I've been obsessing over character creation and the fighter class for some time now. As of late I've been all about the EK and I've had a lot of fun with my friends with the subclass. But all this talk about spells and such is making my brain hurt, and with the announcement of the psion class I've had a newfound interest in psionics. Enter the Psi warrior!
I don't know what the general consensus is, but the EK seems to be a bit more powerful (or "better") than the PW. Although the psi knight still seems really cool, and simpler thanks to not having to worry about spells. Plus, I could always get the magic initiate feat to cast some cantrips and a single level 1 spell, although tough might be a better origin feat.
Anyways, I just wanted to hear your thoughts on the subclass, how it stacks up against other subclasses (ESPECIALLY eldritch knight), good feats, good builds, and tips and tricks you might have.
Edit: also I forgot to mention, because this subclass benefits from having intelligence, how much do you recommend a psi knight to have (anywhere between 14-20 int)
This is just theorycrafting, but to me it looks like you don't get anything really useful until Level 7, which is a long time to be underwhelming.
The Level 3 features "Protective Field" and "Psionic Strike" - at least to me - seem pretty underwhelming even at the level you get them, and they just get worse. The reason they look underwhelming is specifically because it says you expend ONE Psionic die. That's up to 6 damage at level 3 and up to an incredible...12 damage at level 17. And that's the best damage, you could just as easily roll a 1. That doesn't scale well.
It would be better if you could expend "one or more" dice... well, maybe that's too strong. How about instead "up to your Intelligence Modifier worth of your dice pool (minimum of one). You cannot expend more dice than you have remaining." That would introduce a tradeoff, allowing you to choose whether to burn multiple dice for a bigger hit, or to conserve your resources.
That sounds interesting! Another Idea I had, but I don't know if its a *good* idea or not, is to give the telekinetic feat for free at level three, since one of the abilities which requires you to spend a psi die seems to be the telekinetic feat but worse.
I strongly disagree with getting the Telekinetic feat for free. The Telekinetic feat is not almost the same thing as Telekinetic Movement, it's quite different. The PSI Warrior also gets Telekinetic Thrust, at level 7, which is redundant with part of the Telekinesis feat. Also, Telekinetic gives you an ASI (even if it's in a weaker stat for a Fighter), which is too much to get as a free thing at level 3.
You're right. I read the manual yesterday and they are two very different things. Other, I don't have many problems with the class, it's really fun! Except I can't use mind tricks and shock people with lightning bolts from my hand /hj
Eldritch Knight - spells from Wizard school but only evocation and abjuration. So weak blast spells (bc can't invest much into INT stat) that don't scale well, and some useful personal protection. You do get access to Boom Blade and GFBlade, but those are situational anyway since you are a Fighter.
Psi Warrior - better mobility and ability to protect multiple people, not just yrself. At high levels, more attacks per round.
Thinking about how both are MAD classes that use INT, I would say that the E.Knight feels more like a traditional Fighter, but with a few more battle options and magic protection whereas the Psi W. feels more like someone wanted to combine a Monk with the bare minimum of a Paladin. So you get the mobility of Monk, some of the control ability of an Open Hand Monk, but more hit points, more ASI and ability to use a shield like a Paladin and some protection ability like a Paladin without spells.
Telekinetic Movement. Not to be underestimated. This is weaker than the Telekinesis spell, but you get it a lot earlier and you get one use for free. Good for getting an ally out of a dangerous spot or setting off a trap from a safe distance.
Psi Warrior gets slept on, honestly? You have more resources than an EK. More dice than they get spell slots, and you're trading Shield for the ability to consistently defend allies, not just yourself.
You lose stuff like Jump, sure, but Telekinetic Movement covers that ground. Both subclasses are solid in 2024, and EK's ritual casting is a fun perk, but I had a player run an Orc Psi Warrior in a recent one shot and he loved it. More uptime, similar impact, totally different feel. Jedi Orc is cool.
I've been obsessing over character creation and the fighter class for some time now. As of late I've been all about the EK and I've had a lot of fun with my friends with the subclass. But all this talk about spells and such is making my brain hurt, and with the announcement of the psion class I've had a newfound interest in psionics. Enter the Psi warrior!
I don't know what the general consensus is, but the EK seems to be a bit more powerful (or "better") than the PW. Although the psi knight still seems really cool, and simpler thanks to not having to worry about spells. Plus, I could always get the magic initiate feat to cast some cantrips and a single level 1 spell, although tough might be a better origin feat.
Anyways, I just wanted to hear your thoughts on the subclass, how it stacks up against other subclasses (ESPECIALLY eldritch knight), good feats, good builds, and tips and tricks you might have.
Edit: also I forgot to mention, because this subclass benefits from having intelligence, how much do you recommend a psi knight to have (anywhere between 14-20 int)
This is just theorycrafting, but to me it looks like you don't get anything really useful until Level 7, which is a long time to be underwhelming.
The Level 3 features "Protective Field" and "Psionic Strike" - at least to me - seem pretty underwhelming even at the level you get them, and they just get worse. The reason they look underwhelming is specifically because it says you expend ONE Psionic die. That's up to 6 damage at level 3 and up to an incredible...12 damage at level 17. And that's the best damage, you could just as easily roll a 1. That doesn't scale well.
It would be better if you could
expend "one or more" dice... well, maybe that's too strong. How about instead "up to your Intelligence Modifier worth of your dice pool (minimum of one). You cannot expend more dice than you have remaining." That would introduce a tradeoff, allowing you to choose whether to burn multiple dice for a bigger hit, or to conserve your resources.That sounds interesting! Another Idea I had, but I don't know if its a *good* idea or not, is to give the telekinetic feat for free at level three, since one of the abilities which requires you to spend a psi die seems to be the telekinetic feat but worse.
I strongly disagree with getting the Telekinetic feat for free. The Telekinetic feat is not almost the same thing as Telekinetic Movement, it's quite different. The PSI Warrior also gets Telekinetic Thrust, at level 7, which is redundant with part of the Telekinesis feat. Also, Telekinetic gives you an ASI (even if it's in a weaker stat for a Fighter), which is too much to get as a free thing at level 3.
You're right. I read the manual yesterday and they are two very different things. Other, I don't have many problems with the class, it's really fun! Except I can't use mind tricks and shock people with lightning bolts from my hand /hj
Eldritch Knight - spells from Wizard school but only evocation and abjuration. So weak blast spells (bc can't invest much into INT stat) that don't scale well, and some useful personal protection. You do get access to Boom Blade and GFBlade, but those are situational anyway since you are a Fighter.
Psi Warrior - better mobility and ability to protect multiple people, not just yrself. At high levels, more attacks per round.
Thinking about how both are MAD classes that use INT, I would say that the E.Knight feels more like a traditional Fighter, but with a few more battle options and magic protection whereas the Psi W. feels more like someone wanted to combine a Monk with the bare minimum of a Paladin. So you get the mobility of Monk, some of the control ability of an Open Hand Monk, but more hit points, more ASI and ability to use a shield like a Paladin and some protection ability like a Paladin without spells.
Telekinetic Movement. Not to be underestimated. This is weaker than the Telekinesis spell, but you get it a lot earlier and you get one use for free. Good for getting an ally out of a dangerous spot or setting off a trap from a safe distance.
That's a good way to look at it! I do wish telekinetic movement allowed you to push or pull enemies away from you (like 5 ft).
Although I do wish I could cast persuasion and witch bolt at higher levelsPsi Warrior gets slept on, honestly? You have more resources than an EK. More dice than they get spell slots, and you're trading Shield for the ability to consistently defend allies, not just yourself.
You lose stuff like Jump, sure, but Telekinetic Movement covers that ground. Both subclasses are solid in 2024, and EK's ritual casting is a fun perk, but I had a player run an Orc Psi Warrior in a recent one shot and he loved it. More uptime, similar impact, totally different feel. Jedi Orc is cool.
https://startplaying.games/gm/dmkevin