The Duskblade's Handbook

[jha85]

Thanks! Doubt I will be allowed to use that Psychic spell on my familiar. But nice to know of it I agree that EWP Great Falchion might be a waste. Right now its more a character 'thingy'. You would pick leap attack over Spiked Chain?

[InnaBinder]

Thanks! Doubt I will be allowed to use that Psychic spell on my familiar. But nice to know of it I agree that EWP Great Falchion might be a waste. Right now its more a character 'thingy'. You would pick leap attack over Spiked Chain?

Leap Attack provides a multiplicative bonus to most of your melee attacks.  EWP Spiked Chain provides you with a trip bonus and the reach you can basically access through a method of going up a size category.  There are myriad methods to do so; pick your favorite.

[ninjarabbit]

I'd probably go spiked chain over leap attack. Duskblades really aren't chargers and having some form of reach attacks is extremely important.

[GawainBS]

I agree about Spiked Chain > Leap Attack, though.

[zugschef]

In most games I've played one, I usually one-shot the BBEG no problem[...].

and that's fun (for everybody)??

[McPoyo]

Not really any different from doing it via charge damage, or negative levels, or any of the SoD spells (which doesn't even need an ability to optimize at all, just an ability to go "OOH, DISINTEGRATE!").

[AtomicKitKat]

Just need to point out that you don't really need a "Useless" Feat for Inhuman Reach. Sure, Aberrant Blood itself is pretty blah, but grab Deepspawn as the "Plus 1" that you need to access Inhuman Reach, and now you have a choice of Multi-tasking(or whatever that Feat was that granted extra partial actions), or wielding a bigger sword, or whatever.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

Just need to point out that you don't really need a "Useless" Feat for Inhuman Reach. Sure, Aberrant Blood itself is pretty blah, but grab Deepspawn as the "Plus 1" that you need to access Inhuman Reach, and now you have a choice of Multi-tasking(or whatever that Feat was that granted extra partial actions), or wielding a bigger sword, or whatever.

You can also replace aberrant blood with "mourning mutate' from dragon 359, if none of the options are at all appealing.

[Bloody Initiate]

Finally playing a Duskblade in my home game. Sadly only got one session so far, loving Arcane Channeling!

Perhaps post the below quote in the handbook under the feat entry for Arcane Disciple? It was posted on page four of this thread, and I refer back to it often just because it's a lot of handy info in one place.

I was perusing the Spell Compendium last night looking at Domain spell lists that might be useful to the duskblade. My findings are below -- I don't claim this to be comprehensive, just my opinion.

* = SpC spell
[comments] = my thoughts on that domain

SpC Domains

Celerity - 1. expeditious retreat, 2. cat's grace, 3. blur, 4. haste, 5. tree stride [overlaps duskblade list at low levels, but blur and haste are good buffs]

Competition - 1. remove feat, 2. zeal*, 3. prayer, 4. divine power, 5. righteous might [zeal is good for melee duskblades to avoid AOOs; div pow _and_ righteous might is almost too good to be true]

Force - 1. mage armor, 2. magic missile, 3. blast of force*, 4. resilient sphere, 5. wall of force [force effects are always useful]

Glory - 1. disrupt undead, 2. bless weapon, 3. searing light, 4. holy smite, 5. holy sword [bless weapon and holy sword are outstanding weapon buffs]

Hatred - 1. doom, 2. scare, 3. bestow curse, 4. rage, 5. righteous might [bestow curse is Touch; r. might is good, others not so good]

Mysticism - 1. divine favor, 2. spiritual weapon, 3. lesser visage of the deity*, 4. weapon of the deity*, 5. righteous might [a variety of buffs including r. might]

Purification - 1. nimbus of light*, 2. deific vengeance*, 3. recitation*, 4. castigate*, 5. dance of the unicorn* [for duskblades with high enough Wis to have decent DCs; also, recitation is a very good buff]

Slime - 1. grease, 2. Melf's acid arrow, 3. poison, 4. rusting grasp, 5. Evard's black tentacles [poison and rusting grasp are both Touch; grease and black tentacles are good battlefield control spells]

Suffering - 1. bane, 2. bear's endurance, 3. bestow curse, 4. enervation, 5. feeblemind [bestow curse is Touch; extra slots for bear's end and enervation are never bad; and feelbemind is excellent against opposing spellcasters]

Time - 1. true strike, 2. gentle repose, 3. haste, 4. freedom of movement, 5. permanency [gentle repose is lame, and perm is expensive; but haste at 3rd and free/move at 4th are excellent]

Wrath - 1. rhino's rush*, 2. bull's strength, 3. rage, 4. shout, 5. righteous might [rhino's rush synergizes well with charging duskblades (perhaps also using Leap Attack); r. might needs no justification]

The following are some of the special Domains that normally require a cleric to give up both Domain "slots" in order to take -- because you get two spells at every level. Accessing these with Arcane Disciple is dubious, but if your DM allows it, great! I'll only list the best spells per domain.

Abyss - 5. slay living [Touch]
Baator - 5. spell resistance [good buff]
Celestia - 4. divine power, greater magic weapon; 5. righteous might [like Competition, but more broken]
Elysium - 4. holy smite, 5. dispel evil [dispel evil is Touch]
Hades - 4. contagion, unholy blight; 5. dispel good [contagion and dispel good are Touch]


Finally, some Player's Handbook domains:

Death - 1. cause fear, 2. death knell, 3. animate dead, 4. death ward, 5. slay living [doesn't get good until 4th and 5th level]
Good - 1. protection from evil, 2. aid, 3. magic circle against evil, 4. holy smite, 5. dispel evil [useful buffs at 1st-2nd-3rd, good attack spells at 4th-5th]
Strength - 1. enlarge person, 2. bull's strength, 3. magic vestment, 4. spell immunity, 5. righteous might [the best PH domain to take]

[Dictum Mortuum]

Finally playing a Duskblade in my home game. Sadly only got one session so far, loving Arcane Channeling!

Perhaps post the below quote in the handbook under the feat entry for Arcane Disciple? It was posted on page four of this thread, and I refer back to it often just because it's a lot of handy info in one place.

I was perusing the Spell Compendium last night looking at Domain spell lists that might be useful to the duskblade. My findings are below -- I don't claim this to be comprehensive, just my opinion.

* = SpC spell
[comments] = my thoughts on that domain

SpC Domains

Celerity - 1. expeditious retreat, 2. cat's grace, 3. blur, 4. haste, 5. tree stride [overlaps duskblade list at low levels, but blur and haste are good buffs]

Competition - 1. remove feat, 2. zeal*, 3. prayer, 4. divine power, 5. righteous might [zeal is good for melee duskblades to avoid AOOs; div pow _and_ righteous might is almost too good to be true]

Force - 1. mage armor, 2. magic missile, 3. blast of force*, 4. resilient sphere, 5. wall of force [force effects are always useful]

Glory - 1. disrupt undead, 2. bless weapon, 3. searing light, 4. holy smite, 5. holy sword [bless weapon and holy sword are outstanding weapon buffs]

Hatred - 1. doom, 2. scare, 3. bestow curse, 4. rage, 5. righteous might [bestow curse is Touch; r. might is good, others not so good]

Mysticism - 1. divine favor, 2. spiritual weapon, 3. lesser visage of the deity*, 4. weapon of the deity*, 5. righteous might [a variety of buffs including r. might]

Purification - 1. nimbus of light*, 2. deific vengeance*, 3. recitation*, 4. castigate*, 5. dance of the unicorn* [for duskblades with high enough Wis to have decent DCs; also, recitation is a very good buff]

Slime - 1. grease, 2. Melf's acid arrow, 3. poison, 4. rusting grasp, 5. Evard's black tentacles [poison and rusting grasp are both Touch; grease and black tentacles are good battlefield control spells]

Suffering - 1. bane, 2. bear's endurance, 3. bestow curse, 4. enervation, 5. feeblemind [bestow curse is Touch; extra slots for bear's end and enervation are never bad; and feelbemind is excellent against opposing spellcasters]

Time - 1. true strike, 2. gentle repose, 3. haste, 4. freedom of movement, 5. permanency [gentle repose is lame, and perm is expensive; but haste at 3rd and free/move at 4th are excellent]

Wrath - 1. rhino's rush*, 2. bull's strength, 3. rage, 4. shout, 5. righteous might [rhino's rush synergizes well with charging duskblades (perhaps also using Leap Attack); r. might needs no justification]

The following are some of the special Domains that normally require a cleric to give up both Domain "slots" in order to take -- because you get two spells at every level. Accessing these with Arcane Disciple is dubious, but if your DM allows it, great! I'll only list the best spells per domain.

Abyss - 5. slay living [Touch]
Baator - 5. spell resistance [good buff]
Celestia - 4. divine power, greater magic weapon; 5. righteous might [like Competition, but more broken]
Elysium - 4. holy smite, 5. dispel evil [dispel evil is Touch]
Hades - 4. contagion, unholy blight; 5. dispel good [contagion and dispel good are Touch]


Finally, some Player's Handbook domains:

Death - 1. cause fear, 2. death knell, 3. animate dead, 4. death ward, 5. slay living [doesn't get good until 4th and 5th level]
Good - 1. protection from evil, 2. aid, 3. magic circle against evil, 4. holy smite, 5. dispel evil [useful buffs at 1st-2nd-3rd, good attack spells at 4th-5th]
Strength - 1. enlarge person, 2. bull's strength, 3. magic vestment, 4. spell immunity, 5. righteous might [the best PH domain to take]

Thanks for the information on arcane disciple, I'm updating the handbook, so I'll add it now.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Something like Duskblade 13+ / Dervish 3 (or maybe higher), taking the first 2-3 levels in Dervish ASAP (most notably to get Spring Attack so you can get WWA not too late) then jumping back to Duskblade until you get full attack channeling.  Wouldn't be terribly optimized and is badly feat starved, but it'd be really fun to run around the battlefield with a Guisarme or other reach slashing weapon whirlwind attacking to hit every enemy in sight with a channeled spell.

Build would go like this I suppose:
Duskblade 6 / Dervish 3 / Duskblade +7 / (not sure how to cap it)

Free feats: Combat Casting (duskblade), Mobility (light armor +1 property), Spring Attack (dervish)

1 Power Attack
1 Weapon Focus (Glaive or Guisarme) [human] (glaive more useful early on, if you can retrain)
1 Combat Expertise [flaw]
1 Dodge [flaw]
3 Knowledge Devotion
6 Elusive Target
9 Whirlwind Attack
12 Practiced Spellcaster
15 Improved Trip
Flaws: Shaky, something else
Traits: Quick?

[Dictum Mortuum]

Alright, added the domain spells and updated the feat section.

[acelegna]

I'm building a Duskblade and i was thinking about spending 2 feats on Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar until I found the feat Item Familiar (Unearthed Arcana pg 170).  Its got some pretty useful effects for a Duskblade's main weapon for example, but maybe I'm missing something.  Would this feat be better than Improved Familiar??

Item Familiar

Pros:
-10% current and future XP (veeeery tempting)
-Lv 10, 14 and 18 can add a +1 magic ability or a Greater Power (DMG)
-Seems more Duskbladey

Cons:
-Mostly useful for higher lvls
-Loose flanking bonus Imp Familiar would provide
-Loose scout in case of a normal Familiar would provide

What do you guys think?..Worth it?

[bearsarebrown]

The 10% bonus XP works out to be exactly the price of a Bloodline. Worth knowing if you don't feel like screwing the ECL of the party.

[Sinfire Titan]

I'm building a Duskblade and i was thinking about spending 2 feats on Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar until I found the feat Item Familiar (Unearthed Arcana pg 170).  Its got some pretty useful effects for a Duskblade's main weapon for example, but maybe I'm missing something.  Would this feat be better than Improved Familiar??

Item Familiar

Pros:
-10% current and future XP (veeeery tempting)
-Lv 10, 14 and 18 can add a +1 magic ability or a Greater Power (DMG)
-Seems more Duskbladey

Cons:
-Mostly useful for higher lvls
-Loose flanking bonus Imp Familiar would provide
-Loose scout in case of a normal Familiar would provide

What do you guys think?..Worth it?

Nitpick: Lose, not Loose.

[ninjarabbit]

I prefer the improved familiar.

First is that the improved familar can deliver touch attack spells, second is that it has a lot more utility, third is that it gives you more action economy in general by giving you effectively another whole set of actions.

That being said you have the option to do both if you're willing to invest the feats.

[bearsarebrown]

Ducskblade 13/War Mind 5/Mind Mage 2(Drag313)

BAB 19
CL 14
ML 6

Affect two squares at a time with your spells. Your War Mind levels grant you a couple powers known but you largely ignore that and use the Power Points to metamagic the shit out of your Duskblade spells at the cost of 3pp per level adjustment. With Practiced manifester you have 20 + (Wis * 10) Power Points, which with a Wis of 18 means you have 60pp, enough for 20 spell level increases per day. You do need both Int and Wis but you probably already have a respectable Wis for Arcane Disciple. This also opens up Psicrystals which are damn better then Familiars.

It's also one of the only ways to use Mind Mage without breaking the game in half.

[Arisette]

I propose a challenge to the duskblade community!

The next campaign I'm taking part in will start at level 3, 28-pt buy, no flaws, will use the Class Defense variant from UA pg 109, and will only draw from the following player-chosen books:
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Complete Psionics
PHB2
Draconomicon

The PHB, MM and DMG were considered "core" and therefore could be used without going against the four extra book allotment.

Now, I've always wanted to play a duskblade-- the hybrid character concept is pretty fun regarding both mechanics and flavor. That being said, however, I'm running into some optimization problems and I'm also wrestling with the option of going some type of psionic character (the soulknife, chiefly, is buzzing in the background, along with pyrokineticist).

The only feat I've saved will probably be taken at level 12-- Draconic Cohort. I've added it for flavor and gaining a dragon cohort is quite... useful, if I say so myself. Everything else is up in the air-- I've considered selecting the Elan race for their juicy racials that are handy to many different classes.

I'm looking for a variety of combat options, but I do want to stick with melee combat. Arcane Channeling is one such option that allows me diversity aside from the good ol' hack and slash monotony, and the ability to range with spells helps too.

Now, so far, it's looking like my DM is only allowing psionic-favored homebrewing options (for example, he's allowing Eldritch Knight to add to manifestor levels, but he won't alter dragon disciple to mirror the spellcasting progression that Pathfinder introduced; also, he's granting the soulknife a fighter's BAB and moving one of the throwing abilities to an earlier level), so I'm feeling rather... left out.

So, I propose this challenge to the community: Given the parameters of character creation and the books available, how would you go about making a duskblade? PrC or no PrC (which is what I'm leaning toward- DrgDis gives great str, con and int bonuses, as well as armor, but the spellcasting loss and the possibility of not going into DrgDis until 13th level will make gaining the bonuses of DrgDis take a while)? Mix duskblade with some psionics (as an elan, the duskblade could dip pyrokineticist until 4th level for the extra 2d6 to weapons and the ability to do a 4d6 ranged fire bolt and create a whip [and here's another question-- would the flame lash allow for channeling?], but that rather satisfies my desire for many different combat options), or forgo the duskblade entirely in favor of a pure psionics class combination?

What I've considered so far: Elan Duskblade 16/Pyro 4
Duskblade 13/DragonDisc7
Duskblade 20
Soulknife 5-7/Pyro 4-7 (just depends.. soulknife's enhancement bonus will suffer no matter what prc it goes)

I'm going to ask my DM if he would consider moving the full-attack channel to an earlier level, but that would still present an issue with spellcasting progression.

And, for the crazy part: Dipping Cleric into Duskblade for those domain powers and different spells? Hrm... I am not too keen on this option, but I dunno.

Anyway, any feedback is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Dictum Mortuum]

Duskblade 20. Go with a reach weapon along with power attack, combat reflexes and standstill maybe? You can use a race or hidden talent to get a power point reserve to gain access to those psionic feats, too.

[Arisette]

Duskblade 20. Go with a reach weapon along with power attack, combat reflexes and standstill maybe? You can use a race or hidden talent to get a power point reserve to gain access to those psionic feats, too.

All right, I gotcha. Any psionic feat in particular would help a duskblade more than most? (QQ, our set up won't allow for Arcane strike acquisition... boo...)