Can a Psychic warrior tank for a party?

[DungeonmasterCal]

for those people like me, and have no idea what these psionic powers do, would u mind giving a brief description of those powers suggested? thx

Go here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35
Scroll down to the psionic sections and take a look! It's free and easy!

 

[LostSoul]

Reach weapons and the Stand Still feat were a good combination in 3.0. Basically, your AoO stopped a foe's movement, so he couldn't close with you. I don't know if it still works as well in 3.5.

The big weakness of Psi Warriors is the need to buff up before a combat. You don't want to get surprised, and you need a few rounds to put up those 1 round/level powers.

 

[Piratecat]

I've designed my psiwarrior with a high wisdom and con. He purposely takes powers that boost his attacks and constitution but *not* his AC. He then wades in to melee, tries to draw as many attacks as possible, and then returns the favor by pumping 50-point hostile empthic transfers into the enemy. These heal him at the same time, and (if the save is failed) trigger massive damage saves for the enemy touched. It's painful, but it seems to be a nice tactic... and for every hit he draws, an ally remains unscathed.

Have I got the wrong impression, or can psionic characters be balanced with the rest of the party.

You definitely have the wrong inmpression, Niko. I'm finding 3.5 psionics to be quite fun. They seem to me to be very well designed, and psionic characters absolutely hold their own when compared to the other core classes. Heck, some people are worried that psions might be overpowered when it comes to raw damage potential.

 

[Thanee]

You need that feat, which grants you an immediate AoO everytime you get damaged in melee.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Kai Lord]

You need that feat, which grants you an immediate AoO everytime you get damaged in melee.

What feat is that?

 

[megamania]

I need to switch to 3.5 but Vander was a level 4 fighter and level 4 Psy Warrior when last I used him in a game as a PC. He rocked!

+2 Full Plate with a +2 Falchoin. I chose powers to augument his already great strength and recup powers. I mixed the feats between psionic and other fighter types to maximize his attacks.

Without my character sheet ( in a folder elsewhere) I can't say which I had but I recall the powers of:
Burst (+5 movement)
Catfall (reduces damage in a fall)
Float (He would fear any water over a foot high otherwise)
Ani Aff (+4 to any one Attribute)
Biofeedback ( in 3.0 this means his STR Mod in damage is removed and made into subdual)

Psi Weapon (extra damage with weapon)
Psi Charge (around the tree (shield) and into surprised horde)

I think I was aiming for Deep Impact also. It would work as this (pure munchiness) Falchion with Keen edge and Spec and improved crit. So on a 12 or better I crited. The Sword had an enchantment that dealt extra damage on a crit and with a str of 18 (22 ani aff) using a weapon 2 handed it was devistating. He was the front line.


Since I have developed him into a 9th level fighter and 9th level Psy Warrior and use him in my Story Hour- STRIKEFORCE: Morituri and he still amazes me at times with the damage he deals out. Utterly amazing at times.


So yes. Psy Warrior is a good class but I like mixing it with Fighter.

LOTS of feats at a very early level.

 

[Chris Parker]

Yes, I personally consider Psions over powered.

And even though my character has taken that feat I forget the name.

Prereqs are fairly easy. Every round you can decide to take -4 to AC. If you do, you get an immediate AoO each time when hit in melee that round. Thats the whole thing.

Broken, huh?

 

[Happiest_Sadist]

Yes, my suggestion is to get the new vigor power. 5 temporary HP per power point spent, up to your caster level. This can keep you up for a long time in combat. If it isn't psychic warrior, I might blow a feat on expanded knowledge.

Get yourself the feat that allows you to gain psionic focus as a move action. This is quite useful as so many of the useful feats take focus. Get the feat that allows you to make an attack a touch attack by expending focus. Also for the mad HP, get the psionic body(?) feat. The two HP for each psionic feat you take will also help.

Each round you do the following. Power attack for everything with a two handed weapon as a standard action. Expertise for 5 as well, its a touch attack and you won't miss. Regain psionic focus. This would probably be quite effective until very high levels.

 

[LostSoul]

Each round you do the following. Power attack for everything with a two handed weapon as a standard action. Expertise for 5 as well, its a touch attack and you won't miss. Regain psionic focus. This would probably be quite effective until very high levels.

That's the Psionic Meditation + Hustle combo. Lets you gain focus as a move action, and Hustle gives you a free move action. I do believe you can combine it with Deep Impact (expend focus) and (Greater) Psionic Weapon (expend focus), for an extra xd6 as a touch attack. Probably will be a standard tactic for Psi Warriors.

Psionic Lion's Charge seems like a nice power, too - it works like a pounce attack.

The focus in 3.5 for Psi Warriors seems to have shifted from Feats to Powers.

As an alternative, that isn't really a tank but something I've found interesting, is to combine a Wilder with a warrior class. The Wilder has a nice skill set, and you could focus on social skills and powers to create a character who's decent in melee and a lot of fun outside of the ring as well.

 

[Thotas]

The big weakness of Psi Warriors is the need to buff up before a combat. You don't want to get surprised, and you need a few rounds to put up those 1 round/level powers.

Yeah. I tried playing a Psi Warrior in 3.0, and as much as I loved the concept, I found the above situation to be so miserable, that it was unworkable. I seemed to find that either I could go directly into combat, and essentially I was fighting like an un-buffed cleric, or I could stand back and buff myself. The first option kind of made the whole Psi thing pointless, and the second created one of two other problems. Either my compatriots won the fight by the time I was in it, or the bad guys would bring it to me and I still didn't get my buffs in.

I've purchased the Expanded Psi book, but haven't had the option to test it. It looks better on a read, especially w/introduction of immediate and swift actions, but I haven't tested it yet. I'll be checking this thread with the same interest as the original poster.