Mage/Fighter - why develop focus on q.staff?

[apsuman]

correct me if I am wrong here but...

if you were primarily a mage type, couldn't you have a staff of the magi, or a staff of th planes, or a staff of fire, etc. in your posession, probably in your hands. You could in any round decide to whack theBBEG or to use a charge and cast a Can O'WhupAss out of the staff.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Hmmmm... two weapon fighting. Imagine if someone created a Staff of the Adder (from 1E & 2E). Basically the head of the staff became a venemous serpent head and could deliver poison bite attacks. Do it on each end of the staff and every attack made would deliver a poison attack.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

 

[takyris]

I'd enjoy playing one for the fun of it. Beyond that, the ease of item acquisition in a low-magic campaign (or the abilility to use your wand of Magic Weapon to make that quarterstaff magical right off the bat) are good touches.

I believe that quarterstaffs and daggers are the two weapons traditionally allowed in towns that might otherwise restrict weaponry. Daggers are the swiss army knives of the time, and quarterstaffs can get passed off as walking sticks without any trouble.

Conceptwise, though, I'd actually probably go with a bard, rather than a Fighter/Wizard. That keeps your caster levels progressing and lets you wear a good chain shirt or something while casting. But that might not be what you're looking for.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Well, if you use Complete Warrior, the Quick Staff style is something that would be worth going for. +2 dodge bonus to AC whenever you use Combat Expertise. You won't find a better deal with a double weapon or a two handed weapon anywhere.

There's also Spikes and Shillelagh--you might get your DM to let you research arcane versions (although I wouldn't let you do so with spikes because I don't like the spell period, I'd probably give you a slightly improved version of Shillelagh).

There's Also Arcane Strike from Complete Warrior. Since it adds damage dice to every attack, it's quite good for double weapon wielders.

And, if you chose Spellsword from Complete Warrior, you could potentially channel a different spell into each end of your quarterstaff--allowing you to choose when you wanted to deliver the spell (by using an end that didn't have a channeled spell) or to deliver two channelled spells in one round (theoretically, you could deliver four channeled spells in one round when you get the double channel--if that's four enervations, you've got a nearly guaranteed smackdown on one foe).

And, of course, if you're a religious wizard, you could also become a Templar of a deity like Boccob with Favored Weapon: quarterstaff. Fighter 1/Wizard 6/Templar 1/Spellsword X or Fighter 1/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight X/Templar 1 would be very solid builds.

 

[Epametheus]

Well, it's a double-weapon, and a fighter/mage (Eldritch Knight?) could actually enchant the thing himself.

Your ultimate weapon would probably a Staff of Power, which is actually designed with some some of melee combat in mind.

This character would work better in a campaign where you aren't expected to be optimized for melee combat.

 

[Terwox]

One suggestion that comes to me: A fighter/wizard who takes about two or three fighter levels, uses the extra feats for things like expertise, weapon focus, and power attack, and then dresses as a traditional wizard, staff included. People may vastly underestimate him in one-on-one combat. (After all, the Q-staff is a two-handed weapon, and power attack gives you that two-for-one damage deal.)

I'm playing a character that does this exactly, I'm an ex-Paladin1/wizard5, heading for Eldritch Knight. And Two-Weapon Fight and Two-Weapon Defense aren't hurting me either, except that it doesn't stack with my darn shield spell.

It's fun, though. I walk with a limp all the time, but as soon as combat starts, I start tumbling.

Ok, I suppose I owe some homage to Yoda from Episode two, but hey, it's quite a bit of fun. Hah, and there's always fireball...

Man. I know some people are just burnt out on fireball (oh... ug... non-purposeful,) but, it's still just FUN to cast. oh well, raving done!