The tier list over on GitP considers the Psionic Artificer to be "tier 0" and lists a few reasons explaining why. The primary justifications given for this (as seen here and here, and debated here) appear to be as follows:
- Due to a rule on page 232 of the Magic Item Compendium, Psionic Artificers can make pretty much anything that a regular Artificer can.
- The Spell-to-power Erudite puts all arcane and (with a little bit of tinkering) divine magic in the reach of Psionic Artificers. In line with the normal Artificer and Spell-to-power Erudite tricks, this also allows for exploits like access to a level 1 Haste spell/power.
- Dorjes can contain higher level powers than wands.
- Access to Psionics allows for some tricks that can not be obtained elsewhere, such as playing as a sandwich.
This is all well and good and certainly does a great deal to explain why the Psionic Artificer is superior to its non-Psionic equivalent. However, I do not see how this is sufficient to bump the class up a tier or explain why it is superior to the other tier 1 classes. For example, the Spell-to-power Erudite also has access to basically any psionic power and arcane or divine spell and therefore ought to be just as powerful and versatile as the Psionic Artificer. Furthermore, I'm of the belief that actual magic is almost always better than magic items. Is there some factor that I've overlooked?