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Dyllan
2008-05-19, 05:25 PM
Here's the build I have so far.

Human
1 Paladin Expeditious Dodge, Power Attack
2 Paladin
3 Paladin Combat Casting
4 Paladin
5 Sorcerer
6 Sorcerer Divine Might
7 Abjurant Champion
8 Abjurant Champion
9 Abjurant Champion Arcane Preparation
10 Abjurant Champion
11 Abjurant Champion
12 Swiftblade Mobility
13 Swiftblade
14 Swiftblade
15 Swiftblade Arcane Strike
16 Swiftblade
17 Swiftblade
18 Swiftblade
19 Swiftblade
20 Swiftblade

Arcane Preparation is put in so I can take Sanctified Spells - specifically Luminous Armor and Greater Luminous Armor. Beyond that, I'm up for any suggestions.

-Dyllan

Keld Denar
2008-05-19, 05:38 PM
I know you want spell suggestions, but I'd honestly suggest dropping 1 level of AC and picking up that 10th level of SB. Time Stop is much cooler than 1 point of AC. It really is.

So, you cast as a 12th level sorc at level 20. That gives you 6th level spells. Early on, take spells like Shield (especially with AC) that boost your AC. Other spells like (Greater)Mirror Image, (Greater)Invisibility, and something like Alter Self. These will boost your AC up to decent amounts and give you misschance and avoidance. You do 0 damage per round while dead.

For offence, you don't need much. I like Whirling Blade from Spell Compendium for ranged offense. Its not dependant on your meager caster level, but rather your melee prowass. You can 2:1 Power Attack with it, and apply both Divine Might and Arcane Strike to it to do nasty things to people. Its about all the offence you'll need, other than maybe some utility offense like Vampiric Touch if you get a Spell Storing weapon.

Dyllan
2008-05-19, 05:48 PM
I did consider dropping Abjurant Champion 5 to take Swiftblade 10, but besides adding 2 total AC when I have shield and (Greater) Luminous Armor up, it also treats my caster level as equal to my BAB - ie, 1 less than my character level. At 20 that's +7 caster level.

Still, the time stop ability *IS* really good. But, I'm not going to be starting this character at level 20... and having the extra level of Abjurant Champion would be quite helpful from level 11 to 19. And, it is only 1 round of Time Stop each time I use it, which would be 3 times a day. Not saying that's not an awesome ability, but it's not nearly as good as it is with a more caster focused build.

-Dyllan

marjan
2008-05-19, 07:05 PM
Protection from Alignment, or better Magic Circle Against Alignment will also get bonus AC from Abjurant Champion and Magic Circle affects your allies also. These won't be that great though if you don't usually fight enemies that have same alignment. Mass Resist Energy is also a good spell to have. Bite of WereX from SC (Bite of Weretiger is 6th level I think) is great buff for gishes. Haste is obvious choice.

Keld Denar
2008-05-19, 10:32 PM
Have you considered that you also get a single paladin spell if you have a 12+ wisdom? You can take Lesser Restoration (Pal1) to offset the str damage you take from casting GLA, which is nice. Or you could get a wand of LR made by a paladin for 750g (good luck finding it!) and then take Rhino's Rush as your 1st level paladin spell. This gives you double damage on a charge, and since it doesn't have the same wording as criting does, you should get double damage on your Arcane Strike and Divine Might as well, on top of your normal 2handed Power Attack. Couple of Pearls of Power 1 for 1k gold each and you could open every combat in a day with this trick, provided you wanted to charge into combat.

marjan
2008-05-19, 10:53 PM
I like lussmanj's advice.


Or you could get a wand of LR made by a paladin for 750g (good luck finding it!)

First note that paladin needs to be 4th level to cast 1st level spells, so it's CL2 and therefore 1500g (you would need this done by Archivist in order for it to be 750g).
Second is that you really don't need to buy wand if you take Craft Wand as your feat, or some other caster has it (I think Scribe Scroll is the only feat that requires the creator to know spell and for other feats you can just "borrow" it).

For your feat you can take Practiced Spellcaster to bump your CL to maximum (not sure if it is worth it though).
Elusive Target is a good feat, especially since you already have the crap (Dodge, Mobility) required for it.

Animefunkmaster
2008-05-19, 10:57 PM
Suggestions:

No more than Paladin 2. For turning, nab a level in Sacred Exorcist. I agree that time stop is better than the little extra AC. Consider Becoming a Dragonborn, the wings will help a great deal with the Dive Attack dealing X2 damage is a big help (and if you keep the pali levels it will stack with Rhino Rush), now just find a way to pounce and your arcane striking will be great.

If you are going to be power attacking, you might as well go down the shock trooper route.

Dyllan
2008-05-20, 10:36 PM
I had considered LR as my Paladin spell - that's part of why I thought Paladin4 worked so well. But I hadn't thought of Rhino Rush, and wands of LR. I like that idea - though if I do it, I might just do it the other way. I'll need 1 LR every day, but an unknown number of Rhino Rushes - why not just make the wand of Rhino Rush.

The more I think of it, the more I think just taking 4 levels of AC and resigning myself to using extend spell more often.

I'm not sure if Elusive Target works with Expeditious Dodge. Unless I'm reading it wrong, Expeditious Dodge gives me a +2 dodge bonus in any round where I move at least 40 feet, but it's a flat bonus - I don't pick opponents to dodge. Elusive Target's abilities all work on the person I choose to Dodge with my Dodge feat.

So at 18... How does Leap Attack sound? +100% power attack damage on a charge if I jump 10' horizontally? Not quite Pounce, but close.

Thanks for all the input.

-Dyllan

marjan
2008-05-20, 11:04 PM
I'll need 1 LR every day, but an unknown number of Rhino Rushes - why not just make the wand of Rhino Rush.


That's why you buy pearls of power. 3-4 of them should be enough and it they cost 1k each. Problem with wands of Rhino's Rush is that you need to hold them in order to activate, which means you'll need action to take them out and after using it either drop it or keep your hand occupied. Now there are ways around this using magic items, but it's easier to just memorize the spell. And since you'll be using it more often it means it will also be more expensive.



I'm not sure if Elusive Target works with Expeditious Dodge. Unless I'm reading it wrong, Expeditious Dodge gives me a +2 dodge bonus in any round where I move at least 40 feet, but it's a flat bonus - I don't pick opponents to dodge. Elusive Target's abilities all work on the person I choose to Dodge with my Dodge feat.


TBH, when I suggested to take Elusive Target I thought you took dodge. The ways around this are: either taking dodge (which you probably won't like), or seeing with your DM to select a target for Elusive Target despite the universal nature of Expeditious Dodge.
If you really want to make your DM mad you can always try convincing him that Expeditious Dodge works on everything that everyone is target of it and it substitutes Dodge for all purposes, though I would avoid doing so if I were you.



So at 18... How does Leap Attack sound? +100% power attack damage on a charge if I jump 10' horizontally? Not quite Pounce, but close.


This will do wonders, especially if you don't mind a bit of cheese with Wraithstrike.

Dyllan
2008-05-21, 12:38 AM
Of course I don't mind a bit of cheese with wraithstrike.

I was playing a core Arcane Trickster in another campaign this DM ran, and he allowed wraithstrike but I never got to use it to much effect because one of the other PCs started playing with a powerful artifact without knowing what he was doing, and unmade the world.

That was a fun one to explain to my wife, who's character had been left behind, so she had gone to bed. "Well, you were waiting by the river, and then you weren't."

Yeah, it took a long time for him to live that one down.

-Dyllan