Ftr/Wiz build?

[szilard]

No armor will be difficult, but a few spells should more than compensate.

You might want to consider picking up a Force Shield ring when you can.

-Stuart

 

[Nightfall]

Another aspect to consider (besides Duskblade) is Warmage/Fighter build. You can still cast in armor just not heavy armor.

 

[Evilhalfling]

there is also the feat in Complete Arcane - Armored casting that allows you to cast in medium armor if you can already cast in light armor (warmage, duskblade, Knight Phantom)

but really ask for the retcon to duskblade first. It allows you to play the charater you want now without having to play something that you dont right now.

Actual changes to from Ftr1/wiz1 -> (Duskblade 2)
hp 10+d4 (8+d8) av +1, memorized spells (spontanious) . 1st lvl spells (3 known, 4 per day). 0 lvl 4 per day (4 per day, 4+ utility only), Bab +1 (BaB +2), familiar (combat casting) no scribe scrolls, -1 bonus feat(cast wearing light armor). full spell list (limited spell list-pg 24)

There is also a Knight Phantom class on the Wizards of the Coast site (printed in Eberron's five nations ) that is an improved eldrich knight. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050706a&page=4

You are a 2nd level charater - even with your orginal plan your next 4 levels are wizard - see how it goes. The Glaive wielding eldrich knight planned charater in one of my games decided spells were superior, and at 6th level just kept taking wizard levels. (game ended at 8th lvl)

 

[Keifer113]

Glaive wielders...

Are Glaive wielding Fighter-Mages that popular?? Why?

 

[smootrk]

Are Glaive wielding Fighter-Mages that popular?? Why?

Because they can fight from second rank, and can cast spells when needed without harm (unless opponent also has reach).

 

[Keifer113]

Fighting from the second rank....doesn't the rank in front inhibit attacks? Give a bonus to the enemy's AC or a minus to the to hit? My PHB is elsewhere.

 

[smootrk]

Remember D&D is a little abstract. No medium fighter really takes up an entire 5x5 space. The reach weapons attack is not like that. I am not looking at a rulebook at the moment either, but what you are thinking of may apply to ranged weapons.

This other thread also discusses this reach effect.
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=165075

 

[Bront]

I was just looking for ideas, as I kind of like the openness of the Edk build. The no armor thing sucks but oh well.

Mage Armor is fairly adiquite, particularly at higher levels, or if you take the Extend Spell feat if you're willing to give up a second level slot. Or you can always suck up the spell failure chance and get leather, or even mithril chain.

I enjoyed my archer EK build a lot, he was one of the more effective 3.5 characters I've played, but that was a focused elf. The ranged feats are also very synergystic for the caster, and dex helps you not get hit.

Race? Human, Elf, Dwarf are all good. If you're going melee, Human or Dwarf are probably better, while Human or Elf for ranged would probably be good. Halfling works fairly well for ranged also, and Gnome would be an interesting melee choice (Less damage, but harder to hit and more likely to hit, plus the con bump).

Stats? well, you're a little stat hungry. You want a good INT (Duh), hopefully a 14 Strength for a 2 handed weapon, idealy a servicable con and dex (Which is more important depends on you, if you can figure out how to get armor, probably con, otherwise probably dex, since your reflex save will be bad too), probably not too big on Charisma and Wisdom (No skills, and ok Will save).

Skills? Well, on the fighter end, not much, so this is more flavor, but you want to max out Spellcraft and KN: Arcana ASAP (Spellcraft first), so you can learn new spells. Concentration is very high on the list if you're going into melee (Might be worth crossclassing your fighter skills for).

Feats? Well, for ranged, it's easy, go with the Point Blank and Precise, and then Rapid. You may want Extend Spell to extend your buffs as well. For Melee? Dodge and Mobility can help you get out of tight situations. Power Attack is fun with 2 handed weapons, but your BAB will be lower, so that could hurt in the long run. It may get you Cleave, but you won't be in the best situation to use it. Arcane Strike(CA) is fun if you don't mind sacking spells for damage. Combat Expertise will let raise your AC without a huge BAB sacrifice. If you insist on Combat Casting, get Skill Focus: Concentration instead unless you need Combat Casting for a PrC. Alternately, you can get Still Spell and use every spell stilled, which puts you behind a second caster level, but you can wear full plate and use a tower shield if you wanted to.

Spells? If you want to go armored caster, I'll put a list below of spells that have no somatic component, meaning you can cast in armor with no penalty. Otherwise, Abjuration and Conjuration spells are good for defensive buffs, Evocation is direct blasting, but could be interesting to ignore so you can do damage in melee. Illusion often require concentration, probably a good sack school if you go specialist (not a bad idea to get an extra spell), Enchantment is a little more passive, but has some buffs, Transmutation has some very nice spells (Tensor's Transformation isn't bad for a combat mage) but could be sacked if you don't want to go that route. Necromancy has the ever useful ray of enfeblement and some nice touch spells for a melee caster, but isn't as usefull for a ranged caster. And divination, well, knowing stuff never hurts, and you can't sack it.

[B]No Somatic Component spell list[/b]
0-	Flare
	Light
1-	Benign Transposition
	Slide
	Feather Fall
	Hold Portal
	True Strike
	Ventriloquism
	Magecraft
	Critical Strike
	Expeditious Retreat, Swift
	Golem Strike
	Guided Shot
	Insightful Feint
	Master’s Touch
        Low-light vision
2-	Baleful Transposition
	Blades of Fire
	Greater Slide
	Blindness/Deafness
	Blur
	Darkness
	Knock
	Blade Weave
	Daggerspell Stance
	Fly, swift
        Sonic Weapon
        Insidious Insight
3-	Displacement
	Suggestion
	Tongues
4-	Dimension Door
	Lesser Geas
	Shout
	Entangling Staff
5-	Contact Other Plane
	Teleport
	Unfettered Heroism
6-	Geas/Quest
	Brilliant Blade
7-	Phase Door
	Power Word Blind
	Teleport Object
	Teleport, Greater
8-	Charm Monster, Mass
	Otto’s Irresistible Dance
	Power Word Stun
	Maddening Scream
9-	Mordenkainen’s Disjunction
        Power Word Kill
        Prismatic Sphere
        Teleportation Circle
        Time Stop
        Wail of the Banshee
        Wish

If you can live with this spell list, and still spell the ones you want beyond that, tank up in armor and have fun

 

[Bront]

Fighting from the second rank....doesn't the rank in front inhibit attacks? Give a bonus to the enemy's AC or a minus to the to hit? My PHB is elsewhere.

Nope. In fact, this is exactly what reach weapons were designed to do. Reach over, around, and between a front line (usually a line of men cowering behind holding tower shields). For ranged combat they might get in your way, but reach weapons are designed with that in mind, and can be applied to more immediate holes.

 

[Votan]

Nope. In fact, this is exactly what reach weapons were designed to do. Reach over, around, and between a front line (usually a line of men cowering behind holding tower shields). For ranged combat they might get in your way, but reach weapons are designed with that in mind, and can be applied to more immediate holes.

Really? In D&D ruels I had a different understanding as to the role of cover.

COVER
To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC).
When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall). When making a melee attack against a target that isn’t adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.

The bolded part is my emphasis. Then note:

Soft Cover: Creatures, even your enemies, can provide you with cover against ranged attacks, giving you a +4 bonus to AC. However, such soft cover provides no bonus on Reflex saves, nor does soft cover allow you to make a Hide check.

This seems to suggest if you attack across a creature (line of attack crosses any square) the creature provides soft cover. That means that if you figther with a Glaive attacks past another character the opponent gets +4 to AC.

Not exactly a penalty but definitely an issue. Now, you don't get the second penalty (the -4 for firing into melee) but the cover issue remains.

Note that this means an archer firing into melee without feats (aka a wizard) can end up (easily) with a net -8 penalty on attack rolls.