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Shovah
2008-01-08, 09:48 PM
Ok, I plan on making a psychic warrior fairly soon and some help with my build would be helpful.
My current idea is a fairly agile warrior in medium armour with a 2 handed sword. For my weapon, I had thought greatsword originally, but I remember somebody mentioning something about an elven courtblade - a 2 handed sword that is finessable. If somebody could post the stats for that sword, or direct me to where I can get it myself(either a website or book) it would be very much appreciated as I feel it fits with my idea better.

For the greatsword build, I was thinking an Elan with my stats(32 point buy)at:
Str:16
Dex:14
Con:12(low, I know)
Int:10
Wisdom:14(2 points going into it before 5th and 6th level powers)
Charisma:12(brought down to 10 by)

I know it isn't optimal, but its the best I could come up with. With the finesse build, I would probably take 13 strength, 16 dexterity, 11 charisma(9) and 15 wisdom.

For my feats, I'm not quite sure what to take. Power Attack, Cleave and Great Cleave all look nice, possibly weapon finesse, combat reflexes, and maybe some expanded knowledge - currently looking at teleport, true seeing, fly, metamorphosis and energy wall - but not for all the powers I want.
For powers, psychofeedback and dimensional slide are both definites, and dimensional door and prevenom weapon are both looking likely. Body Adjustment, Inertial Armour, Hustle and Expansion also look quite good.

Really, I'm new to D&D and I'm basically looking for suggestions for my build, or even complete builds(from 1-20, preferably not being useless at any point) based on my idea.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Nebo_
2008-01-08, 10:32 PM
I think you have the wrong idea about what psychic warriors need wisdom for. The fact that you need wisdom for casting higher level powers is incidental; what your really need it for is extra PP, a resource that psychic warriors are very low on. If you drop your charisma to 10 (8), then you have another two points in Con. This is good. Cleave and Great Cleave suck, avoid them as much as possible. If you like the idea of an agile warrior, look at the Elocator class in the XPH. It loses ML, but it's just so damned cool.

Sanzh
2008-01-08, 11:57 PM
You also need a high Con to make the assorted Concentration checks that are needed for some of the Psionic feats (which are worth getting). You should drop Cleave and Great Cleave for Psionic Weapon and, later on, Deep Impact. Making touch attacks against things (admittedly while needing a DC 20 Concentration check) is very satisfying.

Chronicled
2008-01-09, 12:05 AM
Unlike a familiar, a Psicrystal is very handy. You can use it to help make those Concentration checks, as a spy, etc. I've got a friend playing a psychic warrior who finds all sorts of uses for it.

kamikasei
2008-01-09, 06:58 AM
The combination of a two-handed weapon and Weapon Finesse is a little odd, what's motivating it? The reason is that two-handed weapons let you get more out of your strength bonus than you otherwise would, so it makes sense to keep pumping strength, and therefore there's little reason to want to finesse the weapon. If you want your dexterity to be higher than your strength, you're generally better off using two weapons and some sort of bonus damage dice like Sneak Attack.

Essentially, those two aspects of your build are interfering with one another.

Talic
2008-01-09, 07:16 AM
The combination of a two-handed weapon and Weapon Finesse is a little odd, what's motivating it? The reason is that two-handed weapons let you get more out of your strength bonus than you otherwise would, so it makes sense to keep pumping strength, and therefore there's little reason to want to finesse the weapon. If you want your dexterity to be higher than your strength, you're generally better off using two weapons and some sort of bonus damage dice like Sneak Attack.

Essentially, those two aspects of your build are interfering with one another.
Not really, the damage from Str is nothing compared to the damage from Power Attack. I can see this for a slightly more defensive build, focusing a bit more on reflex, AC, and the High dex feats...

Nothing says he can't tack on TWF later, also. Armor Spikes and a 2-hander makes for a very interesting TWF style.

Person_Man
2008-01-09, 09:36 AM
I'm not a fan of the greatsword. Claws of the Beast are generally considered the easiest way to max out damage with a Psychic Warrior. If you don't like claws, then one level of Pyrokineticist will give you all day touch attacks. If you don't like the pyro, then I would suggest using a lance (a small race can ride a medium mount anywhere) or a guisarme. Even without Combat Reflexes (which you should take anyway) the reach will generally give you a few extra attacks per combat, which is more important then a few extra points of base average damage on your weapon.

For your stats, max out Wis. Nothing is more valuable to you then Power Points, especially for an Elan.

For feats and powers, it depends on what style of play you enjoy. Would you prefer battlefield control, raw damage output, or defensive ability?

hippie_dwarf
2008-01-09, 11:18 AM
A good place to look for ideas is the Psychic Warrior Build Guide & Compendium (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-53738)

I always think that Thri-Kreen make good PW's. Bonus to str, dex and Wis, all of which a PW needs with only penalties to Int and Cha. They do have a +2 level adjustment but they get other cool stuff like a poison being naturally pionic, having psi-like abilites and they have four arms, which is extra usful if you want to make a TWF build. If not just use a two-hander and you get two free claw attacks at a -5 penalty each

Their Dex bonus is so very useful in this case, and the bonus to Str and Wis help even more, allowing you to put more points in other stats. The penalty to Int and Cha isn't to bad as PW don't need these stats at all. The only problem is the LA, but the racial levels aren't bad, and you get deflect arrows for free with it, aswell as a bonus feat.

BadJuJu
2008-01-09, 12:31 PM
Not really, the damage from Str is nothing compared to the damage from Power Attack. I can see this for a slightly more defensive build, focusing a bit more on reflex, AC, and the High dex feats...

Nothing says he can't tack on TWF later, also. Armor Spikes and a 2-hander makes for a very interesting TWF style.

Yeah, Im rather fond of this build. And I had a Psy War who only had an 18 strength at 23 lvl that could do gobs of damage. Its all about PA and Lions charge. You burn PP fast, but its worth it. Raise the Wis for PP and rely on the PA fo damage.

Chronicled
2008-01-09, 12:32 PM
You might want to look into the Kalashtar race, from either Eberron Campaign Setting or Races of Eberron. They get a bonus power point every level, among other things.

CASTLEMIKE
2008-01-09, 08:48 PM
What level? I ask because with lots of levels you can build a more powerful "psionic" gish warrior using a psion to personal taste and the Slayer PRC IMO.