DISCUSSION THREAD
HERE.
I made a thread just for this in hopes that this will be picked up by Google and finally give Erudite fans a Webpage that isn't useless advice. For more help with your build, Check out the
EVD. It's got OODLES more helpful stuff.
(Check back in a few days to see if I got around to uploading the latest EVD. 1/19/15)
ERUDITEEditor: Hi Ho, Keeds! The is a Christmas gift for my wife. Merry X-mas, An erudite handbook just for you!
Abilities: The Erudite can be SAD or MAD, depending on your build. Alas, that's the problem with a class that has so many options is that it becomes increasingly more difficult to narrow things now.
- Strength: Normally you'd make strength your dump stat, except for the fact that the selection of Spells and powers makes for a rather effective claw build. If you choose to go the melee route and stack up on a million different claw attacks, strength will help. However, if your focus leads you away from any sort of melee, you can safely make this your dump stat.
- Dexterity: Again, what's your build? Are you going with Area of Effect spells, or ray attacks? If you are going with Ray, then you need lots of Dex. If for some reason you aren't focusing on maxing out your Int (let's say your build concept or DM limits your choices), then your attack powers/spells need to be ray based. Your DC will suffer for a low Int, but Ray spells often ignore saving throws. Dex adds to your initiative and to your AC, which is usually useful to have. For the default build, this should be your second highest stat.
- Constitution: If you choose to go the undead Erudite route, this is dead last. Otherwise, this helps with Fortitude checks as well as hit points, something you'll be sucking at. That said, the class comes with a boat load of healing options, as well as Shield other, share pain, and a whole host of damage deflection/redirection/negation options. At low levels, you should get this, but in the long haul, you could give this a 10 or 12 and sleep just fine at night.
- Intelligence: Your main stat that all your powers, spells, power points, and starting number of known powers is calculated from. More Int is a higher DC for all your powers. It also has many secondary benefits, such as makes your all important skill rolls to learn new powers better. Finally, if you are playing with the variant where your Int Modifier adds to your UPPD, then you absolutely HAVE TO max this out. Also remember that extra starting Int gives you more skill points to play with. If you're selecting Erudite more for buffing or a one level dip, you could get away with an Int of 14 and just avoid attack spells/powers that give your target a saving throw.
- Wisdom: It adds to your will save, which is fairly good, but that's all it brings to the table. Most of your skills rely on Int as the base stat, so unless you are looking at some sort of multiclass build, you could safely leave this at a 10. After all, your Will save is already your one good saving throw, so you can afford to invest your points elsewhere.
- Charisma: There are many spells and powers that can take the place of Charisma. You don't get any skills that require it as a base stat. Glibness is available to any CStP Erudite. Unless you are multiclassing into a build that needs it, resolve to take care of social interactions through power manifestation, and make this your primary dump stat.
Races: Those who choose the way of an erudite must adhere to a rigorous path of study and practice. Among the humanoid races, humans seem most apt to follow such a course. Among the savage and monstrous humanoids, erudites are rare due to the required physical study of psionic lore.
Editor: I'll make this easy. Elan. Otherwise, anything that gives you huge Int bonuses. I rather like the Primordial Half-Giant Spark, myself. And you get a high Charisma out of it so you can look into multiclassing. Now if there was only some way to make a Primordial Elan Spark. That said, you don't have to pick Elan, it's just one of the better choices.
Alignment: Studious erudites tend more toward law than chaos, but they are not required to follow any particular philosophical path to use their abilities. Erudites are both good and evil in equal measure.
Editor: And yet one of the best PrCs to use is the Anarchic Initiate. This is one of those situations where the fluff text doesn't lend itself well to the realities of the available rules. Take whatever alignment fits in the group best.
Religion: Erudites sometimes worship deities revered for their intelligence and wisdom. Erudites who revere a deity do not conform to any particular choice.
Editor: A one level dip into cloister cleric is not unheard of. Trade in the knowledge domain for the feat and use it to boost your damage. After all, you get all the knowledges you need to take advantage of it. Also it gives you simple weapons and light armor. This allows you to put a spear under your heavy crossbow for use if you get stuck in melee. It gives you the cleric spell list so you don't have to worry about UMD rolls for 90% of the divine spells out there. If your DM allows you to count all Arcane spell lists as being part of your spell lists, you won't have to bother with a UMD roll for 99% of the magic items out there. Ever. What god to pick? Pick a god that gives you the domains that grant you the bonuses to help your build. Time is always a good choice. Consider Divine Counterspell ACF. Using it will be a Hail Mary at higher levels, but chances of you turning undead will suck even more. You gain a version of Bardic Lore, which can also help out when all other sources of info fail you. It helps to round you out, but at the cost of a ML level. Again, what are your long term goals?
Erudite Class FeaturesHit Die: d4.
Editor (Hit Dice): You are fragile. However, unlike wizards and other low HD casters, you have two options. Grim Psion will make you undead and give you really awesome HD. Option two is a combination of share pain, shield other, healing spells, and protection buffs. You might start out a class cannon, but you don't have to stay one. My advice is, keep track of everything that, as you play, wound up hurting you/kicking your ass. Research the spell/power lists for the means to become immune to said ass kicking. Learn it.
Editor (1/19/15): A new addition to making yourself a HP sponge. Glorytongue (The Minds Eye WotC Website). It's a 3.0 power, first level. It makes your tongue a Construct with half your hit points. In your mouth. That you can share pain with. In your mouth. Or it can shoot out 100 feet to lick people then retract as a free action. In your mouth. I cannot explain in depth exactly how disgusting this power is or what part of my brain begins to fry when I try to think about WHAT IN GYGAX'S NAME DOES TURNING YOUR TONGUE INTO A 100 FOOT LONG CONSTRUCT HAVE TO DO WITH PSIONICS??? ... Sorry. Any rate, despite how disgusting the very idea of a prehensile 100 foot long tongue that is a construct and thus gets its own actions.
IN YOUR MOUTH. You must take this power if your DM will allow 3.0 powers. YOU MUST TAKE IT AND SHARE PAIN/SHIELD OTHERS. I'm sorry, but every single simulation I ran gave the Share Pain/Psicrystal/Vigor combined with Shield Others/Glorytongue made you a damn damage sponge. If you also take Anima Mage (psionic version) and use one of the Free Metapsionic per day to use Persistent Power with Glorytongue. You can have the tongue last much longer then one combat. It can deliver touch attacks
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier (or four times this number as a beginning character).
Class Skills: Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (psionics), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Profession, Psicraft.
Editor (Craft Skills): If you take CStP, then look into mage craft and Bigby's Helping Hand. Between the two you gain a +7 to all craft skill checks. Craft skills are int based, so you should have at least a +4 to all Craft checks. Buy at least one level of Craft (Poison), Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Weaponsmith), Craft (Armorsmith), and Craft (Bowmaking). Take ten and you'll be able to outfit the party with any sort of normal weapon or suit of armor, given enough time and access to the right tools and equipment. When you kill something with a poisonous bite or claw attack, harvest that poison with Craft (Poison). Given your unlimited access to powers and spells, you also can whip up some cheap alchemy items for the party. Always be on the look out for exotic monsters that you can harvest for materials. Make your own alchemy items or sell the stuff.
Editor (Main Skills): If you are playing with Psionic/Magic transparency, Take Knowledge (Psionics, Dungeoneering, Nature, Religion, and The Planes) if you can't, ask your DM if he'll allow Knowledge (Hearth Wisdom). If so, you can fake it with that knowledge alone, most of the time. You have to take Concentration, Psicraft and if you take CStP, Spellcraft. If you are playing with transparency, take only Spellcraft. It'll cover everything you need. As for the following skills, they are recommended so that you can at least have a long shot in a tight situation, or so you can use Aid Another to help someone else get the job done.
Editor (Skills to get to 5 ranks): If you take another class that gives you the following skills, buy 5 ranks. Autohypnosis, Balance, Heal, Sleight of Hand and Tumble.
Editor (Cross Skills): If you can, pick up a half rank or a full rank in the following: Appraisal, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Handle Animal, Jump, Listen, Open Lock, Ride, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim, and use magical/psionic device.
Editor (Skill Tricks): Collector of stories, Conceal Spellcasting, Ecstatic Fervor, Healing Hands, and Magical Appraisal.
Editor (Teamwork Benefits): If you are on a team, then consider pushing to have one of the skill monkeys in your ground lead the following, or pick it up yourself, if you multiclass and it becomes available. Awareness, Camp Routine, Door Procedures, Evade Incoming, Field Medic Training, and Snap out of it. However, I especially push the following: BEG the rest of the party to take Group Trance with you, since it will speed up your time for resetting your PPs from 8 hours to 4. Also it'll make it possible to reset your UPPD. So if you are an elf, half-elf, or there is one in the party. This is cheap and worth every crossclass skill point for everyone in the party from spellcasters to manifesters, to fatigued fighters. Combine with camp routine and a Rope trick Spell and you'll increase your party's treasure hunting time by 4 hours a day without ever having to worry about someone jumping you.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Erudites are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff, and shortspear. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor does not interfere with the manifestation of powers. Armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand, Swim, and Tumble.
Editor (BAB): Your BAB sucks. It's horrible. If you multiclass, it'll get even worse. Don't ever expect to ever become the party weapon guy. However, given the wide selection of Natural Attack buffs available as both powers and spells, what you lack in quality, you can make up for in quantity. But unless you are looking at being a ray specialist, or a whirling dervish of natural attacks, just accept your BAB is going to suck and resolve to improve your to hit chances with magic.
Editor (Weapons): Pick up a heavy crossbow, throwing daggers, normal daggers, and a quarterstaff to walk on. Be prepared to drop the heavy crossbow after shooting it because if you are using it, chances are you are screwed. Even if you can't use it, a crossbow bayonet isn't a bad thing to pick up. The penalty for not being proficient not withstanding, you never know when you might have to fall back to a last resort. Keep in mind the Sorcerer's hand crossbow allows you to add your WSAs from the crossbow to your ray attacks. Between Powers and Spells, you have a boatload of ray attacks available. That is not something you should abandon. Pick up deathwand and put two ray spell wands on it as well. That should cover you in most situations.
Editor (Armor): Armor does not interfere with the manifestation of powers. It shouldn't interfere with the manifestation of converted spells, either. The problem is, you aren't qualified to wear any armor. Getting the feats isn't worth it. So, either consider a 1 level dip into something that can wear armor, or do without. Alas, while a normal wizard would just use extend spell and mage armor, that's not really an option for you, because you can't afford to burn up your UPPD. Make sure that if you are using this, that you never learn Mage Armor and only manifest it by using a scroll. Still, if you can pick up armor, stock up on ASAs and armor crystals.
Power Points/Day: An erudite’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Intelligence score. His race might also provide bonus power points per day, as might certain feats and items.
Unique Powers per Day: An erudite manifests psionic powers, paying for each manifestation with an expenditure of power points. Unlike a psion, an erudite is limited to manifesting a certain number of unique psionic powers of each level per day from the repertoire of powers he knows, according to his class level. Thus, a 1st-level erudite can manifest one unique power per day; however, the total number of powers he can manifest per day is limited only by his daily power points (that is, the erudite could manifest the unique power as many times per day as he has power points to pay for it). An erudite simply knows his powers; they are part of his repertoire. He does not need to prepare them, though he must get a good night’s sleep to regain all spent power points the next day. An erudite does not choose a primary discipline.
Editor: There are no less then four different ways to look at this passage, three official, one house rule. Personally, I like the house rule. As it stands, by the original documentation, BY RAW, you get X unique powers per day PER LEVEL OF POWERS. That means you have 1 available power at 1st level, 30 at 10th level, and 99 at 20th level. Compared to psion who has 3 at 1st level, 21 at 10th level, and 36 at 20th level. Some have complained this is unbalancing
Editor (Go with the book): The reasoning is that unlike a psion who just gets powers handed to them, a erudite has to claw (spend XPs) for every single power. So they SHOULD have a boat load of available powers when they advance. In practice, most erudites never use that many powers so the extra unique powers are wasted, thus negating their value. The claim is that limiting the number of powers per day is already done when you look at how you GET the powers, so why limit it twice? Claims that "XP is a river" and that you are never really that far behind depends on the type of game you play. In a long term game, an erudite might only lag a level or two behind the rest of the party, but in a short term game, lagging behind two levels could be a universe. On the other hand, 99 powers vs 36? That is a rather extreme difference.
Editor (Leaked Errata): p. 153, Variant Psion Erudite, Class Features, Unique Powers Per day, 2nd sentence: "[….] an erudite is limited to manifesting a certain number of unique psionic powers of each level per day from the repertoire of powers he knows […]" Fix: delete the words "of each level"
Editor (Errata): The is the (un)official RAW from WotC and it sucks. Unfortunately they wrote the errata, but never actually released it. Word from on high is this is how it was supposed to be corrected. This version gives Erudites the potential for infinite cosmic power, with only an itty bitty slice available at any moment. Favored by DMs who think for some reason Erudite is totally out of control. Not a big fan of it. This gives you 1, 6, then 11 unique powers per day at 1st, 10th, and 20th level. That’s actually rather crippling. It actually encourages players to Min/Max like HELL and have a reason to do so.
Editor (Why to stick with the errata): Unlike a psion who is required to spread out his powers per day, a 20th level erudite can have 11 9th level powers that he can use an unlimited number of times. At least that’s the reason. But to be fair, this advantage doesn’t really start to show itself in earnest until 8th level. Up until that point, chances are you don’t have enough higher level powers to truly take advantage of the situation. Considering that most powers are sub-optimal, finding 11 9th level powers would be sort of difficult. Four is usually enough for anyone. However, considering the fact that all a erudite needs is one round of physical contact from a willing psionic, or a power stone and he can manifest an unlimited number of powers per day (assuming the PPs don't run out. See: Mental Pinnacle Spell), it’s not hard to see why they nerfed it, either.
Editor (House rule): I found this on the internet and I rather like it. If you have extra power points and extra known powers based on intelligence, then why not extra unique powers per day? In that case you stick with the errata version then add 1 unique power per day per point of intelligence modifier. So an 18 Int gives you 5 starting unique powers at first, 10 at 10th, and 15 at 20th. Still rather limiting, but not crippling. You actually start off with more powers available than the psion and over time you fall behind. Also, it gives you the option to increase your unique powers per day by boosting your intelligence. Considering a 30 Intelligence isn’t unheard of (an extra 10 unique powers per day) I’d go with this one. It stops the Erudite from truly becoming disgusting (99 powers a day is a bit extreme), but doesn’t cripple them either. It keeps the spirit of the limitation, in my opinion.
Editor (Original House Rule): BTW, the original involved using Charisma as the ability for determining extra UPPD. Not sure why, doesn't make any sense. However, if you want to encourage your players to spread out the starting point buy, then pick Charisma. I guess the point is that if you are really hot, the universe is more likely to let things slide. Sort of like real life.
Editor (RAW vs RAI): Okay, the RAW is you get X UPPD per level. Period. That is the RAW, even if it might be a typo/misprint. If you look at the table, the sidebar, the examples, and the entry in the Epic Handbook, it's obvious that the Unreleased Errata is the RAI. My campaign? I'd use the house rule, but for Intelligence, not Charisma.
Powers Discovered (Repertoire): An erudite selects powers from the same power list that psions and wilders use. An erudite begins play knowing two 1st-level powers of your choice. For each point of Intelligence bonus your character possesses, he knows one additional 1st-level power when you begin play. Each time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of two new powers of any level or levels that he can manifest (according to his new level) from the psion/wilder power list. An erudite cannot automatically learn powers from any of the discipline power lists. However, he can learn such powers later, as described below under Learning Discipline Powers. To learn or manifest a power, an erudite must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the power’s level. The Difficulty Class for saving throws against erudite powers is 10 + the powers level + the erudite’s Int modifier. An erudite can later learn new powers from power stones, from the minds of other willing psionic characters, and from the minds of unwilling unconscious psionic characters.
Editor (
Spell/Power Lists): This section is actually very important so I’m going to break it down for you. First of all, unfortunately, Erudites only have the Psion/Wilder power list. While they can learn any power off the discipline lists, they aren’t actually on your power list until you learn them. So that means if you take the CStP ACF, since all spells are treated as powers discovered, they too are not on your spell list. Why is this an issue? Originally it appeared that you could select them as part of your powers that you gain each level. This is not the case. You cannot select any power that is not on the psion/wilder list when you advance in level as your automatic powers learned. By extension, a CStP Erudite cannot automatically learn any spells. However, does that mean that they are on your Power/Spell list for the purpose of Use Magicial/Psionic Device? Honestly, I don't know and it's not clear. I think so, but I can't prove the RAW of the situation either way.
Psicrystal Affinity: At 1st level, an erudite gains Psicrystal Affinity as a bonus feat.
Editor: I wrote a handbook on psicrystals. Go Read It. NOW. Remember to look at giving your psicrystal Wild Talent so it is "psionic" and thus a valid target for Metaconcert. That allows your psicrystal to manifest powers for you and thus avoid the Unique Powers per Day limitation.
Editor: Psicrystal Containment and Psionic Meditation are good if you're planning on using Metapsionics. This is especially true with Psionic Meditation, as it's the only way you'll be able to use a Metapsionic feat every round. Empower Power, Maximize Power, Twin Power, and Linked Power (the last one from Complete Psionic) are all decent choices. Split Psionic Ray is a bit more specific, but cheaper than Twin Power.
Bonus Feats: An erudite gains a bonus feat at 1st level, 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, and 20th level. This feat must be a psionic feat, a metapsionic feat, or a psionic item creation feat. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels An erudite is not limited to psionic feats, metapsionic feats, and psionic item creation feats when choosing these other feats.
Editor (Psionic Feats): A list of suggested psionic feats that might be of use are as follows: Earth Power gives you effectively a manifester level. All the Elan Feats are worth a look. Expanded Knowledge to get those powers and spells that your DM won't cough up. If you have focused on attacks that rely on saving throws or power resistance, consider Power Penetration and Psionic Endowment. Internal Armor gives you effectively permanent force armor. If you are looking at a one level dip into any of the Tome of Battle classes, Instant Clarity is worth it. Overchannel is good for when you need to Nova, especially if you also pick up Talented.
Editor (Metapsionic Feats): If you are going the route of a CStP Erudite, then you need to look at metapsionic feats. Ones to look at are Empower for attack powers, Extend for utility spells/powers, Paraelemental to change your energy spells/powers into new and interesting effects, Sculpt is fun when you mess with area of effect spells/powers, and Split Ray is great if you are a ray specialist.
Editor (Linked Power): Unfortunately, the way It reads, you cannot use this to get around UPPD. It specifically states that you manifest a power this round, and manifest a second power next round. The specific problem is this "The power that is manifested in this round is not altered in any way, nor is the linked power that goes off in the next round." Since it's not altered, it has to follow the same rules as any other power/spell you manifest. Specifically, it is limited by your unique powers per day limitation.
Learning Discipline Powers: An erudite can learn discipline powers only by directly learning a power from another’s repertoire, learning it from a power stone, or taking the Expanded Knowledge feat.
Editor: This is the part that most people over look. Unique powers per day does NOT limit the process by which an erudite can manifest a power he just "Understood". That’s important, because understanding is not the same as "Knowing". So if you have a bunch of power stones with psionic powers in them, you can take a round of physical contact, make your psicraft check, then manifest it next round. You can do this all day long, as long as you are willing to take one round to "understand" the power before you use it. So, needless to say, an Erudite is unlikely to ever take a non-combat power and commit it to his list of "known" powers when he can just keep a power stone in his pocket and use the power with a one round delay. It’s like having a cheap Eldritch Staff, except there’s no real limit. The only problem is making sure your skill check is high enough. Once you reach the ability to make DC 24 automatically, there’s no limit to the use of this class ability.
Editor (Take 10): Nothing says you can’t take 10, so that means a base Psicraft of 14 is all you need to never learn anything that you don’t mind a one round delay. And note, a 6 is all you need to affect level 1 powers. Now, the problem is you can't use this in combat. Out of combat you can take 10. In combat you have to roll and if you fail, you can't attempt to learn it again until you advance another level. Of course, if your DM wants to be harsh and prevent you from basically building up a handy haversack of scrolls and power stones, he could require you to roll each time, but that would be against the rules on taking 10.
Editor (What powers can you learn?): At first glance it would appear you can only learn Discipline Powers, however it does clarify that you fail the check if it’s not on the psion/wilder list OR discipline list. Therefore, we can assume you can learn powers both discipline and psion/wilder list.
Other Considerations: In most cases, psionic characters or creatures charge a fee to Erudites for the privilege of learning powers from their repertoires. This fee is usually equal to the power’s level x 50 gp, though many jealously guard their higher-level powers and charge much more (or deny access to them altogether). Erudites friendly to one another often trade access to equal level powers from their repertoires at no cost. If an erudite learns a power from a psionic character or creature, the process leaves the target’s repertoire unharmed. A power learned from a power stone disappears from the stone.
Editor: Okay, I don’t get this part. Why DOESN’T it leave the stone when I use it every other round, but if I touch the stone for a round, leave (remember, you don’t need to stay near the stone), go meditate for 8 hours, the stone loses it’s power? What happens if someone else uses the stone while I’m meditating? Check with your DM, because there is no RAW in this matter.
Editor (Chameleon PrC): The second level of the Chameleon PrC gives you the ability to learn and relearn any feat that you qualify for, every day. You can only pick one feat, but you can change it. Expanded Knowledge is a feat. That means you can relearn it every day and pick a new Discipline power (Or spell for you CStP Erudites) at the start of each morning. Is it worth the loss of two manifester levels? Depends on your build.
Erudite Musings"
Open a psion handbook in one window and a wizard handbook in the other. There, CStP Erudite handbook."
-Psyren
Rant: Normally I don't like to speak ill of people, but this is Psyren's advice for over five years about Erudite. His advice is often factually wrong, and most of the time, utterly, utterly useless. His sarcasm and condescending attitude offends me, even after this many years since his first post on the subject. The irony is, his posts are among the first to come up when you do a Google search. I blame Giant In The Playground's chat boards. The place deliberately weeds out anyone who disagrees with the Staff there about how the rules work. All the best posts with the most in depth information was from people who were banned from there. It's sad that the staff who run that site seem to care only about their world view and aren't open to new ideas. The truth of the matter is, very little from the Wizard handbook is useful and even less so the Psion handbook. Both depend on free access to whatever spell/power you need and useful feats to back up those up. Most Wizard feats are worthless to an Erudite, and the Erudites unique needs render most of the Psion's PrCs ineffective. That said, I'll try and address the various myths concerning the Erudite.
Myth 1: Unlimited access to arcane spells and powers.The myth is that you have unlimited access to all arcane spells and most powers so you must be absolutely ungodly powerful. The theory is that you can cherry pick the best of both list and make for absolutely evil combinations that allow you to do whatever you want and thus become a god at second, maybe third level. In actuality, the Erudite has a number of limiting factors that severely curtail the unlimited access of the Erudite.
A) The Erudite is limited to a number of unique powers per day. When you use a power, you can keep using it, but it eats up the number of powers you have at your disposal for the rest of the day. Even though there is some confusion on the matter, it's fairly clear that the Nerfed rewrite of the Erudite was to limit the UPPD to a max of 11 at 20th level. There are ways around this, but you have to work at it. Because of this bottle neck, Erudites are forced to commit rather brutal Min/Maxing to get around this limit and remain effective. An CStP Erudite might have every spell and power at his disposal, but if he can only use 4 of them, he's rather limited.
B) The CStP Erudite can pick up discipline and spells, but one level lower then his max. So that means that an Erudite trying to be an Arcane caster is effectively 2 levels behind a wizard, with no where as many different spells available.
C) In order to commit those spells and discipline powers to memory, the Erudite needs to spend XP. Yes, XP is a river, but this river has a hole in the bottom. You will forever be one level behind everyone else as you spend XPs just to try to get what everyone else gets by stealing spellbooks, or praying to their gods.
D) Now, CStP Erudites do get the ability to "learn" Spells and Powers from Scrolls and Power Stones. When it's learned, they can spend the time and XP to commit it to memory, or they can immediately use the spell/power next round. This does get around the unique powers per day limitation because of the wording.
"an erudite is limited to manifesting a certain number of unique psionic powers of each level per day from the repertoire of powers he knows"
When you are "learning" a spell from a scroll or a power from a power stone, it isn't one of the spells you know. Ironically, if you learn a power/spell, you cannot use this loophole any more. This only works on powers you haven't yet memorized. So, clearly this is a good way to get around the Unique Powers per Day limitation. All your out of combat powers/spells should remain in scrolls and power stones, so you can whip them out when you need them and save your UPPD for combat. Problem solved.
Except for the fact that anything in a power stone/scroll still requires a skill check. No matter how high you get your skill check, If you fail, you can't attempt to use that scroll/stone again until next level. Furthermore, you have to watch that WBL, as having a small library of scrolls/stones at the ready costs a great deal of GP. Also, the way it reads, if you learn from a scroll chock full of metamagic, you only get access to the base spell. The metamagic is lost. So metamagic scrolls are a waste of WBL.
What does this mean? It means that if you are going to play an effective Erudite, your Spells and Power selection is forced to be rather narrow and tends to wind up looking an awful lot like every other Erudite. You simply don't have any space to waste. If you are a talented and experienced MinMaxer, then the Erudite has much to offer. However, it is a very unforgiving class that will screw you if you make the wrong choices. There is very little room for error when playing an Erudite.
Myth 2: Cherry picking Arcane SpellsThe theoretical optimization is that the Erudite gets to cherry pick the very finest of Arcane spells. The reality is that this almost never happens.
A) The CStP Erudite must select his 2 powers per level from the psion list, so he does NOT automatically get access to any Arcane spell he wants. You can use the Expanded Knowledge feat, because you treat spells as Discipline powers, but that's one feat for one cherry picked spell. Choose very, very, very carefully.
B) As I have shown above, your average Erudite is 3 MLs/CLs behind a wizard, so even if he can use some obscure spell list to get an arcane spell a spell level lower, he's still lagging behind by a full Manifester Level. The number of Arcane spells that he can cherry pick from are at most 10% of the total selection available.
C) The CStP Erudite CANNOT learn any spell... "If the selected power is not on his class list or on any of the select discipline lists, he automatically fails this check."
Because the spell is treated as a Discipline power, any arcane spell you are trying to learn must be on an arcane spell list. That means if someone takes a Divine spell, converts it to Arcane, then puts it in a scroll, you cannot learn it, unless that spell is on some arcane spell list somewhere. So as much as one might like to allow someone to just get a friend with versatile spellcaster feat and have him feed you arcane versions of divine spells, it does not work, by RAW.
Myth 3: Unlimited OptionsWhile the number of powers and spells is extensive, the limits are on what you can do elsewhere. There are a few feats that are truly useful, but in the end, when you look at the same combinations on a straight up psion, the psion gets more mileage for feats and PrCs.
A) When I actually looked into it, the number of psionic PrCs that allowed ANY progression of ML was limited to Fifteen. The number that allow you to get into them by level 6 without multi-classing, was five. Guess how many PrCs add to Arcane Spellcaster's spells per day? Two Hundred and Twelve.
B) The truth is that an Erudite has far too many options, any yet, not enough. You get a bazillion power/spell options, but are crippled when it comes to Multi-Classing and feat selection. If you become a generalist, you will flounder. If you specialize, you will discover that other classes can do the same thing you do, but better. There are very few things the Erudite can do that other classes can't. The nitch of the Erudite is Action Economy Breaking. Nobody does it better.
ConclusionSo Clearly Erudites suck, right?
Oh Hell no.
The Convert Spell to Power Erudite has so many exceptions that there is BOUND to be advantageous combinations. The problem is, you have to work at it and you need a sympathetic DM. If your DM wants to shut you down, all he needs to do is only hand out Wizard/Sorcerer Arcane scrolls and your life just got a whole lot harder.
The problem with the CStP Erudite is that it is all over the place. There are great combos, but the combos don't work very well together. You quickly become a grab bag of cool moves without any focus or direction. As I said before, it is very easy to make a mistake and wind up with a useless character. The solution is to embrace the chaos. More then any other PC, you have to be flexible. How you play and what opportunities the DM gives you can change the course of your level progression. Gain the opportunity to learn from a Chameleon? The ability to relearn a new Expanded Knowledge every day (and thus pick a new spell/power) is hard to pass up. Maybe you find yourself with access to Summon Monster, and want to go the Constructor/Ectopic Adept route. If you manage to pick up shadow magic instruction, suddenly learning Subpsionics is looking rather tempting. So, that said, unlike other classes, you can't plan everything out as clearly as you could with your average wizard. You need to have an idea of what directions you can go, then take things in stride as opportunities present themselves.
Character ThemesGeneralist: You consider yourself a generalist in psionics. To you, all psionic powers are learnable, and you plan to learn them all. You don't understand how someone could focus on just one discipline, on just one mantle, or on a select number of powers. You are the one to ask when anyone has a question about psionics, and you intend to one day be a metapsionic master. The generalist is the weakest of the choices. Basically you just pick up every power you can find when you can find it and simply hang loose. Why specialize when you can just be whatever you need to be? This is the default use for an Erudite. Like most classes, if you focus on one particular direction, you become more effective.
Blaster: You focus on offensive powers and are a master of the military use of psionics. To you, your powers are weapons and it is your job to wield them against the enemy. You have an array of powers to call upon. Rays are your favorite types of attacks, and you have created several new powers based off the many ray spells you have seen used in battle. You think in tactical terms and choose your actions carefully. The psi-spell feats will serve you well. The number and way to combine your powers for maximum Boom is almost impossible to comprehend.
Summoner: Combine Astral Construct with summon monster spells, add in the astral construct enhancement feats, maybe Ectopic Form Emerald Gyre and Boost Construct, and suddenly you are spamming armies of mutated custom critters to fufil your every whim. Alas, of all the choices, this is the most feat intensive, but very impressive when it gets rolling.
Battlefield Controller: Your access to area of effect spells as well as psi-spell feats that modify those AoEs to do horrible debuffs makes you a wonderful controller of the battlefield. Stop your enemies in their tracks and let your companions do the dirty work.
Mind Controller: You have access to all the best mind control powers for arcane spells and psionic powers. Why beat around the bush when you can just make everyone your slave?
