Skirmishing Ranged Touched Spellcaster Build Optimization

[EditorBFG]

Multiclass arcane casters are bad, but there are prestige classes like Eldritch Knight and I guess Unseen Seer to take care of that. Your spells are not that tough but that doesn't have to be bad.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of Eldritch Knight. Of course, they get no spells at first, but then it's all good. Only tough part would be fulfilling the requirement of proficiency in all martial weapons. Which class should I get that from? I was hoping to do 3 levels of scout to get the AC bonus for skirmishing, so ideally I need to do 1 level in another class and that's it (since Practiced Spellcaster only subs in 4 caster levels).

Build optimisation: Your AC, saves and hitpoints probably are rather good for a caster. What about Draconic Heritage feats, resulting energy resistance, DR and extra hitpoints? Plus an additional claw attack when casting a touch attack spell?

i didn't think these would legal for the living campaign, but checking I found that Living Greyhawk allows the following feats:

Draconic Breath (RDr)
Draconic Claw (RDr)
Draconic Flight (RDr)
Draconic Heritage (RDr) [MM Dragons Only]
Draconic Legacy (RDr)
Draconic Power (RDr)
Draconic Presence (RDr)
Draconic Resistance (RDr)
Draconic Skin (RDr)

So I'm looking at these pretty hard now.

Edit: Improved Skirmish + tumble will keep you out of range for most full attack actions too.

My thought exactly. All scouts should have a lot of Tumble.

Also: anyone have thoughts on what order to stack the various class levels? So far I have scout 1/warmage 1. I'll be leveling soon, what should I do next?

 

[Thurbane]

Only tough part would be fulfilling the requirement of proficiency in all martial weapons. Which class should I get that from?

Well, you could throw a level of Barbarian in there for extra movement, but I recently found a PrC that grants full martial weapon proficiency - Dragonslayer, from the Draconomicon. If you only dip in it for 1 level, it still grants +1 level of casting.

 

[Nifft]

All martial weapons, +1 BAB, +1 spellcasting level = Dragonslayer (from Drconomicon). Prereqs are some skill ranks, Iron Will, Dodge and BAB +5. Dead easy.

Cheers, -- N

 

[rgard]

I'll tell you what, if Spellwarp Sniper added to Skirmish instead of Sneak Attack, I would be on it like a cheap suit.

As it is... I don't know, I've never multiclassed Sneak Attack and Skirmish onto the same character before. I figure they would stack, but does anyone have experience with how useful having both abilities ends up being?

(I am thinking of the right class, right? No books in front of me right now.)

Try re-writing Spellwarp Sniper. Call it Spellwarp Skirmisher? Switch out the Sneak Attack and Skirmish requriements/benefits. You might want to change the PrC skill list also to reflect a mesh of Scout and Arcane caster.

If I was the DM, I'd allow it.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Hypersmurf]

If I was the DM, I'd allow it.

In Living Greyhawk?

-Hyp.

 

[Nifft]

Once you've taken your first level of Unseen Seer, you're pretty close to qualifying for Arcane Trickster... which grants Sneak Attack damage, and of course full spellcasting. (You'll have to burn an Eclectic Learning for mage hand, or take the Night Haunt feat.)

So you can nab Sneak Attack damage that way, and then go into Spellwarp Sniper, perhaps?

Cheers, -- N

 

[EditorBFG]

LG does not allow the Dragonslayer class, I think because there is no 3.5 version. Lame.

And unfortunately, though Arcane Trickster grants Sneak Attack, it also requires Sneak Attack. I would need Rogue levels or something. Arcane Trickster might be something for higher levels for this build.

Good news is, I checked out the Extra Spell feat in 3.5, and it works just fine, and is allowed in Living Greyhawk. It only allows you to gain a spell of a lower level than the highest one you can cast, so I will probably end up getting Detect Magic. Or, maybe I'll take that feat in Complete Arcane, Insightful I think its called, that gives Detect Magic, Detect Secret Doors, and one other divination as spell-like abilities once per day.

So, it looks like I have to sneak in a level of Rogue somewhere if I ever want to do Spellwarp Sniper. But that class does look perfect.

 

[EditorBFG]

Build optimisation: Your AC, saves and hitpoints probably are rather good for a caster. What about Draconic Heritage feats, resulting energy resistance, DR and extra hitpoints? Plus an additional claw attack when casting a touch attack spell?

It looks like these feats all require you to be a Sorcerer, not a Warmage. Any way around this?

 

[rgard]

In Living Greyhawk?

-Hyp.

Oops again! Need to read these more closely.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Thurbane]

LG does not allow the Dragonslayer class, I think because there is no 3.5 version. Lame.

Thats a shame - but the Dragonslayer from Draconomicon is definitely 3.5, not sure why it is banned in LG...

Anyway, if you want to get in Spellwarp Sniper, there are prestige classes that grant sneak attack: Assassin, Nightsong Enforcer...