Jade Phoenix Staff Build

[amack308]

So I am seeking not only to ask about the effectiveness of my build but also to find creative or simple ways to improve my build in a campaign I am in.

I am playing as a Tiefling Duskblade (3) at the moment.

My projected build at the moment is
Duskblade 5
Swordsage 2
Jade Phoenix Mage 10

Currently Wielding a masterwork shortsword and light wooden shield. Just got a Masterwork Greataxe which is likely my new main weapon til later on.
Feats: Battlecaster Offensive and Somatic Weaponry (which I'm likely to try to retrain down the line for Arcane Strike). Down the line I'd like to switch to either a Runestaff or Quarterstaff as the main discipline I'm going to grab is Setting Sun.

I'm avoiding spike chain to not be a copy of another Party Member who is focusing on it, I would rather keep melee as my build is based around diving into the enemies.

I'd like feedback on what items I should try to pickup first, or any other melee weapon suggestions that could be useful with the available disciplines to swordsage.

[Jackinthegreen]

There's no need for you to have Somatic Weaponry due to your shield hand currently being free to do the somatic component of a spell, and WotC ruled that it's a free action to simply take your hand off a two-handed weapon, perform a somatic component for a spell, then put the hand back.

JPM doesn't progress Setting Sun maneuvers so you won't really be able to make it your main discipline (unless your DM allows a discipline swap).  Recovery mechanics for the swordsage are also crappy even with Adaptive Style, so you could run into issues of not having enough maneuvers if that's what is needed instead of spells.