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<blockquote data-quote="Dr_Rictus" data-source="post: 232244" data-attributes="member: 850">Mr. Delacroix has provided an excellent parody of just exactly what I meant about &quot;playing a psion like a sorcerer.&quot;&nbsp; Sorcerers do great as the party's artillery piece.&nbsp; Psions don't.&nbsp; If you try, they will in fact suck at it.In terms of resource usage, psions advantage is in the ability to use their lowest-level powers a huge amount.&nbsp; That's because if a sorcerer runs out of low-level slots, he doesn't exactly get change back when he has to use a higher-level slot.Even then, the sorcerer can often get better use out of even low-level damage spells because they scale with his level.&nbsp; The psion does better with general utility powers.&nbsp; Since their per-level advantage is in increased duration, which does scale for psions, they're much more competetive.&nbsp; My party now feels a little naked when my psion character isn't around to toss around spider climbs and mindlinks for everyone, for example.&nbsp;&nbsp; I haven't found the use of multiple key abilities to be a big problem, myself.&nbsp; It means that damage to a particular ability score can't shut you down the way it can a spellcaster.&nbsp; And, you don't get all that many powers in the first place, so having to pick most of them from just a few disciplines isn't a big deal.&nbsp; There are, however, some disciplines that do not offer good choices at all levels, in my opinion.Also, maybe it's just my DM, but I've found the lack of components extremely useful.&nbsp; Especially since even a mediocre combatant can screw up a spellcaster a lot just by grappling him, but not a psion.&nbsp; Being able to get out of that grapple by time hopping my foe is great, not to mention fighting harpies with the party inside a silence spell, not taking a failure chance from wearing armor... I could go on.&nbsp; The superior class skills have already mentioned, so I'll just add that personally, I find that humans are the best racial choice for a psion.&nbsp; With access to superior class skills and psionic feats, you want the extra feat and skill points.&nbsp; Also, I suspect that some disciplines make out much better than others here.&nbsp; The party in which I play my savant doesn't have or feel the need for a rogue, for example.Anyway, I think there's definitely some issues with psions, and I'll join with others here in recommending If Thoughts Could Kill and some of the material on the Wizards board.&nbsp; Some of that material is also pretty poor, in my opinion.&nbsp;&nbsp; But in general most of the complaints I hear about psions are overstating the case incredibly, and basically saying &quot;I'm trying to play my psion badly (or designed him badly), and it isn't working out for me.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr_Rictus, post: 232244, member: 850"] Mr. Delacroix has provided an excellent parody of just exactly what I meant about "playing a psion like a sorcerer." Sorcerers do great as the party's artillery piece. Psions don't. If you try, they will in fact suck at it. In terms of resource usage, psions advantage is in the ability to use their lowest-level powers a huge amount. That's because if a sorcerer runs out of low-level slots, he doesn't exactly get change back when he has to use a higher-level slot. Even then, the sorcerer can often get better use out of even low-level damage spells because they scale with his level. The psion does better with general utility powers. Since their per-level advantage is in increased duration, which [i]does[/i] scale for psions, they're much more competetive. My party now feels a little naked when my psion character isn't around to toss around [i]spider climbs[/i] and [i]mindlinks[/i] for everyone, for example. I haven't found the use of multiple key abilities to be a big problem, myself. It means that damage to a particular ability score can't shut you down the way it can a spellcaster. And, you don't get all that many powers in the first place, so having to pick most of them from just a few disciplines isn't a big deal. There are, however, some disciplines that do not offer good choices at all levels, in my opinion. Also, maybe it's just my DM, but I've found the lack of components extremely useful. Especially since even a mediocre combatant can screw up a spellcaster a lot just by grappling him, but not a psion. Being able to get out of that grapple by [i]time hopping[/i] my foe is great, not to mention fighting harpies with the party inside a [i]silence[/i] spell, not taking a failure chance from wearing armor... I could go on. The superior class skills have already mentioned, so I'll just add that personally, I find that humans are the best racial choice for a psion. With access to superior class skills and psionic feats, you want the extra feat and skill points. Also, I suspect that some disciplines make out much better than others here. The party in which I play my savant doesn't have or feel the need for a rogue, for example. Anyway, I think there's definitely some issues with psions, and I'll join with others here in recommending [i]If Thoughts Could Kill[/i] and some of the material on the Wizards board. Some of that material is also pretty poor, in my opinion. But in general most of the complaints I hear about psions are overstating the case incredibly, and basically saying "I'm trying to play my psion badly (or designed him badly), and it isn't working out for me." [/QUOTE]

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