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At some point, someone is going to make a Kineticist Optimization Guide, and that someone won't be me, and that someone likely won't know -all- the Elements well enough to make a complete guide, so I thought I'd post some ideas for that optimization guide based on my own character. :)
I'll skip the obvious stuff (non-lethal not stacking with lethal, starting the day with 3 burn after 5th level, etc) and just point out some Aether things of note.
I think the most important use of the Telekineticist is as the Utility Rogue character. No matter how much you enhance your Kinetic Blast, it's still just a single once-per-turn attack that can't Cleave, go Two-Handed or stack with weapon feats in general. The problem is that an Aether build isn't really conducive towards party-assist either, which means the number of niche's one can fill while still playing something thematic to the player, is limited.
This is resolved if you're the "thief" of the party (especially if you have a party that lacks such a character). We're better than a Rogue at thievish things for a few reasons. Primarily, because we have ranged Disable/Sleight which doesn't accumulate a -5 DC like the Arcane Trickster does. We begin with Sleight as a class skill, so the Vagabond Child (Urban) is a very very important Trait to pick up (along with one of the Reactionary types for the bonus initiative). Now we steal and open/remove almost as well as a Rogue, except we'll get to do it from a nice/safe distance.
Attributes are already inclined towards that of a Thief, since Dexterity is as important to us as Con (and unlike a Rogue, we don't have Strength as an important attribute). For a Thief build though, I would put Dex first. Con is important, but if you know you're not going to focus on pouring damage, and knowing that most Burn is for enhancing the Blast that you're not built around, you're better off making sure you have the Rogue-ish Dexterity. The things you're lacking is Detecting of Traps and Disabling of Magic Traps (I'll address this a bit more down below when talking about magic items). My personal experience says that it's ok to share the work on the Detection of traps. Due to the rather low Wisdom most Rogues have, depending on the 1/2 level boost, I find that Wisdom based characters with the Perception skill as a class skill (wisdom based characters tend to find a way to enhance perception, even if it's not a class skill), found traps more often than Rogues. That, and Detect Magic is something nearly everyone seems to have, so magical traps are often more obvious to the magic users than to Rogues anyways.
So, high Dexterity as primary
Con can be 2nd, or even 3rd as long as it's at least a 14. You need at least 5 burn so you can have 3 burn for your Overflow, 1 for use, and one that you keep as a backup.
Int is important for the skills, and I would also recommend at least a 14. That's 6 skills per level (Perception, Sleight, Disable, Acrobats, Stealth, and eventually, Fly)
Strength is an obvious dump stat, which can be offset later with either Mulecords or Heavyload Belt if needed, but you might want to keep some Strength for your Chainmail Shirt later on.
Wisdom is not dumpable (Will is our weakness, and Perception is still important), so "extra" points go there.
Charisma is dumpable.
Sadly, you don't -really- get a choice on Wild Talents, although they make it look like you do. Infusions are really limited to Pushing, then Bowling (since obviously you're not wanting to get into melee). And while Utility seems more open, the choices are really Finesse (Your rogue ability), then Haul or Heal, and either Self-TK, Invis, or whichever one you didn't pick at 4th level. This can be resolved a bit by taking the Extra Wild Talent feat at 3rd level, gaining Heal/Haul. Personally, I take Haul as quickly as possible because lifting level*100 for free, or level*1000 for a burn... well, even a boulder-covered cave entrance isn't going to be a problem for you... muchless that gate which dropped down in front of you. (even a 20th level Wizard with Telekinesis can only lift as much as a 4th level telekineticist)
As for Feats, the Extra Wild Talent can be useful later on, but the rest of your feats can either go towards boosting your Blast(meh), or boosting your Thievery: Deft Hands, Stealthy, Skill Focus. Similarly, since you want to stay out of combat, Dodge/Mobility are good picks; as well as boosting Acrobatics (a class skill nonetheless) with skill focus (or Acrobatic) and magic items may allow you to move around without worrying about AoOs. Unlike other classes, you have the extra feats and item slots to focus on these things.
Items: Aside from the obvious for all Kineticists (Cloak of Resistance, Amulet of NA, Mithral Chainmail shadow/creeping, Arrowmaster's bracers/Bracers of Archery, dex/con belt, etc), the Thief/TK can focus items on boosting skills. Shoes for acrobatics and movement out of combat, gloves for boosting sleight/disable, but a really important and often forgotten is the Headband of Vast Intelligence. This is more important than a Con/Dex boost due to it adding your HD to any one skill of choice (2 skills at +4). Whereas a rogue needs to focus more on armour, a good weapon, etc... you can aim for one of these. This offsets your weaknesses in skill, both in perception and in disabling of devices. There are no darker bluer items for a TK/thief to take in my opinion.
So, to whomever shall one day make the optimized kineticist document, hope this helps some. :) I can't imagine a more effective thief than one who can turn invis at will, can fly anywhere, and can steal things without being there, or open traps without endangering anyone.
Note: Bracers of Archery were suppose to be Bracers of Armor in the previous post. :/
Here is what I consider to be an -ideal- telekineticist sheet. It's not the best race for it, I'm just permanently stuck on Sylphs, I'm sure most other races would be even better due to the Con penalty. I start with Con 15 and raise it to 16 at 4th level. I dump Strength and raise it to 8 at 8th level.
Str: 8, Con: 18(20), Dex: 18(20), Int: 18, Wis: 10, Cha: 11 (20 pts)
AC: 19(20) [T:14/F:15(16)], Fort: +12(+13), Rflx: +12(+13), CMB: +5, CMD: 19(20), INIT: +6(7)
HP: 80(88) [20Tmp/24 Non-Lethal Damage : Force Ward]
Skills: Acrobatics: (7)+15, Disable Device: (8)+22, Escape Artist: (7)+20, Fly: (8)+21, Perception: (8)+19, Sleight of Hand: (8)+23, Stealth: (8)+27, Use Magic Device: (5)+8
Feats: 1) Deft Hands 3) Extra Wild Talent 5) Stealthy 7) Iron Will
Traits: Vagabond Child (Urban), Breeze Kissed (Racial), Whispering Wind (Racial)
Wild Talents:
Infusions: 1) Extended 3) Pushing 5) Bowling
Blasts (120', +13 ToHit) - Aether (AC): 4d6+13 * 1.5 [No Burn Required] - Electric (Touch): 4d6+6 * 1.5 (No Burn Required)
Utilities: 2) Finesse 3) Healer 4) TK Haul 6) Self TK 8) TK Invis
Magic Gear (33,000): +1 Mithral Shadow Chain Shirt, +2 Belt of Physical Might (Con, Dex), +2 Headband of Vast Intelligence (Perception), +2 Cloak of Resistance, Vest of Escape, Gloves of Larceny, Hat of Disguise.
Wish List: Arrowmaster's Bracers.
Note: Once a Telekineticist discovers a trap, if it's magical and they can't suppress/dispel it, the Telekineticist can just blast it into smithereens from a distance.
Note: Once a Telekineticist discovers a trap, if it's magical and they can't suppress/dispel it, the Telekineticist can just blast it into smithereens from a distance.
I mean... a rogue can do that with a bow & arrows or other things, but... sure.
The "Find a Trap and Break It" shtick hasn't been solely the Rogue's deal for years now.
The Rogue is now the tactical-positioning & Dex-Monkey class par excellence. The 8+ skills also mean it's resting pretty comfortably on the "I've got a Skill Trick for that!" motif, too.
This can be resolved a bit by taking the Extra Wild Talent feat at 3rd level
Gotta be level 6 to take that feat. :(
That, and you can only take talents two spell levels lower than your max. So you can only take level 1 talents when you first get access to the feat.