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So I think I've done it. A good force Mage build, but always looking for improvements.
5 levels of psychic. I took the faith based one. And I'm using an aasimar build so it fits theme wise. Took the magical lineage trait for the casting of magic missile. Took spell specialization for magic missile. One of the amplifications for the psychic was focused force which increase damage dice by 1 step. Does not increase casting time. And the psychic has more skill points than a typical sorcerer.
Than take the rest in Pathfinder Savant. Where I use the esoteric magic feature to get the spells I need. But the psychic spell list is impressive, and there's a lot of force spells on it already, such as twilight knife.
With this build, he can be a very good party buffer, backup healer thanks to the faith psychic, and can still do dmg.
Weaknesses: Spell Focus feat. I have to take that to qualify for Savant. The problem is, I'm playing him with no saving throws, which makes spell focus kinda useless. Any ideas what I could do with this?
Because of spells, Int based, Faith amplifications, wis based, and because UMD is such a big part of is build, all of my physical stats took a dive. Str -7, Dex 10, con 12. So invisibility is a must for survival! Any other suggestions?
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Have a similar build who just hit 4th. For survivability, I took Light Armor Proficiency and Toughness. Psychic magic doesn't have a spell failure chance, so armor isn't a bad idea. My build is human so I have a spare feat.
I also use a reach weapon to keep people back a bit (and give any rogue type a flanking buddy without endangering myself much). May eventually take Shield proficiency instead and hide behind a tower shield.
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Spell Focus feat. I have to take that to qualify for Savant. The problem is, I'm playing him with no saving throws, which makes spell focus kinda useless. Any ideas what I could do with this
Spell Focus is required for spell specialization, so you'd have to take it as Evocation to bump up magic missile. Magical Aptitude is required for Pathfinder Savant.
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Weaknesses: Spell Focus feat. I have to take that to qualify for Savant. The problem is, I'm playing him with no saving throws, which makes spell focus kinda useless. Any ideas what I could do with this?
Pick up a Dazing rod and toss that on your Magic Missiles. It adds a Will save to the spell if it doesn't normally allow a save, so Spell Focus will still be useful. Also pick up Toppling Spell--with Magical Lineage, it adds a free trip attempt to every missile. Heighten Spell + Dazing Rod is your late-game combo, with the possibility of locking down multiple targets for rounds at a time.
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Do your spells really use attack rolls? Wouldn't it be better to drop LAP and just stick to armors with relatively low ACP and not worry about proficiency?
Magic missle doesn't, but the higher level force spells usually involve an attack roll (spiritual weapon), touch attack (force punch), or ranged touch (force hook charge). Was trying to avoid attack roll penalties as much as possible with the psychic's amazing 1/2 BAB. :-)
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Kids, be careful with full round actions.
I played a psychic with Focused Force/Toppling Spell in the first level of Emerald Spire.
It was all fun and games until casting for a full round makes you a target.
My psychic started casting a Toppling Spell MM and the BBEG at the end of the emerald spire. It crit with a bow for 21 points of damage. One hit, one kill.
Goodbye Sefu the Wise.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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There is a difference between a full round casting time and a one round casting time.
A spontaneous spellcaster applying a metamagic feat to a spell increases the casting time of a standard action spell to a full round action, which is started and completed on the same turn.
A summoning spell has a one round casting time, which is started on the caster's turn and completes just prior to the same initiative count on the following round.
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What he said. "Full round action" just means that it takes up both your standard and move action for that turn, not that it lasts the entire round to complete. To put it in perspective, a fighter taking two attacks with a +6/+1 BAB is a full round action.
So I haven't studied the builds in this thread that deeply yet. Can someone explain why psychic is so much better for this than other classes? I saw Focused Force, which helps a little with damage, but doesn't seem like it's that big a difference by itself. Do psychics just get a ton of good force spells on their list? I haven't looked through all the new occult stuff yet, so there are probably plenty of new spells I don't know about.
And why Pathfinder Savant? I briefly glanced at that prestige class, but I didn't have a chance to figure out all the details and why it works so well with this build.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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And why Pathfinder Savant? I briefly glanced at that prestige class, but I didn't have a chance to figure out all the details and why it works so well with this build.
I think it was mostly for Esoteric Spell class feature, allowing you to grab spells off of other classes' spell lists and add them to your own. The prestige class grants you 6 such spells over its 7 levels. In this case, grabbing odd force spells like Emergency Force Sphere or Admonishing Ray
Fromper: I'll guess that he wants to add force spells from other classes to his spell list. And maybe to later use 2 PP to get 30 Magic Missile spells on a scroll which he can use at his caster level.
I don't think the 1 level bump in spell level is worth it, and he'd be losing a spellcasting level too.
(The endless blasts from scrolls though...quite tempting, even if tactically dull.)
Here's an alternative route:
Shaman w/ Lore Spirit & Arcane Enlightenment Hex
You'd choose the hex at 2nd anyway, so if you're still 1st, it's a decent switch. Aasimar is also the best fit because all 3 mental stats bolster the (very key) hex.
As well as all the flavorful archetypes/hexes/wandering spirits, there's the Spiritual Guardian feat if you're into Spiritual Weapon (et al). (Not a recommendation. Magic Missile is too superior, as is Admonishing Ray as mentioned above.)
Just my 2 c.p.
Here's an alternative route:
Shaman w/ Lore Spirit & Arcane Enlightenment Hex
You'd choose the hex at 2nd anyway, so if you're still 1st, it's a decent switch. Aasimar is also the best fit because all 3 mental stats bolster the (very key) hex.As well as all the flavorful archetypes/hexes/wandering spirits, there's the Spiritual Guardian feat if you're into Spiritual Weapon (et al). (Not a recommendation. Magic Missile is too superior, as is Admonishing Ray as mentioned above.)
I was about to suggest something similar. Spiritual Weapon does have the edge over Magic Missile when it comes to single targets: a Toppling (or Dazing) Spiritual Weapon will proc every round against its designated target, whereas Magic Missile only gets a single Trip/Daze attempt.
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Make sure to not over look spells on the psychic list like Twilight Knife. Below is most of the PFS relevant spells with the force descriptor in the spell DB (which is not up to date but it should help). I have added an asterisk to all the spells on your list. The only notable ones I see you missing are Spiritual Weapon and Spiritual Ally. You do have Twilight knife which is comparable and gets a way bigger boost from you Force Focus because all damage die get improved.
By taking a PC you delay getting Greater Invisibility and Dimension Door. They are your 2 best defensive spells. So the PC make me wary but the useful spells are a little thin. If you don't enter a PC class you will have more spells and feats to augment your spells. Daze, Topple, Quicken, Heighten + Furious, Sickening.
Forceful Hand sorcerer/wizard 6, magus 6*
Interposing Hand sorcerer/wizard 5, magus 5*
Resilient Sphere sorcerer/wizard 4*
Blade Barrier cleric/oracle 6, inquisitor 6*
Explosive Runes sorcerer/wizard 3
Floating Disk sorcerer/wizard 1, magus 1*
Mage Armor sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner 1, witch 1*
Magic Missile sorcerer/wizard 1, magus 1*
Sepia Snake Sigil bard 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, witch 3
Shield sorcerer/wizard 1, alchemist 1, summoner 1,
magus 1*
Spiritual Weapon cleric/oracle 2, inquisitor 2
Tiny Hut bard 3, sorcerer/wizard 3
Wall Of Force sorcerer/wizard 5, magus 5*
Emergency Force Sphere sorcerer/wizard 4*
Instant Armor cleric/oracle 2, paladin 2*
Spiritual Ally cleric/oracle 4
Twilight Knife sorcerer/wizard 3, witch 3*
Cushioning Bands sorcerer/wizard 2, summoner 2*
Force Hook Charge magus 3*
Force Punch magus 3, sorcerer/wizard 3*
Leashed Shackles inquisitor 4, sorcerer/wizard 6*
Symbol of Sealing cleric/oracle 6, sorcerer/wizard 6, witch 6
Scoop sorcerer/wizard 0
Battering Blast sorcerer/wizard 3
Forceful Strike cleric/oracle 4, inquisitor 4, magus 4,
paladin 4
Shining Cord magus 3
Ablative Barrier alchemist 2, magus 2, sorcerer/wizard 3,
summoner 2*
Adjuring Step alchemist 1, bard 1, magus 1,
sorcerer/wizard 1
Chain of Perdition cleric/oracle 3, sorcerer/wizard 3*
Pilfering Hand bard 2, cleric/oracle 2, magus 2,
sorcerer/wizard 2*
Telekinetic Charge sorcerer/wizard 4*
Sign Of Wrath cleric/oracle 6, sorcerer/wizard 6
Wrathful Mantle cleric/oracle 3, paladin 3
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I was about to suggest something similar. Spiritual Weapon does have the edge over Magic Missile when it comes to single targets: a Toppling (or Dazing) Spiritual Weapon will proc every round against its designated target, whereas Magic Missile only gets a single Trip/Daze attempt.
Here's an alternative route:
Shaman w/ Lore Spirit & Arcane Enlightenment Hex
You'd choose the hex at 2nd anyway, so if you're still 1st, it's a decent switch. Aasimar is also the best fit because all 3 mental stats bolster the (very key) hex.As well as all the flavorful archetypes/hexes/wandering spirits, there's the Spiritual Guardian feat if you're into Spiritual Weapon (et al). (Not a recommendation. Magic Missile is too superior, as is Admonishing Ray as mentioned above.)
I'm running this style Shaman now and it's quite strong. You can throw a meta magic spiritual weapon out there then just misfortune or evil eye the target. Full BAB for multiple attacks. I really do not find it to have the force mage flavor though. But I did not really have that in mind when I made the character.
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So is the psychic with the faith discipline the only class that gets both Magic Missle and Spiritual Weapon on its spell lists? I mean, classes that always get those spells, not counting oddball stuff that lets you pick a specific spell from another class to add to your list.
I guess the next question is which one do you put Magical Lineage on, to use Toppling and Daze easier. Or do you put Magical Lineage on one, and Wayang Spellhunter on the other? Or go for both on the same spell, and start dazing much earlier. The only problem I can see is that if you put dazing on too low a level spell, the save DC suffers. But Magic Missile is a good choice for hitting a few precise targets at once, unlike fireball hitting everything in the area (Selective Spell can't be taken until level 10, so not that useful for most PFS).
So there's a couple of reasons o choose psychic and people can debate my choice f they want. (That's what these boards are for!)
I've never played a psychic before
I've always had preference for spontaneous casters vs prepared.
I get more skill points than with a sorcerer seeing how psychics use their Int for spellcasting
Focused Force for obvious reasons
With the faith discipline I get spiritual weapon as a bonus spell
I'm not impeded by silence or hold person
Pathfinder savant for the esoteric magic feature that allows me to pick up spiritual ally among other spells
Another spell that is useful with this PC is force sword. Though not legal yet in PFS, it allows the caster to cast a longsword that can be given to other PCs. Couple that with toppling spell!
I haven't looked at the shaman combo above. I tried playing a shaman but didn't like their flavour. But I haven't really given the one I made a chance so will look into it.