Melee Caster Suggestions

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

brluckyshot

Apr 17, 2008 9:31:01
I'm working on making a Melee Sorc. My last character in the game ended up killing themself to save the party. CL17 currently.
all books are allowed
any suggestions for:
spells? Feats? gear?
Race: Human
Level Feats
1 sorc Martial weapons Prof Eschew Materials
2 sorc
3 sorc Power Attack
4 sorc
5 sorc
6 sorc Combat casting
7 sorc
8 sorc
9 sorc Improved Initiative
10 Abjurent Champion
11 Abjurent Champion
12 Abjurent Champion Reactive Counterspell (im kinda iffy on pre-reqs for this feat.. going off memory)
13 Abjurent Champion
14 Abjurent Champion
15 Archmage Somatic Weaponry
16 Archmage
17 Archmage

Archmage abilities
15 Mastery of counterspelling (thinking about the one that lets you shape instead)
16 Spell-like ability (whirling blade)
17 Spell-like ability (wraithstrike)

spell list
1st: shield enlarge person protection vs evil magic missile blood wind
2end: See Invisibility Steal Size Whirling Blade Wraith strike knock
3rd: Haste Greater Mighty Wallop Dragon skin Ferosity of sanguine rage
4th: Dimension door Improved Invisibility Greater Luminescent armor dispel magic
5th: Arcane fusion undying vigor transformation of the deep teleport
6th: Starmantle disentigrate Stone body
7th: Iron guard Energy Immunity acasculate
8th: Iron body

Stats(DM Generated base, Magic gear included +6 str, con, and Cha items)
Str13
Dex 10
Con 23
Int 7
Wis 10
Cha 28

any suggestions are appreciated,
Reasons are also appreciated, Id like to see why people pick the things they do
#2

vicen_korel

Apr 17, 2008 9:47:48
Read the posting guidelines and then fill in the missing information please.

Maybe search the board for the term "gish" too.
#3

davethemagicweasel

Apr 17, 2008 10:49:19
Firstly, I'd want more Str and Dex if I were you, unless you plan on polymorphing as standard.

Secondly, you don't qualify for Abjurant Champion as you only have BAB +4 when you enter it. Besides which, you're losing too much BAB to be much use in melee. Standard Abjurant Champion entries are things like:

Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Spellsword 1

Fighter 1 / Wizard 6 / Spellsword 1

For feats - Eschew Materials is pretty crap unless your DM is a pain in the arse about components, and you really need Arcane Strike (Complete Warrior). And if you're wielding a two-handed weapon you can take 1 hand off it as a free action to cast, so you don't need Somatic Weaponry.

Also, I'd add Bite of the Werebear (or Weretiger if you're tight for slots) to your spell list (from Spell Compendium). Probably Ruin Delver's Fortune as well. And I'd drop Starmantle. Coz it's just too cheesy for actual use imo.

Finally, doesn't having Wraithstrike as an SLA make it a standard action? Doesn't that defeat the point?
#4

maeglin_dubh

Apr 17, 2008 11:01:36
I recently played a Duskblade, and they're a pretty good caster; primarily blasters, but some buffs/debuffs, as well. High BAB, decent spells per day, can cast in heavy armor by 17, and capable of channeling arcane spells through their weapon, as well as quick-casting spells a certain number of times per day, which can lead (if your GM plays called shots, which in the WLD, we do) to such tremendous combinations as 'Quick-Cast True Strike, called shot on the head channeling Shocking Grasp'.

The spells won't be of such a high level, of course, but I've found them to be very combat capable. Mine died upon being ingested by a Gelatinous Cube and subsequently hit by a thermite grenade (someone was playing a d20 Modern in the WLD). I might have survived the ordeal, except I was playing a Dex/Int based build, using the Elven Courtblade and Doublebow (Improved Weapon Familiarity, Snow Elf) rather than a Str/Con/Int based build, so I didn't have piles of extra HP, but it was one of the most fun characters I've played yet.
#5

shigunaru

Apr 17, 2008 11:06:02
Here is some material for you to read. Some of this are old threads, but you will learn something useful anyway:

The Comprehensive 3.5 Arcane Gish Thread (rebuilt from the binary up)

Character Build Spotlight: Gish

+1 BAB and +1 Caster Level
Gish with highest BAB and Spells

Have fun!
#6

brluckyshot

Apr 17, 2008 11:07:06
Wraith strike as a spell like ability: I figured it kept its Swift action, if it dosent Id like to know for sure and id drop that and prolly pick up something else


abj champ @ 10th Oops thought bab pre req was +4
#7

kyoto

Apr 17, 2008 11:25:42
I would pick up Arcane strike for bonus to hit and damage. It uses your spells per day but nothing like getting +1 to hit +1d4 damage/ spell level sacrificed. And if you focus on getting more spells per day then you can really pump it out. Or if you get the original version where there is no 1 spell limit then you can make it more painful (Dm's decision of course). I would also do the metamagic varient for sorceror and get persistant spell feat. And get buffs. Also look in arms & equipment guide. There's materials for armor that lessens the spell failure.

Those are just a few suggestions. There are more. But it also depends on if you want to dish out the damage or not.
#8

robbypants

Apr 17, 2008 12:27:33
Standard Abjurant Champion entries are things like:

Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Spellsword 1

Fighter 1 / Wizard 6 / Spellsword 1

These two are some of my favorites. If you go the first route, and don't mind blowing a 5th level spell known on Dismissal, you can qualify for Sacred Exorsist, which will help keep your BAB and hit points up. While you lose two caster levels, you get much better HP and BAB as well as Cha mod to saves if you do something like:

Paladin 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Sacred Exorsist 8
#9

brluckyshot

Apr 17, 2008 16:30:02
Are there any real armors that give +13 ac and -4 to all melee attacks??
Greater Luminescent armor lasts for hours per Level.... although it dose drain str alittle....
My end goal is to have a caster level of 17 and be as optimized as possable...
tensers transformation makes up for the BAB Greater mighty wallop takes care of damage... although 2 levels in pld would be very hot for cha to saves
#10

davethemagicweasel

Apr 17, 2008 17:03:46
You can't cast spells when under the effects of Tensers. And it costs 300 gp each casting for the potion.

i.e. it sucks.

Greater Mighty Wallop and Greater LuminousArmour are excellent choices. Just get the Cleric to Lesser Restoration you, or just sleep it off.
#11

nebo

Apr 17, 2008 17:38:27
Paladin 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Sacred Exorsist 8

+1
#12

kyoto

Apr 17, 2008 17:46:19
Another idea is to shapeshift. Things like polymorph. Also a great add would be baleful polymorph so you can knock down those pesky badguys to nothing but a rodent. Or a Kobold.
#13

zedorland

Apr 17, 2008 20:23:09
If your like me, and dont like polymorph, i find that 3 levelks of spell sword is a huge boon. It means that you can wear Mithral twilight full plate, with no ASF chance.

also, my favorite entry is sorc 6/barb1/spellsowrd3/whatever10.

this gets cl8/10
no asf chance in supper amour
no movement penalty in mithral full plate
rage 1 per day (i tend to take extra rage as well, buff up, rage and start killing)
spell channeled strike thing (can be handy)

this is just my personal preference, based around my dislike for shape changing, and hatred of speed penalties
#14

brluckyshot

Apr 18, 2008 22:56:16
You can't cast spells when under the effects of Tensers. And it costs 300 gp each casting for the potion.

i.e. it sucks.

Greater Mighty Wallop and Greater LuminousArmour are excellent choices. Just get the Cleric to Lesser Restoration you, or just sleep it off.

If you buff 1st, and tensers you dont need to cast nearly as much, and you can still use spell like abilities (arch mage)
#15

vicen_korel

Apr 19, 2008 0:29:50
even then tensers can be over rated. If you are going to use it as a main focus point then I would suggest Reserve feats (magic effects as supernaturals without casting spells) and, of course, Arcane Strike. Abjurant Champion would be a very good choice too as it opens up other options for your spell slots while transformed (not great options but they are all insight and will stack most times because of that). 300 gp for a spell doesn't seem like much, but if you do it 2~3 times a day that's 600~900gp and that can get expensive fast. If you must have tenser's I would suggest a close look at rage mage (CW) not that great but it's capstone is Tenser's that you can cast in.
#16

davethemagicweasel

Apr 19, 2008 1:18:11
If you buff 1st, and tensers you dont need to cast nearly as much, and you can still use spell like abilities (arch mage)

It still closes you off from swift action buffs while you cast. I'm still reasonably sure that a Wraithstrike SLA becomes a standard action, so that doesn't work. Or it stops you from casting immediate action "counters" like Ruin Delver's Fortune et al. Plus its adding another spell to your buff sequence, when you could build for a high natural BAB so you're ok if ambushed and spend that round casting something different.

Besides, at high levels imo a gish should really be casting Arcane Spellsurge, so you can enter melee while you buff up. And the versatility of being able to cast battlefield control spells, debuffs, flight/teleport/movement spells, dispels, etc while fighting is part of what makes a gish powerful. It's not just a case of using spells to make yourself a fighter, it's also about having versatility so as to cope with a myriad selection of challenges.

But if you insist, then I'd go with Vicen's suggestion - Arcane Strike. I doubt you can use reserve feats during Tenser's though, since you don't have a spell of Xth level "available to cast".

Far better would just be to get Divine Power on your spell list (e.g. via Arcane Disciple) and then convert that to an SLA, a la ShakaUVM's Guide - that way you have BAB +20 and can still cast. iirc the Competition domain will get you Righteous Might as well, which is also an excelent self-buff.
#17

kazumoshun

Apr 21, 2008 12:33:33
You can't cast spells when under the effects of Tensers. And it costs 300 gp each casting for the potion.

i.e. it sucks.

Greater Mighty Wallop and Greater LuminousArmour are excellent choices. Just get the Cleric to Lesser Restoration you, or just sleep it off.

But you can use psionic powers *eyebrow wiggle*