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5 years ago ::
Nov 07, 2008 - 12:17PM
#91
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- Stampeding Hybrid
- Dragon Slayer
Date Joined:
Aug 19, 2007
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At this point, I'm thinking Soulknife could/should absorb Nomad.
That puts my personal breakdown as:
- Egoist - Psionic Defender (Former Classes: Psion[Egoist]+Psychic Warrior)
- Shaper - Psionic Controller (Former Classes: Psion[Shaper]+Psion[Kineticist - energy types])
- Soulknife - Psionic Striker (Former Classes: Psion[Nomad]+Soulknife)
- Telepath - Psionic Leader (Former Classes: Psion[Kineticist - telekinesis]+Psion[Seer? - what little is power-appropriate]+Psion[Telepath])
"Seer" powers will almost all fall into the "Ritual" framework in 4th Edition.
And for the Soulknife (with nomad) being too similar to a Feylock, I could see more mobility, and a focus on melee combat, being enough to seriously differentiate.
Since the Soulknife's shtick wasn't very well defined in the last edition (well, it was, but it translates poorly to 4th, since it's really nothing more than Mind Blade + [pick an appropriate core class, how about Rogue?]), we favor a more "unpredictable" fighting style for him. Lots of movement-related powers (he is a striker, after all), lots of "Counter" type powers (the ranger has some examples), and some "Opportunist" type powers (ie - multiple power options that can be use in place of a basic attack for an opportunity attack).
I just wanted to point out that empath is confirmed as a leader that is most likely psionic. We now return you to your regularly scheduled speculation.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 09, 2008 - 4:51PM
#92
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Date Joined:
Sep 12, 2008
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I am guessing the following:
Psion (Controller): Unlike most previous controllers, I think this will be more focused on single-target controlling, with nasty ranged single-target damage and status effects, and a lower prevalence and damage output with their AoE's. Also, more dominates or pseudo-dominates than anything previously introduced. AoE control will also be through providing invisibility, conceals, and so on, rather than terrain, walls, etc. Also, I'd love to see this class have a higher number of Int, Wis and Cha skill enhancements with their utilities, making them focus slightly more on out of combat abilities than previous classes.
Empath (Leader): Kind of a semi-flip with the Psion, I think this will be a leader with a higher focus on AoE's, especially debuffs. Tons of ways to buff allies, and means of redirecting effects and/or damage away from the original target would fit well. As with psions, I'd like to see more skill enhancers, communication mechanics, and similar utilities.
Psychic Warrior (Defender): A defender that quite literally compels threats to come after him, not only through some sort of mark effect, but through an abundance of pull effects, even more so than the couple that the fighter gain. Think of an at-will that lets you hit one enemy, while simultaneously pulling another one towards you, more encounter and dailies that pull the opponents towards you in a burst, and similar effects. As with all of the psychic classes, I think this one will tend to have a slightly lower damage output, but more status effects.
Soulknife or Mindblade (Striker): A particularly stealthy striker, with the largest amount of personal invisibility and total conceal effects, and some different status effects such as immobilizes, stuns, and so forth rather than DoTs and the like. This will still be the highest damage output psychic class, however, obviously.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 10, 2008 - 3:22PM
#93
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Date Joined:
May 27, 2004
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My not-very-thought-through guesses would be:
Psion (Controller) - With kineticist and telepath as available build options from the start. Mainly psychic, force, and fire damage to various degrees, still similar to wizards. I believe the psion, and all other controllers, will be defined much more by their class features than their actual powers, which could easily be largely wizard powers with different damage types and flavor. I'd guess that the wizard will, in general, turn out to take the spot as the most varied damage-type controller.
Not that I mind, really. I'd probably do it that way if I wasn't sure on what a controller actually *is*.
Intelligence primary, Charisma secondary for telepath and Dexterity for kineticist.
Psychic Warrior (Defender) - Probably under another name, but it would still feel and play much like one from 3.5. It will probably have a minor in striker, and have similarities with the swordmage as far as the powers go. One Strength-based build and one Wisdom-based, like a paladin's Strength/Charisma divide. Possibly Constitution as secondary for both.
Soulknife (Striker) - Again, probably renamed to push it away from any similarities to ki. I'd guess it would play much like a melee version of a fey-pact warlock or artful dodger rogue depending on build. Their damage bonus will be "Psychic Strike", letting them charge a blade once per round as a minor action to deal extra damage. So, essentially, Warlock's Curse with different flavor.
Strength primary, with one Dexterity- and one Wisdom-secondary build.
(Leader) - I think they'd try to distance it from the Ardent and Divine Mind (for obvious reasons) by picking another name. Empath sounds fair enough, I guess. Maybe they'll make up a new word entirely? :P
Might use a warlord-style ability method, with Charisma primary for all, and Intelligence/Strength as secondaries, making it play a bit like a cleric with one ranged and one melee build.
In my mind (har-de-har), there's also a (small) chance we won't see a psionic leader at all in the book, and that they pull out the wilder as a ranged psionic striker instead.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 11, 2008 - 1:17AM
#94
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Date Joined:
Mar 26, 2007
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I am guessing the following:
Psion (Controller):
I doubt we will see a class called Psion, as the power source is called Psionic, it would be like having a Martial class called Marti, or an Arcane class called Arca.
I don't think we'll see the psion (for the above reasons), psychic warrior (too generic a title), soulknife (most likely a paragon path or something) or the wilder (even though I've always detested the name, they might make it a paragon path or something, it also sounds primal).
So basically I don't have clue as to what the Psionic classes will be called. Of course I could be wrong and they might retain all the 3rd Ed Psionic class titles.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 11, 2008 - 7:34PM
#95
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StD: ... or an Arcane class called Arca.
LOL!
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5 years ago ::
Nov 11, 2008 - 8:26PM
#96
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Date Joined:
Apr 23, 2005
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My not-very-thought-through guesses would be:
...
(Leader) - I think they'd try to distance it from the Ardent and Divine Mind (for obvious reasons) by picking another name. Empath sounds fair enough, I guess. Maybe they'll make up a new word entirely? :P
Might use a warlord-style ability method, with Charisma primary for all, and Intelligence/Strength as secondaries, making it play a bit like a cleric with one ranged and one melee build.
In my mind (har-de-har), there's also a (small) chance we won't see a psionic leader at all in the book, and that they pull out the wilder as a ranged psionic striker instead.
But, but... Empath is the only part that's confirmed! lol :P
FWIW, I also think of Soulknife as the quintessential Psionic Striker. How could there not be a Soulknife?
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5 years ago ::
Nov 11, 2008 - 8:53PM
#97
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Date Joined:
Sep 12, 2008
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I doubt we will see a class called Psion, as the power source is called Psionic, it would be like having a Martial class called Marti, or an Arcane class called Arca.
We'll see. Psion or psionicist has been with the game for an awfully long time. Perhaps it will be the latter. I personally like the name "Erudite" from Dragon, which was essentially a psion that could change out their powers each extended rest like a wizard could, but had an even more limited power selection than a psion (but the same power points progression).
Psychic Warrior I must disagree with. Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, Rogue, all of these are generic names. Generic is GOOD for a basic class. Psychic Warrior is adequately descriptive for what a PW is and does. Thus, I think it will stick around.
Soulknife I think is meh, myself, but again the history is pretty long and very much a striker. Mindblade is my preferred choice of name to fill this slot, with Soulknife being a Mindblade PP.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 12, 2008 - 8:04AM
#98
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Date Joined:
Jan 20, 2006
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I've never quite liked the terms "psion" or "psionicist"... they just rub me the wrong way, especially in the context of a fantasy setting. Because I love psionics (despite their knack for causing the DM headaches), I always include them in my game. My preferred term for the master of psionic power is "mentalist", which I believe has the more appropriate, mysterious flavour that such pursuits should have in a D&D setting. Some of the names of the specialists aren't half-bad (Telepath, Empath, Seer), but others (Kineticist, Nomad... and I mean, Egoist? WTF?) I hope they get the oblivion they so richly deserve. Personally, I think that the Soulknife is kind of m'eh. My gaming buddies and me are constantly making fun of the Jedi-esque flavour those have, no matter how cleverly disguised they are. ...and just to be really subversive, I think that the quintessential "psychic fighter" should be the monk. "ki" and "psionic" aren't really separate power sources, if one thinks about the meanings of those terms and the cultural contexts in which they arise. They are actually the same thing...  C
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5 years ago ::
Nov 12, 2008 - 8:45AM
#99
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Date Joined:
Oct 16, 2007
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I've never quite liked the terms "psion" or "psionicist"...
"Psion" is pronounced exactly the same as "Scion" which means inheritor or descendant.
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5 years ago ::
Nov 12, 2008 - 10:19AM
#100
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Date Joined:
Sep 12, 2008
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"Psion" is pronounced exactly the same as "Scion" which means inheritor or descendant.
I always kinda liked the fact that psion sounded exactly like "scion" as well. It worked for me. It was much, much cooler than psionicist.
Mentalist is somewhat of overused, in my opinion. Mentalist also carries with it the connotation that the "powers" are actually a parlor trick, and not attributed to "real" psychic ability, since in the real world a mentalist is a charlatan who uses cold reading to SIMULATE mind reading. Erudite seemed rather cool. Psychic would be a more traditional variant of psion. Seer. Medium. Clairvoyant. Augur. Telepath. Psi. Go for Julian May's metapsychic, heh. There are plenty of names to choose from.
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