Fighter 1/ Sorcerer 4 now what?

[paurpg]

I have a character who has one level as a fighter and 4 as a sorcerer and I was planning on him becoming a spellsword but now that doesnt seem like such a good idea. Any sugestions on what directions would be good for 1 on 1 duels mostly?

[erikun]

Swiftblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327) is a good option for someone who wants to be a melee spellcaster. Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage) is also one that gets mentioned a lot.

[Incanur]

A single level of spellsword never hurts. After that, go for abjurant champion as soon as possible.

[Incriptus]

Abujurant Champion is King . . . Full Spell Progression, D10 HD, Full BAB, Special Abilities every level [good ones at that]. Somebody messed up.

[Tyndmyr]

Well, your options are basically spellsword, eldritch knight, and Abj Champ.

Either of the first two are mostly filler to get you into Abj Champ without losing too much casting/bab.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Technically, it doesn't get something at third, but it still advances its first-level ability to increase the shield and armor bonuses of Abjuration spells at that level.

Regardless, it is insanely good. :smallbiggrin:

I would recommend a second level of Fighter, followed by a level of Spellsword and five of Abjurant Champion. (The level of Spellsword, also known as "Abjurant Champion's sixth level", is just there to get you to BAB +5 without losing more spellcasting.)

It's a shame your Fighter level(s) weren't Paladin level(s), as Divine Health is fantastic for a Sorceror gish.

[Tyndmyr]

Technically, it doesn't get something at third, but it still advances its first-level ability to increase the shield and armor bonuses of Abjuration spells at that level.

Regardless, it is insanely good. :smallbiggrin:

I would recommend a second level of Fighter, followed by a level of Spellsword and five of Abjurant Champion. (The level of Spellsword, also known as "Abjurant Champion's sixth level", is just there to get you to BAB +5 without losing more spellcasting.)

It's a shame your Fighter level(s) weren't Paladin level(s), as Divine Health is fantastic for a Sorceror gish.

That...kind of hurts on spellcasting. Being that he's a sorc, he's got that extra awkward level regardless, but two levels of fighter pushes his casting back rather far, and means going EK later is right out.

Two more levels of sorc, followed by Spellsword should get him to BaB +5, and thus, abj champ.

Alternately, if he has Sanctum Spell/other shenanigans for early entry, popping into EK right now until he qualifies for Abj Champ is a decent option.

[Lonely Tylenol]

That...kind of hurts on spellcasting. Being that he's a sorc, he's got that extra awkward level regardless, but two levels of fighter pushes his casting back rather far, and means going EK later is right out.

Two more levels of sorc, followed by Spellsword should get him to BaB +5, and thus, abj champ.

Alternately, if he has Sanctum Spell/other shenanigans for early entry, popping into EK right now until he qualifies for Abj Champ is a decent option.

If he could get into Eldritch Knight right now, then technically it's better than taking Fighter into Eldritch Knight, because subsequent levels advance spellcasting, whereas going Fighter still requires that first level of Eldritch Knight.

However, for all intents and purposes I'm assuming that Sacred Exorcist is an end goal here (it gains turn undead as a class feature, which is useful for the devotion feats and Divine Metamagic, as well as extraplanar hate, 3/4s BAB, and full Arcane spellcasting), because it is strictly better than Eldritch Knight. If you go Sacred Exorcist, however, you won't get a fourth iterative attack if you take two levels in Sorcerer as opposed to that fighter level.

The number of lost spellcaster levels is the same either way; the timing is the only thing that changes.

Thus, I guess my recommended build is

Fighter 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Sacred Exorcist 8.

(But I still wish those Fighter levels were Paladin.)

[Randomguy]

Paladin would have been better for the typical gish build, but there's no chance to switch over.

What's your fighter bonus feat?

Here are some options:
Take one more level of any full BAB class and then one level of spellsword. After that, take 5 levels of abjurant champion and 9 levels of sacred exorcist. It's decent, but not as good as a sorcadin, and doesn't really make much sense thematically. It gets you 18 levels of sorcerer casting and a BAB of +16 as well as turn undead and some cool abilities. This is probably the one that pays off the fastest, and is also probably the best in mexican standoff style duels.

Take 2 more levels of sorcerer and then one of spellsword. After that, take 5 of abjurant chmapion and then 7 of eldritch knight. You get 18 levels of sorcerer casting and a BAB of +17, so you fulfill all the gish criteria: 4 attacks per round and 9th level spells. Pretty standard.

Take one level of fighter (sneak attack champion) and then one of spellsword. Then, take 5 levels of spellwarp sniper, 5 of abjurant champion and 3 of unseen seer. It gets you sneak attack +4d6 with rays, sorcerer casting 18 and a BAB of +15. This isn't a gish build, but it's a decent skillgish that would focus on hitting people with spellwarped spells. The split ray metamagic feat is awesome here.

Take one level of spellthief, one level of sorcerer, 5 levels of spellwarp sniper, and mix and match the rest between unseen seer and abjurant champion. Same as above, but more of a skillgish and less of a gish. Take the master spellthief feat and you can steal spells like a level 19 spellthief by level 20. Split ray is also great. This would be great in duels, but not straightforward ones (This build would fight people the way Belkar fought Miko, only with magic instead of daggers). With this build, the best tactic would be battlefield control + spell stealing sneak attacking rays.

[DoctorGlock]

Is retraining completely banned?

Drop the fighter for warblade and go into jade pheonix mage. Not the best out there, but rather fun.

[paurpg]

I guess I'll go 2 levels of sorcerer, 1 of spellsword and then go in to Abjurant champion, If I make it, then I'll see what from there. My DM does allow retraining of feats. I have complete casting though so atleast ive got all the required ones for abjurant. Ill think about the sacred exorcist idea, Im not sure about the flavor of it, maybe eldritch knight. Anyway, thanks.

[Eldariel]

The relevant alternatives are Fighter 1/Sorcerer 4:
- Sorcerer +1/Eldritch Knight 2/Abjurant Champion 5 (can continue Eldritch Knight)
- Full BAB 1/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5
- Sorcerer +2/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5

Second full BAB could be something else than Fighter; Barbarian, Ranger & co. all offer interesting abilities on the first level. Spellsword build is the only one that requires Heavy Armor Proficiency and as such the only one that requires Fighter/Paladin.

[dextercorvia]

I guess I'll go 2 levels of sorcerer, 1 of spellsword and then go in to Abjurant champion, If I make it, then I'll see what from there. My DM does allow retraining of feats. I have complete casting though so atleast ive got all the required ones for abjurant. Ill think about the sacred exorcist idea, Im not sure about the flavor of it, maybe eldritch knight. Anyway, thanks.

If you can retrain 2 feats, take Versatile Spellcaster and a Bloodline Feat. Then, at your next level you qualify to go right into Eldritch Knight.

Fighter1/Sorcerer4/EldritchKnight10/AbjurantChampion5 is just fine for a Gish.

[Zeta Kai]

Eldritch Knight is your best bet, IMO. It lacks flavor, but it's the perfect class for where you are right now in your build.

[herrhauptmann]

Eldritch Knight is your best bet, IMO. It lacks flavor, but it's the perfect class for where you are right now in your build.

You might want to ask the DM about allowing the PF eldritch knight (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/eldritch-knight), you know, so you've got some actual class features.
They're not much, but still loads better than 3.5 EK:
9/10 casting. Good fort/bab, d10 HD. As before.
2 extra bonus feats, and the ability to cast a spell as a swift action when you successfully crit.

[Myth]

The first level of the Dragonslayer class (3.5, Draconomicon I think) gives you full bab and casting. Spellsword is awesome even if you go all the way, the capstone is powerful. Plus you already made your gish sub-par by taking levels in an "i suck" character class.

[umbergod]

The first level of the Dragonslayer class (3.5, Draconomicon I think) gives you full bab and casting. Spellsword is awesome even if you go all the way, the capstone is powerful. Plus you already made your gish sub-par by taking levels in an "i suck" character class.

spellsword is not awesome unless you're building a self buffing melee, and even then, there are better options than taking 10 levels in spellsword

[Myth]

Delivering things like Disintegrate via your melee attacks is not awesome?

[umbergod]

Delivering things like Disintegrate via your melee attacks is not awesome?

when you end up with 7 dead levels, leading to a maximum of 13 caster levels, as a sorcerer, YES that is terrible.

[Telonius]

A possibly relevant question... what does his list of Spells Known look like right now?

[paurpg]

The Dm doesnt allow bloodlines or anything from the draconic book.

Spells known:
Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Ray of Frost, Touch of Fatigue, launch item,
Caltrops
1st- Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Shield
2nd- Combust