Spellsword Build

[BoltNRun]

Hello!

I'm fairly new to this server and after playing a bit I was curious on what all changes were made here. I was rather happily surprised to see a spellsword class in this server. I have always loved spellswords, mystic knights, runeblade etc.. The ability for a blademaster to enchant their blade or for a warrior to send out a lightning bolt has always been awesome to me!

So I was wondering if there was a build for Spellswords that wasn't human? I noticed on the cookie cutter builds that it only said human and it also showed a little bit of min/max scores. There's nothing wrong with that and I don't want it to come off as me saying it's bad but I was wondering if there was a build that didn't have negative scores? If not that's okay because while I do have the RP in mind, I don't want my character to be weak or not able to handle stuff himself.

I guess what I am looking for is a Spellsword that if possible could have a bit more balanced starting stats but would not be gimped when fighting in PvE, or PvP. As for the race I was thinking perhaps Half-Elf or Elf?

I hope that what I am posting is not in a bad spot. If it is, I will move it to another more appropriate forum !

Quick Edit: From what I have read, going more spellsword is best for DC's and spell levels. I was wondering if I could still emulate a potent fighter that likes to imbue his blade? Like my goal is a sort of swordmaster that has potent magic capabilities; like enchanting his blade or defensive magic. So I'm willing to explore options where this spellsword build is more melee oriented perhaps? I'm rusty with NwN builds and even more so with the changes on this server.

-Bolt

[Sea Shanties]

Spellswords are very melee oriented. More wizard levels is mostly about avoiding dispels than your own spell DCs which will never be great.

As for non-humans, Dwarves make great spellswords. +2 con is a good boost, runecrafting weapons works great with their cultural RP and they can make a decent racial axe. Elves and half-elves are okay too, plenty of people have made them, though wood elves, sun elves and drow might be better than moon elves because of stats. Half-elves, sure, why not, not optimal but not that bad. Like the dwarves, surface elves and half elves can make a nice special racial weapon which is an advantage over humans.

The biggest problem with not being human is you will be losing one feat (with high int, the loss of bonus skill points don't matter as much) on a class that needs every feat it can get but it's very doable.

[DeflectiveQuestion]

Spellsword player here. I, too, hate negative scores, so I dropped a bit of constitution to bring my CHA and WIS modifiers to 10.

[BoltNRun]

Well dwarf does sound cool but a straight up elf is alluring as well. As for the DC's would it just be better to go the bare minimum for the greater imbue, which I don't think can be dispelled, and then just go the rest as a usual fighter? Like just capitalize on the melee aspect a bit more?

The idea I have in my head is basically just a swordmaster who has mastered his weapon and wanted to further improve it by imbuing spells into it? Would that build be viable? If not, I am completely okay with just doing the 27/3 build (I think that's the spread)

[Maladus]

From my experience, Spellsword is pretty reliant on buffs so raising your defense against that will be better in the long run.

[Sea Shanties]

Well dwarf does sound cool but a straight up elf is alluring as well. As for the DC's would it just be better to go the bare minimum for the greater imbue, which I don't think can be dispelled, and then just go the rest as a usual fighter? Like just capitalize on the melee aspect a bit more?

The idea I have in my head is basically just a swordmaster who has mastered his weapon and wanted to further improve it by imbuing spells into it? Would that build be viable? If not, I am completely okay with just doing the 27/3 build (I think that's the spread)

Yeah go with 19 int and as much strength as you can do. You need to take all of the trasmutation focuses, extend and ideally maximize spell. Most try to take abjuration focus and arcane defense: abjuration to further protect against dispels but this is more important on a 23 wiz/4 fighter/3 bard build than 27 wizard/3 bard. You get 4 bonus wizard feats before epic levels so plan to use those on wizard stuff, saving the general feats for combat as much as you can. If you're an elf go with longsword so you can use the lesser moonblade.

[BoltNRun]

So going more spellsword levels will help in the long run? Also I was reading something about the Dweomertech crafting thing? The enchanting stuff? Actually I'll save that question for later!

Would you guys be able to help me out with a build sheet to follow?

[Sea Shanties]

Outdated

[BoltNRun]

Thank you for all the help by the way!

As for the build, does it matter what elf? Also What are some skills you'd reccomend? I know Discipline, Concentration, UMD, Tumble, and spellcraft are some big ones. Would I have enough left over to spend some in craft weapon and such?

[Sea Shanties]

You want to be strength based so Sun Elf for +1 intelligence or Wood Elf for +1 strength are the best bets mechanically, I think. Or drow with gift of melee. They all have wildly different RP of course so factor that in. Moon Elf or Half Elf aren't bad either, just don't have the extra slight advantage.

Skills are the ones you said and you will have some left over if you want craft weapon or bluff or something else. Just get concentration to 15 or 20 and Spellcraft to 26 for Epic Mage Armor and figure out the rest when you do the bard skilldump. You probably want Gift of Craftsmanship if you want to craft.

[BoltNRun]

I was planning on getting that gift lol. Would I need any other major gifts to help out? Like strength or int?

EDIT: Also, i read that if i go one handed and don't use anything in my offhand as a spellsword I get an AC bonus?

[Jeloran]

What about for a dwarf spellsword?

[Sea Shanties]

Strength and Intelligence gifts too, yeah. And you do get an AC bonus if nothing's in your other hand. It's about what you'd get from a shield.

For dwarf I'd just pick battleaxe as the focus (you get dwarven war axe proficiency for free that way.) Dwarven war axe is nice because you can use it one or two handed to switch between more AC/ more damage, plus dwarves have a special racial weapon. Any dwarf subrace is good, Duergar may be the best though they're UD only, shield dwarf is easiest to get going right away with Brogdenstein RP, gold dwarf loses 2 dex which is a little painful but they're more exotic which can be cool.

[BoltNRun]

The dwarf one does sound cool honestly. I had some ideas for a dwarven spellsword. What would the recommended starting stats be for a dwarf and elf?

[Sea Shanties]

For a moon elf, 16 STR/ 14 CON/ 16 INT before gifts and 18/14/18 after.. Dwarf maybe 17 STR/ 16 CON/ 16 INT before and 19/16/18 after. It all depends on if you want to min-max and what subrace you may want, but as high strength and intelligence you can get and minimum 14 constitution. Then when you level get to 19 intelligence and the rest strength.

[BoltNRun]

You have been the best Sea Shanties! Thank you for answering all my questions. I think my last is that no matter which race I go with, if I use a 1 handed weapon I can use the -2hand command to be able to recieve the bonuses while still getting the empty offhand bonus of AC that spellswords get, right? Or when I do -2hand I trade AC for dmg for that bit?

[BoltNRun]

I have another question about spellswords if anyone could answer. Well a few. It's partially about a build and another about mechanics.

I read that there are some weapon spells that are "restricted" so they can't be stacked on a weapon. Does this mean all the other non-restricted ones can be stacked? Will they stack or at one point does the weapon have a limit?

Also as I was reading over the build I was curious about it and I was wondering if I went the minimum 21 spellsword levels to get the double imbue and then the rest into fighter and rogue, disregarding some dispels, would I be able to still be a powerful fighter? I know that the more spellsword levels you have the better so you can't be dispelled but in PvE is it that bad?

[Sea Shanties]

Only a few weapons let you use -2hand and -1hand. Dwarven Waraxe is one, bastard sword another, I forget the rest if any. Elves probably want to use longsword (but not necessarily) which is one hand only. Of course you can use a different weapon too, I think most human spellswords just use scimitars usually with greater magic weapon cast on it.

As for the other question.. I strongly recommend just following one of the suggested builds. You're not going to do better by only taking 21 wizard levels and you want the wizard bonus feats. They're very powerful fighters but you kind of have to take that on faith since it's a homebrewed class, which is why you should just follow conventional wisdom at least the first time you make one. I guarantee every possible permutation has been tried by people who know a lot more than you (and me) about building.

[BoltNRun]

You make a very good point and I think I'll follow your advice. I'll use the build you made a few posts up! I've decided to stick with longsword if i do an elf that is.

But if I go dwarf and if I use a dwarven waraxe and use the -2hand command on it I will NOT recieve the AC bonus that spellswords get when using nothing in the offhand correct?

[Sea Shanties]

You get the AC when in -1hand, not in -2hand, like you would if you switched from a one to two handed weapon. Much of the time you don't need that extra AC so the versatility is really nice.

[BoltNRun]

Ahh okay I was right on that then! I kind of want to do Bastard Sword on an elf but that means another feat would be needed for it since it's exotic. That wouldn't be the best right?

[ObamaBeenLaggin]

When I was looking at building a spellsword I noticed it asks you to pick a school of magic to drop alongside conjuration. I'm curious to which school most people pick for this?

[Jagel]

Elves have access to the excellent Lesser Moonblade longsword which will be really good for spellswords, but if you can find a feat to dump for exotic prof, by all means go bastard sword.

[BoltNRun]

When choosing a spell school to drop, I was looking at all the ones available and what spells they offered. Would it hurt me in the long run if I dropped Necromancy?

EDIT: Actually, wait. i see the problem. I couldn't get any negative imbues on my blade if i drop Necromancy. I've heard Enchantment is the one to drop but would that hurt me if i want to actually do Dweomercrafting (the new crafting thing)?

[Baron Saturday]

When choosing a spell school to drop, I was looking at all the ones available and what spells they offered. Would it hurt me in the long run if I dropped Necromancy?

EDIT: Actually, wait. i see the problem. I couldn't get any negative imbues on my blade if i drop Necromancy. I've heard Enchantment is the one to drop but would that hurt me if i want to actually do Dweomercrafting (the new crafting thing)?

No, dweomercrafting and enchantment no longer have anything to do with one another.