[3.5] Eldritch Knight & Andy Collins

[MerricB]

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46533

So what you're asking is for a complete class description?

Sorry, you'll have to wait for the book for that.

I'll give you this much: It has good BAB and 9 levels of spellcasting (out of its 10 levels).

__________________
Andy Collins
Senior Designer
Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D

We'd already learnt from Andy that you could take it as a Ftr1/Wiz5 or Ftr1/Sor6, so the pre-reqs look like being:
* Proficiency with all martial weapons
* 3rd level arcane spells.

Cheers!

 

[Chun-tzu]

Hmm. "Good BAB" isn't very specific, but I'd guess it means 3/4 BAB and not full. So, in spell power, you're only two levels behind a full caster (including the level of Fighter); that's not bad. In exchange, you get better BAB, better hit points (most likely), a better weapon, and maybe the ability to wear armor (if not, you're not a knight, you're a war wizard). Sounds reasonable.

 

[MerricB]

It's worth considering that a Wizard who uses Still Spell for all their spells is effectively two levels behind their true level with regard to number of spells.

Cheers!

 

[Mercule]

It's worth considering that a Wizard who uses Still Spell for all their spells is effectively two levels behind their true level with regard to number of spells.

That's a very good way of looking at it, Merric. I feel a bit better about the power level of the class, now. I do tend to think that the improved hit dice, BAB, and weapons are maybe worth another level, but it's not too far off, overall.

 

[ShadowX]

It's worth considering that a Wizard who uses Still Spell for all their spells is effectively two levels behind their true level with regard to number of spells.

Cheers!

Well the Spellsword does have the ability to ignore a certain percentage of spellcasting failure, so its likely the Eldritch Knight will have the same ability. If so the class may be unbalanced, but it looks similar in power to the RoF Bladesinger, a class considered to be one of the best fighter\mage PrC's.

 

[FireLance]

Actually, it sounds more like a renamed Raumathari Battlemage from Unapproachable East. You can see it in an "In the Works" excerpt on the Wizards website here.

 

[ShadowX]

Actually, it sounds more like a renamed Raumathari Battlemage from Unapproachable East. You can see it in an "In the Works" excerpt on the Wizards website here.

Well I think they explicitly called the Edlritch Knight a reworked Spellsword.

 

[FireLance]

Well I think they explicitly called the Edlritch Knight a reworked Spellsword.

For that matter, the Raumathari Battlemage is kind of like a reworked Spellsword. It retains the Channel Spell ability (going up to Channel Spell IV), loses bonus feats and the ability to reduce the chance of arcane spell failure when casting in armour, but gains the Battle Spell, Sword Focus and Sublime Sword abilities.

Of course, I could be wrong. Nothing is final until the books come out, blah blah, etc.

 

[ShadowX]

Well the Battle mage seems to focus more on the mage side than Spellsword, especially with its painfully low d4 hit dice.

 

[Tratyn Runewind]

Hello,

Posted by MerricB:
It's worth considering that a Wizard who uses Still Spell for all their spells is effectively two levels behind their true level with regard to number of spells.

True enough. It's also worth considering that there are many excellent spells with no somatic components, which can thus be cast in armor with no chance of failure even without using Still Spell. True Strike, Feather Fall, Blindness/Deafness, Knock, Displacement, Suggestion, Dimension Door, Polymorph Self, and the Power Words can all be very useful to a Fighter/Mage type. Characters making full use of these spells can stay much closer to their "true" spellcasting capabilities than those who need to Still all their spells.

And I for one am glad of this. I never liked the way spellcasters were penalized so much more for multiclassing than the non-spellcasting classes in 3e. It made a mockery of much of the alleged "flexibility" of the new multiclassing system.