Feats for Gishes

[Wiggins]

Hi, I'm trying to make a Dwarf Wizard in Heavy Armour with Shield, 19+ Levels of Spellcasting and 16+ BAB at Level 20 and using at least a dip in the Rune Smith Prestige class.

I've worked out that I need Wizard 6, Jade Phoenix Mage 5, Dragonslayer 1, Runesmith 2, Abjurant Champion 5, Spellsword 1

(Though not in that order, and yes, I know that some of the class features don't do anything for me, especially Spellsword, but I was just trying to get the highest casting and attack bonus I could).

The problem I'm having is selecting Feats. I have a Wizard Bonus Feat and 3 Normal Feats free after matching the prereqs for the classes I listed.

I'm pretty sure I want Quicken Spell for the Bonus Feat, so that I can use standard and full actions for combat, casting magic in between.

So that I don't provoke attacks of opportunity to cast a spell, I'll grab Shielded Casting.

That leaves 2.

With the somatic components removed by Runesmith, would I have any need of quick draw?

Are Battlecaster Offense and Battlecaster Defense any good?

The build ends up with a Reflex save of only +4 at levels 18-20 and doesnt' have good Dexterity. Is there any better way to improve that better than the +2 from Lightning Reflexes?

[sirpercival]

Insightful Reflexes will help.

[Wiggins]

Thanks! That answers that part

I'm still not sure about Battlecaster Offense. I'm thinking I might be better off with Obtain Familiar and some Immediate Magic, otherwise the great feature that a Familiar can be is stuck at Level 6.

In which case it's tempting to take a second flaw (the first one was Weak Willed) to get Improved Familiar, too? Maybe Shaky, as he'll still be better at hitting with ranged touch than most wizards, and I'm planning on him being on the front lines anyway?

[X-Codes]

Shaky isn't bad.  Insightful Reflexes is nice, but not something I'm terribly fond of, myself.  Elusive Target is great, since you have to get Dodge, anyway, and Mobility is actually not a terrible feat early on.  It will reduce the damage you take in melee significantly.  Mobility is also required for the very, very nice gish class: Swiftblade.

[Shadowhunter]

I don't know if it's a prerequisite feat and thus already mentioned, but Gishes have an easy way to get +hit bonuses so Power Attack becomes very good. Eh, who am I kidding, PA is always good on a melee combatant.

[Empirate]

You're not allowed to call yourself a gish without Power Attack plus Arcane Strike. Essential combo to actually do something (besides buffing) with all those spells memorized while beating your enemies to a pulp.

[X-Codes]

You're not allowed to call yourself a gish without Power Attack plus Arcane Strike. Essential combo to actually do something (besides buffing) with all those spells memorized while beating your enemies to a pulp.

I actually never use Arcane Strike.  I know I can do silly amounts of damage if I do, but with buffs up I can generally do adequate damage and with the extra, actual spells I have from not using it I can be a bit more of a Wizard.

[SneeR]

Don't forget the ability to trade out wizard bonus feats for cleric domain powers. Travel domain automatic Freedom of Movement 5 rounds per day for the win!

[Lycanthromancer]

Psionic gishes should always get Visceral Surge, from Hyperconscious. Auto-cower an enemy from range or in melee by expending your focus. They don't even get a saving throw until the next turn, and then it's based on the damage you dealt.

(click to show/hide)

Visceral Surge [Psionic]
Melee and ranged attacks against living targets that inflict
critical damage shake your foe.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +2, Primordial Surge†
Benefit: When you expend your psionic focus, you men-
tally impart an image of your foe’s demise in a particularly
bloody, visceral manner directly into its mind on your suc-
cessful attack. You must declare you are using a Visceral
Surge† attack before making the attack roll (a missed attack
ruins the attempt). Your foe, cowed by the vivid flash,
freezes in fear instead of acting on its next action.On your
foe’ s following rounds of action, it must make a Will saving
throw (DC = 5 + the damage you initially dealt) each round
or be cowed for that round, too. After a successful save, the
foe is no longer cowed.
Cowering characters lose their Dexterity bonus to Armor
Class (if any) and take no actions. You and your allies gain a
+2 bonus on attacks against cowering characters. You can
use this feat in conjunction with weaponlike powers (see
sidebar, page 43).

[Wiggins]

Thanks everyone. Here's what I've ended up with;

Dwarf, Neutral Good

   28 Point Buy   
STR   16   
DEX   13   
CON   10   
INT   17   22
WIS   8   
CHA   6   
   
   32 Point Buy   
STR   15   16
DEX   14   
CON   12   
INT   18   22
WIS   8   
CHA   6   

Level      BAB    Caster Level   Feats & Flaws 1   Wizard (FS Abjurer)   0   1   Weak Will, Shaky, Martial Study (Steely Strike), Dodge, Iron Will 2   Wizard   1   2    3   Wizard   1   3   Combat Casting 4   Wizard   2   4    5   Wizard   2   5   Quicken Spell 6   Wizard   3   6   Martial Stance (Absolute Steel) 7   Jade Phoenix Mage   4   6    8   Jade Phoenix Mage   5   7    9   Dragonslayer   6/1   8   Arcane Strike 10   Rune Smith   6/1   9    11   Abjurant Champion   7/2   10    12   Abjurant Champion   8/3   11   Shielded Casting 13   Abjurant Champion   9/4   12    14   Abjurant Champion   10/5   13    15   Spellsword   11/6/1   14   Insightful Reflexes 16   Rune Smith   12/7/2   15    17   Abjurant Champion   13/8/3   16    18   Jade Phoenix Mage   14/9/4   17   Obtain Familiar 19   Jade Phoenix Mage   15/10/5   18    20   Jade Phoenix Mage   16/11/6/1   19

            

Level      BAB    Caster Level   Feats & Flaws 1   Wizard (FS Abjurer)   0   1   Weak Will, Shaky, Martial Study (Blistering Flourish), Dodge, Iron Will, Resistance to Energy 2   Wizard   1   2    3   Wizard   1   3   Combat Casting 4   Wizard   2   4    5   Wizard   2   5   Quicken Spell 6   Wizard   3   6   Martial Stance (Flame's Blessing) 7   Jade Phoenix Mage   4   6    8   Jade Phoenix Mage   5   7    9   Dragonslayer   6/1   8   Arcane Strike 10   Rune Smith   6/1   9    11   Abjurant Champion   7/2   10    12   Abjurant Champion   8/3   11   Shielded Casting 13   Abjurant Champion   9/4   12    14   Abjurant Champion   10/5   13    15   Havoc Mage   10/5   13   Insightful Reflexes 16   Havoc Mage   11/6/1   14    17   Havoc Mage   12/7/2   14    18   Havoc Mage   13/8/3   15   Obtain Familiar 19   Havoc Mage   13/8/3   16    20   Jade Phoenix Mage   14/9/4   17

            
I wish I had at least 4 more feats. Power Attack, Improved Familiar, Mobility and Spring Attack, etc.
      
I think the second build is probably the best Havoc Mage there can be, losing only one more casting level, wearing armour at no penalty, casting 2 spells a turn while making full attacks (1 swift), not provoking AOO with either of them. I'm coming round to the idea, even if it means losing +2 to hit, 1 attack per round, and 1 level 7, 1 level 8 and 2 level 9 spells per day.      

If I was going to switch Quicken Spell for a Domain, it would probably be Pride.      

[skydragonknight]

Using this variant, you could trade Scribe Scroll for Power Attack (a fighter bonus feat).

The 5th level Wizard feat would also have to be a Fighter feat, but that's easily covered by swapping the order of Quicken Spell and Martial Stance.

Power Attack is the most vital feat on your "wish list" since Wizards and Sorcs have the most Power Attack friendly spell in the game: Wraithstrike.

[RobbyPants]

   28 Point Buy   
STR   16   
DEX   13   
CON   10   
INT   17   22
WIS   8   
CHA   6

If using the 28 PB, I'd strongly consider dropping the Str from 16 to 14 and bumping the Con from 10 to 14. That -1 to hit will only be noticed 5% of the time and getting 2 Xl evel HP will likely be noticeable more often. Also, you get +2 on Fort saves, and that's totally rad.

As for the 32 point version, it's a bit less cut and dry.

[radionausea]

Otuygh Hole for Iron Will as well, don't bother wasting a feat on it!

[radionausea]

Psionic gishes should always get Visceral Surge, from Hyperconscious. Auto-cower an enemy from range or in melee by expending your focus. They don't even get a saving throw until the next turn, and then it's based on the damage you dealt.

(click to show/hide)

Visceral Surge [Psionic]
Melee and ranged attacks against living targets that inflict
critical damage shake your foe.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +2, Primordial Surge†
Benefit: When you expend your psionic focus, you men-
tally impart an image of your foe’s demise in a particularly
bloody, visceral manner directly into its mind on your suc-
cessful attack. You must declare you are using a Visceral
Surge† attack before making the attack roll (a missed attack
ruins the attempt). Your foe, cowed by the vivid flash,
freezes in fear instead of acting on its next action.On your
foe’ s following rounds of action, it must make a Will saving
throw (DC = 5 + the damage you initially dealt) each round
or be cowed for that round, too. After a successful save, the
foe is no longer cowed.
Cowering characters lose their Dexterity bonus to Armor
Class (if any) and take no actions. You and your allies gain a
+2 bonus on attacks against cowering characters. You can
use this feat in conjunction with weaponlike powers (see
sidebar, page 43).

That's ridiculous - with any semi-decent amount of damage they'll never, ever make the save.  Couple it with Sweeping Strike to affect two targets at once?

[Ithamar]

Assuming you'll be casting Bite of the Were-X spells, you will end up with Power Attack (and Blind-Fight) for free while those spells are in effect.

[X-Codes]

Assuming you'll be casting Bite of the Were-X spells, you will end up with Power Attack (and Blind-Fight) for free while those spells are in effect.

More room for Elusive Target.

[Wiggins]

First off, thank you all again, especially robbypants and skydragonknight for getting back to me so quickly.

Otuygh Hole for Iron Will as well, don't bother wasting a feat on it!

There's been no downtime so far in the campaign, so if characters who have been there from the start haven't had a chance to use such locations, it seems unfair to let new and replacement characters access them.

Assuming you'll be casting Bite of the Were-X spells, you will end up with Power Attack (and Blind-Fight) for free while those spells are in effect.

Yeah, originally he was going to be a focused transmuter, rather than abjurer, but it looked like I was going to have to use swift a lot when I thought the Havoc Mage had too high a price to pay... I'm tempted to switch back to Transmuter and Battlecast those, but it's a tricky decision.

More room for Elusive Target.

I couldn't fit Mobility, so I can't fit something that has it as pre-requisite.

If I do decide for certain on the Havoc Mage route, and I switch back to the Transmuter, and use the Bite of the Wererat etc., is there any other Fighter Feat I should grab using the Fighter Feats method rather than Power Attack or sticking with Scribe Scroll?
Mobility unlocks a load of great feats, but if I can't get them is there any point to having it alone?
I can't get the Weapon Focus or Improved Shield Bash yet, because at that early stage the character wasn't proficient in them yet.
Any ideas?

ps. Lycanthromancer, I love that Psionic ability. I think I'll have to work on some Tashalatora ideas tonight

[Jackinthegreen]

Need Mobility?  A possible way to get it is on page 13 of the MiC.  Just tack the Mobility enhancement onto your armor and you're good to go.  I say possible because it's not cut and dry whether you actually gain the feat or not.

[Wiggins]

Need Mobility?  A possible way to get it is on page 13 of the MiC.  Just tack the Mobility enhancement onto your armor and you're good to go.  I say possible because it's not cut and dry whether you actually gain the feat or not.

I'd say not. If I can take off the armor, then it isn't good enough to be prerequisite on a feat.

[skydragonknight]

Maybe mobility as the Fighter feat and use Heroics (Spell Compendium) for Elusive Target. 10/min/level duration if I'm not mistaken, so a good target for meta-rods of Extend.