Who does the melee magic archtype better psywar or duskblade?

[CyberThread]

Title is the question


What does it better psychics or waggly finger spell casters.

[Yogibear41]

I think psychic warriors powers are better than duskblades spells, but duskblade gets full bab while psychic warrior onlly gets 3/4, but thats easily fixed by prestiging into Illithid slayer or something of the like, but you lose a manifester level. Id say for for psy warrior, however I have never played either one so I could be completely wrong however.


Psionics in the game I play in is non-magical howerever so technically by those standards they would lose by default because its not magic :smallsmile:

[Snowbluff]

Well, blastomancy is supposed to be worse than buffing, so I am inclined to vote Psywar. Duskblade is quite dangerous, however.

[CyberThread]

Hmm unsure what to say to that..


Dusk get..

Bears Grace, Jump, resist energy, bulls strenght, cats grace, see invisbility , spider climb, stretch weapon , diminson hop, fly , protection from energy, dispelling touch, crown of energy , Dimension Door,Fire Shield,


psy warrior do get metamorphosis though, which is pretty huge :(

[Snowbluff]

Psywarriors don't get Metamorph inherently. They have to spend a feat for an ACF or Expanded Knowledge that allows them to learn it. Duskblades could do the same.

I am referring to the spells you would want on your list. A bunch of the spells you listed are not buffs, and enchancement bonus spells come far too late if you are not a full caster. The psywar list is almost entirely comprised of buffs.

Psywarrior pretty much throw up a bunch of buffs to do their job, while a DB channels.

[CyberThread]

Hmm very true,although if you were doing a grapple build.


I think would be funny to have a sharktooth staff , while channeling a ray of enfeeblement, but I see how a psychic warrior could be better even if maybe not as often in a said day.

[Manly Man]

If you ask me, Psychic Warriors fit the idea of a 'magical' meleer better, but the Duskblade focuses on the bit about being a combatant a tad better. I would still put my money on the Psychic Warrior, as they can be quite devastating when they're built right; working them well enough, and that inferior Base Attack Bonus becomes completely irrelevant.

[CyberThread]

The fact psywarrior is more friendly to PRC'ing a con or pro?

[TuggyNE]

Psywarriors don't get Metamorph inherently. They have to spend a feat for an ACF or Expanded Knowledge that allows them to learn it. Duskblades could do the same.

What single feat will give a Duskblade metamorphosis or polymorph? I know Extra Spell, but I'm not sure that qualifies; at any rate, it's dubious. Expanded Knowledge isn't.

[Dusk Eclipse]

What single feat will give a Duskblade metamorphosis or polymorph? I know Extra Spell, but I'm not sure that qualifies; at any rate, it's dubious. Expanded Knowledge isn't.

If you go Mantled Warrior (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a) you can get access to Metamorphosis at level 10 instead of level 14th by selecting the Natural World mantle IIRC (and only 3 levels after the wizard/psion first get Polymorph/Metamorphosis

[Tvtyrant]

In low levels it goes to Duskblade. A Psywarrior has so few power points and has so inferior a chassis that at levels 1-3 I don't think they can possibly compete. Around level 6 the Psywarrior should pull ahead a little, but they still burn through their tiny allotment of power points if they want to be effective. A Duskblade can still stay relevant until mid levels by using arcane strike and burning through its own abilities, but after that the Psywarrior is running around with colossal+ claws or using deep impact+power attack every turn.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Many good Psywar powers are long-duration buffs and even then, they are also probably sturdier than Duskblades at low levels (mainly to Heavy Armour proficiency). Though yeah, if you are not careful you will be hurting for PP as a Psywar.

[Snowbluff]

Re: PrCs and Multiclassing. After 13 Levels of DB, it can grab the harm spell via PrC if they haven't already dipped into a Full List Known class and grabbed Versatile Spellcaster.

Re: Power Attack. DB utilizes it better.


What single feat will give a Duskblade metamorphosis or polymorph? I know Extra Spell, but I'm not sure that qualifies; at any rate, it's dubious. Expanded Knowledge isn't.
If you think it's 'dubious', use a Drake Helm. :smalltongue:

[TuggyNE]

If you go Mantled Warrior (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a) you can get access to Metamorphosis at level 10 instead of level 14th by selecting the Natural World mantle IIRC (and only 3 levels after the wizard/psion first get Polymorph/Metamorphosis

Yes, that's the PsyWar side. :smalltongue:

[Dusk Eclipse]

Did I miss something? I was trying to support your point.

[TuggyNE]

Did I miss something? I was trying to support your point.

Well, you did, but it's not always immediately obvious. So no, I just couldn't tell for sure whether you were agreeing, or hadn't quite caught something. :smallredface:

[Dusk Eclipse]

Hey it was 2:00 in the morning and I had been working on my Iron Chef entry, it is a wonder it is coherent as I think it is.

[juicycaboose]

I feel like the Duskblade does the iconic fighter/mage, but purely from the classic 'spellblade' trope, psy warrior is probably a better class, though i've not played a psywar before

[Petrocorus]

To my mind, the problem with the Duskblade is that his spells list is too short and mostly focused on blasting. Only a few buff or debuff, no utility spells (not even "Mount"). And blasting is limited, especially when opponent start getting immunities. So you end up using many of your spell slots to power Arcane Strike.

A well build Suel Arcanamach, or a wizard/Spellsword with 5 CL lost do probably a better gish than a straight Duskblade.

So i vote for PsyWar, there are always ways to make up for the BAB.

[shadow_archmagi]

My vote goes to Psywar for superior action economy. Metapower and Linked Power on Claws of the Beast means that when the fight starts, you can throw out your weapon and your favorite buff as a swift action.

I think that that's an important hallmark of the magical warrior- the ability to go from 0 to wuxia in one round.


Also, as has been mentioned, Psywar has buffs, and that's generally how magical warriors are portrayed- they're like fighters, but capable of superhuman movements and techniques, with only the OCCASIONAL energy blast.

[captain fubar]

at lower levels the psywarrior seems the stronger choice, but at level 13+ the dusk blade is a combat monster with out peer (aside from those teir 1 and 2 guys).

[Just to Browse]

The psywar definitely needs to get those long-duration buffs with feats.

If you're trying to play a good class and want to be effective without tailoring your selection, do duskblade. I think the psywar can be minmaxed further, but it's naturally a worse selection.

[Incanur]

Duskblades excel at dealing damage. If nothing else, aesthetically they better conform to the sword-&-sorcery ideal.

[CyberThread]

do dusk count as spontanous casters?

[Karnith]

do dusk count as spontanous casters?
Duskblades are spontaneous casters, certainly.

[Grayson01]

Spontanous Casters who use Int! The problem I have with Duskblade is the Lack of Good Damge touch spells at their higher levels and their short spell list. They are a great mellee class, or archer class for that matter, I just wish there were some higher level touch spells that deal more damge. Shocking Grasp is really their bread and butter but caps at 5d6. Can you arcane channel a metamagic hightened spell as a standard action?


do dusk count as spontanous casters?

[Snowbluff]

You can channel MMed spells if you have the Arcane Preparation, Rapid MM, or Accelerate MM feat.

[CyberThread]

Just a reminder, you get a free "quickened spell " like affect This does NOt count as a meta magic affect but a class affect independent of the MM, which means you could add some metamagic to it.

[Petrocorus]

Actually, i think the Duskblade would be a pretty good class if it had a better spell list. Something like the Suel Arcanamach.

[Incanur]

Shocking Grasp is really their bread and butter but caps at 5d6.

Vampiric touch is what you get for the higher levels. It's debable whether or not you can channel a metamagiced spell, but regardless there are various items you can use to empower.

[Philistine]

Isn't Arcane Strike a Feat, rather than a Class Feature?

The real kicker for the Duskblade is that their very short spell list (which they have to cut down to an even shorter list of spells known!) is sadly lacking in damaging touch-range spells suitable for use with Arcane Channelling, their one interesting Class Feature. If you're interested in the class, it's probably worth asking your DM for permission to do something to correct that.

[Grayson01]

Yeah I hear you about Vampiric Touch but out of 5 spell levels there are only around 3 good touch spells to channal, Shocking Grasp, Touch of Idiocy, and vampiric Touch. With a class feature that lets you trigger your spells of a weapon strike as one of the main selling points of the class you would think there would be a number of them for some damage dealing.


Vampiric touch is what you get for the higher levels. It's debable whether or not you can channel a metamagiced spell, but regardless there are various items you can use to empower.