I am striving to build the perfect Pathfinder "gish" (fighter-mage) and I have concluded that a combination of sorcerer with an abyssal bloodline and eldritch knight PrC provides the most bang for the buck. The real question is when to switch to EK and forgo the remaining bloodline benefits of the sorcerer. Specifically, do I go for the 9th level bennies or not? Here is my build with two different advancement paths. Opinions are welcome.
1. sorcerer 1 - abyssal bloodline, eschew materials, toughness, arcane strike, claws (1d4), CL 1, BAB +0
2. sorcerer 2 - CL 2, BAB +1
3. sorcerer 3 - weapon focus (spear), electricity resistance 5, +2 save v. poison, bloodline spell (cause fear) CL 3, BAB +1
4. sorcerer 4 - CL 4, BAB +2
5. sorcerer 5 - craft magic arms and armour, claws (magic v. DR), bloodline spell (bull's strength), CL 5, BAB +2
6. sorcerer 5/fighter 1 - arcane armour training, CL 5, BAB +3
7. sorcerer 6/fighter 1 - combat casting, CL 6, BAB +4
8. sorcerer 7/fighter 1 - great fortitude, claws (1d6), bloodline spell (rage), CL 7, BAB +4
1st advancement path
9. sorcerer 8/fighter 1 - arcane armour mastery, CL 8, BAB +5
10.sorcerer 9/fighter 1 - +2 Str, electricity resistance 10, +4 save v. poison, bloodline spell (stoneskin), CL 9, BAB +5
11.sorcerer 9/fighter 1/EK 1 - improved initiative, quicken spell, CL 9, BAB +6/+1
12.sorcerer 9/fighter 1/EK 2 - CL 10, BAB +7/+2
13.sorcerer 9/fighter 1/EK 3 - weapon specialization (spear), CL 11, BAB +8/+3
14.sorcerer 9/fighter 1/EK 4 - CL 12, BAB +9/+4
15.sorcerer 9/fighter 1/EK 5 - improved critical (spear), critical focus, CL 13, BAB +10/+5
2nd advancement path
9. sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 1 - arcane armour mastery, improved initiative, CL 7, BAB +5
10.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 2 - CL 8, BAB +6/+1
11.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 3 - weapon specialization (spear), CL 9, BAB +7/+2
12.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 4 - CL 10, BAB +8/+3
13.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 5 - improved critical (spear), critical focus, CL 11, BAB +9/+4
14.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 6 - CL 12, BAB +10/+5
15.sorcerer 7/fighter 1/EK 7 - greater weapon focus (spear), CL 13, BAB +11/+6
Clearly, at 10th level, the first path is superior with the Str bonus, the improved resistances, the higher CL and the bonus spell balanced only by a higher BAB and improved initiative in the second path. However, at higher levels, the combat feats start coming earlier in the second path. I am just not sure which option I like better.
-Rognar-
Fred Funk's OD&D Set
2 weeks ago
7 comments:
I would say go with a path you want to play up to 15th level, since we rarely pass that.
This is a tough one. I'm not sure the best answer as I've never played a gish before. If you define a gish as a melee fighter with magic power then I would try which ever path gets your BAB and hp the highest (Path two I believe). We won't have a ton of utility magic but since everyone and their dog in the group has Use magic device as long as we carry around a few scrolls we should be ok.
Sorry, I had to edit. There was one spelling mistake that could not be ignored.
The thing is, I think path 1 is best at 10th level, but path 2 is, by far, the best by 20th. At 15th, I don't know. No.2 gives a better BAB, but only a bit better. When Str bonuses and feats are taken into account, I think the attack bonus only differs by +1.
By the way, O, you have administrator privileges, so you can completely erase a comment if you want.
If there isn't much difference in "to hit" bonuses then go with the one that gets to the highest caster level at 15.
Caster level is the same for both.
Are you sure taking two levels of paladin isn't somewhat better than 1 level of fighter? OK, your giving up a level of sorcerer (and the 9th level bloodline stuff, which may be the real deciding factor for you here) But you get excellent saves.
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