What do you think of the Duskblade?

[DreadArchon]

Duskwhip sounds fine to me, albeit a bit silly. (Does he come in a spray can?)

Now, a Duskgnomishhookhammer is another matter entirely.

(Duskimprovedunarmedstrike? Dusklightrepeatingcrossbow? Duskimprovisedweaponbrokenalestein?)

 

[wildstarsreach]

Personally, I think that the Duskblade is about the perfect class for a fighter mage character. Yes you don't get all the spells of a wizard but you get to cast sufficient spells while in a mithril full plate.

 

[Razz]

Hmm, while that is cool, it is not often that I can convince a DM to let me play a Maralith (twice to date)
I was just wondering. It seemed an odd entery or point of fact for a Sage answer.



ROFL

I just looked over my file and Spell Flower is actually presented in Spell Compendium. Still does the same thing, nothing changed with it.

 

[Ragnar69]

I´m going to play one in our Burning Skys campaign. Looks like a solid class to me. For feats I think Battle Caster, Somatic Weapon, Power Attack and Arcane Strike are pretty good.
The spell list is ok for a secondary caster.

I was thinking of adding Green Star Adept but my GM banned that PrC, so it will be straight duski all the way.

 

[Klaus]

Personally, I think that the Duskblade is about the perfect class for a fighter mage character. Yes you don't get all the spells of a wizard but you get to cast sufficient spells while in a mithril full plate.

A Battle Sorcerer with the Battle Caster feat *gets* all wizard spells and can cast them in mithril full plate.

 

[rgard]

A Battle Sorcerer with the Battle Caster feat *gets* all wizard spells and can cast them in mithril full plate.

Yes, my favorite arcane fighter! That said, it only has one good save and medium BAB. Still worth it in my opinion.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Winterthorn]

Duskwhip sounds fine to me, albeit a bit silly. (Does he come in a spray can?)

Now, a Duskgnomishhookhammer is another matter entirely.

(Duskimprovedunarmedstrike? Dusklightrepeatingcrossbow? Duskimprovisedweaponbrokenalestein?)

pfffffft! My gawd, I almost spit up all over my keyboard!

Seriously: given the name "Duskblade" and it's elven roots, I think this class should have been presented as a prestige class of 10 levels along time ago; its tight specificities beg a prestige treatment. Alas there are already oodles of prestige classes, and plenty combining some magical ability with melee warrior abilities, so making the Duskblade a prestige class probably risked being redundant. Maybe it can be tweaked into being one in someone's campaign? It's the creative thing I might do in mine if there was player interest for that.

I also like the concept of an intelligent warrior who has also mastered some wizardly magic to support his combat effectiveness (in lieu of feats in the case of 3E). I am surprised the Duskblade has not appeared already in some elven oriented material given the popularity of the elf fighter-mage of earlier editions. But 3E studiously steered clear of racial prerequisites for full sized classes; maybe WotC should have said "these full-sized classes in the PH never have racial prerequisites, while those full-sized classes appearing in supplements might depending upon nature of said supplemental material..." (Of course, in the absence of official material, there are always house rules to fall back on **shrug**)

As DM the Duskblade looks mecanically respectable. While I still find the name kind of awkward, the class' elven history has potential. I definitely would expand its spell list with spells appropriate and plausible with respect to the class concept - if I played one I'd ask my DM if there were options on the spells. While greater choice can empower a players usage of a PC, it does not always follow that said expanded choice actually raises a PC's mecanical power in game/combat. In other words, greater spell flexibility may enhance PC playability in more situations (given the fiats of DM encounter choices), but it doesn't guarantee an increase in basic power; one just covers more bases. I think the greatest risk to expanding the Duskblade spell list: treading too much upon another class' turf - options should be made with care!

Gee, I hope made sense in all that there

 

[Set]

The Elvish flavor text is easy enough to replace with your campaign's magical / warrior race or nationality. Duskblades make a suitable replacement for Netherese or Halruan 'fighters' or Suel Arcanamachs or Asaatthi warrior / wizards.

The class is *very* narrow, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I do like the class itself. Ideally, I'd rather that most of these specialized new base classes (and *all* PrCs) be turned into feat chains, but it is what it is.

 

[Agent Oracle]

One has stopped "to give the matter some consideration." And one has found, following such consideration, that the following is true:

Too many spells per day.

frankly, i think the Duskblade has a fine number of spells. He just goes Nova more readily than a traditional caster.

I mean, he's RIGHT THERE in melee combat with the enemy, he has onyl a medium AC and medium HP, it's in his own best intrests to Blow enemies away.

As for "too many spells": They trail traditional caster classes in terms of number of spells all through their advancement, and they also have a fraction of their diversity in terms of spell choice (there are only two 5th level spells for a duskblade listed in the PHBII). They also learn spells very slowly (they only start with two first level spells, and only gain one new spell per level)

All in all, they get a lot of spells per day, but they use them very quickly. Their spells are almost universally "swift" spells, so their standard combat round runs with them casting their spell, then laying into full melee against their foe.

 

[Aaron L]

I love the class. I've been playing one since October, and just reached 12th level this Saturday (after starting him at 9th.) Both the Fighter and the Sorcerer in the party consistently out-damage me, and the Fighter has nearly twice as many hit points as I do. My advantage is flexibility. The number of spells per day is fine, and any less would seriously hamper the class.


I dearly love the Duskblade class.