Ah yes, Bzzsherrrp, from the Sherrrp clan, named after his grandfather, Bzz. Normal human names all around.

Quote Originally Posted by Bzzsherrrp
Bzzsherrrp


NG Human Soulknife 1/fighter 1/soulknife 4
Str 18
Dex 10
Con 10
Int 10
Wis 8
Cha 16
Add 4th level +1 to cha or str.


Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Hidden Talent Soulknife +0 +0 +2 +2 Concentration 4, craft (alchemy) 4, craft (mind bladesmithing) 4, Autohypnosis 4, Hide 4 1: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Alchemy Blade), B: Weapon focus (mind Blade) B: Hidden Talent (Psionic Minor Creation), B: Hidden Talent (Call Armor) Mind blade, Weapon Focus (mind blade), Hidden Talent
2nd Fighter +1 +2 +2 +2 ride 1, handle animal 1, craft alchemy 5 B: Exotic Heavy Armor proficiency, B: Exotic Shield proficiency (extreme shield) Bonus fighter feat, medium and heavy armor proficiencies, tower shield Exotic Shield proficiency (races of stone p.139)
3rd Soulknife +2 +2 +3 +3 concentration 6, craft alchemy 6, auto hypnosis 6 Hidden Talent Synchronicity Throw Mind Blade
4th Soulknife +3 +3 +3 +3 concentration 7, craft alchemy 7, autohypnosis 7, craft (carpentry) 2 Psychic Strike +1d8
5th Soulknife +4 +3 +4 +4 concentration 8, craft alchemy 8, autohypnosis 8, craft (weaving) 2 +1 mind blade
6th Soulknife +4 +3 +4 +4 concentration 9, craft alchemy 9, autohypnosis 9, craft (armormaking) 2 Heavy Armor Optimization (Races of Stone p. 141) free draw, shape mindblade
Epic Level Feat Source Page
1st Deflective Armor Races of Stone 137
2nd Grenadier Player's Handbook II 79
3rd Mad Alchemist Player's Handbook I 94
4th Linked Power Complete Psionic 62
5th Pyro Song and Silence 40
6th Mind Strike Complete Psionic 56
7th Martial Study (Shadow Blade Technique) Tome of Battle 31 (78)
8th Instant Clarity Tome of Battle 31
9th Psychic Renewal Tome of Battle 32
10th Truebond Dungeon Master's Guide 2 232

This is my Mind Blade. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My Mind Blade is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my Mind Blade is useless. Without my Mind Blade, I am useless. I must fire my Mind Blade true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must stab him before he stabs me. I will…
My Mind Blade and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit…
My Mind Blade is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my Mind Blade clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…
Before the Gods, I swear this creed. My Mind Blade and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is our's and there is no enemy, but peace!
Bzzsherrrp is a soulknife.
At first level, he takes hidden talent twice, First as a class bonus feat via the mind’s eye expanded classes article, and then again as a bonus feat for being human. He gets call armor and psionic minor creation. With minor creation, he can use craft skills to make stuff that he wants, like alchemy items. Why alchemy items? Because Bzzsherrrp is also taking exotic weapon proficiency alchemy blade. This curiously worded little guy allows Bzzsherrrp to load alchemist fire into his mindblade for more damage. You should survive this level with your 2d6 damage +1d6 damage next round from your free cubic foot of alchemists fire that you can psionically create. Bring a trough, a ladle, a funnel and some flasks, and go to town.

At second level, Bzzsherrrp takes a level of normal fighter. He uses the bonus feat for heavy exotic armor (mountain plate or battle plate or mechanus gear) proficiency. He uses his tower shield proficiency to instead take exotic shield proficiency (extreme shield). Read the special text for exotic shield proficiency. This is a legal optional rule, and the towershield has a -2 to attack that the extreme shield doesn’t. This brings Bzzsherrrp’s AC from 13 to 22 or 23. Bzzzsherrp will likely survive this level.

At third level, Bzzsherrrp takes hidden talent again, bringing his PP up to six. His Cha bonus will also help his PP total. This is where he learns the synchronicity power. This power allows him to take a specified readied standard action before next turn. He can reload his alchemy mindblades with that. Or summon his armor first round and also attack. Bzzsherrrp can now throw his alchemy mindblades, but his dex is trash. Only do this if you have someone using aid another on you while you have the high ground, or you have a few rounds of free attacks, so you can miss a few times. Bzzsherrrp should survive this level.

At fourth level, psychic strike should allow you to begin combat with 2d6+1d8 damage with 1d6 fire damage a round later. Bzzsherrrp with begin to experience challenges being relevant around this level.

At fifth level, Bzzsherrrp gets +1 to attacks and damage rolls with his mindblade. Bzzsherrrp should survive this level, but no promises.

At sixth level, Bzzsherrrp can make two mind alchemy blades at once, psychically charge them separately, and then allow one to fade away. He keeps that one in the bank where he can free draw it later, so that he can use his shield with his other hand. The armor optimization feat adds one more to his AC. His touch AC is trash. Bood luck surviving this level. Play carefully and defensively. Hope you have a bard with inspire courage to help you hit with your 1 attack per round. Your charisma of 16 grants you 9 extra PP for you to use synchronicity on for extra attacks.

Epic feat 1: deflective armor! Your touch AC is now higher than anyone else in your party. You now have survivability

Epic feat 2: grenadier: +1 damage on alchemy flask filled mind blades, and arguably, +1 to hit with your primed alchemy mind blade.

Epic feat 3: mad alchemist: +1d6 damage on the second flame based attack to anyone you cover in alchemists fire with your first attack, and they catch on fire for real. Not that namby pamby alchemist fire “on fire” which only lasts for one additional round. The type of on fire that you have to save against every round. Here’s the rules to catching on real fire. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm So long as you keep hitting them with alchemist’s fire, you should be dealing 1d6+1+str +2d6+3 (3d6+8) approximately 19 damage per round. The thunderstone ability is helpful for debuffing. With a masterwork craft alchemy item, that’s a 1d20+11 will save or a -2 to checks.

Epic feat 4: linked power is amazing. You can queue up multiple synchronicities, or a call armor and synchronicity, or whatever. Beware of losing your psionic focus mid battle with things that target touch AC.

Epic feat 5: pyro. Now, while your enemies are on fire, they have to deal with really high ref saves to put themselves out.

Epic feat 6: mind strike. Now when you charge your psychic strike, you can blow your psionic focus to add another 1d8 of damage to it. Thing is, your blades save their psychic strikes, so you can shape 2, load them up, drop one, refocus, then pick up your shield and use that. Those extra banked charged mindblades will allow you to do an average of +8 damage for two attacks in a combat.

Epic feat 7: martial study: shadow blade technique will allow you to roll 2d20 to hit. This will help with your terrible BAB once per encounter. If both hit, you get 1d6 cold damage added to that hellfire you’ve been spreading with every hit.

Epic feat 8: Instant clarity. If you use your psionic focus in combat, now you can use shadowblade technique to hit your opponent and get it back to restore your high touch AC.

Epic feat 9: Psychic renewal: Now you can get your shadow blade technique back by blowing your focus, when in situations where hitting with high damage output is more important than a high touch AC.

Epic feat 10: Truebond. The ritual of blood, which takes 15 minutes after killing a creature gives you +4 damage against that entire type of critter. So, hopefully you have very little enemy diversity in your quests. Arguably, you can also use it to enchant your mindblade...i think, ask your DM. The rules are really fuzzy about that: is your mindblade an item, or is it something else. It stores your psychic strike and whatever weapon enhancement you make it have, so is it just temporarily stored in your psychic armory? Any ways, there is a lot of feat text for this one, but basically you can spend money and upgrade your mindblade.

Gear: if you get one of those mindblade gauntlets, absolutely get one. They are awesome.
An item of +2 charisma nets you +3 PP.
An item that boosts craft checks or intelligence will help with the mad alchemist feat.
An item that boosts saves is a good idea.
An item that boosts dexterity will help with your thrown mindblades attack rolls. Gloves of balanced hands can help you get more attacks in a round, but limits your shield use.

Spoiler
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Handy Dandy Guide to the E6 Soulknife

First off, the very first thing you do when you decide to consider playing a soulknife is to go to the DM and ask them to housrule full BAB onto the class. Point at how a paladin and ranger get weapons and class abilities and full BAB, and point at the psychic warrior how it gets multiple powers and feats at the same BAB as a soulknife. This is the absolute most critical step of optimizing a soulknife there is.

But let’s explore this ugly base class to find the little patches of beauty by book diving.

ARMOR
There is no ability intrinsic to the class that is harmed by wielding a shield or heavy armor. Psionics are like divine spells in that they don’t care about armor. This means that you can dump dexterity and still have a sufficiently high AC. Dip fighter for free shield and heavy armor proficiencies. Do it. You don’t have to dig very far to see that this strategy is gonna hurt when it comes to touch AC. Seeing as how this is E6, and feats are king here: consider the heavy armor optimization and the deflective armor feats. Heavy armor optimization blows, but it grants plus 1 AC. Deflective armor allows you to apply your armor bonus to your touch attack AC so long as you’re psionically focused. Both feats are in races of stone. That’s a good deal.

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HIDDEN TALENT
According to the mind’s eye class expanded class options, a Soulknife can replace wild talent with hidden talent, and they can take multiple hidden talent feats. Let's dig deeper.

Hidden Talent (Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 67) [General] Your mind wakes to a previously unrealized talent for psionics.
Prerequisites: This feat can only be taken at 1st level
Benefit Your latent power of psionics flares to life, conferring upon you the designation of a psionic character. As a psionic character, you gain a reserve of 2 power points, and you can take psionic feats, metapsionic feats, and psionic item creation feats. If you have or take a class that grants power points, the power points gained from Hidden Talent are added to your total power point reserve. When you take this feat, choose one 1st-level power from any psionic class list. You know this power (it becomes one of your powers known). You can manifest this power with the power points provided by this feat if you have a Charisma score of 11 or higher. If you have no psionic class levels, you are considered a 1st-level manifester when manifesting this power. If you have psionic class levels, you can manifest the power at the highest manifester level you have attained. (This is not a manifester level, and it does not add to any manifester levels gained by taking psionic classes.) If you have no psionic class levels, use Charisma to determine how powerful a power you can manifest and how hard those powers are to resist. Note: This is an expanded version of the Wild Talent feat, intended for use in high-psionics campaigns
The bolding in red there is mine. So that leaves us with 2 questions:
Is the soulknife a psionic class?
And if not, what the heck does it mean to “use charisma to determine how powerful a power you can manifest”?

To the SRD!

Abilities And Manifesters
The ability that your powers depend on—your key ability score as a manifester—is related to what psionic class (or classes) you have levels in: Intelligence (psion), Wisdom (psychic warrior), and Charisma (wilder). The modifier for this ability is referred to as your key ability modifier. If your character’s key ability score is 9 or lower, you can’t manifest powers from that psionic class.

Psionic Classes
Random Starting Gold Table:
Psion 3d4 ×10 (75 gp)
Psychic warrior 5d4 ×10 (125 gp)
Soulknife 5d4 ×10 (125 gp)
Wilder 4d4 ×10 (100 gp)
Are you seeing the lack of soulknife being listed in there, as well as not having the ability to which powers are keyed being explained. But, then the soulknife is listed as a psionic class in the random starting gold area. We still don’t know if a soulknife is a “psionic class” or not. Maybe we need to go after the primary source instead of the open source.

In the soulknife description:
xph. p.26: Characteristics: More than any other psionic class, the soulknife fights with psionic power directly in both melee and ranged combat. Strength, combat prowess, and psionic talent allow the soulknife to claim equal footing—at least—with any other combat-oriented class on the field of battle.

Xph p.28: Wild Talent: A soulknife gains Wild Talent as a bonus feat. (This class feature provides the character with the psionic power he needs to materialize his mind blade, if he has no power points otherwise.)
Here’s the smoking gun we wanted!

XPH p.17: THE CLASSES The four psionic classes, in the order they’re presented in this chapter, are as follows.
1. Psion: A seeker after psionic secrets; a master of the mind and the thoughts of others.
2. Psychic Warrior: A warrior who combines combat skill with psionic powers.
3. Soulknife: A warrior who fights with an idealized blade of personal mental energy.
4. Wilder: A passionate, reckless talent who wields uncontrolled psionic power.
The soulknife is a psionic class. Therefor, with hidden talent, “If you have psionic class levels, you can manifest the power at the highest manifester level you have attained.” This opens up a new question, what is a soulknife’s manifester level?

Going on the hidden talent feat alone, your manifester level is at least 1. Is there a way to bump that up? Let’s go look up the practiced manifester feat to see if that helps get us up to manifester level 5.

Practiced Manifester (Complete Psionic, p. 57) [Psionic] Choose a manifesting class that you possess. The powers you manifest from that class are more powerful.
Prerequisite Psicraft 4 ranks
Benefit Your manifester level for the chosen manifesting class increases by four. This benefit can't increase your manifester level higher than your Hit Dice. Even if you cant benefit from the full bonus immediately, however, if you later gain levels of nonmanifesting classes, you might be able to apply the rest of the bonus. For example, a human 5th-level psion/3rd-level fighter who selects this feat would increase his psion manifester level from 5th to 8th (since he has 8 Hit Dice). If he later gained a fighter level, he would gain the remainder of the bonus, and his psion manifester level would become 9th (since he now has 9 Hit Dice). A character with, two or more manifesting classes (such as a psychic warrior/psion) must choose which class gains the feats effect. This feat does not affect your powers per day or powers known. It only increases your manifester level, which helps you overcome power resistance and increases the duration and other effects of your powers.
Special You can select this feat multiple times. Each time you choose it, you must apply it to a different manifesting class.
What the heck! So now we have to find out how you can be considered a “manifesting class.”

xph. p.54: MANIFESTER LEVEL The variables of a power’s effect often depend on its manifester level, which is equal to your psionic class level.
9

Soulknife is technically a manifesting class because it is technically a psionic class. That means that your manifester level for hidden talent increases with each level of soulknife you take. That means that you can augment your first level powers, (remember you cant spend more PP on a single power than you have manifester levels), assuming that you have sufficient PP. While we are talking about sufficient PP, can we get bonus PP from a high ability score? Let’s go back to that ability modifiers quote.

The ability that your powers depend on—your key ability score as a manifester—is related to what psionic class (or classes) you have levels in: Intelligence (psion), Wisdom (psychic warrior), and Charisma (wilder). The modifier for this ability is referred to as your key ability modifier. If your character’s key ability score is 9 or lower, you can’t manifest powers from that psionic class.
Hidden talent pretty unambiguously nominates charisma as the key ability modifier.

Just as a high Intelligence score grants bonus spells to a wizard and a high Wisdom score grants bonus spells to a cleric, a character who manifests powers (psions, psychic warriors, and wilders) gains bonus power points according to his key ability score. Refer to Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points.
So it is very reasonable to assume that the ommission of soulknife in this example listing of manifesting base classes (which also leaves out psychic rogue, lurk, and ardent) is counting on soulknives not having the hidden talent feat, which grants a power to manifest. But, you have a key ability modifier, and manifester level and powers that you can manifest, so it is reasonable to assume that you get bonus PP for high charisma scores. Awesome!

This means that you can qualify for a number of prestige classes that have an enumerated manifester level as prerequisites: psychic assassin and metamind come to my metamind.

But let’s run for the mother effin hills. What if we want a prestige class or feat that necessitates higher level powers than the unlimited first level powers available though hidden talent?

Heighten power, of course!

Heighten Power (Psionics Handbook 3.0, p. 0) [Metapsionic] You can manifest a power as if it were higher level than it actually is.
Benefit A heightened power has a higher psionic power level than normal (up to 9th level). Unlike other metapsionic feats, Heighten Power actually increases the effective level of the power that it modifies. All effects dependent on power level (such as saving throw DCs and ability to penetrate a minor dead psionics zone or a minor globe of invulnerability) are calculated according to the heightened level. The heightened power costs as many power points as a power of its effective level
It’s 3.0 and therefor not RAW compliant, with the primacy of XPH supplanting the 3.0 rules. Unless someone finds a heighten power feat written after the publication of XPH, the fun stops here. Unless, of course, you’re an ardent with the magic mantle and the heighten spell metamagic feat. If heighten power is allowed in your game, you are only limited in what level powers you can have by your PP. If you can manifest a 1st level power as a 5th level power through the use of heighten power because you have at least 9 PP, then you can take expanded knowledge feat, choosing any power that is 1 level less than the maximum power level that you have the PP for from any psionic power list. This is probably why 3.0 psionics is banned altogether. That's sloppy.

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Ok, now it’s time to look at the quintessential feature of the the entire soulknife base class (that is totally outclassed entirely by the psychic warrior soulbound weapon ACF)

The Mind Blade

Mind Blade (Su)
As a move action, a soulknife can create a semisolid blade composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The blade is identical in all ways (except visually) to a short sword of a size appropriate for its wielder. For instance, a Medium soulknife materializes a Medium mind blade that he can wield as a light weapon, and the blade deals 1d6 points of damage (crit 19-20/×2). Soulknives who are smaller or larger than Medium create mind blades identical to short swords appropriate for their size, with a corresponding change to the blade’s damage. The wielder of a mind blade gains the usual benefits to his attack rolland damage roll from a high Strength bonus.
Shape Mind Blade (Su) At 5th level, a soulknife gains the ability to change the form of his mind blade. As a fullround action, he can change his mind blade to replicate a longsword (damage 1d8 for a Medium weapon wielded as a one-handed weapon) or a bastard sword (damage 1d10 for a Medium weapon, but he must wield it as a two-handed weapon unless he knows the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) feat). If a soulknife shapes his mind blade into the form of a bastard sword and wields it two-handed, he adds 1½ times his Strength bonus to his damage rolls, just like when using any other two-handed weapon. Alternatively, a soulknife can split his mind blade into two identical short swords, suitable for fighting with a weapon in each hand. (The normal penalties for fighting with two weapons apply.ihhv ) However, both mind blades have an enhancement bonus 1 lower than the soulknife would otherwise create with a single mind blade.
So we generate a mind blade as a supernatural ability (consider taking empower supernatural ability from tome of magic, because it’s roughly equivalent to the damage boost from weapon specialization if you only use your mindblade for melee attacks)

But look at this peculiar language that I bolded in red for you. The mind blade is identical to a shortsword and can be used with feats that work on normal weapons.

This leads to an interesting question: Does weapon focus stack for a weapon that is considered two different weapons?

Weapon Focus (PHB p. 102) [Fighter Bonus Feat, General] Choose one type of weapon, such as greataxe. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for purposes of this feat. You are especially good at using this weapon. (If you have chosen ray, you are especially good with rays, such as the one produced by the ray of frost spell.)
Prerequisite base attack bonus +1, Proficiency with selected weapon,
Benefit You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.
Special You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.
So if you take weapon focus (shortsword) and weapon focus (mind blade), and the mind blade is identical in all ways except visually to a shortsword, do the +1's stack?
I mean, the +1s apply to new types of weapons, which happen to be the same weapon. But....I reckon "It's effects do not stack" is pretty unequivocal.
Otherwise, if you’re not in an E6 game, dip a level of fighter at high level and take improved critical mindblade and improved critical shortsword feats and try to swing them stacking together…

lol, yeah right. It's fun to dream though

This whole line of inquiry probably doesn’t work.

But I found something better that probably does.

ALCHEMY BLADE - MAGIC OF EBERRON (3.5)
Exotic Light Melee Weapon
Cost: 310 gp
Damage (s): 1d4 Damage (m): 1d6
Critical: 19-20/x2
Weight: 2 lb
Type: P
Ammo: Application, Flask
An alchemy blade appears much like a normal short sword. Two slender channels form a groove on each side of the blade, and the pommel is built to accept a flask of either alchemist’s fire or alchemist’s frost. (It could also accept a flask of acidic fire or alchemist’s spark, but a single use of either of these would render the weapon useless.) When a flask of alchemist’s fire or alchemist’s frost is plugged into the pommel, the weapon is primed. When you strike a target with a primed blade and deal damage, an internal alchemical pump instantly expels the fire or frost through hollows in the hilt and out along the channels in the blade. In addition to taking any damage dealt by the blade, the target also takes damage as if it had been struck by the flask attached to the weapon. Adjacent creatures, including the wielder, are not subject to splash damage. If the blade deals critical damage, the frost or fire damage is not multiplied. Priming an alchemy blade is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. When not primed, the alchemy blade deals damage as a short sword. Creating an alchemy blade requires a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check in addition to the normal Craft (weaponsmithing) checks required to make a weapon. Characters who take Exotic Weapon Proficiency (alchemy blade) can treat the alchemy blade as a short sword for the purpose of any feat or ability that affects the character’s ability to use a short sword (such as Weapon Focus [short sword]).


So long as we have exotic weapon proficiency (alchemy blade), we can now load alchemists fire or alchemist frost, (or acidic fire, or alchemist’s spark) as needed into our mind blade. Even further, the parenthetical alchemy items don’t have a drawback, you can just make a new mindblade next round after they melt into your enemy's flesh.

Because in both instances in the soulknife description of the mind blade, it describes the mindblade as identical to a shortsword in all ways except visually, and you can apply any “ability” that affects a shortsword to the alchemy blade. So, as long as you have exotic weapon proficiency, you can load flasks into your mindblade, because you can manifest a shortsword, therefor you can manifest an alchemy blade, with your class feature.

We can use flasks!
Consider PHB2’s grenadier feat (for +1 fire damage) and the mad alchemist feat (for +1d6 damage and they catch on fire for real). That’s a lot of fire dependancy, but if it’s what you got, it’s what you got. Nicely enough, you have craft skill as a class skill, so you can ask permission to make alchemical items when you take craft (alchemy.) I mean, after all you are a manifester, which is almost like being a spellcaster.

Also, ask the DM if rapid reload is an option that you can take, swapping the crossbow for the alchemy blade, otherwise we are looking at needing hidden talent (syncronicity) for standard actions to load our mind blades with more alchemist flasks.

Rounding all of this out is the turtle dart style feat found in races of stone. If Weapon Focus (shortsword) stacks with weapon focus (mind blade)(it doesn't), or...much more likely, if WF mindblade can replace WF shortsword, this option is worth consideration.
You can move out of a threatened square without provoking attacks of opportunity. You’ll have an AC of like 23, a touch AC of 20, and with enough alchemists fire you’ll set your opponent on fire in round 1, run away for round 2. Throw mindblades, manifest, charge up some more alchemist fire or psionic foci on round 3. It's all Fire-based attrition damage. The problem with this is that it is a slower technique than taking the psionic weapon line of feats as far as feat economy, it’s geared towards a common energy resistance, but with the psionic weapon feats you have to blow your focus and thus lose your touch AC bonus. So just keep that in mind if you're considering running away a lot.

Other Mind Blade Observations of Note:
No Duration: The mindblade exists for as long as you grasp it, so if you never let go, your mindblade exists for as long as it’s in your grasp.

No limit on the number of Mind Blades you can have manifested at the same time: There is no prohibition from forming more than one mindblade at a time. Like... none, whatsoever.

That 5th level ability to make two identical shortswords just saves you time at the expense of a +1 bonus. You don't have to do it that way. That's just something to do when you're desperate. You could already make as many mindblades as you have hands, because there is nothing indicating that you can't.

Considering taking craft (mind bladecraft) to build bigger, better weapons out of all of those mindblades that you can make.

Spoiler: Crazy ideas
Show

Regenerate hands with mind blades in them that you cut off
Consider finding an item that grants access to the restore extremity power, or maybe a ring of regeneration, wear a locking gauntlet and just shape mindblades and then cut off your own hand. If you're a glimmerskin halfling, use the heal skill to cut off your own hand.
Restore,
Repeat.
Then consider the following options.

1: Use the craft skill use mindblades as a raw material. Then use all these +1 mind blades locked in gauntlets to make stuff. I’m not sure entirely what you could make, but a flail made out of locking gauntleted mindblades on a series of chains seems like one of many ways to go here. Maybe hammer them together into a giant oversized two handed sword, using some abstruse psionic crafting process (yay quests!) and when part of a mindblade is fused to another, you can remove a gauntlet, as the mindblade will be grasped by your other (detached) hand. Keep on doing that until you remove all but one locking gauntlet, build that into the hilt, and now you have a permenant greatsword mindblade +1, made up of shortsword mind blades.

2. Exploit the magic items. If you can gain a benefit from sacrificing +1 magic items, which you can make all day starting at level four, (hi ancestral relic, how are you?) (spellfire channeler, you so crazy!) this is the way to go. Just costs an arm.


The problem with soulknife's mindblade is one of Raw Damage Output. Until 5th level, you’re doing 1d6+1+ str. Occasionally 1d6+1+1d8+str. You don’t get iteratives in E6. And you’ll miss pretty often. Power attack with crappy BAB is a painful game of miss a lot. So the alchemy blade exploit is actually a nice way to add another 1d6 or more damage per round.

Mind Blade Damage Uppers
Psycarnum blade is an incarnum feat from magic of incarnum that requires spending your psionic focus to get: # of essentia x 1d6 extra damage. In E6, it's no better than the psionic weapon feat.

If you're kalashtar, you can take the spiritual force feat from races of eberron (spend psi focus for + cha to damage for 1 round). Actually, complete psionic was published after that, and kept this feat but gave it the "Host" category. Because races of eberron was published in 2005, and complete psionic in 2006, complete psionic has precedence. That means, that you are saddled with a "one other host feat" tax. The psionic weapon feat blows your focus for an average of +7 damage on one attack roll. Spiritual force grants up to +4 without any charisma modifying items or templates on all mind blade damage rolls for 1 turn when you blow your psionic focus.
So if you have a source of spare attacks, like combat reflexes, or if you have a charisma of 24 or above and are a kalashtar, chosen, inspired, or a host to a formless psionic entity (arguably synad) get spiritual force instead of psionic weapon. Consider extend supernatural ability for this feat. It is considered a psionic feat, and psionic feats are considered supernatural abilities, and two rounds of adding charisma to your damage is better than 1, especially if you have a feat to refocus as a move action to do it again.

Soulblade warrior from races of eberron is kalashtar only, and wasn't reprinted in complete psionic, so you need to find a different host feat to fulfill that terrible prerequisite, unless your DM handwaves it. You can shape your mindblade as a swift action and if you use action points, you add them to your mind blade damage.



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Item Support
Races of Eberron p.175: Mind Blade Gauntlet: A mind blade gauntlet is an opalescent glove that serves as a channel for the inner power of a kalashtar or Inspired soulknife, allowing the wielder to enhance the power of his mind blade. Each mind blade gauntlet is crafted with a particular weapon special ability (such as keen) that can be used by a kalashtar or Inspired soulknife with the mind blade enhancement class feature (see the Soulknife class description, page 26 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). When the soulknife expends his psionic focus while manifesting his mind blade through the mind blade gauntlet, the weapon gains the weapon special ability designated by the gauntlet. This effect lasts for 1 minute. If a soulknife splits his mind blade into two matching blades, the effect only applies to the mind blade manifested through the mind blade gauntlet (though two gauntlets can be worn simultaneously, allowing an effect to be applied to each mind blade). The price of a mind blade gauntlet depends on the base price modifier of the weapon special ability imbued into it. Moderate metacreativity; ML 5th; Craft Psionic Arms and Armor, mind blade ability, creator must be a kalashtar or an Inspired; Price: 22,000 gp (+1 base price modifier), 48,000 gp (+2 base price modifier), 78,000 gp (+3 base price modifier).
MIC p.68: ADAMANTINE MIND BLADE GAUNTLETS Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (6th) Body Slot: Hands Caster Level: 9th Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) transmutation Activation: — Weight: 1 lb. Each of these heavy leather gloves bears a violet crystal set on a small plate of adamantine. Adamantine mind blade gauntlets allow you to give your mind blade the properties of adamantine. If you are able to enhance your mind blade (with the mind blade enhancement class feature), whenever you materialize your mind blade while wearing these gauntlets, you can choose to treat it as an adamantine weapon for the purpose of ignoring hardness or overcoming damage reduction. This ability takes the place of a property with a +1 enhancement bonus value. For example, a 6th-level soulknife wearing the gauntlets could either choose to apply the gauntlets’ effect or apply one of the +1 enhancement bonus value properties given on the table (EPH 29). A 10th-level soulknife could apply both the gauntlets’ effect and a +1 enhancement bonus value property rather than applying a combination of properties from the table totaling +2. Adamantine mind blade gauntlets function an unlimited number of times per day. The gauntlets require no separate activation; using them is part of the action to materialize your mind blade. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, fabricate, mind blade. Cost to Create: 1,000 gp, 80 XP, 2 days.
The adamantine gauntlet is pretty cool. Pair with martial study stone dragon bonus damage against objects ability and cut through some walls.

The Mindblade gauntlet doesn’t limit what weapon enhancements can go into it. Hello aptitude mindblades! Off the top of my head, take a look at Lightning maces, boomerang ricochet or stun, tormtor school, or rapid reload (hand crossbow Alchemy blade) Get some of these gauntlets bro. It bumps the soulknife up like a tier.

Weapon crystals. Get them. They are perfect for your weapon.

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Free Draw

Complete psionic p.48: SOULKNIFE’S FREE DRAW ABILITY The Soulknife’s free draw ability counts as the Quick Draw feat for the purpose of qualifying for feats or prestige classes.
The shame here is that all of the good quick draw based feat/skill tricks require a ton of skill points in class skills that you don’t get, or a prohibitively high BAB for an E6 competition using soulknife. If you're not in an E6 game, the hurling charge feat from miniature's handbook is the reason that this ability is any good at all. Maybe a master thrower build?

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Psychic Strike

Psychic Strike (Su) As a move action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with destructive psychic energy. This effect deals an extra 1d8 points of damage to the next living, nonmindless target he successfully hits with a melee attack (or ranged attack, if he is using the throw mind blade ability).
Complete psionic p.56: DUAL MIND BLADES AND PSYCHIC STRIKE If a soulknife chooses to shape his mind blade by splitting it into two blades, each separate blade is able to hold a psychic strike as long as the soulknife spends a separate move action to empower each blade with psychic strike.
psychic Strike (Continued) Once a soulknife has prepared his blade for a psychic strike, it holds the extra energy until it is used. Even if the soulknife drops the mind blade (or it otherwise dissipates, such as when it is thrown and misses), it is still imbued with psychic energy when the soulknife next materializes it.
Just spend a day preparing as many blades as you can grasp, and stockpile a few mind strike feat enhanced psychic strike blades. That's a fist full of 2d8s. Thrikreen, diopsid, anthro-octopus, totemist 2 with girallon arms, you should take notes. Again, it seems like the psychic strike is an out of combat preparation that starts charging action cost taxes when you try to use it in combat, just like the shape mindblade ability. This explains why xephs move fast: they run away and recharge a few mind blades and then charge back into the fray.

Most Importantly for an E6 soulknife, You can use the mind strike feat to up that 1d8 to 2d8 per mind blade. You can consider taking empower supernatural ability on your psychic strike and hope that that can include your mind strike d8.

Other psychic strike support includes Complete Psionics' (p.56) mind cleave (charge your psychic strike if you actually do enough damage to kill them, WITH YOUR SHORTSWORD), mind empowerment (add another 1d8 psychic strike damage for 3 rounds after you actually do enough damage to kill your foe), swift mindstrike (1/day charge psychic strike with a swift action).