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SuperFish
2008-11-16, 05:07 PM
Now, there's a few things I should mention, since they're highly important to the character.

1) 10 of the non-class levels are being used for Dragon Disciple. I'm well aware that Dragon Disciple is one of the worst prestige classes out there, but I'm not exactly optimizing the build anyways.

2) Cleric is one of the best "other-side" classes to gestalt with Duskblade, but the character in question isn't religious in the slightest, so it's not a good option flavour wise.

3) I was originally planning to take Fighter for the other 10 non-Duskblade levels, but I was wondering if there was a better class, since my party has a (rebalanced) Paladin for tank purposes, anyways.

4) I also wanted to take a lot of the Draconic Heritage feats from Dragon Magic, since...well, dragons are cool, right?

So, does anyone have any options for me? Tome of Battle classes are out, though feats from there are fine. any base class in the SRD or in the Crystal Keep PDF are fine, and the DM has access to just about every 3.5 sourcebook there is.

weenie
2008-11-16, 05:32 PM
Well, wizard would be a good option. It would have been an excellent option if it wasn't for the Dragon Disciple thing, but even 10 levels of wizard can be fairly useful.

AdamSmasher
2008-11-16, 05:35 PM
This, like all questions before it, can be answered with two words and a hyphen:

Ur-Priest.





But then, it never hurts to dual weild as a duskblade. Go fighter!

Random NPC
2008-11-16, 05:48 PM
Factotum? :smallwink:

Thurbane
2008-11-16, 06:13 PM
Archivist?

Djinn_in_Tonic
2008-11-16, 06:31 PM
Well, Dragon Shaman for style points and flavor (as well as a 5d6 breath weapon, +3 draconic aura, elemental immunities, and a Lay on Hands like ability). 10 levels of Warlock never hurt anyone (some good invocations to pick up there). Fighter is a decent choice, and Rogue or Scout might also be good if you want a bit more damage potential (or to be a more mobile character). That's all I have in terms of base classes.

only1doug
2008-11-16, 06:31 PM
Now, there's a few things I should mention, since they're highly important to the character.

1) 10 of the non-class levels are being used for Dragon Disciple. I'm well aware that Dragon Disciple is one of the worst prestige classes out there, but I'm not exactly optimizing the build anyways.

2) Cleric is one of the best "other-side" classes to gestalt with Duskblade, but the character in question isn't religious in the slightest, so it's not a good option flavour wise.

3) I was originally planning to take Fighter for the other 10 non-Duskblade levels, but I was wondering if there was a better class, since my party has a (rebalanced) Paladin for tank purposes, anyways.

4) I also wanted to take a lot of the Draconic Heritage feats from Dragon Magic, since...well, dragons are cool, right?

So, does anyone have any options for me? Tome of Battle classes are out, though feats from there are fine. any base class in the SRD or in the Crystal Keep PDF are fine, and the DM has access to just about every 3.5 sourcebook there is.

Bard, good reflex saves, good skill points, gives access to cure spells.
I'd go Duskblade 20 // Bard 5 / dragonheart mage 5 / dragon disciple 10
5 levels of dragonheart mage will grant you draconic breath and 2 other draconic feats while advancing your bard spellcasting by 4 levels.

Alternatively go Duskblade 20 // Bard 10 / dragon disciple 10 and take the dragonfire inspiration feat to add extra damage dice to everyone's attacks with bardic music.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-11-16, 06:37 PM
Duskblade 13/Dragon Disciple 7//Factotem 8/Warblade 2/Dragon Disciple 3/Warblade 7.

only1doug
2008-11-16, 06:54 PM
Have you considered the dragonscale husk alternate class feature? (dragon magic)

replaces all armour proficiencies for a scaled hide granting you armour equal to 6+1/3 class level (max 12 at L20) and energy resistance to cold, fire, electricity and acid equal to class level (in blocks of 5).

some people dislike it as only +12 from armour at L20 is rather low, but it is free which allows you to spend the budget on other things and does grant energy resistance 20 to cold, fire, electricity and acid.

wadledo
2008-11-16, 07:15 PM
Have you considered the dragonscale husk alternate class feature? (dragon magic)

replaces all armour proficiencies for a scaled hide granting you armour equal to 6+1/3 class level (max 12 at L20) and energy resistance to cold, fire, electricity and acid equal to class level (in blocks of 5).

some people dislike it as only +12 from armour at L20 is rather low, but it is free which allows you to spend the budget on other things and does grant energy resistance 20 to cold, fire, electricity and acid.

And, I'm vaguely sure you can enchant it for additional bonuses.

Some level. stats, etc info would be helpful, as well as some additional info on the character.

SuperFish
2008-11-16, 07:27 PM
Alright.

Starting out at level one, the campaign (which is play-by-post on another forum) will last as long as we have interest in it. At this point, it's just me and two others, plus the DM.

The character in question has 17 Str, 15 Int, 14 in everything else but either Wisdom or Charisma. Which stat gets the 9 dump depends on which class I go into, I guess.

Dragonscale Husk requires proficieny with heavy armour, which Duskblade's don't have.

Bard sounds good, but it makes me rather MAD.:smallfurious:

Ur-Priest may be broken, but requires an evil alignment by RAW, and isn't really good for the character's flavour anyways.

I don't actually know what Archivist and Factotum are. >_>

MeklorIlavator
2008-11-16, 07:38 PM
Factotum is from Dungeonscape. The archivist is from Heroes of horror, but would be inappropriate due to the irreligous aspect of the character.

As for Dragonscale Husk, the other side of the gestalt could take care of that.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-11-16, 07:39 PM
Alright.

Starting out at level one, the campaign (which is play-by-post on another forum) will last as long as we have interest in it. At this point, it's just me and two others, plus the DM.

The character in question has 17 Str, 15 Int, 14 in everything else but either Wisdom or Charisma. Which stat gets the 9 dump depends on which class I go into, I guess.

Dragonscale Husk requires proficieny with heavy armour, which Duskblade's don't have.

Bard sounds good, but it makes me rather MAD.:smallfurious:

Ur-Priest may be broken, but requires an evil alignment by RAW, and isn't really good for the character's flavour anyways.

I don't actually know what Archivist and Factotum are. >_>Archivist is an Int-based divine caster without much religious flavor from Heroes of Horror, IIRC. It's pretty nice. Factotem, on the other hand, is from Dungeonscape(great book) and at 8th level can grant you extra standard actions as well as add Int to almost anything(to-hit rolls and Initiative are my favorites).

monty
2008-11-16, 07:42 PM
Factotem, on the other hand, is from Dungeonscape(great book) and at 8th level can grant you extra standard actions as well as add Int to almost anything(to-hit rolls and Initiative are my favorites).

Factotum automatically gets Int to Initiative from Brains over Brawn. I don't think Cunning Whatever can give it to you again.

Factotum is awesome, though. It goes well with pretty much any Int-focused character in gestalt. That's what I would go with, personally.

Random NPC
2008-11-16, 07:42 PM
Alright.

Starting out at level one, the campaign (which is play-by-post on another forum) will last as long as we have interest in it. At this point, it's just me and two others, plus the DM.

The character in question has 17 Str, 15 Int, 14 in everything else but either Wisdom or Charisma. Which stat gets the 9 dump depends on which class I go into, I guess.

Dragonscale Husk requires proficieny with heavy armour, which Duskblade's don't have.

Bard sounds good, but it makes me rather MAD.:smallfurious:

Ur-Priest may be broken, but requires an evil alignment by RAW, and isn't really good for the character's flavour anyways.

I don't actually know what Archivist and Factotum are. >_>
Archivist are Int based cleric from Heroes of Horrors, look here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3)

Factotum is a base class from Dungeonscape, written by Jason Bulmhan and Rich Burlew (this last guy created this webcomic about D&D and stick figures). The class is a literal Jack of All trades, based as everything on int, even has bonus for attack and damage rolls

EDIT: Oh the ninjas

ClericofPhwarrr
2008-11-16, 10:07 PM
Wizard, Archivist, or Factotum would be the best choice. The Archivist can be found for free here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3). Just give it some slight reflavoring to make the religious part into an Indiana Jones style of wizard, and reflavor the prayer as study.

Factotum would be my pick for fun and superbly meshing mechanics.

monty
2008-11-17, 12:31 AM
EDIT: Oh the ninjas

Are you sure they aren't factota imitating ninjas?

dspeyer
2008-11-17, 02:09 AM
What comes to my mind is beguiler or rogue.

Beguiler would significantly improve your skills, and give you a much broader base of magic (there's very little overlap between the beguiler and duskblade spell lists). You could even prestige the beguiler into incantrix, and use cheap or free quickened true-strike spells in combat.

Rogue would give even more skills, fill in your reflex save, and give you lots of precision-based damage. If sneaking and flanking aren't your style, you can keep the skills and special abilities with the fighter-feat rogue variant from UA.

ClericofPhwarrr
2008-11-17, 02:20 AM
What comes to my mind is beguiler or rogue.

Beguiler would significantly improve your skills, and give you a much broader base of magic (there's very little overlap between the beguiler and duskblade spell lists). You could even prestige the beguiler into incantrix, and use cheap or free quickened true-strike spells in combat.

I made a Swashbuckler/Duskblade/Swiftblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327)//Beguiler for a gestalt game, which was exceedingly fun to play. I recall wishing that I had swapped the 3 Swashbuckler levels for more Duskblade. Swiftblade is a great class for gestalt, and builds off of Duskblade nicely if your other side gets you access to Haste.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2008-11-17, 02:38 AM
To get the most out of it, you'll want Whirlwind Attack with reach and some kind of I-Win touch spell by level 13. As it happens, Duskblade 13// X 10/ Sublime Chord 3 gets exactly that with Otto's Irresistible Dance. I'd probably make the build go Duskblade 20// Bard 1/ Fighter 4/ Dragon Disciple 5/ Sublime Chord 3/ Mindbender 1/ Dragon Disciple 5/ Exotic Weapon Master 1. You'd end up MAD for Str, Int, and Cha, but you'd get to Whirlwind Attack and Arcane Channel an Irresistible Dance at level 13 and be way cool. You know you want to.

only1doug
2008-11-17, 02:37 PM
<snip>

Dragonscale Husk requires proficieny with heavy armour, which Duskblade's don't have.

<snip>


Incorrect;



PHBII pg 19

Duskblades gain proficiency with all martial weapons, as well as all armours and all shields (except tower shield)



heavy armour proficiency is a subset of all :P

Greenfaun
2008-11-17, 02:48 PM
Well, it all depends on what you want for the character, but Dragonfire Adept's a possibility too. It doesn't overlap much with Duskblade, so you get a lot of bang for your gestalt buck, and a ranged AoE attack is a good second option to have to damage groups, swarms or elusive enemies. MAD is an issue, but not as much as it would be for a casting class, and it works with that Draconic theme you're going for.

SuperFish
2008-11-18, 10:28 PM
Incorrect;



heavy armour proficiency is a subset of all :P

:smallconfused: Huh. I guess I just assumed, since Duskblades hit AMF with Heavy Armour.

All these are excellent option, but I now have problems deciding which to use. :smallsigh:

Burley
2008-11-19, 09:18 AM
Be fore-warned: Dragonscale Husk says you can't use normal armor over your scales, and the scales count as natural armor. You can't enchant natural armor. It's good to have some free stuff, but it cuts off the armor limb from AC. For a Dex based character, that wants to avoid armor check penalties (Like a fighter with the sneak attack variant), it's okay, but it will seriously gimp your character at higher levels, which you're obviously building for.