Psychic Warrior Powers?

[DarkJester]

Playing my first Psychic Warrior now, second level atm. Anyone have any experience playing them and what powers to choose? I'm clueless.

I'm kind of a sneaky guy, and use a glaive. I want powers that add to combat effectiveness and or mobility. I know some powers I want to get: Vigor (Renewable 18 HP for 1 PP), Greater Biofeedback, Psychofeedback.

I'm not sure about anything else though.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A few powers?

Combat Prescience (+2 to hit), Expansion (up to +5 Strength, stacks with nearly anything), Polymorph Self (if your DM is nice), Dimension Strike (see the Mind's Eye: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/archive.asp?x=dnd/psi,3 which is the official WotC psionics enhancement).

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

I like Call Weaponry - get yourself captured and then enjoy a round of surprise as you summon a wepon and go from unarmed to armed in your enemy's midst.

 

[Berk]

for future powers I'd recommend ectoplasmic armor, shield of prudence, inertial barrier, just to name a few. That is of course if you meet all the requirements for selecting those powers. Since you need a 10+level of the power in it's disciplin, just like a spellcaster, in order to know it. If you have the ability scores for them they are IMHO invaluable.

 

[Arnix]

Ectoplasmic Armor is a tough one. I just reached the level (well 2 levels ago) to cast it. I then realized that it was a int based power. Bah. I have a lowly 12 int. I decided that Dimensional Strike was much more useful considering the cost and difficulty in obtaining a higher int item (my DM is very strict on +stat items).

Personally I would pick up Ectogoo, Reach, Psychokinetic Blast, Combat Prescience, Dim. Strike, Reach, Inert. Bar., Chrysalis (if you can use ITCK), Metaphysical Weapon (or Body if you use unarmed) line, the Vim line (scalable +HP are nice), and find the heart. Oh, don't forget Poly, Animal Affinity, and Displacement.

Oh, buy boots of speed. You will need them just to prep for combat. I don't know the last time I actually used them for fighting, but they are very nice for getting my must self buff arse into combat. Vim, Reach, Find the Heart, Combat Pres, Displacement, Chrysalis, and Inertial Barriar are all powers that you have to cast right before combat which can take a while the higher level you get.

Arnix (tm)

 

[Spatzimaus]

I've had a Psychic Warrior for a dozen or so levels now, and she's a Glaive user. The Glaive is a wonderful weapon for a high-DEX type with Combat Reflexes and Stand Still. Personally, I'd say to accept that you're not going to be the offensive powerhouse that a sword user might be; you've got access to some great defensive power, so play to the strengths.

The powers I'd look at getting:
Call Weaponry (1). Never without a weapon.
Animal Affinity (2). It's not a typed bonus, so it stacks with everything. The wording on the spell is vague, though; do you specify the animal type when taking the spell? Can you mix animals? Are you limited to the stat the animal has, or is it purely symbolic?
Vigilance (2). This power is SO underrated. First, it works in magical darkness, unlike normal darkvision. It also helps against concealment due to fog, dust, etc. And, it lasts 1 hour/level; since PWs have full caster level, that means at decent levels this is an "always on" spell. Okay, if you're a Dwarf it's not that useful, but anyone without Darkvision would love it.
Combat Prescience (2) is nice, too, but the duration is short. By the time you get higher in level you'll have way too many short-duration powers you need to activate in the first round of combat. If you want to be the attacking type, though, this is a great power, as it helps make up for the lower BAB the class gets.

Combat Precognition (1), Displacement (3), Inertial Barrier (4) all give you some great defense. Realistically, you only need one of the higher two. Combat Precog is nice because of its duration, and it also stacks with practically everything.

Dimension Door (4) and Polymorph Self (4) are ones I use heavily, too.

Psychofeedback is iffy. You just don't have enough power points to really make it worthwhile. Personally I'd rather take Deep Impact and use the power points for that.
Ectoplasmic Armor isn't that good. Sure, it's a +10 armor bonus, but you could just as easily be wearing heavy armor; unlike arcane types, psions don't suffer while casting in armor. This power is great for the pureclass Psion, or for casting on the Monk (it'll be better than his Bracers of Armor), but other than that?

If you can convince the DM, go to the WotC website and read through the "Mind's Eye" materials, they have added a bunch of powers, Feats, and Prestige Classes for psionic types; it's sorta like the splatbook for them. The powers are aimed more at Psions, but the Prestige Classes can be really nice for Psychic Warriors.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Arnix mentioned it, but I think Reach should be emphasized as working well with a Glaive user. It's one of Bruce Cordell's additional psi-powers, that's on Wizards website, and it extends the threat range by 5 feet, so with a glaive, you'd threaten the 10 foot and 15 foot area around you.

 

[Arnix]

I think at higher levels Persistant Power is a must for those short duration powers. Sure its 13 points, but a persistant displacement is rather nice. Extend a couple of the hourly ones and its helps some. You will have to pick and choose what to extend and what to persistant (+8 pp is expensive).

Ecto Armor is nice because you can Tumble in Ecto armor, but not in heavy armor. Tumble almost completely breaks reach, and should be used if number crunching effectively. Once again, you would need a 15 int, almost unheard of in a combat class (str, dex, and con are much more useful, duh...).

Dimension Door is ok, but Dim. Strike is far more effective as its a free action. Quick draw weapon, dim. strike to them, full attack action. Or quick draw weapon, activate boots of speed, activate inertial armor (or reach) and dim strike to opponent. Its great with Fly (boots or cloak) and pesky mages.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Animal Affinity (2). It's not a typed bonus, so it stacks with everything. The wording on the spell is vague, though; do you specify the animal type when taking the spell? Can you mix animals? Are you limited to the stat the animal has, or is it purely symbolic?

#1: It's supposed to be an enhancement bonus, as clarified by the author of the Psionics Handbook. The FAQ isn't official errata.

#2: It's purely symbolic.

 

[Arnix]

It would be much cooler if it was Cymbalic... *clang* *clang* "I'm using Animal Affinity for dex of a monkey!" *clang* *clang*

For some reason that Stephen King book cover popped into my head... (Skeleton Crew?)

Oh, this was slightly OT and should be taken as simple humor...


Arnix (tm)