# best 1st level psionic powers?



## Evilhalfling (Aug 18, 2005)

The actual poll


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## Myrkveth (Aug 18, 2005)

*I love psionics*

Mind Thrust, Inertial Armor, and Demoralize are my favs.

Entangling Ectoplasm can be good for role-playing as well as combat - "he hit be with a ball of snot!"  (c:

I've never apprecaited Attraction though.

This has got to be the first Psionics poll question I've ever seen.  Not a popular topic with most folks, I guess.


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## lukelightning (Aug 18, 2005)

Energy ray. You can always find ways to amuse yourself through zapping people. Nothing beats it!


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## Dracomeander (Aug 18, 2005)

Energy Ray, Inertial Armor, Matter Agitation, and Skate are usually my first choices.

Energy Ray or Crystal Shard are necessary if you want your psion to be able to do direct damage to a foe. 

Inertial Armor is a good persistent defense that scales with the character.

Matter Agitation doesn't have to be used for direct damage. It is good for that if a bit on the slow side, but it is also good for providing a distraction. I think I've used it as often for starting a fire to distract a crowd or some guards as I've used it do deal damage.

As for Skate, mobility is a key in many situations. Also its abilityyy to make objects easierr to move can be a godsend at times.


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## Viktyr Gehrig (Aug 18, 2005)

_Catfall_, _energy ray_, and _far hand_.

Most people think of _energy ray_ purely as a combat spell, but the ability to summon small amounts of fire nearly endlessly is far more useful outside of combat. Sonic rays are good signalling devices. Cold rays can be used to fight environmental fires or to form protection against normal heat.

Electrical rays don't become very useful unless you're in a PL5 or higher campaign-- but they're still good in combat. 

In combat, of course, your ability to switch energy types on demand is incredibly useful when dealing with creatures that are resistant or immune-- or better, vulnerable-- to one or more energy types.

_Catfall_ isn't a great power unaugmented, but the higher level you are, the less you have to worry about falling. You can also use it to get around a number of obstacles.

_Far Hand_ is just the augmentable psionic version of my favorite 0th-level spell, _mage hand_. Flip levers, grab keys, snuff torches-- this spell will drive most puzzle-happy DMs mad, and can be used to derail numerous PCs-in-prison plots.

I should've voted for _far punch_, too-- great way to cover your escape through a crowd.


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## Yeoman (Aug 18, 2005)

Energy Ray, Crystal Shard, Precognition (Defensive/Offensive), Prescience (Offensive)

Energy Ray is useful for many reasons, simple energy damage, breaking objects (sonic), starting fires, and other things.

Crystal Shard is useful for unstoppable damage, which is always good.

Prescience and Precognition are just useful to enhance yourself with and because of the augmentation stay useful over your entire campaign.

I wanted to say Mind Thrust, but it's just too easy to defeat to be in the top tier of powers. Great when it works though


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## Ashrem Bayle (Aug 18, 2005)

If the DM allows the Hidden Talent feat, Mind Thrust is a wonderful power to take as a psychic warrior.
And Astral Construct is amazing...


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## Masquerade (Aug 19, 2005)

No love for Déjà Vu?  A creative player could have a lot of fun with this one.


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## arwink (Aug 19, 2005)

It's hardly the optimal choice, but _my light_ has been a choice in almost every 1st level psi-character I've seen my games. For some reason the players really groove on the beams of light shooting out of their eyes.


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## MadMaxim (Aug 19, 2005)

Energy ray, force screen, inertial armor and mind thrust.

Energy ray (and all the other energy powers for that matter) proves exactly why psionics are superior to their magical counterparts. The ability to choose the energy type can be endlessly useful and keep any DM on his toes. Sure, you have to augment them to get the maximum damage output, but I consider that a minor cost compared to the flexibility of the power.

Force screen and inertial armor are so superior to shield and mage armor it almost hurts... Sure, shield stops magic missiles, but that's the only point where shield is superior. The fact that you can augment both give higher bonusses make them far superior to their arcane counterparts, and don't get me started on greater mage armor giving a +6 armor bonus as a 3rd-level spell... That's just horrible...

Mind thrust is just plain wicked... Okay, you get a Will save for no damage, but for 1d10 points of damage per point, it sure looks like a winner to me.


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## Steel_Wind (Aug 19, 2005)

Does anyone have any recommendations for a 1st level Psion about to play _AoW: Whispering Cairn_ ? One of my players wants to give it a roll for the first time under 3.5 rules.

There are some undead and swarms in there; not your typical Will Fest for a psionic. Suggestions?


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## MatthewJHanson (Aug 19, 2005)

Steel_Wind said:
			
		

> Does anyone have any recommendations for a 1st level Psion about to play _AoW: Whispering Cairn_ ? One of my players wants to give it a roll for the first time under 3.5 rules.
> 
> There are some undead and swarms in there; not your typical Will Fest for a psionic. Suggestions?



The poll results above have some pretty good suggestions. The only reason to not have Inertial armor is if you planned to multiclass into something that had armor proficency. Energy ray works great against stuff without minds. 

Also makes sure to look at your discipline list. These powers are not included in the poll, but I'm willing to bet if they were Astral Construct would be within the top three.


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## Zimbel (Aug 19, 2005)

*Good effects*

Control Flames: I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before. Sure, at low levels, it doesn't do much damage/creature/round, but over the lifetime of the spell and the number of potential creatures, the damage isn't too bad. For raw cost-effectiveness, it's probably the highest damage-dealer in the book (under ideal circumstances). It's also non-magical fire, so you can ignite things (houses, trees, monsters,...). At higher levels, it can be competative with spells several levels higher than its cost - note that its max damage increases with your caster level, not with the power points you put into it. It's power increases again if you get Solicit Psycrystal (assuming you have a psycrystal - if not, why not).

Crystal Shard: Popular, but again no one has mentioned it above (edit: oops- missed a comment). The big deal with this one is no SR, and no save. Other than that, it's a bit weak. You won't be complaining about that feature when you're up against a golem, or something with unusually high SR (Note that SR is less of a hindrance for a Psion than a Sorcerer, but immunity still sucks).

Force Screen: It lacks the best power of shield (immunity to MM), but otherwise it rocks. It means you probably will never buy a shield for an AC bonus.

Inertial Armor: You don't need to buy armor- and if you do, it won't be for the AC bonus (at caster LV 19 this gives the bonus of +5 ghost touch plate (with no check penalty)). Overchannel (or being a Wilder) obviously would give you higher bonuses at character level 19.

Precognition, Defensive: The AC bonus is just a minor side-benefit. The big deals here are two:
1) It can be cast as an immediate action. Great for when you've just seen a medusa.
2) It can pump your saves beyond reason. It even stacks with resistance

Vigor has a break I hadn't thought of before (I didn't vote for it; I probably should have):
1) Use Vigor.
2) Use a bunch of powers with Overchannel. Loose much of the Vigor temp HP.
3) Use Vigor.
You can also use it in place of Catfall. (actually, it's better as far as final HP are concerned). Just cast it up front.

I'll have to disagree with others on Mind Thrust. Sure, the damage is nice (as is the type of save), but your average opponent is still likely to have a reasonable save chance, and negates on a save. Unless you're good at guessing (or knowing) weak saves, we're talking roughly a 50/50 chance, which makes it comparable to Crystal shard (assuming no SR or immunity)

Skate and Catfall (mentioned by others above) are nice, but simular effects are cheap to get on magic items- I would be unlikely to actually get that power (save, possibly through Psychic Chirurgery.)

On the Discipline lists, I'll second several comments above that Astral Construct is extremely nice. Control Object is moderately nice.


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## Evilhalfling (Aug 19, 2005)

My picks 
Energy Ray - gotta love sonic for destroying items- and the variable energy type is just lovely 

Vigor - more hp in a cruch, what more could you ask for. 

Telempathic projection - instant diplomacy, none of the guilt of charm person, and if you supress the manifestation (with concentraion check) very indecectable. 

I normally take Force shield over Inertial armor, as m.w. studded leather is almost as good, hmm I may reconsider as I had misremembered the augment cost. 

I dislike mindthrust - it is very likely to be useless, to many creatures are immune, and the save for no damage is a big turn off + poor range. 

I left the discipline powers out of the running because you have to take aprox 3 of the general powers, and discipline powers are a little more like domains- aside from cherry picking Energy missle and Astral construct - you have to look at the whole list. 

I actually dislike Astral construct, it is powerful, but it is complicated to run.  Many PCs and NPCs would just rather skip the hassle, besides it really changes the nature of the character. most of my psions have a concept, and summoning monsters made of jello doesn't fit into it. 

A astral construct specialist will make a great villian, when I finally get around to using it.


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## Zimbel (Aug 19, 2005)

> Energy Ray - gotta love sonic for destroying items- and the variable energy type is just lovely



I think that if you're planning on taking any of the higher-level energey spells (such as Energy Missile), I wouldn't bother with Energy Ray.

My overarching comment is that there are a lot of great effects (and some horibly weak effects) in the LV 1 list. You may want to consider using a higher-level slot or two (or attemting to get via Psychic Chirurgery) to increase the number you get.


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## Davelozzi (Aug 20, 2005)

_Mind Thrust_, without a doubt.  The psion in my game is 8th level now and it's still by far his most used power.


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## Hodag (Aug 20, 2005)

*Skate*

A Psi-Warrior with Skate can be terrifying on a charge, especially if they are using a pole arm. Sure, there are items which van increase movement, but sometimes its nice to have a back-up.


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## Abulia (Aug 21, 2005)

I'd like to say "thanks" for this little thread. I'm playing in an Eberron game and am seriously considering a Psion. Having no great experience with the XPH, some of the little snipits provided here have been extremely helpful.

Keep 'em coming and where the "best discipline powers" poll and the "best 2nd level psionic powers" poll?


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## Nifft (Aug 21, 2005)

I think it really depends what PC level we're talking about. _Crystal shard_ is way better than _energy ray_ at 9+ level, because you start running into Golems, Fiends and other magic or energy immune critters. At 1st level, _energy ray_ is better, because you do +1 point of damage per power point (on average).

Likewise, at 1st level, _astral construct_ is cute. At 11th level, with Boost Construct and Extend Power and Overchannel and Talented, it's freekin' amazing.

_Control flame_ is another late-bloomer, but has one of the best bang-for-buck ratios in the game, particularly if used in conjunction with Psicrystal Affinity and _solicit psicrystal_.

_Mind thrust_ is great at low-levels, especially in the hands (er, lobes) of a Wilder. At higher levels, too many foes have great Will saves or are immune to mind-affecting stuff... when you do find a foe who you can affect with mind-affecting effects, you're usually better off hitting them with a _brain lock_ or _psi suggestion_ (or _psi dominate_, or ...) -- with an insta-kill or insta-friend effect.

It's sad that Psions & Wilders can't trade powers like a Sorcerer and Bard can trade spells. My votes were for best over all levels (like _vigor_, a solid power at every PC level).

 -- N


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## Abulia (Aug 22, 2005)

Nifft said:
			
		

> It's sad that Psions & Wilders can't trade powers like a Sorcerer and Bard can trade spells. My votes were for best over all levels (like _vigor_, a solid power at every PC level).



Unless I'm missing something, they can. Take a peek at Psychic Reformation (p. 127).

That power sure seems worth it as a safety net to redo power and feat selections within 10 minutes (!), provided you want to pay the minor XP cost.


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## Nifft (Aug 22, 2005)

Abulia said:
			
		

> Unless I'm missing something, they can. Take a peek at Psychic Reformation (p. 127).
> 
> That power sure seems worth it as a safety net to redo power and feat selections within 10 minutes (!), provided you want to pay the minor XP cost.




You are correct... the problem is, one's 1st level Power choices are rather far back in one's history. So it's a lot of XP to rid yourself of a stinker.

Again, it would be nice if they could change powers _like a Sorcerer changes spells_, not by spending XP.

(Also, _Psychic Reformation_ may be banned IMC, depending on how much abuse I can get out of it in my friend's campaign...)

 -- N


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## Abulia (Aug 22, 2005)

I dunno. At, say, 10th level, spending a mere 450 XP to reshuffle those 1st level feats and powers seems *damn* cheap. In fact, if you're heading into the lair of the Big Bad and you know what kind of opposition you're going to meet, spending 50-100XP to redo your last two levels to optimize for that end-game encounter also seems really cheap.

Were I to play a Psion to any level of note, Psychic Reformation almost seems like a no-brainer to me. Then again, I'm new to psionics so maybe I'm missing something blindingly obvious.

Oh, lets also not forget you *also* have the ability to redo anyone in your party's feat and skill selections (powers if psioinic) as well if they so desire! ("Man, I hardly ever use Cleave or Great Cleave anymore." "Perhaps I can help, friend...")


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## Nifft (Aug 22, 2005)

Abulia said:
			
		

> I dunno.




I'm not saying it's a bad power. In fact, I think it's *too strong*. What I dislike is: *class features should not be hidden in spells*. This is why _animal friendship_ went away, and good riddance.

Anyway... it's not a 1st level psionic power, so we should probably drop it.

Cheers, -- N


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