Can't decide on Prestige Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can't decide on Prestige Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Goolepacer
02-04-08, 08:28 PM Im playing a lvl 4 Duskblade and im thinking of going Barbarian for a few lvls at lvl 6. My questions are... Is going Barb. a good choice? and What would be a good prestige class?
dman11235
02-04-08, 08:37 PM Not really. You can't cast while raging. If you do, then Rage Mage. But I'd highly recommend staying with Duskblade. If you want you could take 7 levels of Enlightend Fist to allow rays to be used as part of channeling.
Goolepacer
02-04-08, 08:43 PM Thats a good point, i forgot bout casting and rage. wat book is the enlightened fist in?
Howland Reed
02-04-08, 08:43 PM Duskblades actually don't prestige all that well...

1.) If you take a non-casting class, you're basically giving up on your casting (since their progression is slow); essentially, you're becoming a melee-fighter with a few magic tricks.

2.) If you take a casting class, you're advancing your spellcasting...but normally losing in the HP/BAB department, which is subpar for Duskblade's whole warrior-mage schtick.

3.) If you use one of the full BAB/full casting PrCs? Well, you're usually just getting what Duskblade gets anyway...full BAB, casting progression, and around a d8 HD. The three standard PrCs for gishes (Spellsword, Eldritch Knight, and Abjurant Champion) don't really help Duskblade at all...Spellsword is half-casting, Eld Knight has less HP (and no class abilities), and Abj Champ relies on abjurations (of which Duskblade only gets a few).

I'd just stick Duskblade, at least until level 13 or so (whenever they get full-attack channel).
Goolepacer
02-04-08, 08:48 PM Ok, you guys have helped me a lot. i didnt realize how 1 sided duskblades get if they take a prestige class.

One last question if i was to take a lvl of barbarian, could i channel a spell into my sword, go into rage and release it while i was in rage?
dman11235
02-04-08, 08:51 PM EF is in CArcane. I just liked it for a Duskblade so that they can channel Polar Ray into a full attack.

EDIT: I don't think so, you cast it as part of the attack.
Goolepacer
02-04-08, 08:54 PM ok thanks a lot guys... oh yeah dman how do u get it so that u hide part of ur sig?
LoneFlame
02-04-08, 09:00 PM Ur Priest will be your best prestige class... that's about it.

Duskblade is a fixed package. It's an out of the box gish(much like the Martial Adepts or the Psychic Warrior), only it's so carefully prepackaged that it doesn't fit with anything else very well. Even in gestalt it doesn't work well. I once saw someone use a Duskblade/Rogue gestalt, which seemed like a great idea in concept. Hell, decent hit dice, full BAB, perfect saves, great skill selection, great skill points, cool abilities, and spell casting. In practice, it was kinda sucky.

Anywayz. Duskblade is one of those few classes that's pretty much designed to not be prestiged out of. You have to take it all the way to level 20.
Goolepacer
02-04-08, 09:08 PM lol... that sucks:raincloud

Oh well thanks for the help guys.
Jaxgaret
02-04-08, 09:26 PM You could go Duskblade13/Bard1/SublimeChord2/ArcanePrC4 or Duskblade9/Bard1/SC2/ArcanePrC8.
Divisionbyzer0
02-04-08, 09:30 PM There is no feat that allows barbarians to cast while raging?
Divisionbyzer0
02-04-08, 09:32 PM Ur Priest will be your best prestige class... that's about it.

Duskblade is a fixed package. It's an out of the box gish(much like the Martial Adepts or the Psychic Warrior), only it's so carefully prepackaged that it doesn't fit with anything else very well. Even in gestalt it doesn't work well. I once saw someone use a Duskblade/Rogue gestalt, which seemed like a great idea in concept. Hell, decent hit dice, full BAB, perfect saves, great skill selection, great skill points, cool abilities, and spell casting. In practice, it was kinda sucky.

Anywayz. Duskblade is one of those few classes that's pretty much designed to not be prestiged out of. You have to take it all the way to level 20.

I'm not familiar with the Duskblade but unless the player sucks I'm not sure how adding rogue abilities and skill selections on top of a class could be bad.
Jaxgaret
02-04-08, 09:37 PM I'm not familiar with the Duskblade but unless the player sucks I'm not sure how adding rogue abilities and skill selections on top of a class could be bad.

It might be that the other party members were things like Wizard//Beguilers, Druid//Clerics, and Archivist//Artificers.

Those would make any non full caster gestalt look bad.
dman11235
02-04-08, 11:23 PM There is no feat that allows barbarians to cast while raging?

Nope, sorry. I thought Righteous Wrath might let you, but it doesn't. And if an exalted feat doesn't allow you to, nothing will (short of class abilities).
Bergtann
02-05-08, 06:56 AM Im playing a lvl 4 Duskblade and im thinking of going Barbarian for a few lvls at lvl 6. My questions are... Is going Barb. a good choice? and What would be a good prestige class?

At your level, I'd aim for a level of Sand Shaper. For a Duskblade, getting that metric crapton of spells known added, is the best thing that can happen while he has his clothes on.

Level 6 or level 7 is best. You want it ASAP, but you may want iterative attacks first, depends on your playstyle.

If you want to add a base class, Sorcerer is best. Only the Divine Companion variant. Although you might as well pick up Nerveskitter as a spell known while you are there.

Most Duskblade builds want 13 levels of Duskblade for Full-Attack Channel. Other options include Mage of the Arcane Order for spellpool access.
Googlepacer
02-05-08, 05:46 PM Ok, um wat book is sand shaper in ive never heard of them befor.
UAMDB
02-05-08, 07:09 PM Actually my wife is playing a Duskblade//Cleric/Dragon Disciple. It is actually a pretty good combo. She is neutral can spont inflicts and took the Spont Cure feat. Now she does not have to prepare either spell.
dman11235
02-05-08, 10:37 PM With the feat for spon cures and inflicts, you can only do it wis modifier per day.

@Googlepacer: check the various lists. They are your friend. I can't believe I didn't say that earlier about the EF. To save you time, it's in Sandstorm. If you need the lists, they are Crystal Keep (for everything besides feats: monsters, spells, PrCs, etc.) and Realms Help (for feats). Google them.
Bergtann
02-06-08, 02:56 AM Ok, um wat book is sand shaper in ive never heard of them befor.

It is in Sandstorm, pages 76-81. The interesting feature for a Duskblade is that the first level adds a feature called Desert Insight. It basically grants buttload of good spells known, some at a lower level than the Wizard list. Like Bulls Strength, etc, Also the whole list of Summons. 14 extra spells known at levels 1 and 2, most of them good ones.

And even if you only dip for one level, the extra spells will keep coming every time you gain access to a new spell level. When you get level 3 spells, you get an additional 10 spells known straight off the bat, including Dispel Magic!

4th level spells are somewhat lean, at only 4 added, as is 6th level and above. But as a Duskblade, who cares about the 6th level and above ones?

The tradeoff is that Sand Shaper 1 is a level with no spell advancement, no BaB advancement, and d6 hp.
runestar
02-06-08, 07:57 AM If you have book of 9 swords, consider going to duskblade5 or 6, take 1 lv of crusader (recommended) or warblade, then enter the jade phoenix mage prc.
UAMDB
02-06-08, 08:11 AM With the feat for spon cures and inflicts, you can only do it wis modifier per day.

Yes you are correct. However, she is not the party healbot. Someone else is playing a Druid/Healer. My wife is neutral and therefor decided to spon inflicts and rebuke undead. Then she took the feat that allows her to spon Heals. Yes the feat is limited, it is just there incase the healer goes down or in emergency situations.

Of course our group has house ruled that the limit to the feat does not imply. It really has not come up yet so it is almost as if we have not changed it.
Googlepacer
02-06-08, 04:20 PM The Sand Shaper sounds pretty cool and it looks as if it is exactly what I wanted. The lack of spells for a duskblade really frustrates me. I think Im willing to lose the BAB for the spells especially since i would be able to do more dmg.
Googlepacer
02-07-08, 09:00 PM Bump <(^^<) <(^^)> (>^^)>
StevenO
02-07-08, 11:18 PM The Duskblade is GREAT option for going into a number of PrC but that is because the Duskblade is good for the PrC, NOT the PrC is good for the Duskblade.

The Duskblade is easily my favorite class you use for the Arcane Casting requirement of several "warrior" type PrCs. Most of those PrCs don't advance spellcasting but the Duskblade's full BAB make it ideal. Going into Arcane Archer can work and the DB can even contribue some spells to the Imbue Arrow ability which otherwise is either under used or used as the arguement for completely rebuilding the AA. I also like taking Duskblade into Dragon Disciple and can even see Barbarian in that build.
Rhymnoceros
02-08-08, 12:41 AM A pretty fun duskblade I played with took a level or so of rogue and then became a daggerspell mage from CompAdv. It might be worth looking at.
darkcser
02-08-08, 01:52 PM One level of spellthief and the Master Spellthief feat allows you to steal spells with your spellthief and duskblade caster levels stacking. Your stolen spells last for 1 hour so you can work something out with other casters, and help dump spells out faster (e.g. the wizard gives you a fireball spell beforehand so in the first round of combat it's his fireball plus your fireball).

Too bad there was that ruling preventing you from using your stolen spells to power arcane strike... depending on the spell stolen you might be able to channel it back into the original source.

Nothing quite as ironic as stealing a necromancer's vampiric touch spell, channeling it through your weapon and draining their hp with it...
Googlepacer
02-18-08, 06:10 PM The spellthief seems pretty interesting... I've been thinking and im probably gonna stick with duskblade. At least for now.
Bergtann
02-19-08, 04:28 PM I've found there is a trick with Duskblade and Sand Shaper, where the feat Versatile Spellcaster lets you cast the Sand Shaper spells of one level higher than you normally could.

I.e. If you can normally cast level 2 spells, you can use two level 2 slots to cast one of the level 3 Sand Shaper ones.
The_Shaman
02-19-08, 05:09 PM I'd probably go with abjurant champion at some point, tbh. Yes, it's not as useful to the Duskblade as it is to some other builds, but it's still worth it. Even apart from the abjuration AC bonus (which iirc mostly works for deflect), it allows you to auto-quicken some lowish-level spells, gives you a ton of uses for your spell slots (and DBs have a lot of those) and keeps your caster level up if you multiclass further with full-BAB classes. Considering what you'd otherwise get, and that you get the prerequisites for free, it's preferable to more duskblade levels for ending a build. Arcane boost in itself would imo be a good reason to take the PrC until at least level 3.
dman11235
02-19-08, 05:11 PM Does deflect give you an armor or shield bonus? Cause that's the only way it would work with the AC ability.
The_Shaman
02-19-08, 05:32 PM Deflect gives a shield bonus, unlike it's lesser variant (which gives deflection). However, it should be possible for duskblades, like other mages, to develop spells of their own - so you could make a DB version of shield anyway.
dman11235
02-19-08, 05:46 PM True.
Googlepacer
02-21-08, 02:37 PM The downside bout taking the sandshaper class tho is that i wouldnt have the full BAB. That is one of the main things im looking for, I mean I would like that spells but the BAB is more important in my eyes. Im our tank so I need the dmg and as long as I have some dmg spells that I can channel it should work out well. Im probably gonna wait until lvl 11 to get full round channel then I might look into a PrC.
The_Shaman
02-21-08, 02:48 PM Remember that if you go sandshaper, you go there for 2 levels at most. 1 lost BAB is not such a big deal, imo. Of course, if you don't care much about it, then that's all that matters.
Cartigan
02-21-08, 02:50 PM I'd probably go with abjurant champion at some point, tbh. Yes, it's not as useful to the Duskblade as it is to some other builds, but it's still worth it. Even apart from the abjuration AC bonus (which iirc mostly works for deflect), it allows you to auto-quicken some lowish-level spells, gives you a ton of uses for your spell slots (and DBs have a lot of those) and keeps your caster level up if you multiclass further with full-BAB classes. Considering what you'd otherwise get, and that you get the prerequisites for free, it's preferable to more duskblade levels for ending a build. Arcane boost in itself would imo be a good reason to take the PrC until at least level 3.
Does Duskblade even give you any spells to work optimally with Abjurant Champion?
dman11235
02-21-08, 02:50 PM Does a -1 to your BAB really hurt that much? I've made a primary melee tank with only 17 BAB at level 20. You only need to take one level of SS to get the expanded spell list.

Also, it's level 13 for full attack channeling.

EDIT: Curse the ninja!

EDIT take 2: Only if you get a duskblade shield spell. I'm not really sure if anything in there is all that useful to duskblades, or even plays off of their abilities at all.
Bergtann
02-21-08, 02:53 PM Indeed. The 2nd level ability, Sandform, isn't bad, but you don't want to delay the good Duskblade abilities. Once you have Desert insight, you can just keep doing Duskblade, you get the extra spells anyway.
The_Shaman
02-21-08, 02:59 PM Does Duskblade even give you any spells to work optimally with Abjurant Champion?

Deflect is pretty much it if you mean the AC bonus; unless you start researching spells the Duskblade doesn't have many abjurations on its list. Those it does have that can benefit are generally energy resistance spells such as energy aegis/protection from energy, which you can quicken and/or extend for free. With the duskblade, the AC is less impressive but still imo better than pure DB after, say, the full-time one. BTW, given that arcane strike is a free action (if 1/round only) it can stack very nicely with arcane boost when you don't mind burning your spell slots, don't you think?
dman11235
02-21-08, 03:01 PM But that gets expensive really quickly.
The_Shaman
02-21-08, 03:16 PM True, it's something you should be careful about, but it will give you a significant power boost. Think of it as a desperation attack you can pull off a few times per day rather than something you can do all day long.
Googlepacer
02-25-08, 07:17 PM Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol
Krusk
02-25-08, 07:33 PM Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol

Amazon.com generally has anything. And with 4e coming out soon, you can get a used one decently cheap.
Googlepacer
02-25-08, 07:39 PM Yeah, I was talkin to the group I play with and they all wanna go 4e... I dont.:D
I brought that up, bout how cheap the books will be and they agreed with me, we still arent sure tho.
I've heard that Amazon has a lot of books, ill take a peek.
Jaxgaret
02-25-08, 07:41 PM Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol

Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sandstorm-Mastering-Dungeons-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/078693655X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203986408&sr=8-3)

Barnes & Noble (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780786936557&itm=8)
StevenO
02-25-08, 11:02 PM Amazon and Barnes & Noble are great places to BUY a book at but online they don't do you any good if you want to look before you buy.

I know if I want to see before I buy I need to visit a More Books store in a nearby city. I don't know if it is a chain or not but some of the smaller book stores may carry gaming books.
Googlepacer
02-26-08, 06:18 PM yeah I checked on Amazon and found it but every time I've gone to Barnes & Noble I havent seen it. Oh well i guess I'll just have to check again.
Googlepacer
02-27-08, 05:18 PM <(^^<) <(^^)> (>^^)> Last Bump then i will let the thread die.
Isendir
02-27-08, 06:22 PM Barnes & Nobles in St. Cloud has them ever time I go there...
crwydryny
02-27-08, 06:25 PM the duskblade is my favourate class, and since I finally got ahold of 3rd edition I've been playing it more than anything

**I'm actually quite new to 3rd edition, I used to play 1st edition years ago (until my group all moved away) and being in the middle of nowhere finding new material to play with was hard (there's not one shop selling RPG stuff within 3 hours of me), until I happen to stumble on someone selling what must have been more than �300 of D&D stuff for about �50 several months ago**

for me the best multiclass charicter I've found for a duskblade (granted I haven't had much experience to test it only about a dozen quick games and a few full on quests) is a half-elf duskblade/ranger. basically I selected the melee combat route in the ranger's advancement and used the duskblade's spell for range combat. you'll be supprised how much damage a duskblade ranger can do when useing a 2 weapon combat feat along with his touch range spells cast through the weapon, while using his range spells to blast enemy that are farther away from him. not to mention the ranger's extra skill points. in my opinion it works quite effective, it doesn't quite excel in everything but it can prove quite good in most situations useing the spells to soften enemy's at range before switching to two weapon combat for close in battle, the ranger's favoured enemy and good number of skill points are also useful. then there is the eventual ranger spells, though not as useful in combat as a duskblade's spells they do have their uses in other areas.

(infact my current charicter managed to hold his own against something like 20 zombies and managed to kill 15 while his friends retreated, it was only the fact that even more zombies were on their way that he had to join his friends and in the entire battle he only lost 17 hitpoints)

in my opinion the ranger and duskblade complement each other exceptionaly well at least in most combat situations and a few non combat situations (still needs help from other more specialised classes for some things)

the funny thing is I was going to multiclass in rogue but I tossed a coin and the ranger won and if what one of the above poster's said about the duskblade/rogue is true I'm kind of glad that I went the way I did lol
Googlepacer
02-28-08, 10:24 PM I ordered sandstorm from amazon and Im waiting for it to come. The ranger duskblade thing seems cool but not quite my style.
LordTarmos
02-28-08, 11:19 PM I've found there is a trick with Duskblade and Sand Shaper, where the feat Versatile Spellcaster lets you cast the Sand Shaper spells of one level higher than you normally could.

I.e. If you can normally cast level 2 spells, you can use two level 2 slots to cast one of the level 3 Sand Shaper ones.

I think this is a wise move at least until level 13 where you get to channel for a full attack, that is the only thin that the duskblade does that makes him worthwhile so you might as well stay untill you at least get that.
Googlepacer
02-29-08, 08:12 PM Ok, yeah I saw that when it was posted above but I didnt comment on it. That sounds like a good desicion and ill have to look into it... what book is that feat in? I dont believe it is in PHB.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Goolepacer 02-04-08, 08:28 PM	Im playing a lvl 4 Duskblade and im thinking of going Barbarian for a few lvls at lvl 6. My questions are... Is going Barb. a good choice? and What would be a good prestige class?
dman11235 02-04-08, 08:37 PM	Not really. You can't cast while raging. If you do, then Rage Mage. But I'd highly recommend staying with Duskblade. If you want you could take 7 levels of Enlightend Fist to allow rays to be used as part of channeling.
Goolepacer 02-04-08, 08:43 PM	Thats a good point, i forgot bout casting and rage. wat book is the enlightened fist in?
Howland Reed 02-04-08, 08:43 PM	Duskblades actually don't prestige all that well... 1.) If you take a non-casting class, you're basically giving up on your casting (since their progression is slow); essentially, you're becoming a melee-fighter with a few magic tricks. 2.) If you take a casting class, you're advancing your spellcasting...but normally losing in the HP/BAB department, which is subpar for Duskblade's whole warrior-mage schtick. 3.) If you use one of the full BAB/full casting PrCs? Well, you're usually just getting what Duskblade gets anyway...full BAB, casting progression, and around a d8 HD. The three standard PrCs for gishes (Spellsword, Eldritch Knight, and Abjurant Champion) don't really help Duskblade at all...Spellsword is half-casting, Eld Knight has less HP (and no class abilities), and Abj Champ relies on abjurations (of which Duskblade only gets a few). I'd just stick Duskblade, at least until level 13 or so (whenever they get full-attack channel).
Goolepacer 02-04-08, 08:48 PM	Ok, you guys have helped me a lot. i didnt realize how 1 sided duskblades get if they take a prestige class. One last question if i was to take a lvl of barbarian, could i channel a spell into my sword, go into rage and release it while i was in rage?
dman11235 02-04-08, 08:51 PM	EF is in CArcane. I just liked it for a Duskblade so that they can channel Polar Ray into a full attack. EDIT: I don't think so, you cast it as part of the attack.
Goolepacer 02-04-08, 08:54 PM	ok thanks a lot guys... oh yeah dman how do u get it so that u hide part of ur sig?
LoneFlame 02-04-08, 09:00 PM	Ur Priest will be your best prestige class... that's about it. Duskblade is a fixed package. It's an out of the box gish(much like the Martial Adepts or the Psychic Warrior), only it's so carefully prepackaged that it doesn't fit with anything else very well. Even in gestalt it doesn't work well. I once saw someone use a Duskblade/Rogue gestalt, which seemed like a great idea in concept. Hell, decent hit dice, full BAB, perfect saves, great skill selection, great skill points, cool abilities, and spell casting. In practice, it was kinda sucky. Anywayz. Duskblade is one of those few classes that's pretty much designed to not be prestiged out of. You have to take it all the way to level 20.
Goolepacer 02-04-08, 09:08 PM	lol... that sucks:raincloud Oh well thanks for the help guys.
Jaxgaret 02-04-08, 09:26 PM	You could go Duskblade13/Bard1/SublimeChord2/ArcanePrC4 or Duskblade9/Bard1/SC2/ArcanePrC8.
Divisionbyzer0 02-04-08, 09:30 PM	There is no feat that allows barbarians to cast while raging?
Divisionbyzer0 02-04-08, 09:32 PM	Ur Priest will be your best prestige class... that's about it. Duskblade is a fixed package. It's an out of the box gish(much like the Martial Adepts or the Psychic Warrior), only it's so carefully prepackaged that it doesn't fit with anything else very well. Even in gestalt it doesn't work well. I once saw someone use a Duskblade/Rogue gestalt, which seemed like a great idea in concept. Hell, decent hit dice, full BAB, perfect saves, great skill selection, great skill points, cool abilities, and spell casting. In practice, it was kinda sucky. Anywayz. Duskblade is one of those few classes that's pretty much designed to not be prestiged out of. You have to take it all the way to level 20. I'm not familiar with the Duskblade but unless the player sucks I'm not sure how adding rogue abilities and skill selections on top of a class could be bad.
Jaxgaret 02-04-08, 09:37 PM	I'm not familiar with the Duskblade but unless the player sucks I'm not sure how adding rogue abilities and skill selections on top of a class could be bad. It might be that the other party members were things like Wizard//Beguilers, Druid//Clerics, and Archivist//Artificers. Those would make any non full caster gestalt look bad.
dman11235 02-04-08, 11:23 PM	There is no feat that allows barbarians to cast while raging? Nope, sorry. I thought Righteous Wrath might let you, but it doesn't. And if an exalted feat doesn't allow you to, nothing will (short of class abilities).
Bergtann 02-05-08, 06:56 AM	Im playing a lvl 4 Duskblade and im thinking of going Barbarian for a few lvls at lvl 6. My questions are... Is going Barb. a good choice? and What would be a good prestige class? At your level, I'd aim for a level of Sand Shaper. For a Duskblade, getting that metric crapton of spells known added, is the best thing that can happen while he has his clothes on. Level 6 or level 7 is best. You want it ASAP, but you may want iterative attacks first, depends on your playstyle. If you want to add a base class, Sorcerer is best. Only the Divine Companion variant. Although you might as well pick up Nerveskitter as a spell known while you are there. Most Duskblade builds want 13 levels of Duskblade for Full-Attack Channel. Other options include Mage of the Arcane Order for spellpool access.
Googlepacer 02-05-08, 05:46 PM	Ok, um wat book is sand shaper in ive never heard of them befor.
UAMDB 02-05-08, 07:09 PM	Actually my wife is playing a Duskblade//Cleric/Dragon Disciple. It is actually a pretty good combo. She is neutral can spont inflicts and took the Spont Cure feat. Now she does not have to prepare either spell.
dman11235 02-05-08, 10:37 PM	With the feat for spon cures and inflicts, you can only do it wis modifier per day. @Googlepacer: check the various lists. They are your friend. I can't believe I didn't say that earlier about the EF. To save you time, it's in Sandstorm. If you need the lists, they are Crystal Keep (for everything besides feats: monsters, spells, PrCs, etc.) and Realms Help (for feats). Google them.
Bergtann 02-06-08, 02:56 AM	Ok, um wat book is sand shaper in ive never heard of them befor. It is in Sandstorm, pages 76-81. The interesting feature for a Duskblade is that the first level adds a feature called Desert Insight. It basically grants buttload of good spells known, some at a lower level than the Wizard list. Like Bulls Strength, etc, Also the whole list of Summons. 14 extra spells known at levels 1 and 2, most of them good ones. And even if you only dip for one level, the extra spells will keep coming every time you gain access to a new spell level. When you get level 3 spells, you get an additional 10 spells known straight off the bat, including Dispel Magic! 4th level spells are somewhat lean, at only 4 added, as is 6th level and above. But as a Duskblade, who cares about the 6th level and above ones? The tradeoff is that Sand Shaper 1 is a level with no spell advancement, no BaB advancement, and d6 hp.
runestar 02-06-08, 07:57 AM	If you have book of 9 swords, consider going to duskblade5 or 6, take 1 lv of crusader (recommended) or warblade, then enter the jade phoenix mage prc.
UAMDB 02-06-08, 08:11 AM	With the feat for spon cures and inflicts, you can only do it wis modifier per day. Yes you are correct. However, she is not the party healbot. Someone else is playing a Druid/Healer. My wife is neutral and therefor decided to spon inflicts and rebuke undead. Then she took the feat that allows her to spon Heals. Yes the feat is limited, it is just there incase the healer goes down or in emergency situations. Of course our group has house ruled that the limit to the feat does not imply. It really has not come up yet so it is almost as if we have not changed it.
Googlepacer 02-06-08, 04:20 PM	The Sand Shaper sounds pretty cool and it looks as if it is exactly what I wanted. The lack of spells for a duskblade really frustrates me. I think Im willing to lose the BAB for the spells especially since i would be able to do more dmg.
Googlepacer 02-07-08, 09:00 PM	Bump <(^^<) <(^^)> (>^^)>
StevenO 02-07-08, 11:18 PM	The Duskblade is GREAT option for going into a number of PrC but that is because the Duskblade is good for the PrC, NOT the PrC is good for the Duskblade. The Duskblade is easily my favorite class you use for the Arcane Casting requirement of several "warrior" type PrCs. Most of those PrCs don't advance spellcasting but the Duskblade's full BAB make it ideal. Going into Arcane Archer can work and the DB can even contribue some spells to the Imbue Arrow ability which otherwise is either under used or used as the arguement for completely rebuilding the AA. I also like taking Duskblade into Dragon Disciple and can even see Barbarian in that build.
Rhymnoceros 02-08-08, 12:41 AM	A pretty fun duskblade I played with took a level or so of rogue and then became a daggerspell mage from CompAdv. It might be worth looking at.
darkcser 02-08-08, 01:52 PM	One level of spellthief and the Master Spellthief feat allows you to steal spells with your spellthief and duskblade caster levels stacking. Your stolen spells last for 1 hour so you can work something out with other casters, and help dump spells out faster (e.g. the wizard gives you a fireball spell beforehand so in the first round of combat it's his fireball plus your fireball). Too bad there was that ruling preventing you from using your stolen spells to power arcane strike... depending on the spell stolen you might be able to channel it back into the original source. Nothing quite as ironic as stealing a necromancer's vampiric touch spell, channeling it through your weapon and draining their hp with it...
Googlepacer 02-18-08, 06:10 PM	The spellthief seems pretty interesting... I've been thinking and im probably gonna stick with duskblade. At least for now.
Bergtann 02-19-08, 04:28 PM	I've found there is a trick with Duskblade and Sand Shaper, where the feat Versatile Spellcaster lets you cast the Sand Shaper spells of one level higher than you normally could. I.e. If you can normally cast level 2 spells, you can use two level 2 slots to cast one of the level 3 Sand Shaper ones.
The_Shaman 02-19-08, 05:09 PM	I'd probably go with abjurant champion at some point, tbh. Yes, it's not as useful to the Duskblade as it is to some other builds, but it's still worth it. Even apart from the abjuration AC bonus (which iirc mostly works for deflect), it allows you to auto-quicken some lowish-level spells, gives you a ton of uses for your spell slots (and DBs have a lot of those) and keeps your caster level up if you multiclass further with full-BAB classes. Considering what you'd otherwise get, and that you get the prerequisites for free, it's preferable to more duskblade levels for ending a build. Arcane boost in itself would imo be a good reason to take the PrC until at least level 3.
dman11235 02-19-08, 05:11 PM	Does deflect give you an armor or shield bonus? Cause that's the only way it would work with the AC ability.
The_Shaman 02-19-08, 05:32 PM	Deflect gives a shield bonus, unlike it's lesser variant (which gives deflection). However, it should be possible for duskblades, like other mages, to develop spells of their own - so you could make a DB version of shield anyway.
dman11235 02-19-08, 05:46 PM	True.
Googlepacer 02-21-08, 02:37 PM	The downside bout taking the sandshaper class tho is that i wouldnt have the full BAB. That is one of the main things im looking for, I mean I would like that spells but the BAB is more important in my eyes. Im our tank so I need the dmg and as long as I have some dmg spells that I can channel it should work out well. Im probably gonna wait until lvl 11 to get full round channel then I might look into a PrC.
The_Shaman 02-21-08, 02:48 PM	Remember that if you go sandshaper, you go there for 2 levels at most. 1 lost BAB is not such a big deal, imo. Of course, if you don't care much about it, then that's all that matters.
Cartigan 02-21-08, 02:50 PM	I'd probably go with abjurant champion at some point, tbh. Yes, it's not as useful to the Duskblade as it is to some other builds, but it's still worth it. Even apart from the abjuration AC bonus (which iirc mostly works for deflect), it allows you to auto-quicken some lowish-level spells, gives you a ton of uses for your spell slots (and DBs have a lot of those) and keeps your caster level up if you multiclass further with full-BAB classes. Considering what you'd otherwise get, and that you get the prerequisites for free, it's preferable to more duskblade levels for ending a build. Arcane boost in itself would imo be a good reason to take the PrC until at least level 3. Does Duskblade even give you any spells to work optimally with Abjurant Champion?
dman11235 02-21-08, 02:50 PM	Does a -1 to your BAB really hurt that much? I've made a primary melee tank with only 17 BAB at level 20. You only need to take one level of SS to get the expanded spell list. Also, it's level 13 for full attack channeling. EDIT: Curse the ninja! EDIT take 2: Only if you get a duskblade shield spell. I'm not really sure if anything in there is all that useful to duskblades, or even plays off of their abilities at all.
Bergtann 02-21-08, 02:53 PM	Indeed. The 2nd level ability, Sandform, isn't bad, but you don't want to delay the good Duskblade abilities. Once you have Desert insight, you can just keep doing Duskblade, you get the extra spells anyway.
The_Shaman 02-21-08, 02:59 PM	Does Duskblade even give you any spells to work optimally with Abjurant Champion? Deflect is pretty much it if you mean the AC bonus; unless you start researching spells the Duskblade doesn't have many abjurations on its list. Those it does have that can benefit are generally energy resistance spells such as energy aegis/protection from energy, which you can quicken and/or extend for free. With the duskblade, the AC is less impressive but still imo better than pure DB after, say, the full-time one. BTW, given that arcane strike is a free action (if 1/round only) it can stack very nicely with arcane boost when you don't mind burning your spell slots, don't you think?
dman11235 02-21-08, 03:01 PM	But that gets expensive really quickly.
The_Shaman 02-21-08, 03:16 PM	True, it's something you should be careful about, but it will give you a significant power boost. Think of it as a desperation attack you can pull off a few times per day rather than something you can do all day long.
Googlepacer 02-25-08, 07:17 PM	Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol
Krusk 02-25-08, 07:33 PM	Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol Amazon.com generally has anything. And with 4e coming out soon, you can get a used one decently cheap.
Googlepacer 02-25-08, 07:39 PM	Yeah, I was talkin to the group I play with and they all wanna go 4e... I dont.:D I brought that up, bout how cheap the books will be and they agreed with me, we still arent sure tho. I've heard that Amazon has a lot of books, ill take a peek.
Jaxgaret 02-25-08, 07:41 PM	Ok i looked for this sandstorm book and i cant find it anywhere. My local bookstore that sells dnd books is Barnes and Noble. Do you guys know anywhere else they sell them in Minnesota...lol Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Sandstorm-Mastering-Dungeons-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/078693655X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203986408&sr=8-3) Barnes & Noble (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780786936557&itm=8)
StevenO 02-25-08, 11:02 PM	Amazon and Barnes & Noble are great places to BUY a book at but online they don't do you any good if you want to look before you buy. I know if I want to see before I buy I need to visit a More Books store in a nearby city. I don't know if it is a chain or not but some of the smaller book stores may carry gaming books.
Googlepacer 02-26-08, 06:18 PM	yeah I checked on Amazon and found it but every time I've gone to Barnes & Noble I havent seen it. Oh well i guess I'll just have to check again.
Googlepacer 02-27-08, 05:18 PM	<(^^<) <(^^)> (>^^)> Last Bump then i will let the thread die.
Isendir 02-27-08, 06:22 PM	Barnes & Nobles in St. Cloud has them ever time I go there...
crwydryny 02-27-08, 06:25 PM	the duskblade is my favourate class, and since I finally got ahold of 3rd edition I've been playing it more than anything I'm actually quite new to 3rd edition, I used to play 1st edition years ago (until my group all moved away) and being in the middle of nowhere finding new material to play with was hard (there's not one shop selling RPG stuff within 3 hours of me), until I happen to stumble on someone selling what must have been more than �300 of D&D stuff for about �50 several months ago for me the best multiclass charicter I've found for a duskblade (granted I haven't had much experience to test it only about a dozen quick games and a few full on quests) is a half-elf duskblade/ranger. basically I selected the melee combat route in the ranger's advancement and used the duskblade's spell for range combat. you'll be supprised how much damage a duskblade ranger can do when useing a 2 weapon combat feat along with his touch range spells cast through the weapon, while using his range spells to blast enemy that are farther away from him. not to mention the ranger's extra skill points. in my opinion it works quite effective, it doesn't quite excel in everything but it can prove quite good in most situations useing the spells to soften enemy's at range before switching to two weapon combat for close in battle, the ranger's favoured enemy and good number of skill points are also useful. then there is the eventual ranger spells, though not as useful in combat as a duskblade's spells they do have their uses in other areas. (infact my current charicter managed to hold his own against something like 20 zombies and managed to kill 15 while his friends retreated, it was only the fact that even more zombies were on their way that he had to join his friends and in the entire battle he only lost 17 hitpoints) in my opinion the ranger and duskblade complement each other exceptionaly well at least in most combat situations and a few non combat situations (still needs help from other more specialised classes for some things) the funny thing is I was going to multiclass in rogue but I tossed a coin and the ranger won and if what one of the above poster's said about the duskblade/rogue is true I'm kind of glad that I went the way I did lol
Googlepacer 02-28-08, 10:24 PM	I ordered sandstorm from amazon and Im waiting for it to come. The ranger duskblade thing seems cool but not quite my style.
LordTarmos 02-28-08, 11:19 PM	I've found there is a trick with Duskblade and Sand Shaper, where the feat Versatile Spellcaster lets you cast the Sand Shaper spells of one level higher than you normally could. I.e. If you can normally cast level 2 spells, you can use two level 2 slots to cast one of the level 3 Sand Shaper ones. I think this is a wise move at least until level 13 where you get to channel for a full attack, that is the only thin that the duskblade does that makes him worthwhile so you might as well stay untill you at least get that.
Googlepacer 02-29-08, 08:12 PM	Ok, yeah I saw that when it was posted above but I didnt comment on it. That sounds like a good desicion and ill have to look into it... what book is that feat in? I dont believe it is in PHB.