Soulknife mindblade question

[Dannyalcatraz]

I HRed that FAQ ruling...it appears as a ShSwd for a millesecond before morphing quickly into the desired shape.

IOW, the appearing as a ShSwd part of the ruling becomes just a special effect.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW, for more Soulknife goodness, pick up Hyperconscious from Malhavoc (?)- written by the same guy who wrote the XPH in which they originally appear.

There are some nice PrCls that work for them, especially one that combines Soulknife features with PsyWar powers...

 

[Shellman]

I haven't looked at it in a long while, but I thought the mindblade reappered in the same shape that was last chosen by the Soulknife.

It takes some sort of action (I forget whether its a move or standard ) to shape the mindblade into another form like a Bastard sword.

I think its a waste of a feat to shape the mindblade into a single weapon.

 

[frankthedm]

[tangential rant]Oh, and according to the latest official FAQ, Soulknives now automatically generate a shortsword no matter what shape their mind blade was when they "put it away" last time, and then have to shape mind blade every fricking time they get into a fight, thus being the only melee class that has to automatically wait until round 2 to fight with their preferred weapon (or weapons if you want to be a Two-Weapon Fighting Soulknife). I guess they thought the class wasn't weak enough yet. [/tangential rant]

If the mindblade does not keep his mindblade out while in the dungeon, he deserves to be percieved as "weak".

The mindblade can devote his entire character wealth to defensive items since his weapon s spoken for. That alone requires the character sacrifice raw potency compared to another melee class. And the Knife to the soul's ability to take out just about any living creature with an int of 3 is another ability that has to be paid for in character potency.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think its a waste of a feat to shape the mindblade into a single weapon.

Depends upon the weapon- a reach weapon wouldn't suck, nor would a Flail if you're fighting a lot of undead who are resistant to slashing or piercing damage...

 

[Enforcer]

If the mindblade does not keep his mindblade out while in the dungeon, he deserves to be percieved as "weak".

I guess my group doesn't take the name of the game as literally as some...we have combats that aren't in dungeons, and even combats that involve everyone starting with their weapons sheathed due to in-game social constraints (e.g. it's frowned upon to meet the Sharn Watch with weapons drawn, even if you know that they're really working for the Emerald Claw). We're so avant-garde, I know.

The mindblade can devote his entire character wealth to defensive items since his weapon s spoken for. That alone requires the character sacrifice raw potency compared to another melee class. And the Knife to the soul's ability to take out just about any living creature with an int of 3 is another ability that has to be paid for in character potency.

Weee! A Chain Shirt +5 that costs over 9x as much as the Fighter's Full Plate +1, for the same AC bonus! Good thing the Soulknife has all that gold from not having to upgrade weapons... Unless of course you make the sacrifice and get the medium and heavy armor feats, despite the fact that you'll want all the great melee and psionic feats and don't get any bonus ones. I suppose the Soulknife could take a level of Fighter, but seeing as how that delays his mind blade enhancements, psychic strike progression, and access to Knife to the Soul, you really pay for multiclassing. Oh, and you better make sure your race allows you to avoid multiclass XP penalties.

As for the dumb, Int 3 enemies susceptible to Knife to the Soul, a 13th level wizard has access to finger of death, mass hold person, prismatic spray, and delayed blast fireball. A cleric has resurrection, destruction, and holy word. A Fighter has Greater Weapon Specialization, a Base Attack bonus that's 4 points higher than the Soulknife's, and an extra attack. A Rogue has their second special ability and a sneak attack that makes the Soulknife's psychic strike look like crap. So I'll be generous to the soulknife and call it even.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To learn, prepare or cast a spell, the wizard must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Int 10 for 0-level spells, Int 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth).

Dropping a 17th level wizard from 19 Int to 13 Int will cost him as much as 67% of his spells (assuming this happens before he can cast anything over 3rd level).

Once the Knife to the Soul drops the Wizard below 10 Int, the wizard couldn't cast any spells at all.

Not too shabby.

Is the class perfect? No.

But its not as unplayable as you're implying- I'd gladly play one today if I were allowed to.

 

[frankthedm]

As for the dumb, Int 3 enemies susceptible to Knife to the Soul, a 13th level wizard has access to finger of death, mass hold person, prismatic spray, and delayed blast fireball. A cleric has resurrection, destruction, and holy word. A Fighter has Greater Weapon Specialization, a Base Attack bonus that's 4 points higher than the Soulknife's, and an extra attack. A Rogue has their second special ability and a sneak attack that makes the Soulknife's psychic strike look like crap. So I'll be generous to the soulknife and call it even.

All the other classes have to go through normal routes HP or a Save to take something out. Mindblade has an ultra ability to attack mental stats. It is limited use. But until recently most ways to zap an Int score wisely granted saves to avoid and kept int at 1 minimum to prevent many high HD beat down monsters from being KO'ed in theat manner.

finger of death: SR & a Fort save that is not geting failed often.

Mass hold person: can't touch non humaniods & Hold monster has to deal with a will save still a 1/3rd the things HD.

Prismatic spray: SR and random effects, the best chance is the sent High HD low int to another plane on a will save.

delayed blast fireball: Has to go through HP like anything else

destruction: SR & a Fort save that is not geting failed often

Holy word: Uneffected due to HD

 

[Moonstone Spider]

All the other classes have to go through normal routes HP or a Save to take something out. Mindblade has an ultra ability to attack mental stats. It is limited use. But until recently most ways to zap an Int score wisely granted saves to avoid and kept int at 1 minimum to prevent many high HD beat down monsters from being KO'ed in theat manner.

finger of death: SR & a Fort save that is not geting failed often.

Mass hold person: can't touch non humaniods & Hold monster has to deal with a will save still a 1/3rd the things HD.

Prismatic spray: SR and random effects, the best chance is the sent High HD low int to another plane on a will save.

delayed blast fireball: Has to go through HP like anything else

destruction: SR & a Fort save that is not geting failed often

Holy word: Uneffected due to HD

The soulknife has to actually hit the enemy to inflict his knife to the soul attack. Most monsters have a significantly weaker Touch AC vs. a wizard's spell than their total AC vs. a Soulknife's mindblade. For instance a T-Rex has only an AC of 9 to counter the Wizard's Ray of Stupidity (Which he's had since about level 3 or so) but 14 vs. the Soulknife's mindblade (Level 17). Also ray of stupidity has no save allowed so the chances of success vs. T-Rex are many times better for the wizard. Let's not forget that the Soulknife has to either suffer AoO's getting into melee with T-Rex or try to throw his mindblade with it's pitiful range increment to hit, while the wizard doesn't.

So a level 17 soulknife's special ability is almost as good as the class ability of a level 3 or 4 wizard/Sorcerer but not quite. My that's broken.

And the "Free" Soulknife is hardly that great, while it's a wonderful idea, it has an extremely limited list of enhancements available, (No Flaming or Shocking for the Soulknife), it is usually behind the curve for the weapon the Fighter will have, and it can never overcome any DR except magic leaving the Soulknife kind of screwed against Constructs or Fey or whatever.

 

[RigaMortus2]

The soulknife has to actually hit the enemy to inflict his knife to the soul attack. Most monsters have a significantly weaker Touch AC vs. a wizard's spell than their total AC vs. a Soulknife's mindblade. For instance a T-Rex has only an AC of 9 to counter the Wizard's Ray of Stupidity (Which he's had since about level 3 or so) but 14 vs. the Soulknife's mindblade (Level 17). Also ray of stupidity has no save allowed so the chances of success vs. T-Rex are many times better for the wizard. Let's not forget that the Soulknife has to either suffer AoO's getting into melee with T-Rex or try to throw his mindblade with it's pitiful range increment to hit, while the wizard doesn't.

So a level 17 soulknife's special ability is almost as good as the class ability of a level 3 or 4 wizard/Sorcerer but not quite. My that's broken.

And the "Free" Soulknife is hardly that great, while it's a wonderful idea, it has an extremely limited list of enhancements available, (No Flaming or Shocking for the Soulknife), it is usually behind the curve for the weapon the Fighter will have, and it can never overcome any DR except magic leaving the Soulknife kind of screwed against Constructs or Fey or whatever.

If this is the route you are taking with your Soulkife, I would hope he would have Deep Impact by level 17, which turns his melee attack into a touch attack. Suddenly he has the same chance to hit as the Wizard with his ranged touch spell. Better actually, since he has a higher BAB, Weapon Focus (mindblade) for free, and would have the Str (or Dex if throwing the mindblade) that a Wizard wouldn't normally have.