Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arentak 09-12-06, 11:12 AM	For my next char, I'd like to play a fighter/mage type (often called a "gish", i guess), and I like the bladesinger idea. I was imagining this@32 pts S 14 D 18 C 12 I 16 W 8 CH8 Swashbuckler 3, elf wizard (substitution) 1, and elf paragon 3 as my base classes, thus getting me into BS at 8, with a 20int, unbuffed and unequipped. The important thing isn't that "Wow, at level 11 I am really uber" or anything like that, its that I get to live from level 1 to level 20, with style, flair, and a certain amount of powerfulness. I couldn't find a good bladesinger thread (does this board have a search feature?), so I'm sorry if this has been rehashed to death. What I did find through google was all about fighter 4/wizard 2 type builds, but I think swashbuckler is a better choice, specially since you get tumble as a class skill and 4 base skill points.
pawsplay 09-12-06, 12:35 PM	Well, what do you want to do? A fairly traditional build would have Spring Attack, Superior Combat Expertise, and EWP (elven thinblade), I suppose, and would use mirror image as a defense booster.
Shado 09-12-06, 01:40 PM	Not having books here at work, I can only give general comments for now... Looking at what you have, you'll have 3 wizard levels by character level 8. Bladesinger only gains 5 more over 10 levels, which will leave fairly weak in the arcane side of things. By level 18 you only have 4th level spells... and not many of them. Duskblade, on the other hand, allows you to start off as a "gish" and gives you quite a few abilities that it's really difficult to duplicate with a Bladesinger. The flavor is mostly roleplaying. Roll an Elf, take Improved Weapon Familiarity, Finesse, grab a Courtblade, throw some skill points into Tumble... It seethes Bladesinger.
pawsplay 09-12-06, 02:09 PM	I would avoid Duskblade unless you really like the flavor of their spellcating. My biggest suggestion is that lack of armor will kill you before ASF will, so wear leather armor (10%) until you can get some very decent bracers or armored casting.
Arentak 09-12-06, 03:16 PM	Thank you for the suggestions so far. I do like the spring attack route, although without fighter levels, I am pretty tight on feats. I am sold on swashbuckler though, since int would contribute to melee damage and armor class. As far as Duskblades go, i do like the sheer volume of spellcasting they can do, but their spells suck so bad. Everytime I reconsider duskblade, I take a look at their spell list and cringe.
Shado 09-12-06, 03:24 PM	Are you looking at the list in the spell section of the PBH 2 or in the actual description of the class?