Spellsword Build

[BoltNRun]

Thanks for the helpful advice liver! A big thank you from me to everyone that has answered my constant questions lol.

I do have a question about what i asked earlier, a few posts up. Wouldn't my AB be better then a sword'n'board? I know my AC will be 6 less but shouldn't my AB be better at least?

also thank you for the step by step guide!

Yes, by +2. Arelith offers anyone using large weapons a +2 bonus. But... that's a 3:1 exchange ratio for AC:AB. That's objectively not a good sacrifice. Pretty much you're going to get hit 30% more often in exchange to hit 10% more often on a 3 APR build.

I personally would have gone a spear because it's considered a medium weapon while the large weapon aesthetic is still there, or a trident because it does more damage (2d6x3 vs 1d10x3) and still keeps the +2AB. Plus there's a sick trident called the Cyclone and a decent spear called Fang of the Wild, but no special halberd weapons.

That's okay with me. The spear would give me that large weapon aesthetic I like but i am a huge fan of halberds and pole arms in general. i hate that there is no special unique halberd though. I hope they make some soon.

[BoltNRun]

Curious on another thing. What type of armor should I go for? Chest piece that is. I know that greensteel can help with spell failure but something about a rune or something makes it hard to do?

[solo]

You're not going to get your hands on Greensteel for some time, mate. At first you're going to be using normal scale/breastplate armor like everyone else. Don't worry about spell failure. With the spellsword class you're not meant to be casting spells at stuff, you're meant to cast on yourself, gear up, and then hit things until they stop moving.

[liver and bones]

Curious on another thing. What type of armor should I go for? Chest piece that is. I know that greensteel can help with spell failure but something about a rune or something makes it hard to do?

Don't worry about runing your armor for now.

You can either go a greensteel scale mail or greensteel breastplate. I don't recommend chain shirt, since it takes 18 DEX to utilize 100%. Plus, if you got flat-footed (most likely via a knockdown), then you lose all 4 of the AC.

[BoltNRun]

Alrighty. Thanks for the tip guys. Greensteel breastplate sounds pretty good. What exactly does running do by the way? I'm still not 100% sure on this

[Baron Saturday]

Adding a rune to armor (or any piece of equipment) adds the "runic" property. This lets a dweomercrafter add new properties to the armor more easily via the dweomercrafting basin. A T3 dweomercrafter can add a property to a runic item that would normally have a 5% success chance with a 100% success chance.

[BoltNRun]

Oh wow that's pretty cool. As a 27spellsword/3bard, I think I am.. a t2 Dweomercrafter?

[Baron Saturday]

Yup. Or T3 if you can fit in either craft wand or brew potion. Even at T2, you get a +66% chance to success and can add +2 skill properties.

[liver and bones]

You'll be T3 by 28. The "28 hybrid spellcaster class" is total of all your hybrid classes. Both bards and spellswords are considered such. Scribe scroll also now counts as a feat for a tier, and you get scribe scroll for free.

[BoltNRun]

Oh so even though I'm 27/3 split it still counts as T3. I thought it had to be 28 in at least one of them.

[liver and bones]

Oh so even though I'm 27/3 split it still counts as T3. I thought it had to be 28 in at least one of them.

Nope. The explanation on the announcement makes it less obvious (however the PM explanation helps decipher it), but I confirmed it through the developer who put the update out.

So, 27 SS and 1 bard will yield you T3.

[BoltNRun]

Oh that's awesome! Fits with my intended roleplay as well!

[Zalius]

I was wondering what sort of armor you should use as a Spellsword?
I can't seem to find the Greensteel Scale mail (5AC max 2 dex) or anything else with the same ac bonus as Greensteel?
HALP a Spellsword in need

[liver and bones]

I was wondering what sort of armor you should use as a Spellsword?
I can't seem to find the Greensteel Scale mail (5AC max 2 dex) or anything else with the same ac bonus as Greensteel?
HALP a Spellsword in need

Exactly that. Greensteel scale mail. You will most likely have to have it ordered through a dedicated smith PC.

There is an argument for greensteel chain mail, but it's difficult to max out the DEX slotting (4 AC 4 DEX).

[Zalius]

Got it... its a Greensteel Brestplate i guess? Calling the "bronze" version "Scale armor" f**ked it up for me.....

[BoltNRun]

I had a question about Epic Mage Armor. I know that is gives +5 deflection bonus, +5 dodge bonus, +5 armor bonus, and +5 natural armor bonus. With that in mind, what would be the best way to gear a spellblade while getting the most out of the EMA spell? Since it can cover a lot of the bases, would it not be beneficial to have my gear cover other stats so that I won't have to worry about trying to get the highest AC items? I mean EMA lasts for so freaking long and it can't be dispelled.

Unless I am in the wrong though lol..

QUICK EDIT: I know that dodge AC is the only one that really stacks (with a cap of 20). EMA gives +5 dodge, then tumble would be another +6, and then DEX bonus of +4 would make it a total of +15. Would regular Mage armor dodge AC stack with EMA?

[liver and bones]

I had a question about Epic Mage Armor. I know that is gives +5 deflection bonus, +5 dodge bonus, +5 armor bonus, and +5 natural armor bonus. With that in mind, what would be the best way to gear a spellblade while getting the most out of the EMA spell? Since it can cover a lot of the bases, would it not be beneficial to have my gear cover other stats so that I won't have to worry about trying to get the highest AC items? I mean EMA lasts for so freaking long and it can't be dispelled.

Unless I am in the wrong though lol..

QUICK EDIT: I know that dodge AC is the only one that really stacks (with a cap of 20). EMA gives +5 dodge, then tumble would be another +6, and then DEX bonus of +4 would make it a total of +15. Would regular Mage armor dodge AC stack with EMA?

Totally avoid any AC items on equips, aside from on boots as it's a dodge AC. The brilliance of a spellsword is its flexibility in things. Go strictly STR/CON till you hit the +12 max, then start doing CON/INT.

EMA and your mage armor doesn't stack, no. Usually it does, but it's been disabled for spellswords due to how that would work (+5 dodge from EMA and +3 dodge from level 15 would be broken). However, people have reported that using Shadow Conjuration's mage armor will stack the +1 dodge.

[BoltNRun]

Awesome! I thought I was right lol. What about armor? Like should I go with greensteel?

Also, I am currently putting points into Craft Weapon/Armor, Spellcraft, Lore and Concentration. I know that the Craft Weapon/Armor is sort of my own choice but will it hurt me if I put some skillpoints there? Meaning will i have enough for discipline, tumble and stuff?

[liver and bones]

Awesome! I thought I was right lol. What about armor? Like should I go with greensteel?

Also, I am currently putting points into Craft Weapon/Armor, Spellcraft, Lore and Concentration. I know that the Craft Weapon/Armor is sort of my own choice but will it hurt me if I put some skillpoints there? Meaning will i have enough for discipline, tumble and stuff?

Greensteel, yep.

Depends on your base INT. A regular SS build goes 19 INT total, so that's 204 skillpoints total for a non-human. 238, if a human. You need:
Spellcraft 33
Concentration 33
Tumble 30
Discipline 33
UMD 15
Heal (at least) 15

I also recommend 21 taunt. That's all a total of 180. Leaves you with 24 or 58 skillpoints.

[BoltNRun]

Followed this from here on out.

08: Wizard(8): STR+1, (STR=19)
09: Wizard(9): Blind Fight
10: Wizard(10): SF: Abjuration
11: Wizard(11)
12: Wizard(12): STR+1, Arcane Def: Abjuration (STR=20)
13: Wizard(13)
14: Wizard(14)
15: Wizard(15): Maximize Spell, SF: Transmutation
16: Wizard(16): STR+1, (STR=21)
17: Wizard(17)
18: Wizard(18): Improved Critical: Halberd
19: Wizard(19)
20: Wizard(20): STR+1, GSF: Transmutation (STR=22)
21: Wizard(21): Epic Weapon Focus
22: Wizard(22)
23: Wizard(23): Epic Spell: Epic Mage Armor
24: Wizard(24): STR+1, Armor Skin, (STR=23)
25: Wizard(25)
26: Wizard(26): GSF: Abjuration
27: Wizard(27): Epic Prowess
28: Bard(1): STR +1, (STR=24)
29: Bard(2)
30: Bard(3) Epic Skill Focus: Discipline

I just had a question about this again. I was looking at the cookie cutter build for spells words and notice that they don't go GSF: Abjuration like this one does. I thought that they needed some high Save DCs to resist dispelling? Why would they take ESF: Transmutation over Abjuration if it helps with resisting dispels?

Btw this build is amazing, ty Liver and bones!

[liver and bones]

Only Arcane Defense: Abjuration helps against dispels. The cookie cutter build recommends both. GSF: Abj at 10, Arcane Def: Abj at 12. GSF: Abj is important, for sure; gives you immunity against IGMS, one of the easiest "100-0" spells to use as a wizard given it's 240 damage per round potential.

ESF: Trans is great for spells that are useful in PvP for a spellsword. That includes Flesh to Stone, Slow, and arguably Blackstaff.

[BoltNRun]

I was actually just about to comment that I found it lol.

I'm guessing the only reason my build doesn't get ESF: Transmutation is due to the extra feat that humans get?

Edit: I was debating to see if it could take the place of another feat but I don't think I could find a good enough reason to swap them lol

[liver and bones]

Correct. I personally think it's not that vital for a spellsword due to how effective your imbues are. Every other feat I've given is just too useful.

[BoltNRun]

Very true. I was debating on what might be okay to maybe switch but honestly all of them are needed. Especially since I am using a two hander.

[BoltNRun]

Hey! Glad I kept this post alive recently lol

I have another question! Due to Spellblades having such amazing potential with buffs for their weapons, what exactly is the best weapon for someone like me to use? I use a halberd so there isn't really any good halberd that I can make atm. Eventually I was thinking just going Masterly Damask and then making it runic and then add Keen?

Though I have seen differently. Is Bronze the best weapon for me to do? It would allow me a greater chance of enchanting and adding things I could use on it, like extra elemental damage types and stuff. Or should i stick with just a blank bronze weapon so that I can stack buffs like Keen, GMW, Flame Weapon and other buffs on it to make it a real powerhouse?

EDIT: Also, the Keen spell is quite different here. I feel it might be worth to just have a blank slate of a weapon, especially since my weapon choice doesn't have the best selection.