Mage Killer

[Balgus]

I would go cleric.

Two good saves (plus high wis helps in will saves), and a butload of spells- especially antimagic field, see inv, and some powerful domains.

Toss in a couple of templates to get immunities and even more powers...

 

[takyris]

Barbarian/Bard/Rogue

or Barbarian/Cleric/Rogue

Barbarian for raging and speed

Bard or Cleric for two good saves and spells that are defensive or abjurative in nature (Silence, Dispel Magic, etc)

Rogue for Evasion, Sneak attacks

 

[the Jester]

Just to reiterate, silence is a mage-killer all by itself.

I like the barb/rog combo; anything that gives you evasion is supersweet if you're gonna be going up against spellcasters.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

I would go cleric.

Two good saves (plus high wis helps in will saves), and a butload of spells- especially antimagic field, see inv, and some powerful domains.

Toss in a couple of templates to get immunities and even more powers...

Especially if you take the Protection Domain. A save bonus equal to your level, and Spell Resistance and Spell Turning are Domain spells. The travel domain would be good, too. One round of Freedom of Movement per level and Expeditious Retreat.

 

[ShadowX]

Theres only 3 ways to be a mage killer:

1) Grapple them. This is where monks come in.

2) Counterspelling. Use a mage to counter a mage.

3) Obscene damage quickly. Iaijitsu Master from OA is an example of a class that can probably kill a mage before a mage can do anything.

Since you dont want a monk and th 3rd option can get quite muchkinish, I would counterspell. Improved Counterspell and Reactive Counterspell are musts, and you may want to look at the Mage Killer PrC in Magic of Faerun.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Aww, too bad you don't want to be a Monk, because that's the best mage-killing class in the game. A monk can quickly close the distance between the party and the enemy mage due to his high movement speed, and then grapple with the mage and remove him from the fight while he pummels him with blows.

The monk may not be the most useful class in every single encounter, but when it comes to mage-killing, they are champions.

 

[zerrothehero]

the best mage killing pc i've made was a anti mage archer who was fighter/occult slayer with all the good archery feats. have your bow be a +1 Magebane, Illusiontheft weapon and go have fun i know i did lol

 

[Neonchameleon]

Bard. Spontaneously able to cast silence and dispel magic. Knowing enough to find the mages and able to sneak up on them when they aren't prepared - or organise a mob with flaming torches.

 

[CuRoi]

Theres only 3 ways to be a mage killer:

1) Grapple them. This is where monks come in.

Currently my Druid/Barbarian outshines the Monk by a long shot when it comes to grappling. Still low level of course, but even higher level, I think I'll give her a run for her money. Raging, Improved Grapple plus Bull's Strength gives a really solid boost. The party mage has also jumped on the bandwagon with Enlarge Person and Ray of Enfeeblement on enemy grapplers. The DM hates us at the moment.

I also started adding poison and contagion into the opening touch attacks just for fun. Throw in the later ability to shape shift into a Large bear at some point, it gets even sillier. Earth elementals after that Not to mention the spell casting flexibility you gain over a monk.

So far, it's been a good mage killing group as well. We have the Bard with silence, glitterdust and other spells, and the Rogue sneak attacking into the grapples - we have come out on top in two encounters with much higher level NPC mages.)

Aside from that I'd recommend cleric / bard, specifically to re-re-iterate the Silence approach.

As NPCs in the past I have used counterspelling sorcerers, but they may need support to finish the job if their focus is countering. Depends on how you build them.

 

[Dandu]

I agree with CuRoi that a cleric would be a good choice. Monks, ironically, are better at magekilling on paper than in practice. This is because they were designed to go after people who spent all day casting Fireball instead of, say, Web or Sleet Storm or Solid Fog.