Fighting Wizard?

[The Amazing Saberman]

Is there any way to turn a wizard into an effective melee combatant somewhere down the line? I was thinking of having him take one level of Magus (just to get the martial weapon proficiency and the dual-wielding magic/weapon ability), then spec into eldritch knight. Idunno, any other ideas?

[wraithstrike]

Not really. As you get further down the line it actually become more difficult.

5th level wizard/1 magus/ 5 ED=BAB +7

The thing about the magus is that only magus spell can be cast though the weapon for the most party.

I think there is an arcana that allows you a little more leeway, but they tried to make sure it was not a dip class.

[wraithstrike]

Quote:

Broad Study (Ex): The magus selects another one of his spellcasting classes. The magus can use his spellstrike and spell combat abilities while casting or using spells from the spell list of that class. This does not allow him to cast arcane spells from that class's spell list without suffering the normal chances of arcane spell failure, unless the spell lacks somatic components. The magus must be at least 6th level and must possess levels in at least one other spellcasting class before selecting this arcana.

In short if you cast a spell that is on the wizard list, but not on the magus list, while wearing armor you still have to deal with the chance of arcane spell failure in most cases. Still spell should help, but I don't know of any other way around it.

[Mort the Cleverly Named]

The Guide to the Gish is your friend. Pretty extensive overview of the options available for making this sort of character.

[Corlindale]

ED is your best bet. You can compensate a bit for low bab by using polymorph spells. Natural attacks require less BAB than iterative attacks to be effective, and the strength boost from polymorphing will help too.

[Jiao-long]

Why not a classic Fighter/Wizard, like me? As soon as I hit 5th level, I lose my spell failure chance, but even with it I've been doing pretty well. Feel free to click my name to see some of my stats.

[DeathQuaker]

Depending on what you want out of it, a sorcerer might be a better choice. Some of the bloodlines give abilities that are useful for being in melee, and of course there's the classic sorcerer to dragon disciple PrCing. Sorcerers advance in spell level slower but they can be useful depending on what you envision.

EK is a fine way to go, and works better than they are often given credit for, at least in my personal experience.

Either way, make sure you've got some good battle buffs and spells that bypass SR or saves -- that way you don't have to worry as much about maxing caster level and/or saves where possible.

It also depends on what your vision of "effective" in terms of being a melee wizard is. I'd build a wizard who occasionally draws a weapon and fights when he has nothing else to do differently from a warrior who buffs himself a little with spells.