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Beyond Bodily Brutality: the Basics of Building Battleminds (By Dedekine)
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<blockquote data-quote="Veep" data-source="post: 6707825" data-attributes="member: 6793297"><p><strong><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="color: #800000">Heroic Tier Battlemind Disciplines</span></span></p><p></strong></p><p><strong>Level 1 At-Will Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Bull's Strength</strong></span> (PHB3): Forced movement, with augments for increased reach or a burst version of the power. A bit generic, but nothing to complain about, and a critical power in most Polearm Momentum builds.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Concussive Spike</strong></span> (DSCS): The problem with forced movement is that you want to stay adjacent to the creatures you've marked, but you also want to be doing damage to your marks. Concussive Spike is the solution, which pushes enemies other than the target away, moving the stuff you're not actively marking out of position. The Augment 1 is useful for cases when you can't get the important targets all into a blast zone, but Augment 2 isn't worth it. The fact that it's a blast gives you a tiny amount of reach as well.</p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Conductive Defense</strong></span> (PsP): Lightning damage punishment for attacking your allies, independent of marking makes this a top-tier choice. The Augment 2 is a bit lacking until you have the power points to be spamming it, but Augment 1 throws movement control into the mix. It targets Reflex to boot!</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Demon Dance</strong></span> (PHB3): Penalising OA rolls is pretty situational to be tying up one of your three at-will slots. However, this power does have the psychic keyword, and if you build around that then in paragon this power can be respectable.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Iron Fist</strong></span> (PHB3): Resistance to all damage as an effect is great. The Augment 2 is a good upgrade, but the Augment 1 is very situational. It requires a good Wis modifier, though, and the scaling means that it'll won't be as impressive come mid to late paragon.</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Renewed Focus</strong></span> (PsP): Marked and slowed (and with the Augment 2, immobilized) are lousy status effects, but the question is whether they're a bother enough to you to justify losing an at-will to dealing with them. </p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Twisted Eye</strong></span> (PHB3): Make no mistake, the selling point here is the Augment 1, which gives you a solid opportunity attack. Most battleminds should consider taking this at level 1, and then retraining it once other OA options have opened up to them. Even if you're going another route for your OA, however, at at-will blind option makes this a remarkable choice.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Vicious Cobra Strike</strong></span> (PsP): Multi-marking, but at the expense of damage: RAW, no matter how many enemies you target, the unaugmented and augment 1 powers don't have a damage roll and so lose out on most damage modifiers. However, the Augment 2 is stellar: burst damage, multi-marking, -2 to hit on top of the mark, plus a psychic keyword to pile on another -2 with Psychic Lock. Note that blind will shut down the Augment 2 entirely, though. The only reason this doesn't get a higher rating is that by the time you can spam 2 power points per turn, you'll normally have a lot of competing calls for those power points.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Whirling Defense</strong> (PHB3): The other level 1 marking at-will, the better damage for the unaugmented and augment 1 versions is the only selling point, being able to target less creatures and with a strictly worse Augment 2. You might consider taking it at low levels, but once you can use the Augment 2 consistently, retrain this to Vicious Cobra Strike.</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>World-Slipping Advance</strong></span> (PsP): This is pretty uninspiring as a repositioning power. </p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 1 Daily Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Accelerating Strike</strong></span> (PsP): Average damage, insignificant on-hit rider, and a boost to speed isn't that special. </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Allies to Enemies</strong></span> (PHB3): With poor damage and no lasting effect at all, the only way this can get impressive is with forced mark violation shenanigans, and even then you'd probably be better off doing something else.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Aspect of Bitter Ice</span></strong> (PsP): Burst attack and a boost to stickiness makes this a reasonable choice.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Aspect of Elevated Harmony</strong></span> (PHB3): It's average damage and very Wisdom dependent, but being able to get THP and do extra damage with the Aspect augment is a decent deal. Being able to spend a healing surge is a good bonus, because you'll likely have more than you can reasonably spend.</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Corona of Floating Force</strong></span> (DSCS): If your DM loves making your life difficult with terrain, this power might be a godsend. Otherwise, it's not much above encounter power territory.</p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Living Fortress</strong></span> (PsP): The most single-target damage you're going to get at level 1, plus a solid defensive boost.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Psionic Anchor</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): This power will make life difficult for a ranged enemies or lurkers, meaning that he needs to devote the beginning of every turn to trying to get away from you. A big boost to stickiness isn't to be dismissed, even if you're only saving it for when Blurred Step can't cut it.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Steel Unity Strike </strong></span></strong>(PHB3): One of the OA stance powers, useful only if you don't plan to invest in OAs in other ways or if you're fighting a lot of a certain type of skirmisher (see Battlemind Strategies). If you are treading that path, though, this is<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>one of the best stance powers</strong></span></strong>: solid workmanlike damage equivalent to an epic-tier MBA.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Stolen Grace</strong></span>: </strong>This power is about accuracy (attack vs Reflex and a boost to your OA accuracy) and mobility (denied to your enemy and a boost to your defences against OAs). It won't age well, but it's a solid choice in the early levels.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 2 Utility Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><strong>Concussive Response</strong></strong> (DSCS): A damage upgrade on your unaugmented at-wills for a couple of rounds, which can generally use them. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Dimension Slide</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Unexciting but solid battlefield rearrangement. As a ranged power, it will elicit OAs, so the best use for this is to move yourself into melee range while getting an ally out of trouble.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Evade Explosion</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Being targeted by a close or area attack isn't something that will come up every encounter, and rarer still one that you can evade. This power really falls apart come level 7, when you have much more valuable things to be doing with your interrupts.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Feather Step</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): "Until the end of this turn, ignore difficult terrain but halve your movement"? If this was a minor action, it might be viable, but otherwise you're only going to see use of this if your DM loves water on his maps.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Oaken Resilience</strong></strong> (PsP): A small, non-scaling amount of resistance with a daily can be useful in early heroic, but largely insignificant beyond then. Retrain it with something else.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Psionic Vigor</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): THP (especially when it gives you something to do with your minor) is never a bad thing. It might lose some of its lustre in the late game, but it will never be terrible.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Telepathic Challenge</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): A large multi-mark is always an important tool in the defender's arsenal.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Wild Savagery</strong></span> (</strong>DSCS): Proning on OAs would be great... if you didn't need to be bloodied to start the stance, if the stance wasn't a daily, if the associated attack didn't need a good MBA. </p><p><strong>Level 2 Skill Powers</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Endure Pain</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3; requires Endurance): One of your best options for a Catch-22 before you hit level 7.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Invigorating Presence</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3; requires Endurance): This is a substantial number of THP, and you can give it to the entire party.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Ominous Threat</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3; requires Intimidate): Mark-making and -breaking in a single free action. Nice. </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 3 At-Will Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Cast the Net</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Most of the time, there's no reason to prefer this over Lodestone Lure. The one exception is that this power has<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>great synergy</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>with the level 6 utility Winged Weapon, which means you can snag a monster from 10 squares away.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Harrier's Dance</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): The unaugmented and Augment 1 are disappointing, but Augment 2 makes it easier to stay adjacent to multiple marked enemies: a marked enemy either triggers your mark punishment, or targets you, which lets you skip on to the next enemy in the initiative order. It's situational, but it has its place.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Lodestone Lure</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): The damage isn't great, but it doesn't need to be. This is an accurate (vs Will), potentially ranged attack (of which you have few) that locks an enemy adjacent to you. In certain respects, it's even better than immobilized, since no monster will have a trait or power that ignores Lodestone Lure's condition. To boot, the augments will let you deal with flying creatures, which will wreck your day otherwise. This is a great tool for any battlemind, but the synergy with Heavy Blade Opportunity needs to mentioned.<strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Mind Snare</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): The unaugmented and Augment 2 versions are a bit limited in effect. Invisible doesn't offer any protection against close attacks or area attacks, so what this discourages is ranged attacks (which you were already doing just by virtue of being adjacent), and penalizes anyone not trying to attack from Melee 1. The augment 1 is a major improvement. It can be a bit finicky, but especially in heroic the power isn't too bad.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Mist Weapon</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"></span></strong>(PHB3): The unaugmented version is strictly worse than Conductive Defense (resist lightning is nowhere near common enough to be a consideration), and the augments help deal with a very uncommon contingency -- and at this level it's up against Lodestone Lure, which deals with a very common one. The Augment 2 will help your party set up nova rounds against insubstantial creatures, though, so if you're playing in a campaign where insubstantial is guaranteed to come up a <em>lot</em> (probably an undead-centric game), then you might want to give this a look.</p><p></p><p><strong>Momentum Swing </strong>(PsP): Some decent positioning in this power. If you have a<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>decent MBA</strong></span></strong>, the Augment 2 makes this power appealing.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Shade Strike</strong></span></strong> (Dragon 391): A decent defensive boost for yourself or (with Augment 2) the whole party, lasting the whole encounter as long as you stay adjacent (which of course you already wanted to do). <strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Spectral Legion</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3); Nobody is going to complain about combat advantage, though the people who really want it can likely get it without your help. The augment 1 is a solid debuff, and the Augment 2 ups your stickiness, which makes this a decent versatile power to round out your selection.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Visions of Terror</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): If you're into forced movement, then you'll usually want to pick this up instead of Bull's Strength. A little less damage, but a lot more movement, and not just of the target (Augment 2), though Bull's Strength Augment 2 is still more friendly to Polearm Momentum builds.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong></strong></span><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Wrenching Claw</span></strong></strong> (DSCS): Like Cast the Net, you'll usually prefer Lodestone Lure. You get more damage, and a slide rather than the pull, but less reach and no lockdown. The exception is when you <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>want to use Polearm Momentum</strong></span>, in which case the slide combined with the reach makes it your top choice in the heroic tier.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 5 Daily Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Aspect of Living Stone</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): Burst 1, proning, and an Aspect augment that grants resistance. Even without a good Wis modifier to make use of the extra damage, this is a reasonable power.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Aspect of Unspeakable Horror</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): The initial damage is probably better than 2[W], and the Aspect augment is fantastic: extra attack debuffs are just what you should be doing.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Beckoning Strike</strong></span> (</strong>PHB3): The second of the OA stance powers, so again only useful in that context. Unfortunately, it's not that good: the forced movement happens after the damage is done, and the damage is nothing special.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Empathic Feedback</strong></span></strong> (PsP): An incredible Catch-22 power, it does almost as work by threatening the DM with it as actually using it. Obviously, if the problem you usually face is that the DM would rather deal with your Mind Spike than attack you, this power<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>loses its lustre</strong></span>.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Fated Confrontation</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): On one hand, a ranged power with decent damage. On the other hand, it doesn't leave you adjacent to the guy you just marked, and it depends on having two enemies within melee reach of each other, which makes it a bit situational.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Inconstant Location</strong></span> (PsP): Essentially, two extra move actions per turn, which is nothing to sneeze at. They're also teleports, which will help in encounters with terrain requiring you to make Athletics or Acrobatics checks (given that you'll be terrible at either).<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Nightmare Vortex</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): Fantastic amounts of free-action forced movement will help make sure that enemies start in the best possible position for you to contain them.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Predator to Prey</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): Mediocre single target damage, the reach penalty is going to affect comparatively few creatures, and the forced movement, while nice, is probably not going to be much more useful than the non-target-specific movement you'd get from Nightmare Vortex.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Wild Speed</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(DSCS): What you want out of dailies are consistent effects you can plan around, and random benefits - especially ones as weak as a speed bonus or avoiding OAs - ruin that. </p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 6 Utility Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Energy Transformation</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Half damage off an attack without using your immediate is alright, but the power is daily and the light is worse than a sunrod. It gets more reasonable if you're dealing with darkness a lot.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Ghost Jaunt</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(Dragon 391): Any utility that lets you get adjacent to a marked target is good, and the invisibility means you'll have combat advantage at the least. The only problem is that this is pretty much stricty inferior to Psionic Ambush.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Mental Triumph</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Being immune to movement-restricting status effects for an entire encounter is fantastic, as it makes it much harder for your DM to make Blurred Step or any of your other mobility-centred defender features irrelevant.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Psionic Ambush</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): You can run but you can't hide: get a marked target from up to 10 squares away and get combat advantage against it.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Relentless Hostility</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): A free action shift sounds so nice, but it only triggers on your turn, which limits it quite a bit. If you've got a lot of shift-distance enhancement, then this might be more attractive.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Sense Minds</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): How often are you dealing with hidden, cover, and concealment? If the answer is "a lot," then this is for you. Otherwise, too situational to consider.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Stag's Leap</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): Again, how often does jumping come up for you? </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Surging Durability</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(DSCS): At low levels, you'll get only a tiny number of THP a few times per battle. At high levels, you'll get a useless amount of THP a lot. As a daily? This is rubbish.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Warning Premonition</strong></span> (</strong>PsP): The most important part of this power was being able to cancel surprise, which you can now do permanently by taking Alertness. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Winged Weapon</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): This lets you solve your problems with ranged attacks by using any melee attack instead. It might be only one attack per encounter, but it's one that lets you work at full efficiency. </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 7 At-Will Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #800000"><strong>Special Note: </strong></span>In almost all cases, you are making a simple binary decision at this level. If your mark is being respected and you're taking a lot of attacks, you're choosing Forceful Reversal. Otherwise, you're taking Lightning Rush. These two powers are just so far above not only the other powers at this level, but other battlemind powers, that you only should be looking to take other powers once you already have one of the two. To reflect the fact that essentially every battlemind should have one of the two, they've both been rated <span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>gold</strong></span>. Should you take both? The cost is a big chunk of versatility, as you'll have (excepting humans and a few rare builds with good MBAs) only a single at-will thing to do with your standard action. The obvious upside is being able to set up a very good Catch-22, but in most groups, you will find that you will be triggering one power much more often than the other. If that's the case, you might find yourself benefiting more from only having one at-will linked to your immediate action.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Body Double</strong></span></strong> (PsP): A nifty little power that basically increases your stickiness by simple virtue of being in more than one place. You can't double up on OAs or anything, but clever placement will make it very difficult to get away from it. The augments give you free positioning on top of that.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Ego Crush</strong> (PHB3): </strong>With MM3 monsters, banning combat advantage can be a major damage, so this isn't as weak an effect as it might seem, and the augment 2 is great damage, far outstripping the other Augment 1 OA power (Twisted Eye). Still, the accuracy power of Twisted Eye probably makes it the better OA substitute power.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Flowing Weapon</strong></span></strong> (PsP): You want to be adjacent. This doesn't give enough reach to be a substitute for ranged attacks, and the Augment 2 is the only way to pull an enemy in -- and it's strictly worse than Lodestone Lure.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Forceful Reversal</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff9900"></span></strong>(DSCS): This is the Catch-22 power that every defender dreams of. An at-will counter-attack means that as long as you can keep the enemy adjacent, he is going to take damage no matter what he chooses to do. The fact that you get your normal standard action on the Augment 1 means this is easy on the power points, which opens up your options.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Ghost in the Steel</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): Another quirky and fun power. The unaugmented version is more disincentive to attack allies, which is (after all) your job and the Augment 1 lets you borrow any status effects the monster has and apply it to itself. The augment 2 is a bit of a waste, since all the monster has to do is make sure that it can only target one creature and the rider is wasted.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Give Chase</strong></span> (PsP): </strong>As discussed below, making sure that your target can't lose you during Blurred Step is actually quite important. This power helps you deal with the occasional monster that has very long shifts, and both the unaugmented and Augment 1 are compatible with Blurred Speed. The utility of this power basically boils down to whether your build can and should tie up a single at-will to deal with occasional long-shifting opponents, and most of the time the answer is that you won't be able to spare the power slot. <strong> </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Lightning Rush</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff9900"></span></strong>(PHB3): Unaugmented, this powers lets you attack an enemy (marked or not) for targeting an ally (and possibly, depending on how your group deals with an undeniable mess of rules ambiguity, double-punishing with an OA). The Augment 2 redirects the attack and gives you your standard -- and because none of this requires that you have marked the target, it is incredibly intimidating: the DM does not have any way of guessing which target within range you will choose to target. This is an amazing power, rightfully considered one of the best in the battlemind's repertoire. There are factors to consider though: Lightning Rush is very power point-intensive, it is unclear as to how the Augment 2 interacts with close and area attacks, you will end up on the receiving end of a lot of attacks, and the power makes it difficult to hold a line. Making the most of Lightning Rush will constrain your other options (most notably, your on-turn actions need to be power point-conserving, and because you move and not shift as part of the power, you need good defenses against OAs) but it is well worth it.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Psionic Speed</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): Multi-attacking and multi-marking? Nothing to dislike here at all.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Stone Squire</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"></span></strong>(PHB3): Prone is decent stickiness, can set up allies for more damage, and this is an attack against a NAD. Unfortunately, the damage is poor, and it's hard not to look at this power and think that Lodestone Lure does almost everything better. You really only want this if you have a high Wisdom, or if your party dynamics dictate that prone is just that good a thing to have.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Violent Ubiquity</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): Mark a target and then move <em>away</em> from it? Take Body Double and be in both places at once, without needing to dump your ally beside an enemy.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 9 Daily Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Aspect of Disembodiment</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): The power needs a good Wis modifier, but with that it's decent damage attacking against a NAD, a solid attack debuff, and a handy Aspect augment.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Baleful Teleport</strong> (PsP): </strong>Attack against NAD, dazed, and forced movement makes this a serviceable power.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Cascade of Rippling Force</strong></span></strong> (DSCS): The best damage you'll get at this level, with a handy stance power attached to it.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Inexorable Death Stance</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): The worst of the OA stance powers. The rider does nothing for stickiness, and in fact will usually do nothing at all.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Intellect Hammer</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): Essentially, a daily that recovers an encounter power. The damage is pathetic and the dazed effect isn't stellar, but being able to use Lightning Rush can be worthwhile.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Iron Tomb</strong></span></strong> (PHB3): Stunned is an amazing status effect. Unfortunately, the damage immunity will prevent you from focus firing the victim (or even including him in AoE attacks), so this power will see use basically exclusively to remove a roadblock long enough to clear out the worst of the rest of an encounter -- which is pretty useful. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Lion's Charge</strong></span></strong> (PsP): How often are you going to be able to charge into a position where you can hit three targets? The damage isn't much better than what you could do with Psionic Speed.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Shattered Time</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): In a decent-sized zone, you get a punishment against every enemy that attacks anyone but you, in a way that stacks with Mind Spike. The need to keep within the zone can be limiting and requires good party co-ordination, so if your party is low on control or you can't rely on your teammates (eg in LFR), you might want to look elsewhere.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Strength of my Enemy</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): There is a 50% chance (greater on solos and elites) that this power will do nothing except Con modifier damage. You need to expect more from a daily.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Whelm</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): An uninspiring amount of forced movement. With the advent of Corona of Rippling Force, which does as much single-target damage but has an encounter-long effect, there's no real reason to choose this.</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Level 10 Utility Disciplines</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><strong>Battle Aspect</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): A decent resistance and teleport as a move action for one encounter. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Guardian's Speed</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): You should always have something better to be doing with your immediates.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Hands of the Titan</strong></span></strong> (DSCS): You need a good Charisma modifier, but two turns of extra damage is extra damage, especially when it makes it this much easier to hit vulnerabilities.<strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong></strong></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Hone Weapon</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): The best way to get the brutal property is to choose a weapon with the brutal property.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Iron Warding</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PHB3): A decent Catch-22 power, you can keep it hanging around to threaten the DM. While Forceful Reversal has made it less appealing, it's still a decent option for those who've chosen other at-wills.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Shadow Ally</strong></strong> (PHB3): The conjuration rules require that the shadow remain within five squares of you. That diminishes the value of this quite a lot. Basically it offers the enemy a choice between wasting an attack or swinging your increased defences, but between multi-target attacks (though it is immune to area effects) and minions who exist to waste their attacks on this sort of thing, not many fights will see huge call for this. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Subjective Gravity</strong></span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): A very cool power that is, sadly, just way too situational. </p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Ubiquitous Vision</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): A fairly versatile power for dealing with common lurker gimmicks, either hidden or combat advantage. If the fact that it's daily bothers you, look at Uncanny Senses instead.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Uncanny Senses</strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>(PsP): An encounter version of Ubiquitous Vision dealing solely with the perception side of things. The decision as to which you should take is basically personal preference.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Veep, post: 6707825, member: 6793297"] [B][CENTER][SIZE=5][COLOR=#800000]Heroic Tier Battlemind Disciplines[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/B] [b]Level 1 At-Will Disciplines[/b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Bull's Strength[/b][/COLOR] (PHB3): Forced movement, with augments for increased reach or a burst version of the power. A bit generic, but nothing to complain about, and a critical power in most Polearm Momentum builds. [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Concussive Spike[/b][/COLOR] (DSCS): The problem with forced movement is that you want to stay adjacent to the creatures you've marked, but you also want to be doing damage to your marks. Concussive Spike is the solution, which pushes enemies other than the target away, moving the stuff you're not actively marking out of position. The Augment 1 is useful for cases when you can't get the important targets all into a blast zone, but Augment 2 isn't worth it. The fact that it's a blast gives you a tiny amount of reach as well. [COLOR=#33cccc][b] Conductive Defense[/b][/COLOR][b][/b] (PsP): Lightning damage punishment for attacking your allies, independent of marking makes this a top-tier choice. The Augment 2 is a bit lacking until you have the power points to be spamming it, but Augment 1 throws movement control into the mix. It targets Reflex to boot! [COLOR=#ff00ff][b] Demon Dance[/b][/COLOR] (PHB3): Penalising OA rolls is pretty situational to be tying up one of your three at-will slots. However, this power does have the psychic keyword, and if you build around that then in paragon this power can be respectable. [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Iron Fist[/b][/COLOR][b][/b] (PHB3): Resistance to all damage as an effect is great. The Augment 2 is a good upgrade, but the Augment 1 is very situational. It requires a good Wis modifier, though, and the scaling means that it'll won't be as impressive come mid to late paragon. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b] Renewed Focus[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): Marked and slowed (and with the Augment 2, immobilized) are lousy status effects, but the question is whether they're a bother enough to you to justify losing an at-will to dealing with them. [COLOR=#33cccc][b] Twisted Eye[/b][/COLOR] (PHB3): Make no mistake, the selling point here is the Augment 1, which gives you a solid opportunity attack. Most battleminds should consider taking this at level 1, and then retraining it once other OA options have opened up to them. Even if you're going another route for your OA, however, at at-will blind option makes this a remarkable choice. [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Vicious Cobra Strike[/b][/COLOR][b][/b] (PsP): Multi-marking, but at the expense of damage: RAW, no matter how many enemies you target, the unaugmented and augment 1 powers don't have a damage roll and so lose out on most damage modifiers. However, the Augment 2 is stellar: burst damage, multi-marking, -2 to hit on top of the mark, plus a psychic keyword to pile on another -2 with Psychic Lock. Note that blind will shut down the Augment 2 entirely, though. The only reason this doesn't get a higher rating is that by the time you can spam 2 power points per turn, you'll normally have a lot of competing calls for those power points. [b] Whirling Defense[/b] (PHB3): The other level 1 marking at-will, the better damage for the unaugmented and augment 1 versions is the only selling point, being able to target less creatures and with a strictly worse Augment 2. You might consider taking it at low levels, but once you can use the Augment 2 consistently, retrain this to Vicious Cobra Strike. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b] World-Slipping Advance[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): This is pretty uninspiring as a repositioning power. [b]Level 1 Daily Disciplines[/b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Accelerating Strike[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): Average damage, insignificant on-hit rider, and a boost to speed isn't that special. [COLOR=#ff0000][b] Allies to Enemies[/b][/COLOR] (PHB3): With poor damage and no lasting effect at all, the only way this can get impressive is with forced mark violation shenanigans, and even then you'd probably be better off doing something else. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff]Aspect of Bitter Ice[/COLOR][/b] (PsP): Burst attack and a boost to stickiness makes this a reasonable choice. [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Aspect of Elevated Harmony[/b][/COLOR] (PHB3): It's average damage and very Wisdom dependent, but being able to get THP and do extra damage with the Aspect augment is a decent deal. Being able to spend a healing surge is a good bonus, because you'll likely have more than you can reasonably spend. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b] Corona of Floating Force[/b][/COLOR] (DSCS): If your DM loves making your life difficult with terrain, this power might be a godsend. Otherwise, it's not much above encounter power territory. [COLOR=#33cccc][b] Living Fortress[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): The most single-target damage you're going to get at level 1, plus a solid defensive boost. [b] [b]Psionic Anchor[/b] [/b](PHB3): This power will make life difficult for a ranged enemies or lurkers, meaning that he needs to devote the beginning of every turn to trying to get away from you. A big boost to stickiness isn't to be dismissed, even if you're only saving it for when Blurred Step can't cut it. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Steel Unity Strike [/b][/COLOR][/b](PHB3): One of the OA stance powers, useful only if you don't plan to invest in OAs in other ways or if you're fighting a lot of a certain type of skirmisher (see Battlemind Strategies). If you are treading that path, though, this is[b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]one of the best stance powers[/b][/COLOR][/b]: solid workmanlike damage equivalent to an epic-tier MBA. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Stolen Grace[/b][/COLOR]: [/b]This power is about accuracy (attack vs Reflex and a boost to your OA accuracy) and mobility (denied to your enemy and a boost to your defences against OAs). It won't age well, but it's a solid choice in the early levels. [b]Level 2 Utility Disciplines[/b] [b][b]Concussive Response[/b][/b] (DSCS): A damage upgrade on your unaugmented at-wills for a couple of rounds, which can generally use them. [b] [b]Dimension Slide[/b] [/b](PsP): Unexciting but solid battlefield rearrangement. As a ranged power, it will elicit OAs, so the best use for this is to move yourself into melee range while getting an ally out of trouble. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Evade Explosion[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): Being targeted by a close or area attack isn't something that will come up every encounter, and rarer still one that you can evade. This power really falls apart come level 7, when you have much more valuable things to be doing with your interrupts. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Feather Step[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): "Until the end of this turn, ignore difficult terrain but halve your movement"? If this was a minor action, it might be viable, but otherwise you're only going to see use of this if your DM loves water on his maps. [b] [b]Oaken Resilience[/b][/b] (PsP): A small, non-scaling amount of resistance with a daily can be useful in early heroic, but largely insignificant beyond then. Retrain it with something else. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Psionic Vigor[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): THP (especially when it gives you something to do with your minor) is never a bad thing. It might lose some of its lustre in the late game, but it will never be terrible. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Telepathic Challenge[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): A large multi-mark is always an important tool in the defender's arsenal. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Wild Savagery[/b][/COLOR] ([/b]DSCS): Proning on OAs would be great... if you didn't need to be bloodied to start the stance, if the stance wasn't a daily, if the associated attack didn't need a good MBA. [b]Level 2 Skill Powers[/b] [b][COLOR=#0000ff][b]Endure Pain[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3; requires Endurance): One of your best options for a Catch-22 before you hit level 7.[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Invigorating Presence[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3; requires Endurance): This is a substantial number of THP, and you can give it to the entire party. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Ominous Threat[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3; requires Intimidate): Mark-making and -breaking in a single free action. Nice. [b]Level 3 At-Will Disciplines[/b] [b][COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Cast the Net[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): Most of the time, there's no reason to prefer this over Lodestone Lure. The one exception is that this power has[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]great synergy[/b][/COLOR] [/b]with the level 6 utility Winged Weapon, which means you can snag a monster from 10 squares away. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Harrier's Dance[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): The unaugmented and Augment 1 are disappointing, but Augment 2 makes it easier to stay adjacent to multiple marked enemies: a marked enemy either triggers your mark punishment, or targets you, which lets you skip on to the next enemy in the initiative order. It's situational, but it has its place. [b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Lodestone Lure[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): The damage isn't great, but it doesn't need to be. This is an accurate (vs Will), potentially ranged attack (of which you have few) that locks an enemy adjacent to you. In certain respects, it's even better than immobilized, since no monster will have a trait or power that ignores Lodestone Lure's condition. To boot, the augments will let you deal with flying creatures, which will wreck your day otherwise. This is a great tool for any battlemind, but the synergy with Heavy Blade Opportunity needs to mentioned.[b] [b]Mind Snare[/b] [/b](PHB3): The unaugmented and Augment 2 versions are a bit limited in effect. Invisible doesn't offer any protection against close attacks or area attacks, so what this discourages is ranged attacks (which you were already doing just by virtue of being adjacent), and penalizes anyone not trying to attack from Melee 1. The augment 1 is a major improvement. It can be a bit finicky, but especially in heroic the power isn't too bad. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Mist Weapon[/b] [/COLOR][/b](PHB3): The unaugmented version is strictly worse than Conductive Defense (resist lightning is nowhere near common enough to be a consideration), and the augments help deal with a very uncommon contingency -- and at this level it's up against Lodestone Lure, which deals with a very common one. The Augment 2 will help your party set up nova rounds against insubstantial creatures, though, so if you're playing in a campaign where insubstantial is guaranteed to come up a [i]lot[/i] (probably an undead-centric game), then you might want to give this a look. [b]Momentum Swing [/b](PsP): Some decent positioning in this power. If you have a[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]decent MBA[/b][/COLOR][/b], the Augment 2 makes this power appealing. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Shade Strike[/b][/COLOR][/b] (Dragon 391): A decent defensive boost for yourself or (with Augment 2) the whole party, lasting the whole encounter as long as you stay adjacent (which of course you already wanted to do). [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Spectral Legion[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3); Nobody is going to complain about combat advantage, though the people who really want it can likely get it without your help. The augment 1 is a solid debuff, and the Augment 2 ups your stickiness, which makes this a decent versatile power to round out your selection.[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Visions of Terror[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): If you're into forced movement, then you'll usually want to pick this up instead of Bull's Strength. A little less damage, but a lot more movement, and not just of the target (Augment 2), though Bull's Strength Augment 2 is still more friendly to Polearm Momentum builds.[b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b] [/b][/COLOR][b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Wrenching Claw[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][/COLOR][/b][COLOR=#ff0000][/COLOR][/b] (DSCS): Like Cast the Net, you'll usually prefer Lodestone Lure. You get more damage, and a slide rather than the pull, but less reach and no lockdown. The exception is when you [COLOR=#0000ff][b]want to use Polearm Momentum[/b][/COLOR], in which case the slide combined with the reach makes it your top choice in the heroic tier. [b]Level 5 Daily Disciplines[/b] [b][COLOR=#0000ff][b]Aspect of Living Stone[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): Burst 1, proning, and an Aspect augment that grants resistance. Even without a good Wis modifier to make use of the extra damage, this is a reasonable power.[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Aspect of Unspeakable Horror[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): The initial damage is probably better than 2[W], and the Aspect augment is fantastic: extra attack debuffs are just what you should be doing. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff][b] Beckoning Strike[/b][/COLOR] ([/b]PHB3): The second of the OA stance powers, so again only useful in that context. Unfortunately, it's not that good: the forced movement happens after the damage is done, and the damage is nothing special. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Empathic Feedback[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PsP): An incredible Catch-22 power, it does almost as work by threatening the DM with it as actually using it. Obviously, if the problem you usually face is that the DM would rather deal with your Mind Spike than attack you, this power[b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]loses its lustre[/b][/COLOR]. [b]Fated Confrontation[/b] [/b](PsP): On one hand, a ranged power with decent damage. On the other hand, it doesn't leave you adjacent to the guy you just marked, and it depends on having two enemies within melee reach of each other, which makes it a bit situational. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Inconstant Location[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): Essentially, two extra move actions per turn, which is nothing to sneeze at. They're also teleports, which will help in encounters with terrain requiring you to make Athletics or Acrobatics checks (given that you'll be terrible at either).[b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b] Nightmare Vortex[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): Fantastic amounts of free-action forced movement will help make sure that enemies start in the best possible position for you to contain them. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Predator to Prey[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): Mediocre single target damage, the reach penalty is going to affect comparatively few creatures, and the forced movement, while nice, is probably not going to be much more useful than the non-target-specific movement you'd get from Nightmare Vortex. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Wild Speed[/b][/COLOR] [/b](DSCS): What you want out of dailies are consistent effects you can plan around, and random benefits - especially ones as weak as a speed bonus or avoiding OAs - ruin that. [b]Level 6 Utility Disciplines[/b] [b][COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Energy Transformation[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): Half damage off an attack without using your immediate is alright, but the power is daily and the light is worse than a sunrod. It gets more reasonable if you're dealing with darkness a lot. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Ghost Jaunt[/b][/COLOR] [/b](Dragon 391): Any utility that lets you get adjacent to a marked target is good, and the invisibility means you'll have combat advantage at the least. The only problem is that this is pretty much stricty inferior to Psionic Ambush. [b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Mental Triumph[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): Being immune to movement-restricting status effects for an entire encounter is fantastic, as it makes it much harder for your DM to make Blurred Step or any of your other mobility-centred defender features irrelevant. [b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Psionic Ambush[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): You can run but you can't hide: get a marked target from up to 10 squares away and get combat advantage against it. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Relentless Hostility[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): A free action shift sounds so nice, but it only triggers on your turn, which limits it quite a bit. If you've got a lot of shift-distance enhancement, then this might be more attractive.[b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b] Sense Minds[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): How often are you dealing with hidden, cover, and concealment? If the answer is "a lot," then this is for you. Otherwise, too situational to consider. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Stag's Leap[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): Again, how often does jumping come up for you? [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Surging Durability[/b][/COLOR] [/b](DSCS): At low levels, you'll get only a tiny number of THP a few times per battle. At high levels, you'll get a useless amount of THP a lot. As a daily? This is rubbish. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Warning Premonition[/b][/COLOR] ([/b]PsP): The most important part of this power was being able to cancel surprise, which you can now do permanently by taking Alertness. [b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Winged Weapon[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): This lets you solve your problems with ranged attacks by using any melee attack instead. It might be only one attack per encounter, but it's one that lets you work at full efficiency. [b]Level 7 At-Will Disciplines[/b] [COLOR=#800000][b]Special Note: [/b][/COLOR]In almost all cases, you are making a simple binary decision at this level. If your mark is being respected and you're taking a lot of attacks, you're choosing Forceful Reversal. Otherwise, you're taking Lightning Rush. These two powers are just so far above not only the other powers at this level, but other battlemind powers, that you only should be looking to take other powers once you already have one of the two. To reflect the fact that essentially every battlemind should have one of the two, they've both been rated [COLOR=#ff9900][b]gold[/b][/COLOR]. Should you take both? The cost is a big chunk of versatility, as you'll have (excepting humans and a few rare builds with good MBAs) only a single at-will thing to do with your standard action. The obvious upside is being able to set up a very good Catch-22, but in most groups, you will find that you will be triggering one power much more often than the other. If that's the case, you might find yourself benefiting more from only having one at-will linked to your immediate action. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Body Double[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PsP): A nifty little power that basically increases your stickiness by simple virtue of being in more than one place. You can't double up on OAs or anything, but clever placement will make it very difficult to get away from it. The augments give you free positioning on top of that. [b] [b]Ego Crush[/b] (PHB3): [/b]With MM3 monsters, banning combat advantage can be a major damage, so this isn't as weak an effect as it might seem, and the augment 2 is great damage, far outstripping the other Augment 1 OA power (Twisted Eye). Still, the accuracy power of Twisted Eye probably makes it the better OA substitute power. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Flowing Weapon[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PsP): You want to be adjacent. This doesn't give enough reach to be a substitute for ranged attacks, and the Augment 2 is the only way to pull an enemy in -- and it's strictly worse than Lodestone Lure. [b] [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Forceful Reversal[/b] [/COLOR][/b](DSCS): This is the Catch-22 power that every defender dreams of. An at-will counter-attack means that as long as you can keep the enemy adjacent, he is going to take damage no matter what he chooses to do. The fact that you get your normal standard action on the Augment 1 means this is easy on the power points, which opens up your options. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Ghost in the Steel[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): Another quirky and fun power. The unaugmented version is more disincentive to attack allies, which is (after all) your job and the Augment 1 lets you borrow any status effects the monster has and apply it to itself. The augment 2 is a bit of a waste, since all the monster has to do is make sure that it can only target one creature and the rider is wasted. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Give Chase[/b][/COLOR] (PsP): [/b]As discussed below, making sure that your target can't lose you during Blurred Step is actually quite important. This power helps you deal with the occasional monster that has very long shifts, and both the unaugmented and Augment 1 are compatible with Blurred Speed. The utility of this power basically boils down to whether your build can and should tie up a single at-will to deal with occasional long-shifting opponents, and most of the time the answer is that you won't be able to spare the power slot. [b] [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Lightning Rush[/b] [/COLOR][/b](PHB3): Unaugmented, this powers lets you attack an enemy (marked or not) for targeting an ally (and possibly, depending on how your group deals with an undeniable mess of rules ambiguity, double-punishing with an OA). The Augment 2 redirects the attack and gives you your standard -- and because none of this requires that you have marked the target, it is incredibly intimidating: the DM does not have any way of guessing which target within range you will choose to target. This is an amazing power, rightfully considered one of the best in the battlemind's repertoire. There are factors to consider though: Lightning Rush is very power point-intensive, it is unclear as to how the Augment 2 interacts with close and area attacks, you will end up on the receiving end of a lot of attacks, and the power makes it difficult to hold a line. Making the most of Lightning Rush will constrain your other options (most notably, your on-turn actions need to be power point-conserving, and because you move and not shift as part of the power, you need good defenses against OAs) but it is well worth it. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Psionic Speed[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): Multi-attacking and multi-marking? Nothing to dislike here at all. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Stone Squire[/b] [/COLOR][/b](PHB3): Prone is decent stickiness, can set up allies for more damage, and this is an attack against a NAD. Unfortunately, the damage is poor, and it's hard not to look at this power and think that Lodestone Lure does almost everything better. You really only want this if you have a high Wisdom, or if your party dynamics dictate that prone is just that good a thing to have. [b][COLOR=#ff0000][b]Violent Ubiquity[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): Mark a target and then move [i]away[/i] from it? Take Body Double and be in both places at once, without needing to dump your ally beside an enemy. [b]Level 9 Daily Disciplines[/b] [b][COLOR=#0000ff][b]Aspect of Disembodiment[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): The power needs a good Wis modifier, but with that it's decent damage attacking against a NAD, a solid attack debuff, and a handy Aspect augment. [b] [b]Baleful Teleport[/b] (PsP): [/b]Attack against NAD, dazed, and forced movement makes this a serviceable power. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Cascade of Rippling Force[/b][/COLOR][/b] (DSCS): The best damage you'll get at this level, with a handy stance power attached to it. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Inexorable Death Stance[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): The worst of the OA stance powers. The rider does nothing for stickiness, and in fact will usually do nothing at all. [b] [b]Intellect Hammer[/b] [/b](PHB3): Essentially, a daily that recovers an encounter power. The damage is pathetic and the dazed effect isn't stellar, but being able to use Lightning Rush can be worthwhile. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Iron Tomb[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PHB3): Stunned is an amazing status effect. Unfortunately, the damage immunity will prevent you from focus firing the victim (or even including him in AoE attacks), so this power will see use basically exclusively to remove a roadblock long enough to clear out the worst of the rest of an encounter -- which is pretty useful. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Lion's Charge[/b][/COLOR][/b] (PsP): How often are you going to be able to charge into a position where you can hit three targets? The damage isn't much better than what you could do with Psionic Speed. [b] [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Shattered Time[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): In a decent-sized zone, you get a punishment against every enemy that attacks anyone but you, in a way that stacks with Mind Spike. The need to keep within the zone can be limiting and requires good party co-ordination, so if your party is low on control or you can't rely on your teammates (eg in LFR), you might want to look elsewhere. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Strength of my Enemy[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): There is a 50% chance (greater on solos and elites) that this power will do nothing except Con modifier damage. You need to expect more from a daily. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Whelm[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): An uninspiring amount of forced movement. With the advent of Corona of Rippling Force, which does as much single-target damage but has an encounter-long effect, there's no real reason to choose this. [b]Level 10 Utility Disciplines[/b] [b][b]Battle Aspect[/b] [/b](PHB3): A decent resistance and teleport as a move action for one encounter. [b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Guardian's Speed[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): You should always have something better to be doing with your immediates.[b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Hands of the Titan[/b][/COLOR][/b] (DSCS): You need a good Charisma modifier, but two turns of extra damage is extra damage, especially when it makes it this much easier to hit vulnerabilities.[b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b] Hone Weapon[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): The best way to get the brutal property is to choose a weapon with the brutal property. [b] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Iron Warding[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PHB3): A decent Catch-22 power, you can keep it hanging around to threaten the DM. While Forceful Reversal has made it less appealing, it's still a decent option for those who've chosen other at-wills. [b] [b]Shadow Ally[/b][/b] (PHB3): The conjuration rules require that the shadow remain within five squares of you. That diminishes the value of this quite a lot. Basically it offers the enemy a choice between wasting an attack or swinging your increased defences, but between multi-target attacks (though it is immune to area effects) and minions who exist to waste their attacks on this sort of thing, not many fights will see huge call for this. [b] [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Subjective Gravity[/b][/COLOR] [/b](PsP): A very cool power that is, sadly, just way too situational. [b] [b]Ubiquitous Vision[/b] [/b](PsP): A fairly versatile power for dealing with common lurker gimmicks, either hidden or combat advantage. If the fact that it's daily bothers you, look at Uncanny Senses instead. [b] [b]Uncanny Senses[/b] [/b](PsP): An encounter version of Ubiquitous Vision dealing solely with the perception side of things. The decision as to which you should take is basically personal preference. [/QUOTE]
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Beyond Bodily Brutality: the Basics of Building Battleminds (By Dedekine)
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