Grog said:
The problem is, you're kind of screwed as far as stats go... You need at least an 18 natural Intelligence to be able to cast 8th level spells.[/b]
Since when? Last time I checked, there's no
natural intelligence requirement for casting spells of x level except in Neverwinter Nights (which is not a good source for understanding 3.0 D&D rules--let alone 3.5.) An int 12 wizard with a +6 headband of intellect will be able to cast 8th level spells.
A starting int of 14 or 15 is sufficient for an Eldritch Knight. (And that's naturally either int 19 or int 20 by the time he reaches 20th level anyway).
You'll definitely need a good Con for survivability, and you'll also need a good Dex because you won't be able to wear armor without suffering arcane failure chance. And, if you want to primarily be a fighter, you'll also need a good Str. That's four high stats - and on a 28 point buy, that's stretching yourself pretty thin.
The higher the con the better however, a well-played character will probably be able to survive on a 14 con. As far as dex goes, 16 is the highest that will benefit an Eldritch Knight (and that's assuming he goes for a mithral chain shirt). 16+6 (gloves)=22 which is the max dex for a mithral chain shirt. If the EK doesn't mind spell failure over 10%, a 14 dex will max out his AC in a mithral breastplate (Dex 20 with the gloves) and a 10 dex will max out his AC in mithral fullplate (which actually amounts to maxing out his AC in absolute terms). For strength, again, the higher the better but 14 is sufficient for a 28 point game.
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 8 makes an effective 28 point buy Eldritch Knight.
That's not stretching stats any thinner than a monk or paladin.
The other major problem is hit points. If you're going to primarily act as a fighter, you'll probably be getting hit a lot, and you probably won't have the HP to last long on the front lines.
However, a well-played Eldritch Knight shouldn't get "hit a lot." The abilities gained from the wizard levels (Shield, Alter Self (+6 Nat Armor), Blink, magic circle v. evil, Displacement, Greater Invisibility etc) lend themselves more readily to defense than to offense. The Eldritch Knight ought to take less damage per round than a fighter of equal level.
Instead of having 20d10 HP, for an average of 114 or so + Con, you'll have 4d10 + 6d4 + 10d6, for an average of 76 or so + Con. And since your Con will be lower than a straight fighter's due to you having to spend points on a greater number of stats, you're likely to be down 60 HP or more from a straight fighter.
Only at 20th level. At mid levels and the low range of high levels, False Life, and the judicious use of Craft Wondrous Item (amulet of health) should be able to somewhat rectify the hit point imbalance.
And the fighter's con advantage is not as high as you might think either. A 28 point buy fighter might well have Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8. The fighter could, naturally, dump his int and dex down a bit to eke out a 16 con but that's still only one hp/level from con and dumping int to 8 really hurts the fighter's feat options and skill progressions (which are very relevant if the fighter wants a prestige class).
So I'd be careful before wading into the front lines if I were you. Even with all the good self-buffing spells out there, you'll probably still end up subpar.
I wouldn't say that. By taking advantage of every option available to you in the rules, you might well end up a little bit above par for a fighter of your level. You won't have the raw damage dealing capacity of a hyper-optimized fighter. But you won't have his vulnerabilities either. And you will probably have a damage capacity equivalent to or slightly better than an "average" fighter.
Plus, your mid-levels are going to be hell. When you hit 10th level, you'll only have 3rd level spells and a +7 BAB. At that level, being short 3 BAB is going to make a difference. And next level, a single class fighter will get his 3rd attack, while you'll still be sitting at two.
The only way you end up with only 3rd level spells is if you take all four fighter levels up front. A Ftr 2/Wiz 6/EK 2 has 4th level spells as does the Ftr 1/Wiz 6/EK 2.
The BAB hurts--no question about it--but the EK has means to overcome that difficulty and the attack imbalance. The heroism spell (which lasts a decent amount of time) gives +2 to hit--almost enough to make up for the BAB difference. Crafting boots of speed makes up for the attack difference at 11th level. Using Expert Tactician in combination with Blink or Greater Invisibility makes up for the BAB difference and the attack.
Polymorphing into troll form also goes a ways towards making up for the difference in attack bonus.
I'm not saying the concept is worthless, or anything, but I do think it'll be somewhat difficult to play.
I wouldn't say difficult to play. Construction requires care to mitigate the weaknesses you mention and exploit the strengths you don't mention but once you've done that, I don't imagine it will be so difficult to play.
Others have contended that the lack of feats makes the EK a one-trick pony. Not in my experience (although this is admittedly 3.0 experience with a character who didn't have the EK prestige class available to him). If you have a human Ftr 1/Wiz 6/EK 3, the character has one human bonus feat, four normal feats, one wizard bonus feat, one fighter bonus feat and one EK bonus feat. If the player wants, that's enough for Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Expert Tactician, Improved Trip, Craft Wondrous Item, and Quickdraw. Which is enough feats to be a noticably more flexible combatant than your typical 10th level paladin or barbarian if not as flexible as your typical 10th level fighter. (Although, that said, if the fighter didn't spend enough points on int to have access to combat expertise, it's quite likely that the EK actually has more options open to him).
And the contention that the EK is a one-fight wonder. Not really. More like a two or three fight wonder (more if it's a dungeon crawl with lots of successive fights). The tenth level EK's listed above have enough spells to cast Blink or Greater Invisibility in three fights per day and still have a polymorph or stoneskin available for one fight and Heroism, Magic Circle v. evil, and alter self available if they can guess the time of the fight within +/- 35 min, False life if they can guess the fight to within +/- 3.5 hours, and Shield and Protection from evil if the party can guess the fight within +/- 3.5 min. And there's still enough spells left over for a mirror image, scorching ray, glitterdust, and a few rays of enfeeblement or magic missiles (more if he has a few pearls of power to replentish after the fight).
Then again, after two or three fights, most spellcasters are beginning to feel their limitations and the fighters are starting to feel the spellcasters' limitations (in terms of healing, etc) too.
Sure the Eldritch Knight is a half-back. If you try to shoehorn him into the role of a single-classed character, he won't be optimally effective in that role. However, if you use his abilities to create a new role, he can contribute as much to the party as a single-classed character.
