What's the best fighter/mage class/Prc?

GoodKingJayIII · Apr 14, 2008

I'd actually love to see a Battle Sorcerer in action. In a lot of ways, I think it's better than the sorcerer class as written!

A battle sorcerer with the metamagic substitution level from PHB2 and a good mix of buff and offensive spells... sounds like fun.

Nifft · Apr 14, 2008

Darklone said:
There's one small fix for the swashbuckler class: Daring Outlaw.

Agree. But the fact that they needed a technically broken feat to fix the class says something about how weak it was.

GoodKingJayIII said:
I'd actually love to see a Battle Sorcerer in action. In a lot of ways, I think it's better than the sorcerer class as written!

A battle sorcerer with the metamagic substitution level from PHB2 and a good mix of buff and offensive spells... sounds like fun.

I agree that the Battle Sorcerer is stronger than the regular Sorcerer, but IMHO the thing that makes it work are [Reserve] feats. They allow you to choose a wider variety of utility spells and still remain effective in combat.

Cheers, -- N

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 15, 2008

Actually, one spellcasting-warrior idea I've had floating around my head is the magically gifted idiot meatshield.

Visually, he'd look the archetypal warrior of his race and presumptive class. In reality, he'd be something like a Battle Sorcerer or Warmage (maximizing # spells/day) with high Str, Dex, Cha (his spellcasting stat) and if lucky, Con, with a low Int and Wis. Criminally low.

He'd have that feat that boosts the weight of armor an armored mage can wear (its name escapes me at the moment) and Arcane Strike (or similar feat).

Generally, instead of casting his spells, he channels them into his weapon to boost his martial prowess. His fellow partymates may not even be aware that he is technically an arcane caster. Once that gets revealed, his education on TRUE power can begin.

Engilbrand · Apr 15, 2008

Which would make Havoc Mage and interesting idea.
I haven't seen it mentioned, so I'll throw out my favorite: Swiftblade. I'm hoping to make one for a campaign that should be starting soon. It's all about speed and the Haste spell. Mixed with the right feats and it can be devastating.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 15, 2008

AFAIK, the "spellchannelling" PrCls (those that actually channel spell energy through melee attacks) are as follows:

Enlightened Fist
Havoc Mage
Knight of the Weave
Ordained Champion
Rage Mage
Raumathari Battlemage
Spellfire Channeler
Spellsword

Now, I can't really tell the diff between them by memory, but the Havoc Mage and Rage Mage sound like they'd be pretty similar.

Ace · Apr 15, 2008

My stomp battle sorcerer build is

Human Battle Sorcerer X with metamagic option Abjurant Champion 5

Feats should be

Bloodline Feat (from Dragon Compendium) -- this gets you 1 extra spell known per level

3 Reserve Feats -- whatever you like

2 Metamagic feats

Arcane Strike -- for things with a high magic resistance

Combat Casting -- a prerequisite

Battle Caster Defense (from complete mage) -- to feed off combat casting and because you will melee a lot -- its not that great a feat but it fits and if you are fighting in melee 3 rounds +10!! to concentration is pretty nice

Eschew Components

This gives you a max BAB of 16 (4 attacks!) 5 interesting powers, 5 special abilities, plenty of spells and very decent melee capacity

Optionally drop Battle caster defense and take a metamagic feat instead if you like.

pawsplay · Apr 15, 2008

Dannyalcatraz said:
What I was referring to was the whole "which warrior class fights the best" & "X is broken" type stuff that's starting to pop up

Personally, I don't care if the best fighter in the game is a kobold bard*, as long as people are having fun.

*OK, I care enough to recognize that that would be a sign of bad design, but beyond that...

Now, if they're a kobold master of many forms with Assume Supernatural Ability, that's another matter.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 15, 2008

To avoid hijacking this thread further with my question, I started this thread to discuss how to build the "Mage-Brute" from post #53:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=4164602#post4164602

0bsolete · Apr 15, 2008

My hands-down fave is the Abjurant champion primarily for the 5th level ability which makes their caster level equal to their BAB. Simply take a single level of wizard and get to that 5th level ability and you have a character that is effectively a full fighter (minus a couple feats) plus a full mage with one level down on both (ex: wizard 1/fighter 5/ajurant champion 5 casts as a level 10 wizard with all the toys of a fighter, plus the lacking of armor isn't that bad due to previous abilities which boost your defensive spells.

Klaus · Apr 15, 2008

0bsolete said:
My hands-down fave is the Abjurant champion primarily for the 5th level ability which makes their caster level equal to their BAB. Simply take a single level of wizard and get to that 5th level ability and you have a character that is effectively a full fighter (minus a couple feats) plus a full mage with one level down on both (ex: wizard 1/fighter 5/ajurant champion 5 casts as a level 10 wizard with all the toys of a fighter, plus the lacking of armor isn't that bad due to previous abilities which boost your defensive spells.

Mind you, it's *caster* level. So your Wiz 1/Ftr 5/AC 5 has the spell capability of a Wiz 6 (casting spells up to 3rd level), but with a caster level of 10 (so he drops a fireball that deals 10d6).