Good Gestalt combos

[Akisa]

I noticed this list but I'm like there has to be better combos.

I think Cleric/Rogue would be one of the best combos as it provides Sneak Attack, skill points and ref to a cleric's will, fort saves, spells and higher HD. And through divine power and divine meta magic you'll get full BAB.

[Catch]

There was a thread about this a while ago with some interesting builds, so you might take a look in there.

[monty]

Fighter 20//Wizard 5/Incantatrix 10/Other arcane PrC 5. Chaos shuffle all fighter feats into metamagic, prerequisites, and miscellaneous useful stuff. Gives you full casting, full BAB, d10 HD, two good saves, and a crapton of metamagic feats. Pretty damn solid character - it's no druid, but it's up there.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Druid 10/Planar Shepard 10//Swordsage 2/Warblade 14/Warshaper 4

Warblade 20//Factotem 20

Wizard 5/PRC 5/Incantrix 10//Rogue or Factotem or Warblade or Archivist 20

Fighter 20//Cloistered Cleric 20

Druid 20//Barbarian 4/Monk 1/Warshaper 5/MoMF 10

Pretty much, any full-caster or ToBer combined with anything else. Bonus points for becoming completely SAD.

[monty]

Druid 10/Planar Shepard 10//Swordsage 2/Warblade 14/Warshaper 4

Hell, Druid/Planar Shepherd is pretty much insta-win by itself. Anything else is just icing on the cake.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Hell, Druid/Planar Shepherd is pretty much insta-win by itself. Anything else is just icing on the cake.

This is Gestalt. if you aren't soloing the Tarrasque at 15th level, you're doing it wrong.

Cleric 20//Crusader 20. Max Cha, go DMM persist, and proceed to crush everything.

Swordsage 8/Ur-Priest 10/Mo9 2//Warblade 17/Mo9 3

Rogue 20//Scout 4/Ranger 16:19 BAB, massive skill points, full Sneak Attack, Skirmish, and Favored enemy progression

[D Knight]

what book is Planar Shepherd from and can anyone get a link to it. but you could try warlock/rogue for max kick ass. also archavis/artificer just pack all orb wands.

[monty]

what book is Planar Shepherd from and can anyone get a link to it. but you could try warlock/rogue for max kick ass. also archavis/artificer just pack all orb wands.

Faiths of Eberron. Widely considered to be the most obviously broken class in the entire game. Also, warlock/rogue certainly isn't bad, but it's not even at the level of any reasonably optimized full caster, much less a PS.

[Vexxation]

Hell, Druid/Planar Shepherd is pretty much insta-win by itself. Anything else is just icing on the cake.

How about a Gestalt Planar Shepard // Malkonvoker?

Turn into anything from anywhere. Then summon a bunch more of them, shuffle around, and see if the enemy knows which one you are.

My new personal favorite is Elan Soulknife 20 // Psychic Warrior 3 / Swordsage 17. Wisdom Synergy for PsyWar and Swordsage, and if you Vow of Poverty the main hurtles are covered: Soulknives get enchantment on their blades, and even unarmored you can Manifest Inertial Armor and Force Screen enough to give you a *very* respectable AC. Practiced Manifester in Psychic Warrior, and you're set. Better character through Gestalting it with a ToB class. Wooo!

Though I think a Psychic Warrior 3 / Swordsage 17 would be interesting in its own.

[CASTLEMIKE]

Simple basic Rogue -1, Factotum - 19 or Warblade -20//Erudite-20 with the Spells to Power Variant for cherry picking spells 17 PP Miracles for spell duplication goes a long way with limited daily power access although it doesn't have anything on the Planar Shepherd.

PRCs to taste to improve it on either side with up to 3 Erudite levels that can be swapped out to pick up a few other classes with benefits.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Some that I have used:

Swordsage (Unarmed Variant)//PsiWar/Slayer/Pyrokeneticist. King of Smack much?

Druid20/Warshaper//PsiWar/Slayer. Another KoS build. Juggle around PrC's to fit them all in.

Swordsage//Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor. DMM Persist + Swordsage = pwn.

Warblade//Wizard/Incantatrix/Iot7V. Go away, you bother me.

Druid/Planar Shepherd//Warblade/MoMF/Warshaper. Ouch.

Pal/Warblade//Sorc/MotAO/Incantatrix. Perhaps not QUITE as 'I win' as the wizard version, but very impressive saves.

Warlock//Rogue. UMD Cheeze FTW!

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Warlock//Artificer would actually be pretty good. 24-hour invocations and unlimited ranged touch attack damage, added onto the Artificer's limited uber-resources.

VoP Swordsage 20//Druid 10/Planar Shepard 10

Don't forget, people, only one PrC at a time. Some are ignoring this.

[monty]

Ahh, if only there was a way to fit in Planar Shepherd and Incantatrix. Cheese^2 with only two ability dependency.

[expirement10K14]

Ahh, if only there was a way to fit in Planar Shepherd and Incantatrix. Cheese^2 with only two ability dependency.

Druid 10/Planarshepard 10//X 5/Incantatrix 10/x5

[monty]

Druid 10/Planarshepard 10//X 5/Incantatrix 10/x5

Nope. Can't take two prestige classes at once; since you can't take either at first level, it's impossible to fit in all twenty levels pre-epic.

[Ganurath]

Human Beguiler 20 // Hexblade 5 / Avenging Executioner 5 / Ghost-Faced Killer 10

Human due to the feat commitment: On top of the PrC prerequisites, you're picking up Combat Expertise and Improved Feint. Still, you're actually putting those Hexblade bonus feats to use, and the Beguiler will have an insane familiar to provide a distraction for spellcasting. Too many mooks to cast spells? Drop one of them with a Power Attack, and watch the chain reaction.

[brant167]

Gestault gives you the option to make odd combinations work. It allows you to not worry that much about power gaming b/c you have so much power already. Most class combination is a good class just go with the character concept. Currently our group has a Binder/ Anarch (chaotic neutral paladin variant), Storm Druid/Cleric, Ranger/Ninja, Shadow Caster/Battle Dancer, and a Illusionist/Beguiler. No one outshines the other and everyone has substantial power. Some fun class combination would be Warblade/Psion, True Namer/Bard, a gnome Jester/Crusader, or even Dread Necromancer/ Favored Soul.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Hmm... Beguiler//Crusader... a one-man party. Beguiler gives you Skillmonkey and Arcane casting. Crusader brings Healing and Tanking to the table. Sounds like a win to me.

For that matter, Beguiler//Swordsage. Not a fellah I'd care to take on, particularly not with all the Shadow Hand and Setting Sun maneuvers he's likely got.

[Eldariel]

Generally, when Gestalting, you'll want to choose sides that not only complement each other, but also synergise with each other. Fighter/Cleric is all good, but not notably better than a straight Cleric. The two ways to go about it are either stacking bonuses to single ability on one side and taking an actual character on the other, or combining two classes that work particularly well together.

The most valuable commodity tends to be actions though and thus classes that grant actions are at a premium in Gestalt (the primary reason for this is mostly the fact that a Gestalt character has twice the options of a normal characters, but the same number of actions, so while a Gestalt character's every action tends to be more powerful than a normal character's, to truly match two normal characters, a gestalt character needs a similar number of actions - also, since you've got another class that doesn't normally get extra actions, those extra actions are notably more potent than usual, since they're designed for a class that does not get excessively powerful abilities).

Factotum is probably the best class to gestalt with just about anything. It gives you powerful abilities (and Int-synergies) along with all skills and good skills/level and extra Standard Actions every turn quite early. Ruby Knight Vindicator is likewise incredible, but runs into the dual progression issues. Druid is also good, since Companion gives you virtual extra actions, so if you have ways to buff both more than a normal Druid could (Cloistered Cleric/Druid, for example, is notorious for this), you're definitely contributing. Likewise, classes like Eternal Blade really come on their own in Gestalt with Full Round Action of spellcasting.


The other potent way to go about it is combining high level abilities you just couldn't in a normal game. TWF Duskblade Dervish for example is a good example of this; you get Full Attack Channel with Dervish's Dervish Dance to basically affect whichever opponents you want, and to affect them all with one spell. If you fool around with Sublime Chord a bit, you'll actually get full casting along with it too (something like Bard/Dervish/Sublime Chord/Virtuoso with Duskblade on the other side, finishing the casting on that side once the Duskblade 13 is reached), which means you'll get real spells instead of Duskblade's crap (and you'll still have Duskblade's spells to burn on Arcane Strike).

Generally, doing things for just numbers is underpowered (unless the numbers are really big), so just taking Sneak Attack, Skirmish or such on one side tends to be insufficient contribution. However, they are nice bonuses. The real gold lies in doing more with the same actions or just plain gaining more actions though. Oh yeah, and as long as we're playing in games with Divine Power, you shouldn't pay too much attention to your Base Attack Bonus (except for PrC qualifications). Early on, the difference is around 5-10% to hit per attack, and later on you'll have Divine Power so you'll hit better than that Fighter over there. HP and company tend to likewise be rather trivial; they'll fall in place well enough without extra attention.

Oh yeah, and being dependant on multiple casting stats = bad; multiple casters should be derived off the same stat since to reach decent bonus spell/DCs, you'll need to be able to dump all your level ups to a single stat and to make do with stat boosters only in that and to afford a book on that stat ASAP. Also, getting two lists of spellcasting generally isn't that powerful as you usually don't have the actions to really run out of one, let alone two of them. If you can synergize them well, like with Cleric and Druid for example though, knock yourself out.

[Knaight]

Crusader/Warlock, with weapon finesse. Charisma and Dexterity are both paramount, and you can kick butt in both melee and blasting people at range. Put the two healing stunts together, and your not going to go down easily either. Not to mention the imagery is awesome. Monk/Rogue also has nice power, considering flurry of blows having a tendency to hit hard, and lots of sneak attack, although there are better fits, and it doesn't have the power of Crusader/Warlock.

[Talic]

Druid 12/Planar Sheperd 8 // Wizard 5/Incantatrix 7/Wizard 6-13

Incantatrix 7 is the real bread and butter level there. What'll PS 8 get ya?


Druid 20 // Fighter 5/MomF 7/Warshaper 5/Hierophant 3

Alternately, replace fighter with Warblade.

[Emperor Tippy]

Wizard 15/Incantatrix 5//Factotum 10/Illithid Savant 10

That is the most broken gestalt. Granted Illithid Savant makes anything the most broken. That PrC makes Planar Shepard look like a fighter.

Why yes, I have Divine Rank 0, Cast as a wizard 20/Sorcerer 20 (with all spells as SLA's)/Psion 20, have 50 mile Telepathy, have Big T's regen, and every other ability that doesn't have negatives in the entire game.

[Talic]

Wizard 15/Incantatrix 5//Factotum 10/Illithid Savant 10

That is the most broken gestalt. Granted Illithid Savant makes anything the most broken. That PrC makes Planar Shepard look like a fighter.

Why yes, I have Divine Rank 0, Cast as a wizard 20/Sorcerer 20 (with all spells as SLA's)/Psion 20, have 50 mile Telepathy, have Big T's regen, and every other ability that doesn't have negatives in the entire game.

Last 5 levels illegal. Illithid Savant and Incantatrix are both PrC's.

[Edea]

He can sandwich those in easily. Wizard 5/Incantatrix 5/Wizard +10//Factotum 10/Illithid Savant 10.

I think my questions would be "Don't you have to be an illithid to get into the PrC?" and "Where are you getting these brains from?".

[Emperor Tippy]

Last 5 levels illegal. Illithid Savant and Incantatrix are both PrC's.

True. It's Wizard 5/Incantatrix 5/Wizard 10//Factotum 10/Illithid Savant 10.

And you might want to replace wizard with something else.

[Emperor Tippy]

I think my questions would be "Don't you have to be an illithid to get into the PrC?" and "Where are you getting these brains from?".

1. True Mind Switch with a gated in Mind Flayer (the ultra one with +9 LA and 12 HD from Lords of Madness preferably). You get True Mind Switch from a Power Stone. With Factotum you should have 13 ranks in it, a +2 tool, and +2 from Psicraft syngery. Your at +17. Now a +10 Shard and the Factotum skill bonus and you auto succeed. Now to get the Mind Flayer. Use a scroll of gate, you auto succeed on the UMD check to emulate a CL of 17 (same way as above), to gate in the mind flayer. Order it to lower all defenses and then use the True Mind Switch stone.

2. Gate in whatever it is that you want, order it to lower its defenses, and eat its brain.

[Talic]

1. True Mind Switch with a gated in Mind Flayer (the ultra one with +9 LA and 12 HD from Lords of Madness preferably). You get True Mind Switch from a Power Stone. With Factotum you should have 13 ranks in it, a +2 tool, and +2 from Psicraft syngery. Your at +17. Now a +10 Shard and the Factotum skill bonus and you auto succeed. Now to get the Mind Flayer. Use a scroll of gate, you auto succeed on the UMD check to emulate a CL of 17 (same way as above), to gate in the mind flayer. Order it to lower all defenses and then use the True Mind Switch stone.

2. Gate in whatever it is that you want, order it to lower its defenses, and eat its brain.

Minor problem. Once you gain the illithid form, you are now an illithid, are you not? Complete with the LA and HD increasing your ECL. How long will it be before you reach level 11 with that burden?


That said, another option for fun:

Cindy 20 // Rogue 20

Add in more skill points, and a few more dice of damage on those spells? Further, those spells that hit multiple targets, or fire multiple rays at once (e.g. Scorching Ray) get a lot of SA dice. It's more like icing on the cake, but it's not bad icing.

[Emperor Tippy]

Minor problem. Once you gain the illithid form, you are now an illithid, are you not? Complete with the LA and HD increasing your ECL. How long will it be before you reach level 11 with that burden?

No. You don't gain the HD or LA.

* You gain the type of your assumed body.
* You gain the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores of your assumed body.
* You gain the natural armor, natural attacks, movement, and other simple physical characteristics of your assumed body.
* You gain the extraordinary special attacks and qualities of your assumed body, but you do not gain supernatural or spell-like abilities.
* You gain the possessions and equipment of your assumed body.
* You retain your own hit points, saving throws (possibly modified by new ability scores), class abilities, supernatural and spell-like abilities, spells and powers, and skills and feats (although skill checks use your new ability scores, and you may be temporarily unable to use feats whose requirements you do not meet in your new body).

That said, another option for fun:

Cindy 20 // Rogue 20

Add in more skill points, and a few more dice of damage on those spells? Further, those spells that hit multiple targets, or fire multiple rays at once (e.g. Scorching Ray) get a lot of SA dice. It's more like icing on the cake, but it's not bad icing.

Factotum is a better choice.

[Talic]

Factotum is a better choice.

Usually true. But either way, it's just icing.

[Emperor Tippy]

Usually true. But either way, it's just icing.

Yeah. Cindy//Warblade works well too. That d12 hit die is nice. Factotum 3 and able learner thrown in as well.


I just wish Factotums could get the abilities of PrC's as well as PC's for their capstone. That would make an absolutely nasty class.