I'm looking for some direction on what conscious mind to pick for a new game. I'm not really tied to a particular one at the moment.
The only exclusion I'd say is Infinite Eye just because I was able to play one in a one-shot recently. I like playing support so it seemed up my alley but my Unleash Psyche turns weren't too exciting with the lack of innate offensive cantrips. I did use Parallel Breakthrough to take Telekinetic Projectile which was great and did help. All of the support cantrips are great, but my limited offense felt wasteful of the Psychic's blasting potential.
So now I want to try a more aggressive conscious mind. I'm pretty settled on Emotional Acceptance though. It's what I used with that previous Psychic and it worked really well, and I'm probably going to be the main face of the party so the charisma casting will be for the best. I think Oscillating Wave and Silent Whisper interest me a tad more than the others in terms of style. My concern for Oscillating Wave is if what you get from the energy gimmick is worth the effort. For Silent Whisper, I'm concerned with how limiting the exclusively mental damage cantrips actually are. The other ones seem cool too but could probably use a second reading from me.
Does anyone have any positive experiences with the other conscious minds? Even with Infinite Eye, honestly, since a one-shot didn't exactly make me an expert.
TL;DR - Sell me on a conscious mind!
Well, I won't sell you on a Conscious Mind, but I'll explain you how to make any Conscious Mind a blasting one: Grab Electric Arc through Adaptive Cantrip (if you're Human) or via an Ancestry feat (with the feat Ancestral Mind in that case). Electric Arc while your Psyche is Unleashed is easily equivalent to Amped Offensive cantrips and it doesn't cost you any Focus Point so you can in parallel focus on your other Psy cantrips.
Ancestral Mind is a feat I didn't pay much mind to but that's a really good use for it.
Anyway, having my Parallel Breakthrough choice be open does sound nice, especially with so many choices.
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Ancestral Mind doesn't actually say that it makes the spells benefit from Unleash. It's a plausible reading, but it's not explicit, and it's equally plausible for someone to assume it stops at making your innate spells all Occult (benefiting from your better proficiency, but it also can make them int-based) and using different components (mainly useful for the inherent eschew materials).
The feat only says you can substitute the components of the spell, it doesn't actually say they're cast via Psychic Spellcasting (the class feature), and that's an important distinction.
I agree that you can make such a case even if it's a very strict RAW reading. But that wouldn't be very useful because you can grab Electric Arc via Adaptive Cantrip. Ruling it that way would just push Psychics to be Human (or adopted) so I'm not sure it's very useful.
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Ancestral Mind is a feat I didn't pay much mind to but that's a really good use for it.
Anyway, having my Parallel Breakthrough choice be open does sound nice, especially with so many choices.
You might find my cantrip guide useful if you are using Ancestral Mind to get cantrips.
• Gisher's Guide to Acquiring Common Cantrips
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Mualijae Elf gets you access to the most innate cantrips – a total of seven.
Three are from general Elf options.
• Seer Elf Heritage: Detect Magic
• Otherworldly Magic 1: Any one arcane
• Elemental Wrath 1: Acid Splash (modified)
Four are from Mualijae-specific feats.
• Wildborn Magic 1: Any one Primal
• Wildborn Adept 5: Dancing Lights, Disrupt Undead, and Tanglefoot
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But, in my opinion, the real treasure is the Gnome Fey-touched heritage. This let's you pick one Primal cantrip, but importantly it lets you change your choice once a day! It's effectively a prepared cantrip 'slot' with access to one of the best lists of combat cantrips. That's a lot of adaptability that Psychics usually lack.
• For targeting reflex saves, Primal has: Electric Arc, Scatter Scree, and Spout none of which are Occult.
• For targeting fortitude saves, Primal has: Disrupt Undead, Gale Blast, and Puff of Poison none of which are Occult.
• For targeting AC, Primal has: Acid Splash, Gouging Claw, Produce Flame, Ray of Frost, and Tanglefoot none of which are Occult (although Produce Flame and Ray of Frost are available through Oscillating Wave).
• And there are also a lot of non-combat options on the Primal list.
For a repertoire-casting class that relies heavily on cantrips, I think this ability to switch to Disrupt Undead for an undead-heavy adventure, switch to Produce Flame for an adventure in the frozen North, etc. is really valuable.
And Gnomes can get a second innate cantrip through First World Magic 1.
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Thank you! That Fey-Touched info is really cool. I'm keeping that in mind should I ever get the chance to play a Gnome in the future because I guess I never read past it giving you a primal cantrip. It's great to be aware of that guide now too.
I think I'm going the Adopted Ancestry route if I do end up getting Electric Arc so that should dodge the Ancestral Mind issue. I'm planning to try out Psychic Rapport and Psi Burst this time around, so I think I'd have an easier time squeezing in an ancestry feat over a class feat.
Has anyone played Distant Grasp? With Electric Arc in mind, Telekinetic Rend feels redundant and underwhelming. The improved and amped Telekinetic Projectile feels really good to pair with EA though.
For Tangible Dream, how practical is it to regularly use Imaginary Weapon as a very squishy Psychic? Seems scary.
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Has anyone played Distant Grasp? With Electric Arc in mind, Telekinetic Rend feels redundant and underwhelming. The improved and amped Telekinetic Projectile feels really good to pair with EA though.
Telekinetic Rend hits way more targets than Electric Arc. It's not very useful prior to level 5 because of low damage, but once you get 3 bursts (each of them being able to target multiple enemies), you have a real AoE cantrip. On top of it, it works wonders against swarms and other creatures with a Weakness to AoE damage. Of course you need to amp it, unamped it's like most cantrips: Underwhelming.
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For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).
For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).
What is the recharge exploit?
For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).What is the recharge exploit?
Essentially, you exploit psychic being able to recover two focus points even if they only spend one, as long as it was spent on an amp. So you can start at 3, go to 0, recover 2, spend 1, and recover 2 again to reach your cap. Requires 20 minutes between combats but that's already fairly common for medicine purposes.
For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).What is the recharge exploit?Essentially, you exploit psychic being able to recover two focus points even if they only spend one, as long as it was spent on an amp. So you can start at 3, go to 0, recover 2, spend 1, and recover 2 again to reach your cap. Requires 20 minutes between combats but that's already fairly common for medicine purposes.
I read this part...
If you’ve spent Focus Points only to amp psi cantrips or fuel psychic abilities since the last time you Refocused, you regain 2 Focus Points when you Refocus, up to your maximum of 2.
...as saying that you can't use refocus to end up with more than 2 Focus Points. You can go from 0 to 2 or from 1 to 2, but not from 1 to 3 or from 2 to 3. The maximum that refocus can get you back to is 2. In which case the exploit to get to 3 doesn't work.
I read this part...
If you’ve spent Focus Points only to amp psi cantrips or fuel psychic abilities since the last time you Refocused, you regain 2 Focus Points when you Refocus, up to your maximum of 2....as saying that you can't use refocus to end up with more than 2 Focus Points. You can go from 0 to 2 or from 1 to 2, but not from 1 to 3 or from 2 to 3. The maximum that refocus can get you back to is 2. In which case the exploit to get to 3 doesn't work.
It's touched on in that thread a bit, but it's still your maximum and not a maximum. Adjusting with your maximum is more natural than changing the grammar of the sentence.
It's touched on in that thread a bit, but it's still your maximum and not a maximum. Adjusting with your maximum is more natural than changing the grammar of the sentence.I read this part...
If you’ve spent Focus Points only to amp psi cantrips or fuel psychic abilities since the last time you Refocused, you regain 2 Focus Points when you Refocus, up to your maximum of 2....as saying that you can't use refocus to end up with more than 2 Focus Points. You can go from 0 to 2 or from 1 to 2, but not from 1 to 3 or from 2 to 3. The maximum that refocus can get you back to is 2. In which case the exploit to get to 3 doesn't work.
You are assuming that the phrase "your maximum" refers to the total number of Focus Points in your pool. I see it as setting the maximum number of points you can have after refocusing. So I'm not changing any grammar in my reading.
I doubt there's any way to settle the issue without an official clarification.
I do wonder though if your use of the word 'exploit' is an indicator that you might have the feeling that this strategy is too good to be true.
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Getting rid of the "of 2" changes the grammar of the sentence.
I certainly could be wrong about the intent, but my reading doesn't require throwing out words.
Referring to this strategy as an exploit suggests to me that you might doubt whether it's too good to be true, too.
Except we're not getting rid of "of 2," we're just setting it to "of 3" since your focus point maximum would be 3 instead of 2. If it said "...a maximum of 2" to begin with this wouldn't be an issue.
And I'll freely admit that I don't think it was intentional. However, given that even with this the psychic falls short of the bard I can't say I particularly mind. Can't be too good to be true if it's not at least competing with the best.
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IF 2 is a hard maximum, it means a psychic with 3 focus points can't refocus if they spend one in an encounter.
Which by extension means Psychics go from being the best at refocusing at level 11 to the worst at level 12 when other people can pick up refocus 2 (or well, second worst since wizards have to wait until 14 for some reason), since their refocus 2 has this extra restriction.
That seems kind of weird, hard to believe it would be on purpose.
For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).What is the recharge exploit?Essentially, you exploit psychic being able to recover two focus points even if they only spend one, as long as it was spent on an amp. So you can start at 3, go to 0, recover 2, spend 1, and recover 2 again to reach your cap. Requires 20 minutes between combats but that's already fairly common for medicine purposes.
I may allow it. One of my players is trying a psychic for the first time. So far they do not seem more powerful the druid or bard.
For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).
Do you have any advice on how I should cover running into creatures immune to mental damage as Silent Whisper? Shatter mind is totally the go to if it works but when it doesn't, what's a good way to spend those focus points? I guess I could play an extra support role in those situations and amp Message or Contagious Idea instead.
Also this whole time, I thought Psychics still followed the 'spend 2 to refocus 2' rule. Reading it again, I guess not. Cool but weird. Is that something that was missed from the playtest or something that was changed?
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For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).Do you have any advice on how I should cover running into creatures immune to mental damage as Silent Whisper? Shatter mind is totally the go to if it works but when it doesn't, what's a good way to spend those focus points? I guess I could play an extra support role in those situations and amp Message or Contagious Idea instead.
Also this whole time, I thought Psychics still followed the 'spend 2 to refocus 2' rule. Reading it again, I guess not. Cool but weird. Is that something that was missed from the playtest or something that was changed?
For blasting? Parallel breakthrough feat at 6 for TK rend is probably your best bet. For support? Well, bard's right there. Lingering inspire/dirge will never not be good. Amp Message is also great for giving ranged martials a reaction strike.
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For blasting? Parallel breakthrough feat at 6 for TK rend is probably your best bet. For support? Well, bard's right there. Lingering inspire/dirge will never not be good. Amp Message is also great for giving ranged martials a reaction strike.For focus point blasting, the usual choice is silent whisper conscious mind for shatter mind at level 6. As stated, electric arc is your bread and butter before 6 and when you run out of focus points (which you really shouldn't between the recharge exploit [there's a thread on that somewhere] and strain mind).Do you have any advice on how I should cover running into creatures immune to mental damage as Silent Whisper? Shatter mind is totally the go to if it works but when it doesn't, what's a good way to spend those focus points? I guess I could play an extra support role in those situations and amp Message or Contagious Idea instead.
Also this whole time, I thought Psychics still followed the 'spend 2 to refocus 2' rule. Reading it again, I guess not. Cool but weird. Is that something that was missed from the playtest or something that was changed?
Amp Guidance allows you to support like a Bard. And it doesn't need you to use some RAW shenanigans to use Lingering Performance without being bared from other Amp Cantrips.
For blasting? Parallel breakthrough feat at 6 for TK rend is probably your best bet. For support? Well, bard's right there. Lingering inspire/dirge will never not be good. Amp Message is also great for giving ranged martials a reaction strike.Amp Guidance allows you to support like a Bard. And it doesn't need you to use some RAW shenanigans to use Lingering Performance without being bared from other Amp Cantrips.
Amped Guidance was what I spent most of my focus points on as Infinite Eye. It was pretty fun! The other support cantrip I was considering was Shield. I like that even unamped, its regular benefit of casting it on others seems really good.
Right now, I think if I'm going for a more blasty subclass like Oscillating Wave or Distant Grasp, picking up a support cantrip with the feat is best. Doing the opposite felt decent on my Infinite Eye, although of all the subclasses, I think that one also needed Electric Arc the most. Silent Whisper seems pretty balanced between blasting and support so I'm not sure what I'd pick for that one.