3.5 Player Builds- I need help with my Fighter/Wizard

[Almaril]

OK, so I need some build help on my Elven Wizard/Fighter. Now, I bet you are wondering why I chose an elf for a fighter/wizard right? Well, I didn't. Our 9th level Human Fighter decided he wanted to join a pack of lycanthropes. *facepalm* Anyways, our DM decided that a new character needed to be rolled. So he went to go on and create a.... Dwarf Ranger. Not only is it a weird class/race combo, but the character is 4th level(due to our DM's rules).

So, I decided to follow on the path of a spellsword, sadly. I am now an 8 Level Wizard/ 1st Level Fighter. Yes(my god why did he go to the werewolves!?) So now I need some direction on where to go from here. I need specific help in the feats, armor, and weapons area.

Here are my stats and gear:

Gear: Elven Chain, +2 Bastard Sword(which I use in two hands), +1 Longsword, Ring of Protection +1, Ring of Ram, and a Ring of Counterspell.

Stats: Str: 8 (-1)
: Dex: 18 (+4)
: Con: 10 (/)
: Int: 18 (+4)
: Wis: 12 (+1)
: Cha: 10 (/)

I know, my physical stats are crap.

BAB: +5
AC: 20
Feats: Improved Familiar(Winter Wolf), Spell Focus(Evocation), Greater Spell Focus(Evocation), Empower Spell, and Chain Spell

Any advice in much appreciated, including ingame combat advice!:smallbiggrin:

Also along with our 4th level Dwarven Ranger, we have a 8th level Rogue/ 1st level Cleric of Olidaramma(Did I spell that right?) Anyways, thanks again.:smallcool:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If it's not too late, don't even take that Fighter level. If it is too late, just plan on taking Abjurant Champion from Complete Mage for your next five levels. You don't need to wade into combat, you're a Wizard with 4th level spells. Use Polymorph to turn that Ranger into a Fleshraker dinosaur (MM3), or even better, use it to turn your Winter Wolf familiar into an 8-headed Hydra, and use Mage Armor on both of them. In that form its breath attack will deal 4d6 cold damage per head, and it can make tons of bites every round. Focus on using debuffs, crowd controls, and buffing your party. Here's a decent wizard guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394), follow the advice it gives for spells and tactics. You don't have the HP, BAB, or Str to go into melee yourself, if you try that you'll end up rolling a new 4th level character as well.

If you can get another Wizard level or a prestige class level that advances Wizard casting instead of that Fighter level, you'll be able to cast Lesser Planar Binding. Here's a handy guide on doing that (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394), you can get a Movanic Deva from the Fiend Folio (listed under Deva) which has a +1 Flaming Greatsword and tons of spell-like abilities, including Raise Dead, and remember that spell-like abilities don't require costly material components or xp components. That's a more powerful combatant than your character could hope to be, you can buff it with Mage Armor, and you can negotiate for it to help you to the completion of the current adventure or even longer.

[Grayson01]

Are all the classes and feats already set?

[sideswipe]

if i were you i would go instead for one of the many prestige classes that still progress your magic but are more combat focused. that is if you really want to start fighting.

you could just take 9 levels of wizard and learn a lot of combat buffs and transformation spells. or summon spells. summon something in to do the fighting for you.

if you want to start fighting though. take fighter, only for the armour proficiencies. and a bit of BAB. then take your next level in spell sword.

get your hands on some feycraft and githcraft +1 mithril full plate with thistle down padding so you have medium armour that has no spell failure chance as you wear it.
you will be 1 level behind as a wizard at 10th level and you will be kitted out a bit for some close quarters fighting. then just take spells that boost you. get the cleric to help with that.

you can either continue spellsword until you can channel spells, allowing you to use your evocations you have specialised in through attacks with your sword. it will also grant you more BAB continuing spellsword whilst giving you some more leveling up as a wizard every other level.
or you could, after those two levels go back to being a full wizard and only be 1 level behind where you would normally be if you went straight wizard.

if you took 5 levels of spellsword and then went back to wizard you would at level 20 be wizard 8/fighter 1/spellsword 5/wizard 6

this gives you 3 levels of casting lost so you have 9th level spells (gained at level 20) with better base attack then what you had and the ability to hit and deal spells through your sword.

there are more powerful things you could do. but this is easy and it is the level of optimisation that your group uses. and you dont want to outshadow them any more then you already do.

P.S. if you go to spellsword 5 (or even 3) you wont need such fancy expensive armour. spellsword 1 gives -10 arcane spell failure 3 -15 5 -20

feycraft, githcraft, and thistledown all reduce 5 and mithril is -10.

so fullplate is 35%
buying at spellsword 1 you need what i said. but if you cant find it until later then at spellsword 5 it is much much cheaper. just mithril and 1 craft, or all the crafts and padding (the cheapest option at about 3000g).

[SinsI]

Have you considered taking the Necropolitan template? It can help remove the junk Fighter level, as well as negate the Con penalty (since you no longer have a Constitution score).

[Zweisteine]

At CL 9, polymorph the ranger into a Cave Troll.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

At CL 9, polymorph the ranger into a Cave Troll.

If the Ranger is only 4th level, he can only be turned into into things with 4 or fewer HD. He could make him a Hippogriff, a Fleshraker dinosaur, and Ogre, etc. The Wizard's familiar, however, can be turned into more powerful creatures.

[Zman]

Fighter 1 Aburant Champion 5 should do. As said before there is a tone of Polymorph options depending on how your DM feels about scouring through sourcebooks.

It seems like you have a fairly Low Optimization party, I would caution on doing anything too optimized at it will overshadow your other party members and give your DM grief.

[Xerlith]

I'd like to point at the elephant in the room - a 4th level character in a 9th level party. A fighter-type in a party with a wizard. Why does your DM punish the Dwarf Ranger player so badly? He'll be practically useless.

ALso, if rebuilds (per PHB2) are in play, you can retrain into Fighter1/Wizard4/Warblade1/Spellsword1/Abjurant Champion5 to be a powerful melee powerhouse.

And completely overshadow that poor ranger.

Why not.

The level crippling rule is stupid anyway.

[ericgrau]

Regardless of what class levels you get, I'd mainly cast spells with those stats and rarely swing your weapon. Probably wouldn't even wear armor. You could use the fighter feat for point blank shot or precise shot and go with ray spells.

As for dealing with dumb rules, talk to the DM instead of trying to sabotage everyone's fun just to make a point.

[Zweisteine]

If the DM resists attempts to bring the ranger up a few levels, kill everyone so you're equal again.

(Don't actually do this without permission from the other players.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If the DM resists attempts to bring the ranger up a few levels, kill everyone so you're equal again.

(Don't actually do this without permission from the other players.)

This is actually a good point. A 4th level character has 6,000 xp, a 9th level character has 36,000 xp. It's absolutely unfair that the DM would make his new character come in at 1/6th the progression of the rest of the party.

DMG page 41 details what to do when someone creates a new character:
"How you handle these situations is up to you. Choosing a level for the new character is a matter of finding the balance point where a new character is viable and fun to play without outshining the other PCs.
Under most circumstances, a new character should begin play at the beginning of the level lower than the player's previous PC."

His new character should be of a high enough level to be viable and fun to play, not 1/6th the progression of the rest of the party level! His new character should be one level behind his previous character's level.

On that same page in the DMG, you can find the sidebar titled, Behind the Curtain: When A PC Falls Behind, which states, "D&D works best when all the PCs are within a level or two of each other. The classes are carefully balanced against each other at each level, and the Challenge Rating system gives you great freedom to design appropriate challenges that are fun for everyone at the table."

I think your DM is missing one of the most important parts of his job as the DM, to make this game fair and fun for everyone involved. When talking to a DM, if he refers to it as his game, you should correct him in that 'it's our game' because it's as much the players' game as it is the DM's. If he still won't budge, talk to the other players outside the game and see what they think. You may have to go so far as to get a vote to implement a house rule for what level new characters enter play at, which should never be lower than one level below the current lowest level PC.

[Almaril]

Whoah Um okay, let me clarify on the DM's ruling. This is how the situation went down:

Our party just cleared a room of baddies and their captain who had a hostage. Of course we had some help from a bunch of lycanthropes(which we did not were such things until in the midst of battle). After the battle, to recuperate for their werewolves's losses, the lycanthropes proceeded asked our fighter to join the pack. They specifically told us that only humans were allowed and that he would have to join the pack. Our DM specifically asked the fighter, "Do you REALLY want to join a pack of wolf-dudes?" Our party took the fighter aside and told him that the cons outweighed the pros by, like, 100lbs. He then proceeded to say,"Yeah, but being a wolf fighter would be so cool!" *facepalm* I, the highly intellectual wizard, repeatedly tried to convince him otherwise.

After the party got back to the table, the DM asked again,"So you want to potentially leave the party and run off with a bunch of animals?."

"Yes," says the big stupid fighter. :furious:

*Everyone facepalms*

So we roll some percentile dice to determine if he contracts the disease. He does. We roll some more percentile dice to see if he runs off with the pack after the encounter. He does. Everyone mumbles, "Stupid f****** fighter." The fighter whispers to himself, alone. The DM rules that, for that stupid decision and that me and the other players are capable of handling ourselves, the new character is half level.

My bad for any confusion.

By the way, I realized that some of the replies were only about the DM's ruling and while I thank you for your input, I asked for builds, class advice and other combat related ideas. Also, we all love our DM and the player that ran off with the pack is still quite comfortable with what happened. He has been with us for over a year and has made epic campaigns for all of us. No problems on our side. Peace.:smallbiggrin:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

After the party got back to the table, the DM asked again,"So you want to potentially leave the party and run off with a bunch of animals?."

"Yes," says the big stupid fighter. :furious:

*Everyone facepalms*

So we roll some percentile dice to determine if he contracts the disease. He does. We roll some more percentile dice to see if he runs off with the pack after the encounter. He does. Everyone mumbles, "Stupid f****** fighter." The fighter whispers to himself, alone. The DM rules that, for that stupid decision and that me and the other players are capable of handling ourselves, the new character is half level.

It's up to a given player what their own character's motivations and goals are. If his character would prefer to be a werewolf instead of an adventurer, then that's what his character wants to do. The DM shouldn't punish a player for making in-character decisions that fit how he envisions his own character's motives. It was a bad decision for the rest of the party, but I'm sure that character considers it the best decision he's ever made! Your DM is punishing this player for playing his character well, despite metagame knowledge, and that is unfair.