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2017-03-08, 02:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
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2017-03-13, 11:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2015
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Forgive me if this was asked already. Can you use mobile feat to step away from an enemy, causing him to follow you and trigger Booming Blade?
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2017-03-13, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2016
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2017-03-13, 12:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2015
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
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2017-03-13, 11:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2011
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Shouldn't it be either "Bellator Arcanus" or "Bellatrix Arcana"? In Latin you have to match the gender of the adjective with the noun. Assuming you are trying to make it mean "Arcane Warrior".
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2017-03-14, 08:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Brazil
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2017-03-15, 08:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Hello Specter!
Awesome guide to a subclass which potential never trully appeared to me before reading your's & Evil's guides.
This being said, one thing I find awesome is the double Gish MC: Adding 5 levels of Blade Singer to a EK. It's not pure, but it's more than thematic, and I love the idea of mixing the Fighter/wizard with some Wizard/fighter.
My basic approach was:
Fighter 1 (for Con saves mainly), then 5 level of Blade Singer (Mostly relying on classic Wiz cantrips for attacks, and on Haste for extra attacks), and then developp fighter for EK, allowing you to build INT while getting spells such as Fireball, Haste, misty step or Hold Person early on.
Cantrips would be Shocking Grasp, Chill Touch, BB and then a selection of utility.
You don't rely on feats such as warcaster or Shield master, it limits MADness, and you get most 3rd level spell as soon as necessary. Only then do you specialize as a EK, slowly falling behind in effectivness between level 7 & 11 without being useless.
The question would then be "when to add these levels Blade Dancer levels?".
Adding them at level 2-7 means more utility and access to corner stone buff spells early. But it means waiting until level 15 for Eldritch Strikes.
Adding them at level 8-12 means ... I'm not sure what it means. It is better ?
Adding them at level 12-17 means that you're a full on EK before MC out. But it also means no getting the benefit of these spells as campaigns rarely go that far.
What would you say ?
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2017-03-15, 08:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2016
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
I'm not Specter, but I'd say that you either want them at 2-7 or 8-12. If you do it at 2-7 you get fancy bladesinger defensive stuff early, but you also delay Extra Attack and other EK stuff. If you wait till 8-12 you get your Extra Attack and War Magic first, but take forever to get bladesinger stuff.
You might consider a more convoluted mix. Fighter 1-5, Bladesinger 1-2, then Fighter 6-7, Bladesinger 3-5. That gets you Extra Attack first, then Bladesong, then War Magic, then 3rd level spells, then more EK stuff after that.
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2017-03-15, 09:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2013
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
From a charOP perspective, I say don't bother with Bladesinger at all, even if you're planning on going all-in on Dex. If you're planning on using War Magic, you'll have bonus action clog with Bladesong. If you're not planning on using War Magic (for example, you have a Flametongue weapon or the like), you'll delay Extra Attack upgrades. You'll only exceed the Plate + Shield Eldritch Knight on AC at very high levels, once you've had enough ASIs to pump Dex and Int to 20.
Scroll to page 65 of this document. This is a Bladesinger guide, but it makes a good case how a BS 2 / EK 18 is worse than a pure EK or a Fighter 1 / BS 19.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...jD4cE4S6U/edit
That said, while George is IMO worse than a pure EK, if you don't mind taking a character optimization hit to make your vision come to fruition you're not hurt too badly.
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2017-03-15, 09:47 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
To me, just adding INT to AC and foregoing War Caster (Bladesong gives you ADVon conc. saves and you don't use a shield) is good on its own.
Some other benefits:
- Higher spell versatility
- Arcane Recovery to give yourself more short-rest slots
- A book in which to save more spells
- A higher caster level to upcast your stuff
- Qualifying for Wizard magic items (like the almighty Staff of Power)
But of course, going pure EK is also just as good.
I'd refrain from multiclassing until level 10: Eldritch Strike makes your low-level spells much better.
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2017-03-15, 11:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Thanks for the answers ! :)
Deathtongue:
That's an interesting (and quite long!) guide!
Indeed, pure DPR optimization seems to go another way, but I do love the idea of getting more spells early than a pure EK. (going 5 levels instead of 2), so as you said, I won't mind the loss on DPR optimization, in exchange of utility optimization (giving me more options than pure EK ... even if less than pure BS)
But, yeah, it might not be the most optimized solution.
... but I hate always going for GWM or Sharpshooter. It's boring.
Rooneg & Specter:
Ok, so if I understand correctly, Rooneg you'd be of the same mind as me, branching out early to get the spells.
Specter, you think that getting that Eldritch Strike asap to make spells such as Hold Person works is vital to the concept (or else, we should be playing another class for maximum enjoyement)?
Oh, and by the way:
If you get 2 levels of Wizard, and it allow you to cast a 3rd or 4th level spell through the MC caster table (i.e.), the spell book feature will allow you to learn 3rd or 4th level spells even if neither your EK or Wiz class allow you to learn them.
You will have to find these spells during your adventure & copy them in the book, but you can do it. It's the only class that can do that, as far as I know.
Again, thank you all for taking the time.Last edited by Coranhann; 2017-03-15 at 11:02 AM.
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2017-03-15, 11:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Brazil
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
I think you want either pure magic or spells that facilitate your offense/defense. If you make an 'arms race' of EK and Bladesinger levels, you might be getting the worst parts of both. Remember that Bladesinger is a d6 class, so unless you have a good idea of how it helps your EK you may just lose good HP. Same goes for the EK dip; 1/3 caster level will hurt your casting if you're not careful. Personally, I say decide whether you prefer casting or attacking and stick to the respective class until you think it's not giving you enough, if ever. Then, make the jump.
If I were to try that multi? I'd go EK16/Bladesinger 4, for total caster level of 9th, like a ranger or paladin. Many fighter features get repetitive or lackluster after level 12.
And IIRC, you need to be able to cast spells of a certain level to copy them into your book.
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2017-03-15, 11:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2016
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Honestly, I don't think worrying about Eldritch Strike is anywhere close to worth worrying about. It's so far away if you're starting at level 1. Personally, I'd go for Extra Attack via 5 levels of EK first, then grab 2 levels of Wizard so you have bladesong. This is the fastest way to get to the point where your character feels like it's doing what it's supposed to do. After that you can get more EK levels, more Wizard levels, whatever you think is cool to shoot for next.
No, you cannot do that. You aren't a 3rd level Wizard so you can't ever prepare 2nd level spells. Even if you could cast a select few 2nd level spells as an EK having a 2nd level spell in your spellbook wouldn't help you, because you still need to prepare it as a Wizard.
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2017-03-15, 01:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Thanks to both. That actually help wrapping my head around how to approach multi classing a lot.
My understanding :
On Multiclassing
"You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single classed member of
that class. [...]
Each spell you know and prepare is associated with one of your classes, and you use the spellcasting ability of that class when you cast the spell. [...]
You determine your available spell slots by adding together all your levels in the (list of classes)"
Wizards:
"You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of wizard spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your wizard level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots."
Spell Books:
"Copying a Spell into the Book. When you find a wizard spell of 1st levei or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a level for which you have spell slots and if you can spare the time to decipher and copy it."
So, while you cannot learn through level progression a spell of a higher level thanks to "Learning spells of 1st lvl & higher" class feature, the spell book feature seems to only care about the spell slot you have...
... and Multi classing is also clear, those spell slots are shared (so they are Wizard spell slots just as well as EK). The only difference being on the origin of the spell (spell known from EK are not the same as spell known form Wizard).
Arguably: "If you have more than one spellcasting class, this table might give you spell slots of a level that is higher than the spells you know or can prepare. You can use those slots, but only to cast your lower.level spells." could mean my interpretation is a no go, but the "might give you" doesn't mean the copying of spell in the spell book is not possible.
And once a spell is in the spell book, it's preparation is ok as long as you have the spell slot for it...
But this is going out of the scope of this thread. And I would hate to highjack this guide.Last edited by Coranhann; 2017-03-15 at 01:33 PM.
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2017-03-15, 01:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2016
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
The relevant bits are that in the multiclassing rules it says "You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single-classed member of that class." Then in the spellbook section (post-Errata version of the PHB) it says "The spells copied into a spellbook must be of a spell level the wizard can prepare." If you can't prepare the spell as a single class Wizard of whatever level you currently have you can't copy it into your spellbook in the first place.
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2017-03-15, 01:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
I think I understand. Wizard limitations are "In the spellbook" and "Of a spellslot you have".
You say that, for the sake of preparing a spell, we should look at the spell slot table as a wizard only class. My understanding was that this limitation (which spell you know & prepare) was only refering to the "known spell / in the spellbook" part of each classes rules, not the slots, since the spell slots had separate rules. Especially since the example given was about the spell known that comes from leveling up as a wizard.
Cool. Sad, cause I always found it cool for the wizards, and game creating. Something that is not to be considered in an "optimization" thread, but just as a general cool thing to do for wizards.
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2017-03-16, 11:12 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Brazil
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Well, I guess it was obvious they were going to errata that. If not, any full caster would love grabbing a wizard level to take all their spells along with it.
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2017-03-24, 03:26 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2015
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Is Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade really an "either/or" thing?
Cantrips choices are tough, I keep going around in circles about which two I want to take between BB, GFB, and Minor Illusion..... then there's always Lightning Lure. It's too much!!
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2017-03-24, 04:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Brazil
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
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2017-03-24, 05:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2015
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2017-04-17, 01:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Amazing guide you got here, at first I thought that even with it's extremely slow spell progression the EK was just another meh archetype for the fighter, but then I realized just
how amazing it was throughout a whole campaign rather than just picking up speed at extremely late levels and/or with multiclassing.
I've always had a love for tanks through and through and this really fits the bill, with that said as for playing an EK with the magic initiate feat do you find yourself using Shield of Faith more often than Shield? or are both just "crack in case of emergency" kind of deals?Last edited by czar; 2017-04-17 at 01:18 PM.
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2017-04-17, 01:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Brazil
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Well, if you can keep that concentration, SoF will last an entire fight. It's as solid as abonus action gets.
As for Shield, you will generally use it when you get hit. But in some cases you may not. When I play, for instance, and a weak attack comes my way, and it's the last in the baddies' turn, I may let it slide just to keep the slot. Use your best judgement.
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2017-05-03, 12:10 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
About the EK/Bladesinger build, I'm gonna start a new campaing with more 4 chars, and I will be in the front as a meele-oriented char with high AC and hit, with a ranger with lower AC but with better damage output. The part also has another ranger with bow, a tiefling warlock and a dwarf wizard necromancer (yeh yeh, it lacks a paladin or cleric, but...). I'd like to build a High Elf Eldritch Knight and perhaps multiclassing later to a more spell-oriented class, and Bladesinger looks preety good for this combo, acting like a swordmage (I'm fan of the Swordmage 4e and sadly it's not even a UA playtest option yet, and the DM will not accept DMGuild material). How to optimize this char to be tank guy of the group, at leats until level 10, having good hit chance and spell versatility focused on his damage output? I'm keen for the shield and longsword combo (yes, I like to fit the char concept, THEN optimize) but its trick to prioritize abilities, dex-based vs str-based, and best feats/spells optimization. I think the right moment to enter with BS stuffs would be after EK12 right? A optmized build for Highelf at the 1st post of this guide would be cool too!
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2017-05-03, 03:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2016
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Have you considered deeper splits for BS/EK? For example, 5 or 6 levels of EK, 2 of BS, get EK to 7, take BS 3 and 4, go to 9 or 10 EK and take the rest in BS
Yes, it's impossible. Now shut up and do the impossible.
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2017-05-03, 03:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
You can start taking Wizard levels right after level 7. As I said in the other thread, you won't reach level 11 for a third attack so soon, but War Magic will improve at levels 11 and 17, so that kinda makes up for it.
You shouldn't take more than 5 levels if you're going Bladesinger, because their Extra Attack won't stack with Fighter's, so level 6 is essentially a dead level.
Simply put, EK 7, Wiz 5, then EK for more 8 levels.
If you want to go shield-and-sword, you won't benefit from Bladesinging, so don't. Or throw the shield away after getting Bladesinging.
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2017-05-03, 10:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Yeah, the Bladesinger MCing would be almost just for the Bladesong. You told what I thought: start with the shield (and full plate??) and at lvl 11, or lvl 7 as you suggested, abandon it for Bladesong.
BLADESONG
Starting at 2nd level, you can invoke a secret elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus. You can use a bonus action to start the Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time you choose (no action required). While your Bladesong is active, you gain the following benefits:
• You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of+ 1).
• Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
• You gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make to maintain your concentration on a spell. The bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
You can use this feature twice. You regain all expended uses of it when you fini sh a short or long rest.
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2017-05-03, 11:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2015
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Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
But isn't the 11th fighter level a dead level too, considering that with warmagic and a weapon cantrip you will be doing more damage anyway (assuming a melee EK/BS)?
So even though 6 might be a dead level, I could see some value in a EK/BS split like 7/13, 8/12, 9/11 or even 10/10, for missing on the extra attack (2) feature instead, while also getting higher level spells (at the cost of fighter features ofc).
I swear, every time I am thinking of EK/BS multiclasses, I always reset to the though that another wizard school would fit the multiclass better.
I think it's best if you prioritize dex over str. Start with halplate (or breastplate if you want to be stealthy) and a shield, then when you get bladesinging you will probably have 20 dex and 16 int, so you can drop the armor (and keep the shield around for any rare occassions you will not be bladesinging). Not sure what should be done with warcaster. Perhaps you still have to take it (especially if you start no later than level 4), so in that case you would have a dex18 int16 instead. The more I think of it, the more I value that 8th level in EK for the extra feat (though I am still partial to a 7/13 split due to higher level spellcasting, from an end-build perspective).
Dont take my word for any of that, though I think I am right about that being dex based is better than being str based, when considering a EK/BS multiclass.Hacks!
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2017-05-04, 12:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2016
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
For swapping out the 5 levels, you lose some decent repositioning once every rest, one reroll of a saving throw per long rest, which is bad but you still get one, your third attack, which would have been used for casting Warmagiced cantrips anyway, and an ASI, which... hurts, but you get some decent stuff for it. You have slots as if you were a level 13 full caster, actual spells up to level 5 (think Arcane Eye. Think Greater Invisibility. Think Evard's Black Tentacles, Animate Objects, Wall of Force. Think POLYMORPH.) and you get Song of Defense, which lets you use those spare level 6 and 7 slots for soaking up pure damage.
Yes, it's impossible. Now shut up and do the impossible.
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2017-05-04, 06:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
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2017-05-04, 04:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2017
Re: Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide
Yeah. I'm in doubt about MCing Bladesinge cause the concept of a heavy armored elf gish was very cool to me. But elves are definitely difficult to optimize for 'man at arms' style. But I would like to MCing my EK. Any insight of how to do it for an elf, with other class MCing?
But, going with EK/BS, which armors and weapons you would choose? Anything more 'slashing' than a Rapier - don't like it heheh..