A friend of mine is running a Dark Sun campaign using the Pathfinder rules and is encouraging the players to make use of psionic classes from the Psionics Unleashed supplement.
I'd like to try a Psychic Warrior, but I'm kind of stuck on where to focus for that character. The bonus feats are nice, and I like the idea of paths, but they seem kind of.. underwhelming, along with the fairly limited powers list, crappy saves and 3/4 BAB. It could just be me, though, as I've recently been playing an Eldritch Knight with a higher BAB and much more impressive casting.
I typically wouldn't worry about optimizing, but the GM has said that the game will be pretty brutal. So what's a good way to put a Psychic Warrior together? Odds are this game won't be going to level 20, but it'll almost certainly end up in the 10-15 range.
I happen to like psychic types :-)
Psychic Powers:
Force Screen - aloows you to run around with a big two-handed weapon and still have shield boni
Strength of My Enemy - even more strength for you to swing that nasty two-hander (the more attacks you get, the faster the strenght boost)
Dissolving Weapon - quick way to gain extra damage dice on your attacks... think shocking grasp magus.
Empathic Transfer, Hostile - downright nasty, good damage even on a successful save and heals you (careful, you gotta be damaged before you can use it)
While Psychic classes don't seem to have cantrips/orisons, they actually do: you have to read the description of 1st level powers, as quite a bunch say something like "spend psionic focus to cast without spending power points"
Feats:
Psionic Meditation is kind-of a must-have.
Psionic Weapon can be nice if you don't want to full-attack, could be a nice add-on to vital strike if you want to go spring-attack.
Depending on the type of warrior you want (barbarian-like, rogue-like, ...) you might want to have a look at the Elocater Prestige Class.
I am highly partial in this however: I've loved the Elocater since 3.5 :-D
Phrenic slayer is also worth considering as a PRC, since it nets you full BAB, and the favored enemy bonuses can be very nice if you'll be up against a specific type of psychic enemy.
As for what path to use, I've personally always been fond of the Mind Knight. A competence bonus to initiative and an untyped bonus to attack and damage is very nice, and their maneuver is pretty awesome too. Having to summon your weapon can be a pain, but it means you get to pick between slashing/piercing/bludgeoning, and call weapon gives you a scaling enhancement bonus.
Feral Warrior path is the other possibility; Claws of the Beast can be quite scary if you optimize for it, and metaphysical claw makes enhancement bonuses easy to get. Play half giant, take the expansion power, and take improved natural attack, and your claw damage can get crazy. As a Half Giant, claws of the beast will eventually get up to 6d6 base, then use expansion to go up two size categories, and then add INA on top of that, and I believe your claws damage dice go up to 16d6.
Now toss in Claws of the Vampire, which will let you heal half the damage inflicted by your claws' damage dice every time you hit. To completely break the game, dip monk for Flurry and take Feral Combat Training.
Also, Psychic Warriors have a lot of very nice low-level powers, so overchannel+talented can be a good investment for them.
Another possibility to consider, depending on what level you're starting at, is to start off as a fighter or other non-psychic martial class who moves into the War Mind PrC. It would give you a similar flavor the psychic warrior, but with a much stronger martial base at the cost of manifester levels.
In 3.5 I mixed Psychic Warrior with Fighter to get a crazy amount of Feats at low level. Pathfinder makes that a little obsolete (not a bad thing IMO).
With Psychic Warrior, if all you're looking at is combat, you're probably better off going Fighter. If you look at big picture kind of things, the Psychic Warrior has a lot more options and can contribute in other non-combat ways.
When I was playing around with it, one thing that struck me was how mobile a PW could be. Things like Speed of Thought, Up the Walls, Psionic Charge. If you could find a way to get yourself a pounce, this could be pretty brutal. Spring attack/Whirlwind with a 2-handed weapon could be a way to go. I've never tried any of these builds in an actual game so all this is just theory-craft, but may give you some ideas.
To throw out how I'd build a natural attack focused Psychic Warrior:
Monk (Ki Mystic/Monk of the Sacred Mountain) 3
Psychic Fist 10
Race: Half-Giant
Ability Scores (20 Point Buy)
Str: 14 (+2 Racial) = 16 (+5 Level advances) (+5 Inherent) (+6 Belt) = 32 (36 when Expanded)
Dex: 14 (-2 Racial) = 12 (+6 Belt) = 18 (14 When Expanded)
Con: 14 (+6 Belt) = 20
Int: 12
Wis: 14 (+2 Racial) = 16 (+6 Headband) (+4 Inherent) = 26
Cha: 8
BAB: 14
Base Flurry: 16/16/11/11/6/6/1
Speed: 30 + 40 (Monk) + 10 (Speed of Thought) = 80
HP: 19d8 + 8 (1st level) + 100 (Con) + 20 (Toughness)
Claws:
Attack: 16 (Flurry base) + 13 (Strength) + 5 (Meta Claw) + 1 (Weapon Focus) + 2 (Feral Path) - 2 (Huge Size) - 1 (Crane Style) = 34/34/29/29/26/26/21
Damage: 16d6 + 13 (Strength) + 5 (Meta Claw) + 2 (G. Psionic Fist) = 16d6 + 20
AC: 10 + 4 (dex) + 8 (Wis) + 3 (Monk) +5 (Ring of Protection) +6 (Amulet of Natural Armor + Sacred Mountain Monk) + 13 (Inertial Armor) + 4 (Crane Style) +2 (Dodge + Psionic) = 55 (51 when Expanded)
CMB: 3 (Monk) + 12 (BAB from non-Monk levels) + 13 (Str) + 2 (Size) = 30
CMD: 10 + 14 (BAB) + 13 (STR) +2 (Dex) + 2 (Size) = 41
Saves:
Fort: 13 (Base) + 5 (Con) + 5 (Cloak of Res) = 23
Ref: 10 (Base) + 2 (Dex) + 5 (Cloak of Res) = 17
Will: 8 (Base) + 8 (Wis) + 5 (Cloak of Res) = 21
Ki Pool: 4 (1/2 Monk lvls + 1/4 Psychic Fist levels) + 8 (Wis) + 2 (Ki Mystic) = 14
Feats, Traits, and Skills:
Feats
1 Improved Natural Attack
PWB1: Weapon Focus (Claw)
PWB2: Overchannel
3 Talented
5 Psionic Fist
PWB5: Psychic Meditation
7 Feral Combat Training
MB1: Dodge
MB2: Deflect Arrows (or anything else)
9: Craft Wondrous Item
11: Craft Wand
13: Crane Style
15: Crane Wing
PFB5: Speed of Thought
17: Crane Riposte
19: Greater Psionic Fist
PFB10: Psionic Dodge (or anything else)
Traits:
Magical Knack (+2 ML thanks to Psionic/Magic transparency)
Any (Plenty of useful choices)
Skills:
5 points per level in all classes
Acrobatics: 20 + 3 (Class) + 5 (Dex) = 28
Autohypnosis: 20 + 3 (Class) + 6 (Wis) = 29
Perception: 20 + 3 (Class) + 6 (Wis) = 29
Spellcraft: 20 + 3 (Class) + 1 (Int) = 24
Survival: 20 + 3 (Class) + 4 (Race) + 6 (Wis) = 33
Powers:
Manifester Level: 15 (base) +2 (Magical Knack) = 17, can go up to 20 with Overchannel (No penalty on level 1-3 Powers)
Path: Claws of the Beast
Path: Bite of the Wolf
Level 1 Powers: Expansion, Metaphysical Claw, Inertial Armor
Level 2 Powers: Animal Affinity, Hustle, Free
Level 3 Powers: Claws of the Vampire, Duodimensional Claw, Free
Level 4 Powers: Fold Space, Inertial Barrier, Slip the Bonds
Level 5 Powers: All Free (The level 5 Psywar List kinda stinks)
Claws of the Beast, Intertial Armor, and Metaphysical Claw will be your main all-day buffs, since they all last hour/level.
Expansion will be your most important combat buff. Luckily, it has some great augments (on top of going up to huge size, you can eventually boost the duration to 10 min/level and/or manifest it as a swift action).
Hustle will probably be your favorite power ever: a swift action power that grants an extra move action means you'll just about always be able to flurry.
Craft Wand will be useful for making Dorjes. These will be a huge boon, because one of the downsides of this build is a smallish power point pool. Just putting up your three all-day buffs (Claws of the Best, Metaphysical Claw, and Inertial Armor) will eat up 76 points.
Equipment/WBL
Amulet of Natural Armor +5 (50000 Gold, or half if crafted)
Belt of Physical Perfection +6 (144000 Gold , or half if crafted)
Cloak of Resistance +5 (25000 Gold, or half if crafted)
Headband of Wisdom +6 (36000 Gold, or half if crafted)
Manual of Gainful Exercise +5 (137500 Gold)
Ring of Protection +5 (50000 Gold, or half if crafted)
Tome of Understanding +4 (110000 Gold)
Total Spent 552500
Remaining: 327500
A friend of mine is running a Dark Sun campaign using the Pathfinder rules and is encouraging the players to make use of psionic classes from the Psionics Unleashed supplement.
I'd like to try a Psychic Warrior, but I'm kind of stuck on where to focus for that character. The bonus feats are nice, and I like the idea of paths, but they seem kind of.. underwhelming, along with the fairly limited powers list, crappy saves and 3/4 BAB. It could just be me, though, as I've recently been playing an Eldritch Knight with a higher BAB and much more impressive casting.
I typically wouldn't worry about optimizing, but the GM has said that the game will be pretty brutal. So what's a good way to put a Psychic Warrior together? Odds are this game won't be going to level 20, but it'll almost certainly end up in the 10-15 range.
Meet Gornak, a psychic warrior in a game I am running. Truly, he has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion.
Chris, I think this was meant to go to Compatible Products.
Sorry, I'm not sure what to cover that hasn't been covered.
I think you're overlooking the Weaponmaster path. It allows you to potentially avoid full attacks, and you get a bonus to offset your 3/4 BAB.
Just realized the CMB and CMD for the Psychic Warrior build I posted were a couple points lower than they should be because I forgot to account for Powerful Build. Oops.