What's the most powerful gestalt gish build?

[Zelkon]

What can you think of off the top of your head? I'm mainly just looking for class makeup and essential build elements, not whole stated out builds. I'm playing in a high op game and I need a bit of a nudge in the right direction.
Starting level is 10 or 12. Either one works.

[RFLS]

Druid//Swordsage or Druid//Psychic Warrior would be good. Druid//Totemist would be interesting, I think.

[Snowbluff]

Wizard5/Swiftblade9//Factotum8 Is a good way to beat people up.

[WhatBigTeeth]

Psionic Artificer//Factotum is really hard to beat at anything. If is the thing it wants to do, you're probably not going to do better than accessing any spell, power or item, built-in metamagic price negation or access to 8 or so rounds' worth of actions in the first turn before spending daily or consumable resources on the nova.

[Kuulvheysoon]

StP Erudite//Warblade is generally pretty good, if simple.

[Raimun]

Cleric//Fighter/Factotum. Cleric-part for the insane combat-buffs, Fighter just for the ubercharge Feat-combo and Factotum for extra actions.

So, you get full Cleric levels (Normal Feats=Persistent DMM+Extra Turnings), 8 Fighter levels (5 Feats=Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Bullrush, Leap Attack and Shock Trooper) and Factotum levels after that. Factotum really kicks in when you're lvl 16 but you'll do just fine before that.

Now, I won't lie to you. The build has one real problem. That is the extreme scarcity of Colossal-sized greatswords.

[RFLS]

I'd like to revise my original statement. Druid 5/MoMF5//Cleric 10. Persist your buffs and go to to town.

[Invader]

Druid 20/anything else.

[Piggy Knowles]

Wizard/Incantatrix//Factotum 8/Warblade 12 is what I'd go with.

[Mr Adventurer]

Wouldn't he be better off using a standard gish build gestalted with a Rogue or Factotum build or whatever? Why let gestalt make you lazy? :)

[Vaz]

Archivist//Wrblade

[Socratov]

I'd go for Cleric//Lion totem Barbarian/fighter/factotum

Bringon the charges with astronomical buffs

[Darrin]

Most powerful?

Pun//Pun.

[Vizzerdrix]

What about Wizard/Artificer?

ooh! Monk//Truenamer!

[subject42]

Factotum//Psion is interesting. You can tear the game's action economy in half.

[Kazyan]

Something with Geomancer on one side.

[Petrocorus]

Something with Geomancer on one side.

You mean something like Sha'ir / Geomancer // Favoured Soul / Windwalker?

Cast all your spells in full plate and use your Cha bonus for the Favoured Soul DC.

[dspeyer]

Gestalt is where the monstrous gishes can really shine. For example:

Couatl RHD 9 / Incantrix 3 // LA 7 / Ninja 1 / Crusader 4

A 12th level build with 12th level casting from the cleric and sor/wiz lists, 12 BAB, IL 8, almost the skills of a rogue, massive ability boosts, and incantrix persist spell backed by guidance of the avatar.

[Vaz]

Throw on Mtstic Theurge for a hell of a lot of spells a day.

That is what? Assuming one caster up one side straight 15, that is two 9ths casting. Sorcerer 5/Geomancer 10/MT//Favoured Soul 14/Crusader 6/Archmage 1.

Sorted. Maneuvres as a L13 Crusader, 19/20 Casting...

[Rubik]

Absolutely most powerful? I've got a dvati society mind 20 // rogue 1/factotum 3/unarmed swordsage 1/thrallherd 1/bard 1/illithid savant 3/sublime chord 2/marshal 1/illithid savant 7 using first Metamorphosis and then the mongrelfolk's ability to emulate other races to...emulate other races to qualify for illithid savant. I also used the Ice Assassin spell and the Fusion and Astral Seed powers to further gestalt myself, first with a hagunemnon and then with a great wyrm prismatic dragon, using negative levels and a thought bottle (or retraining) to turn all those extra racial HD into epic illithid savant. I used illithid savant to steal the spell-to-power erudite's ability to manifest spells, as well as its ability to learn psionic powers -- and the metamind's font of power ability for infinite pp. Then I abused the hell out of racial and class abilities that give extra actions and spells and powers that do the same. And then I created an ice assassin of an aleax of myself for invulnerability to all negative effects from anyone but myself (as Emperor Tippy's method of aleaxing doesn't work like he thinks it does). And then I used the hagunemnon's ability to mix-and-match shapechange at will to give myself the splitting property of various oozes, so now I have an infinite number of bodies for safekeeping, some of which I store in fast-flowing time planes.

Honestly, it rivals Pun Pun, as it can do literally anything by spontaneously manifesting every psionic power and spell from every spell and power list in the game (including epic spells, since he can use the fast-flowing time planes and his 35,000,000 or so followers to research and craft them at will, and using Supernatural Transformation to turn them into Su abilities which ignore XP components and can't be dispelled, with my manifester level = HD -- in this case, 78 + other boosters).

It's pretty damned powerful.

[molten_dragon]

I'm going with a little more of a classical gish than some of the suggestions made.

A mix of wizard, swiftblade, and warblade would work well. Swiftblades are good, and a swiftblade with full casting and maneuvers would be pretty damn impressive. At 12th level, it would be something like Wizard 5/Swiftblade 7//Warblade 9/Wizard 3.

Or you could replace wizard with archivist, that could be a lot of fun too, since they get a huge pool of spells known (and some fantastic buffs among them) and you could wear armor.

[Piggy Knowles]

Could have sworn Mongrelfolk's Emulate Race only lets you emulate humanoids, and only for the purpose of activating magic items...

Also, Vaz, Mystic Theurge is explicitly disallowed in gestalt.

[herrhauptmann]

Could have sworn Mongrelfolk's Emulate Race only lets you emulate humanoids, and only for the purpose of activating magic items...

Also, Vaz, Mystic Theurge is explicitly disallowed in gestalt.

UA discourages theurge classes ingestalt, but they're not banned. Usually easier to get a theurge approved if the classes it advances are on one side....
Cleric/wizard/MT//factotum20 for instance

[Tokuhara]

If you are a horrible person:

Ardent/Ur Priest/Psychic Theurge//Warblade/Beholder Mage/Ebon Phoenix Mage (adaptation of JPM for Evil PCs)

You get quadruple 9's (Psionics, Divine, Arcane, and Maneuvers)

Using Ardent//Warblade, undergo the SS Rite that changes you into a monster (in this case, a beholder), enter Ur Priest 1 and Beholder Mage 1, then enter Psychic Theurge//Ebon Phoenix Mage

[Piggy Knowles]

True, it says mystic theurge "should" be disallowed, but it is explicitly called out, and I have yet to see a gestalt game where it was allowed.

And to Tokuhara and others, you can't progress a PrC on both sides simultaneously - and that isn't a "shouldn't," it's a "can't":


A gestalt character follows a similar procedure when he attains 2nd and subsequent levels. Each time he gains a new level, he chooses two classes, takes the best aspects of each, and applies them to his characteristics. A few caveats apply, however.


Class features that two classes share (such as uncanny dodge) accrue at the rate of the faster class.
Gestalt characters with more than one spellcasting class keep track of their spells per day separately.
A gestalt character can’t combine two prestige classes at any level, although it’s okay to combine a prestige class and a regular class. Prestige classes that are essentially class combinations-such as the arcane trickster, mystic theurge, and eldritch knight-should be prohibited if you’re using gestalt classes, because they unduly complicate the game balance of what’s already a high-powered variant. Because it’s possible for gestalt characters to qualify for prestige classes earlier than normal, the game master is entirely justified in toughening the prerequisites of a prestige class so it’s available only after 5th level, even for gestalt characters.


(Emphasis mine.)

[JaronK]

Factotum 8 is critical... that lets you cast a spell and still have full round actions to play with. And Factotum combos with Wizard or Archivist nicely due to Int synergy. So I'd think that's the general direction you want to go in.

Shadowcraft Mage is an amazing gestalt gish class, since that give you concealment on all the time for protection.

So how about Gnome Illusionist 5/Shadowcraft Mage 5//Factotum 8/Warblade 2 for a start, using Earth Spell to early qualify into SCM? Earth Spell's already amazing for that build anyway. Finish it out with more Warblade, or maybe some Shadowcrafter, and don't forget the Gnome Illusionist substitution levels and Unearthed Arcana Illusionist substituions (which really help).

JaronK

[enderlord99]

Most powerful?

Pun//Pun.

You forgot the hyphen.:smallamused:

[Soranar]

Spellpower Erudite // Factotum

Factotum because of it's unique contribution in gestalt (namely action economy)
Spellpower Erudite because it basically combines all the benefits of an arcane caster and a psionic caster together while being able to cast in any armor

Oh and they're both INT based classes

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Dragonwrought Kobold Loredrake
Get 20/20 BAB, assuming you're not using fractional BAB.
Get 20/20 Sorcerer spellcasting, which ends up being 23/20.
Get Incantatrix 4+, Paragnostic Apostle 2, and Abjurant Champion 5. I'd also throw in Kobold Paragon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060127a), carefully arranged to still get the above 20/20 BAB and casting. Paragnostic Apostle abilities are Mind Over Matter and Spatial Awareness.

Get Ancestral Relic for a custom Runestaff. You can put any spells you want on it. Non-Sorcerer spells are a DC 20 UMD check 1/day to use all day. You can switch out what spells are on it by the same method as upgrading it, and if you don't make it cost any more it technically takes no time at all, though it wouldn't take more than eight hours if your DM rules a one day minimum. Use this for all of your 1/day buffs, plus any situational and/or opponent-specific spells you think you'll need in the near future. You need to be good aligned anyway for Paladin and (Greater) Luminous Armor.

Get Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) at 3rd and invest every skill point you get after that into it for the greatest return, and put as much as possible toward Spellcraft. You can take ten on your Incantatrix abilities, and Cooperative Metamagic can be used on your own spells outside of combat as the action economy system only exists during initiative. Make it a ring and wear a glove or gauntlet over it so opponents can't target it directly or slight of hand it. An item familiar is an intelligent item which is regarded as a construct, and constructs cannot be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjoining and continue to function in antimagic and dead magic areas.

Get Extraordinary Spell Aim and use it with Persistent Antimagic Field. Persistent Draconic Polymorph into a War Troll every day. Persist tons of other buffs like Swift Expeditious Retreat, Shield, Wraithstrike, Swift Fly, Bladeweave, Ray Deflection, Greater Invisibility, Greater Mirror Image, Bite of the Werecreature, etc. Include spells like Swift Haste, Divine Favor, Mass Lesser Vigor, Sirine's Grace, etc. if you go with non-Sorcerer spells on the Runestaff via UMD. (Rod of) Extend hour/level buffs like Greater Magic Weapon, Magic Vestment x2, Cloud Wings, Heart of Air/Water/Earth/Fire, etc. Find two 24-hour duration spells of the same level and cast those Extended, alternating which is cast each day, such as Greater/Superior Resistance, Energy Immunity, Mind Blank, and the Primal X line of spells in Dragon Magic. Don't forget about Arcane Spellsurge.

Get Fell Drain Spell and use it with Persistent buffs like Thunderlance, Death Armor, Fire Shield x2, and Cloud of Knives as many times as you can get away with.

[Piggy Knowles]

Revising my previous answer (Wizard/Incantatrix // Factotum 8/Warblade 12) a bit...

Dwarf, Wizard 5/Runesmith 5/Incantatrix 10 // Factotum 8/Warblade 12.

For level 10, I'd probably start with Wizard 5/Runesmith 1/Incantatrix 4 // Factotum 8/Warblade 2.

[Muktidata]

Umm, Ruby Knight Vindicator deserves to be here. Especially in gestalt you can throw in so much more like a dip in Prestige Paladin and Battle Blessing.

[JaronK]

I'm going to piggyback on Piggy's idea (heh) and play with it, allowing us to get both Runesmith and Shadowcraft Mage on here:

Gnome Factotum 2/Stoneblessed 3/Factotum +6/Warblade 9//Gnome Illusionist Wizard 5/Runesmith 5/Shadowcraft Mage 5/Whatever else 5.

Now you get 40% concealment up all the time and full plate armor, the ability to share your crazy Shadowcraft Mage spells with others as runes, the awesomeness that is Permanent Rune, and everything else. Devastating.

JaronK

[Metahuman1]

My vote goes too,

Druid 20/ Cleric x with spontaneous Domain Casting AFC/ Contemplative x (Just enough for a spare domain.)/ Speaker of Soverine Host x (Grab some more choice domains.)/ Crusader 1/ Ruby Knight Vindicator x (Take all the levels until you hit one where you would have to give up casting)/ then Cleric X to fill out that side.

Make sure you have DMM Persist and DMM Chain, and DMM Fortify Spell wouldn't go amiss either. Oh, and have a TON of Nightsticks, and an amulet of mighty fists that stays with you when you wild shape, and the natural spell feat. Now, go to town.