Two-weapon Psychic Warrior help

[Scarlet-Devil]

Alrighty, so I'm making a character for a module called the Speaker in Dreams or something, and we're starting at fourth level. I've never played a psionic character before, but I want to try a psychic warrior, and I don't want to be boring and swing a greatsword around.

I was thinking of being an Elan, and I rolled really well for stats, with the -2 charisma, and an extra point at fourth level in Wisdom, my ability scores would probably look like this: STR 16 DEX 17 CON 15 INT 14 WIS 18 CHA 6

Other than that, all I know is that I want her to dual-wield a sabre and a main-gauche (shortsword), in a formal, duelisty style. (NO, I will not compromise, unless maybe you have a really good idea)

So, going off that, how should I optimize this character (I might be willing to take one flaw, like inattentive); what feats, powers, gear (5,400 gp), etc should I choose?

P.S. I noticed that inertial armor augments for just 2 pp, seems pretty good. I was wondering what your thoughts are on using inertial armor instead of wearing real armor, possibly with enchanted normal clothing (they should stack because the bonus from inertial armor is an armor bonus, while the bonus from the enchanted clothing would be an enhancement bonus (to an armor bonus), right?)

[Mongoose87]

Psionic Lion's Charge is your best friend, especially as a TWF.

[Warlawk]

I was thinking of being an Elan, and I rolled really well for stats, with the -2 charisma, and an extra point at fourth level in Wisdom, my ability scores would probably look like this: STR 16 DEX 17 CON 15 INT 14 WIS 18 CHA 6

Other than that, all I know is that I want her to dual-wield a sabre and a main-gauche (shortsword), in a formal, duelisty style. (NO, I will not compromise, unless maybe you have a really good idea)

First off, kudos to you for picking a concept and sticking with it even though it is not the absolute pinnacle of mechanical perfection. RP seems to be forgotten sometimes in the race to stack on 15 templates and random mechanical bonuses that make absolutely no sense within the actual context of the game setting.

First thing I would question would be stats. You rolled great and that's wonderful, but is this using the option to arrange to taste? Because you don't really need that much in Wis. Yeah, extra PP is nice but you will get a lot more mileage elsewhere. You really only need a 16 wis to use 6th level powers.

STR 17 DEX 17 CON 16 INT 14 WIS 15+1 CHA 6

That's probably the spread that I would use. Also of note is that I would probably use the 4th level stat bonus to crest str to 18 for the +4 and worry about bumping wis to 16 down the road when I need it to be able to use 6th level powers. You get 6th level powers at 16th and a stat point then as well, that seems a good time to take it.

I'm not real up on my TWF optimization though, so I will leave that to people more current than I am.

[mabriss lethe]

Soulbound weapon ACF might be to your liking. here It would give you the perfect weapon for every encounter.

[Scarlet-Devil]

Thanks for the advice so far (especially Warlawk); I can definitely see why placing my ability scores like that would be a lot better, considering that most psychic warrior powers are about buffing the character rather than affecting enemies.

Psionic Lion's Charge is a good one, but on the other hand I'm not sure if this character is going to reach a high enough level for it to be really relevant, so I was thinking that Hustle might be better (If I were close enough, I could move up to my enemy, drawing both weapons as part of the move action, and still make a full attack, not to mention that it has other uses besides offense).

So what about equipment, feats, and powers?

[Kantolin]

Conceptually, the power Strength of my Enemy fits well with two-weapon fighting. It lets you flurry at people, debuffing them at the same time they're debuffing you.

And if going for quantity of strikes, consider Bite of the Wolf. It's basically 'also, I bite him'. This may not fit your concept, though - you suggested duelisty.

Offensive Precognition and Offensive Prescience may also help given you're getting extra mileage out of them due to dual weaponing, but I don't know exactly how effective those are - I generally avoid them, but I also generally play single-weapon units.

[Psyren]

First thing I would question would be stats. You rolled great and that's wonderful, but is this using the option to arrange to taste? Because you don't really need that much in Wis. Yeah, extra PP is nice but you will get a lot more mileage elsewhere.

I have to disagree; extra PP get you the most mileage possible, because your powers can easily cover for any of your stats - between Expansion, Animal Affinity, Strength of My Enemy, Metamorphosis etc.

[Warlawk]

I have to disagree; extra PP get you the most mileage possible, because your powers can easily cover for any of your stats - between Expansion, Animal Affinity, Strength of My Enemy, Metamorphosis etc.

We'll just have to call it a difference of opinion. Starting at level 4, if he puts the point to wisdom and gets 16 that means a difference of 2 bonus PP.

Psionic Lion's Charge is a good one, but on the other hand I'm not sure if this character is going to reach a high enough level for it to be really relevant

That indicates it may not end up being a high level game. Lets say level 10. 16 vs 18 in wis is only 5 bonus PP. I would take a higher str over that small a number of PP any day of the week and twice on Saturday (Sat being our gaming night :P ). Not saying it's the "wrong" choice, just that my personal experience and playstyle has shown me that I would get more mileage out of extra str on a melee character than that small an amount of PP.

[TheMeMan]

We'll just have to call it a difference of opinion. Starting at level 4, if he puts the point to wisdom and gets 16 that means a difference of 2 bonus PP.

I'm actually going to disagree. Even though 2 PP isn't much, it still lets you use two first level powers twice. Doesn't seem like much, but it still can make or break a fight. By the time I had my Psy-War to 10, Power Points were far more important than the relatively minor bonus from strength. Still, good strength is necessary, particularly in early levels, but I'd rather go 16 Str and 18 Wis than the other way around. But that's just me.

[Mongoose87]

Though your level may not get very high, Psionic Lion's Charge allows you to actually TWF when moving, when you normally can only do it standing still. If you can't se your off-hand after moving, you're essentially spending feats and money for nothing, half the time.

[Psyren]

Though your level may not get very high, Psionic Lion's Charge allows you to actually TWF when moving, when you normally can only do it standing still. If you can't use your off-hand after moving, you're essentially spending feats and money for nothing, half the time.

Hustle enables move+full attack as well (though not charge+full attack.) It has more general uses than PLC though, such as letting you regain your focus and full attack in the same round.

[Mongoose87]

Hustle enables move+full attack as well (though not charge+full attack.) It has more general uses than PLC though, such as letting you regain your focus and full attack in the same round.

Hustle is also a good option. Psionic Lion`s Charge is better, if you get the RAW reading accepted, in which it is instantaneous, and therefore gives you Pounce forever.

[Psyren]

Hustle is also a good option. Psionic Lion`s Charge is better, if you get the RAW reading accepted, in which it is instantaneous, and therefore gives you Pounce forever.

Even without that interpretation PLC has advantages - Hustle doesn't allow you to charge + full attack (because that costs two full-round actions), only move+full attack. Hustle therefore misses out on the double move speed and the attack/damage bonus.

So which is better depends on the situation, and you can easily justify taking both.

[Scarlet-Devil]

Alrighty, so far it looks like I'll probably end up taking Hustle as my second level power and probably offensive prescience as one of my first. I'm also considering something like force screen, and maybe vigor.

So what feats should I be taking though, and what should I be spending my money on?

[Yora]

Charisma 6 is abysmaly bad.
If the group handles it as nothing but a stat that inceases the magical power of some casters it wouldn't be a problem, but in any other circumstances, this is just horrible.

[Urpriest]

Charisma 6 is abysmaly bad.
If the group handles it as nothing but a stat that inceases the magical power of some casters it wouldn't be a problem, but in any other circumstances, this is just horrible.

Eh. It's a reasonable percentage of NPCs no matter how you slice it (3d6? then it happens fairly often. Standard array? Then any -2 Cha race has it 1/6 of the time). And he's a robot with no empathy. I see it as pretty reasonable.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

First off, I would read this. Lots of good advice in there.

Second, do you have access to Complete Psionic? It, plus the Mind's Eye expanded classes, gives you access to the Mantled Warrior ACF, and therefore any one Mantle, at the cost of your second level feat. This nets you some great stuff, depending on which Mantle you choose. For example, you could get Dimension Hop off the Freedom Mantle, or Anticipatory Strike and Temporal Acceleration off the Time Mantle. Lots of good choices there, and if you pick a Mantle with several powers on it that you want, but aren't on the PsyWar list, it saves you having to take EK to get them (which is a net gain of feats).

Also, Complete Psionic gives you the Synad, which may be a better race for you. It gets some nice benefits, like a once per day schism (which is like a free quickened power, to get a buff off at the start of a fight), and doesn't have the Elan's -2 Cha. That said, Elan is good if you're planning to use its racial features, but at least check out the Synad.

Finally, just from a flavor perspective, I don't think Sabres were used with a Main-Gauche. I'll ask in the Real World Weapons and Armor thread, because they'd know better than I, but for a duelist character you might want to go with Rapier and Smallsword, rather than Sabre (by which I take it you mean a reflavored Scimitar) and Smallsword. Mechanically the only change would be to piercing damage for your main weapon, but stylistically it would be more akin to the classic duelist.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Just though I might drop this little titbit of information concerning Psionics Lion Charge

Augment

For every additional power point you spend, each of your attacks after a charge in the current round gains a circumstance bonus on damage equal to the number of additional points spent.

Emphasis mine