Creating a Decent combat Mage (Not A Magus)

[JuliusCromwell]

Ever since I started playing Dice games my most beloved characters have always Been my spell-caster with strong melee Ability

I love the Idea of being a Melee Expert and being To Buff my self or use battle field control spells

I know the go to thing for this is a Magus how ever I am currently playing one as a Range character and want to get back in to my melee Roots

I Actually want something Unique in its build something that
uses a cool combo of classes well being decent at what it dose
'
(Will Start At lv 8 with a 20 PT Buy)

[avr]

It's possible as a transmuter wizard, guide courtesy of Tarondor. If you're into multiclassing I suggest Bloodrager 1 / Wizard 7 with the mad magic feat. Basically you turn into a gargoyle or something, rage, and tear people apart with your claws but you still have the option of casting obsidian flow or black tentacles etc.

Or there's the arcane trickster. Eldritch scoundrel rogue 4 / arcane trickster 4 is possible using the accomplished sneak attacker feat, and could be viable in melee.

The above could be a little fragile without their spells of course. You might feel that a tower shield and full plate armor would be reassuring, and a fighter / sorcerer can do that with the right setup.

Clerics are solid buffers and have some battlefield control, but to add a little more you might consider cleric 6 / veiled illusionist 2.

There's many others but those are multiclassed options I can think of just now.

[SteelGuts]

I agree a Transmutater/Polymorpher Wizard is really a blast to play. Chronomancer is a really good archetype to go with it and add battle support. After that for multiclassing you have a lot of decent possibilities from Fighter or Bloodrager/Eldritch Knight to Hellknight Signifier for an Heavy Armor Wizard.

Frankly you can’t go wrong with this kind of build and it is really fun to play. Since the Arcanist came along I almost never play Sorcerer or Wizard, but this build is the exception.

[Gray Warden]

Why not just going Druid? 9 levels of spellcasting, decent BAB and Wild Shape all day long.

If you prefer an arcane caster though, you might like Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple with the Shapechanger bloodline powers through Eldritch Heritage (or Crossblooded archetype).

[The Sideromancer]

I'm surprised a reach build hasn't been mentioned yet. Cast on your turn, stab people on their turn.

[Volkard Abendroth]

Earth school wizard gets melee and CMD bonuses at 1st level.

Later on you can combine that with the Elemental Body line of spells for substantial bonuses to STR, CON and natural armor. It is also one of the few ways in the game to get huge size.

[Mark Hoover 330]

If you go Wizard pick up a Familiar. Trade out said Familiar's level 1 Feat for Extra Traits. With Extra Traits pick up the Traits: Fools for Friends and Helpful. Make sure your Familiar is either Small sized, can get Enlarge Person consistently or otherwise has some way to threaten.

You now have a combat helper that on a successful Aid Another check delivers +4 to your AC or Attack.

Other ways to take advantage of your Familiar is to give it an Archetype. There are a couple combat-themed ones that might help: Mauler means that your Familiar doesn't get smarter but instead stronger with levels; it also can assume a combat form of Medium size and can brutalize foes when someone else you're fighting drops below 0 HP.

One that I like to use though is Valet. This archetype means that any Teamwork feat you take is immediately shared with your Familiar. There aren't a ton you can use, especially since Wizards are Feat-starved, but there's Distracting Charge, Escape Route, Precise Strike etc that could help a low-BAB Wizard's attacks.

Thing about arcane casters is their defense mainly comes from not being hit. Mage Armor hours before combat and Shield minutes before, with enough forewarning, means you're wading into battle with at least an 18 AC if not higher. The downside however has always been: one hit and you're toast.

You'll want to make sure there's a competent healer in the party or that your arcane casting class gives you access to the Cure spells. Barring that make sure you've got Celestial/Infernal Healing, False Life and so on. Carry LOTS of potions as you go up in level. Eventually get an Improved Familiar that gets Fast Healing as well.

Finally, let's look at your actual damage options. You've got Touch spells. Assuming you hit with one, you'll want to max out all possible effects. Metamagic from bonus feats or metamagic rods will go a long way towards making sure you get the best bang for your spells.

[Nathanael Love]

I love Chronomancer, so I'll second that idea.

Another route is to go 1 level Swashbuckler or Unchained Rogue, then build a dex-int heavy route using Combat Reflexes and the Swordplay style feats to crank your AC to the sky by adding huge dodge bonuses (and potentially Parries) on top of your Mage Armor and Shield.

You can go either Transmuter, or Divine to crank out the extra initiative.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Well if you're going to go Divine caster, why not just go Warpriest? 3/4 BAB, decent HP, count as a fighter for feats, bonus feats, some spells and personal buffs on Swift actions. That's kind of a no brainer like Magus is on the Arcane side.

I figured the OP was looking to optimize one of the non-optimal PC classes for melee. If I'm off on that though, my vote on the Divine side is Warpriest.

[VoodistMonk]

For a melee focused build:
1-6 Dragonheir Scion Fighter
7-10 Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
11-20 Dragon Disciple

For magic focused build:
1-4 Dragonheir Scion
5-10 Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
11-20 Dragon Disciple

At level 6 the Dragonheir Scion gets Dazzling Display as a standard action without the need for a weapon, which adds another element to what you can do on the battlefield.

[Moonheart]

JuliusCromwell wrote:

Ever since I started playing Dice games my most beloved characters have always Been my spell-caster with strong melee Ability

I love the Idea of being a Melee Expert and being To Buff my self or use battle field control spells

I know the go to thing for this is a Magus how ever I am currently playing one as a Range character and want to get back in to my melee Roots

I Actually want something Unique in its build something that
uses a cool combo of classes well being decent at what it dose
'
(Will Start At lv 8 with a 20 PT Buy)

Mmm I assumer that by "mage" you mean a full arcane spellcaster with level 9 spell at the end?

The sorcerer is your best bet, IMHO, because there is a lot of bloodlines that actualy can help you to be a better melee character.
You can pick 2 with the wildblooded archetype, and you will probably need 2 to be somewhat decent in melee with a low-rate BAB.

My first favored bloodline for a melee mage would be the Psychic one.
This simply allows you to cast your spell as psychic magic, which remove the penality for using armor.
Seeing how the other melee-centric bloodline tend to be also strength-centric, this is a good thing.

Then, for the second bloodline there are several intersting choice, but personnaly, 3 ones truly shines:
- Ghoul bloodline : You get claw that PARALYZE foes, with a DC that scale with your level. This means that each hit you do is actualy a save-or-suck attack! Not mention all other are also quite good, its one, if not the best choice for a pure-melee magus.
- Orc bloodline: A tad more of the hybrid side, you get the best arcane for damage spell and a nice STR bonus.
- Abyssal bloodline: Well, that's the same STR bonus with more emphasis on fightning with the help of summons. You'll probably want to at least summon one beast each fight with such an Arcana

Building a dex-based melee sorcerer could seems tempting to avoid the problem of armors, but it requiers actualy many feats to make it worthwhile, and mages do not have a lot of feats.
And there is not a lot of good melee bloodline for a dex build either.

[Serisan]

I enjoyed my arcane trickster for melee.

[Jakkedin]

My suggestion is the wizard archetype Sword Binder.

Your arcane bond must be a sword and you gain proficiency with your arcane bonded sword. (not all swords of the same type as your bonded sword)

You can use the hand of the apprentice ability of the universalist school, but can use that ability only with your bound sword.

At 5th level, you can use your sword to deliver touch spells. Either as a melee touch or using the hand of the apprentice ability.

At 8th level, you get weapon damage along with delivering a touch spell.

At 10th, you get to use telekinesis with the bonded sword. Though I'd be very leery of that.

Choose a sword with a large threat range, and you could be chucking your sword, using intelligence to attack instead of dexterity. Put keen on it, and the chance to crit with those touch spells becomes glorious! You really only need a high Intelligence and a moderate Strength to pull this off. Strength still applies to damage and melee attacks.