Best higher level duskblade spells?

[Shin Okada]

I will stay away from energy surge as I will assume that your duskblade has arcane strike (which gives better bonuses for the same slot, and is a free action to use).

You can use both of them in the same turn, as Energy Surge is a swift action spell and the use of Arcane Strike feat is a free action.

Still, if a Duskblade can burn higher spell slots quickly, casting a 5th-level spell such as Polar Ray could be better than adding +2d6 energy damages to each of his melee attacks.

 

[Shin Okada]

Doesn't it work like a spell storing weapon ? So it would be your caster level, I guess.

Yes it does work like a spell storing weapon.

And AFAIK spell storing property does not say that it uses the caster level of whom stored the spell. And I can't find such suggestion in the official FAQ.

So I assume it uses the magic item's caster level as per generic rule for magic items.

Or maybe worse. The most similar item, Ring of Spell Storing uses the lowest possible caster level to cast that spell.

Still, I go for "magic item's caster level", as those two are different items indeed.

 

[Runestar]

You can use both of them in the same turn, as Energy Surge is a swift action spell and the use of Arcane Strike feat is a free action.

I had actually meant that the swift action might be better used casting a quickened spell (seeing as to how you had 3 uses of those), and given that arcane strike is a free action, this makes energy surge even less attractive...

So I assume the sage was thinking that a duskblade can use metamagic feats when using arcane channeling.

It appears the sage did not take into consideration the fact that applying metamagic feats to a spontaneous caster like the duskblade would increase the spell's casting time (either that or he assumed the player was able to skirt round this drawback somehow). Or maybe he did not address that point as he felt it was not the crux of the question.

I suppose you could take arcane preparation and prepare empowered vampiric touches beforehand.

Not sure if you stack the temp hp from multiple attacks, so that is a discussion I won't wade into. Personally, if I were the DM, I wouldn't allow it for a player, but considering that the OP is the DM and plans to use it on an npc...

 

[Sharkon]

Just use both arcane strike and energy surge on one hit

 

[Shin Okada]

It appears the sage did not take into consideration the fact that applying metamagic feats to a spontaneous caster like the duskblade would increase the spell's casting time (either that or he assumed the player was able to skirt round this drawback somehow). Or maybe he did not address that point as he felt it was not the crux of the question.

I am not sure about it. As a DM, if a duskblade takes a feat (Empower Spell) and burns 4th level spell slot (or 3rd if he/she takes another feat Arcane Thesis), allowing it will not break the game balance. She can only apply a spell once per round to a single opponent (dividing attacks amongst multiple opponent is not usually a good idea).

Not sure if you stack the temp hp from multiple attacks, so that is a discussion I won't wade into. Personally, if I were the DM, I wouldn't allow it for a player, but considering that the OP is the DM and plans to use it on an npc...

There is an entry regarding this issue in the official FAQ.

Do temporary hit points from two applications of the same effect stack? What about from different effects? If I have temporary hit points from multiple sources, how should I apply damage?

Temporary hit points from two applications of the same effect don’t stack; instead, the highest number of temporary hit points applies in place of all others. Temporary hit points from different sources stack, but you must keep track of them separately.

For example, imagine a character who gained 15 temporary hit points from an aid spell. After taking 8 points of damage, she has 7 temporary hit points left from the spell. If another aid spell were cast on the same character granting 12 temporary hit points, this total would replace the other spell’s total, meaning the character would now have 12 temporary hit points (rather than 19). If the character then cast false life on herself, she would add the full benefit of that spell to the temporary hit points from the aid spell.

This also applies to temporary hit points gained from energy drain and similar special abilities. Each successful attack counts as one application of the effect (meaning that an attack that bestows 2 or more negative levels still counts as only one application of the effect). For example, a wight gains 5 temporary hit points each time it bestows a negative level with its slam attack. If it bestows another negative level while it has 2 temporary hit points remaining from the first attack, the new temporary hit points would replace the old ones.

Temporary hit points are “first-in, first-out.” Damage should be taken off the oldest temporary-hit-point-granting effect first; when that effect is exhausted, apply damage to the next oldest effect. For this reason, you must track each supply of temporary hit points separately.

 

[Runestar]

I am not sure about it. As a DM, if a duskblade takes a feat (Empower Spell) and burns 4th level spell slot (or 3rd if he/she takes another feat Arcane Thesis), allowing it will not break the game balance. She can only apply a spell once per round to a single opponent (dividing attacks amongst multiple opponent is not usually a good idea).

I was looking at it more from a rules perspective, and less so from a balance POV. I felt that since metamagicking a spell increased its casting time, its new casting time should be the yardstick used when determining if it could be arcane-channeled or not, rather than simply sticking with its original casting time, regardless of what was done to it.

Furthermore, dividing your attacks means that you can apply the extra damage from vampiric touch to other PCs, especially if you use whirlwind (which limits you to 1 attack/PC, but each attack is made at your best bab). This can be useful since your iterative attacks are less likely to hit anyways.

There is an entry regarding this issue in the official FAQ.

Good catch, I completely forgot about that article.

 

[NewJeffCT]

You could choose Rapid Metamagic and Empower Spell, but that would burn two feats.



That's right, but since you can hit multiple opponents with one fullround action the spell can effect multiple opponents if enough are within reach.
So the math seems correct.



Doesn't it work like a spell storing weapon ? So it would be your caster level, I guess.

Thanks - the party has normally surrounded the duskblade with at least 4-5 people in order to try to take her down. So, a full attack where she can hit them each for 9d6 damage from Vampiric Touch, plus sword damage, is ideal.

Now, if she is hasted, does the spell effect from Arcane Channel Full Attack extend to the hasted attack?

 

[Shin Okada]

Now, if she is hasted, does the spell effect from Arcane Channel Full Attack extend to the hasted attack?

From SRD "Haste",

When making a full attack action, a hasted creature may make one extra attack with any weapon he is holding. The attack is made using the creature’s full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. (This effect is not cumulative with similar effects, such as that provided by a weapon of speed, nor does it actually grant an extra action, so you can’t use it to cast a second spell or otherwise take an extra action in the round.)

As the extra attack is not a separate action and a kind of augmentation of a full attack action, I say yes.

 

[FEADIN]

That's right, but since you can hit multiple opponents with one fullround action the spell can effect multiple opponents if enough are within reach.
So the math seems correct.

I don't think so, it's still the same spell, you can affect multiple opponents but you gain only once the hp (overlaps).

 

[Physiker]

That's of corse correct.
You just roll your damage seperat for every target of your fullround action, and choose the highest temporary hp for the duskblade.