Amazing Gestalt combinations!

[Dusk Eclipse]

Rogue4/Sublime Way Ranger 16//Wizard 5/Unseen Seer 10/anything that increases spellcasting levels 5

For great saves, 19 BAB, manoubers with IL 18 (YAY 9 th level manoubers) some SA, Full Wizard casting, great skills, and the goodies that you can get with the last prestige class.

[Swooper]

I'm a fan of Telepath//Warblade. Use Schism, Hustle and Linked Power to mitigate action dependancy. Take lots of buff powers. Specialize in Diamond Mind, then go to town when you realise psionic focus can be used to take 15 on concentration checks.

I'm playing warlock//binder/KotSS now, going for Hellfire Warlock ASAP. Great fun.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I'm a fan of TelepathEgoist//Warblade. Use Schism, Hustle and Linked Power to mitigate action dependancy. Take lots of buff powers. Specialize in Diamond Mind, then go to town when you realise psionic focus can be used to take 15 on concentration checks.

I'm playing warlock//binder/KotSS now, going for Hellfire Warlock ASAP. Great fun.

FTFY Schism is just a feat away and most of the better buffs are on the Egoist list

[Morph Bark]

Once my group gets back to this sometime and I am allowed to be a player, I plan on going Factotum//Warblade.

In that case I'd also advise the others to use stuff like Duskblade//Wizard/Abjurant Champion, Beguiler//Crusader, something with Archivist OR Artificer (both would be overkill on power, versatility and bookkeeping), Dread Necromancer//Warmage (with cold focus and feats like Lord of Uttercold), Totemist//Druid (possibly with two levels of Swordsage, possibly with Vow of Poverty).

[Ravens_cry]

Gnome Rogue/Barbarian (Warning: DM may be inclined to throw books)

Why? Thematically it's quirky but fun sounding. I don't see how it's particularity cheesy though, the usual book throwing cause.
I played a CN Gnome Barbarian once. Many bodies with gashes at crotch level or lower were found.
Gestault ideas. Monk//Cleric. Basically, I want to play Cologne, Shampoo from Ranma 1/2's grandmother.
Barbarian//Druid MAD, but a lot of buffs for yourself for a great shamanistic feeling.

[ImperiousLeader]

Incarnum classes are very effective gestalts as they add a lot of passive benefits.

Incarnate//Artificer - Incarnate's skill boosting soulmelds help those early level UMD checks, and add some immediate combat options when your infusions run dry.

Totemist//Druid - a truly sick number of natural attacks.

Soulborn//Sorcerer - not as effective as the Paladin//Sorcerer combination, but there's a few spell boosting soulmelds that'll help.

[Tome]

I tend to go with Wizard 20//Factotum 16/Warblade 4 myself. Switching in whatever full casting PrCs I like on the Wizard side of course, occasionally using Psion or Erudite instead of Wizard.

The other build I like is Ranger 12/Scout 8//Monk 2/Ardent 18, using Swift Hunter and Tashalatora. Swift action movement powers (Hustle, Inconstant Location) from Ardent work for triggering Skirmish on the large number of attacks from combining Two-Weapon Fighting and Flurry Of Blows. Just wish I could think of a good way to give it some Tiger Claw Martial Adept-ness.

[Snake-Aes]

Incarnum classes are very effective gestalts as they add a lot of passive benefits.

Incarnate//Artificer - Incarnate's skill boosting soulmelds help those early level UMD checks, and add some immediate combat options when your infusions run dry.

Totemist//Druid - a truly sick number of natural attacks.

Soulborn//Sorcerer - not as effective as the Paladin//Sorcerer combination, but there's a few spell boosting soulmelds that'll help.

Why would you use a soulborn for anything other than the sake of using a soulborn? O.o
Note: Incarnates, with their 1/2 BAB, build up greater attack bonuses than Soulborns with their full BAB. Soulborn is a fighter that traded all bonus feats for...less than that.

[Greenish]

Why would you use a soulborn for anything other than the sake of using a soulborn? O.o
Note: Incarnates, with their 1/2 BAB, build up greater attack bonuses than Soulborns with their full BAB. Soulborn is a fighter that traded all bonus feats for...less than that.

Incarnates, on the other hand, go well with most everything one can think of (except for alignment restrictions).

[Reynard]

No mention of Psion//Warblade?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Wizard//Warblade has two active sides; while it's powerful, that's frowned upon.

That said, Wizard/Incantatrix//Warblade becomes an absolute monster. Persist every personal arcane buff spell you want (and others with the right feats) using Metamagic Effect and a buffed Spellcraft. What's scarier than a warblade in melee? A flying, polymorphed warblade who attacks touch AC all day!

[Elvenoutrider]

Maybe not the most effective build but I had a lot of fun with an artificer/monk

gave him flying mithril full plate, magic gauntlets, and multiple scorching ray and fireball wands.

character name - tony stark

[Soranar]

rule of thumb for gestalt

nearly anything + Factotum or Druid is made of win

but for a fun combo


Monk /Swashbuckler

if you use ToB material it can become a ridiculously powerful fighter type (carmendine monk, martial study + martial stance to gain access to assassin's stance then dashing outlaw to give you a rogue sneak attack progression and finally shadowblade to give you DEX to damage)

DEX to hit
DEX + INT to damage
DEX + INT to AC
all high saves
sneak attack
full BAB and flurry

[Eldariel]

Wizard//Warblade has two active sides; while it's powerful, that's frowned upon.

It's...really not that simple. Warblade's maneuvers replace your attacks so as long as you pick Strike-type maneuvers (along with few choice counters and things-that-could-be-spells-but-don't-take slots) and play it like a Gish (Arcane Strike, long duration and persistent buffs, few immediate action protections and mobility spells), you'll really have a nice action spread and thanks to Arcane Strike in particular, you can burn a lot of resources in relatively the same actions.

Of course, this gets better with one of the huge winners in Gestalt, Swiftblade, on the Wizard-side for the extra standard action ('cause Warblade = Standard Actions are win in melee and Swiftblade pumps those out) and don't lose caster levels thanks to Wizard plug levels on the other side, while still getting 18th level Initiator's maneuvers. It doesn't hurt that Stances can be constantly active too and e.g. Leading the Charge is immensely powerful on a standard charging Gish shell. As an added bonus, Swiftblade/Warblade is hugely frightening in Dead Magic or AMFs once he can persist Haste thanks to Ex Haste. Basically full Warblade abilities coupled with extra actions, 50% miss chance, some numeric bonuses and so on. And you'll probably have Elusive Target too.


Overall, PrCs that lose casting are a whole lot more viable in Gestalt since instead of losing many scaling levels worth of casting (which exponentially weakens a character), they lose few levels worth of (mostly) static abilities which is a mere numeric loss that doesn't take nearly as much from the PrC to make up with the abilities as it doesn't get worse over levels.

[Da Beast]

Psion/Elocator//Swift hunter/More psion to mantain manifester level is a build I've been wanting to play for a while now. Elocator can move 10ft with a 5ft step to activate skirmish combined with a few buffs from psion should make you a decent combatant with other powers to add battle field control of whatever. Focus on utility powers and between that and your 6-8 skill points per level + maxed intelligence you should have huge out of combat utility.

[Icewraith]

Remember that normal multiclassing rules don't work the same way in gestalt!

Instead, the first character class you take on each side counts as a favored class (I'm not sure if it only counts for that side), and the normal racial favored classes are completely bypassed.

So you don't have to be a human to be a Paladin of Tyranny X Rogue 2/Hexblade 3//Sorcerer, or a Rogue 1/ Monk 2/ HExblade 3/Rogue n-6//Sorcerer 5 Prestige Caster CLass n-5, where n is your character level (Minimum h=6). Note that it's important that you take Rogue first (so it counts as your favored class) if you want primarily rogue levels on your side opposite sorcerer, two levels of monk, three of hexblade to avoid ever taking multiclassing penalties, and then straight rogue. You can go hexblade 4 to pick up the unkillable debuffing dark companion from phII but you need to take a third level of monk in order to do so- and monk 3 isn't a whole lot better than monk 2 (unless Ascetic Mage allows you to freely multiclass monk).

[Jack_Simth]

Remember that normal multiclassing rules don't work the same way in gestalt!

Instead, the first character class you take on each side counts as a favored class (I'm not sure if it only counts for that side), and the normal racial favored classes are completely bypassed.

Ah... got a reference for this?

(unless Ascetic Mage allows you to freely multiclass monk).

Freely? No. Just between Monk and Sorcerer (See Complete Adventurer - the feat description includes that).

[ImperiousLeader]

Why would you use a soulborn for anything other than the sake of using a soulborn? O.o
Note: Incarnates, with their 1/2 BAB, build up greater attack bonuses than Soulborns with their full BAB. Soulborn is a fighter that traded all bonus feats for...less than that.

It's been awhile since I'd read the class, my memory of it being the Incarnum paladin meant I forgot they don't get a CHA to saves option. You're right, there's no reason not to go Incarnate // Sorcerer instead.

[dgnslyr]

If you didn't understand that, MAD means your character depends too much on different stats. The Monk is MAD because it needs a 4 abilities scores to be effective (Str, Con, Dex, Wis).

I don't get why people say the monk is MAD. Many martial classes need a mental stat as a secondary stat. Warblades, for example, have some abilities that require a bit of INT. It's just that you don't get a whole lot out of being a monk . Paladin, on the other hand, is MADder than a hatter, needing physical stats + _2_ mental stats.

[Jallorn]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned StP Erudite//Factotum yet?

Warlock//Anything is a favorite of mine.

Several classes fit there nicely, Sorcerer has good fluff and crunch reasons to be there, Bard or Beguiler are also fun, specially for a diplomancer, Cleric can work, though it gets a little MAD, and Rogue is always awesome. Dread Necro is also fun.

I don't get why people say the monk is MAD. Many martial classes need a mental stat as a secondary stat. Warblades, for example, have some abilities that require a bit of INT. It's just that you don't get a whole lot out of being a monk . Paladin, on the other hand, is MADder than a hatter, needing physical stats + _2_ mental stats.

I'm putting my response in spoiler because I don't want to turn this into a Monk conversation.

Spoiler

Show

The Monk is MAD. They need Str to hit, or at least to hurt, they need Dex to dodge, Con to be healthy, and Wis to dodge. That's pretty much MAD. Plus, I think they have an ability based off Cha. Paladins may need Wis and Cha, but they can dump Dex, somewhat, since they can at least wear armor, and with the ability to use some spells and magic weapons, the paladin doesn't really need to worry about their Str for damage quite as much.

[Rezby]

It may not be the best build, but I'm a fan of having a feral illithid (or half-illithid human if you can't convince your DM to drop Racial Hit Dice) with Multiheaded for added lulz to go as a monk/factotum (only up to 8 on this one, to get that ability that lets you take extra actions. The rest can be sorceror or psion or perhaps a class that better complements the fluff of the build). You'd have to make Int your highest base stat due to being dependant upon it and Feral taking it down a bit, but you'd get to charge people then full attack with rending claws and unarmed attack (ie elbow or knee or beard) and brain-eating tentacles (which if grapple successful, brain is then eaten on the following round). And you can then use your extra standard action to make sure you have 4 grappling tentacles on the poor basterd or to buff yourself or make sure they can't escape. Whatever works.

Another build I enjoyed was the wizard/initiate of the sevenfold veil (Complete Arcane)/Archmage//monk (for unarmored AC bonus)/saint (Book of Exalted Deeds template that can be added to spectacularly good characters) LA/factotum (because especially a wizard could benefit from extra actions).
What does GitP think of these two builds? Are they sound?

[Mongoose87]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned StP Erudite//Factotum yet?

Warlock//Anything is a favorite of mine.

Several classes fit there nicely, Sorcerer has good fluff and crunch reasons to be there, Bard or Beguiler are also fun, specially for a diplomancer, Cleric can work, though it gets a little MAD, and Rogue is always awesome. Dread Necro is also fun.



I'm putting my response in spoiler because I don't want to turn this into a Monk conversation.

Spoiler

Show

The Monk is MAD. They need Str to hit, or at least to hurt, they need Dex to dodge, Con to be healthy, and Wis to dodge. That's pretty much MAD. Plus, I think they have an ability based off Cha. Paladins may need Wis and Cha, but they can dump Dex, somewhat, since they can at least wear armor, and with the ability to use some spells and magic weapons, the paladin doesn't really need to worry about their Str for damage quite as much.

You forgot that they need Int, for skill points, as they do not have nearly enough for their list.

[Cespenar]

While it isn't an "amazing" combination, I would like to play a Monk 1/Sorcerer 4/Enlightened Fist 10/Abjurant Champion 5//Marshal 1/Monk 1/Paladin 4/Sacred Fist 10/Tattooed Monk 4 someday.

Yeah, I know it's silly. *sigh*

[The Shadowmind]

If human:
Factotum 8/Chameleon2/Totemist 5/Pyshic Warrior 4(Mantle ACF, Practiced Manifester), Binder 1(Improved Binding)///Egosit 11(1st level bonus fear ACF swap for changeling's minor shapeshift ability)//Constructor 9(Expanded knowledge/research for the prerequisites).

[Morph Bark]

While it isn't an "amazing" combination, I would like to play a Monk 1/Sorcerer 4/Enlightened Fist 10/Abjurant Champion 5//Marshal 1/Monk 1/Paladin 4/Sacred Fist 10/Tattooed Monk 4 someday.

Yeah, I know it's silly. *sigh*

By normal gestalt rules you can't progress two PrCs at once though. Of course, most of the gestalt rules besides "put two classes next to one another" are moreso heavily recommended than required.

Personally, I'd love to try an Artificer//Something psionic/Thrallherd kind of thing, making as many of my followers Artificers, and then start crafting a giant airship of doom together.

[Cadian 9th]

Factotum//Duskblade.
Yes. This is just awesome. Weapon finesse at 1st level gets you the ability to dump strength, especially with int to damage.

Swordsage//Hit and Run Sneak attack fighter.
Unarmed Swordsage, Shadow Blade. High ini, the ability to capatilize on winning ini, versatile as hell, and tough too.

Hunter Avenger Druid//Monk;
Going with Brutal Throw. Suprisingly good; Ferocity or whirling frenzy, take your pick. Double wis to AC, monk bonus feats (Meh, Toughness or Power attack); Multi-class into totemist to keep your AC climbing.

My 2 cents

[Kaje]

Any combination of warlock, sorcerer and binder is fun.

Warlock/HfW//Binder means you can take full advantage of Hellfire Warlock without losing out on that 12 invocation and final d6 of Eldritch Blast.

[Amphetryon]

Warlock/Binder//Paladin of Tyranny 3/X Full BAB 12/KoSS 5

[true_shinken]

Mystic Ranger//Arcane Swordsage.

OK, that was silly.

[MarkusWolfe]

Fighter/Barbarian and Barbarian/Barbarian. Because someone needs to be a true meatshield!

For thos confused about the latter, I'm referring to taking standard Barbarian with one of these.

Also, Cleric/Favored Soul for the ultimate in healing and some moderate buffs, and Cleric/Bard for the ultimate in buffs and some moderate healing.