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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Runestar" data-source="post: 4558933" data-attributes="member: 72317">Because classed npc crs are notoriously inaccurate, I expect a run of the mill duskblade12 to be far weaker than the cr12 the guidelines make it out to be. As such, if you want to improve it to actually be a threat to the PCs, you may need to put a little effort into optimizing it. Consider making it a dusblade13 for access to full channeling and 4th lv spells. For starters, I recommend you swap out weapon focus for knowledge devotion (complete champion). At 12th lv, you should have a score of at least 18 (so you are assured at least +2 to-hit/damage), and can hit the +3 breakpoint with a little more work/luck.Arcane strike (complete warrior) is also great for funneling excess spells (and you will have a lot, even for a duskblade, since your npc only needs to care for that 1 encounter). 1 3rd lv slot gives you +3 to-hit and +3d4 damage on all attacks for that round, and it is a free action (not even a swift!).For weapons, a reach weapon such as a guisarme may be better. MIC has the whirling weapon property (+1), which is just nasty if you can catch multiple PCs (in tandem with full channeling). Throw in enlarge person somewhere and you are looking at 20-ft reach.As for quickcast, as noted, swift true-strike + power attack is always great for a +24 damage boost, but other possible alternatives include ray of enfeeblement or scorching ray. I agree that at this stage, vampiric touch is more or less your bread and butter attack spell, combining decent damage with moderate defense. But don't ignore the possibility of disabling a PC with spells like ghoul touch, then administering a CDG (or leaving the dirty work to another npc).<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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