Best Warrior/Mage Combos

[Mistwell]

Well... the spellcraft dc is really tough, and as I read the share spell, in the example, it says that activating the rune works as if the runesmith had cast it himself... so if wraithstrike is a personal spell (I don't know offhand) then I don't think it works. Also, since the cooperative metamagic depends on modifying the spell of another, and since share rune works as if you had cast it yourself, I don't think that trick works either.

It's not "as if you cast the spell yourself" in all ways. "It is just as effective as a spell cast by the runesmith himself." The rune is "(cast) by any character.", according to the ability, so the personal spell is cast on the person using the rune as normal for casting a spell. But to calculate effects of the spell dependant on level, you use the level of the person who made the rune. Otherwise, it wouldn't work at all for a non-caster.

Yes, the spellcraft DC is tough. It can be done. Particularly since it only has to hold for a few rounds, it's not all that hard to crank your Spellcraft DC up. Here are some ways.

Taking 10 is allowed, particularly since you are far from distracted at the beginning of the day when buffing your party members.

Intelligence is the ability linked to spellcraft, so that will likely be a +6.

Skill Focus Feat = +3 (not necessary though).

Masterwork Spellcraft Tool/Kit: +2 competence bonus to spellcraft (falls under the general Masterwork Tool description in PhB). I would probably borrow some of the description from the old Scrying kit, as that skill no longer exists and some of the description would be relevant to spellcraft. Assume it involves focusing crystals, prisms, a sub-school color chart used specifically with the crystals/prisms, etc...

Lenses of Spellfcraft: +5 enhancement bonus to spellcraft checks (created under the general magic item rules in DMG). Cost 2500gp I think for a +5 bonus to a skill check.

Guidance Spell (cleric 0 level spell, PhB): +1 competence bonus.

Heroism Spell (Wiz 3 spell, PhB): +2 morale bonus to skill checks.

Greater Heroism Spell (Wiz 6, PhB): +4 morale bonus to skill checks.

Prayer Spell (cleric 3rd level spell, PhB): +1 luck bonus to skill checks.

Ray of Hope (cleric 1st level spell, Book of Exalted Deeds): +2 morale bonus to skill checks.

Inspire Confidence (Bardic Music, PhB): +2 competence bonus to skill checks.

Mechanus Mind spell (Wiz 2, Planar Handbook): +2 unnamed bonus to all int based skills.

Aid Another can help. Familiars share skill ranks with their master, so the Wizard's Familiar would have 10 ranks of Spellcraft modified by its intelligence (assuming 7th level.)

Halruaan Adept feat (FR: Shining South, MUST be human): grants +3 bonus to spellcraft checks (and is required for the Halruaan Eldar PRC, which goes well with the Incantatrix PRC if you go that route).

Focused Mind feat (Races of the Wild, requires you to be an elf) grants a +2 bonus to skill checks.

The Apprentice (spellcaster) feat (DMGII): +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks (and gives you the skill points to pay for it too apparently, though I do not have that book and cannot check it).

 

[Azhrarn]

Sadly, Knight Phantom's req specifically state "Proficiency in all martial weapons" so those builds are out, but I like the train of thought put into them. I like the flow of pal/sorc, but they whole point of this endeavor is to get away from my clerical and monkish companions expositions about their religions, so I'm going to have to veto that. So my current thoughts are...
Half-Daelkyr with tentacle whip, fighter 1 battle sorc 7 knight phantom 4, which gives +10 bab, one forth lvl spell cast as a 10th lvl caster, 6 feats, and only a need for cha, str, and con. 5d10+7d8 HP isn't bad either. the real power in this build comes when i get stormtouch (Magic of Eberron spell) that enables 9d6 damage and 1/touch lvl, which with my tentacle whip i could bust out a full attack with that and arcane strike on top of it. feats would prolly be power attack, silent spell, battle caster, and mobile spellcasting, but that leaves two open for interpretation.
there has to be some more touch spells that i could be abusing as well. any ideas?

 

[Scion]

no psionic choices? psychic warrior is gishlike but it mainly has buffing abilities instead of blasting abilities.

power attack + charge + powerful charge + deep impact + psionic lions charge makes for an interesting opener

 

[Azhrarn]

well, if you want a charge that's crazy, you can go with a oversized two handed weapon, quickened true strike, power attack, leap attack, powerful charge, greater powerful charge. at a bab of +10, it winds up with a +10 to hit, 5d6+60 damage or something, depending on the official rules of when multipliers apply. crazy.
two handed sword 2d6
size category increase 3d6
greater powerful charge 2d6
true strike +20 to hit
power attack -10 hit, +20 damage for two hander
leap attack multiplies two handed power attack damage X 3
i really hope something is wrong with that, actually. i feel kinda ill.

 

[nittanytbone]

If going this road there's two choices.

1) Be an arcane caster with some fighting ability.
2) Be a fighter with some arcane ability.

If the former, I would front load ranger (for the saves and skill points) then go wizard X followed by prestige class of your choice. I MIGHT frontload barbarian for the extra 4 HP, rage, and fast movement. Still Spell might be a useful feat so that you can cast some beefier spells while wearing armor.

If the latter, I would be tempted to go primarily ranger with a few (maybe just 1 or 2) levels of wizard or sorcerer. Wizard gets you a wider variety of spells and the ability to make your own scrolls; sorcerers get more spells/day. If a wizard, I'd be a diviner specialist. You'll likely be memorizing true strike every day anyways and that way you only have one prohibited school. The caster level hurts your BAB and HP but helps the critical will save out a bunch and gives access to some useful spells, such as true strike to fuel a maxed out power attack. You can also use wands with impunity.

Your familiar will have a ton of HP, which may or may not be useful; it will make a useful spy and extra set of eyes and ears in any event, especially for a ranger type. Remember, it shares your skill ranks, so that means good spot/listen checks, its own spellcraft checks to identify potions, etc. I would go with a Weasel (to boost the Ref save) or a Raven (which can talk at low levels).

I would stick to spells that have no somatic component and thus can be cast in armor, or which have long durations and thus can be cast before donning armor. Below is a list of such (lower level) spells from the SRD.

Spells I:

Alarm (LD)
Endure Elements (LD)
Hold Portal
Mage Armor (LD)
Mount (LD)
Unseen Servant (LD)
Identify
Floating Disk (LD)
Ventriliquism
Featherfall

Spells II:

Pro Arrows (LD)
Darkness
Continual Flame (LD)
Blur
Magic Mouth (LD)
Misdirection (LD)
Blindness/Deafness
False Life (LD)
Knock
Whispering Wind (LD)

 

[green slime]

AS a player, I always detest giving up spell levels, so for an arcane-fighter type, I like the simple Fighter 1 /Wiz 6 /EK X.

IMO, you will never ever be able to compete up front with the tanks without so much buffing the fight should/would be over before you get there. Instead, I advocate an archer route, going Elf, rapid shot, greater magic weapon, and flame arrow, preferably on a bow with elemental energy.... be sure to stock up on large amounts of arrows, cause you'll be shooting 3 to 4 per round (with haste).

At 12th level, BAB is a decent +9/+4, with a focus on Dex (24+) and you have a missile BAB of +17 or more, depending on your item expenditure, and spells. Damage will be decent (not fanatastic like the special charge builds), but you can do it each and every round, from safety!

1d8+Str+1d6 flame+1d6 other energy+magic, and you can expect at least 2 arrows to hit per round: (11+Str+magic)x2 is good, reliable stuff you can do all day. And then you still have your softening spells, your escape spells, and the ability to buff and melee, if you really , really have to.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I've played a fighter/wizard from level 1-17 in Living Greyhawk and this is my take on it:

First: In 3.5, you have no cause to worry that fighter/wizard is an inherently weak combination. Especially with wraithstrike, you will put most other builds to shame as a melee damage dealer and still be able to cast high level arcane spells. Even without wraithstrike, you can be a very powerful character who can easily hold his own against any other equal level melee fighter. (My build: Fighter 1/Wizard 6/Spellsword 1/Eldritch Knight 9; In eberron, Phantom Knight is probably better than eldritch knight).

2. The two primary class combinations should be fighter/wizard and paladin/sorcerer.
Your other alternatives are less effective.
By choosing ranger as your fighter type class, you forgoe heavy armor proficiency and don't qualify for spellsword. You also gain no fighting ability beyond +1 BAB and martial weapons as a first level ranger. (And, by level 17, having 4 ranks of listen isn't much more impressive than having none).
By choosing barbarian as your fighting class, you also forgoe spellsword and furthermoe will have to choose between using your best warrior ability--rage--and casting spells. You also do not have the option to use combat expertise while raging which cuts down on the synergy between warrior and wizard stats.
By choosing hexblade as your starting class, you forgo spellsword and meaningful offensive options for a weak curse ability that won't improve with level.
By choosing swashbuckler as your starting class, you forgo spellsword and lock yourself into the dex fighter route. Dex fighting can be made to work, but you want to use strength and power attack if you're going to dish out the damage.
By choosing warmage as your arcane class, you lose out on a lot of the no-save offensive spells (ray of enfeeblement, etc) that synergize with your abilities as well as many of the key defensive and offensive spells for a fighter/mage (shield, false life, wraithstrike, heroism, alter self, greater magic weapon, blink, improved blink, etc).
I think it should be possible to make a fighter/swashbuckler/spellsword/bladesinger work but you'd lose a lot of spellpower that way.... Suel Arcanamach is another possible route, but again, you have a lot less spellpower than you can get with the fighter/wizard or paladin/sorcerer combos.

3. Since your effectiveness depends upon mixing fighting and spellcasting, you need to find ways to do both at once. At high levels, quicken spell is your friend. Quickened ray of enfeeblement, true strike (in non-wraithstrike games), scorching ray, whirlling blade, etc are very effective. At lower levels, long duration spells like false life, greater magic weapon, etc. are your bread and butter along with swift spells like critical strike, bladeweave, wraithstrike, swift fly, etc. Arcane Strike is another very good feat. (I'd say it's mandatory for any optimized melee fighter/mage and it's also the reason that melee fighter/mages are FAR superior to archer fighter/mages). It enables you to do two things. First, it adds to attack and damage (and works very well with whirling blade). Second, it allows you to use the spells that aren't useful. Got a fires of purity spell prepped but you're fighting efreeti and fire elementals? Arcane Strike baby. Got banishment prepped and you're fighting a dragon? Arcane Strike. Analyze dweomer but orcs are kicking in the door to your tower instead of letting you have the restful day you'd planned? Arcane strike. Contingency is similarly useful.

Key spells:
Level 1: ray of enfeeblement, shield, enlarge person, critical strike
Level 2: Whirling blade, Scorching ray (at high levels), false life, wraithstrike, bladeweave (at low levels), alter self (+6 natural armor as a troglodyte), mirror image, see invisibility, swift fly
Level 3: greater magic weapon, heroism, dragonscales (draconomicon--and as an enhancement bonus to natural armor, it stacks with alter self), and BLINK (next to wraithstrike which is so hideously broken, it shouldn't be allowed in any game unless it is MUCH higher level--4 at minimum, 6 at a good guess, blink is the single best spell for a fighter/mage. It combines good defense with a very good offensive boost (and, to make matters worse, it synergizes nicely with wraithstrike since between blink and wraithstrike, a target's AC is usually 10+size+deflection), displacement.
Level 4: greater invisibility, polymorph, enervation
Level 5: mass fire shield, overland flight, vitriolic sphere (effectively no-save which is good because you can't afford to max int), IMPROVED BLINK (like blink but better), freezing fog, wall of force
Level 6: Fires of purity, contingency, brilliant blade (if your DM is sensible enough to ban wraithstrike)
Level 7: Limited wish (think Stalwart Pact), energy immunity, power word blind, bigby's grasping hand, banishment (a great spell and you can typically muster quite a few items to boost the DC to a reasonable level like the holy sword you should carry--and if you aren't fighting outsiders, Arcane strike).
Level 8: Mind blank, moment of prescience, otto's irresistable dance, iron body (unimpressive offensively, but it's a great defensive spell rendering you immune to a host of special attacks)

 

[LokiDR]

Its not all that powerful, but I like the theme of the "Smart Fighter". Ftr 4, focus on spiked chain. Then wizard/spellsword/EK for the buff spells. At 12th you can have ftr 4, wiz 3, SS 3, EK 1. Thats BAB of 10, CL of 6. Enlarge person, shield, true strike, no penalty to casting in a mithral breastplate. With a high dex you can be a real tripping machine, do decent damage, and have enough arcane umph to do some buffing. Metamagic rod of quicking on a string would be nice, drop it as a free action, get a full attack. You can have combat reflexes, EWP spiked chain, Expertise, Improved Trip, Weapon focus, weapon specialization, power attack, and 4 other feats by that point. Dodge, mobility and spring attack might be a nice addition with a quickened expeditious retreat. Two handed power attack applies, on an enlarged spiked chain it dealing 2d6+2 +str. By being a smarter fighter, you don't need to just charge and hit them, but you still could.

The advantage here is that your half-delker will never be able to quicken his own spells, this build will. Trade two spell sword for 1 more wizard and you get less armor (mithral shirt) but more casting power. At 14 you would be able to quicken your own spells and not need the rod. This is also a wizard-based build, so you can always leave slots open for various utility spells as you need them.

The disadvantage is MAD, you need strength most of all, along with dex, int, and con. This is really much more fighter than caster, and you will never be able to act as efficient artilery. Depending on your opponents, trip won't work at all, and against a massive ranged combat assult, this guy has issues (like most melee fighters).

 

[Kristivas]

Can someone please tell me what the fudge "gish" is?

I like the Fighter/Warmage suggestion with the Battle Caster feat. A buddy of mine saw that and nearly pinched a loaf. He'd wanted to play a fighter/mage type for years, but could never get over not having his armor.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I nearly forgot, Geomancer (CA? CD?) could make quite a mean arcane fighter. Get a very wide range of abilities. The funny class drift stuff, turning attempts, casting in full armour (after a while) and a clutch of clerical magic to back it up?