Dragon Disciple: good for a Duskblade?

Thurbane

First Post
Since it has more focus on fighting than casting, would Dragon Disciple be a better PrC for a Duskblade than a Sorcerer?
 

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I agree with you, dragon disciple is a pretty good choice for duskblades.

I played a fairly capable Duskblade/Dragon Disciple/Singh Rager in a short game early in the year. Kaia Shouts (Roaring), fear effects and arcane strikes, ahoy! The only trouble was the lack of spell level advancement, but he sure did have a lot of 2nd-level spell slots!
 

Yes, I think it would. The Duskblade doesn't lose any BAB while waiting for its 8 ranks in Knowledge(Arcana), which is a class skill. Also, at 5th level the Duskblade gets its 2nd-level spells, some of which are nice. My favorites: Blade of Blood (+1d6 damage for 1rd/lvl, or +3d6 if caster takes 5 points damage), Ghoul Touch, and Swift Invisibility. After picking up a 2nd-level spell or two, you can jump right into Dragon Disciple. If the specific 2nd-level spells aren't your cup of tea, then use Arcane Strike to get the best use out of your extra slots.

But remember! The Duskblade's crowning feature is the Arcane Channeling at 13th level. If you're not looking for wings and extra intelligence, stop Dragon Disciple at 7th level and go back to Duskblade (or mix it up a bit, ending up with only 7 DD levels). Having BAB +18/+13/+8/+3 and the ability to use a single spell slot and a swift action for enhancing all four attacks is... excellent. Of course, you can skip the iteratives and go for the Bite/Claw/Claw that Dragon Disciple offers. At that point, the 13th level Duskblade ability wouldn't even work, so there's little point to advancing that far for martial ability.
 


The down side is the Dragon Disciple gets second-tier BAB progression. So Duskblade would be good for the DD, but DD isn't particular a good addition to the Duskblade.
Come to think of it DD isn't a good addition to just about anything before level 20.

All that said, I am currently considering a Dragon Disciple and thinking of Barbarian 1, warmage 4 (tons of spells known for all those extra 2nd level slots). Probably enough without SR or Saves, mostly interested in True Strike and Blades of fire, the orbs are just icing saving me from using an arrow. The downside is you aren't much of a fighter with that BAB, and not much of a caster. I have serious doubts about its effectiveness, but that's why I do most of my character builds.
 
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TheGogmagog said:
So Duskblade would be good for the DD, but DD isn't particular a good addition to the Duskblade.

Exactly what I came here to say.

DD really isn't the type of PrC that you add on to a base class to enhance the base class. You take DD to be a half dragon when being a half dragon is your character concept. It's a great PrC, but does not integrate well. Using core classes only, multiclassing warrior classes with a dip into a casting class is the only way it works out. Duskblade is just a handy base class that eliminates the need for the casting dip.
 

Dragon Disciple would be better for a Duskblade than it would be for a Sorcerer.

Mind you, Dragon Disciple is egregiously horrible for a Sorcerer, so that's not exactly saying much.

If your goal is to be a Duskblade, taking levels in Dragon Disciple would not be a particularly wise choice.

If your goal is to be a Dragon Disciple, having some levels in Duskblade to meet your casting and skill requirements would be a better option than many.
 

What about something like Hexblade 3/Fighter2/DD 10?

Of course, this diverges greatly from the original post...
 

The trouble with the Hexblade is that it mostly stinks. Add the Dragon Disciple, which also mostly stinks, and you've got a whole lot of stench going on.

At least with the Duskblade you've got enough synergy that you won't be hurting too badly.

Now, try adding Vow of Poverty to the Dragon Disciple, and see how that works out...
 

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