Post/Author/DateTime	Post
petalred 01-27-08, 09:53 PM	I'm starting a new campaign soon, and I think I want to play a duskblade. It's important for maximizing the awesomeness of the class that my character has a high Intelligence and Strength. I'd also like to avoid having bad Dexterity or Constitution if possible, though. I don't really care about Wisdom or Charisma at all. Unfortunately, the campaign is using a point-buy system (30pts), so it's really hard to get ANY good scores without having nearly all the rest be awful. We're starting our characters at level 3, so I'm willing to take up to a +1 level adjustment for my race, if it'll help me out with increased Strength and/or Intelligence at the expense of only Charisma and/or Wisdom. Does anybody have any suggestions for a good race? Thanks!
Crimson_Concerto 01-27-08, 10:05 PM	Okay, let's see here... For races, Human works great since Duskblades tend to be very short on the feats it wants for melee combat. Dwarf would also be a good choice for the CON bonus since you don't care about CHA, and it gets the usual fun combat bonuses. For your stats, you're greatly overreacting. 30 point buy is great. Let's see what we can do with it... STR 16 (+3) (10 pt) DEX 14 (+2) (6 pt) CON 12 (+1) (4 pt) INT 16 (+3) (10 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1) or if you switch the DEX and CON. STR 16 (+3) (10 pt) DEX 12 (+1) (4 pt) CON 14 (+2) (6 pt) INT 16 (+3) (10 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1) I'd personally go with one of these two, but if you're one of those people who inexplicably NEEDS to have an 18, you could easily pull off... STR 18 (+4) (16 pt) DEX 12 (+1) (2 pt) CON 12 (+1) (4 pt) INT 14 (+2) (6 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1) or STR 18 (+4) (16 pt) DEX 14 (+2) (6 pt) CON 10 (+0) (2 pt) INT 14 (+2) (6 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1) or STR 18 (+4) (16 pt) DEX 10 (+0) (2 pt) CON 14 (+2) (6 pt) INT 14 (+2) (6 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1) Hey, if you go with Dwarf, that's a +2 CON to any of the above. :) EDIT: Oh, and of course, you can do this, but I wouldn't really recommend it... STR 18 (+4) (16 pt) DEX 10 (+0) (2 pt) CON 10 (+2) (2 pt) INT 16 (+3) (10 pt) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 8 (-1)
Napoleon_the_Clown 01-28-08, 02:49 AM	Do not dump stat Wisdom. If you've got a mean DM that likes save or suck/die spells, a bad Wisdom isn't your friend. Also, there's the Arcane Disciple feat, which can be good for some Duskblade builds. Anyway, go with a human. You don't need to have a starting Intelligence higher than 13 to be able to get it high enough to cast any spell on your list. Besides, bonus feats and skill points are your friend. If you can, Warforged can make a good Duskblade too. Never being considered unarmed is a good thing (natural attack), and the Con bonus is good too. Free armor, too. Human, though, could probably be a more effective Duskblade though, due to a few weaknesses that Warforged have. And avoid LA. It's bad.
Malicea 01-28-08, 08:47 AM	I'm starting a new campaign soon, and I think I want to play a duskblade. It's important for maximizing the awesomeness of the class that my character has a high Intelligence and Strength. I'd also like to avoid having bad Dexterity or Constitution if possible, though. I wouldn't put intelligence above dexterity or constitution for Duskblade at all. Many of your spells don't use DCs, so the int mod isn't important beyond being able to cast 5th level spells. A 14 is perfectly fine. Leaves enough for 14s in Dex and Con also. A 16 str to start with is nice, and you'd still have enough left for 2 points in wisdom. I'd personally go with 14s in everything except Cha. Poor Will save is suicide. Once you pick up Arcane Strike, hitting won't be much of a problem. Duskblades do a majority of their weapon damage with that and spells, so a slightly lower strength isn't going to break you. Human is most likely the best choice for the bonus feat. Barring that, Strongheart halfling, possibly with Weapon Finesse. 30' movement rate probably the best idea still though.
petalred 01-28-08, 06:52 PM	After thinking about this a whole lot more, I think I'm going to multiclass in Duskblade and Warmage, with the majority of the levels being in Duskblade and scattered levels here and there being Warmage, so I think human (or human-like) probably is the way to go. You're right: I will need the feats; and adding Warmage to the equation means Charisma is no longer a dump-stat, meaning I don't have any dump-stats, meaning I probably need to make everything pretty well rounded. Maybe 13s all around? Or maybe 10s for Wis, Dex, and Con, and 15s for Str, Cha, and Int? I don't know. Thanks everyone!
RobbyPants 01-29-08, 12:23 PM	After thinking about this a whole lot more, I think I'm going to multiclass in Duskblade and Warmage, with the majority of the levels being in Duskblade and scattered levels here and there being Warmage, As a general rule, multiclassing casters like this is a bad idea. Couple that with needing both Int and Cha, as well as your physical stats, and you have a very MAD character. I'd say pick one or the other and stick with it. By mid levels, you'll be much happier with what your character can accomplish. It's better to be good at one thing than okay (bad by comparison to everyone else) at several.
Aleolus 01-29-08, 02:18 PM	For race, I would recommend the Sharakim, from Races of Destiny, if the Races books are allowed. Strength and Int bonuses, Dex and Cha penalties. Think good, intelligent beings who look like Orcs.
petalred 01-29-08, 05:12 PM	I have Races of Destiny, and I had looked at and strongly considered sharakim. Thanks for the suggestion. Given my new multiclassing choice, though, I think I'll probably just stick with human, or if I find I don't need the extra feat, maybe underfolk or illumian. As far as the multiclassing is concerned, I'm not looking to advance much with the Warmage levels. My thoughts are that taking a level or two in Warmage gives me a ton of extra combat spells that I can then channel through my Duskblade arcane channeling to deal pretty impressive damage in combat. Imagine a Duskblade 4/Warmage 1 with Monkey Grip and Practiced Spellcaster at his disposal doing 3d6+3d8+(1.5xStr mod)+Int mod in a single attack using a large greatsword and a lesser orb of some sort.
Crimson_Concerto 01-29-08, 05:50 PM	Imagine a Duskblade 4/Warmage 1 with Monkey Grip and Practiced Spellcaster at his disposal doing 3d6+3d8+(1.5xStr mod)+Int mod in a single attack using a large greatsword and a lesser orb of some sort. Few problems: A) Monkey Grip sucks. You're taking -2 to hit for an average +3.5 damage. You're much better off taking Power Attack. Then, you can take -2 to hit for +4 damage (or you can take a smaller or greater penalty to hit for less or greater damage depending on what the situation calls for). B) You can't channel the Orb spells. They're not Touch spells. Yes, it requires a ranged touch attack, but that doesn't qualify it as a Touch spell. On the other hand, cool idea channeling spells to add INT to damage with Warmage Edge. I'd never considered that. Either way, you can still add Warmage Edge to spells you cast from your Duskblade list, I think... Though, we're really getting away from Races at this point. :P
Ages_Defiance 01-30-08, 03:18 PM	personally i like humans when it comes to duskblades. you could consider goliath +4 str, half giant +2 str plus both can wield greatwords in one hand or the next size up in both. my all time favorite build is gesault duskblade favored soul. champion of chord. power attack, cleave, spell rehearsal, extend spell, arcane strike, weapon mastery, slashing flurry. the favored soul gets weapon foc and specialization. all ive got to say is you can channel harm and cleave with it. also you can channel with any melee weapon most favorite being the greatsword. but if you use say a falchion. the critical threat is increased and personally when you channel it bassically changes the parameters of the spells attack to a melee attack, so if you crit with a falchion while casting shocking grasp its doubled to.
RobbyPants 01-30-08, 09:27 PM	you could consider goliath +4 str, half giant +2 str plus both can wield greatwords in one hand or the next size up in both. Large longswords technically, but the damage is the same. Still, I'm not sure if +1 LA is worth dealing an extra 2.5 damage on average per hit. With that extra level, your spells and channeling could be more potent. That, and you lose a HD and +1 BAB to the level adjustment cost. It's a bitter pill to swollow both for a caster and a front line meleer.
Napoleon_the_Clown 01-31-08, 06:15 AM	Powerful Build becomes a better choice when you have means of increasing your size and you use a greatsword or greataxe, especially if you can increase it by two categories (such as with an augmented Expansion). Otherwise, it's hardly better than taking monkey grip, unless you can buy off the LA.
Ongorth 02-01-08, 01:33 PM	Large longswords technically, but the damage is the same. Still, I'm not sure if +1 LA is worth dealing an extra 2.5 damage on average per hit. With that extra level, your spells and channeling could be more potent. That, and you lose a HD and +1 BAB to the level adjustment cost. It's a bitter pill to swollow both for a caster and a front line meleer. +1 to hit, 4.5 damage. Remember, the strength is +4 in addition the the large weapon.
Istaran 02-01-08, 02:59 PM	As far as the multiclassing is concerned, I'm not looking to advance much with the Warmage levels. My thoughts are that taking a level or two in Warmage gives me a ton of extra combat spells that I can then channel through my Duskblade arcane channeling to deal pretty impressive damage in combat. Imagine a Duskblade 4/Warmage 1 with Monkey Grip and Practiced Spellcaster at his disposal doing 3d6+3d8+(1.5xStr mod)+Int mod in a single attack using a large greatsword and a lesser orb of some sort. Imagine doing a Quickened Bull Strength and then hitting for 3d6+5d6 (electricity)+(1.5 x new and improved Str mod) instead, without burning a feat for practiced spell caster. And because you can dump Cha, you have more points to put into str, con, dex, and/or int. I know Warmage Edge does not apply to non-warmage spells (unless you are a geomancer. Which you are not. Just, don't.) I don't have my books on hand, but you probably can't channel non-Duskblade spells either. And Fist of Stone was reworded in the Spell Compendium such that it does not apply on weapon attacks. At level 5, why would you possibly not want 2nd level spells + quicken 1/day? If anything, Duskblade level 5 is the soonest I would even think of multiclassing out, and then it would be only to go a non-caster route from there (dragon disciple for the str/nat armor, or some fighter type class, I could even see going barbarian 1/rage mage x). But for Eddy's sake, don't multiclass caster classes! (Eddy, the Caster of Many Things, does not approve this message.)
Crimson_Concerto 02-02-08, 12:46 AM	I know Warmage Edge does not apply to non-warmage spells... I don't have my books on hand, but you probably can't channel non-Duskblade spells either.I don't think either of these is true, actually...
petalred 02-03-08, 12:26 AM	The Warmage Edge part is true. It says in the Warmage entry that it only applies for spells cast as a Warmage. Everything I've read about the Duskblade so far, though, indicates that you can channel other spellcaster's spells through arcane channeling without a problem, just so long as they're touch spells. And the reason I would be okay waiting a level to get my level 2 spells, etc., is so I can have roughly twice as many spells per day and much, much better selection of spells to choose from. At level 3, I could have 8 different Duskblade spells (4 0-level, 4 1st-level) or i could have 7 different Duskblade spells and the entire Warmage spell list at my disposal. I'd rather be a little weaker at high levels for the chance at being much, much stronger at low levels frankly.