evilbob said:
I must admit I've not seen an Eldritch Theurge in action but if it's anything like a Mystic Theurge, I'd recommend another option. Multiclassing casters is haaaard work. You particularly suck at the mid-levels, and around level 7-ish you'll wish you'd never done it. But most importantly, you just won't have the DCs to be a decent blaster, unless all you're doing is blasting with things that don't have saves.
Just a thought.
Don't have the DC's to be a decent blaster? Why the hell not? I'm working on a Warmage/Warlock/ET right now, and his lowest save is a 16. He's only eighth level, and yes if I made him 4 Warlock/4 Warmage, as a base race, he would suck. He is Drow with 5 Warlock, and 1 Warmage, and he'll increase in Warmage levels until he can take ET. With the bought-off level adjustment, he'll progress quite quickly, and by the time most core classes, even with prestige classes, are starting to get good, he'll be a spellcasters worst nightmare with spell resistance, high save DC's, voracious dispelling, and with a good combination of an area affect spell with his eldritch blast, the ability to do more damage than another caster. Warmage Edge isn't just for flavor, let's remember.
Moreover, as he stands, he's a pretty badass blaster, and for a caster, he's got a really nice AC, because BOTH Warlock AND Warmage can wear light armor. If he were half sorceror or wizard, his AC would drop into the toilet and any fighter of ANY level could cut him in half without blinking.
Also, Warlock and Warmage are both Cha based, whereas if you went with wizard, yeah your DC's would suck because you'd be spreading your stats too thin.
Let's not forget that Warmage can cast ANY Warmage spell, rather than being limited to the ones he knows, or can swap out. Yes, it's a limited list, but you won't get stuck with a battlefield control spell that you took, but find out you can't use in this particular battle, etc. You have more immediate options open to you. Plus, thanks to Warlock and Use Magic Device, you still can cast from any scroll, staff, wand, etc.
The Warlock and Warmage both get a lot of static from people who prefer the versatility of the Wizard or sorceror. But these are not versatile classes. These are blaster classes. With Fell flight, you can pretty much just take to the air and bombard everyone. If they start shooting arrows, then you shoot up to 200 ft. and use Eldritch Spear on them. A Warlock alone can really tool a party of adventurers if done right, ditto for a Warmage who overdrives his AC like a bastard. Combining these two may water them down individually, but the two really do complement each other nicely. Epsecially since Warlock can blast and invoke all day and night with no problem. So if you use up all your best blaster spells, you still have Eldritch Blast and shaping invocations to use. Or save your best blaster spells for the right moment.
As for ET, I don't have the book in front of me, and my .pdf died with my desktop during a thunderstorm, so I can't comment any further. All the same, if you're going with a 0 LA, my advice is to go human and milk that extra feat and skill points as much as possible, or go with something that ups your Cha as high as you can get it. Keep plenty of Eagle's Splendor potions on you, and buy a cloak. Then get fell flight, and you basically become a bomber. Plus, with a chain shirt, and a darkness invocation, you won't have to worry about those pesky archers. Enemy spellcasters might still be a worry, but then as I said, that's what Eldritch Spear is for.
So my advice is to progress in Warlock first and be effective up to 5th level, then start in on Warmage, rather than going every other level and spreading yourself thin. That way you're a competent blaster already, and Warmage is just icing. Then once you get ET, go nuts.
