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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mneme" data-source="post: 5077522" data-attributes="member: 59248">Hmm.  So if you could switch your mindset, barb sorc would be ideal; good attacks/defenses (as interwyrm mentions, hybrid str sorc gets +str to ac, and they wear cloth, so you'd actually be doing the "decent defenses and wearing robes" thing right off the bat).The staff thing -- it's Staff Fighting, from Dragon (it's in Dragon Magazine Annual if you want to look at it in a bookstore or whatever).  The quarterstaff becomes a +2 prof 1d8/1d8 double weapon for you, with one end gaining the stout and defensive properties, and the other gaining the defensive property.All of swordmage (aside from the newer stuff in Dragon and Arcane Power) is in the Forgotten Realms PG.  They're actually the perfect arcane class to wield a bastard sword, as they get a +2 AC bonus for having an open hand (and one can shift into and out of wielding a bastard sword in two hands as a free action); the only tricky thing about playing the class is that you need to remember to mark stuff (or you're not doing your job as a swordsmage--who tends to mark one foe and then go off and attack another one, leaving the marked foe in a sticky situation), and you could hybrid swordsmage/wizard with a single primary stat (and without losing much in terms of armor proficiencies (swordsmage loses leather; can get it back for a feat) or features (unlike striker talents, the swordmage aegis works just fine when you're blasting away with wizard spells; you get to be a controller all the time and a defender all the time, rather than the controller/striker combo, where you are flexible in how you're a striker, but only get the class features you're currently attacking with as both controller and strikers are attack-oriented roles).FWIW, the DDI is actually a fantastic deal, much better than it seems at first -- as for about the price of one or two hardcover books a year, you get full access to every rule in every book printed, whether you buy it or not. (a month after the book comes out, but still).</blockquote>

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