Sorcerer/Duskblade gestalt

[weenie]

So, how do you think such a character would work out? I know there are a few problems with MAD, and Armored Mage doesn't work with sorcerer spells, but do you think the other abilities make it worth?

[Xefas]

As gestalts go, there are way WAY better combinations. The two classes don't synergize at all.

I think a good question to ask would be what character concept are you trying to pull off with this? If it's "A badass swordsman whose also a badass arcane caster" then go with Warblade/Wizard or Warblade/Psion. Lots more ability synergy, and way more effective.

[Reinboom]

Aye, synergy means a lot.
Another important thing to remember is:
You only have so many actions in a round. Doubling over spellcasting so dubiously won't magically give you more actions to cast from both your classes during a round. (All puns intended)
Neither can quicken, and even if you switch over to quicken spell or pick up the alternative class feature of sorcerer in PHB2 that lets you quicken... by the time you are capable to, your duskblade spells won't matter.

Very unsynergistic.

[Quietus]

As has been mentioned, synergy really does matter - that being said, there IS one strong bit of synergy between Sorcerer and Duskblade, and that's with their spells. You can use Arcane Channeling to drop Sorcerer touch spells in attacks - whether that'll invoke ASF or not, I'm not sure, as I'm at work and can't reliably check right now.

[weenie]

Actually I was going to more or less dump the Duskblade spells. They're not that good and as a sorcerer you don't really lack offensive spells. What I was trying to achieve was to make a character capable of casting spells while fighting and that's what the duskblade's good at. You get to quicken a number of spell/day for free and you can also channel your spells into your melee attacks without special preparation. That gives you two spells/round + a full-round attack. Well at least that's what my research has dug up so far. Did I go wrong somwhere?

[Overlard]

Well the problem really is MAD. The only stat you can afford to dump is Wisdom, and maybe Strength if you want to forgo damage and use Weapon Finesse. Plus, they both have very high numbers of spells per day, so you'll probably have a load left over at the end of the day, which seems kind of a waste to me.

What may work better is a duskblade/archivist. They both use Intelligence as a caster stat, they won't have problems with ASF, and the archivist has access to a huge library of spells, with an extremely large number of channel-able spells. Plus, you can use dark knowledge and channel a spell in the same round.

If you're not too set on having a second caster class, then how about keeping it simple with duskblade/rogue? You'll have 3 good stats, great skills & skill points, full BAB, decent hp, a list of special abilities as long as your arm, and with sneak attack & channeling, you'll be dishing out some ridiculous damage (especially if you power attack too). Get yourself a mithral breastplate and an animated shield, and your AC should be respectable too.

[Reinboom]

Another great option is Duskblade / Beguiler. High skill points, both Int based, Armored mage on both spell lists (and you can take Battle Caster from Complete Arcane to push this to medium armor).
It will get all the synergies you are looking for.
Then use a bloodline feat from Dragon Magazine Compendium to grab the utility spells you are missing...
Or extra spell if your DM allows it to pull cross class.

[WorthingSon]

If you want a melee/caster then I'd go Warblade/Warmage. They share a key stat, and Warmage allows casting in armor. If you are going pure damage, then my favorite gestalt (melee) option is Warhulk/Fighter. You get full BAB, Extra Strength and by level 16 can pull of 4 attacks in a round against very opponent inside your reach! I have seen a Gestault Warhulk/Fighter do well over 150 damage to every opponent within 15 feet of him in a single round.
Also, any class the gives Sneak Attack damage works well with another melee class, or sneaking and caster.

[Temp]

What level is this? Anything below 13 makes Duskblade//Sorcerer a blatant waste.

Perhaps something along the lines of:
Bard 4/Crusader 1/Spellsword 4/Jade Phoenix Mage 1/Sublime Chord 1/Jade Phoenix Mage 9//[Battle?] Sorcerer 20

I don't like advocating the Battle Sorcerer, but HP and armor are going to be problems and Spellsword might not be enough. The Bard side will provide the versatility that the variant loses.

For feats, I'd use Arcane Strike and Smiting Spell (even with Spellsword and Jade Phoenix Mage; those feats are good 'uns), Power Attack (it's a gimme), Rapid Metamagic at 9th and Quicken Spell at 12th.

[edit:]Maybe something like Ranger 5/Trapsmith 1/Swiftblade 10/Spellsword 4//[Battle] Sorcerer 20 would work.

Again, I hate reverting to the Battle Sorcerer, but Gestalt deals with a large portion of the versatility and endurance issues the variant faces. And d8 hit dice are a minimum for a character who expects to survive.

[Jack Mann]

Let me second duskblade archivist. Much more synergy between the two, and less MAD. To help even further, take illumian for your race and you don't even need high wisdom.