3.5 Newbie Needs Help w/Duskblades

[Drenn]

Greetings all,

I've been DMing a 4e game for about 2 years now, but just last week I started my first ever 3.5 game as a player. I'm super excited about it, but also a bit overwhelmed.

My class is a duskblade, and I was wondering if anyone had an advice on good Duskblade battle tactics or builds.

Specifically:

I'm having trouble finding a good prestige class to build towards, but I'm not sure if that's because duskblades don't have them, or if I'm just not understanding the system correctly. Any recommendations?

The spell list for the duskblade seems to be fairly short compared to some of the other classes I looked at. Are there any expansions, and if not, is there a specific combination to focus on?

Any advice on tactics that would help me synergies with my teammates? I have a knight, a rogue and a cleric in my party.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[hivedragon]

duskblades are made to replace gish (arcane melee hybrids) prestige classes
it's best to play without multiclassing

[Drenn]

Okay... Um, forgive the newbie question but what, if any, is the difference between a prestige class and multiclassing?

[hivedragon]

Okay... Um, forgive the newbie question but what, if any, is the difference between a prestige class and multiclassing?

well you can't start off play with a prestige class you have to build with some base class(es) to qualify for prestige classes.

[only1doug]

Hi,

Duskblade 20 isn't a bad option if you like duskblades.

Duskblade is a gish (fighter/wizard) class in a box, it can be used to supply initial BAB and weapon proficiencies as a base for a full wizard gish if thats what you want to do.

Prestige classes aren't much good at improving duskblades abilities as more levels of duskblade are as good or better.
Gish Builds will use Prestige classes (Abjurant champion 5 is pretty much a given).

[BenTheJester]

Okay... Um, forgive the newbie question but what, if any, is the difference between a prestige class and multiclassing?

It's (kinda) the same. Multiclassing is the action of taking class levels in more than one class or prestige class.


Also, for the spell list, make sure to take the one at the end of the Duskblade's description - the one in spells section only includes spells new to this book, instead of including the full spell list which also includes spells from the player's handbook


For builds, you might want to check this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=525.0) excellent handbook. If you intend to multiclass, this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=525.msg83415#msg83415) post includes many good builds. However, if you're new to the system, I advise against multiclassing; especially since the Duskblade is a good, balanced class from level 1 to 20

[only1doug]

in a recent game I played a duskblade gish to L18.

Duskblade 5 / Wizard 1 / Abjurant chapion 5 / Eldritch knight 7

Duskblade 5 (base class) provided BAB and 2nd level arcane spells.
Wizard 1 (base class) (now a multiclass character) provided wizard spell list access.
Abjurant champion 5 (prestige class) increases wizard casting and BAB, has very nice features.
Eldritch Knight (prestige class) increases wizard casting and BAB, doesn't have nice features.

this gave me +17 BAB, spells as wizard L12 caster Level 17.
Many people will tell you that this is a bad idea as losing caster level should be avoided.... whatever works best for each player.

Another way of building the same character would of been

Duskblade 3 / wizard 3 / Abjurant champion 5 ....

this would give 2 levels better wizard casting at a cost of 1 BAB.

[Blackjackg]

I had a lot of fun playing a Duskblade/Dragon Disciple. It basically becomes a melee class with casting secondary, but fun.

[aboyd]

Also, for the spell list, make sure to take the one at the end of the Duskblade's description - the one in spells section only includes spells new to this book, instead of including the full spell list which also includes spells from the player's handbook
I just thought I'd quote that text because almost everyone misses this. :)

[faceroll]

Okay... Um, forgive the newbie question but what, if any, is the difference between a prestige class and multiclassing?

Multiclassing merely means taking a class outside of whatever class you first started with, including prestige classes. Prestige classes are different than base classes, in that they have requirements (and don't incur multiclassing penalties, if you're playing with them).

Duskblades are great all the way to level 20, as they have everything you want, as a gish, in one class- full BAB, spells, and proficiency with weapons/armor. Their class features are also good for being a gish- arcane channeling and quicken cast mean you can use spells and attacks in the same turn. And turns are everything in D&D.

As far as a build goes, pick spells like vampiric touch and shocking grasp to get your damage up, and other spells like swift fly/invis to mix it up and be versatile.

For feats, you're going to want power attack and arcane strike. Sacrificing spells for +attack and +damage, then quick casting a true strike and all out power attacking is going to make you a melee monster.

[TheOOB]

The duskblade gets good abilities all throughout there level list, and they don't multiclass very well. I could maybe see a 1 or 2 level dip being worth it, but since duskblades build up to some of the their abilities at later levels, and their abilities don't mix well(and there is a lack of prestige classes designed for duskblades) your best bet is usually vanilla duskblade.

[Shyftir]

Yeah, there is no need to prestige out of duskblade, though I've seen a few interesting ones. (Mixing it with a TOB class for Jade Pheonix Mage; Mixing it with Dragon Disciple for being more tanky; A dip in Martial or Dragon Shaman for Auras; and one quirky build with Arcane Archer, but that was trading power for versatility)