Massive battle optimization?

[Roythebattousai]

So... I'm playing a 5th level Duskblade, and by the time I get to the situation... I'll probably be 7th or 8th.

The DM told me that at the end of our campaign, he plans to have a full-scale war.

I fully realize that Duskblade is no blaster class or anything... not exactly the primary... massive warfare class.

But do you guys know any items, spells or feats I could get, to make myself more proficient in the art of... destroying everything around?

[Rei_Jin]

Hmm...

If you can pick up the Pre-req feats, go into the Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom from Sword and Fist, netting you the Supreme Cleave class ability.

Now you can cleave your way through a unit of men, until you roll a 1.

[PinkysBrain]

Unfortunately till you hit level 13 there is nothing the Duskblade gives you which works well for multiple targets.

That said, get Cleave&Great Cleave&EWP(Spiked Chain), have someone polymorph you into something big and use an eternal wand of Blade Storm.

[zakk2to2]

both armys will probably be about equal so its the commanders and casters that will matter. sure the cleaves are nice but use them to get to the command structure after all most armys are composed mostly of commoners with swords or low level fighters. if you take out the leaders they wont know how to react to changes in the battle condition such as being flanked or having the army separated.

[Lycanthromancer]

If you're going to be a combatant, rather than a commander, focus on being as stealthy as you can, and dealing death from hiding. Take out their leaders, and take out the leaders' advisors, and you've won the war.

Also, consider laying ambushes for supply trains carrying weapons, food, etc. While it's not nearly as effective as it would be in real life (since casters can negate some of the damage), it'll help a considerable amount if you remind the DM that every spell-slot the casters spend on creating food and weapons is a spell-slot not spent on obliterating your army.

Put ranks in Craft (trapmaking), Hide, and Move Silently, and see if maybe you can't stock up on scrolls designed to make your ability to deal death to heavily-guarded targets more lethal. Being able to lay traps for incoming enemies will help to take them out, especially if you manage to do so in a way that negates rogues, factotums, and others capable of finding traps.

Don't forget Survival (and some way to get the Track feat, such as by shapeshifting into a wolf), so you can scout effectively.

Also, be creative in how you do things. Going head-on against the opposing army is stupid. Find every possible sneaky advantage you can, even if it's blatantly unfair (which is kind of the point in war - war isn't honorable; it's stupid, so you might as well win by taking as few casualties as possible).

Oh, and did I mention the Darkstalker feat? Or Mindsight/Lifesense? Being able to see your foes while negating their ability to find you is very, very nice indeed.

[AdamSmasher]

Oh that's easy.

Load up on the crap feats to get Whirlwind attack. Get sudden Widen or a metamagic rod of widen

Get a dagger whip.

Get enlarge person and something to increase your reach a bit more.

Teleport in to the center of the enemy army.

Whirlwind attack with arcane channeling a chain lightning with sudden widen.

Boom.

[Prometheus]

1) Optimize your character however you would ordinarily do it.
2) Wait for the big war-fight
3) Let the other characters take care of the seas of low-level combatants
4) Take care of more personal strategic tasks in the war
5) Keep in touch with other characters
6) Get back together when the war ends