Picking through the new DnD Scion Unearthed Arcana playtest class, there are loads of moving parts and build options to consider, and – at first glance – the set of ten Psion-only Wild Talent feats seem like some of the blandest dishes at the buffet. On closer inspection, though, you’ll find some of them are going to be a rather tasty magical upgrade to some martial builds – one ice cold option in particular.
Wizards of the Coast surprise-dropped the Scion playtest class on May 27, and just like every other Dungeons & Dragons character crafter on the planet, we’ve been tinkering around with the rules in its 13-page Unearthed Arcana PDF ever since, looking out for what’s strong, what’s weak, what’s cool, and what stinks like psionically roasted brain matter left out on a hot summer afternoon.
The first entirely new addition to the roster of DnD classes since Eberron: Rising from the Last War added the 5th edition Artificer in 2019, the Psion is – in the words of our in-house DnD expert Mollie Russell: “a reality-bending master of psionics” and “a body horror nightmare”.
Mollie’s already delved deep into the workings of two of the new Psion subclasses: the best-in-class, fight controlling Psykinetic, and the less powerful but disgustingly flavorful, shape shifting Metamorph. But there’s more to this class than just its headline variants – and fans (including us) have been mulling over another key ingredient: the feats.
Wild talents
The Psion class gets ten new feats to choose from, in addition to the regular shared list of DnD 2024 feats any character can take. They’re not the same, though; these ‘Wild Talent’ feats are supposed to tie into your character’s background and how they gained their particular psionic abilities.
That means you can only take one of them – they all have the prerequisite that you don’t already have one. You can swap it for one of the Origin feats in the Sage or Noble backgrounds (see our full guide to the new DnD 2024 backgrounds for more info) or you can take it instead of a regular feat on a later level up – but you can never have two Wild Talents at once.
So, what are these feats, and are they any good? Yes and no. Each one gives you one active ability, and one ‘psionic talent‘ that gives you permanent access to certain spells and cantrips, and the ability to cast some of them regularly without the usual costs in spell slots, verbal components, or materials, and using whichever DnD stat you’re strongest in: Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.
The theme, power level, and details of those ‘free’ spells vary between the feats. Essentially, they map onto the different schools of magic, allowing your Psion to splash in some limited Wizard functionality, without multiclassing – which is neat, and of course means several of them are oriented around support and social roles.
Empath, for example, gives you Advantage on skill checks used as part of an Influence action a few times a day, and one free, wordless use of the Charm Person spell per long rest. From 3rd level, it also lets you cast Calm Emotions in the same way.
Mind Whisperer lets you communicate telepathically with another character within 120 feet for an hour (assuming you share a DnD language) and grants you a free cast of Longstrider, then also Alter Self from 3rd level onwards. Biokinesis buffs all your heals by 1d4 and grants you Spare the Dying, one free Healing Word cast, and one free Arcane Vigor at level three – you get the idea.
Cryokinesis – the strongest Psion feat by far
Naturally, though, the options most players are excited about are the combat oriented choices: Atmokinesis, Pyrokinesis, and Cryokinesis. Each one lets you swap your Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, or Psychic damage on any attack roll for their respective DnD damage type – Lightning, Fire and Cold, plus some free spellcasting. Right off the bat, converting physical damage to elemental damage (whatever the flavor) is going to help martial-focused Psions against the many enemies that ignore hits from regular weapons.
But it’s those free spells that make the difference here, and there’s zero doubt on which is stronger. We’re going Ice, Ice Baby all the way – because, uniquely among the options, Cryokinesis gives you two free spells alongside the cantrip, and all three are useful.
The Ray of Frost cantrip is nothing special, though it’s a solid enough fall back at low levels when you’re out of spell slots. But getting access to one daily free cast of both Ice Knife and Armor of Agathys right from first level, alongside all your regular class abilities, is a combat casting party trick that’ll leave your party Wizard looking envious.
Ice Knife is one of the better first level damage spells, dealing 1d10 piercing damage (which, remember, you can switch to Cold if desired) and a further 2d6 Cold damage to the target and everyone else within five feet.
And Armor of Agathys – as anyone who’s played Baldur’s Gate 3 will know – is an absolute staple, high value, low level defensive buff that gives you five temporary hit points and deals five Cold damage to anyone that slugs you in melee while your icy shield is up.
None of this is totally wild, game breaking stuff – but to our eyes, Cryokinesis is looking like an auto-take for any Psions looking to be a force to be reckoned with in combat.
Did we pass over a much stronger option? Are you absolutely pumped to play a Biokinetic and tap into DnD 2024’s improved healer environment? Is Clairsentience actually the secret MVP of these feats? Come join the Wargamer Discord community and let us know just how wrong we were (or just nerd out about DnD with us in general).
Or, if you’re after a bit of background material to catch up on the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, try our up to date compendium of all the DnD races, or our recommendations for the best DnD games on PC and console.
Source: Wargamer
