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Planning ahead

With the lack of feats and tightly focused nature of the Soulknife in mind one has to carefully consider what they want out of such a character before starting a build.

The first major choice you need to make will to decide on the role you want your Soulknife to fill.  Will he focus on mobile combat, slaying mages, mounted fighting, scouting, tanking or any number of other options?  This basic decision will start to set your course.  For instance, knowing that you want to tank means that you will probably need to take levels in another class or PrC at some point, maybe even at first level.  Just remember at this point that if you are thinking of filling a role that takes a lot of feats, like being a mounted charger, to consider carefully.  The Soulknife does not get bonus feats so it could take many levels to get where you want to go where another class might get there faster.

Next you will need to determine what fighting style your Soulknife will focus on.  This is important because of some of the feat chains involved.  Everyone knows about how feat intensive the Two Weapon fighting chain can be and it is no different in a Soulknife build.  However in addition to this, because they are psionic characters, the Soulknife can pick Psionic feats.  There are two strong chains here too.  One improves melee combat and the other ranged.  It is really hard to try to do much more than one of these three chains and sneak a few other feats in. 

There are five basic ‘styles’ of Soulknife combat.

Melee two handed bastard sword Mind Blade: Typically this is the style of a character who wants to focus on dealing damage.  High Str works really well here since Str damage is multiplied by 1.5 (or by 2 with Exotic Weapon Master’s Uncanny Blow).

Melee shield and sword (either long sword or bastard sword) Mind Blade: This is a well balanced setup that can lead to better ACs than the other styles.  The downside is that the Soulknife will typically not generate as much offensive output as he otherwise might.  It is possible to go the two weapon fighting route with either a spiked shield or Improved Shield Bash.

Melee dual short sword Mind Blade: This style makes the most of the Soulknife’s main power, creating a weapon.  It is also useful for helping to add more attacks thus compensating a little for medium BAB.  However the downside is that it can be feat intensive to be good at dual wielding resulting in a lack of feats that might otherwise be used on mobility or Psionic feats.

Melee dual wield with Mind Blade and ‘normal’ weapon: Like the dual short sword setup it can be really feat intensive to set this up properly however there are some nice benefits.  A ‘normal’ magic or psionic weapon can have powers that you either cannot select for your Mind Blade or that complement the ones you can pick.  Dual wielding this way also lets your put your Mind Blade in long sword or bastard sword form thus increasing your damage output.  This is probably the best route to go if you don’t plan on taking a lot of Soulknife levels.  It allows you to use your Mind Blade as an off-hand weapon while keeping a powerful melee attack.

Thrown Mind Blade: The Mind Blade can only be thrown once a round until 17th level.  This means that most throwing builds will either have supplement with additional weapons for full attacks or they will need to focus on tactics like mobile throwing.  In any event the throwing builds benefit more than most from the Psionic feats that increase damage and ability to hit.  Don’t forget that you can throw the Mind Blade in any form without any change in the range mods.  Thus it is typically more advantageous to use it as a long sword or bastard sword in throwing builds.

Picking your intended role and fighting style will get you set to start the next step.


Building a better Soulknife Part 1

With all that out of the way let’s start looking at things that will go into a Soulknife build.


Statistics

Str, Con, and Dex will probably be the most important in the vast majority of Soulknife builds.  The skill points from Int are nice as are the save and spot/listen bonuses from Wis ... but none of the mental stats really need to be high in most builds.  Harriers and throwers will likely prioritize Dex.  Melee types will need Strength.  Con benefits all builds greatly.

Priority: Str/Dex, Con, Dex/Str, Int, Wis, Cha.

Note also that you will need to have a 13 Int or a 13 Wis in many builds to meet feat pre-reqs this can lead to some pretty bad MAD issues.


Race

Since Soulknife builds are so feat starved the temptation is to go Human every time.  It is not a bad choice at all however there are several races worth considering.  Just avoid races that penalize Con.  Races that penalize Str or Dex also may need to be avoided.

Azurin (MoI): A humanlike race that’s good in some Incarnum based builds.  It has many of the same advantages of being purely human.

Duergar (XPH): These gray dwarves have several advantages over their normal cousins in Soulknife builds.  First their psi-like abilities of Expansion and Invisibility are both useful for the Soulknife.  Expansion grants extra size and damage.  Invisibly can be used to gain battlefield position or to recharge Psychic Strike.  With Fighter as a favored class they can multiclass and gain a level or two to enhance their options.  The biggest downside is the +1 LA which hurts a Soulknife build much like loosing a manifester level hurts a caster.

Duskling (MoI): I don’t like the Int hit but this is a very good hit for a Totemist / Soulknife combo.

Dwarf (PHB): Good in any build where you need sneak in a level or two of Fighter and plan on being Str based in terms of combat.  The bonus to Con is also very useful.

Elan (XPH): Probably only a so-so choice unless you are planning on doing a Soulknife / War Mind type build or something else that will give them more power points to use.  In that case though they are very good and can use their racial powers well.

Goliath (RoS): A great choice for melee builds.  The Dex penalty and +1 LA are offset by Str and Con bonuses and the Powerful Build trait.  This latter may enable them to manifest a Large sized Mind Blade in some games.  If so it’s an excellent choice for Soulknife.  Barbarian as a favored class helps if you want to work that in too.  Note that the Goliath can take a Substitution for first level Barbarian and gain Mountain Rage which will enable him to actually get large size during a rage.

Half Giant (XPH): The +1 LA hurts but this race too has Powerful Build and is naturally psionic to boot.  This is a good pick when thinking War Mind or other manifesting combo but not as good as Goliath otherwise.  Hurting the Half Giant in Soulknife builds is having Psychic Warrior as a favored class, since it is medium BAB.

Half Ogre (RoD): +2 LA but gets true large size, not just Powerful Build.  Great Str, good Con.  Decent for Barbarian dips.

Half Ork (PhB): Good for mutliclassing into Barbarian.  The Str bonus will help some melee builds.  The lack of LA is plus over the Goliath and Half Giant.  If Powerful Build is not allowed to change Mind Blade size then this becomes the best Str boosting choice.

Human (PHB): Good for all the usual reasons.

Illumian (RoD): Generally not as good as humans in Soulknife builds.  However for builds with a lot of multiclassing they can be interesting and there is one very good PrC for Soulknives that is Illumian only.

Kalashtar (Ebr): The masters of Eberron psionics make fantastic Soulknives with the release of Magic of Eberron.  There are several Kalashtar specific Soulknife feats & racial substitution levels that enable this race to do things that no other can.  I’m tempted to say that as of this writing Kalashtar make the best choice of race if they are allowed.

Warforged (Ebr): With their natural toughness and armor the Warforged can be used to make very nice tanking builds.  Favored Class is fighter so they aren’t bad in some feat intensive builds too.

Thri-Kreen (XPH): Can make amazing multi weapon fighters though the +2 LA & 2 monster HD really hurt them in Soulknife builds.  If you go the multiweapon route and add Pyrokineticist you can end up with some very good damage output.

Xeph (XPH): The burst of speed and darkvision are both nice.  These and their stat mods make them into better harriers and throwers than chargers and stand up melee types.  Having Soulknife as a favored class enables them to dip into almost any other class without XP penalty.


Soulknife

In most every case the more levels you take in the base class the better of your results will be.  The breakpoints are:

BAB: 4, 8, 12, & 16
Good Class Ability: 5, 9, 13, & 17
Mind Blade Maximization: 10, 14, & 18
Psychic Strike: 3, 7, 11, 15, & 19

In any 20 level build a minimum of 5 levels of Soulknife will be needed and in most cases 10, 13, or more levels would be better.  The keys here are:

-5th level: Free Draw & Shape Mind Blade – both are crucial to making the most of your Soulknife.
-10th level: +2 Mind Blade Enhancement – Most of the good enhancements are +2 or better.
-13th level: Knife to the Soul – Probably one of the best abilities in the class overall

Of course the more levels you take the better your Mind Blade will be.  If you only take 10 Soulknife levels your 20th level PC will have a mere +2 weapon with a +2 enhancement.  That’s not exactly the stuff of legend.

With that said it is possible to use the Mind Blade as an opening attack or as an off hand weapon.  Some builds might work OK with a melee focused PC who opens with a thrown Mind Blade and then closes using a more traditional magic weapon.  In many cases though it would simply make more sense to use another class if this is what you are looking at.

Soulknife Racial Substitution Levels

Kalashtar (RoE): The 1st level Kalashtar substitution is fantastic.  The 3rd level ability is good but has a reasonable cost.  I like it a lot in a low level build that doesn’t rely on Psychic Strike, such as ones using Atavist PrC.  The 6th level sub is more flavorful than useful IMO.  The Stand Fast ability isn’t bad ... I just don’t like loosing Speed of Thought.


Multiclassing

Some of the Soulknife’s innate weakness can be mitigated somewhat or even overcome by dipping into another main class.  A single 1 level dip will cost the Soulknife +1 to hit and damage with his Mind Blade.  A 2 level dip will cost that and a d8 on Psychic Strike.  Three levels will cost him +1 enhancement.  4 levels and Multiple Throw is gone pre-epic.  5 levels and the Mind Blade becomes +3/+3 … a good weapon but perhaps one not suited to be your primary one.

Also note that as a general rule it doesn’t make much sense for a Soulknife to try to take levels in spellcasting or manifesting classes due to competing requirements of needing lots of levels to be really effective in the long term.

Barbarian: A one level dip into Barbarian nets some pretty impressive stuff for a Soulknife.  He gets additional movement, proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons, a key Fort save bump, a few extra HP, and Rage.  It is also worth noting that some Barbarian class skills like Survival can be a nice compliment to the Soulknife base class list.  All in all a Barbarian-1 / Soulknife-19 is probably better than most Soulknife-20 builds.

Cleric: An exception to the no spellcasters rule.  One level of cleric will bump two saves, grant proficiency with all armor, and, most importantly, give you two domains.  A good domain can be about as valuable as a feat in the long run even if you never take another level of cleric.  It is not worth taking more than one level of cleric in the vast majority of Soulknife builds and that level will no BAB advancement.

Fighter: The first two levels of Fighter both grant Bonus Feats which can be a vast boon to the feat starved Soulknife.  One level will also grant proficiency in all armor and martial weapons and a fort save bump.  Taking levels of Fighter can also aid early entry into some PrCs. 

Incarnate (MoI): The Incarnate Soulmelds offer some nice combat bonuses and out of combat flexibility.  A two level dip is probably sufficient for most builds though a Vow of Poverty build could conceivably take many more levels.  This is a poor BAB class.

Monk: Probably not a good idea in most builds but 1 level of Monk will net Wis to AC, flurry, a handful of weapon proficiencies, and a bonus feat.  A second level will net another bonus feat.  Monk also has some decent skills that a Soulknife could benefit from.  Also some Eberron Kalashtar builds will benefit greatly from a level or two of monk.  If you use the Blades of the Quori Dragonshard article off the main site the “Flowing Blade” feat turns the Mind Blade into a Monk weapon further enhancing the synergy.  You will take that BAB hit on the first level of Monk so use with care.

Ninja (CV): A 2 level dip into Ninja will grant Trapfinding and the ability to become Invisible for one round a once or more per day.  That invisibility is good for battlefield movement or a Psychic Strike recharge.  This dip would enable the Soulknife to fill in as a poor parties rouge.  4 levels would net Great Jump which might be interesting in some builds.  With standard Rogue BAB the 1st level of Ninja will not improve BAB.

Paladin: Taking a two level dip into Paladin will net you Cha to saves, heavy armor + martial weapons, Smite, and Lay on Hands.  The downside to Paladin levels is a slight increase in MAD as you will want to bump up Cha for the save bonus.  Taking four levels will net you Turn Undead and access to the Divine feats in Complete Warrior.

Ranger: Taking a 1 or 2 level dip into ranger can really make a Soulknife into a better scout.  The extra skills and wilderness free feats help tremendously.  A one level dip will also net martial weapons and a Fort/Ref save bump.  Two levels will net a combat style feat.

Rogue: With a 1 or 2 level dip into Rogue (and possibly the Able Learner Feat) the Soulknife might be able to play the role of the Rogue in a party.  It is possible to Sneak Attack with a Mind Blade and add Psychic Strike damage into the mix as well.  Still the first Rogue level will cost 1 BAB so this is not for every build.

Samurai: A 1 level dip into Samurai will give the Soulknife the equivalent of Exotic Weapon Proficiency Bastard Sword, proficiency in all armor and martial weapons and a fort save bump.  More than one level is not recommended.

Scout (CV): The Scout falls somewhere between the Ranger and Rogue.  1 level would probably be enough of a dip to make the Soulknife into a reasonable ... well … party scout.  He will be able to find traps and make nice attacks on the run.  I like the way skirmish works.  It’s a bit more reliable than sneak attack though not as damaging.  Like Monk and Rogue that 1st level will cost 1 BAB.

Soulborn (MoI): This Incarnum class is similar to the Paladin.  It offers Smite but the best Incarnum abilities don’t come until after 8th level.  I just don’t see this class working for most Soulknife builds in spite of it being full BAB.  However there might be an exception for VoP builds or using Soulborn as a dip to get a few points of essentia for a feat like Psycarnum Strike.

Swashbuckler (CW): The swashbuckler class has some interesting synergies with Soulknife.  Both are precision based fighters.  A 1 level dip into Swashbuckler will give the Soulknife free Weapon Finesse, proficiency in all martial weapons and a fort save bump.  Swashbuckler also has some class skills that could be used to good effect by a Soulknife.  Taking 3 levels of Swashbuckler will give you Int to damage.

Totemist (MoI): This is a great dip class for the Soulknife.  Nearly all of the Totemist Soulmelds offer combat abilities that would be useful for a Soulknife.  Of the three Incarnum base classes this would probably be the best one to dip into though two levels should be all that is needed for most Soulknife focused builds.  This is a medium BAB class.


Prestige Classes

Just like Multiclassing, in most cases the fewer ranks you take of a PrC the better off your Soulknife will be in the long run.  This means that 3 and 5 level PrCs are typically better for the Soulknife than full 10 level ones are unless the PrC has a nice bonus up front.  With that in mind here are some PrCs that I like for the Soulknife.

Atavist (RoE): This is a Kalashtar only PrC that has some interesting abilities including Personal Mind Blank, Dismissing Strike, and Mind Blade Improvement.  This is so far the only official PrC that improves the Mind Blade’s bonuses the way similar to the way many PrCs increase base class casting and has one of the few ways to grant a Mind Blade reach.  If your build includes both Monk and Soulknife then this PrC might increase both progressions depending on how your DM reads the first level ability.

Dervish (CW): It seems like it is hard to find anyone who doesn’t know about the Dervish.  This is a good PrC for harriers and lightly armored fighters in general.  However may of this PrC’s best abilities are strongly dependant on your levels in it.  This 10 level PrC forces you to choose between becoming a good Soulknife or a good Dervish.  Also somewhat problematic is that the Soulknife’s best Mind Blade form choices are either the bastard sword or dual short swords.  The bastard or long sword will work with the Dervish Dance as a slashing weapon but the short swords will not.  I don’t recommend taking more than 3 levels in most Soulknife builds.  That will net you 2 dances a day, Spring Attack, and some improved movement.

Exotic Weapon Master (CW): This is a great PrC for a melee focused Soulblade!  You really only need 1 or 2 levels of this 3 level PrC.  One level will net you Uncanny Blow, which can strongly improve the regular damage your character deals, and a Fort save bump.  If a second level is taken I recommend Trip Attack.  This is one of the few routes to a Soulknife battlefield control build.

Ghost Faced Killer (CV): I like Ghost Faced Killer a lot.  It offers some interesting options and flavor for the Soulknife.  The ability to go invisible or ethereal for a round as a free action can help in a big way in terms of battlefield mobility and Psychic Strike recharges.  The downsides are a huge cross class skill requirement and the fact that this is a 10 level PrC.  Without taking a level of another class that offers Intimidation you will not be able to enter this PrC before 13th level as a pure Soulknife.  In many ways this class offers the same thing the Ninja does, but it is full BAB and the abilities are a bit closer together.  Ghost Faced Killer grants martial weapons and has a good Fort save.

Holy Liberator (CD): This PrC has two cross class skills required and an odd feat requirement.  At first level it is full BAB, grants proficiency with all armor and martial weapons, and has Smite Evil at first level.  It has some interesting abilities at higher levels and even grants a few spells.

Incarnum Blade (MoI): This 5 level PrC is a nice one for the Soulknife.  It’s Full BAB and has a good Fort save.  The special abilities are all focused around binding a chosen weapon to the Incarnum chakra points and it seems a natural fit for the Soulknife to me.  The Feet chakra binding is a great one for the first level.  Later on the Heart and Soul chakra bindings are not bad at all.

Invisible Blade (CW): I’ve seen this in a number of builds so it’s worth mentioning but overall I think this so-so fit for the Soulknife.  IB requires two cross class skills and two extra feats to qualify.  You will also need GM approval to let the Mind Blade count as a dagger for qualifying for this PrC.  The return is sneak attack, good feinting, and some unarmored defense.

Kensai (CW): This PrC requires special mention because, if allowed, it totally breaks the rules regarding avoiding loosing Soulknife levels.  It’s been argued back and forth on these boards and others but group consensus seems to be that the Mind Blade is a valid weapon for the Kensai’s special weapon.  That means that you can use Kensai levels to make your Mind Blade better than a pure Soulknife can at the cost of loosing out on Psychic Strike, changeable enhancements (Mind Blade enhancements gained by Kensai progression are static unlike the changeable Soulknife enhancements), and some Soulknife specific abilities like Knife to the Soul depending on how you finish your build.  With Kensai it is quite possible to take only 5 levels of Soulknife but still end up with an amazing weapon.  If you want a Mind Blade, but aren’t enamored of the typical Soulknife progression then Kensai may be for you.  Do not forget the single biggest downside of this PrC though, the Oath of Service.  In the hands of some DM this might be hugely limiting.  From a mechanical standpoint the Kensai has medium BAB and poor Fort saves meaning that you will almost certainly need to balance it with other full BAB classes or PrCs in your build.

Master Thrower (CW): MT is amazingly good on a ranged combat Soulknife.  There are a number of ‘thrown weapon tricks’ from this PrC that are just plain excellent.  Trip Shot, Double Toss (with paired short swords), Tumbling Toss, and Deadeye Toss are the ones I best.  This is a 5 level PrC and should be taken to an odd level (1, 3 or 5) in most builds.

Occult Slayer (CW): For a Soulknife focused on taking out mages this PrC rocks.  All 5 levels offer interesting abilities that, to me, seem to synergize well with the Soulknife.  Also as a great side benefit Occult Slayer gives proficiency with all armor and martial weapons.  You don’t have to have Occult Slayer to be a good mage killer.  Some would argue that the mage slaying feats are better, but there is no reason that you can’t take both.

Pyrokineticist (XPH): This is one of the easiest PrCs for the Soulknife to qualify for.  Any time after 5th level the Soulknife can potentially qualify.  Pyrokineticist is kind of like a distorted mirror image of the Soulknife with a different focus.  It requires psionic power (which the Soulknife class gives by default) but doesn’t have manifester levels and whatnot.  A quick 4 levels of Pyro will grant several abilities, the most important of which is probably Weapon Afire which will add damage to every strike the Soulknife / Pryo lands.  Taking more than 4 levels of Pyro will probably lead to a build that is more Pyro than Soulknife.  After several levels Bolt of Fire is generally a better ranged attack than the Mind Blade.  Still the mental image of a character with a flaming whip in one hand and an energy knife in the other is striking.

Shadow Sentinel (RoD): An Illumian only PrC that uses the power of the Shadow demi-plane to enhance a personal weapon.  By RAW I see no reason that a Mind Blade could not be turned into a Morphic Weapon as a ‘replacement’ weapon.  A kind DM might let you start that way.  In any event a Morphic Weapon’s enchantment bonus goes up as the Illumian gains PrC levels and he can use ‘Shadow Points’ to make temporary changes to said blade.  Most of the Morphic Weapon abilities are very different than the things a Soulknife can do with his Mind Blade and vice versa.  A Morphic Mind Blade will be a pitch black weapon capable of doing some very unusual things.  In a non-Illumian campaign the Shadow Sentinel PrC might be adapted to be specifically for an elite order of Soulknives.

Suel Archanamech (CA): If you are looking for some arcane casting in your Soulknife build this is probably the PrC for you.  It takes some odd feats and a cross class skill to qualify but offers fast, if limited, casting.  One of the nifty things about SA is its dispelling strikes.  Ironically it makes a decent addition to some mage slaying build because of this.

Tempest (CV): This is probably the single best PrC for a dual wielding Soulknife.  The Tempest is a master of mobile two weapon fighting and best of all it’s only a 5 level PrC.  Every single level is worth it IMO if you are combat focused.  The Tempest build is, however, very feat intensive.  It takes 5 just to qualify.  This more than anything is likely to delay or derail any plans to use it in a given build.

Umbral Disciple (MoI): This flavorful stealth oriented PrC works very well with the Soulknife class.  It grants essentia at most levels and has some very nice special abilities.  A three level dip would be enough to net you the ability to boost balance, climb, jump, & tumble with essentia, have a defensive miss chance, and Hide in Plane Sight.  After that the best ability gained is the 10th level power which would enable you to significantly increase the range of your weapons, including the Mind Blade.

War Mind (XPH): Hands down this is my favorite PrC these days and in some ways it seems like it was almost designed for the Soulknife.  It offers DR, psionic powers, and nifty stances ... but most of all at 5th level it gives Sweeping Strike.  Being able to hit two adjacent targets on any swing, even an AoO, is huge.  For a Soulknife I would probably take either 5, 6, 7, or 10 levels.  5 will get you Sweeping Strike.  6 will get you a 3rd level Psychic Warrior power.  7 will let you use expansion to get two size level bumps.  10 will get you the full 9 yards of the PrC, but at a huge cost to your Soulknife Mind Blade.  At that point you are playing more of a War Mind than a Soulknife.

Other PrCs: there are quite a number of other PrCs that would work well with a Soulknife that I left off for one reason or another.  Nightsong Enforcer for instance looks worthy, but it requires multiclassing to enter eating up too many levels ahead of time to really be worth it in the long run.  Justicar is another example that works but just didn’t have a good synergy power wise or feel wise to my thinking.  YMMV.  There are lots of other options out there.  Feel free to post your own ideas.

Builds

Builds

Let’s put all this together now with some sample builds.  I make no claim that all of these are absolute CO powerhouses. 

*EDIT* NOTE THAT THIS SECTION IS STILL UNDERGOING FINISHING.  SOME BUILDS ARE STILL ROUGH OR NOT YET DONE. *EDIT*

Pure Soulknife Builds

Human Jack of all Trades Soulknife

This is a utility build that doesn’t specialize in any one thing.  I avoided most of the big feat chains instead I chose feats that can be used in a variety of circumstance.  Skill wise this build should really knock up Tumble, Spot, Listen, Hide, and Move Silently so that the end result is a character who can scout, fight, and move about the battlefield.  In combat this Soulknife will use a shield and either throw his Mind Blade or use it in melee.  Once he can shape his Mind Blade he will use it as a long sword (5th level) or bastard sword (6th and beyond) form.  I’m assuming that he will throw a lot during levels 1-7 when he only has one attack anyway hence Precise Shot.  Improved Initiative lets him go first and force the combat to react to his choice of tactics rather than the reverse.  Quick Reconnoiter and Cloak Dance both enhance his natural stealth and alertness to good effect in combat.  Ghost Attack and Sense Weakness let him attack high DR or incorporeal foes that otherwise might be more problematical for him.

Soulknife-20

BAB 15


Xeph Skirmisher

This build sacrifices full attacks in most instances for movement.  Speed of Thought and the innate Xeph Burst ability let this build get pretty much where ever he wants to on the battlefield.  This build is designed around getting in, striking, and getting back out.  Whenever possible the character will use Greater Psionic Weapon for the extra damage.  Aligned Attack, assuming a good PC, will enable the Soulknife to overcome DR of some typical high level opponents.  This is not a tank build but rather a support skirmisher and it should be noted that this fighting style is not always considered to be the most optimized.

Soulknife-20

BAB 15


Human Dual Wielding Soulknife

This build takes advantage of the Soulknife’s ability to shape his Mind Blade into two short swords.  The ultimate idea is to gain more attacks to counter the Soulknife’s medium BAB.  The downside of this build is defense and lack of movement feats.  Basically you will be doing a lot of full attacks while wearing light armor.  That could result in a fair amount of damage taken in return.  Ask your DM if he can use Psychic Strike on both swords or only on one.  If he can use it on both then the build below stands.  If not then you might want to bump Ghost Attack to 12th level, take Improved Buckler Defense or Improved Two Weapon Defense at level 6, and not take Dual Strike at all.   


Melee Builds

Half Ogre Charger

A mostly Soulknife build that relies on charging and brute force tactics.  Several of the feats take advantage of large size.  The build is designed to do a Leaping Power Attack into combat using the bastard sword Mind Blade two handed with Uncanny Blow.  After hitting the foe as part of the Leap Attack Knockback lets you have a free Bull Rush which, if successful, knocks your foe back and can generate an AoO which lets you whack them again.  Shock Trooper can vastly improve your Power Attacks chance of hitting via Heedless Charge leaving you free to ratchet up the damage.  The level of Barbarian improves movement for the charge distance and grants access to medium armor.  After the charge this build ought to have the AC and HP to move into full attack mode.  An item with Psionic Lion’s Charge or Lion’s Charge and one that has Expansion or Enlarge could really knock the damage output way up for this build.

Half Ogre Barbarian-1 / Soulknife-16 / Exotic Weapon Master-1

BAB 14


Goliath Brute

This mostly Soulknife build works similar to the Half Ogre build above and does best if the Goliath’s Powerful Build is allowed to create larger weapons, but in any event he can get large size via Mountain Rage gained from the Goliath Barbarian substitution level.  The Extra Rage feat gives more access to large size however, instead of Knockback, which can only be used in large form, the build taps Power Attack which will add damage to every charge.  The final level can be whatever you care to make of it.  Another Level of Barbarian for Uncanny Dodge or Exotic Weapon Master with Trip Attack would be natural ... or you could simply add another PrC of choice that fits, especially if you can find another good Barbarian PrC that give more Rage.  As above an item with Psionic Lion’s Charge or Lion’s Charge and one that has Expansion or Enlarge could really knock the damage output way up for this build.

Goliath Barbarian-1 / Soulknife-16 / Exotic Weapon Master-1 / x-1

BAB 15 (maybe 14 depending on that last level)


Half Ork Medium Tank

This is a sword and shield build that focuses on generally improving damage and melee competence along with survival and scouting skills.  While not a heavy tank I think that he could easily qualify as a medium tank.  This is a build that doesn’t use Uncanny Blow or some of the other synergetic feats of the above charging examples.  Instead it uses Cleave for extra attacks and Psionic Weapon for additional damage on first strikes.  Deep Impact will let you resolve a melee attack vs Touch AC & that in turn lets you really ratchet up the Power Attack.  Note that this build could be easily modified to work in 3 levels of the PrC of your choice instead of 3 additional Barbarian levels. 

Barbarian-4 / Soulknife-16

BAB 16


Dwarf Heavy Tank

This Dwarf Soulknife takes the heavy tank route.  His fighter levels grant him heavy armor proficiency and then he takes additional feats on top of that to grant him access to special dwarven heavy armor.  He wields the Mind Blade one handed in bastard sword form while using a shield.  The two Deepwarden levels grant him Trapfinding and the ability to use Con instead of Dex for AC.  That latter makes Dex an overall dump stat for this build.  If you still want to do much Mind Blade throwing take Brutal throw in place of one of the feats below so that he can use Str instead of Dex for throwing.  Note that the Fighter and Deepwarden levels will make this build’s BAB slightly higher than average.

Soulknife-16 / Fighter-2 / Deepwarden-2

BAB 16


Xeph Dual Wielder

This dual wield build uses the Mind Blade paired with a mundane magic or psionic weapon and focuses on mobility over full iterative attacks in most cases.  Due to the tempest restrictions it is limited to light armor.  The fighter level could be subbed out for something like Dervish or Barbarian at the cost of a feat.

Ranger-2 / Fighter-1 / Soulknife-12 / Tempest-5

BAB 17


Ranged Builds

Human Multi-Weapon Thrower

This build relies on going the full attack route with throwing.  Since the Mind Blade cannot be thrown multiple times in one attack until Soulknife 17 that means that the character must use other throwing weapons.  In fact in this build I didn’t even try to get Multiple Throw.  This human Soulknife leads off with his Mind Blade in bastard sword form but will have plenty of other throwing weapons equipped.  Axes or Daggers would probably be the best choice.  Due to taking the Exotic WP he can use a shield.  5 levels of Master Thrower will knock his BAB up a bit and give him several important abilities.  Defensive Throw lets him concentrate on throwing in melee should he not be able to avoid it.  Weak Spot lets him target touch AC without having to go the psychic feat route and blowing Psionic Focus to do it.  Trip Shot and Ranged Disarm give him a degree of battlefield control as well.

Soulknife-15 / Master Thrower-5

BAB 16


Xeph Moving Thrower

This throwing build is designed around the idea of single attack actions.  Shoot on the Run & Up the Walls enables him to move in combat to avoid attacks ... or should he not be threatened the Xeph Moving Thrower will charge his Psychic Strike and then make his throwing attack.  This build does go for Multiple Throw as fast as possible to get full iterative attacks with the Mind Blade.  After that it dips into Master Thrower to maximize his tactic of making just one attack.  Two with one throw will enable him to hit two targets with that single attack and perhaps double the effectiveness of his Psychic Strike.  Tumbling Toss enhances mobility.  Note that if you are not concerned with Multiple Throw then it is possible to take the Master Thrower levels earlier in the build.

Soulknife-17 / Master Thrower-3

BAB 15


Mage Slayer Builds

Human Mage Slayer

This first build is a very basic one that is in many ways similar to the Jack of all Trades build above.  However instead of the general feats for levels 9+ the build focuses on the mage slaying feats from CA.  Tactically this build could lead with a thrown Knife to the Soul attack, which will take down the mage’s defenses too due to Pierce Magical Protection, and then charge on in.  This nasty first strike should put a hurt on the mage from which he, hopefully, will never recover.

Soulknife-20

BAB 15


Pryokineticist Builds

Xeph Mobile Pyro

Like most Pryo based builds this one incorporates Two Weapon Fighting, though to a lesser extent than the builds that follow.  It just makes sense for most Pyro builds to do this sense Weapon Aflame adds damage to both weapons and going TWF maximizes the benefit.  This particular build is all about mobility and it’s benefits.  At 9th level TWF grants the ability to dual weald the Fire Lash and the Mind Blade (short sword form is best without Oversized TWF feat) at the same time he gains Weapon Afire to increase the damage dealt.  The Barbarian dip at level 10 improves movement and with Speed of Thought at level 11 gives the build Bursts of speed of 80 feet.  With both Bladewind and Whirlwind attack the build allows all targets in range to be struck with both the Mind Blade and Fire Lash respectively however, with a 15 foot reach, the Fire Lash will probably reach far more foes.  Don't forget that using a whip can generate AoOs against you and that without Exotic WP (bastard sword) that the Mind Blade will need to be in Long Sword or smaller form to dual wield.

Soulknife-15 / Pyrokineticist-4 / Barbarian-1

BAB 15


Half Giant Pyro Charger

This Pryo build relies on maximizing first strike damage dual wield style.  Instead of Fire Lash and Mind Blade this build goes dual short sword with Mind Strike on one blade (or both if the DM allows) and Greater Psionic Weapon on the other.   The build is able to benefit from both on a charge via Dual Strike.  Greater Power Charge just adds more dice of damage to both attacks without having to lower the to hit number like Power Attack.  Be sure to ask your DM if Powerful build will let you manifest Large short swords (I would say yes thought there is some disagreement) and count as large for Powerful Charge (less likely).  You could change from Half Giant to Ogre or to Goliath with a level of Barbarian somewhere in there to get real large size if needed.

Half Giant Soulknife-15 / Pyrokineticist-4

BAB 14


Human Battlefield Control Pyro Soulknife

Like the first Pryo build this one is built around dual wielding the Fire Lash and Mind Blade.  This build has fewer Soulknife levels than I would have liked.  Battlefield Control is feat intensive and thus done more easily by classes with lots of feats like Fighters and Psychic Warriors however I think that this build does well enough and has lots of flavor to boot.

First of all this build has the 4 levels of Pyro for Weapon Afire and Fire Lash.  Then 2 levels of Fighter give it better armor and two feats to play with.  The 3 levels of Exotic Weapon Master are very important to this build.  Close Quarters Fighting eliminates the AoOs that wielding a whip normally generates.  Exotic Reach turns the whip into a true reach weapon able to generate AoOs within its threat range, something that it cannot do without this.  Trip attack improves the Whips tripping ability and is probably the lest necessary of the 3.  I tried to mix the Fighter and Exotic levels with the normal Soulknife and Pryo progression since I thought that it would make for a more holistic feel during actual play with both the psychic stuff and tactical stuff improving over time.

Soulknife-11 / Pyrokineticist-4 / Fighter-2 / Exotic Weapon Master-3

BAB 16


Pure Pyro

I personally don’t consider the following to be an optimized build but it is highly flavorful.  In general I’ve done all my above builds with Pyro-4 because I feel that any more than that and you end up playing a Pyrokineticist with a dash of Soulknife rather than the reverse.  With infinite Fire Bolts at 1d6 per Pryo level it starts making more and more sense to rely on that as primary ‘weapon’ and the other stuff as ‘backup’ as the Pyro levels creep.  By the time you hit Pyro-8 with Greater Weapon Aflame you are just one level away from a fantastic save or die power ... I just couldn’t imagine not taking that 9th level once I hit Pyro-8.  And from Pyro-9 you are just one level away from finishing and getting a nice area attack.  At Pyro-10 you will rely on bolts and other powers far more than you should your Mind Blade.

Build wise I’ve tried to arrange the feats such that they help the Soulknife at low levels but really kick into gear once the Pyro levels hit.  Psionic Shot and the Greater version will add damage to both the thrown Mind Blade at low levels and the Fire Bolt at higher ones.  Psionic Meditation lets you get focus back as a move action and in this build it is usually better to do that than to use a move to charge Psychic Strike.  Wounding Attack will let your attacks do Con damage.  That’s nasty with a Fire Bolt.  Ghost Attack is there so you can bolt incorporeal foes and Aligned attack is there for DR.  The latter could be replaced by Psionic Talent for more Fire Walking or Up the Walls.

Soulknife-10 / Pyrokineticist-10

BAB 14


Exotic Builds

Human Mind Blade Flurry Master

This build has a lot going on.  First it takes only 5 levels of Soulknife.  This gets Free Draw and Shape Mind Blade, both of which are key for some of the later stuff.  Instead of improving the Mind Blade via more Soulknife levels this is done late in the build with Kensai.  8 levels of Kensai will net you a +8 Mind Blade ... with a far less restrictive list of enhancements than the normal Soulknife though you can’t change them around and you don’t have much of a Psychic Strike.  However the latter really isn’t important in this build.  Instead it is all about fast attacks and battlefield control in the form of trips and other AoOs.  Yes this build uses the bastard sword form of the Mind Blade to trip by means of the Exotic Weapon Master trip ‘weapon trick.’  At 12th level with Karmic Strike and Defensive Throw this build will generate an AoO against any attack, hit or miss.  Not only that but Shou Disciple lets him flurry with his Mind Blade in bastard sword form too.  My one regret is not being able to work in more Two Weapon Fighting feats into this so that I could take more advantage of the unarmed attacks Shou grants (bastard Mind Blade in one hand and fist in the other).  In fact you may want to abandon that altogether and go for Elusive Target or Power Attack instead.  Note also that you can easily sub out one level of Kensai for another level of Exotic Weapon Mater and grab Uncanny blow if you do the two handed fighting route.

Soulknife-5 / Shou Disciple-5 / Fighter-1 / Exotic Weapon Master-1 / Kensai-8

BAB 16


Illumian Holy Shadow Blade

I really like the following build but I have to admit that I’m not 100% satisfied with the feats as currently arranged.  Anyway what you get from this build is pretty cool.  Your Mind Blade is stained a deep black by shadow energy once it becomes an Umbral Weapon.  What you end up with is a +5 blade that can morph into *any* slashing weapon, a handful of enhancement like abilities that are useable a limited number of times per day, 2 smite evil attempts, Divine Might that lets you add Cha to damage, and your sigils.  I think that Aesh is a given with this build but the second sigil could easily be Hoon, Vaul, or Urr.  Hoon would probably grant the most benefit but have the lest number of uses since it would compete with your Divine feats in burning Turn attempts.  Urr would grant a small bonus to damage & AC at the cost of not having any spells.  Urr would result in the least useful power word but it would cost you nothing and be available all the time.

Feat wise I chose Subtle Sigil since it lets you operate as an Illumian without cluing other folks in.  It could easily be replaced with another feat like Improved Sigil: Aesh which would grant +2 to damage at all times with the Mind Blade.  Cleave and Divine Vigor are both very optional and I would probably replace them with Two Weapon fighting feats depending on the weapon form you like.  Speaking of that Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) is mostly a placeholder.  Bastard sword is a good default choice for this build since Shape Blade allows it ‘free of charge’ but with Morphic Blade you can expend a single Shadow Point to make the blade into the slashing weapon of your choice for 24 hours.  Given that you may well want to pick a different exotic weapon here.

Class wise only Soulknife-4 is technically required for Shadow Sentinel’s Umbral Blade.  I like Free Draw and Shape Mind Blade, but if you are using Morphic Blade these might not be as useful to you.  You can easily replace the 5th Soulknife level with something else.  For instance a level in Exotic Weapon Master might be especially useful depending on your weapon of choice and would bump the final build BAB up to 19.  Paladin-6 would not be a bad choice either with the smite damage, saves, & BAB bump plus one spell.


*EDIT* NOTE THAT THIS SECTION IS STILL UNDERGOING FINISHING. SOME BUILDS ARE STILL ROUGH OR NOT YET DONE. *EDIT*

Web Based Soulknife Stuff

WotC Web based resources

XPH Clarifications thread. Has some eratta like info including a link to the post about how the shaped Mind Blade comes back in the same form ... i.e. that it 'remebers' it shape. For the specific post look HERE.

Blades of the Quori is an Eberron Dragonshard article that has general information about Soulknives in that setting and has a nice Monk/Soulknife feat. Much of this could be adapted for other settings.

Variant Pyrokineticists PrCs is a Mind's Eye adaptation of the Pyrokineticist. Gives options for other damage types like Sonic, Acid, etc. Useful if you are looking at adding a pyro-like damage type to your Mind Blade but don't want fire.

Psychic Weapon Master PrC another Mind's Eye PrC. This one is specifically written for use with Crystal Weapons but could easily be adapted to use the Soulknife's Mind Blade instead.

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind a Mind's Eye artile that, among a few other things, details 3.5 Psionic Meditation. This great psionic feat could be as useful to a Soulknife as it is to any other psionic character.

Soulknife Answers in which Bruce answers some Soulknife questions.


Non-WotC resources

There have been a number of suggestions here on this site for ways to ‘improve’ or ‘fix’ the Soulknife class.

Quick Fixes

Some of the following have been suggested by various folks at one time or another.

1. Give the Soulknife full BAB. (and some suggest dropping the HD to d8 with this for balance)

2. Let the Soulknife choose any weapon Enhancement, not just those in the XPH list.

3. Replace the starting Wild Talent feat with Hidden Talent, thus giving them access to 1 power.

4. Increase the skill points to 6+Int and give access to a few additional skills.

All of these suggestions have merit and usually folks only do one or at most two of them. I personally really like the Hidden Talent idea but I’m not 100% convinced that it’s a good idea since Hidden Talent lets you pick *any* first level power from any list. I wonder if the Astral Construct power for instance might be too much in addition to the usual Soulknife class abilities.

Class Rewrites

There have been several of these done since the release of the XPH. Many have been good or at least interesting.


BlaineTog's Soulknife Fix. This is the gold standard in my mind when talking about class rewrites. BlaineTog made several changes, some quite subtle, but the end result is a masterpiece. What I like most about the BlaineTog Soulknife is that characters built using it have a far more interesting feel. The few extra bonus psionic feats virtually ensure that you will be able to put things like Up the Walls in a build if you want to. This results in a Soulknife that seems a lot more like a psychic character to me. In addition to the class tweaking BlaineTog gives you several new feats.

Szatany's Ultimate Mentalist. This one is fairly new. Unlike BlaineTog’s work it takes the existing Soulknife as merely a starting point. It is possible to build several different kinds of very interesting characters using Szatany’s work. If you want a character with, say psychic armor instead of a Mind Blade, you can do it using the Ultimate Mentalist. It is a very fascinating and creative adaptation.

Istarion's Yet another Soulknife Fix. This one has a BlaineTog like blade progression but instead of bonus feats and the usual class features like bladewind Istarion introduces several thematic "Talent Trees" that the Soulknife could follow.

Shadow_Mage's True Soulknife. This is a more 'martial' Soulknife. It has full BAB but lacks some of the stealth of the XPH version. This version is also more flexible than the offical one both in terms of Mind Blade configuration and shapes.

Luminosity's Another Soulknife. This class fix has some interesting concepts in it. For instance Free Throw comes much earlier in the progression and greater Mind Blade shaping is allowed at 10th level.

Nekode's Ultimate Soulknife. A creative take that lets you build very different kinds of soulknife characters.

Levism84's Soulcaliber Core Class. This is a ranged Soulknife variant.

Likuidice's Warrior Based Soulknife. The formatting of this post isn't great but it has one idea that I like a lot. Likuidice has the Mind Blade's 'Intensity' increase as his level increases. This mechanic increases the base damage of the Mind Blade at all times and replaces Psychic Strike.

Ra-Tiel's My take on the "Soulknife".... Ra-Tiel goes in a brand new direction with the Soulknife that kind of reminds me of Magic of Incarnum soulmelds. Instead of the single focus XPH class you get the option to build several different kinds of characters with Ra-Tiel's "take" on the class which he renames "The Manifest Soul". Two of the three traks he provides are more focused on things other than the mind blade or combat. Check it out.

SoulBlade999's Soulknife Rebuild. This class rewrite is a bit poorly formatted but has some nice small tweaks.

Mcollin's Arcana Unearthed Soulknife - note this is a link to a PDF file - A fun adaptation of the Soulknife to AU style. The PDF is very nicely done. It has several things that don't appear in most non-AU games like 'medium' saves.

Nephlite's New Soulknife Fix. The major innovation here is that the Soulknife gains the Brilliance Energy property from his list of enhancements to choose from ... and he can turn that one on and off as a move action.

Feartheinvinceblehamster's Soulknife Combat Paths. A recent tweak similar to some of the above variants where the Soulknife could istead be a Soulbow or create a larger weapon.

Angellis Ater's Soulknife class as Feats. Angellis takes many of the existing class abilities and adds some new things to create a nice "feat chain" that, when taken in its entirety, would allow any existing base class to do the things an XPH soulknife could. This is a replacement for the existing class.

Obscure One's Soulknife v2.0. Full BAB, more starting weapon profs, more mind blade shapes, better throwing, & reduced psychic stricke.


Soulknife PrCs

Nifft's Soulknife as PrC. Actually more of a class rewrite but ... anyway Nifft makes the Mind Blade something that any psychic class can gain via feat. The Soulknife then becomes a PrC for characters interested in developing this special blade further. Note that this is not just a 3.0 conversion.

ManTimeForgot's Soul Knife. This is another rewrite that makes the Soulknife into an assassin like PrC instead of a base class.

Zemlya's Poweredge PrC. Another PrC that brings back some of the flavor of the 3.0 Soulknife. This one allows you to take levels in a Manifesting class and Soulknife then go to this PrC to enhance and combine them.

Daemon's Ranged Soulknife. A nicely done PrC for ranged throwing builds.

Far Traveler's SoulShaper. A 5 level PrC that offers vastly increased Mind Blade shape options for a fairly large decrease in hit dice type.

Dr Draco's Soul Striker PrC. This is a rogue-soulknife PrC that can be taken by either class and enhances both.

Dr Draco's Mindknife. This PrC works like of like the 3.0 Soulknife did. It grants some manifesting ability and then allows the Mind Blade to be 'charged' with these.

De Batavier's Soul Bow. The PrC name pretty much sums it up. Allows the Soulknife to convert his Mind Blade into a Mind Bow with nifty powers.

Red Decker's Soulknife Assassin. This is a Soulknife variant of the Psionic Assassin.

Ranevan's Disciple of the Freed Blade. See Post #20 for the final version or go HERE. This PrC offers an alternate set of Mind Blade tricks for the Soulknife.

Lord Schpungus' Mindfist. This is a Monk/Soulknife PrC.

Balthazar's Reaper of Souls PrC. The Reaper is a a Soulknife that can drain life energy from the target. Gives real meaning to Soulknife.

Shell's Vigilant Soul. This is a bounty hunter like PrC for the Soulknife. It's still a bit rough but I like the premise.

Saltwater Games Mindwalker Knight. This may be a bit campaign specific but I found it interesting.

Unleash's Martyrs' Progeny. This is a FR Paladin like PrC with a touch of psionics worked in. Some of the PrC powers can be used on a Soulknife's Mind Blade.

Maartin's Subconscious Marauder. A psionic version of the Teflammar Shadowlord PrC. Not really Soulknife specific but nice stealth synergy for some builds.

Tiornys' Synchorian Skirmisher. A 'meditative warrior'. Somewhat similar to the burster in that it has no manifester progression but instead grants unique abilities.

Esponer's Soulknife Elocator. Per request he converts the existing SPH Elocator PrC into a Soulknife one.


New Feats

There are several good posts with new Soulknife feats peppered across this forum. Here are just a few of them.

New Soulknife Feats contains some nice feats that are both interesting and look to be balanced.

CV Style Soulknife Multiclassing feats has feats that are intended to work similarly to the multiclassing feats in CV like Ascetic Mage or Devoted Perfomer. These feats make multiclassing much more viable for the standard Soulknife.

Soulknife Feats has two nice feats both of which look really good to me.

Soul Knife Feats three feats by Ranevan.

Palmanto has Two Soulknife Feats. I think that they are a tad underpowered.

Lewin's More Up The Walls feats. A feat chain that starts with Up the Walls.

MavrickWolf's Mind Blade Feats. A collection of 8 feats with some insteresting discussion. Noteable feats include Soul Armor.

BlaineTog's Subconscious Containment feat. Allows the PC to expend focus twice in a single round (much like characters with Psycrystal Containment can do). This would allow Soulknives to use, say, Deep Imact and Greater Psionic Weapon feats at the same time.


Items

jdmasegian's Mind Lens. An item that improves throwing the Mind Blade.

Two threads on making crystal hilts or psionic rods that improve the Mind Blade. Psionic Hilt and Mind Blade Enhancements.

My own Crystal Hilts.

MavrickWolf's take on Crystal Hilts.


Other Stuff

Ssvegeta555's Soulknife 'Weapon Styles'. This Soulknife tweak woul give the class something similar to the Ranger's weapon styles. Instead of just swords the Soulknife would have several themes to choose from. He takes it a step further in Soulknife Clans.

KoboldKing's Alternate Weapon Sets. Similar in that he proposes additional weapon sets to choose from.

How I would Fix the Soulknife ... lots of folks offer interesting ideas here.

Soulknife Tank Builds. A thread devoted to build ideas.


Sample Builds

Human Jack of all Trades Soulknife BlaineTog Style

This is my Jack of all trades build above built with the BlaineTog Soulknife Fix. Note how the extra bonus feats really round out the character. With Up the Walls he really stands out from other fighters or even Monks in terms of how he can move even if he might not be as fast as the latter. Deep Impact is great for those hard to hit foes. On top of this he will have more skill points too for even more flexibility. The downside is fewer HP than a 'by the book' Soulknife thus making him a bit more cautious in combat.


*EDIT ... I will be adding more once the search feature comes back*

I've made a lot of changes, fixes, and additions in the build section over the last two days. I've also updated the web portion a bit in that time.

More builds are on their way. I am nearly done with and exotic Illumian one and then need to beef up the mage slaying and ranged builds.