Need help with my spellsword build?

[171akup]

Ok I am thinking of building a spellsword but i only have the first ten levels and the first 3 feats. For the first level mithiril body and exotic weapon proficiency Heavy Repeating Crossbow and the third feat on the second fighter level is exotic weapon proficiency bastard sword and the two spells I will get are the Repair X Damage and the summon monster spells. What else should I get on this build like spells feats and I am trying to make a melee/ranged/magic user. I also need an idea on what should I put in level 11-20. Also the Bonus abilty at every 4 levels is gonna be charisma. Also what items should I buy for this build I know items that boost ac are a must but what else. :smallbiggrin:





My Spellsword Build
Level 1 Ability Scores
Strength-14 Dexterity-20 Constitution-14 Intelligence-16 Wisdom-10 Charisma-15
Warforged Scout 3’ 0” 60 lbs.
Fighter 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 4
Starting Package: Heavy Repeating Crossbow, Bastard Sword, 10 clips of 5 bolts

1st level Fighter
2nd level Fighter
3rd level Sorcerer
4th level Sorcerer
5th level Sorcerer
6th level Sorcerer
7th level Spellsword
8th level Spellsword
9th level Spellsword
10th level Spellsword

[Waker]

I would suggest against taking Exotic Weapon Proficiency. The Crossbow might be nice at low levels, but will quickly lose it's luster as you level up. As for the Bastard Sword, the only thing that the feat grants you is the option if wielding it one-handed, which is subpar compared to the damage of wielding it in two hands (Str vs Str 1+1/2, as well as the 2-1 exchange with Power Attack). Mithril Body is fine.
On the Sorcerer, consider taking the Metamagic Specialist acf from PHBII to replace your Familiar with the option of ignoring the casting time increase when using Metamagic feats a few times per day.
Other PrCs which may interest you are: Swiftblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327), Eldritch Knight ("http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/eldritchKnight.htm), Knight Phantom ("http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050706a&page=4) and Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage).

[Darrin]

My advice would be astonishingly similar to Waker's.

Fighter 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5 is a stronger build. A lot of gishes finish off with Sacred Exorcist (Complete Divine), which gets you 9th level spells, CL 18, BAB +16. If you're not worried about losing 9th level spells, then Eldritch Knight/Knight Phantom/Swiftblade should work fine.

Don't bother with the exotic weapon stuff. Every round you spend shooting a crossbow means your Sorcerer levels are a complete waste (unless you're out of spells, in which case a longbow is much more expedient). For your melee weapon, you want something two-handed that you can let go of one hand as a free action to do spell component stuff. Greatsword works admirably for this. If you want to do ranged/melee without switching weapons, then get an Elvencraft Longbow (Races of the Wild), which can be used as a quarterstaff as well as a longbow.

Mithral Body... you're going to be losing a lot of spells to ASF until at least 9th level. If you are starting the game at 10th, then that should be fine, but Fighter 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 3 loses 9th level spells. If that's ok with you, then I'd probably finish off with Swiftblade 10/Abjurant Champion 1.

For your two Fighter Bonus feats, Power Attack and Cleave can be decently useful on a gish. You can take a Reserve feat like Acid Splatter at 6th for another ranged attack. At 9th, you can take Arcane Strike. Take Minor Shapeshift at 12th.

[Larkas]

Whoa, chill out, dude! Breath! Breath! Commas and interrogation marks are your friends!
Now, a few things you must be aware before we start helping you out with what you asked for:

- Your attribute scores are all over the place. Were they "roll, assign as they come"? If not, I recommend redistributing them. Specifically, you are seriously lacking in Charisma, your sole casting stat, while at the same time having too much Dexterity and Intelligence.

- I assume you're rolling a warforged, right? Well, keep in mind that you'll have to contend with spell failure for quite some time. And you'll hate it the most when that spell that would save your life fizzles due to it.

- Your classes are... Remarkably sub-optimal. Spellsword will only advance your spellcasting every other level. There are a few better classes with the same flavor you could take instead, like the already mentioned Eldritch Knight, Knight Phantom, Swiftblade and the great Abjurant Champion. Of course, in an environment where optimization doesn't matter much, you might be able to get away with Spellsword 10, but keep in mind that your spells will be mere toys at the levels you'll get them, and won't help you much in combat, if at all.

- Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) is a big waste. Bastard's 1d10 means a mere 1 more average damage than long's 1d8. If you want to take an exotic weapon, consider something like a spiked chain, that is, a unique weapon with unique mechanics, not a minute damage increase.

- Fighter / Sorcerer isn't terrible, but those classes don't synergize very well. A Paladin / Sorcerer, on the other hand, gets great value from his Charisma, for example. The "standard" Sorcadin build is Paladin 2/ Sorcerer 4/ Spellsword 1/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Sacred Exorcist 8, I believe, but if 9th level spells aren't that important to you, you can play around with it a bit. If on the other hand you don't care much for Charisma synergy, you might be better served by a Wizard-based Gish build. Those are somewhat more forgiving, by the way. If all else fail, use a Gish-in-a-can class, like the Duskblade. I assure you'll have fun.