Linked Power allows you to manifest two constructs at the same time, if you want, and the Constructor PrC explicitly allows multiple constructs with a single manifestation (and multiple ones can be really really really useful if you're clever). There's also Quicken and Twin, but those are over-costed for the effect.
I've told this story before, but one time I played a blue goblin (at LA 0; they're not worth more) shaper/constructor//factotum, and I used the Astral Construct power more than anything but Time Hop, because it was so varied and useful in so many situations. I made use of ways to expand my constructs' durations (there's a feat in Hyperconscious that you can take at level 3 that makes your constructs last for 10 minutes, which can be PsyRef'd out once you have enough levels in Constructor, and Extend Power is awesome with it). I also used Linked Power to manifest AC as a standard/move/swift/immediate action for the cost of 1 pp (as well as chronocharms, and a few other ways).
But anyway, I was the toolbox/skillmonkey of the group, and I was always manifesting AC to extend my utility even further. I used them as doorstops, mobile walls, mobile hands, and mobile weapons platforms. I used them to grab allies, opponents, and unattended objects and move them around (having flight and swim speeds is useful, and being able to re-position allies on the battlefield outside of their turns can be very nice indeed). I often positioned them (and boxes, wagons, and other debris) to block and corral movement, to flank, to threaten areas of movement, as mobile soft cover, to pull vehicles or clear areas of debris, and made full use of their size/speed/reach. They're immune to tons of things (being nonliving constructs), and what they aren't immune to usually doesn't matter, since they're disposable.
There was one mass battle where I rode on a flying construct way above the battlefield and used it as soft cover while I created energy walls, constructs to bull-rush enemies into them and prevent them from moving out of the area by dint of there being REALLY BIG LUMPS OF ANIMATED GOO in the way. I found ways to boost the hell out of my manifester level (and reduce my manifesting costs) and could create 9th level constructs at quite low levels. I'd give them Energy Bolt, which they would use whenever we were faced with a long hallway, a bridge, or some other narrow space. Concussion Blast was useful when we were facing large numbers of incorporeal creatures. Extra attacks, rend, and other ways of getting more offense for little cost. Since my constructs lasted for 1/3 of an hour or more, I often let them borrow magic items to use. If the party had a spare belt of giant's strength (and this kind of thing happened frequently), I'd have a construct with a higher Str score than normal. If we had spare magic weapons that gave capabilities beyond what a slam attack could achieve, I'd let the construct eat the -4 to hit to use it (things like spell-storing and dispelling weapons).
They also have access to certain options that no character in his right mind would take (such as Whirlwind Attack), for when you need the exact right thing right now.
A little bit of optimization and thinking outside the box can turn astral constructs from decent disposable minions into walking Swiss army knives of destruction.
The best part was when the BBEG of the campaign sent her ~CR 33 shadow dragon dracolich to goblin-nap my character (at level 16). I pulled a level 9 construct out of my pp reserve, and it missed on its attempts to grapple the thing. It managed to paralyze me on the first round, right after it failed its save on the cleric's casting of Blindness (and was thus blind). I knew what the dragon was there for (since I'd previously gotten threats of such from the BBEG), so I had my big construct grab me and take off into the forest. I had it stuff my body under some leaf-litter right outside of blindsight range, and started manifesting tons of level 1 constructs, shaped just like me, and once the dragon caught up it started making grabs for the small constructs, not knowing which one was me (protip: none of them). Since there was a virtual swarm of them, the DM allowed them to act as an actual swarm, and they Aided Another on the big construct to grapple and pin the thing until the party arrived to grind it into bone-meal.
Alas, the BBEG was rather upset that her most powerful minion was beaten back by a level 16 upstart and his friends (which shouldn't have been able to actually do so by any stretch of the imagination, assuming you're not familiar with the tier list, anyway).
I love having customizable disposable vegan meatshields.
Good times.
@WotManiac: If you don't mind psions remaining high-tier, you can always use
my psionic powers revision. I buffed a lot of the really crappy powers, turned a number of level 1 powers into level 0 Talents, and tried to close up a ton of loopholes and broken combos (or just broken uses of the powers in general), and tried to curb the things that tend to give DMs headaches, such as teleportation -- they're likely still tier 2, though there's less breakability (I hope). I actually INCREASED their flexibility in numerous ways, and improved their ability to avoid running out of power points (as well as their need to nova) in a few ways. I lowered the levels on some power effects and added a ton of new powers. I've gotten some good feedback regarding it, and only a bit of negative criticism (much of which was based on a flawed understanding of the system
anyway).Additional comments and suggestions are welcome!
