Is there any class that specializes in psychic damage?

[Orion Invictus]

Can an illusion Wizard do it well? If not, which class would you recommend?

[seeker1]

Well, if you want to go Mod ...

Psi Warrior .... it's meh for me ....
or better...
The Mystic class, which is entirely psionically/psychically based.

Also: if you get the 5E Spells Add on, it adds a lot of psychic damaging spells like Psychic Lance, etc., etc., and BTW one class that then gets many of those on its spell lists are Bards.

[Orion Invictus]

Originally posted by seeker1:

Well, if you want to go Mod ...

Psi Warrior .... it's meh for me ....
or better...
The Mystic class, which is entirely psionically/psychically based.

Also: if you get the 5E Spells Add on, it adds a lot of psychic damaging spells like Psychic Lance, etc., etc., and BTW one class that then gets many of those on its spell lists are Bards.

No, vanilla classes only. I'm sticking to basic mods for now.

[yahboi1988]

I don't think there are any classes that spec for psychic in vanilla. Bards and Wizards have the most access to it. Gith can get items that will help them later on and obviously you have all the tadpole abilities as well. That's about it as far as I know.

[AokiYakumo]

There's not really a lot of options for Psychic damage. Outside items, your spell options are:

Vicious Mockery (1d4 - 3d4 on a WIS save)
Dissonant Whispers (3d6 + 1d6 per upcast on a WIS save)
Wrathful Smite (adds 1d6 damge to the triggering attack)
Phantasmal Force (persistent 1d6 damage but changes type based on what hurt the target last)
Phantamal Killer (persistent 4d10 damage on a WIS save)

-----

Other than that, you'll mainly be looking at Githyanki weapons, the Shadow Blade Ring, and Strange Conduit. Since most of the effects that key saves key WIS, you'll want to use Braindrain Gloves and the Mental Inhibition Ring to augment those effects, since both stack Mental Fatigue which debuffs mental saves the same way Reverb debuffs physical saves.

An early Act III build would be something close to a Lore/Valor Bard or a GOO-Lock, with Githyanki as your race. You'll be using Soulbreaker Greatsword, Braindrain Gloves (which will proc automatically on the greatsword since it has psychic damage innately), and Ring of Mental Inhibition + Band of the Mystic Scoundrel to stack up Mental Fatigue before blasting a target with a damaging spell, or using Phantasmal Killer or Phantasmal Force with Strange Conduit to keep a target affected by persistent damage. From there, the item selection is dealer's choice.

Might be a decent setup for Lae'Zel if she went Swords Bard.

[seeker1]

Originally posted by Orion Invictus:

No, vanilla classes only. I'm sticking to basic mods for now.

I respect that, but I'm just letting you know sometimes the way to improve vanilla is to start adding a little cinnamon spice, nutmeg, or cardamom.

The game itself has very few psychic spells in it, and no real psychic classes. But ...well, I said my piece.

I will admit I rather enjoy what I can do with Telekinesis, entirely vanilla, at least when enemies don't save against it. And of course, how can I not love an Illithid Mind Blast, because I do.

I will add having Vicious Mockery (and Cutting Words) is a big part of why I love playing a bard.

If Phantasmal Killer started damage on the turn it was cast, rather than the following turn, I think I would like it better.

[Angel]

I guess a githyanki great old one warlock would be pretty on theme if you want to do the whole psy thing, maybe even use the worms too

[Hobocop]

Open Hand Monks get a toggle to apply bonus 1d4+ Wis mod psychic damage to all of their unarmed strikes at 6th level. If you go a bit more Strength focused, a githyanki monk can wield one of the juicy githyanki greatswords as well. Obviously, this will naturally lean into a Tavern Brawler build, and your AC might suffer a bit, but it is a solid, consistent option.

[Pyromaiden]

Psychic damage is largely the monopoly of the illithid powers in-game. As such a lot of the D&D sublcasses that focus on psychic damage are notably absent from the game. I'm guessing this was an intentional design choice.

[yahboi1988]

Originally posted by Hobocop:

Open Hand Monks get a toggle to apply bonus 1d4+ Wis mod psychic damage to all of their unarmed strikes at 6th level. If you go a bit more Strength focused, a githyanki monk can wield one of the juicy githyanki greatswords as well. Obviously, this will naturally lean into a Tavern Brawler build, and your AC might suffer a bit, but it is a solid, consistent option.

Originally posted by Angel:

I guess a githyanki great old one warlock would be pretty on theme if you want to do the whole psy thing, maybe even use the worms too

I totally forgot about these two sub-classes.