Duskblade Build

[nick123qwe]

Hi, guys!

I'm not a frequent poster on this forum in general but I'm going to start my very first campaign as a level 7 NE human duskblade(and i plan on getting duskblade 13) and was wondering was your thoughts were for the build that I'm going for. My DM seems like the lenient kind and said that feats like extra spell and those similar to it allow me to pick spells of any arcane spell list instead of just my own, also Im allowed one flaw. And lastly, as much as i wanted to be a tripper, my crusader buddy took that build and i don't wanna be redundant.

Duskblade13/Abjurant Champion5/Warblade1/Fighter1?

Level one feats: versatile spell caster(1), precocious apprentice(wraithstrike)(human), power attack(flaw)
Level 2: Combat Casting(Bonus)
Level 3: obtain familiar(hawk, party has a perception problem atm)
Level 6: Knowledge devotion
Level 9: Arcane Strike
Level 12: Improved Familiar(winter wolf)
Level 15:open(extra spell feat?)
Level18:open
level 20/fighter:Improved initiative or weapon focus

I could go this build or swap two of the earlier feats for sudden empower and maximize and switch my race to changling to become duskblade 13/recaster 5/duskblade 2?

The recaster build allows me to pick up 2 up to level 3 spells for free and 5 sudden maximize magics and a sudden empower at recaster 5 which can do alot of damage or paired with shivering touch auto kill enemies, but the build has a bit of sacrifice in fort save, 3 BAB and 1 CL lose. But the abjuration champion build is a much cleaner route that doesn't screw up my caster level or BAB, and if i manage to nab shield and greater shield it would add to my ass AC. I primarily plan on grabbing spells through purchasing the drake helm although it could be quiet expensive.

The spells i would consider getting of the helm or extra spell feats would be: Combust, whirling blade, polymorph(cause full arcane channel this touch spell for maximun fun), shield, greater shield.
Any other good spell suggestions would be nice for consideration.

Any thoughts? I've thought about Ur-priest, but it seemed like the class took alot of requirements to get into, and not that many good spells that synergies with the duskblade well(although harm would amazing, but that will only happen 1 or 2 times a day) I also read the duskblade guide on brilliant gameologists, i feel that parts of the guide are outdated.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Looks good. I'd add crusader 1 before fighter 1, to get a second set of maneuvers and stances up to 5th level, but a one-level dip in Spellsword is nice, too (full base attack, full casting). Definitely take Extra Spell for polymorph or draconic polymorph. Following up on that, Minor Shapeshift is a classic gish reserve feat, taking care of your healing.

[Troacctid]

Owls are better than hawks. The higher Listen and Move Silently mods are more important than the faster fly speed.

If you're taking Improved Familiar as an evil character, you're better off with an imp. Their special abilities are the real deal.

What spells are you currently planning to take?

[Sian]

I'd question the worth of Abjurant Champion, over more Duskblade (or even something completely different), as its main claim to fame is to make gishes that only dabbles in magic better, and the character your showing is to magical of a gish for it to really give you all that much.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I'd question the worth of Abjurant Champion, over more Duskblade (or even something completely different), as its main claim to fame is to make gishes that only dabbles in magic better, and the character your showing is to magical of a gish for it to really give you all that much.

It gets you +5 or +10 AC, free Extend Spell on all abjurations, auto-Quickened abjurations up to third level (quicken dispelling touch, deliver with gauntlet, free extra attack), and a pseudo-Arcane Strike that provides some emergency buffs. Five more levels of duskblade only adds one Quick Cast and a small (+2) bonus to overcome SR.

That reminds me, the Inquisition domain power is nice for dispelling. Duskblades get slashing dispel, which deals damage for each spell it dispels, but has a low check (up to +10), so it can do with buffing. Combining a dispelling cord with the Inquisition domain power (Planar Touchstone, for example) gets you to +16, which is much more effective, keeping you in the business up to level 15ish.. A one-level dip in Sacred Exorcist with Divine Defiance allows you to dispel as an immediate action, which can be interesting to bolt onto a duskblade.

[Sian]

It gets you +5 or +10 AC, free Extend Spell on all abjurations, auto-Quickened abjurations up to third level (quicken dispelling touch, deliver with gauntlet, free extra attack), and a pseudo-Arcane Strike that provides some emergency buffs.

as for the first three, as far as i recall, Duskblade is quite limited in the number of abjurations (of which only 2, Deflect and its Lesser variant, which is immediate and against one attack only gives AC) that they have access to, so while free extend and free quicken sound sexy, in practice is not all that much.

Last one can relatively simply be replaced by getting something from another prestige class ... while you might well argue that Duskblade 14-18 doesn't give that much (I frankly couldn't recall what it actually gave when i wrote the suggestion), thats not at all to say that that is the only option.

[BowStreetRunner]

Since you are looking at Knowledge Devotion (which I highly recommend) you should ask your DM how they would adjudicate the use of the Collector of Stories skill trick (Complete Scoundrel p. 85) in conjunction with this feat. For two skill points, it has really nice synergy with the feat if the DM rules the two can be used together. However, some DMs don't allow it so it's best to ask before you spend the skill points.

[nick123qwe]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

A couple notes: Thank you for the owl suggestion, although he has a lower listen check, the stealth should help him survive more. The Skill trick was also a nice suggestion.

For the Abjuration champion build, i would like to reiterate that i could grab spells that are out of my spell list whether it would be through feats(extra spell and the like) and through items(Drake-Helm) so i could potentially grab shield and greater shield for myself and make the PrC much better looking than it currently is on the duskblade.

Why is the imp so good? I looked at it and i don't really see the appeal of it other than the invisibility(self) at will for scouting purposes.

The spells i plan to take are mainly: Shocking grasp, all the swift spells, resist energy, dimension hop/door, greater magic weapon, vampiric touch, enervation, polar ray, disintegrate,dispelling touch. The rest i see as situational mainly.

Thank you for the help!

[ExLibrisMortis]

as for the first three, as far as i recall, Duskblade is quite limited in the number of abjurations (of which only 2, Deflect and its Lesser variant, which is immediate and against one attack only gives AC) that they have access to, so while free extend and free quicken sound sexy, in practice is not all that much.

Last one can relatively simply be replaced by getting something from another prestige class ... while you might well argue that Duskblade 14-18 doesn't give that much (I frankly couldn't recall what it actually gave when i wrote the suggestion), thats not at all to say that that is the only option.

Hmm, true that, not enough abjurations (altough auto-quicken on dispelling touch is alright). Still, I'd try to fix that, rather than trying to make duskblade 14-18 work. Annoyingly, runestaves and bloodline feats don't work, so you're left with drakehelms. They're pretty costly: 1000 gp for the helmet (one spell), then 6000 gp for a first-level spell shard.

[Aegis013]

Why is the imp so good? I looked at it and i don't really see the appeal of it other than the invisibility(self) at will for scouting purposes.

Aside from At-Will Detect Magic and Detect Good, which are nice, Suggestion 1/d is pretty good.

Really though, Outsider HD are good, see if your DM will let you assign its skill points and max out its UMD and hand it a wand of some spell that will be useful for the imp to spam on your behalf while invisible and/or flanking with you. Web, Glitterdust, even Color Spray can really change the dynamic of fights in your favor.

[Troacctid]

All of the imp's spell-like abilities are excellent. Detect Magic and Detect Good are very useful to have at will, Invisibility makes it as good a scout as you're likely to get and allows it to effectively deliver touch spells, Commune 1/week is very helpful, and Suggestion is nice to have. The alternate form ability also makes it pretty useful in combat, because it can toss webs as a spider or gore enemies as a boar.

It's not as good as the celestial familiars, but you're the wrong alignment for those, so it's the next best thing.

[nick123qwe]

All of the imp's spell-like abilities are excellent. Detect Magic and Detect Good are very useful to have at will, Invisibility makes it as good a scout as you're likely to get and allows it to effectively deliver touch spells, Commune 1/week is very helpful, and Suggestion is nice to have. The alternate form ability also makes it pretty useful in combat, because it can toss webs as a spider or gore enemies as a boar.

It's not as good as the celestial familiars, but you're the wrong alignment for those, so it's the next best thing.

Which celestial familiars are very good? Also very good pointers, thank you, but are those benefits enough outweigh the combat control of the winter wolf(who makes very good use of share spells with wraithstrike, shield if i manage to get it)?

[Troacctid]

Which celestial familiars are very good?

Any of the three celestials available via the Celestial Familiar feat. You can also get a lantern archon via Planar Familiar, but not the other two.

Also very good pointers, thank you, but are those benefits enough outweigh the combat control of the winter wolf(who makes very good use of share spells with wraithstrike, shield if i manage to get it)?

Yes.