Question - Eldritch Knights

[Wyvern]

How playable are they currently? I know next to nothing about them.

[LONOmakesWAR]

i am playing a sorc/EK right now. I like it very much so far except spellcasters arnt my specialty. It seems that my combat abilites far surpass a normal sorc and i can do alright with weopan finess and a rapier. With the right combo of buffs and feats this could be a very powerful build but i think the class is best suited as a support class for parties.

Other than that I am not sure what the benefit of EK is? Do i get more spells per day or something? more powerful spells? i dunno

[Vahene]

Something I'd like the answer to as well. I've been tossing around an idea for one for a few months, but haven't gotten enough nerve to start another mage - my sorceress is an absolute bear to level up.. so, that's the only warning I'd pass along since I know you aren't above soloing. Heh.

K

[Vahene]

One of the main benefits of an EK, especially if you take a wizard EK, is that you get more feats I believe.

K

[Stormknife]

Er, no. EK gives you a bonus feat off the fighter list at level 1 of EK. Wizard gives you a bonus metamagic or item creation feat at 15 and 20...so the wizard has 1 feat more than the EK does, and 1 more level of spellcasting.

[hrguy]

Hi everyone.

Various EK builds are my current favorite builds to play from a pure fun prospective.

The advantage of taking an EK is to improve your BAB while still advancing in spellcasting. EKs get BAB bonuses like warriors. EKs also get a few more hp, but it's only 6 compared to 4.

Still, this can be enormous fun, especially if you're a finess fighter junkie like I am (my staple in both NWN games has thus far been rogue/fighter builds).

Not to get two power-gamey, but EK builds can net you 9th level spells (if you're a wizard) and 4 mainhand attacks by level 20. They also make fun RP, especially if you choose the master race (Dwarves, for the uneducated).

[Wyvern]

Hey, hrguy, and welcome to Das.

Ok, now you have REALLY piqued my interest. I'm a finesse fighter junkie too, and I'm not adverse to number crunching, so toss some details at me.

[LONOmakesWAR]

from one dex lover to another lay it on me brotha!!

[Eowade]

My Ek is currently sitting at 11. ALthough I am not a finnese build I could see the benefits of going that route though. He had an easy time getting to 11 but I will admit I did allot of armor switching so he was allot like a buffed fighter that missed allot =P. I think once I can get him to figure out how to craft some mithril armor with a bonus on it he will be set. I had allot of fun playing him and might try a different build on EK soon.

[hrguy]

Hey, hrguy, and welcome to Das.

Thanks, I like it here so far.

Ok, now you have REALLY piqued my interest. I'm a finesse fighter junkie too, and I'm not adverse to number crunching, so toss some details at me.

Well, the build I'm toying with now is a Fighter 2/Wizard 8, EK 10. Dual-wielding handaxe specialist. Since Dwarves are born with axes in their hands (this is very painful to the mother), if one decided to choose the path of magic, this type of blending makes alot of sense.

This would give you a 16 bab, full 9th level spells, 4 mainhand/2off-hand attacks per round. You could be disgustingly buffed.

Another option is to go Figher 4/Wizard 6/EK 10. The value of 9th level spells to a melee fighter is debatable (there aren't many great buffs, but Meteor Swarm is always fun, and MD is useful even if you don't have an awesome spell DC). Changing this would give you another BAB, 12 more hp, and an extra feet (and since it's fighter 4, that could be weapon specialization). It'd also save you a point of int that you could put into dex (or str).

Downsides are armor selection (unless you want to take off your armor, cast your buffs, then put it back on, but this is really an exploit. I wouldn't suggest it) and dispelling monsters/players. When all your buffs get dispelled, you're in for a hurting.

Of course, if that's likely, you can always throw on the armor and play the warrior role. Your bab is only slightly worse, but true warriors will have noticably more hp.

[LONOmakesWAR]

Since Dwarves are born with axes in their hands (this is very painful to the mother), if one decided to choose the path of magic, this type of blending makes alot of sense.

an RP reason for the build!?! hey WYV hire this guy full time eh??

[stoned-raider]

Another option for the casting fighter type would be
6 wizard/sorc
10 Eldritch Knight
4 Harper Scout
That gives you the maximum number of lvl 9 spells while still having 4 attacks per round (onlyat lvl 20 though). I considered such a build myself since I love the Harper Scout class for some strange reason. In the end I did another type of caster though

Hope this helps,

stoned-raider

[LONOmakesWAR]

WTF is Harper Scout??

JK JK

[Maevan2]

WTF is Harper Scout??

JK JK

The most useless prestige class?

[hrguy]

Another option for the casting fighter type would be
6 wizard/sorc
10 Eldritch Knight
4 Harper Scout
That gives you the maximum number of lvl 9 spells while still having 4 attacks per round (onlyat lvl 20 though). I considered such a build myself since I love the Harper Scout class for some strange reason. In the end I did another type of caster though

Neat (though, I assume you mean Harper Agent). One downside is that you have to take alertness and Iron Will as feats, both of which MIGHT be useful to you, depending on your build (but probably not, especially alertness). You also have to blow one on martial weapon prof. Given how feat-starved this build already is, that's alot to give up.

You've also got to build up 8 diplomacy and 2 ranks of survival, which are cross-class for both the EK and the Wizard.

If HA had UMD as a class skill, this wouldn't be so bad since you could save the other skills and blow them all during those last 4 levels (since you can't take a HA level until 17), but it doesn't.