Hey guys, I am still new to pathfinder and these boards and need a little help with some character decisions. In the game we just started playing I decided to play a wizard as something a bit different from the fighter types I usually play, but the group has formed like this:
Wizard focused on battlefield control (Me)
Barbarian with two handed sword…nuff said
Rouge with two weapon fighting that is knocked over by a light breeze
Cleric focused on healing and nothing else…groan
Ranger focused on ranged
*All 3rd lvl atm except the rouge who is 2nd
So the basic problem is that the group lacks in melee combatants to tie up the bad guys from getting to us squishy, ranged and useless types (cleric I am looking at you). So I am considering multi classing to Fighter and eventually Eldrich Knight, I have been given leave by the GM to do a once off respec of my character and so I have been trying to weigh up whether the multi is worth it or whether it would be better to stick with just wizard.
It seems on the surface that F/EK is a good way to pick up some BAB and armor profs and I just get my spells 2 levels later than usual and still get 9th lvl spells by lvl 19, but looking at it in the long run my BAB + STR will only be about 20 by 20th lvl and I am not sure if that is anywhere near high enough? I figure about +30 to hit would be required to hit most bad guys reliably at 20th lvl?
Here is the proposed build at lvl 4
Class Wiz 3, Fght 1
Stats (30 point buy from GM to make up for stingy magic and wealth in campaign)
STR: 16 (18 racial adjustment)
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 16 (17 as of 4th lvl)
WIS: 10
CHA: 10
Feats
lvl 1 – Toughness
Hum – Spell Focus Conjuration
lvl 3 – Augment Summoning
Fght – Arcane Armor Training
Traits
Magical Knack
Reactionary or Eyes and ears of the city (Both seem good)
Gear
Breastplate
Earth Breaker
+Other options Sword and board, Bow etc for situational
AC- 18 (22 with Shield) 25% Spell fail/15% with swift action
Atk - +6 to Hit 2d6+6 Damage
Spells
1st – 3 +1 Conj
2nd – 2 +1 Conj
+1 Arcane bond (ring) per day
So that is what I am thinking of changing to, atm he is build a bit different very along the lines of treatmonks guide with 20 INT and much lower STR like a typical wiz. But in terms of builds is EK viable or does it come off weak? I think it looks like an OK 4th lvl char but I am no expert, and i dont want to try and do everything and fail to do anything becuase i have stretched too far
Any advice anyone can give me would be much appreciated
Thanks All!
You take that breastplate off this instant! 5% arcane spell failure is 5% too much. You've got mage armor in your book, you can cast that. Don't toss your breastplate in the trash though, feel free to toss it on when you're cast out and have a free five minutes. Hang on to that shield too. We'll call that armor mode.
Other than that it looks pretty standard. If you follow my advice above though I'd switch out arcane armor training for arcane strike. In a lower magic setting you'll be able to bypass magic DR and smash shadows before they tear you apart.
Ek's are usually built around transmutation spec., specifically the enhancment school. With that said ive seen builds around the divination and conjuration(teleportation school) so u shouldnt be to bad off it you went that way.. Regardless of sepc i would focus on buffing urself, mirror image, herosim, shield, bull str are all good ones that u will have access too early.. Normally id say get yourself some bracers of armor and skip arcane armor training, but as u said its a low magic camp its prob a decent choice.. Elven Chainmail would leave u with only a 10% spell failure chance, which isnt to bad and theres afew spells per level that dont require somatic components... I would pick up power attack after your in EK for a few levels as well..
Yeah i was wondering about the Spell fail chance and whether or not i could tough it out for a few levels, i was thinking by lvl 7 i would qualify for arcane armor mastery + should hopefully be able to aford mithral replacement for a spell fail chance of 0%, but it is a good point that i could just put that on once spells run dry.
The main problem i have found with just plain Wiz is that if i dont have a spell to cast i feel i am no longer able to contribute well to the combat, so i suppose that is another way to look at it, what do you do with a wizard if you are out of spells? I feel like going the EK path may weaken my spellcasting a little but gain me a lot of ultility in being able to mix it up in melee, anyone have any thoughts or know of a topic where this has been discussed?
Cheers,
Yeah i went conjuration (teleportation), i like the idea of summons, lets me fire and forget rather then spent rounds concentrating. Does make me slightly worried that Arcane armor training and my mini teleport are both swift actions though.
had a quick read in the book and it looks like mithral shirt and elven chain are the way to go for the feats as one is 10% and the other 20% they do seem kinda build to suit that progression.
Personally I'd skip both the Arcane Armor feats and just take Still Spell instead, Stilled spells are only 1 lvl higher and the difference between the armor bonus of something like full plate vs. mage armor is massive, as much as 10 points depending on how it's enchanted. I have an EK with folding plate as his arcane bond and still spell, that way I don't have to worry about actually taking the time to don the armor and when it's inconvenient for spell casting or movement i can be rid of it. I know you said low magic but it's possibly the best arcane bond an EK can get
Well if u think about it your either gonna be casting a spell or attacking with your weapon in any given round. Teleport+Power Attack(later) or Arcane armor and cast spell.. See if your dm will let u retrain Arcane Armor for somthing else later and use still spell when u get high enough to make use of it.
