Swifblade Build Advices

[Vlad Le Démon]

I'm planing to play a Swifblade (WotC PrC), an Elven Swifblade...
I've rolled the following stats: 16,17, 16, 17, 15, 11
I would like to take the Weapon Finesse feat in conjunction with Improved Familiarity...I like the Elven Courtblade...
I would like to have a good Caster Level...
What suggestions can you make ? About classes ? Feats & Skills ?

 

[moritheil]

Conventional wisdom is that the Swiftblade, in its entirety, is not worth taking. Too many missed caster levels are involved. (I have been told by reliable sources that the author of the PrC was the subject of blistering flames on the WOTC forums.)

That said, play whatever you feel like. You can get 4 levels of Swiftblade with the loss of only one caster level progression, which isn't too bad.

What kind of fighter/mage are you thinking of playing? A blaster who happens to be competent in melee? A group rearguard? A summoner who uses monsters to help flank? A melee brawler who uses spells to buff up?

 

[Vlad Le Démon]

The author of the PrC modified the class followind the players comments on WotC's messageboards...
I'd like to play a Fighter Mage who use mainly buff spells and evocation spells to fight his opponents...and who is very mobile on the battlefield...
My first idea was to take 3 Swashbuckler level first but the loss of 3 Caster Level is to much...

 

[moritheil]

The author of the PrC modified the class followind the players comments on WotC's messageboards...
I'd like to play a Fighter Mage who use mainly buff spells and evocation spells to fight his opponents...and who is very mobile on the battlefield...
My first idea was to take 3 Swashbuckler level first but the loss of 3 Caster Level is to much...

Okay, you're trying to do several different things, which may not work as well. If you want battlefield mobility and buffs, look into the swift spells (swift expeditious retreat, swift fly.) For evocation spells you want the conjuration orbs. They are not area damage, but odds are your save DCs and SR penetration will be terrible compared to a full mage, so you'll have to deal with that. The orbs also work off your attack bonus, which ought to be higher than that of a straight mage, so they play to your strengths while avoiding some of your weaknesses.

Duskblade might be worth looking into, except that its spell progression doesn't include haste or higher level spells. However, if you only want to cast a little, it's got full BAB and casting in armor, so you might like it.

Regardless of what you pick, the hard reality is that if you try to build a mixture of two disparate concepts, you are looking at a loss in power early on. The only thing you can do is minimize that loss.

Do you have a link to the updated Swiftblade? I'm only familiar with the one on the WOTC site.

 

[Sejs]

The author of the PrC modified the class followind the players comments on WotC's messageboards...
I'd like to play a Fighter Mage who use mainly buff spells and evocation spells to fight his opponents...and who is very mobile on the battlefield...
My first idea was to take 3 Swashbuckler level first but the loss of 3 Caster Level is to much...

No, no.

Battle Sorcerer.

Better BAB, better HD, easier to meet the 'level of nothing but haste' requirements.

Don't go overboard with weapon finesse and improved weapon familiarity, etc. Look at the net benefit - you're burning 2 feats to use your dex instead of your str for your to-hit rolls.. and your dex is only 3 points higher. A net of +1 to-hit. Not worth the feat cost.

 

[Vlad Le Démon]

I think i will not take the Weapon Finesse way...
The Battle Sorcerer might be a good idea...but i not fond about the small number of spell known...
The Duskblade doesn't have haste on his spell list...but the Beguiler have it...
What feats could be nice ? Arcane Strike is a must have...

 

[Engilbrand]

I'm going to be playing a Swiftblade soon. I decided to go with a Wild Elf. Our beginning stats were 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 14. Not all that different from yours. We're mixing some things with Iron Heroes, but here's my plan. Sorceror 6/Swiftblade 10/Abjurant Champion 4 if it hits level 20. That will net a total BAB of 17 and a CL of 16. 8th level spells and Time Stop aren't that bad. My current feats are Dodge and Mobility. Next is going to be Improved Initiative. I'm also going to pick up Mobile Spellcasting from Complete Adventurer. While under the effects of Haste, I will be able to move, move and cast as a standard action, and then cast again as a standard action. There are some spells for Sorcerors that allow you to cast 2 lower level spells at once. Using that, I'll be fairly effective. I look forward to giving it a shot. Hit points won't be that bad, either. d4 sucks, but the d6 for Swiftblade isn't bad and I think that Abjurant Champion gets a d8, right? Not too shabby.

Thanks to the Iron Heroes stuff, my stats are 14, 18, 17, 13, 12, 20 and I use my Charisma instead of Strength for my Bastard sword. I currently have Mage Armor, Magic Missle and Ray of Clumsiness. Those seemed pretty useful.

 

[szilard]

The Duskblade doesn't have haste on his spell list...but the Beguiler have it...

Hmmm....

Swashbuckler 3/Beguiler 11/Swiftblade 6 as a 20-level build?
Feats:
Weapon Finesse, Spring Attack (bonus)
Arcane Strike, Practiced Spellcaster (must-haves)
Combat Reflexes, Improved Feint (nice for Beguiler and useful in combat)

With arcane strike, this would be a pretty cool character in and out of combat - with a ton of options.

Caster level 19 with practiced spellcaster. Decent BAB. Nice Int and Dex synergy.

Could be cool.

-Stuart

 

[wildstarsreach]

Hmmm....

Swashbuckler 3/Beguiler 11/Swiftblade 6 as a 20-level build?
Feats:
Weapon Finesse, Spring Attack (bonus)
Arcane Strike, Practiced Spellcaster (must-haves)
Combat Reflexes, Improved Feint (nice for Beguiler and useful in combat)

With arcane strike, this would be a pretty cool character in and out of combat - with a ton of options.

Caster level 19 with practiced spellcaster. Decent BAB. Nice Int and Dex synergy.

Could be cool.

-Stuart

I'm playing an LA+0 Drow Ninja 2. He plans to then take the next 6 levels as beguiler. Then he plans to take the 10 levels of swiftblade. After that he'll take the 2 levels of Drow to make him an LA +2.

He'll have access to 6th level spells and will be a mobility assassin on the field. He uses a Kusari-gama from OA. Anyone who says that you need to have 7 to 10 spells levels of progression expects too much. The Swiftblade is a good class for a focused character. It isn't the most powerful when compared to the the Abjurant Champion or theEldritch Knight but has it's own unique nich.

 

[moritheil]

It isn't the most powerful when compared to the the Abjurant Champion or the Eldritch Knight but has it's own unique nich.

The thing is, conventional build wisdom holds that the EK sucks. It's only suitable for filler levels if you need a feat to boost your melee ability and a couple of casting progression levels after that.