Eldritch knight feat choices

[The Souljourner]

pg 96 Complete Warrior

"You must sacrifice one of your spells for the day to do this, but you gain a bonus on all your attack rolls for 1 round equal to the level of the spell sacrificed, as well as extra damage equal to 1d4 points x the level of the spell sacrificed."

Uh huh. Like Thanee said, for one round. the "equal to the level of the spell sacrificed" applies to "you gain a bonus on your attack rolls". To interpret it any other way would require it to be quite grammatically incorrect.

-The Souljourner

 

[hong]

In any case, the situation is clarified by the example, which shows that you do indeed only get the benefit for 1 round.

 

[James McMurray]

Whirlwind attack and Arcane Strike combined with Force Lance makes for a very nice "mow them all down" effect.

 

[Thanee]

Bad grammar: "...you gain a bonus on all your attack rolls for 1 round equal to the level of the spell sacrificed..."

Good grammar: "...you gain a bonus on all your attack rolls equal to the level of the spell sacrificed for 1 round..."



Besides, if the part "...equal to the level..." referred to the duration (which makes absolutely no sense, since it would basically mean "1 round = level of the spell sacrificed"), then the bonus gained would be completely undefined.

Bye
Thanee

 

[jgsugden]

Eldritch Knights can go a lot of different ways.

Whirlwind is very expensive in terms of feats. There are a few 'must have' feats that I wouldn't want to pass upon to get it early.

My upcoming human EK (sorcerer/fighter/EK) plans to go with:

1S: Power Attack, Cleave
3S: Weapon Focus
6S: Quickdraw
7F: Great Cleave
8EK: Combat Reflexes

 

[Thanee]

Great Cleave with such a limited number of feats!?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

These here look pretty good to me (all pretty similar):

1B: Extra Rage, Power Attack
3S: Cleave
6S: Combat Expertise
8EK: Improved Trip
9EK: Combat Reflexes

1R: Power Attack, Cleave
3S: Combat Expertise
6S: Improved Trip
8EK: Combat Reflexes

1R: Power Attack, Cleave
3W: Combat Expertise
6W: Improved Trip, Quicken Spell
7EK: Combat Reflexes

1W: Militia, Combat Expertise
3W: Improved Trip
5W: Quicken Spell
6EK: Power Attack, Cleave
9EK: Combat Reflexes

Bye
Thanee

 

[Voadam]

Another good chain for EKs is to focus on rays instead of melee since they have arcane spell failure in armor and only d6 HD

1 point blank shot
3 weapon focus ray
6 precise shot
9 improved precise shot
12 improved critical ray

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Another good chain for EKs is to focus on rays instead of melee since they have arcane spell failure in armor and only d6 HD

If I were going to go for a ray-focussed wizard, I wouldn't waste a level on fighter or Eldritch Knight. Superior spells (Ray of Exhaustion vs. Scorching Ray or Disintegrate vs. Enervation) and superior effects from existing spells (more scorching rays sooner, more lesser energy orbs sooner, more strength damage from ray of enfeeblement, more quickened ray spells sooner) is worth a lot more than an extra point or two of base attack bonus.

Ray spells are part of an eldritch knight's repertoire. If they're his primary attack form, he's wasting his abilities.

IMO, Whirlwind Attack has a lot of potential for an Eldrich Knight using Thunderlance (even the disadvantage of losing iterative attacks isn't so bad since Eldritch Knights have fewer of them and they are less likely to hit than they are for other fighters) but is pretty mediocre otherwise. (It would potentially be a great feat in combination with Arcane Strike). And, given the prerequisites, mediocre is not what it ought to be.

Arcane Strike is a very good spell for an Eldritch Knight type character. It will often be better to use the bull's strength as an Arcane Strike than to cast it in combat. +2 to hit and +3 to damage for the last two rounds of a three round combat isn't nearly as good as +2 to hit and +2d4 damage for the first round of a two-round combat. (Doing damage earlier results in shorter combats which results in taking less damage). It's also great for spells that were good choices but just aren't useful at the moment. Prepped enervation when facing undead? It can sit useless or give you +4 to hit and +4d4 damage. Prepped Ray of Enfeeblement but you're fighting a construct? +1 to hit and +1d4 damage is a lot better than nothing. Prepped an empowered scorching ray but you're facing fire elementals? +4 to hit, +4d4 damage. And it's the same if you're facing oppenents with high SR. Only got a 30% chance of your spell getting through SR? Bonusses to hit and damage are always useful. And, at high levels, you often can't use up all of your spells per day and still attack. Arcane Strike gives you another way to burn through all your resources when you need every ounce of potential your character has.

 

[jgsugden]

Great Cleave with such a limited number of feats!?

Bye
Thanee

With that DM? Yes. There is a tendency for massiv hoardes of low level creatures. An EK should be able to 'sweep' through them.