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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 3478615" data-attributes="member: 2011">How is that different than a Sorcerer or Wizard with the exception that the Wilder tends to have better hit points and tends to have done more damage in round one to the opponent?And the Wilder does not necessarily need to regain or even use his focus every single round. Surge blast, do 70+% damage, move away. Unless his opponent has a straight line and can charge him, or has an extremely high Speed, the Wilder just normal blasts again (without metamagic and without surge) and does 40+% damage on the next round. An extremely tough opponent (combatant type 2+ levels higher), he might be doing 50+% and 30+% (oh well, he didn't wipe out the opponent with two shots, but he did contribute). Granted, the Wilder might be dazed if he surges. Stuff happens. But even then, it does not mean that the melee attacker will necessarily knock the Wilder out on his very next turn except possibly at real low levels.But, one would expect Wilders to be played intelligently just like Sorcerers and Wizards. Hang behind the tanks and force opponents to move through the front line to get to him. And one expects tanks to be played intelligently as well. A plan to take appropriate 5 foot steps so that opponents are no longer in melee with the tanks takes away the -4 for ranged attacks in melee penalty.Players are not forced to play stupid and just stand there and get attacked. There are a lot of options available.This "opponents will be on top of the Wilder in one round" argument is not very persuasive. It might rarely happen, but if it is happening to the Wilders because the DM decides to "run his game accordingly" (as per your quote below), it should be happening to the Sorcerers and Wizards as well.While this is true (80% of psionic powers in the XPH are range Close or closer) and is a factor of psionic characters, it is not decisive.A well designed psionic character should have at least one long range attack. A poorly designed one does not.Even at low level without a long range attack, the psionic character should still rarely be in wide open areas where bowmen attack from 1000+ feet away. Even in Kansas, nature doesn't typically work that way. There are usually ravines or bushes or trees or other structures to get cover behind.And this also does not limit the psionic character from having good defensive powers either.So your example here is exaggerated. A bowman might have a single round of attacks before the psionic character can respond, but it typically is not "a serious hurt". Even if the bowman is out of range, there is often other things that can be accomplished by the psionic character (like taking out closer opponents to free up other PCs to deal with the bowman, or taking cover, or whatever). It's usually not just a single bowman from 300 feet away with no cover and no other PCs to help the psionic PC.Range is a bit of a weakness. Mostly self only buffs is a bit of a weakness. At high level, single metamagic is a bit of a weakness.But, these are not extreme weaknesses. Psionic PCs can easily overcome them. And, these are not weaknesses where the DM can "run his game accordingly" unless he is just plain out to get the psionic PC. Having a dozen bowman attack from 200 feet away every third battle is just being a rat bastard DM and is not addressing the issue. When compared to psionic strengths, these so called weaknesses are pretty minor. Right off the bat, psionic blasters (even if they are not Wilders or Kineticists) are 28% stronger than Evokers. By third level, psionic Egoists have better ACs than Abjurers, etc. Due to augmentation and some other factors, certain synergies of psionic powers, feats, and special abilities can be quite potent. We do not really see that level of potency for arcane and divine spell casters unless one gets out of the core books.The balancing factor is how often per day these potent abilities can be used, the fact that many of them are Close range, and that the psionic PC tends to only buff his own capabilities. He is not a party buffer.When comparing a Psion to a Sorcerer (or Wizard for that matter), it is like comparing a Warblade to a Fighter. Not overwhelmingly more potent, but solidly and noticably more potent. The increase in power curve once one gets out of core is also very noticable.It's also very interesting too that the Wilder is being compared to a Barbarian for damage dealing, not a Wizard or Sorcerer. At low levels, nobody says "My 1st level Evoker kicks butt". But, they can say "My 1st level Wilder kicks butt". <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" /> At 1st level, Surged Energy Ray does about 2/3rds the average damage (9 points) and same range (30 feet) as what the 3rd level Evoker does with the second level spell Scorching Ray (the best damage dealing low level ray spell in core, 14 points / 30 feet) and the 1st level Wilder can do it 3 to 6 times per day (stat and race depending) and can switch up the energy type. At 2nd level, he is doing about the same damage. At 3rd level, he is doing 61% more damage and has 5 more feet range. At 4th level, he is doing 93% more damage (nearly double damage) and still has 5 more feet range.Sure, there is a 5% (or 10%) chance of being dazed, but that will not be a major factor like doing 3rd level damage at 2nd level.</blockquote>

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