Martially inclined wizards

[A Small Cute Cat]

Do they exist here? I looked at the Eldritch Knight class, but couldn't make sense of it.

Is it better to just do a full-on spellcastery wizard?

[chad878262]

Short answer is yes.

Longer answer is you can build a Martial Wizard in multiple ways, depending on what you are looking for. Want short term buffs, don't mind if you get dispelled? F12/W8/EK10 gives you BAB26 and level 9 spells, but you are very dispellable. You need to equip like a fighter (+4 armor/deflection/natural/dodge items and +4 weapons). You'll do decent damage and still be a solid fighter even without spells so you can use your spells for specific purposes in the short term. Just don't expect any buff to last long if an area has dispels, since your CL is 17, 21 with PSC.

If you want to be more of a Caster, W10/EK10/DS10 will have CL29 and BAB 25. Less damage than the above, but getting hit with Greater dispel won't be a big deal, you might lose a buff, but not often. W13/EK10/DS7 will give you CL30, BAB23 making you completely immune to Greater Dispel.

Elves have the Bladesinger class which opens a multitude of build options. SB5/W5/EK10/BS10 is a build I play and does well. Lots of synergy for a rapier DEX/INT build which works well on a Drow, Sun Elf, or Moon Elf. Solid damage and CL25 with BAB27. You can also go W5/D7/EK8/BS10 for CL18/22 for similar results. Both want to equip as a non-caster, use buffs that might be dispelled and most spells to apply extra damage to your weapon. Can Also go SB5/D7/W8/BS10 for CL14/18 and 7th level spells, but with SB and Duelist providing solid damage. W10/EK10/BS10 is much like the same split for Dragon Slayer, CL29, BAB25. Could even throw in Dragon Slayer for W7/EK10/BS10/DS3 (CL28, BAB 26).

Then you have the Sorcer/Paladin splits such as S6/P4/EK10/DS10 or Bladesinger... Which can give you your EDM gish, at cost of caster level.

[Deathgrowl]

Then you have the Sorcer/Paladin splits such as S6/P4/EK10/DS10 or Bladesinger... Which can give you your EDM gish, at cost of caster level.

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

Gishes are excellent, though. Dispel can be harsh when it happens, but you can learn tricks to deal with it. If you go for a sorcerer, you also easily have recasts of your buffs.

[chad878262]

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

*shrug* The classes can co-exist unless there is a rule I'm unaware of... Though if you prefer it could be Deathsinger Blackguard...

[A Small Cute Cat]

If you want to be more of a Caster, W10/EK10/DS10 will have CL29 and BAB 25. Less damage than the above, but getting hit with Greater dispel won't be a big deal, you might lose a buff, but not often. W13/EK10/DS7 will give you CL30, BAB23 making you completely immune to Greater Dispel.

I think one of these is what I'm after. Will I be able to get 9th level spells with only 10 or 13 wizard levels?

Also, what's "DS"?

[chad878262]

https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title=Dragon_Slayer

Yes you'll have full spell casting with 9th level spells. CL30 is immune to greater dispel while 29 allows a 5% chance to dispel each buff and every CL below 29 adds another 5%.

[A Small Cute Cat]

Thanks!

What would those builds look like, and does it come down to personal preference or is there a "better" one?

Not sure how much difference 2 Base Attack Bonus makes, in the grand scheme of things.

[MrPsion]

No love for Wiz 5 / Swash 5 / EK 10 / Archmage (caster) or Duelist (martial?)

[Sun Wukong]

Then you have the Sorcer/Paladin splits such as S6/P4/EK10/DS10 or Bladesinger... Which can give you your EDM gish, at cost of caster level.

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

Not really...

[Deathgrowl]

Then you have the Sorcer/Paladin splits such as S6/P4/EK10/DS10 or Bladesinger... Which can give you your EDM gish, at cost of caster level.

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

Not really...

Bladesong is an elvish semi-secret (hence the elf/half-elf requirement) and has a lot of elvish culture lore behind it. None of the Seldarine support paladins. Paladin elves are virtually non-existent in the first place, and certainly won't happen in actual elvish societies.

So yes, really.

[chad878262]

None of the Seldarine support paladins.

I stand corrected...Didn't realize there was not a single elven pantheon deity that supported paladins. This being the case one can NOT be a Paladin and a Bladesinger since Bladesinger requires worship of the Seldarine.

DeathSinger/Blackguard still works though.

[niapet]

Then you have the Sorcer/Paladin splits such as S6/P4/EK10/DS10 or Bladesinger... Which can give you your EDM gish, at cost of caster level.

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

Gishes are excellent, though. Dispel can be harsh when it happens, but you can learn tricks to deal with it. If you go for a sorcerer, you also easily have recasts of your buffs.

Man this is the very definition of power gaming builds... pally should not be allowed to multi-class like that...

[chad878262]

Man this is the very definition of power gaming builds... pally should not be allowed to multi-class like that...

Really? I'd say a caster level 25 with paladin dip for saves and edm is weaker than a favored soul that dips paladin. Perhaps we should expand upon your definitions.

in any case as DG pointed out it's not possible.

[Sun Wukong]

Paladin bladesinger? What an abomination.

Not really...

Bladesong is an elvish semi-secret (hence the elf/half-elf requirement) and has a lot of elvish culture lore behind it. None of the Seldarine support paladins. Paladin elves are virtually non-existent in the first place, and certainly won't happen in actual elvish societies.

So yes, really.

In which case I will just roll a Wild Elf oprhan raised by some goodly order of Ilmater, have him become a Paladin, go adventure, discover the natural inclination towards sorcery, and at long last run into other elves and become a Bladesinger. And the thing is, is just another snowflake in a blizzard.

Anyhow, you could just use cleric for EDM, which also opens a path to use those heal scrolls, divine power scrolls, etc. Sorcerer 7/Cleric 3/Eldritch Knight 10/Dragon Slayer 10 or Bladesinger 10 works just fine.

Maybe even use Blackguard... I'd have to look into feats to know for sure.

[Sapper Woody]

My gish build was Wiz10/EK10/DS10. I had 16 INT and a +3 item to make 19 so I could cast up to level nine spells. Went a specialist wizard to get one extra spell slot per level. I start with 16STR and bumped it up every opportunity.

At level 30, I could clear most of the server solo. Black dragon, serpent queen, cloudpeaks lich, Nashkel mines. Never tried the green dragon or the frost king. But I'm confident I could have done them, maybe with a couple heal pots.

But yes, martial wizards exist, and can be quite powerful. Make sure you take IPA (and you can use it on pretty much anything, even bosses) and use a 2-handed weapon. I favored the Greatsword. With GMW and Heroism, using PA I still had an AB of roughly 38.

Your armor buffed is only in the mid 40s. But then you have mirrors, stoneskin, ghostly visage, premonition, etc. For bosses you use iron body and tensers, and you become a god for 3 minutes.

The issue is, while buffed you are unkillable and a death machine. Unbuffed, and you are a subpar fighter.

Edited to add: This is basically the build I used. http://nwn2db.com/build/?266856 I made some changes on the fly, but that's still basically it.