Where is the Psion?!

[Nymrohd]

I think they need to add an optional box for power points on the Character Sheet. Also I don't like that augmentable powers have different cards for each level of augment but I don't use CB power cards anyway . . .

 

[Obryn]

Huh!

I guess my prediction that people expecting a radically different system for Psionics were going to be disappointed... was really quite wrong.

I lose, happily.

-O

 

[Cadfan]

Thoughts as I read through:

1. I'm glad they're willing to experiment with the power structure in this sort of way.

2. I think I like it. I can't figure out whether I'd get bored with so many of my abilities being so similar, or excited by the solid theme of having a few trademark abilities that can be enhanced into even better, but similarly themed, abilities.

3. I don't like the psionic/magic transparency they're going for. Ritual caster? I understand why psions get it, and I understand why they refer to psionics as magic related to the mind, but I'd kind of prefer a greater wall of separation between the two.

4. I really don't like how many of the level 1 at wills are just stolen warlock powers. Eldrith Blast... Eyebite...

5. There's an interesting balancing act here that I'm not going to perceive until I've read the whole thing. By level 30, you have 15 power points. You also have 3 at will powers. Depending on the cost of the augments you choose, you could possibly upgrade your at wills into encounter level powers much more than the standard 3 times. But then, powers scale by tier in certain ways, and different powers have different augment costs. Maybe it works?

6. They've still failed to understand the math behind attacks that force an enemy to attack its friends. Betrayal sucks, which is sad, because its cool. Almost every attack like this one in the entire game absolutely sucks, because multiplying two chances to hit together renders the outcome absolute crap. If you have a 60% chance of hitting, and the monster has a 60% chance of hitting his ally, your overall chance of dealing damage is 36% before you add in any other modifiers. Bonuses like +cha to hit don't help much- even if thats a +15% to the monster's accuracy, you're still looking at a 45% chance of dealing damage at all. The monster's average damage on a hit would have to be a full third better than the damage you could have dealt with a different power before you could expect this sort of attack in this example to be as good as using a different power.

 

[Shroomy]

Huh!

I guess my prediction that people expecting a radically different system for Psionics were going to be disappointed... was really quite wrong.

I lose, happily.

-O

I wouldn't call it a radical departure, even though it replaces encounter attack powers with augmentable at-will attack powers, they largely work on a per encounter basis and everything else works the same. It does show off the flexibility of the system.

 

[Kirnon_Bhale]

I am finding that even I feel that I need to comment on how much this class has blown my mind away. I really didn't see the powerpoints making a comeback. Happily I am surprised and pleased by this. I notice that the basic at will even beyond 20th doesn't get 2d bonus that other at wills get for other classes.

 

[Desdichado]

He's still posting under his other username at Circvs Maximvs... :shrug:

 

[Trolls]

One interesting observation:

The feat "Exchange Power" allows you to transfer power points to other people. That seems to suggest that at least one of the other psionic classes also uses the power point system. It would be a strange feat to required two psions/controllers in the same party.

EDIT: Ninja'd by the commentary article...apparently monks are the exception and psionic classes mostly uses power points.

 

[Stalker0]

I'm going to make a new thread, a new class deserves a thread highlighting its awesomeness after all

 

[Vael]

I think the monk may be the only non-power point using Psionic class. Even the soulknife could use this mechanic and be pretty darn cool.

 

[WalterKovacs]

5. There's an interesting balancing act here that I'm not going to perceive until I've read the whole thing. By level 30, you have 15 power points. You also have 3 at will powers. Depending on the cost of the augments you choose, you could possibly upgrade your at wills into encounter level powers much more than the standard 3 times. But then, powers scale by tier in certain ways, and different powers have different augment costs. Maybe it works?

One other thing of note ... your at-will powers don't "upgrade" at epic tier. Even your epic at-will powers are still only dealing 1 die of damage unless they are augmented. So at those levels you will have 17 power points (probably took one of the paragon paths) and be able to 'cheaply' enhance a lot of your at-wills ... BUT your unenhanced at-wills will be weaker than your allies at-wills.

The one thing I think people will really enjoy about the psion is the ability to basically have a power they can use X-times per encounter instead of a number of 'only once' powers. It works well for a controller role as it seems that versatility is one of the things a controller wants more than other classes (the wizard has the spellbook, and has been getting more 'versatility' boosters like the tome of readiness, the tome magic implements, and the new utility power in the miniatures set. The druid has shapeshifting which gives him two different suites of powers, and even gives him a third at-will to start things off.)

EDIT:

Reading the article now. It looks like the second build (Int/Wis) will be telekinesis focused.

Also, they seem to be trying to protect the value of these exclusives as the pdf article doesn't contain much of the actual crunch, instead imbedding links to the compendium.