3.P - Defensive feats for Duskblades

[Red Rubber Band]

Greetings.

As per the title. I'm looking for defensive feats, preferably ones that aren't part of a long chain. They will be used on a Duskblade. AC and HP are the primary stats I want to buff.

Note that I'm not after offensive feats, no matter how much you believe offense is the best defense.

I've considered feats like Battle Caster, and even Toughness (PF). But I just can't bring myself to believe there's nothing better than Toughness.

Halp!

[GilesTheCleric]

Do you actually want to buff AC and hp, or negate the need for them? For example, miss chances become far more efficient at higher levels. Mirror Image gives you several sacks of 1-use infinite hp and AC. Being on the astral plane also makes you very difficult to kill. Lastly, are you sure that feats are the build resource you want to spend on improving your AC and hp? If they're what you have available, sure, but they're probably not very efficient.

There's actually something better than Toughness. Improved Toughness.

But here's a few feats that do something:

Arcane Toughness
Armor Specialization
Devotion, Air
Devotion, Law
Devotion, others
Divine Armor
Divine Shield
Divine Vigor
Dwarven Armor Proficiency (mountain plate or extreme plate or something)
Earth's Warding
Extra Ring (ring of +hp or AC)
Heavy Armor Optimization
Least Dragonmark (I'm sure one of the marks can do something)
Parrying Shield
Serenity

That's all I have in the most likely folder to look in.

Edit: You could take Precocious Caster (and Sanctum Spell) to grab any spell like Shield or Luminous Armor.

[Red Rubber Band]

Unfortunately feats are the only resource able to be spent for this.

Miss chances would be good. The defense would, preferably, be either constantly on or able to be turned on via a swift/immediate action.

Luckily this is 3.P. Because Toughness in PF is Toughness and Improved Toughness in one. OP OP!

Arcane Toughness would be cool, RP wise.
Law and Air Devotion fit, thematically, and I can't believe I didn't think of them beforehand.
Armour Specialisation works, but needs BAB 12. I was hoping to get it prior to that.
The Divine feats won't work, as Duskblade is an arcane caster.
Dwarf Armour is out, as is the ring and Earth's Ward.
Heavy Armour Optimisation is a maybe if I'm desparate... which, considering the nature of the question, I am.
Dragonmarks are a no go due to RP.
Parrying Shield would work if I could find a Dancing Shield, else it doesn't fit.
I'm not sure why Serenity is there :smallconfused:

[Sayt]

Crane Wing is decent, but unfortunately part of a long chain, and has a style requirement. Dodge, IUS, Crane Style, Crane Wing= Fight Defensively as a -2, in return for a +10 dodge to AC (+1 Dodge, +1 3 ranks acrobatics, +2 Fight Defensively, +1 Crane Style, +4 Crane Wing).

Martial Training I-VII from 3pp Path of War will get you a few counters, with better returns for more investment. You'd have to be okay with Tome of Battle/Path of War maneuvers and initiating, however.

[Red Rubber Band]

Unfortunately that's too large an investment feat wise. The concept also does not fit the character well. But, good to know about the +4 from Crane Wing. I didn't think it did that.

Taking these defensive options is part me not wanting to do more damage than I already do (don't want an arms race), and partly because I'm the closest thing to a tank/HP sink/bodyguard our party has. Unfortunately I'm squish, and don't have a big enough health pool to guarantee survival from sneakity-stabbities or nova sorcerors.

[Troacctid]

Obtain Familiar + Planar Familiar for a lantern archon? They can cast Aid at will, which is a replenishing pool of 1d8+3 temporary HP per turn (and a +1 morale bonus to attacks) for you, and they're surrounded by a constant Magic Circle against Evil, which is worth a +2 bonus to saves and AC against evil creatures. Alternately, they can aid you in melee to give you (or someone else) a +2 bonus to AC against a given enemy, or they could just attack with light rays for an extra 1d6 damage per round. You also get the utility of having access to a courier who can use Greater Teleport at will to transport itself plus 50 pounds of objects.

Martial Training offers some good options but is a feat chain. On the upside, each individual feat in the chain still provides good marginal value.

I guess Dodge offers a flat +1 AC, and is the start of some feat chains rather than the end, so it's not inconceivable that you might want it?

[Saintheart]

Obtain Familiar + Planar Familiar for a lantern archon? They can cast Aid at will, which is a replenishing pool of 1d8+3 temporary HP per turn (and a +1 morale bonus to attacks) for you, and they're surrounded by a constant Magic Circle against Evil, which is worth a +2 bonus to saves and AC against evil creatures. Alternately, they can aid you in melee to give you (or someone else) a +2 bonus to AC against a given enemy, or they could just attack with light rays for an extra 1d6 damage per round. You also get the utility of having access to a courier who can use Greater Teleport at will to transport itself plus 50 pounds of objects.

And on top of the feats, you can cast Planar Familiar (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011020a) on your Planar Familiar and it gains energy resistance, fast healing, damage reduction, and additional damage for its smite attack as though its Hit Dice were equal to your character level!

[GilesTheCleric]

And on top of the feats, you can cast Planar Familiar (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011020a) on your Planar Familiar and it gains energy resistance, fast healing, damage reduction, and additional damage for its smite attack as though its Hit Dice were equal to your character level!

Yo, dawg.

Also, look into Momentary Alteration. I think the best humanoid form is 7 NA, and the best outsider is 17. Photosynthetic Skin also gives natural armour. Protective Ward is not terrible and Touch Of Healing exists.

[Dread_Head]

Shape Soulmeld (MoI) for any of Lammasu Mantle, Wormtail Belt or Astral Vambraces (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a) all provide decent benefits at low levels in comparison to the investment. Better than dodge and heavy armour optimisation at least.

[JohnDaBarr]

Assuming you'll be using a shield there are couple of related feats that are not completely bad.

Battle Hardened It does something relatively useful X and Y
I can not tell you
Google it
Shield Specialization It does something relatively useful X and Y
I can not tell you
Google it
Active Shield Defense It does something relatively useful X and Y
I can not tell you
Google it

[GilesTheCleric]

Assuming you'll be using a shield there are couple of related feats that are not completely bad.

You should check the forum rules, specifically on posting copyrighted content.

[JohnDaBarr]

You should check the forum rules, specifically on posting copyrighted content.

ooh yeah right, sometimes I forget how rules in this world have no sense
I'll correct that
I am so voting for the Pirate Party.

[Red Rubber Band]

Thanks for the help and replies :smallsmile:

I have done a search, and I believe this question to be pointless, but is there a feat that allows you to move faster in medium/heavy armour?

I don't believe Mithral will be available, so cannot rely on getting armour made from it.

I just can't stand to move 20ft instead of 30.

[GilesTheCleric]

ooh yeah right, sometimes I forget how rules in this world have no sense
I'll correct that
I am so voting for the Pirate Party.

Rules are always a trade-off, and make more or less sense depending on where you stand in relation to them as well as what you have to gain or lose through them changing.

Me too! TPP isn't very widely supported in the USA, though =(

In terms of moving faster, you might be able to Alter Self into a dwarf if their non-penalized movespeed counts as inherent to their physical form, and after that pick up the Hasty trait or take Planar Touchstone: Catalogues: Celerity Domain.

[Red Rubber Band]

Ah, so lower my base movement speed to make me faster :smallamused:

The only problem with that is, assuming Dwarf speed works, Alter Self isn't on the Duskblade spell list. Though that, too, is just a feat away.

[animewatcha]

Since 3.5 and pathfinder are being mixed, are feats being done every odd level or every 3rd?

[Red Rubber Band]

Every odd level.

[Enran]

Would any of the Tome of Battle counter maneuvers work? Wall of Blades and Zephyr Dance both seem like they fit the bill, but if you're using Martial Study to get them (and don't want to spend another feat on Sudden Recovery) they'll only be usable once per encounter, so it may not be consistent enough unless you run through fights rather quickly in your campaign.

[Red Rubber Band]

Hmm. Interesting.

I don't know the ToB stuff that well. I like Wall of Blades, though. Thanks!

[stack]

If its 3.P, you could ask for access to the magus list, which is considerably broader than the duskblade list and has some solid defensive spells. Not a feat solution, but it seems worth asking.

[Aleolus]

If your DM is willing to allow 3rd party 3.0 feats, then get your hands on the AEG book Feats and get Armor Focus, Armor Specialization, and Armor Mastery. No BAB requirement, and with all three you get a +6 Competence bonus to your AC when wearing the chosen type of armor ( Light, Medium, or Heavy). Plus, your Armor Check Penalty is dropped by the same amount, to a minimum of 0