im looking for a great duskblade race

[techpriest35]

ok duskblades are a mix of fighter and wizards they have d8s as hd they rely on intelligence for spells and they use armor and weapons so i want to know what races upgrade strength intelligence and constitution as those are the main abilities of this class im only level one with this character its a new character i might play
thanks for any and all help

[John Longarrow]

Closest mix I've seen that seemed to work was Grey Elf with Weapon Finesse.

Nothing get STR, CON, and INT that doesn't have a level adjustment.

I'd also not try to compare Dusk Blade to wizard. Dusk Blades have a small spontaneous list of low use spell (for the most part) and can't pull off the wizard role.

A much better gish is taking 5 levels of initiator classes from ToB (to get a BAB of 5), dip a level in Wizard (taking Combat Casting) at 6th character level, then go abjurant champion. You can top off with Spell Sword for another caster level + Full BAB.
At 13th level this gets 4th level spells with a 12 BAB and better HPs. Does more damage (for the most part), better spells, and much greater versatility. From there, you second level in Wizard. If you feel up to it, grab the prereques and take a level in Dragon Slayer.

Waaaay easy to get good spells, almost full BAB, and a lot more bang for your buck than playing Dusk Blade.

If your DM is up for it, if you trade out the spells for abjuration and transmutation spells (Buff yourself) it works a lot better.

So far the reason I've heard people go Dusk Blade is for Polar Ray on melee attacks. As a top level ability this IS pretty good.

[Gildedragon]

At LA 0 a beguiler or lesser cansin or alethian dwarf are great choices
At LA +1 hard to top Athasian Human

Add the arctic LA 0 template for a con boost

[Falcon X]

I had a lot of fun playing a Spellscale Duskblade. It's not exactly a min/max, but it gave great flavor. You can also pray to Bahamut each morning, and add bonus damage to your channeled spells. Great for tripper builds, especially at lower levels.

Might I also recommend taking Knowledge Devotion as a feat. It's an instant +1 to attack, and scales up if you boost your knowledge skills. Great flavor too if you want to do the "I both carry a big sword and am the smart guy on the team" thing.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

An arctic fire elf would end up with +2 Dec +2 Int -4 Cha, which is about as good as it gets without going into incarnate construct tricks for +0 LA.

[Rebel7284]

An arctic fire elf would end up with +2 Dec +2 Int -4 Cha, which is about as good as it gets without going into incarnate construct tricks for +0 LA.

Please link me to the passage that allows linking two alternative races together. As far as I know, this is impossible.

There is nothing at LA 0 that allows +2 to three stats without extreme cheese (templated warforged + incarnate construct).

The best you can probably find is a race with +2 to Strength or +2 to int and get a boost to Con with Dragonborn template.

The dragon magazine traits mentioned by RAW only apply to races in the player's handbook, so that limits their utility.

[Gildedragon]

An arctic fire elf would end up with +2 Dec +2 Int -4 Cha, which is about as good as it gets without going into incarnate construct tricks for +0 LA.

One can do better.

Arctic Lesser Tiefling: +2 Dex +2 Con +2 int -4 cha
Arctic Lesser Cansin: +2 Con +2 Int
Arctic Lesser Wispling: +4 Dex +2 Con +2 Int -2 Str -2 Cha
Arctic Dust Paragenasi: +4 Dex +2 Int -4 Cha
Arctic Smoke Paragenasi: +2 Dex +2 Con +2 Int -4 Cha
Arctic Beguiler: +6 dex +2 Con +2 Int -4 str -2 Cha
Arctic Alethian Dwarf: +4 Con +2 int -6 Cha

Cha penalties can be transfered (2 points only) to Wis with the Magic Blooded template and

Dex may be reduced by two to boost Con by the same amount with the Dragonborn template

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Please link me to the passage that allows linking two alternative races together. As far as I know, this is impossible.

Fire Elf base race + Arctic template from Dragon issue 306 is perfectly legit. There's nothing prohibiting you from adding the Arctic Creature template to a Fire Elf.

[Darrin]

Please link me to the passage that allows linking two alternative races together. As far as I know, this is impossible.


I believe he's referring to the Arctic template from Dragon #306 (same issue as Magic-Blooded). This is a LA +0 template that can be applied to any race for +2 Con/-2 Cha.



There is nothing at LA 0 that allows +2 to three stats without extreme cheese (templated warforged + incarnate construct).


Venerable Dragonwrought Kobold. That one doesn't even involve templates. Some would put it in the "extreme cheese" category, though.



The best you can probably find is a race with +2 to Strength or +2 to int and get a boost to Con with Dragonborn template.


Dragonborn Deep Imaskari: +2 Con, +2 Int.
Dragonborn Lesser Tiefling: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha.
Dragonborn Lesser Air Genasi: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha.
Dragonborn Lesser Fire Genasi: -2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha.



The dragon magazine traits mentioned by RAW only apply to races in the player's handbook, so that limits their utility.

I'll have to check the issue when I get home, but I don't recall any such restriction from the article.