rascal abilities)
Halfling fits there.

If you want the ultimate abuse of those shards, you have to be a certain race, I think. I know it's Eberron stuff. How set are you on your race?

[Rubik]

If you want the ultimate abuse of those shards, you have to be a certain race, I think.You can also use Use Psionic Device to activate them.

[Flickerdart]

I'm actually not a huge fan of Shaper. Astral Construct and Minor Creation are 1st level powers, meaning that you can pick them up with Expanded Knowledge at any time down the line. Other Metacreativity powers are kind of sad, and eclipsed by Telepathy and Psychometabolism. Of course, Astral Seed is immensely powerful when combined with Mind Switch, but that's supreme cheese.

Meanwhile, Telepath gives you something cool every level. Psionic Charm, Suggestion (1 level lower than the wizard gets it, with Mass built in!), Hostile Empathic Transfer (damage that can't be reduced ever), Dominate AND Schism, the amazing Mind Probe, etc. 7th level (Crisis of Life) is the only power level where you don't get something awesome.

[Troacctid]

Egoist is pretty great too. Metamorphosis is extremely versatile, especially considering that you can gain the supernatural abilities of the creature you transform into.

[Rubik]

I'm actually not a huge fan of Shaper. Astral Construct and Minor Creation are 1st level powers, meaning that you can pick them up with Expanded Knowledge at any time down the line. Other Metacreativity powers are kind of sad, and eclipsed by Telepathy and Psychometabolism. Of course, Astral Seed is immensely powerful when combined with Mind Switch, but that's supreme cheese.

Meanwhile, Telepath gives you something cool every level. Psionic Charm, Suggestion (1 level lower than the wizard gets it, with Mass built in!), Hostile Empathic Transfer (damage that can't be reduced ever), Dominate AND Schism, the amazing Mind Probe, etc. 7th level (Crisis of Life) is the only power level where you don't get something awesome.I actually really like most shaper powers; I'd certainly rather take shaper than spend two feats on two level 1 powers.

Psionic Repair Damage: Excellent for warforged, though not for anything else, honestly.

Concealing Amorpha, Greater: 50% concealment makes you entirely invulnerable to being targeted directly, meaning no Dominate attempts, sneak attacks, or attacks of opportunity.

Ectoplasmic Cocoon: This one is pretty fun. It completely removes an enemy from the fight for awhile. Feel free to toss the foe in water or dunk it in quintessence to take it out permanently, with no actual personal risk.

Fabricate, Psionic: I love Psionic Fabricate. It lets you build and alter large structures very quickly, and since it targets materials rather than using them as material components, you can Fabricate things much larger than the arcane version allows you to. Even better, using Linked Power to manifest this power as a secondary effect means you get the entire manifesting period in a split second. No standing around to concentrate necessary.

Quintessence: I like this one. It's a great power to dump all of your pp into at the end of each day (into a portable hole for best results), since it's one of the few psionic effects that grants permanent benefits for a temporary expenditure. Use it to coat Delayed Blast Fireball beads, tubs of Psionic Minor Creation poisons, dying party mates, captured prisoners with a high chance of escape attempts, foes you don't want to kill because they might get rezzed (or that you don't want falling into the hands of some fiendish overlord or other in the afterlife), premade astral constructs, manifestations of the Soul Crystal power, and boxed lunches. It's also good for coating your hand with and making touch attacks, especially if you can hit something in a hard-to-reach area so that it can't actually remove it. Then run. Your target will die from attrition before too long.

Hail of Crystals: It's a physical damage Fireball. Yes, direct damage is fairly low on the hierarchy of needs initiative counts, but having a means of causing decent damage is important, even so.

Crystallize: Take out an enemy without actually killing it. Then Stone to Mud or Quintessence it. 'Tis a decent save-or-die, honestly.

Fabricate, Greater Psionic: Better than the lesser version, though the fact that it isn't an augment to the lesser version leaves me banging my head into my desk.

Ectoplasmic Cocoon, Mass: See Greater Psionic Fabricate.

Astral Seed: I love this power. Manifest it while you're under another effect (such as Metamorphosis) and off yourself to reap those benefits permanently.

Genesis: Not as fun as the arcane version, but it's still amazing. Seriously, you can create entire universes of your own.

True Creation: See Greater Psionic Fabricate.


Egoist is pretty great too. Metamorphosis is extremely versatile, especially considering that you can gain the supernatural abilities of the creature you transform into.Honestly, egoist only has three decent powers, IMO. Metamorphosis, Fusion, and Fission. The rest are meh, at best.

[lord_khaine]

Honestly, egoist only has three decent powers, IMO. Metamorphosis, Fusion, and Fission. The rest are meh, at best.

Metamorphosis is directly hilarious when you are able to turn into an animated object though.

Chose something large with wheels, grab a large sword and gish it out like Optimus Prime!

And forget about how ineffective it might be :smalltongue:

[Rubik]

Metamorphosis is directly hilarious when you are able to turn into an animated object though.

Chose something large with wheels, grab a large sword and gish it out like Optimus Prime!

And forget about how ineffective it might be :smalltongue:It's worthwhile to spend a feat on, that's for sure. And it's much easier to spend one feat on one power than all the feats I'd have to spend on shaper powers if I went egoist.

Of course, Psychic Chirurgery makes this much less of a hassle all the way around.

[Psyren]

Honestly, egoist only has three decent powers, IMO. Metamorphosis, Fusion, and Fission. The rest are meh, at best.

Greater Metamorphosis is Shapechange (+objects) though, with all the brokenness that implies, and not limited to 15HD. That is plenty of reason to go Egoist, plus the feat you save not having to pick up Metamorphosis (which most psions want, particularly in high-op.)

Really the only discipline I'd skip is probably kineticist, all the others have at least one really good 9th.

[Rubik]

Greater Metamorphosis is Shapechange (+objects) though, with all the brokenness that implies, and not limited to 15HD. That is plenty of reason to go Egoist, plus the feat you save not having to pick up Metamorphosis (which most psions want, particularly in high-op.)But it uses XP. Some powers (such as Genesis) are worth spending XP on, but I don't know about Greater Metamorphosis.

Though I guess if you plan on using, say, Supernatural Wishes, 200 XP is a small price to pay.

So fair enough.


Really the only discipline I'd skip is probably kineticist, all the others have at least one really good 9th.I always did like Tornado Blast, but it's not really worth taking kineticist for.

[icefractal]

Telepath has a couple amazing powers, but you can pick them up with Expanded Knowledge:
Psionic Dominate is Dominate Monster several levels early; I shouldn't have to explain how amazing that is.
Schism is extremely potent, especially at higher levels.
Mind Switch is good in itself, and can be made permanent with some shenanigans.

Shaper and Egoist are probably my favorite specializations, in general.

Also: Psionic Reformation - take it.
For a small XP cost (usually you only need to reform 1-2 levels), you can be prepared for any situation. Leave Wizards in the dust by having any psionic power in existence available within 10 minutes. Also change your feats and skills. Also change the feats and skills of your party members! Good power? Best power.

[Rubik]

Also: Psionic Reformation - take it.
For a small XP cost (usually you only need to reform 1-2 levels), you can be prepared for any situation. Leave Wizards in the dust by having any psionic power in existence available within 10 minutes. Also change your feats and skills. Also change the feats and skills of your party members! Good power? Best power.As with so many other things, it's much better with Linked Power. Manifest Grip of Iron Linked to Psychic Reformation. You lose a swift immediate action and can change your entire build (possibly sans class levels) at the beginning of your next turn.

[Segev]

Why Grip of Iron, specifically?

[Rubik]

Why Grip of Iron, specifically?It's an immediate action -- one of the few immediate action powers in the game. My mind was elsewhere at the time, and I typed "swift," but that's not right. So just manifest the power riiiiight before your next turn, and you might as well have PsyRef come online at the same instant you manifest it.

Also, it's cheap. +1 pp and your focus for the equivalent of Quicken Power on self-only and non-targeted powers.

[icefractal]

Wouldn't the real win option for Linked Power be Synchronicity? Also just 1pp, and it's in many ways no action, since you get the standard action back. Manifest unlimited powers in a single round!

Although I can understand not wanting to open that can of worms. I like Deflection Field for Link Power purposes generally (swift action, also gives +4 AC for the round), but being an immediate action is pretty nice.

For the true cheese, Link Power + Metapower. Since the entire cost of the linked power is a metapsionic cost, you can reduce it by two points every time you take Metapower. It's like Overchannel on steroids.

[Jackofalltrades]

great. now i have to choose between the shaper or egolist. either i have a ability to create constructs or shape change into all sorts of monsters. i know you can get Astral construct from a feat. but still both are pretty nice. choices..choices....choices.

[Flickerdart]

great. now i have to choose between the shaper or egolist. either i have a ability to create constructs or shape change into all sorts of monsters. i know you can get Astral construct from a feat. but still both are pretty nice. choices..choices....choices.
Egoist is a lot more high-powered - Polymorph is well-known as one of the strongest and most poorly balanced spells in the game. It's also a massive book-diving headache since you'll want to find a form for every potential situation. Astral Construct is still massively versatile, but it doesn't need you to go splatbook diving. Minor Creation on the other hand will send you afield even beyond D&D books, as you try to figure out what kind of stuff is made out of plant matter.

Or you can just Metamorphosis into bears or Minor Creation veggie sandwiches. But could you really bear to have all that flexibility and NOT use it?

[Rubik]

Wouldn't the real win option for Linked Power be Synchronicity? Also just 1pp, and it's in many ways no action, since you get the standard action back. Manifest unlimited powers in a single round!

Although I can understand not wanting to open that can of worms. I like Deflection Field for Link Power purposes generally (swift action, also gives +4 AC for the round), but being an immediate action is pretty nice.

For the true cheese, Linked Power + Metapower. Since the entire cost of the linked power is a metapsionic cost, you can reduce it by two points every time you take Metapower. It's like Overchannel on steroids.I mentioned Linked Power + Metapower (Synchronicity) already.

And yes, Synchronicity is nice. However, if you want to skip the delay on your Linked Power powers, go for the immediate action. Let's say you're up against a ghost that goes just before your initiative count, and you really need a specific ability (say, Concussion Blast) on your turn that you don't have, and you need it on your upcoming turn. Manifest Grip of Iron Linked to Psychic Reformation after the ghost takes its turn, on its initiative count. Its turn ends, and yours is up. PsyRef immediately goes off, allowing you to give yourself Concussion Blast before you start taking actions. If you'd used a swift/move/standard action on your turn to manifest the combo, you'd have to wait until next round. Instead, you had to wait for the space of time between the ghost's initiative tick and yours, which basically amounts to no time at all.

[ben-zayb]

Aside from blatant ignorance, I don't see why people use the word "preference" when it comes to sexual orientation. It's not my preference that I'm gay. I never had a choice, and I feel no attraction to the opposite gender whatsoever, no matter what I may or may not "prefer."
Ahem.

No offence intended, as it was indeed a case of blatant ignorance. I'm sorry for that, as I didn't realize I was using a dated and misleading term (because orientation isn't a matter of choice). I hope that clears stuff up.

[Rubik]

No offence intended, as it was indeed a case of blatant ignorance. I'm sorry for that, as I didn't realize I was using a dated and misleading term (because orientation isn't a matter of choice). I hope that clears stuff up.'Sokay. It's just something that often bugs me.

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