Hey everyone, so Im starting a new game with a group, and Im looking into playing a Soulknife. Ive read the class a bit, but i cant find anything about how long your Mindblade sticks around. Like if i make it, does it disappear after a while, or does it hang around until I make a new one?
If anyones curious or wants to make suggestions, so far Im building a Drow Soulknife, looking at picking up the Gifted Blade Archetype for some situational powers, and will most likely be using a Katana like Mindblade, that I might try to have change forms into a Double Chained Kama at later levels.
Will be based on heavy trickery, so Bluff checks, and Combat Maneuvers. So feints, Trips, and such. So far the groups lvl 3 to start.
Gifted Blade Archetype is not set in stone, I was also looking at Cutthroat for the bonus to bluff, and sneak attacks but have been told the gifted blades powers would help round the character out more.
3-4 man group, Looking at a Paladin, a Rogue type, and myself. The rogue may end up making the healer for the group.
Any advice or anything would be helpful. Most stuff needs to be from Pathfinder, however 3.5 isnt completely removed, the DM wants to mix the two together.
Well, the mind blade sticks around to you 'put it away', make a new one, or it gets broken.
I like Gifted Blade. Having powers in addition to what you can already do is really nice. Also, it stacks with Deadly Fist, but that won't work for a Katana type, obviously.
the mind blade acts in all ways as any other manufactured weapon until you let go of it, then it vanishes. The exception is when you throw it, and then it basically just sticks around long enough to hit and do damage unless you have some feat or affect that would require it to stick around. Only thing I can think of there is a feat from 3.5 called pinning shot, where you cound impale someone to the wall with a ranged attack, but it was pretty specific and limited.
As for archtypes, gifted blade is pretty useful, lots of handy buff/utility powers out there. Cutthroat is a bit on the weaker end of the spectrum but if you want to fill the rogue skill monkey trapfinding role it can be pretty useful.
I think Ive made the choice to go Gifted Blade, with Nimble Blade as well. With +2 to bluff from Alt racial and bonus to Dex that will be the direction i take.
If you're going with Cutthroat, which is a decent archetype, consider going for a TWF build instead of focusing on something like a katana. Sneak Attack scales much better with more attacks, and the fact that Soulknife is a full BAB class with a bonus TWF feat option and free, automatically scaling weapons makes the SK a prime candidate for such a fighting style. Especially if you get to add Agile to your paired blades.
If you go with Gifted Blade, strongly consider building around the Focused Offense bladeskill, which lets you use Wisdom for hit and damage, as well as for manifesting. Not necessarily optimal for a Drow (maybe half-elf with the alternate drow traits could be an option?), but it can definitely help be more SAD.
The strength of the Nimble Blade archetype (in my opinion, at least) really lies in whether or not your GM will let you access the Agile weapon property without it. But either way, you don't really lose much for the archetype, assuming you were going with a Dex build in the first place.