Theory craft of a PDK Swash / Wiz twist

[Sir_Noob]

Hi there, just wondering if you build wizards could have a quick look at this.
Since I didn't want to spend a reincarnation token I kept the fighter and since it is no longer pure I thought about the benefits of the 1 Wiz splash.
Looking to see if there are any tweaks that may be better or if I am in any AP traps.


Interesting features:
Wiz 1 - Free Feat, 130 SP, Echoes of Power
EK - 10 HP and the Cleave With Force that scales with Character level
AM - 10 minute Shield Spell for 1 point

PDK - Short Sword Cha to hit and Damage, high Spell DC's


PDK Swash/wiz
18/1/1 Bard/Fighter/Wizard
Purple Dragon Knight


Level Order

1. Fighter . . . . 6. Bard. . . . . .11. Bard. . . . . .16. Bard
2. Bard . . . . . .7. Bard . . . . . 12. Bard . . . . . 17. Bard
3. Bard . . . . . .8. Bard . . . . . 13. Bard . . . . . 18. Bard
4. Bard . . . . . .9. Bard . . . . . 14. Bard . . . . . 19. Bard
5. Wizard. . . . .10. Bard. . . . . .15. Bard. . . . . .20. Bard


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt. . .Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 14. . . .14 . . . 4: CHA
Dexterity . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . 8: CHA
Constitution. . 14. . . .14 . . .12: CHA
Intelligence. . 11. . . .12 . . .16: CHA
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8 . . .20: CHA
Charisma. . . . 17. . . .18 . . .24: CHA
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: CHA

Skills
. . . . . F .B .B .B .W. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Perform . . .5 .1 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Concent . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .3 .2 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spellcr . . . . . . . 3 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Balance . . . . . . . . .2 .2 .3 .3 .3 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
UMD . . . . .1 .5 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Heal. . . 2 .½ .½ .½ .½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Spot. . . 1 . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 1. 1. .6
Jump. . . 4 .1 .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Swim. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Tumble. . 1 . . . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Haggle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .16 .8 .8 .8 .4. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 7
Max . . .16 .8 .8 .8 .4. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 PDK. . : Sap
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.3. . . . : Extend Spell
.5 Wizard : Maximize Spell
.6. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.9. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Piercing
15. . . . : Great Cleave
18. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
21 Epic . :
24 Epic . :
26 Destiny:
27 Epic . :
28 Destiny:
29 Destiny:
30 Epic . :
30 Legend :


Enhancements (80 AP)

Swashbuckler (48 AP) Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge, Panache, Roll with the Punches On Your Toes III, Blow By Blow: Melee III, Tavern Shanties I
Deflect Arrows, Fast Movement, Sword Dance I, Double Strike Boost III
Elegant Footwork, Skirmisher, Resonant Arms II, Charisma
On the Mark III, Battering Barrage II, Charisma
Exploit Weakness, Coup de Grace: Melee
Warchanter (8 AP) Skaldic: Constitution, Weapon Training Inspired Bravery I, Rough and Ready III
Iced Edges II
Purple Dragon Knight (8 AP) Damage Boost Cormyrean Knight Training, Action Surge: Charisma III, Improved Recovery
Spellsinger (6 AP) Spellsinger, Music of the Sewers Haunting Melody I, Sonic Blast III
Kensei (6 AP) Kensei Focus: Light Blades Extra Action Boost I, Haste Boost III
Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (3 AP) Eldritch Strike Toughness II
Vanguard (1 AP) To the Fore!

[Stoner81]

Cleave and Great Cleave are a waste imho (as is Power Attack) since Short Swords do not proc glancing blows like 2HF and B.Swords do. Add to this they are a fixed rate attack in terms of speed so just by attacking normally with SWF will probably be better DPS.

Instead I would take Precision instead of Power Attack and for Cleave and Great Cleave I have no idea to be honest.

Stoner81.

[Ulfo]

Cleave and Great Cleave are a waste imho (as is Power Attack) since Short Swords do not proc glancing blows like 2HF and B.Swords do.

Celestia? 8)

[Fauxknight]

Cleave and Great Cleave are a waste imho (as is Power Attack) since Short Swords do not proc glancing blows like 2HF and B.Swords do. Add to this they are a fixed rate attack in terms of speed so just by attacking normally with SWF will probably be better DPS.

Instead I would take Precision instead of Power Attack and for Cleave and Great Cleave I have no idea to be honest.

Stoner81.


Not to mention En Pointe is a wonderful double cleave in the Swash tree.


Feat wise I would drop power attack, cleave, and great cleave for precision.


Ability wise that is a lot of stuff in Swash I would never use and is missing some important stuff.

Blow by Blow is okish but not needed.
Tavern Shanties only works for more activated songs, your basic ballad (inspire courage) is always up for no song uses now...so matter of play Style.
Sword Dance requires misses, doesn't proc as much as you'd think.
Resonant Arms is great, upgrade to 3.
En Pointe is a double cleave that usually double procs resonant arms, add this.
Swash Style II Low Blow is an easy knockdown, and you can follow up with CdG before they even hit the ground for a quick kill...add this.
The AC penalty from Battering Barrage is insignificant, it's not needed.
Thread the Needle adds 5 damage If you use Precision as already recommended, this combo is far superior to using Power Attack.

Iced Edges literally doesn't scale, so it never really adds much.
Haste Boost and Double Strike boost will set each other on cooldown, you only really need one or the other unless you are simply going for sheer number of overall charges.

[cru121]

Replace Wizard with FvS.
Get Nightshield as your spell and Divine Presence from War Soul for 4 AP.

AP - start here:
~42 swash (5 cores, all T5s)
21+ warchanter for single target freeze and 4th core
4 war soul

[Stoner81]

Celestia? 8)

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Celestia,_Brightest_Star_of_Day

Typed as a short sword so I assumed that glancing blows do not proc.

Stoner81.

[Ulfo]

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Celestia,_Brightest_Star_of_Day

Typed as a short sword so I assumed that glancing blows do not proc.

Stoner81.

When you give link, try read Discussion page too... ;)

[Fauxknight]

Sunblades, which includes not only the low level Sunblade but also any short sword with "Star of Day" in its title all act like bastard swords while using short sword proficiency and feats.

Whilst you do get glancing blows with Sunblades (for classes that it's not broken for, in my experience it does work for pure bard builds) I've found that without the THF line of feats those glancing blows don't really add up to much.

Also the base Estar commendation Star of Day has a low hardness and breaks fast...


Edit: Short swords are still good Shashbuckler weapons and Sunblades have nice damage dice, so don't let my comments about poor glancing blow damage stop you from using one.

Also won't Iced Edges break Celestia? Best not to combine the two.