Share your good SoulKnife Builds

[Zipher]

Hi,

After my first reading of the SoulKnife class in the XPH, I thought the class sounded really cool, but at the same time, also seemed weak. :\

They are weak for a Toe-to-Toe fighting class, BAB progressions is like a fighter (if you count the SoulBlade+ Bonus) but you can't get magical weapon enhancements above that (so not good..). No amour (Light only), No spells, and completely dependant on class level for ability (so not much multi-classing without hurting yourself badly).

That being said, I'm sure there are some cool builds for this class. Could you guys please post your good character builds involving this class!

Thanks!
-Zipher

 

[Creamsteak]

I built my Soulknife (Animus in the Psionicle) around a half-soulknife and half-psychic warrior progression. The bonus feats let me focus on a lot of psionic skills that I could use, and boost up some of my options. At 5th level, I'm reasonably strong (though my gear is about as bare-bones as your going to get, besides the psionic skin).

[b][u][size=4]Animus Abdicerer[/size][/b][/u]
[b]Medium Sized Humanoid (Human Psychic Warrior 2/Soulknife 3)[/b]
[b]Hit Dice:[/b] 3d10+2d8+20 (48 hp)
[b]Initiative:[/b] +2
[b]Speed:[/b] 30 ft.
[b]AC:[/b] 15 (+2 Dex, +3 armor), [b]Touch:[/b] 12, [b]Flat-Footed:[/b] 13
[b]Attacks:[/b] Mind blade +7 melee (1d6+3/19-20)
[b]Saves:[/b] Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +4
[b]Abilities:[/b] Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 11 Per 8.
[b]Skills:[/b] +8 Autohypnosis [5 ranks], +8 Climb [5 ranks], +9
Concentration [7 ranks], +7 Hide [5 ranks], +8 Jump [5 ranks], +6 Listen [5
ranks], +7 Move Silently [5 ranks], +6 Spot [5 ranks], +6 Tumble [2 ranks].
[b]Feats & Special Abilities:[/b] Hidden Talent, Mental Leap, Mind blade,
Narrow Mind, Psionic Body, Psionic Meditation, Psionic Weapon, Psychic strike
+1d8, throw mind blade, Weapon Focus (mind blade).
[b]Psionic Powers:[/b] Reserve (5 pp); 1st - [i]Burst[/i], [i]Chameleon[/i], [i]Mindlink[/i].

[b]Experience:[/b] 10,648/15,000

[u][b]Equipment[/b][/u]
Skin of Nimbleness (2,000 gp)
MW Studded Leather Armor (175 gp)

[b]Skill Notes:[/b] Animus has a +10 bonus to Tumble checks when his Skin 
of Nimbleness is active. Animus can spend his psionic focus to add a +10 
bonus to jump checks through Mental Leap. For 1 power point, Animus can 
manifest Burst as a swift action, granting a +4 bonus to jump due to the 
speed increase. Animus can manifest Chameleon to gain a +10 bonus to hide 
checks. Animus has a +4 bonus to Concentration checks made to gain a 
psionic focus.

[b]Psionic Focus Notes:[/b] Animus can gain a psionic focus (DC 20 
Concentration) with a +13 bonus as a move action. In addition to the normal 
benefits of a psionic focus, Animus can use his psionic focus with Mental 
Leap or Psionic Weapon (+2d6 damage).

The planned progression looks like this:
Note that some stuff hasn't been figured out yet, and that I took a couple feats from the Psionics 3.5 Minds Eye Articles on the Wizards of the Coast website.

Character		Base Attack	Fort	Ref	Will		
Level	Class Levels	Bonus		Save	Save	Save		Feats and Special Abilities
1	Soulknife	+0		+0	+2	+2		Mind blade, Narrow Mind, Psionic Weapon, Weapon Focus (mind blade), Wild Talent
2	Psychic Warrior	+0		+2	+2	+2		Psionic Body
3	Soulknife	+1		+2	+3	+3		Mental Leap, throw mind blade
4	Psychic Warrior	+2		+3	+3	+3		Psionic Meditation
5	Soulknife	+3		+4	+3	+3		Psychic strike +1d8
6	Psychic Warrior	+4		+4	+4	+4		Ghost Attack
7	Soulknife	+5		+4	+5	+5		+1 mind blade
8	Psychic Warrior	+6/+1		+5	+5	+5		
9	Soulknife	+6/+1		+5	+5	+5		Free draw, Greater Psionic Weapon, shape mind blade
10	Psychic Warrior	+6/+1		+5	+5	+5		Deep Impact
11	Soulknife	+7/+2		+6	+6	+6		Mind blade enhancement +1, Speed of Thought
12	Psychic Warrior	+8/+3		+7	+7	+7		Psionic Charge
13	Soulknife	+9/+4		+7	+7	+7		Psychic strike +2d8
14	Psychic Warrior	+10/+5		+7	+7	+7		
15	Soulknife	+11/+6/+1	+7	+8	+8		+2 mind blade, Focused Body
16	Psychic Warrior	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+8		Up the Walls
17	Soulknife	+12/+7/+2	+9	+8	+8		Bladewind, Greater Weapon Focus (mind blade)
18	Psychic Warrior	+12/+7/+2	+9	+9	+9		Psionic Tumble
19	Soulknife	+13/+8/+3	+9	+10	+10		Mind blade enhancement +2
20	Psychic Warrior	+14/+9/+4	+10	+10	+10

(I hope that displays right)

Ideally, as a psionic warrior, you want to come down somewhere between a fighter and a rogue. Your skill selection is ideal for building a character that is a bit tougher than a rogue, and hits a little bit harder. Honestly, it's best attribute is the versatility and freedom you get with the weapons. I'd sink a LOT more money into defense though, as you'll never be able to stay in combat if you can't survive. I'm talking everything you can get to boost your AC.

Oh, and if your looking for a powerful soul-knife build, I don't really have one of those. This one has been fun though, and that's all I'm aiming for.

 

[Zipher]

Thanks for the informative post!

I was thinking along the lines of a multi-classed SoulKnife/PsychicWarrior. However, the problem with that build is that your main weapon (the MindBlade) only progresses as you progress you SoulKnife levels. So with a half and half build, I feel that you will be very weak combat-wise.

I was considering using a Xeph (Race from XPH) and going something like this:
SoulKnife1
PsychicWarrior1 (get Inertial Armour (+4ac) + feat)
PsychicWarrior2 (get Enlarge power for reach + feat)
SoulKnife2
SoulKnife3
SoulKnife4
SoulKnife5 (use MindBlade 2-handed BastardSword)
SoulKnife6 (+1 enhancement)
OccultSlayer1 (better saves, extra damage against Magic)
OccultSlayer2 (Spell Turning!)
SoulKnife7-16???
...

At some point, I'd maybe have to get another level or two in PsychicWarrior (For Force Screen (another +4 AC) and for BodyAdjustment (Heal))
Also, more levels in OccultSlayer would be good too. But the key is not to take to much from the full progression of the SoulKnife.

I'm not sure if this is powerful enough to be a front line fighter though.... :\

-Zipher

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I would think that the way to craft a soulknife is to go soulknife all the way with no multiclassing. Even four levels of multiclassing (to get 4 attacks) would lose the soulknife multiple throw, psychic strike 5d8, +4 mind blade enhancement, and +5 mind blade

Then, you have at least two tricks to pull:

1. Use Knife to the Soul to target what looks like your foes weak mental stats. Striking once for 3 points of int damage will take out most animals and templated magical beasts. Striking twice for int or charisma damage will take out a lot of fighters and barbarians.

2. Make good use of the various mind blade enhancements. A 20th level mindblade with boots of speed and the proper two weapon fighting feats could make seven attacks (melee, ranged, or any combination thereof) with a pair of +4 wounding, suppression mind blades. If they all hit, that's 7 points of con, a whole lot of dispelling, and if you do 7 points of con, that's plenty of damage right there. A soulknife can always have the optimal weapon enhancements for whatever situation he finds himself in. Take advantage of it.

Finally, make sure you get good non-weapon equipment. Most warriors will sink at least 10-20% of their total equipment value into weapons. You get either one +10 weapon (200kgp) or two +9 weapons (360kgp) as a class ability. You give up a heck of a lot to get those so make the most of it.

All that said, I wonder if anyone's run the numbers on a vow of poverty mind blade. It seems like it might work pretty well.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I don't have a copy of Sijjin, my 4th level human soulknife handy here at work, so I can't remember what his skill point totals are, but I really buffed up Concentration and Autohypnosis. My dm is pretty stingy with magic and psionic items, so all I have is a Ring of Jumping.

I took the feats Psionic Body (2 extra HP each time you take a psionic feat), Psionic Weapon and Psionic Shot. I put an 18 on his Constitution, and 16 and 17 on Strength and Dexterity, respectively. Those are his 3 best stats, but he's no slouch by any means.

With Psionic Weapon and Psionic Shot, and the Psychic Strike ability, he's actually pretty darned tough. He also has a high hitpoint total (54, I think) from the feats, high Con, and lucky rolls. We're currently playing the module The Speaker in Dreams, and he and the werebear being played by another member of the party (same level) are the front line doombringers for our foes.

 

[Creamsteak]

I'll agree with DMCal about Psionic Body. For a Psi-Warrior or a Soulknife it pays off pretty good. In the Psionicle it's max 1st hit die, and half the maximum value on all future hit dice. Without Psionic Body, I'd have 38 hp, so this netted me 10 already. That's twice as good as Improved Toughness.

 

[Zipher]

All that said, I wonder if anyone's run the numbers on a vow of poverty mind blade. It seems like it might work pretty well.

Elder-Basilisk, I was thinking the same thing since the SoulKnife does not need to *own* a weapon. But no armour is gonna hurt.. that's why I was thinking at least 1 level in psywarrior (so you can cast inertial-barrier or force-screen for +4AC).

I also see Elder-Basilisk's point that any levels not spent on soulknife is going to hurt your abilities. But I think just focusing leaves you open to many problems with certain types of monsters.

Here's a good question, if you had to make a soulknife character build that had less then 20 levels of soulknife, what would be an optimal cut-off point? and why?

Thanks!
-Zipher

 

[Creamsteak]

For a thrower, 17th no doubt. You'd need the multiple throw ability obviously. But that's a LONG time to wait to be able to do that, so I don't see the point in that build.

Bladewind (9th) is akin to whirlwind attack, I wouldn't overlook it. It's a good optional combat strategy. This is the same level as you get greater weapon focus, putting you in a pretty good level to stop, though your psychic strike, mind blade, and mind blade enhancement get cut down short.

Knife to the Soul seems to be a pretty good ability, 13th level. I don't really like it that much, but it's definitely useful.

Since this is a class where you get something at each and every level, there probably isn't a "best" stopping point. If I had to pick one, I'd pick 14th level, because at that point you get Mind blade enhancement +3 which allows you to pick any enhancement up to +3 to use based on the circumstances. I think that has enough weight, combined with knife to the soul at 13th level, to be pretty ideal.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Elder-Basilisk, I was thinking the same thing since the SoulKnife does not need to *own* a weapon. But no armour is gonna hurt.. that's why I was thinking at least 1 level in psywarrior (so you can cast inertial-barrier or force-screen for +4AC).

Inertial Barrier and Force Screen are nice but they're not going to save the character at high levels if that's all the character has. I was under the impression that Vow of Poverty came with some AC enhancements built in. If I'm wrong, then I'd see about mixing in some monk levels. 4 would be the ideal point from an attack bonus and save maximizing point of view, but that's a lot of soulknife abilities to be losing.

I also see Elder-Basilisk's point that any levels not spent on soulknife is going to hurt your abilities. But I think just focusing leaves you open to many problems with certain types of monsters.

Which ones?

Here's a good question, if you had to make a soulknife character build that had less then 20 levels of soulknife, what would be an optimal cut-off point? and why?

Thanks!
-Zipher

16 is the obvious cut off point for saves and attack bonus. It also gets you a +4 mindblade with +3 in additional enhancements and 4d8 psychic strike. I don't think there are really a lot of other good points. Since the primary benefit of the soulknife class is the soul-blade, I have trouble seeing a character benefitting from quitting before this. A +7 weapon (or two +6 weapons) is reasonable armarment for even a 20th level character. Much less, however, is pretty dodgy. Anything less, and I think you're looking at the mindblade being a backup weapon--which is cool, but not worth everything you give up to become a soulknife.

4 levels would net a fighter a throwable magical backup weapon that can't be taken away and works in an anti-magic field--as well as the ability to select psionic feats. Still, for my sacrificed point of BAB, I think I'd rather have four PsyWar levels; they come with Hustle or Psionic Lion's Charge and two bonus feats.

8 levels isn't horrible. A +2 mindblade is still a backup weapon, but it's a good one. Speed of Thought, Free Draw, and the ability to shape it make it a good deal more useful. However, still suffers a lot in comparison to PsyWar.

13th level would buy you Knife to the Soul which, IMO, is one of the soulknife's best abilities. Even at that level, it's still going to be a one-shot-kill against the gamut of low-int animals and magical beasts. That said, even if you fill the rest of the levels with an optimal fighter/prestige class mix, I can't see what you gain (probably +2 BAB, and a variety of feats and abilities) outweighing 2 points of mind blade enhancement, an additional +2 bonus on the mindblade, 2d8 psychic strike (which makes Knife to the Soul much more effective), and multiple throw (which is actually a pretty good ability for even a non-throwing mind blade since it enables the mind blade to move seemlessly between ranged and melee attacks--even in the same full attack action).

Quitting at 17th level seems a bit suspect--what abilities are you going to get from another class that equal +4 enhancement, +5 mindblade, and Psychic Strike 5d8? You've already sucked up the BAB and saves hit for going from 16th to 17th, so you might as well enjoy the fruits of that sacrifice.

 

[D20Dazza]

G'day,

Justa quickie. I've been having a blast playing a gnome soulknife/swashbuckler (CW core class) in an Eberron game.

Told you it'd be quick

Cheers

Daz