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The Thinktank => Min/Max It! => : edventure November 05, 2010, 01:53:07 AM

: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: edventure November 05, 2010, 01:53:07 AM
I'm building an evil Elan Psion that relies on powers with save DCs.  Other than Psionic Endowment and the Greater version, are there any good evil ways to up the DCs further?

We're starting at lvl3 so I have time to plan.  Feats selected so far: Psionic Endowment, Psionic Endowment, Greater, and Elan Resilience, Enhanced. Future feats are Inquisitor at 5th and Psionic Meditation at 6th.

Advice on power selections would be a welcome too.  So far he has: Charm, Mindlink, Crystal Shard, Inertial Armor, Vigor, Suggestion, Psychic Scimitar.

This character will be part of an assassin type guild.

Thanks

: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: PhaedrusXY November 05, 2010, 11:55:03 AM
You might find some interesting ideas in here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3389.msg126021#msg126021). (I rely heavily on "poaching" feats, powers, and power points from his Believers via Metaconcert and Feat Leech). At level 3, there isn't much more beyond what you're already doing, besides augmenting to boost the DCs. Later on, Metaconcert can grant you a +10 to your save DCs.
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: Endarire November 06, 2010, 06:19:12 AM
Can you take Psionic Prodigy from Mind's Eye?  I lack an immediate link, but this first level only feat gives you +2 DC in your primary discipline (Telepathy for you) and you treat your INT has 2 points higher for PP.
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: edventure November 06, 2010, 06:39:41 PM
Can you take Psionic Prodigy from Mind's Eye?  I lack an immediate link, but this first level only feat gives you +2 DC in your primary discipline (Telepathy for you) and you treat your INT has 2 points higher for PP.

Is that from 3.0?
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: Saeomon November 06, 2010, 09:25:48 PM
Illithid Compulsion (prereq: Illithid Heritage) ups the DC for Telepathy (Compulsion) powers.

A debuff, as opposed to a buff: manifest Schism then have your schism-ed mind manifest Demoralize. Shaken status gives -2 to saves, and the power only affects enemies.

Power selection:
Charm - Good. Obviously use Psychic Reformation to swap it out when you reach Thrallherd 3.
Mindlink - Prereq., so you have no choice.
Crystal Shard - Good, but Crystalstorm is better. Also, see my notes on Psychic Scimitar.
Inertial Armor - Better to wait to take this one until higher levels, when you can augment it out the wazoo. As a Psion, armor doesn't cause your powers to fail. Get a mithril chain shirt ASAP and you won't even have to worry about not being proficient with it.
Vigor - Excellent power. Keep it. Love it.
Suggestion - Very good.
Psychic Scimitar - I really wanted to like this power when I read it, but it's a trap. While it looks like a versatile, PP-preserving, incorporeal creature-affecting, enemy-damaging version of Spectral Hand, its drawbacks make it unusable. It's got pitiful defenses and if it "dies" your most important stat takes a big hit. Furthermore, to get the most out of it you really have to focus on Touch-range powers. From Psion 1-4, I can only think of two that are worth it: Dissipating Touch and Empathic Transfer, Hostile. If you're using Psychic Scimitar then you're probably using C.Psi., which seriously nerfed the latter of those two powers. Then, on top of THAT, you really have to take Body Purification to offset the Int damage you're bound to suffer. It's just not worth it. BUT, if you insist on going this route, go whole hog. Drop Crystal Shard and pick up Dissipating Touch.

In terms of further suggestions, look up carnivore's guide. There's another thread over on the WotC boards about "the most powerful psionic power" by level. Regardless, remember that all such "guides" are somewhat subjective in their analyses. YMMV.
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: Phoenix00 November 07, 2010, 01:30:24 AM
Can you take Psionic Prodigy from Mind's Eye?  I lack an immediate link, but this first level only feat gives you +2 DC in your primary discipline (Telepathy for you) and you treat your INT has 2 points higher for PP.

Is that from 3.0?
Yes it is from 3.0 psionics.  That said it would be real easy to adapt to 3.5.
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: edventure November 07, 2010, 02:55:36 AM
Thanks everyone for all the advice.  I look forward to wreaking havoc.
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: Echoes November 07, 2010, 07:55:00 PM
If you have Magic of Incarnum, you can (ab)use Psycarnum Infusion + Midnight Augmentation to super-augment powers, netting you much higher save DCs in many cases. Midnight Augmentation reduces the augment cost by an amount equal to the amount of essentia you invest in the feat. Normally, you have to pick a power and invest the essentia and then you're stuck with that for 24 hours; with Psycarnum Infusion, you instead expend your psionic focus to treat Midnight Augmentation as though you had invested essentia in it without tripping the 24-hour clause, letting you gain the benefits on the fly.

As for powers, here are some that I recommend for use with this trick:
7th – insanity
6th – fuse flesh, temporal acceleration
5th – baleful teleport, power resistance, psionic plane shift
4th – death urge, telekinetic maneuver
3rd – body adjustment, dispel psionics, ectoplasmic cocoon, time hop
2nd – ego whip, energy missile
1st – astral construct, inertial armor, vigor
: Re: Evil Telepath/Thrallherd help needed
: dark_samuari November 07, 2010, 09:11:49 PM
If you haven't settled on any type of build skeleton one that is rather simplistic but nice is Telepath 5/Thrallherd 2/Subverted Psion 13.

Come on, be Emperor Palpatine...