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Trekkin
2010-03-23, 08:00 PM
I am attempting to design a fifth level shaper, and given the difficulty of boosting Int to incredible heights (which I'm also trying to do) I would like other ways of making more power points in the middle of the day. Are there any ways for a psion and psicrystal to manufacture PP that work by fifth level?

Sinfire Titan
2010-03-23, 08:55 PM
Kalashtar get bonus PP equal to their Character level.

Lesser Tiefling get an Int bonus, making it possible to get a 36 Int score by 20th level.

Proper power selection and a good understanding of Battlefield Control will give you more mileage for each power you manifest.

Whatever you do, do not take Metamind levels.



Question: Why do you need more than Bonus PP+Psion benefits? If you are running out, you are either going Nova too often or the DM is throwing more encounters than you are designed to fight.

deuxhero
2010-03-23, 09:01 PM
Was psycic body PP or HP for every [psionic] feat?

Anyways, your can take earth power (races of stone) and a torc of power preservasion to make a net gain in powerpoints from bestow power.

Sinfire Titan
2010-03-23, 09:03 PM
Was psycic body PP or HP for every [psionic] feat?

Anyways, your can take earth power (races of stone) and a torc of power preservasion to make a net gain in powerpoints from bestow power.

@OP: Unless you want your DM to throw stuff at you (or if he's all ready experienced Casters with infinite spells/day), don't use a Recharge setup.

Jack_Simth
2010-03-23, 09:25 PM
Was psycic body PP or HP for every [psionic] feat?
HP


Anyways, your can take earth power (races of stone) and a torc of power preservasion to make a net gain in powerpoints from bestow power.

Yes, but you need someone else doing the same thing (or at least have a Torc of Power Preservation for the other person). Scratch that; you're bestowing Power on yourself, and saving 2 PP per manifestation; 1 gets you 2 at no augmentation. Nevermind.

Another:

Ah, take Psicrystal Affinity. It gets feats; have it take Wild Talent and Psionic Talent over and over. You need three powers to go with it: Bestow Power, Power Leech, and something that could change your type - Metamorphosis, maybe. You also need a Torc of Power Preservation.

Method:
1) Use Metamorphosis on your psicrystal to change it into something with a mind.
2) Use Power Leech to drain your psicrystal of power points.
3) Use Bestow Power on yourself, and Share it with your Psicrystal (to replenish your Psicrystal's power point reserve).
4) If not full, GoTo 2.


Metamorphosis lasts long enough that you don't really need to worry about it expiring... much.
Power Leech gives you 1 PP for, on average, 3.5 lost by the target (your Psicrystal).
Manifesting Bestow Power, unaugmented, on yourself costs 2 PP (3 for Bestow Power, -1 for the Torc), and gives you 2 PP. Break even.
Sharing it with your Psicrystal, however, gives your Psicrystal 2 free PP per manifestation.
So in, say, 18 rounds of Bestow Power, your Psicrystal gains 36 PP (assuming it can hold that many).
Manifesting Power Leech costs you six; after 10 rounds, you've gained ten power points, your Psicrystal has lost 35. Net gain (for you) of 4 PP (and your Psicrystal needs to have a power point pool of ... 25 points or so before this can work at all (3.5*7=24.5)).

It goes faster if you can find a way to implant a power into your Psicrystal: if it knows Bestow Power, things are much simpler (and no dice to roll to make things work). You Bestow Power on yourself, your Psicrystal uses the "free" power points from Sharing to Bestow Power on you. A Torc of Power Preservation is still highly recommended, though.

Lycanthromancer
2010-03-23, 09:33 PM
+1 manifester arrows.

You get 250 power points for just over 17,000 gp. Divide by 50 for each individual arrow if you can't afford all of them.

Use this for lower-level manifestations (5 or below, which is perfect for things like hustle and share pain, which work wonderfully without augmentation).

But really, your best bet is to use your powers judiciously (ie, smarter, not harder). Doesn't work for a blaster, but those have their own tricks.

If you want a few tips here and there on how to stretch your stamina out as far as you can, lemme know. Shapers do this incredibly well.

Kallisti
2010-03-23, 09:36 PM
For one that's not as cheesy as some of the above, get a good item that enhances your INT and play a kalashtar. Also, Torque of Power Preservation.

EDIT: OH, you wanted ways to manufacture points? Yeah, Torque of Power Preservation and Bestow Power.

Trekkin
2010-03-23, 10:07 PM
Lycanthromancer, I've been in awe of you since the day I found these forums. Any advice you could give regarding power point use would be treasured.

As for the regeneration setups, thank you all for the marvelous ideas. I may end up using one, on a very limited scale, if my DM is cool with it.

Lycanthromancer
2010-03-23, 10:55 PM
Lycanthromancer, I've been in awe of you since the day I found these forums. Any advice you could give regarding power point use would be treasured.

As for the regeneration setups, thank you all for the marvelous ideas. I may end up using one, on a very limited scale, if my DM is cool with it.'Awe,' eh? Well, I'm always up for ascending to deity-hood, if you'd like to start recruiting. :smallsmile:

Well, first of all, shapers are tied with illusionists as the most versatile class in the entire game. Your low-level powers are amazingly imagination-friendly, and proper usage can give you literally hours of utility, offensive, and defensive power for only a power point or three, and wringing the most from your lowest-level manifestations will ramp up your endurance without sacrificing your actual power.

For instance, for a single power point, psionic minor creation can make all sorts of goodies (not all of which are directly combat-related, but can serve you well anyway): poisons (for hours of toxic fun!), slick vegetable oil (for oiling hinges to enhance stealth, pouring on a smooth floor to enforce Balance checks, and for lubing-up that friendly ax-wielding warforged warblade you found in the woods that just wants a heart), flammable pine pitch (or purified vodka, both of which light up REALLY well), weapons, armor, and shields (made from ironwood or amber, both of which are quite hard and durable), projectiles (for ranged combat, as well as an Extra Large version to drop on unsuspecting pedestrians), containers (great for storing other things you make, such as the aforementioned poison and flammables), food goods (AKA beer), grain alcohol (for cleaning up contact diseases without the requisite Fort saves), and miscellaneous tools (useful for when your DM strips you nekkid and leaves you stranded). One single power point will get you each of those (and 1 cu ft/lvl of each, to boot). Use Linked Power to cut down on manifesting times (costs at least one additional pp, but it'll save you 8 rounds).

Even level 1 astral constructs are quite good for utility purposes, and even in combat. As stated, Aid Another checks work well for boosting various checks (and they stack with flanking bonuses), which allows the Power Attacking barbarian to deal that much more damage. They also last for half a minute each at your level (more, with Extend Power), and can serve as a nice distraction for when you need an expendable body. They can run into burning buildings to pull out survivors, or stay behind to hold a portal closed to buy the rest of the party extra time (even if it would otherwise be suicide), and can lead pursuers tracking you in the wrong direction for a short time. If you get enough low-level constructs out at once, you can use the mob rules from the PHB II for a swarm of the things.

Powers like time hop are awesome for utility, offense, and defense, but in order to keep them from being wasted they should be used on targets that either cannot or will not make their saves (such as on an ally that's about to fall into the lava pit, or will hit -10 next round, or the strong-but-dumb mount of the ubercharger-cleric-with-the-incredible-Will-saves, or the iron links holding that 2,000 lb human-bone chandelier unsteadily 100 ft over the Lich King's head). Powers that have more than the slightest chance to be wasted shouldn't be used in any situation where they actually have a chance to miss.

Getting feats that can be used with no power point expenditure, but that nonetheless have an incredible range of versatility and utility, should be taken pretty quick (such as Psicrystal Affinity and Shape Soulmeld {Astral Vambraces (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a)}), as they can be incredibly useful and powerful, if used with a bit of imagination (a psicrystal alone is, in my not-so-humble opinion, 1000x more useful than a familiar at least, if only due to the telepathy and durability).

Most of your powers should have durations, and can be used with Extend Power to increase them, and you should always try to use the least amount of effort when doing anything.

Likewise, items that add to your abilities can augment them considerably (consider using a bow or a crossbow, and using several cheap +Xd6 items out of the Magic Item Compendium and the Psionic Shot feat to deal a few more dice of damage until later levels; if you want to upgrade to using energy conversion later on, you can keep your archery stuff to cause a surprisingly HUGE amount of damage to anyone you wish to kill). A psychoactive skin of proteus, although expensive, is probably one of the most powerful non-artifact items you'll find this side of a thought bottle. It's not necessarily broken, but it's at-will, and can be insanely useful in any situation that doesn't involve being stuck in an antimagic field.

And don't forget battlefield control. Wall of ectoplasm, energy wall, and ectoplasmic shambler all have durations and can keep foes at bay and (sometimes) cause damage for a minimally reasonable expenditure, and can let your allies (and constructs) take them down without taking as many hits (which means your constructs last longer, which means you won't have to make as many).

And, above all else, tailor your power usage to the situation at hand. Build your astral constructs to be focused on what you want them to do, so you won't waste those pp when the time comes to flex that ectoplasmic muscle you've got.

Any questions, clarifications, or other thoughts?

Trekkin
2010-03-23, 11:38 PM
Thanks! A lot! A lot of lots! I would ask only this at this point; somehow all the other little questions I have feel like they'll be resolved over time.

Which powers will be most beneficial to me from other lists, and should I use Expanded Knowledge or research?

Lycanthromancer
2010-03-23, 11:50 PM
Thanks! A lot! A lot of lots! I would ask only this at this point; somehow all the other little questions I have feel like they'll be resolved over time.

Which powers will be most beneficial to me from other lists, and should I use Expanded Knowledge or research?Anything that expands your utility. Metamorphosis. Schism. Possibly fate link. Really, you're a shaper; you don't need much, as you can handle very nearly anything at all that comes your way if you choose your powers wisely.

A source of direct damage might be nice (in the form of energy missile, of course).

However, other than metamorphosis, you probably should focus your feats on either using your psionic focus well, or on increasing your utility without spending pp. Like Psicrystal Affinity and some incarnum feats (there are some goodies in there for psionics; check it out!).

Also, don't forget to play with your character concept, and work toward that.

(And either research or EK is good, depending on if you have open feat slots or open power slots, and if you want to spend the XP or not.)

Trekkin
2010-03-24, 12:29 AM
Magic of Incarnum is indeed a treasure trove of useful psionic feats and soulmelds, and so helpfully [psionic], in the main, to qualify as bonus feats for the psion class too. Thanks; I'm certainly taking many of these. The powers are exciting as well.

Thank you so much for all of your advice; I've never been this excited to play a character before.

Lycanthromancer
2010-03-24, 01:01 AM
Magic of Incarnum is indeed a treasure trove of useful psionic feats and soulmelds, and so helpfully [psionic], in the main, to qualify as bonus feats for the psion class too. Thanks; I'm certainly taking many of these. The powers are exciting as well.

Thank you so much for all of your advice; I've never been this excited to play a character before.You're quite welcome.

And I have to say that I played a character very much like this; I had a LE blue goblin shaper/constructor that used those same tricks, and he never ran out of pp after level 5. Ever. Even on the all-day mass battles he managed to take out large portions of entire armies using his optimized-for-endurance tricks, and none of them were even vaguely cheesy (such as the manifester arrows or recharging, although those really are nice).

Once you have a spare slot for quintessence I'd suggest getting yourself an enveloping pit and spending all your spare pp each night on manifestations; you never know when a half-ton of condensed time stop will come in handy.

Also, delayed blast fireball bombs.

Just make sure you have a few power stones or a dorje or two in case you get jumped at night.

(Also, energy conversion + energy wall + psicrystal + schism + various damage increasers (such as Split Psionic Ray, Psionic Shot, and Aligned Attack + a greater chasuble of fell power) = huge potential all-day damage dealing without expending much of your non-renewable reserves. Just FYI.)