I take it you think that the fighter/wizard is inherently underpowered then?
I'm not sure what you mean by far more fighter than wizard. At 17th level, he's casting 8th level spells--in terms of spells/day, he's only two levels behind a full-level wizard and in terms of caster level, he's even. (Of course, that's a bit misleading because he doesn't have Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Empower Spell, etc like a spellcasting focused wizard would have). He fights in melee a lot, but that's the role of a fighter/wizard. It's rather difficult to get more spellcasting capability on a fighter/mage without abandoning the fighter part of the role.
Yeah, but he can spend those ten rounds ahead of time. In combat, he can be putting out the offense at nearly full strength in round 1.
With wraithstrike: activate contingent greater blink, quickdraw a lesser rod of extend spell, cast wraithstrike (extend with the rod), drop the rod, quickdraw his primary weapon, arcane strike a 6th, 7th, or 8th level spell, Power Attack for full, click on his boots of speed, and make a full attack. At 16th level, that combo dropped a fully buffed Cornugon from full hit points to -40 in one round with no warning or rounds of prep. (I suspect most 16th level fighters would take at least two rounds to kill a Cornugon in that situation).
Without wraithstrike, the zero to hero routine would be activate contingent blink, click on boots of speed, arcane strike his least useful high level spell, power attack for as much as he can afford, and make a full attack. Since he doesn't have any spells that fill the same role as wraithstrike, the quickened spell/swift action can be used for a quickened ray of enfeeblement, quickened scorching ray, or a quickened whirling blade (to get at least one extra attack in at full BAB and Arcane Strike).
Of course, he's better with prep. Prep time is as follows:
24 hours a day: mind blank, mage armor (just in case there are incorporeal undead floating around), false life, greater magic weapon (on everything), low-light vision, contingency, energy immunity, anticipate teleportation, overland flight (potentially--I don't usually do this though), and unseen servant (to pick up everything he drops.
In a non-living campaign, we'd add: Limited Wish for Stalwart Pact (permanent until discharged).
12 hours a day: see invisibility
With +/- 3 hours warning: alter self, dragonskin, heroism, etc. (low-level 10 min/level buffs extended with a lesser rod).
With +/- 1.5 hours warning: spell turning (high level 10 min/level buffs).
With +/- 10 min warning: shield, fly, mirror image, brilliant blade, polymorph
With rounds to prep (because we control the encounter), empowered fires of purity (rod), greater blink (non-contingent), iron body (if appropriate), displacement, greater invisibility.
Mostly, prep time improves the fighter/wizard's defenses and mobility. (My character will get 11 points of AC and +2 to all saves at the +/- 3 hours mark; he only gets a net +1 to hit because he usually already benefits from hero's feast). Round/level prep can also reduce the opportunity cost of ramping up immediately (you don't want to blow your contingency if you don't need to--having a Cornugon within reach of the entire party qualified as a "you need it" moment) and give offense a boost with fires of purity. That, however, is mostly overkill.
Especially as it is used in so many situations it has almost lost all meaning..lol
