Wilder love

[Zhure]

Ok, just got the Expanded Psionics Handbook and I like the flavor of the Wilder as a sort of expert/adventurer with a strong touch of psionics. They have a great adventuring skill list and a base 4 skill points per level.

Because of their extremely limited power selections I'm having trouble crafting a good list one might have so I'm looking for suggestions. Obviously you'd want to get some scaling powers, and a few for offense, a few for defense. No powers outside the Wilder list until after 6th level of course.

There have been a lot of threads commenting on Psions, and some on Mindblades but no love for the Wilder yet. Am I the only one who likes them? Or is everyone else having the same trouble picking powers early on?

Greg

 

[Particle_Man]

I think the Wilder can take the Expanded Knowledge freat at 4th level, not 6th. by that time, they will meet the prereqs of the feat (3rd level manifester, and able to manifest 2nd level powers (and thus add 1st level powers by use of this feat)).

The free souped up overchannel of the wilder is interesting, but maybe people are risk-aversive with the potential side-effects. A feat that reduced the percentage chance of side-effects would be interesting, but likely too powerful.

Anyhow, as it stands with powers known, I guess it becomes a matter of individual taste. I don't know how to advice you further than the advice you have given yourself.

Also, I am in love with my shaper, and the wilder can't do Astral Construct until 4th level, with the feat expanded knowledge. So my attention is more focused elsewhere.

 

[FullTinCan]

I'm with you on the wilder. I really like the class. In making a 7th level Wilder I chose the powers Precognitive (Defense), Precognitive (Offense), Concussion Blast, and Energy Burst. All of the powers can be augmented. For feats I chose Psionic Body, Meditative Focus (gain psionic focus as a Move-Equivalent action), Psionic Weapon, and Empower Power. His skills are Spot, Listen, Intimidate, and Concentration.

The character is reasonably good at physical combat, and can really blast things if the need arises.

 

[erian_7]

I really like the wilder too, but see the limited number of powers as a severe problem for a class that should be more power-focused (they're not fighters, they don't have the skill choices to be experts, etc.). So, for our first run throughj with a wilder we'll be granting 2 powers per manifester level, adding 7 more powers. Hopefully this will help them be more than 1-trick ponies (all 11 powers focued on physical buffs to fight better, or on blasting powers, etc.) We'll see how it works out.

Eric

 

[Nifft]

From my post on the WotC Psi Handbook board:

1) Power Specialization is L A M E. You deal +2 damage... this is very good for iterative attacks, where the extra damage is multiplied by the large number of attacks, but it's significantly overshadowed by the sheer number of dice rolled when using rays.

2) Power Penetration might be okay, but Wild Surge raises her manifester level, so she's very well equipt to deal with PR even without this feat. Since she gets so few feats, let's skip it.

So, here's my human wilder level-by-level, created using the Elite Array:

Stats: Str 8, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 15

Level 1: Feats: Point Blank Shot, Psicrystal Affinity
Psicrystal: Single-Minded (+3 Concentration)
Skills: 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 (She picks: Bluff, Concentration, Listen, Psicraft, Sense Motive, Spot, and Tumble)
Power: Mind Thrust -- at 1d10/pp, this is such a great Wild Surge power. Your companions are going to be happy that you can deal 2d10 3/day with a Will save.
Equipment: Leather armor, light crossbow, dagger, 20 bolts.

Level 2: Power: Vigor or Force Screen -- with Wild Surge augmentation, Vigor is great. However, Force Screen gives her a great AC even when she's using a missile wepon, and it's Augmentable (and thus even better for use with Wild Surge).

Level 3: Feat: Precise Shot -- this is both for her xbow and for her next Power...

Level 4: Power: Energy Push -- it's a Ray, and a very flexible Power, thus good for Wilders.
Ability Increase: Charisma +1. Duh.

Level 5: nothing to choose

Level 6: Feat: Expanded Knowlege (Psi Suggestion) -- Unlike a Psion, you have a decent Charisma bonus for those all-important Charisma checks, and you actually will have a great Bluff score. This is a great power for avoiding fights, getting through non-combat situations and just generally taking advantage of NPCs.
Power: Dispel Psionics -- I'm sure that Dispel Psionics is a controversial 3rd level Power, but listen: with Wild Surge, you're the best Dispeller in the game! Increasing DCs is easy, but boosting your effective level is solid gold.

Level 7: nothing

Level 8: Power: Energy Bolt -- None of the 4th level Powers leap out at me. Energy Bolt is flexible, and it'll be your main area effect.
Ability Increase: Hmm, Dex +1 would be nice, but our real focus is Charisma. We'll take Charisma +1.

Level 9: Feat: Craft Psionic Arms & Armor or Empower Power -- This is a real crossroads. She could make herself a mega-blaster (wild surge + Empower on an Energy Bolt or Mind Thrust), or she could become the party's armorer & weaponsmith. She can make herself a +3 Mithral Chain Shirt (perfect for tumbling), a +3 light crossbow, etc., and with a nice DM who will allow Energy Bolt to be used as the prerequisite for the Flaming, Shocking, Thundering and Freezing speciali abilities, she can make all kinds of ammo. This choice really depends on her party make up, their equipment and the world's wealth and power level.

Level 10: Power: Hmmm, a bunch look good, but none are brilliantly compelling... Psi True Sight is generally great, and we're finally high enough level to really enjoy Psi Dimension Door as a move-action (with a Wild Surge, of coruse). Plane Shift opens all kind of doors -- shopping trip to Sigil, anyone? Finally, Psi Major Creation seems like an interesting utility power, and that's it... for 5th level Powers.
Lower level Powers seem very tempting here, particularly Crystal Shard, since you're probably going to be facing Golems and other such infinite PR critters very soon. At this level, she can deal 13d6 to a single target, and she's already got Precise Shot. She'll take Crystal Shard.

Level 11: nothing

Level 12:: Such a juicy level!
Power: Psi Overland Flight -- so nice to get off the ground, and such a great duration!
Feat: this is a tough one. There are so many good powers at this level, it's really tempting to take Expanded Knowlege (Hail of Crystals), but so are both Craft Psionic Arms & Armor and Empower Power (and she only took one of those last time). If she took Empower Power, then she might wish to take Psicrystal Containment, so she could Empower two Powers per combat. (Note that her Wisdom is too low to take Psionic Meditation.) If she's really enjoying her xbow (which she made using Craft Arms & Armor), she might consider Psionic Shot or Rapid Reload.
Ability Boost: Charisma +1 Now she's got an 18 Charisma, before augmentation.

Level 13: nothin'

Level 14: Power: Energy Conversion -- particularly good for Wilders, since the rays it produces have a good chance of striking home. However, it's expensive. She could also consider Energy Adaptation instead. At this level, either power provides 30 points of energy resistance.

Level 15: Feat: which ever of Craft Arms & Armor, Empower Power or Psicrystal Containment she does not yet have. If she has all three, she should consider Leadership, and get herself an Egoist Tatoo-Artist or a Psychic Warrior blocker (reach weapon + Stand Still).

Level 16: Power: Psi Mind Blank or Greater Psi Teleport or Bend Reality. This totally depends on your campaign and what's available to your party.

Level 17: nuttin'

Level 18: Power: None of the 9th level Powers really appeal to me. Hmm. Ego Whip can be deadly at this level (6d4 Charisma damage), but she'll probably take which ever one of Greater Psi Teleport or Psi Mind Blank she didn't take at level 16.

That's all I have time for. Enjoy!

-- N

 

[FullTinCan]

I'm definitely going to have to agree with the choice of Dispel Psionics, especially if magic and psionics are both affected by the spell. Sadly, counterspelling is not an option with Dispel Psionics.

 

[Zhure]

Mind Thrust, nice choice. I was going to pick that one, too.

Note: Can't take Expanded Knowledge at 3rd level because the Wilder only knows 1st level powers and the feat requires them to choose a power one level lower than their maximum, which would be zero, which doesn't exist.

I like Power Specialization because by expending your focus you can add your stat mod instead of the +2. That damage can be competetive with fighters. Since refocusing can be a MEA with a feat, you can focus, then cast/expend every round.

Greg

 

[Nifft]

I like Power Specialization because by expending your focus you can add your stat mod instead of the +2. That damage can be competetive with fighters. Since refocusing can be a MEA with a feat, you can focus, then cast/expend every round.

My issue with this is that Wilders are so much better at inflicting raw dice of damage, that the +2 damage is lame in comparison. Instead, take Empower Power.

(Seriously -- Psions may have to conserve power points, spending only 1 pp on a ray attack. Wilders, when they spend 1 pp, get at least 2 dice of damage -- 3 dice at 3rd level, and more after that.)

Empower Power at 6th level and up -- get more than you pay for.

Finally, Wilders need at least 3 good stats (Con, Int, Cha) to take advantage of their decent skill set. Wisdom is often a low priority, since they get a good Will save. Thus, Psychic Meditation may be out of reach for many Wilders.

-- N

 

[Psiblade]

I personally like powers that can scale and are useful in combat. I took crystal shard, dispel psionics, energy bolt, etc. For expanded knowledge I took astral construct. A nice 1st level power that scales all the way upto 9th.

-Psiblade