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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Veep" data-source="post: 6707814" data-attributes="member: 6793297">Originally posted by Dedekine:Beyond Bodily Brutality: the Basics of Building Battleminds <img src="http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/dnd4/images/4/46/Battlemind.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120803041352" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />A skilful fighter can make his weapons do tricks that the uninitiated would have thought impossible.  A battlemind is simply a fighter who chooses the fabric of reality as his weapon.  Space will warp, time will dilate, and the very flesh of the battlemind will reform in the pursuit of victory.  Psions are intellectual, ardents emotional, but a battlemind is the master of brutality: physical and psychic violence in a single perfect whole. Mechanically, the battlemind fills a space between the fighter and the knight.  You'll have a much smaller pool of powers than most classes, but with great diversity in terms of what those powers can accomplish.  Making the most of the class means choosing powers that fit your desired tactical aims.  The bad news is that this can and probably will result in "dead levels" where you'll decide to stick with the powers you've got rather than choosing a new augmentable at-will, and the class definitely encourages a "spamming" playstyle which will see heavy usage of just one or two powers.  If you're prepared to accept this, however, you'll find you have an effective character with a distinctive play style, that stands out both from other defenders and even from different battlemind builds. Reasons to play a battlemind One Turn Isn't Enough: From level seven on, no other class in the game is as good as the battlemind when it comes to guaranteeing the use of your immediate actions.  Effectively, this gives you round-long multiattacks, setting the battlemind up as quite a reliable source of damage. No More Punching Bag: With at-will access to damage resistance and counter-attacks, the battlemind is a great defender for dealing with DMs who respect your mark a little too assiduously.  Switch It Up: Good control vs good damage is normally an either/or proposition.  While it's true for the battlemind as well, the augmentation system makes it possible to switch between the roles as needed.  Whichever role you're needed in, you can fill for as long as needed. Sitting Still Is Hard: While the battlemind can't kite, it is still one of the most mobile defender classes.  If you want to be dashing around the battlefield as you're taking care of business, this might be the class for you. Reasons not to play a battlemind Sticky Like Nothing: Battleminds have a big gaping hole where their opportunity attack should be, making it easy for enemies to simply walk away.  Patching this gap requires some investment, and it's unlikely the problem will go away before paragon. Walls Shouldn't Move: The flip side to mobility: it's difficult for battleminds to be the solid anchor of a front line.  It can be done, but it requires a lot more work than with a weaponmaster, knight, or warden. Other notes This handbook and hybrids: This handbook is written assuming you are not using a hybrid battlemind.  While I hope that players with hybrids will find this guide useful, it's very difficult to give any meaningful guidance for only half a character: ardent|battleminds are a very different beast from battlemind|swordmages.  People wanting to pursue hybrids should consult the Miscibility Table(x) maintained by Mommy_was_an_Orc. Like many other classes, battleminds benefit from planning ahead in their builds.  You might want to read the section on <a href="http:///go/thread/view/75882/27390009/Beyond_Bodily_Brutality:_the_Basics_of_Building_Battleminds&post_num=9#491290577" target="_blank">Battlemind Strategies</a> if this is your first time playing one. The following colour-coding is used in this handbook: Red: A bad choice.Purple: A bad option unless specific circumstances are met (in which case it might be fantastic).Black: A reasonable choice, useful without being the best.Blue: A good choice.Sky Blue: Head and shoulders above the alternatives.Gold: No other choice possible, usually reserved for feat taxes and the like. Abbreviations used in this guide AC: Armor ClassDSCS: Dark Sun Campaign SettingEPG: Eberron'Player GuideFRPG: Forgotten Realms Player GuideHotFK: Heroes of the Forgotten KingdomsHotFL: Heroes of the Fallen LandsHotFW: Heroes of the FeywildHoS: Heroes of ShadowMBA: melee basic attackMME: Mordenkainen's Magical EmporiumMP: Martial PowerMP2: Martial Power 2NAD: Non-Armor Class DefenseNCS: Neverwinter Campaign SettingRAW: rules as writtenPHB: Player's HandbookPHB2: Player's Handbook 2PHB3: Player's Handbook 3PHBR<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Player's Handbook Races: DragonbornPHBR:T Player's Handbook Races: TieflingPrP: Primal PowerPsP: Psionic PowerTHP: temporary hit points</blockquote>

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