Between Eldritch Knight and Battle Engineer...

[Zachski]

Which of the two, when pure, makes for a better Spellsword/Duskblade/Arcane Melee character? Not just melee offense, but spell offense, too, when applicable.

(I am aware that both of these will generally benefit more from multiclassing than not multiclassing, but that's rather irrelevant right here. I'm only concerned with pure characters, and I'm asking for more academic reasons)

[voodoogroves]

Battle engineer offers very little in they way of spell DPS compared to a pure wizard. They'd have what ... 5 spells to choose from?

[Zachski]

Battle engineer offers very little in they way of spell DPS compared to a pure wizard. They'd have what ... 5 spells to choose from?

I'm referring more to a combination of melee and spell DPS than just one or the other. Also factoring in pet DPS where applicable (Battle Engineers have their Iron Companion, Wizard EKs can potentially get the Skeleton if they so choose)

(Not to mention that it's not necessarily how many DPS spells you have, but how you use them...)

For instance, Battle Engineers have Flame Turret which is auto-DPS while the Engi can run in and slice and dice enemies with a Bastard Sword, and the iron companion nips at their heels with sneak attack damage.