Warblade//Warmage

[Lennythewhite]

I need help building a Warblade Warmage gestalt. I have never made one before and seek the wisdom of the forum.:smallwink:

New group meets in two weeks. No one is to know each others characters to add to the fun.

I rolled 18,16,15,15,14,12

[Jigawatts]

I honestly dont know much about the Warmage, other than it is just a straight blaster. Personally I would suggest something that has a bit more synergy where you can solidly focus on one role, such as a Warblade//Psion (Egoist). You get the utility of a full "caster" and good personal buffing powers to combine with your Warblade abilities. Also the Int synergy is nice.

[geekintheground]

if you enjoy warmage, you should PrC into warmage (dragonlance age of mortals). but honestly, as fun as it sounds the 2 arent very synergistic. i mean, either you spend time and feats on melee (focusing on warblade) in which case there are better caster types (duskblade springs to mind, to channel spells while you initiate maneuvers). OR you stay away and blast in which case theres better stuff for the other side (other casters to increase versatility).


edit: as for your stats, if you keep the classes (which you can totally make work): 12 str, 15 dex, 16 con, 15 int, 14 wis, 18 cha. put your 1st level bonus into dex, one into int and the rest into cha. you need some dex for ranged attacks, int for class abilities and cha for casting


edit: changed some of the stats since i thought warmage was int a based caster

[weckar]

To fit the theme, you should probably play a warforged.

[Aquillion]

To fit the theme, you should probably play a warforged.Or take some Warrior levels!

(Or, all right, all right, Warblade // War Mind, which actually does offer some synergy, if you assume Sweeping Strike applies to ToB strikes; Expansion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/expansion.htm) is also very effective on any fighty class. Although some people might ban War Mind in Gestalt, because it is technically a gish class.)

[Red Fel]

I need help building a Warblade Warmage gestalt. I have never made one before and seek the wisdom of the forum.:smallwink:

New group meets in two weeks. No one is to know each others characters to add to the fun.

I rolled 18,16,15,15,14,12

Well, first, let's look at synergies. The combination of Warblade and Warmage (I assume you mean CArc Warmage) will get you full BAB, and good Fort and Will saves. That's good. Ability foci, on the other hand, are problematic.

Warblades tend to be Str/Con or Dex/Con or Str/Con/Dex with Int for class abilities. Manageable for a melee class. Warmage, on the other hand, is a Cha-based caster with an Int-based touch (Warmage Edge), meaning his focus is likely to be Cha/Con with a touch of Int. Basically, the build is going to be MAD. You'll need your combat stats for melee, but you'll need Cha as well for casting. That means, at the very least, you need a healthy amount of Str, Con, and Cha, with a smattering of Int for class abilities and Dex because Dex; the only thing you can afford to dump is Wis. It's messy.

Now, for your next problem. Warblades tend to be an "active" side to a gestalt. Yes, it's possible to make them passive, with counters and boosts, but you miss out on a lot of what the class has to offer. Abilities like Weapon Aptitude, Battle Ardor, Battle Cunning and Battle Mastery are somewhat dependent upon your use of melee attacks in combat; additionally, many of your best maneuvers are standard actions. If you're not engaged in making melee attacks, you lose out on the bulk of what Warblade does.

Warmage... Is much the same. Many of Warmage's class abilities (Warmage Edge, Sudden Empower/Enlarge/Widen/Maximize) are based around the idea of combat casting. Not buffing, which goes wonderfully on the "passive" side of a gestalt, but blasting and battlefield control. That's a fairly active class.

And that produces a big problem. It's commonly encouraged to have a "passive" side and an "active" side to the gestalt, so that you can make maximum use of all class abilities. A Warblade//Warmage will be an either/or scenario, not a both/and scenario. You can't use Time Stands Still and Sudden Enlarged Prismatic Wall in the same turn, for example.

Short version: I'd advise against it, as thematically entertaining as it seems. It's a reason a lot of gish builds don't seem to work once you get down to it; unless you can take advantage of casting and melee (see Duskblade's arcane channeling, or Cleric's buffing) you're going to be missing out.

[Lennythewhite]

Thank you all for your help!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Illumian, Krau sigil and whatever else.
Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Warblade 20// Warmage 1/ Phoenix Servant* 10/ Incantatrix 4/ Abjurant Champion 5
Two flaws (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm) for two extra feats: Love of Nature (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?258440-The-quot-Best-quot-Flaws#30) and Murky-Eyed. Gain Iron Will via the Otyugh Hole detailed in CS for 3,000 gp instead of spending a feat on it.
Improved Sigil: Krau (f), Versatile Spellcaster (f), Magical Training (spellbook) (1), Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) (3), Combat Reflexes (W), Arcane Preparation (6), Improved Initiative (W), Extend Spell (9), Persistent Spell (I), Searing Spell (12), Ironheart Aura (W), Selective Spell (I), Combat Casting (15), Quick Draw (W), Defensive Sweep (18).

*This uses an adaptation of Rainbow Servant (CD) based on a Phoenix (MM2). It should grant the Good, Fire, and Renewal domains, get Detect Magic instead of Detect Chaos, and Remove Fear instead of Detect Thoughts. Note that per the core errata, when the text and the table disagree the text is always correct, so Rainbow Servant should increase spellcasting at every class level. If your DM disagrees and house rules it to skip spellcasting at the levels shown on the table, use the following level build instead:
1. Warmage 1// Warblade 1
2. Warmage 2// Phoenix Servant 1
3. Phoenix Servant 2// Warblade 2
4. Phoenix Servant 3// Warblade 3
5. Warmage 3// Phoenix Servant 4
6. Phoenix Servant 5// Warblade 4
7. Phoenix Servant 6// Warblade 5
8. Warmage 4// Phoenix Servant 7
9. Phoenix Servant 8// Warblade 6
10. Phoenix Servant 9// Warblade 7
11. Warmage 5// Phoenix Servant 10
12. Incantatrix 1// Warblade 8
13. Incantatrix 2// Warblade 9
14. Incantatrix 3// Warblade 10
15. Incantatrix 4// Warblade 11
16. Abjurant Champion 1// Warblade 12
17. Abjurant Champion 2// Warblade 13
18. Abjurant Champion 3// Warblade 14
19. Abjurant Champion 4// Warblade 15
20. Abjurant Champion 5// Warblade 16

Magical Training gives you a spellbook, which you've already scribed several 0-level spells into. Per the Rules Compendium you'll be able to learn and scribe more spells into it just as a Wizard does, and doing so will count those as spells your character knows. Versatile Spellcaster allows you to spend two spell slots of the same level to cast any spell you know of one level higher, so you can cast Wizard spells using Warmage spell slots, though you'll probably need your spellbook open to that page to do so, limiting its usefulness in combat. This is mostly to gain access to choice buffs, and to give you access to the Wizard class spell list (via those few 0-level spell slots) to use wands such as Wraithstrike.

You'll eventually get access to the entire Cleric spell list, and you'll be able to make your spells Persistent with a spellcraft check. You can take ten on this check, and if you invest every skill point you possibly can into your Item Familiar and put the bonus toward Spellcraft you'll always succeed by taking ten on these checks. Cooperative Metamagic can be used on your own spells when outside of combat since the action economy system only exists during initiative. Most of the Bite of the Werecreature spells give you Power Attack for their duration, and you can add Persistent Spell to any of them. Other spells to persist include choice Cleric buffs such as Mass Lesser Vigor, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Holy Star, and Stormrage, plus Wizard spells like Wraithstrike, Shield, Greater/Superior Invisibility, Draconic Polymorph, Arcane Spellsurge, Selective Antimagic Field, etc. Arcane Preparation is included for (Greater) Luminous Armor, Elation, and other sanctified spells that can only be cast if prepared.

If you're scared of losing your Item Familiar, make it a ring and always wear a glove or gauntlet over it. Opponents will never have line of sight or line of effect to it, so it cannot be attacked directly or slight of handed. An Item Familiar with sapience is considered a construct and a creature like all intelligent items, and constructs cannot be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjoining and they continue to function in antimagic and dead magic areas.

Just to note, you could easily just go Warblade 20// Wizard 5/ Incantatrix 4/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Incantatrix 6 and be much better off.

[Gwendol]

I need help building a Warblade Warmage gestalt. I have never made one before and seek the wisdom of the forum.:smallwink:

New group meets in two weeks. No one is to know each others characters to add to the fun.

I rolled 18,16,15,15,14,12

I recommend a crusader//warmage instead. Better stat synergy, and the crusader comes with a mix of abilities. As most ToB classes the crusader is melee oriented, with the warmage side providing some ranged options.

Warmage edge is a trap so you can safely dump INT.

PrC into sandshaper asap to give access to a more diversified spell list.

I think this could play out nicely!

[ArqArturo]

Edge is a trap... Unless you're looking into be a straight up spell damage powerhouse, and even then you don't dump it entirely (but raise Int only with items). What you want with the warmage is to have a decent Wis for Arcane Disciple, and go to town with as many extra spells.

Warmage has Fist of Stone, which raises your Str to a +6, on one arm, and it gives you a slam attack, so look into that.