I personally haven't seen much discussion about this subclass, nor seen anyone play it in a game. Is there a reason for this? It doesn't look overly underpowered, and the flavour of it is actually super cool. What are your thoughts on this subclass?
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I think the biggest hang-up around the Psi-Warrior is the sub-class's multi-ability dependence. Using the sub-class features optimally requires a high Intelligence score as well as the Fighter staple of a high STR/DEX and CON. There are ways around this, of course, such as 3 levels of Battlesmith Artificer or a generous DM that gives you a Headband of Intellect early on. But unlike the Eldritch Knight who can choose spells that don't rely on the INT bonus, the Psi-Warrior is locked into needing a decent INT modifier to get the most out of their abilities. Personally, I'm hoping that One D&D making all feats half-feats will make the MADness easier to manage.
My personal favorite for a psi warrior build is variant human, for feats. TCEs feats telekinetic and telepathy are super cool and flavored well for role playing with this class. I thought personally like magic initiate to get mage hand, mind sliver, and the 1st level spell catapult. Really adds to the theme in my opinion. I do think it’s hard for it to shine early levels because of the MAD build especially with the build I listed, but it’s really fun to play
I just started playing one. I think that one thing that I don't like is that telekinetic movement uses your action. I'd like if it used a bonus action or one of your attacks. Since it doesn't, I think that in the future I might use it to bring another melee/martial PC along with me and then use action surge to take some attacks myself.
It is a little painful that INT is what your saves would be based on (psionic thrust), but a headband of intellect is an uncommon item and sets your INT to 19.
I'm looking forward to playing with this subclass - it seems like your creativity can be a boon. I'm planning on using Psi-powered leap to do a "death from above" attack. With any luck, my DM will let me treat it like the SpellJammer crash rules (full damage to the target and then half as much back to me).
I would say it's as MAD as say a Paladin, and with more ASI's the class can recover from it somewhat. For the full Master Jedi experience take some levels in Enchantment Wizard as well....
I had the same thoughts a few years ago after a friend of mine actually chose to play one. After seeing him take a stab at playing one I decided to look into it and tried to write up a guide for them. It was based on what I’d seen and what I’d read.
i don’t think they’re as “mad” as people would likely assume at first glance. While they do have features that are intelligence based, their overall effectiveness isn’t massively improved by continued investment like a paladins aura is. A starting 14 or 16 in seems to do just fine for entire campaigns, or perhaps a 13 or 15 with the telekinetic feat.
Only one feature seems to highly improve from in and that’s the Bulwark of force feature at 15th level. At this point +2 AC and Dex saves to Int mod creatures can be great and ideally you want enough to cover the party.
I personally haven't seen much discussion about this subclass, nor seen anyone play it in a game. Is there a reason for this? It doesn't look overly underpowered, and the flavour of it is actually super cool. What are your thoughts on this subclass?
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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I think the biggest hang-up around the Psi-Warrior is the sub-class's multi-ability dependence. Using the sub-class features optimally requires a high Intelligence score as well as the Fighter staple of a high STR/DEX and CON. There are ways around this, of course, such as 3 levels of Battlesmith Artificer or a generous DM that gives you a Headband of Intellect early on. But unlike the Eldritch Knight who can choose spells that don't rely on the INT bonus, the Psi-Warrior is locked into needing a decent INT modifier to get the most out of their abilities. Personally, I'm hoping that One D&D making all feats half-feats will make the MADness easier to manage.
My personal favorite for a psi warrior build is variant human, for feats. TCEs feats telekinetic and telepathy are super cool and flavored well for role playing with this class. I thought personally like magic initiate to get mage hand, mind sliver, and the 1st level spell catapult. Really adds to the theme in my opinion. I do think it’s hard for it to shine early levels because of the MAD build especially with the build I listed, but it’s really fun to play
I just started playing one. I think that one thing that I don't like is that telekinetic movement uses your action. I'd like if it used a bonus action or one of your attacks. Since it doesn't, I think that in the future I might use it to bring another melee/martial PC along with me and then use action surge to take some attacks myself.
It is a little painful that INT is what your saves would be based on (psionic thrust), but a headband of intellect is an uncommon item and sets your INT to 19.
I'm looking forward to playing with this subclass - it seems like your creativity can be a boon. I'm planning on using Psi-powered leap to do a "death from above" attack. With any luck, my DM will let me treat it like the SpellJammer crash rules (full damage to the target and then half as much back to me).
I would say it's as MAD as say a Paladin, and with more ASI's the class can recover from it somewhat. For the full Master Jedi experience take some levels in Enchantment Wizard as well....
I had the same thoughts a few years ago after a friend of mine actually chose to play one. After seeing him take a stab at playing one I decided to look into it and tried to write up a guide for them. It was based on what I’d seen and what I’d read.
i don’t think they’re as “mad” as people would likely assume at first glance. While they do have features that are intelligence based, their overall effectiveness isn’t massively improved by continued investment like a paladins aura is. A starting 14 or 16 in seems to do just fine for entire campaigns, or perhaps a 13 or 15 with the telekinetic feat.
Only one feature seems to highly improve from in and that’s the Bulwark of force feature at 15th level. At this point +2 AC and Dex saves to Int mod creatures can be great and ideally you want enough to cover the party.
Here’s the guide if anyone is interested.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/fighter/116389-psi-warrior-guidance