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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enforcer" data-source="post: 3478729" data-attributes="member: 396">Some points not included (or at least not emphasized enough) in KarinsDad's Wilder examples:Shooting into melee is a -4 penalty. Shooting someone who has cover (because the party fighter is in the way), is another -4 penalty. Precise Shot costs two feats, we've now used what, all of them for a highly specific build that's still defeated by Lesser Globe of Invulnerability or countered by a melee monster simply closing in and eating the Wilder and his crappy hit points? Sure, they get d6, and Wizards/Sorcerers can be attacked in melee too, but Wizards/Sorcerers have more and better defenses. It can and does happen, and any party-level appropriate melee monster is a threat.I suppose the Wilder can use precious Powers Known slots for defensive powers (which are almost all weaker than arcane defensive spells--and with light armor and a shield the two that are equal or better are definitely not the best choices for the Wilder's very few Powers Known), but manifesting them is a round spent not "novaing" and therefore not a round that any enemy cares about the Wilder--if he's not using his one trick then he might as well be part of the scenery. A 5th level Wizard/6th level Sorcerer can just cast Fly and get out of the way, slinging offensive spells from out of reach (a very common tactic), the Wilder needs yet another feat (and 9th level, 3-4 more levels than their arcane "weaker" cousins!), as do non-Nomad psions (and even Nomads need 1-2 more levels than the arcane guys). The Wizard/Sorcerer can cast Stoneskin and not care about melee opponents, the Wilder/Psion's equivalent is the much weaker Biofeedback (another Power Known) or wasting actions (and Powers Known) on Vigor every time he gets hit.Schism still sucks, and without errata that improves it, it will always suck. It manifests your weakest powers at a much lower level of augmentation, costs YET ANOTHER FEAT for the Wilder (or any non-Telepath Psion) to get, wastes your first round (or whatever round you manifest it in), only pays off after a few rounds of combat (where the pp spent on Schism is finally equaled by the extra pp spent by the 2nd mind), and makes the Wilder hemorrhage power points. Quicken Power would have been the better choice, except that every psionic character is handicapped when it comes to metapsionics, as it takes an extra feat (Psionic Meditation) to use metapsionics once per round like their "weaker" arcane cousins. I still say a Psion cohort from Leadership is the best way to spend that feat if you want extra actions per round.Wizards/Sorcerers beat Psions/Wilders due to their ease of metamagic and free caster level scaling for their spells. Psions/Wilders have substantial extra costs for both.Why is the Barbarian considered to have great gear because he has less than the standard DMG wealth per level? That makes no sense at all.Crystal Shard (and Swarm) is specifically stopped by Damage Reduction that's effective against Slashing weapons, despite the fact that no magic spell is limited this way. See Complete Psionic for details. Oh, and yet another Power Known for the Wilder--they only get 11 total remember!Your Wilder examples all spend feats and Powers Known as if there's nothing else good out there for him, highlighting the fact that your builds are all ultra-specialized to take advantage of the Wilder's one trick. Yes, your Wilder can dish out hellacious damage, but he's definitely fragile to anyone that wants to take him out due to lack of defense and escape abilities. I'd bank on Slaved's Barbarian any day of the week. Charging Fast Movement Power Attack with greatsword and rage-enhanced Strength on a d12 hit die, rage-enhanced Constitution frame vs. d6 hit die, light armor, shield, and little to no defensive powers that can't kill the barb in one round despite undeniably heavy damage power? Bye bye Wilder.Finally, Wizards/Sorcerers can blast almost as well as the Wilder while still having defensive and utility spells, and can do it using less resources per encounter than the Wilder. I love Psionics, but I just can't see why the Wilder is so game-breakingly powerful.</blockquote>

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