Melee Wizards!

[pawsplay]

The "standard" build I've seen for melee wizards usually involves 1 level of either Fighter or Marshal to get proficiency with all melee weapons, then later 1 level of Spellsword and then Eldritch Knight all the way.

That's if you want to be a melee wizard who actually fights with weapons in melee.

That's the way to do it, of course. Why not call a duck, a duck? If you're a wizard that fights in melee proficiently, you are, at some level, partly a fighter. I learned that lesson with my melee bard a few years ago; one level of fighter would have improved his Fort and not only freed up two feats but granted a bonus one, and gotten me into Cavalier two levels sooner.

However, that said... a straight up melee wizard does gain access to wish and tenser's transformation sooner.

Back in 3.0, my standard melee wizard was Fig 1/Wiz X, typically using a glaive. In 3.5, with the Spellsword and EK, arcane strike, and various hit point boosting options, the combination can be extremely formidable.

 

[pawsplay]

Melee Wizards are suboptimal, because they lack the spellcasting power of a full wizard, and the BAB and offense of a straight fighter.

Do you want to emphasis one over the other, or keep them equal? Have you considered a Bard or Duskblade?

You might want to clarify what you mean by "melee wizard." An Eldritch Knight can be very optimal indeed.

 

[RigaMortus2]

You might want to clarify what you mean by "melee wizard." An Eldritch Knight can be very optimal indeed.

I am going by what the OP said, he wanted a Melee focused character who was straight Wizard.

So if you are asking for my clarification on what that means...

Melee focused to me means someone who opts to attack with melee weapons rather than ranged weapons or ranged spells.

And by the term a Straight wizard, I take that to mean a character who does not have any levels in any other class, just Wizard levels. Perhaps you thought he meany a Wizard who was hetrosexual?

An Eldritch Knight would not be my idea of a "straight wizard".

To which I responded... A stragitht Wizard focused on melee would be gimping himself, because he doesn't have the HP or BAB to compete in melee with a fighter. And while they have the spell power available to them (they are a full wizard after all), what use is it if they refuse to cast their really strong damaging wizard spells in lieu of using their spells to enhance their melee attacks? Sure, the option is always there for them, but if they start to cast more Fireballs than Wraithstrikes, I would say that defeats the purpose of being a melee focused Wizard.

Which is also why I asked if they OP considered a Duskblade or Bard. Both have some spellcasting ability, and they focus more on melee.

Hope that clarifies it for ya!

 

[Caliban]

He said he was playing in a Living Greyhawk campaign, so Duskblade it out, but Bard is available.

It just depends on if he wants to be a melee fighting wizard, or just a "battle wizard" who can stand in the front lines casting spells without being to worried about getting killed right off the bat.

I play a high level "battle Sorcerer" in LG (Sor 10/Argent Savant 4) with a ring of evastion, and half the time he has the highest AC in the party (used to be all the time until they banned Alter Self - no more pretty troglodyte for him) and enough temporary hit points that he's willing to "Tank" for a few rounds if needed.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've run a couple of melee-oriented mages:

1) I heartily approve of Whirling blade and a big edged weapon. Depending upon how you rule its mechanics, it either is or is not a suitable spell for manipulation with the Sculpt Spell Metamagic Feat. (Hyp & I discussed this elsewhere- its got aspects of both an area effect and an effect spell.)

2) Of the low level spells, True Strike is almost a neccessity. Enlarge & buff spells are also key. Shield & Mage armor are helpful. You probably want to find a way to extend the duration of some of them as well.

3) You want proficiency with all martial weapons but don't want to take warrior levels? Play an Outsider race- they usually have nifty abilities and some don't even have LAs.

4) If you're playing a Wizard, become a specialist mage & get those extra spells and other benefits. Most of my Specialist Mages who are melee oriented have either been Transmuters (for the buffs, Spider Climb, and others), or Diviners (for the aforementioned True Strike and "scouting" spells). Diviners also have the advantage of only having one opposition school, so you can be a Diviner and still use a modified blaster, necro or whatever type build.

 

[Raspen]

what i would do is first dex and con have to be high.
i would get the feats improved unarmed strike, weopen feness, exotic shield proficiency battle cloak, shielded casting
then i would use chill touch and corrosive grasp for attack buffers
then i would use Displacement and M. images for Defence buffers
and when i attack i would use vamp touch whenever i need temp HP

 

[jasin]

1) Find a way to poach other classes' lists: Extra Spell (if that's the interpretation your DM uses), the changeling wizard PrC from Magic of Eberron (I think?), the wyrm wizard PrC from Dragon Magic.
2) Take divine power.
3) Profit!

 

[MarkB]

2) Of the low level spells, True Strike is almost a neccessity. Enlarge & buff spells are also key. Shield & Mage armor are helpful. You probably want to find a way to extend the duration of some of them as well.

3) You want proficiency with all martial weapons but don't want to take warrior levels? Play an Outsider race- they usually have nifty abilities and some don't even have LAs.

Say goodbye to Enlarge Person if you go the Outsider route - you're not a humanoid anymore.

 

[Caliban]

1) Find a way to poach other classes' lists: Extra Spell (if that's the interpretation your DM uses),

That interpretation is not used in Living Greyhawk.

the changeling wizard PrC from Magic of Eberron (I think?),

Not available in Living Greyhawk.

the wyrm wizard PrC from Dragon Magic.

Not available.

2) Take divine power.
3) Profit!

He could however, increase his buy his wisdom up to 14 (can be hard to do on 28 point buy) and take Arcane Disciple, then select a domain that gives him access to Divine Power. That let's him cast it once a day and create scrolls of it if he wished.

 

[Darklone]

I played with a human sorcerer in PbP game once, he was a huge slow-witted nice boy with big muscles and a greataxe. Human sorcerer, Con 18 (str, dex 16), Cha 16, feats Toughness and Martial WP Greataxe. 11 hitpoints at level 1. A real sick point buy made it possible (Wis and Int 6 or even lower). He was a blast to play with.