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Shadwen
2009-10-28, 10:34 AM
I need a list of feats starting at 1 going through 20 to take each time i get a feat. Please only use Players handbook 1 and 2, complete arcane/warrior/adventurer, and the Dungeon Masters Guide. Its 3.5 so stick to that please.

I plan on getting arcane strike and channeling weapons. I am allowed to one shot any creature but i have to give up alot as the DM stated. All my casts for the day and arcane strike it all in the face..but need to wait till evel 3 for that..Please help me. I need to survive a lvl 1 -20 Mean DM game.

Thrice Dead Cat
2009-10-28, 10:43 AM
Power attack in an obvious choice. Combat casting for Abjurant Champion might also help.

Outside of those, more information would help.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 10:50 AM
Im a dwarf duskblade. I need to go for quick and potent damage. I will not be prestiging or multiclassing for quite some time. I use a dwarven waraxe, and soon a large steel shield (spiked)

Str: 18
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 18
Wis: 16
Cha: 12

That is with all bonuses and a high rolling system.

Uin
2009-10-28, 10:55 AM
Obligatory Duskblade Handbook Link. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=525.0)

Its worth picking up a familiar as a duskblade with Obtain and Improved Familiar since you have a full caster level and good BAB and HP to make use of it. Complete Warrior's option of a Winter Wolf might be worth using, be an arcane mounted paladin. I've manage to wangle some UMD shenanigans in the game I play with an imp familiar.

If Complete Divine is allowed along with the other completes take Arcane Disciple with the Strength or Competition Domains a good way to expand your spell list.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 11:13 AM
Ive read that guide they say to use a two hander im going more for the dwarf persona....it will be fun that way. But i still need to be efficient..anyone have any personal view not from a guide?

Master_Rahl22
2009-10-28, 11:25 AM
I'm sure you can think of a reason a dwarf persona would use a reach weapon. Reach + channeling means you can hit more people with that tasty spell. Also if you're already going to have a reach weapon, you have the Int and the Strength for Combat Expertise + Improved Trip.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 11:31 AM
hrm...quite possible...if i were to wield a reach weapon what would fit the dwarf the most?

AB
2009-10-28, 11:36 AM
You have a dwarven waraxe, which is an exotic weapon, and you can choose to wield it onehanded or twohanded.

What you do: pick up one Level of Exotic Weaponmaster PRC, choose double strengh bonus for exotic meele weapon.

Take the feat Power Attack, cast a Quickened True Strike (Duskblade Spell Level 1, Quicken Ability Level 5), make a maximum Power Attack using your Axe double handed, perhaps with a nice Shocking Grasp or Vampiric Touch channeled through it. Voila, massive damage.

Other good idea for a duskblade is a ranged weapon. Use specific ranged weapon feats + power attack + maybe Improved Trip. Best weapon for this would be a Glaive, aka polearm-axe.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 11:44 AM
ok now back to my original idea of a character...what are the feats that i could take to improve that character? now complete arcane is allowed.

Andras
2009-10-28, 11:56 AM
Other good idea for a duskblade is a ranged weapon. Use specific ranged weapon feats + power attack + maybe Improved Trip. Best weapon for this would be a Glaive, aka polearm-axe.

I assume (by the context) you mean a weapon with reach? If I recall correctly, a literal ranged weapon doesn't work with Duskblade abilities. Reach weapons, however, are a staple.

A good feat from Complete Warrior for you is Arcane Strike. Basically, you can burn a spell/spell slot as a free action to get +N/+Nd4 Atk/Dmg (where N is the level of the slot) for 1 round (on each attack, this includes iteratives and attacks of opportunity). Combined with almost everything already mentioned, this can be absolutely brutal; use it for alpha strikes (with the aforementioned True Strike/full Power Attack/arcane channeling) and for initial AoO-based defense when you know you'll be rushed by things. You can take it at Lv. 9 (the first chance you can get level 3 spells, which is a requirement).

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 12:03 PM
So i become most effective at level 9? Other than that its stacking main hits with channeling at level 3..just survive the first 2 levels.

Andras
2009-10-28, 12:14 PM
The first 2 levels you're a class with decent health, decent armor (with your awesome ability scores, anyway), and a pretty good number of slots/day (comparable to a wizard, slightly less than a sorcerer). At level 3 you get your arcane channeling anyway, and then you just take off from there.

The thing with Arcane Strike is that you don't want to be spamming it; after all, it takes a spell slot, which you can usually use to do significantly more in any given turn. Its main use is if you're expecting to get attacks in your enemy phase and if you're striking something that you want to get dead especially fast (because the free action lets it stack up with stuff like your quickened spell and your arcane channeling).

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 12:21 PM
yeah i cant wait till i get channeling..just want a way to survive until then..probably stay int he back lines...and jump out and strike and run like a sissy girl.....arcane strike...i know its possible that i can lose all spells and do around 1k damage.

Darkfire
2009-10-28, 03:15 PM
You're better off ditching the heavy shield and going with a buckler (or doing without entirely):

You'll have to endure the ASF chance (15%) until 7th-level when you get the final Armored Mage class feature.
The majority of your spells require somatic components so you need an easily freed hand. A hand holding a heavy shield cannot be used for anything else (see here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/armor.htm#shieldHeavyWoodenorSteel)) and your other hand will be holding your axe so you'd be unable to cast your main damage-dealing spells (Shocking Grasp initially, Vampiric Touch once you reach 9th level).

You could opt for a light shield (if your DM is generous enough to allow you to still gesture using it) but you will probably find that the extra damage from being able to use your axe 2-handed will outweigh the benefits especially if you intend to use Power Attack (and once you can Quick Cast True Strike, why wouldn't you?).

Cieyrin
2009-10-28, 03:36 PM
You're better off ditching the heavy shield and going with a buckler (or doing without entirely):

You'll have to endure the ASF chance (15%) until 7th-level when you get the final Armored Mage class feature.
The majority of your spells require somatic components so you need an easily freed hand. A hand holding a heavy shield cannot be used for anything else (see here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/armor.htm#shieldHeavyWoodenorSteel)) and your other hand will be holding your axe so you'd be unable to cast your main damage-dealing spells (Shocking Grasp initially, Vampiric Touch once you reach 9th level).

You could opt for a light shield (if your DM is generous enough to allow you to still gesture using it) but you will probably find that the extra damage from being able to use your axe 2-handed will outweigh the benefits especially if you intend to use Power Attack (and once you can Quick Cast True Strike, why wouldn't you?).

There's nothing generous involved, you can cast with the hand holding a light shield, since the hand isn't involved with holding it and can hold other items, too.

For an appropriate weapons, it's unfortunate that you don't have Races of Stone, as a good weapon for you is in there, the Dwarven Warpike. It does everything a halberd does plus reach and, since you're a dwarf, you can reasonably switch your familiarity with Urgroshes to the Warpike (Urgroshes aren't that great, anyways. I see more gnolls using them than dwarves for some reason or another...) so that you can use the pike as a Martial weapon.

If you want to sword and board (rather, axe and board in your case), Races of Stone also has the Gauntlet Shield, which is a heavy shield with the hand free for casting. It costs a feat (Exotic Shield Proficiency), though, so light shields may still be better. Dipping a level of Fighter and replacing Tower Shield Proficiency with proficiency with the Gauntlet Shield wouldn't be that bad an idea, especially since you could pick up the Dwarven Fighter Substitution level, which nets you a d12 hit die and Weapon Focus in all axes.

Dwarven Armor Proficiency will net you Battle Plate, which if you mithralize can be used w/ your Armored Casting.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 04:12 PM
thank you, was thinking of taking eshew materials since it is a simple thing that saves me money and allows me to do it correctly. is this a good idea?

Blackfang108
2009-10-28, 04:24 PM
thank you, was thinking of taking eshew materials since it is a simple thing that saves me money and allows me to do it correctly. is this a good idea?

Doesn't save much. Remember the limit on Eschew Materials: only on items worth less than 1g.

And items that don't have a listed price are considered always in your pouch, assuming you have a spell that uses them.

Don't get me wrong: it can be very useful, you just need to remember that you still need the components with a listed cost.
And Focuses: if you take any of the Crowns, you'll need the focus.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 04:34 PM
im not gonna take the crowns..they not what im going for, sematic components i think is what my dm suggested..that worth it instead to use a large spiked steel shield?

Darkfire
2009-10-28, 06:53 PM
im not gonna take the crowns..they not what im going for, sematic components i think is what my dm suggested..that worth it instead to use a large spiked steel shiewhichld?
The feat Somatic Weaponry (Complete Mage p47) is what I think your DM was suggesting. It allows you to use a held weapon (or object of equivalent size) to trace the somatic component.

However:


http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221a
The duskblade’s armored mage class feature (PH2 20) allows you to cast spells while wearing a shield with no arcane spell failure. If the duskblade has a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, can they still cast spells? If not, why carry a shield?
You need a free hand to cast a spell with a somatic component, and to cast a spell with a material or focus component, you need that component at hand (which usually means you need a free hand to manipulate it). The buckler and light shield both allow you to use your shield hand for such activities.
A duskblade using a heavy shield and holding a weapon or other object in his other hand can only cast spells that don’t include the components listed above, despite the fact that he ignores the arcane spell failure chance for the heavy shield.

Eschew Materials would still be needed for spells with material components but I think you'd but stuck for those with focus components (such as True Strike...).

If your character concept revolves around the heavy spiked shield, I think you're either going to have to:

spend a feat (Somatic Weaponry which you won't qualify for until 2nd-level so you aren't going to be able to take it until 3rd-level) to cast at all and endure the failure chance until 7th-level
sweet-talk your DM into swapping the Combat Casting 2nd-level bonus feat for Somatic Weaponry and endure the failure chance until 7th level
only arcane channel through your shield while not holding a weapon and endure the failure chance until 7th-level
convince you DM to treat a (Heavy) Darkwood Shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#darkwoodShield) (DMG p 221) as heavy for anything that benefits you (AC, size when bashing, etc.) but light for everything that would otherwise be detrimental (15% Arcane Spell Failure chance until 7th level, able to use your hand to draw material and focus components, able to make somatic components, etc.). It's affordable before 2nd-level but you're not going to be able to start with it.
just wait until you can afford an animated shield (9000gp (equivalent to +3 enhancement) + 150gp (masterwork component) + 20 gp (heavy steel shield). Assuming normal WBL, it's affordable between 5th & 6th level but you'll still have to cope with the failure chance until 7th-level. Realistically, you're probably looking at buying it after 9th level.
Just refluff your shield as unusually large for a light one and accept the fact that your AC'll be one less (this will quickly become insignificant) and that you'll do slightly less damage when bashing (only 1 point on average). This actually saves you some money (a whole 11gp... :smalltongue:), a feat and a lot of bother as it's usable without complications from 1st-level.

Myrmex
2009-10-28, 07:00 PM
I'd also recommend getting a reach weapon. Arcane Strike is good to use on attacks of opportunity, esp. if you just power attacked on a charge or something.

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 07:03 PM
the small weapon is for the hands on approach...and ill have a reach as a backup

Leon
2009-10-28, 07:17 PM
hrm...quite possible...if i were to wield a reach weapon what would fit the dwarf the most?

Dwarven Warpike from Races of Stone

Shadwen
2009-10-28, 07:24 PM
have to run that by dm since its not one of the main books..any other suggestions from the books i listed?

Leon
2009-10-28, 07:43 PM
Complete Warrior has the Heavy Poleaxe

amaranth69
2009-10-29, 10:28 PM
I would suggest using a spiked chain. It costs you a feat, but allows you to attack enemies both adjacent and at reach. The complete champion has several good stand alone feats that work for the Duskblade, which is key because Duskblades do not get any bonus feat slots. The Duskblade I currently play is character level 7 with that being 2mk 5db. I took Spike chain prof., power attack, knowledge devotion (gains you a plus to hit and damage based on knowledge checks) and protection devotion (gives you and all allies within 30 feet +2 to ac for 1 min). Being human I had one extra slot to play with. At 9 I plan on taking obtain familiar.

Stormageddon
2009-10-29, 11:12 PM
yeah i cant wait till i get channeling..just want a way to survive until then..probably stay int he back lines...and jump out and strike and run like a sissy girl.....arcane strike...i know its possible that i can lose all spells and do around 1k damage.

Quite frankly Power Attack, cleave, ect ect will take you quite far. I might even recommend the spring attack route. You got 18 con so you should have a quite a bit of hit points eventhough d8 dosen't go very far. One feat you definately want to take is "Extra Spell" you don't get that many spells (atleast I thought so when I played my Duskblade) and if you can convince your DM that this opens the entire wizard spell list you'll be it'll be excellent.

oxinabox
2009-10-30, 04:55 AM
yeah i cant wait till i get channeling..just want a way to survive until then..probably stay int he back lines...and jump out and strike and run like a sissy girl.....arcane strike...i know its possible that i can lose all spells and do around 1k damage.

sorry, but why are you so scared of dying in the first 2 lvls, sure you have no arcane channelling,
But you have a Full-BaB, +4 CON a d8HD,
You 1st lvl HP is 12, and next lvl you have and addtional 1d8+4
You have great HP,

You have +3 dex, 100 gp nets you a chain shirt, giving you AC 17, pretty decent at your lvl.
Heck the max possible dex from armour + AC at your lvl is 19. (fullplate +2 Dex)

By no means are you someone who should stand at the back.

if you need to avoid direct combat then the party frontliners,
well what are they?
Dwarf Knights, with +5 con, in a fullplate, with towershields?


also, you should never need to do 1K of damage,
That will down the Tarasque, with plenty to spare, in one hit. (IIRC).