Any thoughts on taking the Telekinetic feat at level 1 as a vhuman? It seems like an obvious flavor match, though there’s a bit of overlap with what the Psi Warrior can do.
I could see it as a great way to round out an odd intelligence stat that the you may want to make even while gaining the other benefits to the feat.
I would imagine mage hand could go a decent way for preserving your psi die for damage reduction and damage dealing depending on the circumstances. A older trope is gaining access to keys to a jail cell that are in sight but just out of reach.
the bonus action to move creatures around could be quite useful too. Help reposition an ally out of immediate danger, or trying to shove an enemy into an ongoing spell effect before spending your psidie on damage for an attack.
I really could see die preservation being a use here though. You get a free use of most features, there doesn’t seem to be quite the longevity built in as with the soul knife who only expends die on a success. The psi warrior does have limitations built in with uses per turn or reactions already though, so this may not be as much of an issue at higher levels. I still really like it though.
I'm playing a High Elf Psi Warrior and am dual-wielding dex based melee weapons. Started at level 1 and just got to level 8. Super LOVING this class. Early levels weren't amazing—typical of most early level fighters it all came down to if I could actually get my one hit in, but since getting the extra attack at level 5, combat has been awesome.
I'm actually considering taking Mage Slayer. It's very in keeping with my character's story, but also as a melee fighter, I think it'll be pretty useful. Generally going to be within 5 feet of my enemies anyways, and since Wis and Char are my most vulnerable scores for saving throws, generally I'm weakest against spellcasters. Being able to take a reactive attack, impose disadvantage on concentration, and gain advantage on Wis saving throws seems like a pretty ideal combination, honestly.
I hope I get to play this character up to higher levels, because using the psi stuff makes for a really interesting tactical experience, choosing to give party support and/or concentrate on dealing damage.
Any thoughts on taking the Telekinetic feat at level 1 as a v-human? It seems like an obvious flavor match, though there’s a bit of overlap with what the Psi Warrior can do.
If you play a Kalashtar you get telekinesis in your race traits. I'd wait till 4th and take the Magic Initiate Feat (warlock) it gives you a dual/single class. Lots of hot flavor!
Any thoughts on taking the Telekinetic feat at level 1 as a v-human? It seems like an obvious flavor match, though there’s a bit of overlap with what the Psi Warrior can do.
If you play a Kalashtar you get telekinesis in your race traits. I'd wait till 4th and take the Magic Initiate Feat (warlock) it gives you a dual/single class. Lots of hot flavor!
I don't think Kalashtar get telekinesis. I double-checked Eberron: Rising from the Last War and the only thing Kalastar get is Mind link which is telepathic in nature. Are you maybe thinking of Githyanki/Githzerai who get an invisible mage hand at first level?
Psionic strike is an on hit but separate damage roll feature that happens after the initial triggering attack is resolved.
Are you sure this is the RAW interpretation of the feature? I was thinking the extra damage just added to the damage of the initial hit, although rereading the wording I can see it going either way. Having it be a separate "secondary hit" would definitely make the effect a lot more interesting, the wording just doesn't seem as clear as it could have been with that.
Psionic strike is an on hit but separate damage roll feature that happens after the initial triggering attack is resolved.
Are you sure this is the RAW interpretation of the feature? I was thinking the extra damage just added to the damage of the initial hit, although rereading the wording I can see it going either way. Having it be a separate "secondary hit" would definitely make the effect a lot more interesting, the wording just doesn't seem as clear as it could have been with that.
I always pictured it as a hit followed by a telekinetic push that drives the weapon deeper into the wound, adding the damage as part of attack "bonus damage" RAI. Twisting the knife would be a good analogy.
1. Dual Mind. You have advantage on all Wisdom saving throws. 2. Mental Discipline. You have resistance to psychic damage. 3. Mind Link. You can speak telepathically to any creature you can see, 4. Severed from Dreams. [long explanation skipped 'sleep w/o dreaming]
your right It's the Telepathy Feat That's redundant. but there are 4 racial features. Psi Warrior class features involve more telekinetic powers.
Magic Initiate Feat gives you two 0-level spells and one 1st level spell. I took it for Mind Sliver and Eldritch blast both cantrips, and a free 1st level warlock spell.
I've been playing a githyanki psi warrior for a year now, and it is a fantastic subclass. Being able to knock enemies prone with no size limit is ridiculous. I have knocked adult dragons prone. Psi leap is equally amazing, especially when paired with haste for quadruple speed. And then guarded mind—dear lord. The psychic resistance is handy if a bit situational—but being functionally immune to charm/frighten is so, so, so good on a fighter.
The only real problem with this subclass is that you need to prioritize Int right behind Str. Even over Con. You really want that DC for telekinetic thrust as high as possible. On the other hand, however, having a high Int makes a 2-level dip into Wizard viable. And it pairs beautifully with War Magic for a huge initiative boost (establish nice on a Str fighter with crappy Dex) and an unlimited use reaction to boost your saves (which pairs well with Indomitable) and occasionally stop a hit. This also gets you Find Familiar. Take an owl for the flyby and have them use the help action to get adv on your first attack, then knock them prone and have adv on further attacks (especially nice with GWM).
I like this style especially if you try to make it something other than fantasy Jedi. I like having the telekinetic feat as well as telepathy both are thematic and save psionic dice.
I am also interested in multi classing it with soul knife. But not sure if you get 2 seperare dice pools with different levels or if you can interchange them if they are seperate.
races I think best v. Human/Kalastar/Gem Dragon born.
Thank you for your insights regarding your experiences. Those feats do seem thematically and mechanically valuable.
the psi die from the two subclasses would indeed be tracked separately. The amounts from each pool of die would independently increase based on your proficiency bonus, but the size of the die would be limited by levels in the subclasses.
For example, 5 levels of Psi warrior with 3 levels of soul knife would have 1d8 sized die for the psi warrior abilities and 1d6 sized die for the soul knife pool. the amount of die available would be 6 in each pool, for a total of 12. The separate pools of die would not be useable for the purpose of powering the other subclass features. Having a level and becoming total level 9 would increase those pools to 8 each, 16 total, since proficiency increases regardless of class chosen.
Thank you for your insights regarding your experiences. Those feats do seem thematically and mechanically valuable.
the psi die from the two subclasses would indeed be tracked separately. The amounts from each pool of die would independently increase based on your proficiency bonus, but the size of the die would be limited by levels in the subclasses.
For example, 5 levels of Psi warrior with 3 levels of soul knife would have 1d8 sized die for the psi warrior abilities and 1d6 sized die for the soul knife pool. the amount of die available would be 6 in each pool, for a total of 12. The separate pools of die would not be useable for the purpose of powering the other subclass features. Having a level and becoming total level 9 would increase those pools to 8 each, 16 total, since proficiency increases regardless of class chosen.
There's a lot of anti-synergy happening when you try to mix the two classes, including how Psi Blades are written to not work with things like Extra Attack or OAs (although your DM is fairly likely to homebrew one or both of these, as there's no discernible balance concern with allowing either or both, but I don't think your analysis is accurate. For example, the text of the Soulknife ability "Psychic Whispers" lets you roll any Psionic Energy die - it hasn't got any text limiting you to dice you got from being a Soulknife. A DM could house-nerf the ability, but RAW I don't think you're on solid ground.
Instead, both subclasses should provide dice in potentially different sizes that are all Psionic Energy dice, and then each ability the character gets that says it works with Psionic Energy dice should work generically by default and specifically if the ability says so, exactly like how it works if a Warlock takes Eldritch Smite and multiclasses into Sorcerer, in terms of 2 different sets of spell slots at potentially different levels where all slots can be used for most effects but only some slots can be used for Eldritch Smite.
Psi Warrior especially has numerous abilities where you don't care about the size of the die (the only abilities where die size matters are how much damage Psionic Strike does - irrelevant to TK Thrust's forced movement - and Protective Field), so using a Soulknife dip to provide additional dice does seem relatively functional - and your larger Psi Warrior dice will buff Knack and Whispers, both of which do scale with die size. The anti-synergy will mostly come from potentially overloaded action economy and how terribly Psychic Blades interacts with the entire rest of the game, including your Fighter kit.
I agree that Psychic Blades has some weird interactions with TWF, extra attacks, and OAs. They can be solved if your DM lets you manifest a blade for any attack in the same hand. I think that’s the simplest fix.
I’m playing in an Eberron campaign as a high elf psi warrior (level 7) blood hunter (level 2). Stats are s-18, int-18, con-16, dex-14, ch-12, wis-9. I carry the Ascendant blade, and Fenthras (awakened) Just looking for general advice on where to go with the character in the next four levels, especially Blood hunter order choice, thanks
Any thoughts on taking the Telekinetic feat at level 1 as a vhuman? It seems like an obvious flavor match, though there’s a bit of overlap with what the Psi Warrior can do.
I could see it as a great way to round out an odd intelligence stat that the you may want to make even while gaining the other benefits to the feat.
I would imagine mage hand could go a decent way for preserving your psi die for damage reduction and damage dealing depending on the circumstances. A older trope is gaining access to keys to a jail cell that are in sight but just out of reach.
the bonus action to move creatures around could be quite useful too. Help reposition an ally out of immediate danger, or trying to shove an enemy into an ongoing spell effect before spending your psidie on damage for an attack.
I really could see die preservation being a use here though. You get a free use of most features, there doesn’t seem to be quite the longevity built in as with the soul knife who only expends die on a success. The psi warrior does have limitations built in with uses per turn or reactions already though, so this may not be as much of an issue at higher levels. I still really like it though.
lots of flexibility here.
I'm playing a High Elf Psi Warrior and am dual-wielding dex based melee weapons. Started at level 1 and just got to level 8. Super LOVING this class. Early levels weren't amazing—typical of most early level fighters it all came down to if I could actually get my one hit in, but since getting the extra attack at level 5, combat has been awesome.
I'm actually considering taking Mage Slayer. It's very in keeping with my character's story, but also as a melee fighter, I think it'll be pretty useful. Generally going to be within 5 feet of my enemies anyways, and since Wis and Char are my most vulnerable scores for saving throws, generally I'm weakest against spellcasters. Being able to take a reactive attack, impose disadvantage on concentration, and gain advantage on Wis saving throws seems like a pretty ideal combination, honestly.
I hope I get to play this character up to higher levels, because using the psi stuff makes for a really interesting tactical experience, choosing to give party support and/or concentrate on dealing damage.
If you play a Kalashtar you get telekinesis in your race traits. I'd wait till 4th and take the Magic Initiate Feat (warlock) it gives you a dual/single class. Lots of hot flavor!
I don't think Kalashtar get telekinesis. I double-checked Eberron: Rising from the Last War and the only thing Kalastar get is Mind link which is telepathic in nature. Are you maybe thinking of Githyanki/Githzerai who get an invisible mage hand at first level?
Hey, great guide... just what I was looking for!
A quick question though regarding one of your points:
Are you sure this is the RAW interpretation of the feature? I was thinking the extra damage just added to the damage of the initial hit, although rereading the wording I can see it going either way. Having it be a separate "secondary hit" would definitely make the effect a lot more interesting, the wording just doesn't seem as clear as it could have been with that.
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
Here’s a link to mr Crawford’s Twitter verification.
https://www.sageadvice.eu/are-the-damage-dice-for-abilities-like-the-psi-warriors-psionic-strike-rolled-twice-on-a-crit/
Thank you! I'd only so far found a StackExchange reference that had conflicting answers; Crawford's response settles it, though.
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
things kick-in at 7th level!
I always pictured it as a hit followed by a telekinetic push that drives the weapon deeper into the wound, adding the damage as part of attack "bonus damage" RAI. Twisting the knife would be a good analogy.
Has anyone actually played at level 18+ with this subclass? Is the Telekinetic Master feature actually all that powerful/useful in combat?
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
1. Dual Mind. You have advantage on all Wisdom saving throws. 2. Mental Discipline. You have resistance to psychic damage. 3. Mind Link. You can speak telepathically to any creature you can see, 4. Severed from Dreams. [long explanation skipped 'sleep w/o dreaming]
your right It's the Telepathy Feat That's redundant. but there are 4 racial features. Psi Warrior class features involve more telekinetic powers.
Magic Initiate Feat gives you two 0-level spells and one 1st level spell. I took it for Mind Sliver and Eldritch blast both cantrips, and a free 1st level warlock spell.
I've been playing a githyanki psi warrior for a year now, and it is a fantastic subclass. Being able to knock enemies prone with no size limit is ridiculous. I have knocked adult dragons prone. Psi leap is equally amazing, especially when paired with haste for quadruple speed. And then guarded mind—dear lord. The psychic resistance is handy if a bit situational—but being functionally immune to charm/frighten is so, so, so good on a fighter.
The only real problem with this subclass is that you need to prioritize Int right behind Str. Even over Con. You really want that DC for telekinetic thrust as high as possible. On the other hand, however, having a high Int makes a 2-level dip into Wizard viable. And it pairs beautifully with War Magic for a huge initiative boost (establish nice on a Str fighter with crappy Dex) and an unlimited use reaction to boost your saves (which pairs well with Indomitable) and occasionally stop a hit. This also gets you Find Familiar. Take an owl for the flyby and have them use the help action to get adv on your first attack, then knock them prone and have adv on further attacks (especially nice with GWM).
I like this style especially if you try to make it something other than fantasy Jedi.
I like having the telekinetic feat as well as telepathy both are thematic and save psionic dice.
I am also interested in multi classing it with soul knife. But not sure if you get 2 seperare dice pools with different levels or if you can interchange them if they are seperate.
races I think best v. Human/Kalastar/Gem Dragon born.
Thank you for your insights regarding your experiences. Those feats do seem thematically and mechanically valuable.
the psi die from the two subclasses would indeed be tracked separately. The amounts from each pool of die would independently increase based on your proficiency bonus, but the size of the die would be limited by levels in the subclasses.
For example, 5 levels of Psi warrior with 3 levels of soul knife would have 1d8 sized die for the psi warrior abilities and 1d6 sized die for the soul knife pool.
the amount of die available would be 6 in each pool, for a total of 12. The separate pools of die would not be useable for the purpose of powering the other subclass features.
Having a level and becoming total level 9 would increase those pools to 8 each, 16 total, since proficiency increases regardless of class chosen.
There's a lot of anti-synergy happening when you try to mix the two classes, including how Psi Blades are written to not work with things like Extra Attack or OAs (although your DM is fairly likely to homebrew one or both of these, as there's no discernible balance concern with allowing either or both, but I don't think your analysis is accurate. For example, the text of the Soulknife ability "Psychic Whispers" lets you roll any Psionic Energy die - it hasn't got any text limiting you to dice you got from being a Soulknife. A DM could house-nerf the ability, but RAW I don't think you're on solid ground.
Instead, both subclasses should provide dice in potentially different sizes that are all Psionic Energy dice, and then each ability the character gets that says it works with Psionic Energy dice should work generically by default and specifically if the ability says so, exactly like how it works if a Warlock takes Eldritch Smite and multiclasses into Sorcerer, in terms of 2 different sets of spell slots at potentially different levels where all slots can be used for most effects but only some slots can be used for Eldritch Smite.
Psi Warrior especially has numerous abilities where you don't care about the size of the die (the only abilities where die size matters are how much damage Psionic Strike does - irrelevant to TK Thrust's forced movement - and Protective Field), so using a Soulknife dip to provide additional dice does seem relatively functional - and your larger Psi Warrior dice will buff Knack and Whispers, both of which do scale with die size. The anti-synergy will mostly come from potentially overloaded action economy and how terribly Psychic Blades interacts with the entire rest of the game, including your Fighter kit.
Psionic dice, despite having the same name for both subclasses, are separate pools according to Sage Advice: https://www.sageadvice.eu/how-does-multiclassing-the-soulknife-and-psi-warrior-work-with-regards-to-how-many-psionic-energy-dice-you-get/.
I agree that Psychic Blades has some weird interactions with TWF, extra attacks, and OAs. They can be solved if your DM lets you manifest a blade for any attack in the same hand. I think that’s the simplest fix.
I’m playing in an Eberron campaign as a high elf psi warrior (level 7) blood hunter (level 2). Stats are s-18, int-18, con-16, dex-14, ch-12, wis-9. I carry the Ascendant blade, and Fenthras (awakened) Just looking for general advice on where to go with the character in the next four levels, especially Blood hunter order choice, thanks