Hello folks! I need some ideas, advice...help with a character I've been developing in a home brew Ravenloft campaign for 3.5 D&D. Here's the guy's stats:
Kneffari Esskur GC (Fighter 2/ Wizard 6)
STR-18/DEX-18/CON-15/INT-18/WIS-12/CHA-9
AC-18 (+1 studed leather, ASF-15%) Touch & Flat- 14 BAB(after STR mod)=+9 Melee Weapon At. Bonus= +12 Ranged & Touched At. Bonus=+9
Uses a +2 longsword of spellstoring as main weapon & has Weapon Focus, Longsword as a feat.
Fort-7/Will-6/Ref-6 HP: 46
Has the following feats:
Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Spring attack, WhirlWind attack, weapon Focus: Logsword & Meta Magic Feat: Extend Spell
So...that's the basic stuff. Becaus eof his high INT, he has a good # of spells to cast per day & his spell save DCs are okay. I built him as an offensive (I like to blow stuff up) spellcaster who can get into melee if the fighter heavy party I'm in is having trouble dropping monsters...or my spells aren't blowing stuff up as well as I'd like them to. With Spring attack & Whirlwind Attack, I can dash into combat, & damage a lot of enemies...even If they don't fall...softening them up for the heavier hitters. Most of mys spells are offensive, bu I do have some cool buffs like Displacement, Critical Strike & Sonic Weapon. My best trick so far is to be displaced, cast sonic weapon (that's +1d6 for 6 rounds), then cast critical stike (which doubles my crit range & gives me a +4 bonus to confim crit PLUS another 1d6 of damage), release the 5d6 shocking grasp stored in my sword. The damage is something like: 2d8+2d6+6 & if I make my touch attack for the shocking grasp, +5d6. That's 94 pts of damage if my roll maxes. Other than his HP of 46...I'd say Kneffari's fairly bad assed.
That's all good and well, but what I'd like to ask you guys & gals is where should I go from here? Should I keep gaining wizard levels? Should I get more fighter levels? A prestige class like Eldritch Knight or perhaps Spellsword (which I've been thinking a lot about)?
I really lik ethis character & want to build him the best way that I can. So if anyone has any advice please let me know.
Eldritch Knight is a great prestige class to go for because you keep upping your spellcasting without losing out on BAB. It also switches you over to a high FORT (though I always thought it deserved high WILL as well). One thing worth investing in is Twilight Armor. I forget where it was originally published, but it is in a footnote for the duskblade in the PHB II (which is weird cause they can wear up to medium armor w/o ASF by the time they could afford it). I believe it is a -10% to ASF for a +1 bonus. Another spell to look out for is True Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/trueStrike.htm). Hopefully some of that helps.
Take one level of Spellsword (Complete Warrior), for the Ignore Spell Failure 10% ability, before going into Eldritch Knight and invest in a feycraft (Dungeon Master's Guide II armor template; for 1,500 gp extra, reduce the arcane failure chance by 5%; note that this in not a magical enhancement) mithral breastplate; this lets you wear decent armor without worrying about spell failure. At higher levels a suit of twilight feycraft mithral full plate is an option.
Thanks guys. I've posted this question ona few other sites as well & the general consensus (since I can't retcon) is to go:
Fighte2 2/Wizard 6/Spellsword 1 & either Eldritch Knight or Abjurant Champion from there.
I'm leaning towards Abjurant Champion, but I like that Spell Strike ability you get a later levels with Spellsword. I don't think it's worth the loss of spell casting levels though.
Thanks for the advice about the Twighlight Armor & th Feycraft Mithral Breastplate. I was looking for some good armor but oculdn't find any. Admittedly, I haven't looked into the PHB2 much. If I had, I orobally would've strated this charcter out as a Duskblade.
I still mau have a chance though. I think our DMs about to pop a Deck of Many Things on us...so...there's a good chance I may have to build a new character with 8 CLs. But hen again...I may pull the Tower card & instantly gain a small keep. Who knows with the DoMT.
Oh, twilight armor was in Book of Exalted Deeds.
But yeah, the duskblade is pretty much everything a melee/caster could want. I love em. I'd say that their biggest liability is that they are not very versatile with their spells, but they aren't supposed to be a full caster. If you do ever play one, make sure you have some way to alter your shocking grasp into cold damage. They don't get a lot of cold spells (eventually polar ray), so they can be screwed against enemies that are only reasonably damaged by cold.
I figured out the perfect continuation of m y build:
Fighter 2/Wizard 6/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldritch Knight X
This is the way for me to advance & get the true balance of a "gish"-type character I think. Spellsword increases both my BAB & I won't loose a spellcasting level at 9th (where I currently am). Plus I get the class ability to reduce my ASF by 10%. Coolness. If go to Abjurant Champion at 10th, my BAB continues to increase & I still gain spells that level...not to mention D10 hit dice & all the cool buffing class features that make Abjurant Champion so appealing. Since there's only 5 levels for that PrC, I'll just go Eldritch Knight after. Sure, I loose one level of spellcasting, but my DM hasn't put a cap on exp so I'm good (if I survive). I also can continue to increase my BAB which will only make the Abjurant Champion's class feature Martial Arcanist (your caster level becomes equal to your BAB).
This pretty much does it for me.
Also, I'd just like to mention that my DM did pop that DoMT on us & everyone got bad draws except for me.
Have you considered the Battle Sorcerer varient class from Unearthed Arcana? It has medium BAB, d8, light armor prof and casting, one one-hand or light weapon prof. It has one fewer spells per day for each level and one fewer spells known for each level, but sorc gets a lot more per day. You would need to switch from INT to CHA.