My warrior-mage has 4 Fighter levels--let's make them count!

[Felon]

I'm creating a character that will start taking warmage or sorcerer levels at 5th level, and work his way towards the eldritch knight or spellsword PrC.

I was originally thinking along the lines of a two-bladed swordsman, partially because I haven't seen one in action before and partially because I need to keep a hand free for casting. I figure when I can take a full attack action I'll use the sword and when I can't I'll toss a spell.

So, with four fighter levels to build on, I figure I'll go human since there's no other race that will compiment what I'm trying to do (with dwarf there's that hit to Cha). That gives me three feats of my choosing plus three from the fighter list.

1st--2WF, EWP, WF
2nd--PA
3rd--???
4th--WS

So, what to do at third level? Oversized 2WF is a bit of a waste with a two-bladed sword, but it does allow me to use power attack with each end at a reduced penalty. Alternatively, I can go the Monkey Grip route and have a large two-bladed sword with both ends doing 2d6, but I'm taking an additional -2 penalty on attacks doing so, which means I probably wouldn't even be bothering with Power Attack (drop PA and take Oversized 2WF and Monkey Grip perhaps?). Then there's Two-Weapon Defense; I will be wearing light armor so I can probably use all the defense I can get.

After 4th, feats are pretty well used-up for a while (Practiced Spellcaster at 6th, probably Improved 2WF at 9th, Improved Crit. at 12th...). Advice is appreciated.

On a related note, I do realize how badly I need good ability scores to pull off a fighter/warmage. I'm also looking at the possiblity of taking a template or level-adjusted race. It would have to be pretty good though. I was thinking the half-vamp from Libris Mortis; +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Cha, +2 natural armor, DR 5/silver or magic would all shore up some defecits. If you can think of anything that would work out here, please let me know.

 

[Bront]

Combat Expertise is always handy, so is Cleave. TWD is not bad, and there is Improved TWD later for even better D. I like the Disarm and Trip stuff, (Works well with enlarge too), so maybe droping PA and going with Combat Expertise and Imp Trip or Disarm.

I'd stick to human and just run with it. You'll need a 15+ Dex, but you can live with a 14 strength or lower if needed (14 is prefered though). And I think Warmie needs Cha and Int, so you end up sacking Wis and getting a 10 or so Con. If you're point build, 14,15,10,14,8,14 is only 28 points, so you're not hurting, though you 'll probably want to pump the mental stats quickly.

I'd pick up practiced Spellcaster at Level 6 btw.

The problem with the 2WF chain, is that you need extra feats to get more attacks (I2WF at 9th and G2WF eventualy around 15th, but you'll need a 17+ dex at that point). I do like the idea though, and the double sword does sound like fun (I thought about building an Eberron Monk with one and the feat that lets him use it in Flurry). Hope this helps, and hope you have fun.

 

[Klaus]

After you go warmage, get Battle Caster and you'll be tossing spells in medium armor (as in, mithril full plate!).

Two-Weapon Defense is a neat feat, but you might want to check out Improved Buckler Defense (you can attack with a weapon in your off-hand and still get the buckler bonus). A masterwork buckler has 0 check penalty, and a mithril buckler (iirc) has 0% arcane spell failure. If you enhance your buckler magically, you'll be getting far more protection than Two-Weapon Defense could ever give you.

Since you're going double weapon, I'd drop Power Attack (it works best if you choose two-handed weapons) and take Combat Expertise, or even Combat Reflexes (making Attacks of Opportunity while flat-footed is a good thing).

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Combat expertise and power attack work great in combination with true strike. So take at least one of those.

 

[Caliban]

I think taking Point Blank and Precise shot is always a good idea for casters who use a lot of ranged touch spells.

If you use a quarterstaff instead of a two-bladed sword, you would have the feats necessary and still do your double-weapon concept.

 

[Bront]

I think taking Point Blank and Precise shot is always a good idea for casters who use a lot of ranged touch spells.

If you use a quarterstaff instead of a two-bladed sword, you would have the feats necessary and still do your double-weapon concept.

His 4 levels of fighter more than make up for any penalty for ranged touch attacks into melee. Not to mention his somewhat higher dex as required by the build. As for the weapon, you're talking a D6 x2 crit vs a d8 19-20x2 crit. Big difference, especialy when you're getting multiple attacks.

The buckler idea is a good one, better than 2W Defense.

 

[HeavyG]

His 4 levels of fighter more than make up for any penalty for ranged touch attacks into melee.

No they don't.

4 levels of fighter compared to 4 levels of a poor BAB class is only +2 to hit, while firing into melee is -4 to hit.



Honestly, I don't see how such a character would work. A fighter/mage can only contribute in melee with a bunch of buffing spells, and he doesn't have access to those as a warmage. I'd make buddy with the local cleric if I were you.

 

[Felon]

I'd stick to human and just run with it. You'll need a 15+ Dex, but you can live with a 14 strength or lower if needed (14 is prefered though). And I think Warmie needs Cha and Int, so you end up sacking Wis and getting a 10 or so Con. If you're point build, 14,15,10,14,8,14 is only 28 points, so you're not hurting, though you 'll probably want to pump the mental stats quickly.

I've got 36 points, but I see'em going quick.

After you go warmage, get Battle Caster and you'll be tossing spells in medium armor (as in, mithril full plate!).

It's a tricky build. I'll want Improved 2WF at about that time. Arcane Strike is very complimentary to a TWF fighter as well. I can get I2WF when I take my first eldritch knight level at 11th though.

EDIT--Damn, gotta be able to cast 3rd-level spells to do arcane strike. Won't be getting that until 12th.

Two-Weapon Defense is a neat feat, but you might want to check out Improved Buckler Defense (you can attack with a weapon in your off-hand and still get the buckler bonus). A masterwork buckler has 0 check penalty, and a mithril buckler (iirc) has 0% arcane spell failure. If you enhance your buckler magically, you'll be getting far more protection than Two-Weapon Defense could ever give you.

True, although I'd be taking another -1 penalty to atacks...too many penalties and I'm quickly negating the BAB advantage of having fighter levels.

Since you're going double weapon, I'd drop Power Attack (it works best if you choose two-handed weapons) and take Combat Expertise, or even Combat Reflexes (making Attacks of Opportunity while flat-footed is a good thing).

Oversized 2WF makes Power Attack work, though the thought of dropping PA for Monkey Grip and making that big jump from 1d8/1d8 to 2d6/2d6 has increasing appeal.

Combat expertise and power attack work great in combination with true strike. So take at least one of those.

See, that's the painful decision part.

I think taking Point Blank and Precise shot is always a good idea for casters who use a lot of ranged touch spells. If you use a quarterstaff instead of a two-bladed sword, you would have the feats necessary and still do your double-weapon concept.

I'd do quarterstaff if I was taking warmage levels first and fighter levels later, but I'm doing the reverse. Forget PB and PS, those'll be wasted. This is a melee mage. I wanna be doing ring of blades and fireshield, with the occaisonal flameburst thrown in for good measure.

 

[DM_Matt]

I've got 36 points, but I see'em going quick.

In that case: 16, 15, 14, 14, 8, 14

 

[Caliban]

I'd do quarterstaff if I was taking warmage levels first and fighter levels later, but I'm doing the reverse. Forget PB and PS, those'll be wasted. This is a melee mage. I wanna be doing ring of blades and fireshield, with the occaisonal flameburst thrown in for good measure.

If you want to be a strong melee mage, I don't think warmage is the way to go. Warmages can't buff themselves or increase their AC, two things you want to be able to do as a melee person. The armored casting is nice, but not enough of a boost.

Just and example, two spells I've seen a melee fighter/wizard use to incredible effect: Wraithstrike and Alter Self.

Wraithstrike is an incredible spell for a melee mage, it's a Swift spell that makes all your attacks touch attacks for 1 round. Combine that with power attack (and arcane strike at higher levels) and you are doing a lot of damage.

Alter self can give you +6 natural armor, and at higher levels you can use Polymorph self to buff your natural armor and multiple stats.

Warmages can't learn any of these spells, which puts them at a disadvantage. Their all offense, almost no defense style of spellcasting makes them big targets on the battlefield.


Please don't take this as me telling you how you should make your character, because that's not what I want to do. I'm just saying that it will probably be harder to the melee mage concept with the warmage.