Mystic Theurge/Eldritch Knight/Spellsword

[hanniball]

My post must be unclear....

I want to play either a MT OR a fighter/mage of some sort.

So are MT's any good?

It depends on whether or not you're planning on taking any of the faster spell access Prcs (Ur-Priest, Sublime Chord, etc.) Mystic Theurge can be a powerful compliment to such builds, if used correctly. Here's an example:

Wiz 5/Mindbender 1/Ur-Priest 2/Mystic Theurge 8/Fatespinner 4

This nets you 9th level arcane and divine spells and you only lag behind 2 levels on your wizard casting. The benefits far outweigh the penalties, IMO.

Another example of good MT application utililzes both UP and Sublime Chord:

Bard 6/Mindbender 1/UP 2/ANYTHING YOU WANT 1/SC 2/MT 8

Again, 9th level arcane and divine spells with only a 2 level lag in arcane spellcasting.

If you're just planning on a vanilla Wiz/Clr/MT, it's probably not the best option. I'd go with the Ftr/Mage in this case.

Either way...just my 2 cp

 

[wildstarsreach]

Mostly no. They lose 3 levels of spellcasting using most standard construction techniques (some optional feats can work around this). To get caster level back up (for spell penetration) you need to blow 2 feats. That leaves you behind both the on highest level spells available and the number of feats that you have to develop your character.

Most of the time this trade-off just isn't worth it. It can be a decent option of you are starting at level 11+ or so when the massive number of spells kicks in and the painful levels of being highly suboptional (typcially levels 4 to 6 are awful) have past.

I would agree for different reasons. The MT PrC has 2 stats that need to be high. You can't be really good at either one without the other suffering. The other problem is that the magic item stat boosts use the same slot.

I played a Psion/Wizard/Cerebremancer from 1st to 20th. The thing that really made this work is having Int as the prime stat for both classes. I did have to use 2 feats, Practiced spellcaster/manifester to boost effectiveness.

On paper the MT PrC looks awesome but in practice, it falls short. That doesn't mean that it can't be done.

Personally, playing a fighter/mage type is easier. You have the Duskblade which I think is the best blend of the two classes. Or you could go with an eldrich knight build. I think the best build to 20 would be F2/W7/Spellsword1/EK10. This would give you a BA of 16/11/6/1, 9th level spells, the ability to have a mithril chain shirt with no spell failure or Mithril/Elven chainmail with a 10% failure, saves at 14/5/10 without stats. Also with feats such as arcane strike and practiced spellcaster, it makes for a potent character. The next campaign that I start in, I'm going to go and do this from 1st-20th level. Most start somewhere at mid level and creating the character. playing through the lower levels gives valuable insight and fun.

My Cerebremancer started good and from 4th to 10th level sucked as he needed the party heavily to make up for his weaknesses. From 11th to 13th, he was okay but from 14th to 20th, he shined.

Good luck

 

[Votan]

Personally, playing a fighter/mage type is easier. You have the Duskblade which I think is the best blend of the two classes. Or you could go with an eldrich knight build. I think the best build to 20 would be F2/W7/Spellsword1/EK10. This would give you a BA of 16/11/6/1, 9th level spells, the ability to have a mithril chain shirt with no spell failure or Mithril/Elven chainmail with a 10% failure, saves at 14/5/10 without stats. Also with feats such as arcane strike and practiced spellcaster, it makes for a potent character. The next campaign that I start in, I'm going to go and do this from 1st-20th level. Most start somewhere at mid level and creating the character. playing through the lower levels gives valuable insight and fun.

If you can handle the reduced number of spells, I notice that some battlesorcerer options are amazing. The Battlesorcer gets light armor for free plus one martial weapon. That means with burning one feat, they can enter Abjurant champion.

Battlesorcerer 15/Abjurant Champion 5 is a 20 level sorcerer with the shield spell enhanced, some quickened spell options, better hit points and +16 BAB. My only regret is that I'd like more skill options (I like skilled arcanes) but the only way that I could figure that this made any sort of sense was to try and work in Human Paragon and Able Learner together. Evben so, this ends up with BAB +15 unless you sneak in a level some other +1 BAB full progression class.

 

[Quartz]

MT can be a very good prestige class if taken at a high level and matched with the Divine Crusader or Apostle of Peace prestige classes

For example: Try Pal 4 / Bd 4 / DC 2 / MT 10 for some serious Cha-monkey goodness. Note that the last two levels of MT boost your Paladin spells, not DC, which you've maxxed. That's not a build I'd like to play from first level, though.

 

[Felix]

You may also want to take a look at the Green Star Adept PrC in Complete Arcane.

Though I've never seen any analysis of this class, it is a fighter/mage class that you seem to be looking through.