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Akennedy
2007-07-12, 10:19 AM
Hello to all whom dwell within the playground!
The other day I was flipping through many different books just to try and find a class I would be interested in playing and I stumbled across the psychic warrior. Also, whenever I play a melee class, I MUST have improved trip, since it works on a majority of different classes.
However, I don't want to optimize him, I just want a half-decent tripping build. Any Suggestions On How To Make This A Decent Build? Feats? Powers (other than expansion)? Thanks for your time!

Ikkitosen
2007-07-12, 10:25 AM
Well, standard is feats like:

Combat Expertise
Imp. Trip (for small, wimpy things)
Combat Reflexes
Stand Still (for big, stable things)

Take a half giant for the big psionic thing. Expansion, yes. Get a reach tripping weapon (glaive, chain) with the Sweeping enchantment.

For detailed builds just go look at the Wizards boards, but them's the (very) basics.

Akennedy
2007-07-12, 10:58 AM
(What book is stand still from?)
Also, I'm hesitant to take half-giant... Since it wouldn't make my reach any bigger :(.

Arbitrarity
2007-07-12, 11:06 AM
Half-giant is treated as large size, for +4 on trip checks. COombine with a doubly augmented expansion, a reach weapon, something to threaten close by, improved trip, knockdown, every time you hit (and deal >=10 damage), you get a trip attempt at 16+str modifier. And you have 30 ft reach.

Stand still is in psionic section of SRD: Stand Still (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#standStill)

Also, Knock-down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown)

Ikkitosen
2007-07-12, 11:13 AM
Yeah, big str + Imp Trip + "large" size + sweeping enchantment = enemies on their ass.

Person_Man
2007-07-12, 12:15 PM
The standard Psychic Warrior trip build uses Knock-Down (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/divineFeats.html) and maxed out Expansion (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicPowersDtoF.html#expansion) plus one level of Pyrokineticist (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicPyrokineticist.html). Use your Fire Lash whip two handed (as it explicitly says you can in the FAQ) with maxed out Power Attack/Leap Attack.

There's no need to waste any of your build on the LA it takes to be a Half Giant, unless you want to go overboard and use my Flaming Homer build, which I think is just going overboard.

Flaming Homer, the Bowling Ball of DOOM!!!


Goliath
Barbarian 1/Fighter 6/Psychic Warrior 2/Pyrokineticist 1/Warmind 5/Full BAB class X

or

Half-Giant
Barbarian 1/Fighter 6/Pyrokineticist 1/Warmind 5/Full BAB class X

If your DM cares about experience penalties for multi-classing, you'll want to use Goliath Barbarian 6/Fighter 6/Pyrokineticist 1/Warmind 5/full BAB class. Or if you're willing to give up all day Pounce, the quickest method to get the combo working is Half Giant Fighter 6/Psychic Warrior 1/Pyrokineticist 1/Warmind 5/Full BAB class X.

Feats: Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Knockback, Leap Attack, Combat Reflexes, Shock Trooper, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Cleave, Hold the Line.

Other Feats for Consideration: Battle Jump, Knock-Down, Mage Slayer, Extra Rage.

Books: SRD, Complete Warrior, Races of Stone (Knockback), Unapproachable East (Battle Jump), Dungeonscape (Dungeon Crasher ability), Complete Champion (Barbarian Pounce variant).

Before combat, use the Expansion power on yourself to increase your reach. There are also a variety of spells, feats, items, and special abilities that improve your reach, and I suggest you use whatever you can (not all of them stack).

Charge 10 feet into your enemy. Make a touch attack with your Fire Lash as a two-handed weapon (as it explicitly says you can in the FAQ). Transfer your full BAB to Leap Attack. Make sure that your initial enemy is close to you when you attack him if possible, as you want to keep your enemies in your threatened area each time you knock him back.

If your enemy is standing next to another enemy, each attack also applies to them (Warmind Sweeping Strike).

Each enemy that you hit gets a free Bull Rush attempt (Knockback, which requires that you have Large size or Powerful Build) on each attack, applying your damage and Leap Attack bonus to the opposed Str check.

This should allow you to push your enemy several spaces backwards. For each space you move your enemy backwards, you may also shift him one hex to the left or the right (Shock Trooper). If this pushes your enemy into the same hex as another enemy, you get a free Trip Attempt on each of them (Shock Trooper again - though if one of the enemies is already Prone from a successful Trip, you can't Trip him again).

Each successful Trip gets a free follow up attack (Improved Trip), and each successful melee attack gets a free Bull Rush, which can start another Shock Tropper+Improved Trip combo. And every melee attack can also apply to someone standing next to your enemy using Sweeping Strike.

If you kill someone (you will) you get a Cleave attack, which will also apply to whoever is standing next to them, and start the Attack++Bull Rush+Trip+Attack... combo, again.

And at any time you can Bull Rush an enemy into a wall or other inanimate object, you get to use the Dungeon Crasher ability to deal an extra 8d6 + (3 x Str mod) damage, in addition to your insane Leap Attack damage. This is really easy to pull off, since with Shock Trooper and your uber Bull Rush multiplier, you should be able to fling enemies pretty far.

Using the Complete Champion Barbarian variant, you get Pounce. So you get a full attack virtually every round. There is literally no excuse for anyone caught in your threatened area not to be dead and/or thrown 5+ spaces away from you every round. And you have a huge threatened area. You might also want to look at other Barbarian variants, including Whirling Frenzy (extra attack, Unearthed Arcana), Ferocity (bonus to Dex, Cityscape), and Spell Sense (AC bonus vs. spells, Complete Mage).

Or if you'd prefer better Expansion and less Pounce, you can dump your Barbarian levels and invest in more Warmind levels earlier instead, depending on Psionic Lion's Charge (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicPowersGtoP.html#psionic-lions-charge) when you need a full attack. Though I don't recommend this method if your DM is fond of large mobs of enemies.

If someone charges you (they pretty much have to in order reach you) you get a free AoO from Hold the Line, resolved immediately before the charge attack, in addition to the normal AoO you'd get for them moving through your threatened area. Which AGAIN, can trigger your combo.

Be sure to buy a backup reach weapon that doesn't deal fire damage. Your DM is most definitely going to throw fire immune enemies at you. See Invisibility will also help a lot, as will flight.

Akennedy
2007-07-12, 12:46 PM
What weapon should I use? Should I use an extra feat and go s. Chain? or a polearm or heavy flail? (just curious) Can I make an trip AoO?

Draz74
2007-07-12, 01:32 PM
I approve of the Half-Giant idea. I think the following is probably the best "tank" build possible (other than CoDzilla) without using splatbooks:

Half-Giant Ranger 1 / Psychic Warrior 4 / Slayer X

Starting as a Ranger gives you a good base of skills to be useful out of combat, plus is the fastest way to qualify for the prereqs of Slayer. (It gives you the track feat, one level of good BAB progression, and up to four ranks of Know(Dungeoneering) as a class skill -- all useful in preparation for Slayer. Getting a Favored Enemy is just the icing on the cake.) Slayer is crucial because it gives you ten levels of good BAB (so you end up with full fighter iterative attacks), plus ten levels of good Will save. No more losing the fight to one wimpy Fear spell, hopefully. Slayer only loses you one manifester level, and it makes up for that by giving you a progression of Mind Blank-type abilities.

Your Intelligence has to be at least 13 for your trip build, but there's no reason to make it higher than 14. Dump Charisma. Make Dex your highest stat, because you want it to be good (for Combat Reflexes' sake) even after your racial penalty. Constitution should be OK, but is a lower priority than Strength or Wisdom, especially since it will get a bit of a boost from a racial bonus. With the elite array as an example (and most people play high-power games where the elite array is a LOW end), here's how your stats will come out:
Str 12+2, Dex 15-2, Con 10+2, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 8
(optional: switch Strength and Wisdom)

For weapons, start with a Halberd for the first couple levels. At ECL 4 or so, you can afford a decent set of spiked armor, so you can upgrade your main weapon to something with reach - probably a Guisarme. When you get the Knock-Down feat, you can switch out your Guisarme for a Glaive, getting you an extra 2 average damage per hit (since you will be using Large weapons). So you will mainly be a Glaive/Spiked Armor fighter.

I wouldn't waste a feat for a Spiked Chain. First, it's cheesy, and ruins the "honorable combat style" feel of the build. :smalltongue: Second, the only real advantage it gives over a reach weapon/spiked armor combo is that you only have to pay for one magic weapon, instead of two. Granted, that's a big advantage, but on the other hand, having a backup weapon is always a good idea. With two good weapons in your arsenal, you can overcome twice the variety of DR, be more prepared for grapples or (gasp) Sunders, and so on.

By level 6 (ECL 7), you will have 6 feats. Five of them should be Track (duh), Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, and Improved Trip. The sixth can be Cleave, if you're a fan of getting Cleave early to whoop on the early-level mooks, or it can be chosen from the following list, which will be your next few feats anyway:

Stand Still (from the Psionic section of the SRD), Knock-Down, Speed of Thought ...
At later levels you can focus on more Psionic feats, like some Expanded Knowledges or even Quicken Power.

As far as powers go, here are some keys:

Level 1 - Expansion - obviously great.
Level 1 - Grip of Iron - with this power, racial Powerful Build, and spiked armor, you will be a feared grappling build even without ever even wasting feats on Improved Unarmed Strike / Improved Grapple. Add Expansion in for overkill.
Level 2 - Psionic Lion's Charge - everyone's favorite.
Level 2 - Hustle - you'll mostly use it for the same thing as Psionic Lion's Charge, but it's enough more flexible that I think it's worth picking up both powers.
Level 2 - Prowess - when your Dex is giving you one less Attack of Opportunity than you need, this power comes in handy!
Level 3 - Dimension Slide - the earliest way to overcome fighter types' biggest problem: mobility in the face of battlefield control stuff. I guess you can skip this power if you are planning on getting Psionic Dimension Door a few levels later.
Level 4 - Psionic Freedom of Movement - the other battlefield control loophole. Definitely get this unless you're planning to buy a ring, or your party casters are volunteering to always have this spell prepared.

Person_Man
2007-07-12, 02:00 PM
What weapon should I use? Should I use an extra feat and go s. Chain? or a polearm or heavy flail? (just curious) Can I make an trip AoO?

Spiked Chain is a waste of a feat for a minor bonus. If you're not going to invest in 1 level of Pyrokineticist for the uber Fire Lash, then any reach weapon is fine, since Knock-Down doesn't require that your weapon have the Trip property. If for whatever reason you don't have Knock-Down, I suggest a guisarme, which is a reach weapon with the Trip property.

Yes, you can make a Trip attack as your Attack of Opportunity, but again, its a waste of time if you have Knock-Down.

Akennedy
2007-07-12, 02:23 PM
I just checked with my DM, and half-giant is out (boo-urns!!) So, any other suggestions to race? Human? Umm.. elan?

Also: what book is knock-down from?

Arbitrarity
2007-07-12, 03:12 PM
Originally sword and fist (3.0) was updated in deities and demigods, and is now in the SRD.

Try for a goliath then. Same LA, more strength, powerful build, etc.

From Races of Stone.

Person_Man
2007-07-12, 03:56 PM
I just checked with my DM, and half-giant is out (boo-urns!!) So, any other suggestions to race? Human? Umm.. elan?

Also: what book is knock-down from?

Origianlly 3.0 material, Knock-Down is in the SRD, and thus its clearly now 3.5 material, and its universally available. It's pretty much a staple of Trip builds, though its not really necessary if you have Knockback and Shock Trooper, since Knockback grants you a free Bull Rush with each hit, and Shock Trooper grants you a directed Bull Rush and a free Trip attempt whenever you Bull Rush one enemy into another.

I suggest Goliath if you want to go with the bowling ball method, or Human for the bonus feat if you don't. Elan is only really worth it in my opinion if you have a high number of Power Points, which as a Psychic Warrior you will not have.

Draz74
2007-07-12, 04:17 PM
Well, banning the Half-Giant, which is straight from the most conservative Psionic source (XPH), is stupid IMHO. But whatever, I guess it's the DM's call. Although if the Half-Giant is out and the Goliath is allowed, that's RIDICULOUS. So I'm going to assume the Goliath is also banned from your choices.

In which case, I concur with the others and recommend Human. Though Dwarf could also be fun.