Looking for Wizard Gish Build

[Verus]

I've spent a few days reading over these forums hoping to find something without needing to post, but I notice there have been some changes to the server over time that make what I'm looking for a little more difficult to figure out.

Basically I'd like to build a wizard gish type character that focuses a little more on melee and being able to take hits. Access to some damage wouldn't be unwelcome, but it isn't priority. I've done this through auto-still 3 full plate eldritch knights in the past, but I notice this server has a really neat polymorph/shapechange option. Not an option I'm insistent on taking. I'd be up for whatever works best with this loose concept.

My requested limitations are:

1. Human
2. Avoid palemaster and blood magus (or other borderline ethical class choices) for RP reasons
3. Preferably no paladin, blackguard, or cleric to avoid the background such a class choice usually represents

Thanks for taking the time to read and I'll try to check back on this often.

[chad878262]

Pretty easy to make a Wizard gish and meet your requirements.

W10/EK10/DragonSlayer 10. CL 29, 200+ CON HP, all armor and tower shields. In addition, it's easier to qualify for auto-still spell so you can get it earlier in your build. There are two paths to consider.

path 1: Take W to 10 in order to hit +5 BAB so you can take Dragon Slayer. This will give you Martial Weapons so you can take EK.

Path 2: Spend a feat on martial weapons and take EK at level 6 or so. Save W10 until epic levels which gains you one extra epic feat.

Feats you must take: Dodge, Iron Will, Martial Weapon Proficiency (path 2), Practiced Spell Caster, Still Spell

Feats you should take: Extend Spell, Quicken Spell (depending on how much you PvP and how competent you are at using it)

That leaves you with one or two pre-epic feats which can be spent on blindfight, power attack (or northlander hewing), Combat Expertise, etc. depending on if you want more damage or AC.

Stats: You can go one of two ways. Standard option is max STR With INT of ~16-18 (there is a +4 helm available from a shop, but it's expensive). The maximized STR will help with damage obviously as well as attack bonus. Option two is more the "bladesinger route" where you leave STR at ~14 and maximize INT. This requires you to take Combat Expertise Pre-epic and then Epic Prowess and Combat Insight in epics. You are still ok with AB with all your buffs since you have 25 (BAB) + 5 (GMW) + 4 (G. Heroism) + 4 (STR after Bull's STR) + 1 (Epic Prowess = 39. Not great, but good enough. Could always use potions of aid/bless as needed. The benefit here is that with ~32 or so final INT you have +11 to damage, extra spell slots and higher DCs. So you may do less weapon damage, but your cloud spells, disables and damage spells will all be more effective. You could of course increase STR up to 16 if you wanted to, but paying 2 for 1 in point buy when you are already likely going for 17/18 starting INT will make other stats suffer.

No matter what, you want 13 DEX, which is needed to take Dodge. You will wear Mithral Full Plate and use a heavy shield (tower shield when you want to go full tank mode). CON is your next most important stat followed by WIS and CHA.

Epic Feats: Auto Still I, II, and III, Epic Prowess and Combat Insight (If going max INT), potentially an Epic spell or Great INT feats.

enjoy.

[Verus]

Thank you very much for the prompt reply. I suppose this is simple enough build all around, but I do have some follow up questions on the finer points.

• Is this build improved at all by polymorph or shapechange?
• Which epic spells are worth getting (if any)?
• Is picking a specialization recommended for this theme? I generally don't find extra slots quite as pivotal for gish types, but I haven't extensively looked over the BGTSCC spell changes and additions.
• How important is AC when it comes to PvE environments? Should I be going for Armor Skin and/or Improved Combat Expetise? Or perhaps classes that give stacking AC types; or will I be comfortable in mithral full plate and a shield?

I apologize for the slew of questions. I realize some of these might be already answered elsewhere, but those are all the questions that struck me when I considered the feats I'm trying to shoot for.

[chad878262]

Is this build improved at all by polymorph or shapechange?

It's not terrible. As a bonus you don't really need Augment Form feat. In fact Augment Form is only worth it if you are going to primarily use Shapechange. The feat just makes your low BAB classes in to Medium BAB, thus instead of having 25, you'll have 27 BAB, but only when you are in an alternate form, via Polymorph or shapechange. In short I would say it is NOT improved, but there is no harm in using Shapechange now and again. However, Shapechange was designed/balanced to be a useful spell for standard casters. It wasn't designed to empower Gish builds. Thus you'll be fine with it, but I would not say it's going to be good as your normal form, buffed up and bashing.

Which epic spells are worth getting (if any)?

Vampiric Feast remains the number 1 spell, but it's considered Evil so not sure if it fits your concept. Hellball is pretty nice because it ignores Evasion, Damnation is nice when folks aren't protected by PfE / PfG or Mindblank (auto-dazed, no save). Greater Ruin does 50d6 positive energy to single target so it's ok. I would say Epic spells are low priority for a gish though, so only take one if you end up with one open feat and nothing to spend it on.

Is picking a specialization recommended for this theme? I generally don't find extra slots quite as pivotal for gish types, but I haven't extensively looked over the BGTSCC spell changes and additions.

This is very dependent on the player. I find you can never have enough spells. As Deathgrowl says, wizards are most powerful before they cast a single spell. Which is basically never for a gish since you are buffing as soon as you finish resting. If you want to do shapechange, SF: Transmutation will add 1 to your AC when in form. GSF = +2 and ESF = +4. For a gish I think there are more important feats rather than spell focus. As to chosing a specialty/opposition school that is up to you. You can get by without access to any given school of magic, but as a gish I would only be willing to give up either divination or necromancy. Other schools have too important buff spells or clouds.

How important is AC when it comes to PvE environments? Should I be going for Armor Skin and/or Improved Combat Expetise? Or perhaps classes that give stacking AC types; or will I be comfortable in mithral full plate and a shield?

As a Gish, wearing Mithral Plate and heavy shield Your AC is 10 + 11 (MFP, 16 DEX) + 6 (IMA) + 5 (Shadow Shield) + 4 (Shield/Deez/or Shades) + 4 (Dodge boots) + 4 (Deflection item) + 2 (Heavy Shield) + 3 (Tumble) = 49, can go to 51 with Tower Shield at expense of AB, not to mention haste, mirror images and displacement. Thus, you can largely skip feats. Even if you only get +3 Dodge boots and deflection item, nothing else is gear dependent besides Mithril Full Plate and even with AC ~47 instead of 49 your mirrors will last nearly forever with displacement up. Just remember when Displacement is fighting with Haste for (extended or regular) spell slots that Displacement is more important if you are going to a dangerous area and concerned about if it is too strong for you. Haste is convenience.

[Verus]

Fantastic! I think that's just about all I've had rattling around in my head for now. Hopefully I can figure the rest out on my own.

Thank you again for the replies.

[metaquad4]

Here are 4 I've made in the past:
Dragonslayer Gish: http://nwn2db.com/build/?287879 (25 BAB, 30 CL)
--Auto-Still STR-Based Gish. Pretty basic, pretty good.

Bladesinger Gish: http://nwn2db.com/build/?287204 (25 BAB, 30 CL)
--Similar to the above, but you don't need auto-still. However, that does render you unable to take advantage of the Iron Body spell. You can cast spells on hit, which is its own advantage as well.
**Make sure to use longsword, rapier doesn't give you STR*1.5 damage when you single-wield it.

Shapeshifting Gish: http://nwn2db.com/build/?273641 (27 BAB, 30 CL)
--Gish that still gets empowered and maximized for casting. Pretty flexible and fool-proof, doesn't require as much gear as well.

Shapeshiftng and Summoning Gish: http://nwn2db.com/build/?295106 (26 BAB, 29 CL)
--Similar to the Shapeshifting Gish, but you trade 1 CL, 1 BAB, and your ability to empower/maximize for full Summoning capabilities (2 Summons at their full potentianl).

[Verus]

The links help quite a bit, thank you.

I think I'll go with the first one. I plan on dropping blood magus and making it human for RP reasons, but otherwise I'm hoping it will fit together quite well. Loss of some stats and 1 CL, but ah well.

The shifter and summoner versions are quite tempting, but I'm hoping I can RCR that way if I decide I'd prefer the change.

I also hadn't realized going scimitar would be the way to go, but I notice its chosen in your write up within the build.

All in all I'm very glad for the advice. I think I'll roll something up tomorrow.

[metaquad4]

29 CL shouldn't be too bad. I'm not sure if you'll get regularily dispelled with 28, pretty sure that'll be fairly dangerous though. I'd stick to any of the builds put the planar shepard one in that case.

For shapeshifting, human is good. Tiefling stats don't carry over, so you actually lose 2 INT when you shift. I usually just go it for the 30 INT (30 Base int and a +4 item with prodigy = 7 level 9 spell slots) for the spell slots, but it isn't a dealbreaker to not go for it. Plus, you get an extra feat. Going 10 wizard instead of 4 blood magus will net you another epic feat, I'd do that.