Good classes for a Knight/Mage using mounted combat

[barna10]

My original thought was to use Duskblade, but he is so feat strapped it's proving rather hard to fit the concept.

Any suggestions on good class combos to make an arcane Black Knight?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What level of optimization are you looking for?

Something like a Crusader 2/ Paladin (variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#paladinVariantsFreedom SlaughterAndTyranny)) 2/ Duskblade 2/ Suel Arcanamach 4/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Spellsword 1/ Dragon Disciple or more Crusader should work. Get an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Phantom Steed to use as a mount.

[barna10]

Looking.for simple. Thanks for the help though.

[docnessuno]

"Standard" paladin gish (requires good alignment):
Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Sacred Exorcist 8
Requires LG (paladin) or CG (paladin of freedom) to meet Sacred exorcist good alignment prerequisite.
CL 18 (9th level spell), BAB +16.

Alternative evil version:
Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Eldritch knight 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Eldritch kinght +8
Requires LG (paladin) or CG (paladin of freedom), LE (paladin of tyranny) or CE (paladin of slaughter).
CL 17 (8th level spell), BAB +18.
Not the best possible build but it avoids PRC dipping.

Also the duskblade is probably one of the less "feat strapped" classes around.
Only requires 3 feats to work properly (Lvl 1: Power attack, Lvl3: Knowledge devotion, Lvl 9/12: Arcane strike). This leaves you 4 "open" feats (more if human or with flaws) to work with.

[Piggy Knowles]

My default would be...

Dwarf, Fighter 1/Wizard 4/Runesmith 1/Knight Phantom (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050706a&page=4) 9/Abjurant Champion 5

FEATS:
Still Spell, Mounted Combat, Combat Casting, Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Spirited Charge, Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, Arcane Strike

That gives you BAB +17, and casts as a level 18 wizard. Persistent Spell is for Persistent wraithstrike, one of the few non-cheesy uses of Persist actually worthwhile. If you'd rather, though, you can drop Persistent Spell for Quicken, and switch to Knight Phantom 10/Abjurant Champion 4, using the Knight Phantom's capstone ability in its place.

You are a full plate-wearing dwarf, covered in runes carved into stone tablets. Your countenance is gray and wispy, wrapped in mist, and your eyes burn red. You ride astride a phantom steed that moves at blinding speeds and hovers just above the ground.

For the pieces of the puzzle, Runesmith allows you to carve runes on stone tablets when you prepare your spells, and when you cast using those runes as material components, you no longer require somatic components to your spells - hence the full plate. Knight Phantom is like Eldritch Knight but with actual class features, giving you tons of extra uses of phantom steed each day and allowing you to take on aspects of the phantom steed yourself.

[Flickerdart]

Any spellcaster can plant his butt in a saddle. The question is, what do you hope to achieve afterwards? Is the horse for manoeuvrability while you throw fireballs around, or do you want to charge into combat on the steed while buffed to high heaven?

At any rate, consider the knight phantom PrC (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050706a&page=4).

[Piggy Knowles]

Aaaaand, just for fun, since you mentioned Duskblade and Knight Phantom was brought up:

Duskblade 4/Dragonmark Heir 1/Knight Phantom 10/Abjurant Champion 5

Use the Lesser Mark of Passage to pick up phantom steed for Knight Phantom qualification on a Duskblade chassis. You end up with BAB +19, CL19.

(Note that I stole this idea from Tempest Stormwind, who had an even slicker version of the build that used bloodlines to qualify a level early... I just worry that bloodlines might constitute "too complicated" based on earlier posts.)