Fast Jimmy
2016-03-25, 11:24 PM
Intro
When analyzing the Psion class put forth in the February Unearthed Arcana, one can't help but marvel at their power... but the material provides progress through Level 10, so it leaves itself open to MC analysis.
http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/Psionics_and_Mystic_V2.pdf
The first obvious alternative is Wizard, since it utilizes the Intelligence attribute. And, while combining spell casting and psionics is okay, ultimately a Level 10 Psion/Level 10 Wizard will not, chances are, be more powerful or versatile than a Wizard 20 with the classic Wizard Schools.
Enter in the Bladesinger. A curious Wizard subtype, that makes a viable melee character out of a class that should, typically speaking, never be in melee. Its abysmal Hit Dice make it squishy, but it is balanced out by an AC that can be quite high with Bladesong active, as well as the ability to use spell slots as damage sponges with Song of Defense.
Looking at the two, I thought they would pair great together and was surprised when a cursory search did not bring anything up. Thefore, I submit the below build for review:
Race
High Elf - being elvish is a requirement of Bladesinging, as per the SCAG. The Dex and Intelligence boosts make the high elf the easy choice of the elves although it also clearly states the race requirement can be ignored at DM discretion. Still, the only other clear competition in terms of Attributes gained is a Forest Gnome and elves have the clearly weighted racial bonuses.
Attributes
I will be doing the standard 27 Point Buy for this build:
Str: 8
Dex: 15 (+2)
Con: 13
Int: 15 (+1)
Wis: 12
Cha: 8
Not blowing any doors off with this, but a respectable Con and Wis work as the underlying support for high Dex and Int. Str and Cha dumped for obvious reasons (this character won't be lifting large rocks or being the party face).
Level Progression
Level 1 - Psion: Both classes gives you two skills from similar lists and the exact same Saves, so Psion wins out with a higher first level Hit Die and better armor/weapon proficiencies. You'll need these because Bladesong won't be available until Wiz 2, so this will keep you alive. Now that you have a decent HP pool, armor + weapons, along with two Psionic Disciplines* of your choice, your Mystic Order** AND a Psion talent you can use as a base cantrip-type attack.
Level 2 - Wizard: Ok, it is time to go Wiz 1. Grab your three cantrips and six Level 1 spells and enjoy being a low-level Wizard without fear (relatively).
Level 3 - Wizard: Clearly, now is the time to grab Bladesong. With studded leather, you will have an AC of 19 and that's before any spells like Shield or any Psion Disciplines giving any boosts. Not bad - make sure you point and laugh at your level 3 Rogue, Cleric, Fighter and Monk party members.
Levels 4 to 8 - Psion: You will have Green Flame Blade, so the rush to Wiz 6 for the extra attack is not an immediate concern. You will get up to 6 levels of Psion, which will give you a Psi Limit of 5, able to grab most Discipline powers, as well as your second to last Discipline and Talent. You will be quite powerful at this point, ahead of the curve of other melee characters, especially when you nova with Psionic Weapon.
Levels 9+ - Now, here is the real quandary. You can go either Psi 10/Wiz 10, and gain all of the Psion's abilities and get up to Level 10 with Bladesinging, giving you the Song of Defense and Level 5 spells. BUT you miss out on the Level 14 Bladesinger ability, Song of Victory, which gives you a +5 to EACH of your melee attacks. And Levels 7 -9 gain you more Psi points and Disciplines, along with increasing your Max to 7. In addition, it does give you your Mystic Order's "capstone," which allows you to add your Int modifier to Talent damage (Awakened) or add a 1d8 to melee attacks (Immortal). And then Psi 10 grants you an extra Talent (meh) and Consumptive Power, which allows you to burn Hit Die for Psi Points... not a game changer, seeing as you will have Wizard spells AND Psi Points AND attacks to juggle for options, so if you run out of Psi points, you can just switch gears without needing to burn anything.
This build is made for melee, so if you go Immortal, it may be worth going 10 Wiz/10 Psi. But I personally think the straight +5 is going to better than the d8, not to mention going 14 Wiz/6 Psi also gets you Level 7 spells, while Psi 10 just gets you more Disciplines and Talents, which are going to be the leftovers of what you already haven't grabbed (if you do decide to not go Wiz 14, consider Psi 8/Wiz 12 as seen in the ASIs section below). Your choice, but I would personally recommend Psi 6/ Wiz 14.
ASI's:
Intelligence is your primary attribute, despite the wonderful bonuses Dex brings you. You need to raise it first.
Level 5 (ASI) - Int 2 (Raise to 18)
Level 10 (ASI) - Int 2 (Raise to 20)
Level 14 (ASI) - Dex 1 and Con 1 (Raise to 18 and 14... conversely, you can take the Athlete Feat)
Level 18 (ASI) - Dex 2 (Raise to 20)
This build only nets you 4 ASI's, which stinks because Dex is such a huge component of the build and gives zero room for Feats. Shaving off to Wiz 12/Psi 8 does give you five, but sacrifices the Bladesinger's Song of Victory, which is so great.
Psionic Talents
The cantrips of the Psion world... except not. These guys are good for being at-will, but they either directly copy your average cantrip or are remarkably weaker. They do, like cantrips, scale with total character level, not class level, which does help.
Beacon - Light cantrip. Buy a torch. 'Nuff said.
Blade Meld - This is interesting. It lets you, essentially, hide a blade in your body, completely undetected. This, like the Eldritch Knight's weapon bond, seems very cool. It will rarely actually get any mileage in your campaign (and, unlike the EK's ability, means sacrificing the choice of another better ability), but when it comes into play, it can be pretty sweet.
Light Step - Use a Bonus Action, move an extra 10 feet. Not bad... not a Rogue's Cunning Action or a Wizard's Expeditious Retreat, but not bad.
Mind Meld - Telepathy for a Bonus Action? That's pretty sweet. So sweet, in fact, you should check out my appraisal of the Order of the Awakened!
Mind Thrust - This is pretty decent. 1d8 and a 10 foot push to a target in front of you if they fail an Intelligence Save, which many enemies will not be able to make. Scales with higher levels. Thought Spear is better for this build, though, since if you are within 5 feet, chances are you are just going to stab them for a lot more than a d8 or two.
Thought Spear - Almost exactly like Mind Thrust, except with a range of 120 feet and no push. Damage scales the same. If only there was some way you could grab this AND Mind Thrust guilt free... maybe there is a way (in my review of the Awakened Mystic Order!).
Night Eyes - Darkvision as will for an hour. Totally worthless for this build, unless you use something other than an elf.
To my mind, this really only gives us four real Talents (Mind Meld, Thought Spear, Light Step, Mind Thrust), with a fifth as a "nice to have" with Blade Meld. Mind you - we only get three of these (UNLESS...)
Mystic Orders
There are two Mystic Orders, Order of the Awakened and Order of the Immortal. One is dedicated to being a psychic detective, the other is dedicated to being a warrior that uses his mind to stretch the boundaries of his fighting ability. So... with a Bladesinger/Psion build, we are going for the Order of the Immortal, RIGHT?!
Well, not so fast... in the below section, I'll review the benefits of each Order. Surprisingly, it is not quite as clear cut. ALSO one point to note... all of the Psion Disciplines are tied to an order, BUT ONLY for the purposes of free HP, not for Discipline selection. You can choose any Discipline you want and only miss out on a modicum of free HP based on your Order.
Order of the Immortal
Martial Order - Get proficiency in armor and weapons you aren't going to use as a Bladesinger. Okay...
Psionic Resilience - Temp HP every turn. Good. Hell, VERY good. This, combined with the bonuses you'll see from Mystical Recovery are one of the best arguments for this Order.
Surge of Health - Use your reaction to halve your damage. WHAT?! That's awesome! Once per short rest... okay, that's still a good one to have in your back pocket. Costs you your Discipline Focus until you take that Short Rest...? Oh... well, that's kind of a downer. This one will pull your bacon from the fire, but its application is only as useful as letting go of that Discipline Focus.
Cutting Resonance - 1d8 on every attack. Whoa boy! This is like the Paladin's Level 11 Improved Divine Smite ability, except three levels early. REMEMBER - to get this far, you have to sacrifice going to Level 14 with Bladesinger, which is granting you your Int modifier to each melee attack (which should be +5 by the time you hit Wiz 14). Statistically speaking, +5 is better than the average of 1d8 (4.5), but, then again, it is earlier.
Order of the Awakened
Mind Mastery - First level of this Order, you gain two Psion Talents, Mind Meld and Thought Spear. That's an okay sta... WHAT? Two of the best Talents? Right off the bat? Allowing you to grab one OTHER talent at Level 1? Yes, that's right... this Order let's you grab THREE Talents at Level 1, while normally you'd MAX OUT at three talents. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Awakened Expertise - Did it ever bother you that, as a Wizard, you'd play second fiddle to the Rogue or Bard in Arcana checks? Worry no more! You hit the skill monkey jackpot here, grabbing two knowledge Proficiencies as well as Expertise in a topic you are already proficient with. FINALLY - a high intelligence character with the actual SKILLS to leverage it!
Psionic Investigation - Want to ruin your DM's mystery in 10 minutes flat? Here you go! Have fun! There is a lot of fluff here, but if you can get a hold of the Macguffin for 10 minutes, you can either learn a ton about what's going on in the story or place a tracker in it that will make it easy for your party to track it down like a psychic bloodhound.
Psychic Surge - Disadvantage on Save? Wow! Against only Psion Disciplines? Well, not a ton of those... lose your Psychic Focus? Crap. This, like Surge of Health, is a "in case shirt happens" kind of instance... assuming you even pick a Discipline that HAS a save (pro-tip, you seriously might not). Pro-tip: Using the amazing Celerity Focus, your advantage goes away after the fight starts (minus the 5 movement), so not much to lose here. If you combine it with something amazing, like Revolting Presence, you can end encounters without even trying hard.
Potent Psionics - Adding your Int modifier to Talent damage is basically limited to Mind Thrust and Thought Spear. These both should be used only when things are going bad... and again, you ONLY need grab these if you are willing to give up Bladesinger 14. I don't think this is even close to being worth it for this build.
Order Final Word
So there are your options. Again, as discussed previously, going 14 Wiz/6 Psi is my best proposed suggestion. And when looking at the two orders just off of the benefits 1-6, I think Order of the Awakened gives great perks to the build with the extra Talents and skills. You will have to weigh that out against the HP bonuses the Immortal would give you, but my thoughts lean towards the Awakened.
Psionic Disciplines
So. Here is the big cheese... Disciplines. This is like Wizard spell selection and School choice all rolled into one. Some of these are good. Some of these are INSANELY good.
One thing to keep in mind is the each Discipline has an "always on" effect called a Focus, which gives free bonuses. The rest are abilities that cost Psi points, which are limited to when your Psi Limit reaches a high enough level - you need to take it up to Psionic Level 9 to get to the Psi Limit 7, so if you are going Wiz 14/Psi 6, know your Limit will only be 5.
ALSO - each Discipline belongs to an Order. This does not prevent you from taking the Discipline, but it does prevent you from gaining free HP every time you use an ability for an Order's Discipline.
I don't think there are truly bad options here, especially considering you aren't pigeon holed into picking one or two, but can have up to SIX. Choose carefully, but have fun!
Adaptive Body
Immortal Discipline
Focus: You don't need to sleep, eat or breathe. Breathing is probably the only thing worth mentioning, as you will still need long rests for Wizard spells and getting back your Psi Points and a DM who honestly is tracking what your character eats is probably not going to let you play this powerful of an unofficial class.
Energy Adaption (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Touch a creature and give them resistance to an element (acid, fire, cold, thunder, lightning) for an hour. A little steep at 5 Psi, but if you know one person is going to be going against a particular element, this is helpful.
Energy Immunity (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Wow, immunity at will? Not bad... keep in mind that to get to a Psi Limit 7, you give up 14 Wiz.
Body of Wind
Immortal Discipline
Focus: Take no falling damage, ignore difficult terrain. I've seen better.
Wind Step (1 to 7 Psi Points): 20 feet of F&$*ING FLIGHT for each Psi Point spent. Crap!
Wind Form (5 Psi, Concentration): 60 fly speed for ten minutes?!!! I realize this is the same as the Fly spell, but... since when is that a bad thing?
Misty Form (7 Psi, Concentration): You basically become fog for an hour, able to move in and out of stuff and gain resistance to physical damage. As with all 7 Psi cost, you are losing your 14 Wiz.
Celerity
Immortal Discipline
Focus: +5 Movement... whatev's. Advantage on Initiative?! Hello honey! Spend one Psi Point and never be surprised?! This is Alert and Mobile's barely less powerful love child. Oh, and there are a few other things in Celerity that are decent... <sarcasm>
Seize the Initiative (1 to 5 Psi Points): Add +2 to anyone's Initiative for each Psi Point spent. Did the Focus roll you great initiative, but now your assassin can't get autocrits on anyone they want? Well, fix that with a quick application of this! Honestly... so good. So good.
Surge of Speed (2 Psi Points): Use a bonus Action, gain extra movement and no Opportunity Attacks. Watch your rogues get jealous they can only do one or the other.
Surge of Action (5 Psi Points): Gain an extra Action, but ONLY to Dash, Disengage, Use an Object OR make a single attack (it specifies on attack only). Still... Action Surge-lite on tap? This is the cream on the cake that is Celerity - take it, love it, live it.
Conquering Mind
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Proficiency in a Charisma skill of your choice. Pass.
Exacting Query (2 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to tell the truth. On someone else, tho. Not you. That would be silly. Why would you even think that?
Occluded Mind (2 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to believe a lie. On someone else, again, man. What are you, three? Read into context!
Broken Will (5 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to become Charmed. Speaking of Broken Will... this joke has run its course.
Psychic Grip (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Intelligence Save or Hold Person for one minute, with a save each turn. Really not worth it, not even considering the ho-hum nature of the rest of this Discipline combined with the 7 Limit issue.
Intellect Fortress
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Resistance to psychic damage. Unless going up against Mind Flayers, don't.
Psychic Backlash (1 Psi Point): Use your reaction, impose Disadvantage to an attack against you. Great! If it is hits, you do half of the damage you take back to them as psychic damage. SUPER great! All for one Psi Point? Sign me up.
Psychic Parry (1 to 3 Psi Points): Use your reaction, gain +2 for each Psi Point spent to two of the least common saves (not so super great) and Wisdom (great!)
Psychic Redoubt (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Eh. Advantage to the above three saves, plus resistance to psychic damage. Not bad for the cost, but you'll probably have something else to do with your Concentration. Leave this to the paladin.
Iron Durability
Immortal Discipline
Focus: +1 to AC! Definitely a candidate.
Psychic Recovery (2 Psi Points): Burn two hit Die, add your Con modifier, regain HP. This is meant to be used in the middle of combat as a insta-heal without taking a Short Rest. So... no complaints.
Iron Hide (1 to 3 Psi Points): Reaction to gain +2 AC for each Psi Point spent! Saves you from grabbing Shield or using a spell slot and ultimately gives the ability to get one more AC than that spell anyway. NOTE: This is ONLY for the current attack targeting you, unlike Shield, which lasts the round.
Mind Over Emotion
Awakened Discipline
Focus: All Charisma checks gain half your Intelligence modifier. Meh.
Charming Presence (1 to 7 Psi Points): 2d8 HP per Psi Point... 112 maximum. All charmed. For 10 minutes. No Save. BUT if in combat, they are immune. If this type of ability sounds like fun, go for it.
Revolting Presence (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Up to five creatures, Int Save or frightened. The duration here is huge - 10 minutes! Any creature who CAN'T get more than 10 feet away from you takes double your Psion level in psychic damage. Just think of the AoO you could nail on a target you can move faster than? One of the best Discipline Saves.
Invoke Awe (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Five creatures, Int Save or Charmed. Not bad, but honestly the Frightened ability is better in my book. Also, standard 7 Point Limit warning applies.
Mind Vault
I'm not even going to touch this. Advantage on one Skill check at 2 Psi Points is the only thing of true value here, but given the scarcity of Disciplines you can take, I can't advise anyone to take this who is considering the above MC Wiz/Psi build.
Psionic Restoration
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Spare the Dying a Bonus Action. Mock the cleric as you save people faster than they can!
Mend Wounds (1 to 7 Psi Points): 3 HP per Psi Point. Mock the cleric as you heal people more reliably than they can!
Restore Health (3 Psi Points): Remove a condition. Mock the cleric as you restore more people than they can!
Restore Vigor (7 Psi Points): Remove an ability score penalty or Max HP penalty. Don't mock the cleric, this isn't worth your time at all.
Psionic Weapon
Immortal Discipline
Focus: Turn a non-magic item, including your fists, into +1 magic weapons. This should be grabbed at Level 1 and kept until you get a magic weapon.
Ethereal Weapon (1 Psi Point): Bonus Action, force a Dex Save instead of rolling against AC. This may or may not play well with this Bladesinger build, since your Save DC should be rather high, but so will your attack roll. The fact that a successful Save still does half damage is appealing, tho.
Lethal Strike (1 to 5 Psi Points): 1D10. For each Psi Point used. So... you can add 5d10, an average of 27.5 damage. In addition to base damage. Oh, and combine this with Bladesinger's extra attack and then Celerity's Surge of Action and you can nova for close to 100 average damage. If the Focus wasn't enough to make this mandatory, Lethal Strike seals the deal.
Augmented Weapon (5 Psi Point, Concentration): Bonus Action to make a nonmagic item or your fists +3 weapons for 10 minutes. Get out with that. Its so good. If there was any synergy between Monk and Psion, this would be huge.
Third Eye
I won't review this either. Blindsense? Tremorsense? Truesight? If your DM is tracking all of these different types of senses, then they won't let you play an unoffical class as powerful as this anyway.
Build Snapshots
I am going to walk through what this build can do at Level 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20. I will avoid Wizard spell selection, as entire guides have been devoted to that alone. But I will note how many spells I will now and have many spell slots I will have, just as a frame of reference.
Level 1
Mystic Order - Awakened; gain Mind Meld, Thought Spear, then choose Light Step as my non-Order Talent. With +3 to Dex and Light Armor Proficiency, Leathert Armor (hopefully studded) is going to be my best shot. Grabbing Psionic Weapon and Celerity as my two Disciplines. Skills and Expertise from Awakening can be whatever, but I'll assume at least Perception and Expertise in Arcana. Assuming a Rapier, below are my stats:
HP: 9
AC: 16
Average Melee Dmg: 12 (1d8 + 3 Dex +1 Psionic Weapon Focus, + Green Flame Blade +3)
Average Talent Dmg: 5 (1d8)
At level 1, I can do respectable damage with my one melee attack as a +1 magic weapon and have the AC of a fighter in chain mail. In addition, I have a long range cantrip that does respectable damage and can use my Psi Points to add up to 2d10 damage to any hit I make, move across the battlefield without AoO or increase my movement speed by 30 feet.
Level 5
I am now a Bladesinger, gaining Bladesong and my three Wizard cantrips, 8 Wizard spells (8 Level 1) and 3 Level 1 spell slots, as well as my final Talent, an additional Discipline and my Psi Limit raised to 3, meaning I can use Psionic Weapon to do 3d10 extra damage per hit. I take Mind Thrust as my Talent and Body of Wind as my Discipline.
HP: 29
AC: 19
Average Melee Dmg: 19 + 10 (1d8 + 3 Dex +1 Psionic Weapon Focus + Green Flame Blade 1d8 + 5, plus 1d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 10 (2d8)
Reaching Level 5, my Talent does raise to a 2d8, which gives me a long range option, but pales in comparison to GFB. Green Flame Blade now makes this build a powerhouse, doing melee damage and significant additional fire damage, assuming you have a second target. As per Mike Mearls, this extra damage does not have to be applied to anyone if there is not a valid target. At this point, I hope to have found a +1 weapon to use, so it will free me up to switch my Focus to Celerity and net me additional base movement and Initiative fun and games (but if not, the focus stays).
Level 10
I now have my first two ASIs, maxing out Intelligence. I now also have 12 Wizard Spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2) and 4 Level 1 slots, 3 Level 2 slots. Taking my sixth and final level of Psion, the Limit has now reached 5, allowing some of the big dog Discipline abilities, as well as 5d10 in Psionic Weapon damage. My Psi Points are now at 32 and I have my final Discipline - Mind Over Emotion, as Revolting Presence is now a DC 18 Intelligence Save, which means LOTS of low Int monsters are going to be terrified when that is invoked, gaining a powerful use of my reaction. Also, I can tap into the +3 Psion Weapon, which I will do so with glee
HP: 51
AC: 21
Average Melee Dmg: 22 + 10 (1d8 + 3 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 1d8 + 5, plus 1d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 10 (2d8)
Spell progression is beginning to regain lost ground now, although still lagging behind a straight wizard, who will have Level 5 spells at this point.
Level 15
Third ASI, getting +1 Dex and +1 Con, which gives a big HP boost (since it applies retroactively to all levels). In addition, Wiz 6 gets me Extra Attack, which I can use as a Nova for three attacks with Surge of Action and Lethal Strike. I have 22 Wizard spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2, 4 Level 3, 4 Level 4, 4 Level 5) and 4 Level 1 slots, three Level 2, 3 and 4 slots and 1 Level 5 slots.
HP: 98
AC: 22
Average Melee Dmg: 27 + 15 (1d8 + 4 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 2d8 + 5, plus 2d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 15 (3d8)
At this point, the break from Wizard is beginning to start to hurt less. Level 8 spells are in the grasp of a pure Wizard (even a Bladesinger), but Level 5 has just broken the surface for this build.
Level 20
Final ASI here, maxing out Dexterity. This also grabs the Bladesinger's Song of Defense (Wiz 10) and Song of Victory (Wiz 14), giving an additional +5 to each attack. Spell progression has hit its peak. 32 known Wizard spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2, 4 Level 3, 4 Level 4, 4 Level 5, 4 Level 6, 2 Level 7), along with 4 Level 1 spell slots, 3 Level 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 spell slots and 1 Level 7 slot. Also, GFB hits its final mark here at Level 17.
HP: 123
AC: 23
Average Melee: 33 + 20 (1d8 + 5 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 3d8 + 5, plus 3d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 20 (4d8)
So here is the build in its final form. Average of 50+ damage each round in melee. Surpassed by only the fighter in terms of direct damage, you also have large swaths of the wizard's power and the Psion's. As an example, in one turn, you can cast fireball as a 7th level spell on a group of enemies, doing 11d6 to all enemies, then moving in, using Surge of Action and making a melee attack for an average of 13 damage, but then adding 5d10 psychic damage to your target. The next turn, you can cast Green Flame Blade and attack multiple targets, each one using the Lethal Strike extra damage to. Once your Psi points are low, you can continue to tank with 23 AC in the mob, or use a small amount of Psi points to skirt away, fighting the battle with all your Level 1 through 6 spells at your disposal.
Any thoughts on this? Have I made some grave overlook in the analysis? Curious to see what people think.
When analyzing the Psion class put forth in the February Unearthed Arcana, one can't help but marvel at their power... but the material provides progress through Level 10, so it leaves itself open to MC analysis.
http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/Psionics_and_Mystic_V2.pdf
The first obvious alternative is Wizard, since it utilizes the Intelligence attribute. And, while combining spell casting and psionics is okay, ultimately a Level 10 Psion/Level 10 Wizard will not, chances are, be more powerful or versatile than a Wizard 20 with the classic Wizard Schools.
Enter in the Bladesinger. A curious Wizard subtype, that makes a viable melee character out of a class that should, typically speaking, never be in melee. Its abysmal Hit Dice make it squishy, but it is balanced out by an AC that can be quite high with Bladesong active, as well as the ability to use spell slots as damage sponges with Song of Defense.
Looking at the two, I thought they would pair great together and was surprised when a cursory search did not bring anything up. Thefore, I submit the below build for review:
Race
High Elf - being elvish is a requirement of Bladesinging, as per the SCAG. The Dex and Intelligence boosts make the high elf the easy choice of the elves although it also clearly states the race requirement can be ignored at DM discretion. Still, the only other clear competition in terms of Attributes gained is a Forest Gnome and elves have the clearly weighted racial bonuses.
Attributes
I will be doing the standard 27 Point Buy for this build:
Str: 8
Dex: 15 (+2)
Con: 13
Int: 15 (+1)
Wis: 12
Cha: 8
Not blowing any doors off with this, but a respectable Con and Wis work as the underlying support for high Dex and Int. Str and Cha dumped for obvious reasons (this character won't be lifting large rocks or being the party face).
Level Progression
Level 1 - Psion: Both classes gives you two skills from similar lists and the exact same Saves, so Psion wins out with a higher first level Hit Die and better armor/weapon proficiencies. You'll need these because Bladesong won't be available until Wiz 2, so this will keep you alive. Now that you have a decent HP pool, armor + weapons, along with two Psionic Disciplines* of your choice, your Mystic Order** AND a Psion talent you can use as a base cantrip-type attack.
Level 2 - Wizard: Ok, it is time to go Wiz 1. Grab your three cantrips and six Level 1 spells and enjoy being a low-level Wizard without fear (relatively).
Level 3 - Wizard: Clearly, now is the time to grab Bladesong. With studded leather, you will have an AC of 19 and that's before any spells like Shield or any Psion Disciplines giving any boosts. Not bad - make sure you point and laugh at your level 3 Rogue, Cleric, Fighter and Monk party members.
Levels 4 to 8 - Psion: You will have Green Flame Blade, so the rush to Wiz 6 for the extra attack is not an immediate concern. You will get up to 6 levels of Psion, which will give you a Psi Limit of 5, able to grab most Discipline powers, as well as your second to last Discipline and Talent. You will be quite powerful at this point, ahead of the curve of other melee characters, especially when you nova with Psionic Weapon.
Levels 9+ - Now, here is the real quandary. You can go either Psi 10/Wiz 10, and gain all of the Psion's abilities and get up to Level 10 with Bladesinging, giving you the Song of Defense and Level 5 spells. BUT you miss out on the Level 14 Bladesinger ability, Song of Victory, which gives you a +5 to EACH of your melee attacks. And Levels 7 -9 gain you more Psi points and Disciplines, along with increasing your Max to 7. In addition, it does give you your Mystic Order's "capstone," which allows you to add your Int modifier to Talent damage (Awakened) or add a 1d8 to melee attacks (Immortal). And then Psi 10 grants you an extra Talent (meh) and Consumptive Power, which allows you to burn Hit Die for Psi Points... not a game changer, seeing as you will have Wizard spells AND Psi Points AND attacks to juggle for options, so if you run out of Psi points, you can just switch gears without needing to burn anything.
This build is made for melee, so if you go Immortal, it may be worth going 10 Wiz/10 Psi. But I personally think the straight +5 is going to better than the d8, not to mention going 14 Wiz/6 Psi also gets you Level 7 spells, while Psi 10 just gets you more Disciplines and Talents, which are going to be the leftovers of what you already haven't grabbed (if you do decide to not go Wiz 14, consider Psi 8/Wiz 12 as seen in the ASIs section below). Your choice, but I would personally recommend Psi 6/ Wiz 14.
ASI's:
Intelligence is your primary attribute, despite the wonderful bonuses Dex brings you. You need to raise it first.
Level 5 (ASI) - Int 2 (Raise to 18)
Level 10 (ASI) - Int 2 (Raise to 20)
Level 14 (ASI) - Dex 1 and Con 1 (Raise to 18 and 14... conversely, you can take the Athlete Feat)
Level 18 (ASI) - Dex 2 (Raise to 20)
This build only nets you 4 ASI's, which stinks because Dex is such a huge component of the build and gives zero room for Feats. Shaving off to Wiz 12/Psi 8 does give you five, but sacrifices the Bladesinger's Song of Victory, which is so great.
Psionic Talents
The cantrips of the Psion world... except not. These guys are good for being at-will, but they either directly copy your average cantrip or are remarkably weaker. They do, like cantrips, scale with total character level, not class level, which does help.
Beacon - Light cantrip. Buy a torch. 'Nuff said.
Blade Meld - This is interesting. It lets you, essentially, hide a blade in your body, completely undetected. This, like the Eldritch Knight's weapon bond, seems very cool. It will rarely actually get any mileage in your campaign (and, unlike the EK's ability, means sacrificing the choice of another better ability), but when it comes into play, it can be pretty sweet.
Light Step - Use a Bonus Action, move an extra 10 feet. Not bad... not a Rogue's Cunning Action or a Wizard's Expeditious Retreat, but not bad.
Mind Meld - Telepathy for a Bonus Action? That's pretty sweet. So sweet, in fact, you should check out my appraisal of the Order of the Awakened!
Mind Thrust - This is pretty decent. 1d8 and a 10 foot push to a target in front of you if they fail an Intelligence Save, which many enemies will not be able to make. Scales with higher levels. Thought Spear is better for this build, though, since if you are within 5 feet, chances are you are just going to stab them for a lot more than a d8 or two.
Thought Spear - Almost exactly like Mind Thrust, except with a range of 120 feet and no push. Damage scales the same. If only there was some way you could grab this AND Mind Thrust guilt free... maybe there is a way (in my review of the Awakened Mystic Order!).
Night Eyes - Darkvision as will for an hour. Totally worthless for this build, unless you use something other than an elf.
To my mind, this really only gives us four real Talents (Mind Meld, Thought Spear, Light Step, Mind Thrust), with a fifth as a "nice to have" with Blade Meld. Mind you - we only get three of these (UNLESS...)
Mystic Orders
There are two Mystic Orders, Order of the Awakened and Order of the Immortal. One is dedicated to being a psychic detective, the other is dedicated to being a warrior that uses his mind to stretch the boundaries of his fighting ability. So... with a Bladesinger/Psion build, we are going for the Order of the Immortal, RIGHT?!
Well, not so fast... in the below section, I'll review the benefits of each Order. Surprisingly, it is not quite as clear cut. ALSO one point to note... all of the Psion Disciplines are tied to an order, BUT ONLY for the purposes of free HP, not for Discipline selection. You can choose any Discipline you want and only miss out on a modicum of free HP based on your Order.
Order of the Immortal
Martial Order - Get proficiency in armor and weapons you aren't going to use as a Bladesinger. Okay...
Psionic Resilience - Temp HP every turn. Good. Hell, VERY good. This, combined with the bonuses you'll see from Mystical Recovery are one of the best arguments for this Order.
Surge of Health - Use your reaction to halve your damage. WHAT?! That's awesome! Once per short rest... okay, that's still a good one to have in your back pocket. Costs you your Discipline Focus until you take that Short Rest...? Oh... well, that's kind of a downer. This one will pull your bacon from the fire, but its application is only as useful as letting go of that Discipline Focus.
Cutting Resonance - 1d8 on every attack. Whoa boy! This is like the Paladin's Level 11 Improved Divine Smite ability, except three levels early. REMEMBER - to get this far, you have to sacrifice going to Level 14 with Bladesinger, which is granting you your Int modifier to each melee attack (which should be +5 by the time you hit Wiz 14). Statistically speaking, +5 is better than the average of 1d8 (4.5), but, then again, it is earlier.
Order of the Awakened
Mind Mastery - First level of this Order, you gain two Psion Talents, Mind Meld and Thought Spear. That's an okay sta... WHAT? Two of the best Talents? Right off the bat? Allowing you to grab one OTHER talent at Level 1? Yes, that's right... this Order let's you grab THREE Talents at Level 1, while normally you'd MAX OUT at three talents. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Awakened Expertise - Did it ever bother you that, as a Wizard, you'd play second fiddle to the Rogue or Bard in Arcana checks? Worry no more! You hit the skill monkey jackpot here, grabbing two knowledge Proficiencies as well as Expertise in a topic you are already proficient with. FINALLY - a high intelligence character with the actual SKILLS to leverage it!
Psionic Investigation - Want to ruin your DM's mystery in 10 minutes flat? Here you go! Have fun! There is a lot of fluff here, but if you can get a hold of the Macguffin for 10 minutes, you can either learn a ton about what's going on in the story or place a tracker in it that will make it easy for your party to track it down like a psychic bloodhound.
Psychic Surge - Disadvantage on Save? Wow! Against only Psion Disciplines? Well, not a ton of those... lose your Psychic Focus? Crap. This, like Surge of Health, is a "in case shirt happens" kind of instance... assuming you even pick a Discipline that HAS a save (pro-tip, you seriously might not). Pro-tip: Using the amazing Celerity Focus, your advantage goes away after the fight starts (minus the 5 movement), so not much to lose here. If you combine it with something amazing, like Revolting Presence, you can end encounters without even trying hard.
Potent Psionics - Adding your Int modifier to Talent damage is basically limited to Mind Thrust and Thought Spear. These both should be used only when things are going bad... and again, you ONLY need grab these if you are willing to give up Bladesinger 14. I don't think this is even close to being worth it for this build.
Order Final Word
So there are your options. Again, as discussed previously, going 14 Wiz/6 Psi is my best proposed suggestion. And when looking at the two orders just off of the benefits 1-6, I think Order of the Awakened gives great perks to the build with the extra Talents and skills. You will have to weigh that out against the HP bonuses the Immortal would give you, but my thoughts lean towards the Awakened.
Psionic Disciplines
So. Here is the big cheese... Disciplines. This is like Wizard spell selection and School choice all rolled into one. Some of these are good. Some of these are INSANELY good.
One thing to keep in mind is the each Discipline has an "always on" effect called a Focus, which gives free bonuses. The rest are abilities that cost Psi points, which are limited to when your Psi Limit reaches a high enough level - you need to take it up to Psionic Level 9 to get to the Psi Limit 7, so if you are going Wiz 14/Psi 6, know your Limit will only be 5.
ALSO - each Discipline belongs to an Order. This does not prevent you from taking the Discipline, but it does prevent you from gaining free HP every time you use an ability for an Order's Discipline.
I don't think there are truly bad options here, especially considering you aren't pigeon holed into picking one or two, but can have up to SIX. Choose carefully, but have fun!
Adaptive Body
Immortal Discipline
Focus: You don't need to sleep, eat or breathe. Breathing is probably the only thing worth mentioning, as you will still need long rests for Wizard spells and getting back your Psi Points and a DM who honestly is tracking what your character eats is probably not going to let you play this powerful of an unofficial class.
Energy Adaption (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Touch a creature and give them resistance to an element (acid, fire, cold, thunder, lightning) for an hour. A little steep at 5 Psi, but if you know one person is going to be going against a particular element, this is helpful.
Energy Immunity (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Wow, immunity at will? Not bad... keep in mind that to get to a Psi Limit 7, you give up 14 Wiz.
Body of Wind
Immortal Discipline
Focus: Take no falling damage, ignore difficult terrain. I've seen better.
Wind Step (1 to 7 Psi Points): 20 feet of F&$*ING FLIGHT for each Psi Point spent. Crap!
Wind Form (5 Psi, Concentration): 60 fly speed for ten minutes?!!! I realize this is the same as the Fly spell, but... since when is that a bad thing?
Misty Form (7 Psi, Concentration): You basically become fog for an hour, able to move in and out of stuff and gain resistance to physical damage. As with all 7 Psi cost, you are losing your 14 Wiz.
Celerity
Immortal Discipline
Focus: +5 Movement... whatev's. Advantage on Initiative?! Hello honey! Spend one Psi Point and never be surprised?! This is Alert and Mobile's barely less powerful love child. Oh, and there are a few other things in Celerity that are decent... <sarcasm>
Seize the Initiative (1 to 5 Psi Points): Add +2 to anyone's Initiative for each Psi Point spent. Did the Focus roll you great initiative, but now your assassin can't get autocrits on anyone they want? Well, fix that with a quick application of this! Honestly... so good. So good.
Surge of Speed (2 Psi Points): Use a bonus Action, gain extra movement and no Opportunity Attacks. Watch your rogues get jealous they can only do one or the other.
Surge of Action (5 Psi Points): Gain an extra Action, but ONLY to Dash, Disengage, Use an Object OR make a single attack (it specifies on attack only). Still... Action Surge-lite on tap? This is the cream on the cake that is Celerity - take it, love it, live it.
Conquering Mind
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Proficiency in a Charisma skill of your choice. Pass.
Exacting Query (2 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to tell the truth. On someone else, tho. Not you. That would be silly. Why would you even think that?
Occluded Mind (2 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to believe a lie. On someone else, again, man. What are you, three? Read into context!
Broken Will (5 Psi Points): Intelligence Save to become Charmed. Speaking of Broken Will... this joke has run its course.
Psychic Grip (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Intelligence Save or Hold Person for one minute, with a save each turn. Really not worth it, not even considering the ho-hum nature of the rest of this Discipline combined with the 7 Limit issue.
Intellect Fortress
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Resistance to psychic damage. Unless going up against Mind Flayers, don't.
Psychic Backlash (1 Psi Point): Use your reaction, impose Disadvantage to an attack against you. Great! If it is hits, you do half of the damage you take back to them as psychic damage. SUPER great! All for one Psi Point? Sign me up.
Psychic Parry (1 to 3 Psi Points): Use your reaction, gain +2 for each Psi Point spent to two of the least common saves (not so super great) and Wisdom (great!)
Psychic Redoubt (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Eh. Advantage to the above three saves, plus resistance to psychic damage. Not bad for the cost, but you'll probably have something else to do with your Concentration. Leave this to the paladin.
Iron Durability
Immortal Discipline
Focus: +1 to AC! Definitely a candidate.
Psychic Recovery (2 Psi Points): Burn two hit Die, add your Con modifier, regain HP. This is meant to be used in the middle of combat as a insta-heal without taking a Short Rest. So... no complaints.
Iron Hide (1 to 3 Psi Points): Reaction to gain +2 AC for each Psi Point spent! Saves you from grabbing Shield or using a spell slot and ultimately gives the ability to get one more AC than that spell anyway. NOTE: This is ONLY for the current attack targeting you, unlike Shield, which lasts the round.
Mind Over Emotion
Awakened Discipline
Focus: All Charisma checks gain half your Intelligence modifier. Meh.
Charming Presence (1 to 7 Psi Points): 2d8 HP per Psi Point... 112 maximum. All charmed. For 10 minutes. No Save. BUT if in combat, they are immune. If this type of ability sounds like fun, go for it.
Revolting Presence (5 Psi Points, Concentration): Up to five creatures, Int Save or frightened. The duration here is huge - 10 minutes! Any creature who CAN'T get more than 10 feet away from you takes double your Psion level in psychic damage. Just think of the AoO you could nail on a target you can move faster than? One of the best Discipline Saves.
Invoke Awe (7 Psi Points, Concentration): Five creatures, Int Save or Charmed. Not bad, but honestly the Frightened ability is better in my book. Also, standard 7 Point Limit warning applies.
Mind Vault
I'm not even going to touch this. Advantage on one Skill check at 2 Psi Points is the only thing of true value here, but given the scarcity of Disciplines you can take, I can't advise anyone to take this who is considering the above MC Wiz/Psi build.
Psionic Restoration
Awakened Discipline
Focus: Spare the Dying a Bonus Action. Mock the cleric as you save people faster than they can!
Mend Wounds (1 to 7 Psi Points): 3 HP per Psi Point. Mock the cleric as you heal people more reliably than they can!
Restore Health (3 Psi Points): Remove a condition. Mock the cleric as you restore more people than they can!
Restore Vigor (7 Psi Points): Remove an ability score penalty or Max HP penalty. Don't mock the cleric, this isn't worth your time at all.
Psionic Weapon
Immortal Discipline
Focus: Turn a non-magic item, including your fists, into +1 magic weapons. This should be grabbed at Level 1 and kept until you get a magic weapon.
Ethereal Weapon (1 Psi Point): Bonus Action, force a Dex Save instead of rolling against AC. This may or may not play well with this Bladesinger build, since your Save DC should be rather high, but so will your attack roll. The fact that a successful Save still does half damage is appealing, tho.
Lethal Strike (1 to 5 Psi Points): 1D10. For each Psi Point used. So... you can add 5d10, an average of 27.5 damage. In addition to base damage. Oh, and combine this with Bladesinger's extra attack and then Celerity's Surge of Action and you can nova for close to 100 average damage. If the Focus wasn't enough to make this mandatory, Lethal Strike seals the deal.
Augmented Weapon (5 Psi Point, Concentration): Bonus Action to make a nonmagic item or your fists +3 weapons for 10 minutes. Get out with that. Its so good. If there was any synergy between Monk and Psion, this would be huge.
Third Eye
I won't review this either. Blindsense? Tremorsense? Truesight? If your DM is tracking all of these different types of senses, then they won't let you play an unoffical class as powerful as this anyway.
Build Snapshots
I am going to walk through what this build can do at Level 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20. I will avoid Wizard spell selection, as entire guides have been devoted to that alone. But I will note how many spells I will now and have many spell slots I will have, just as a frame of reference.
Level 1
Mystic Order - Awakened; gain Mind Meld, Thought Spear, then choose Light Step as my non-Order Talent. With +3 to Dex and Light Armor Proficiency, Leathert Armor (hopefully studded) is going to be my best shot. Grabbing Psionic Weapon and Celerity as my two Disciplines. Skills and Expertise from Awakening can be whatever, but I'll assume at least Perception and Expertise in Arcana. Assuming a Rapier, below are my stats:
HP: 9
AC: 16
Average Melee Dmg: 12 (1d8 + 3 Dex +1 Psionic Weapon Focus, + Green Flame Blade +3)
Average Talent Dmg: 5 (1d8)
At level 1, I can do respectable damage with my one melee attack as a +1 magic weapon and have the AC of a fighter in chain mail. In addition, I have a long range cantrip that does respectable damage and can use my Psi Points to add up to 2d10 damage to any hit I make, move across the battlefield without AoO or increase my movement speed by 30 feet.
Level 5
I am now a Bladesinger, gaining Bladesong and my three Wizard cantrips, 8 Wizard spells (8 Level 1) and 3 Level 1 spell slots, as well as my final Talent, an additional Discipline and my Psi Limit raised to 3, meaning I can use Psionic Weapon to do 3d10 extra damage per hit. I take Mind Thrust as my Talent and Body of Wind as my Discipline.
HP: 29
AC: 19
Average Melee Dmg: 19 + 10 (1d8 + 3 Dex +1 Psionic Weapon Focus + Green Flame Blade 1d8 + 5, plus 1d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 10 (2d8)
Reaching Level 5, my Talent does raise to a 2d8, which gives me a long range option, but pales in comparison to GFB. Green Flame Blade now makes this build a powerhouse, doing melee damage and significant additional fire damage, assuming you have a second target. As per Mike Mearls, this extra damage does not have to be applied to anyone if there is not a valid target. At this point, I hope to have found a +1 weapon to use, so it will free me up to switch my Focus to Celerity and net me additional base movement and Initiative fun and games (but if not, the focus stays).
Level 10
I now have my first two ASIs, maxing out Intelligence. I now also have 12 Wizard Spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2) and 4 Level 1 slots, 3 Level 2 slots. Taking my sixth and final level of Psion, the Limit has now reached 5, allowing some of the big dog Discipline abilities, as well as 5d10 in Psionic Weapon damage. My Psi Points are now at 32 and I have my final Discipline - Mind Over Emotion, as Revolting Presence is now a DC 18 Intelligence Save, which means LOTS of low Int monsters are going to be terrified when that is invoked, gaining a powerful use of my reaction. Also, I can tap into the +3 Psion Weapon, which I will do so with glee
HP: 51
AC: 21
Average Melee Dmg: 22 + 10 (1d8 + 3 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 1d8 + 5, plus 1d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 10 (2d8)
Spell progression is beginning to regain lost ground now, although still lagging behind a straight wizard, who will have Level 5 spells at this point.
Level 15
Third ASI, getting +1 Dex and +1 Con, which gives a big HP boost (since it applies retroactively to all levels). In addition, Wiz 6 gets me Extra Attack, which I can use as a Nova for three attacks with Surge of Action and Lethal Strike. I have 22 Wizard spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2, 4 Level 3, 4 Level 4, 4 Level 5) and 4 Level 1 slots, three Level 2, 3 and 4 slots and 1 Level 5 slots.
HP: 98
AC: 22
Average Melee Dmg: 27 + 15 (1d8 + 4 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 2d8 + 5, plus 2d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 15 (3d8)
At this point, the break from Wizard is beginning to start to hurt less. Level 8 spells are in the grasp of a pure Wizard (even a Bladesinger), but Level 5 has just broken the surface for this build.
Level 20
Final ASI here, maxing out Dexterity. This also grabs the Bladesinger's Song of Defense (Wiz 10) and Song of Victory (Wiz 14), giving an additional +5 to each attack. Spell progression has hit its peak. 32 known Wizard spells (8 Level 1, 4 Level 2, 4 Level 3, 4 Level 4, 4 Level 5, 4 Level 6, 2 Level 7), along with 4 Level 1 spell slots, 3 Level 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 spell slots and 1 Level 7 slot. Also, GFB hits its final mark here at Level 17.
HP: 123
AC: 23
Average Melee: 33 + 20 (1d8 + 5 Dex + 3 Magic Weapon, Green Flame Blade 3d8 + 5, plus 3d8 + 5 to another target)
Average Talent Dmg: 20 (4d8)
So here is the build in its final form. Average of 50+ damage each round in melee. Surpassed by only the fighter in terms of direct damage, you also have large swaths of the wizard's power and the Psion's. As an example, in one turn, you can cast fireball as a 7th level spell on a group of enemies, doing 11d6 to all enemies, then moving in, using Surge of Action and making a melee attack for an average of 13 damage, but then adding 5d10 psychic damage to your target. The next turn, you can cast Green Flame Blade and attack multiple targets, each one using the Lethal Strike extra damage to. Once your Psi points are low, you can continue to tank with 23 AC in the mob, or use a small amount of Psi points to skirt away, fighting the battle with all your Level 1 through 6 spells at your disposal.
Any thoughts on this? Have I made some grave overlook in the analysis? Curious to see what people think.