New Player looking for Spellblade type build

[Dhamp]

Hey!

For all intents and purposes im a new player (i've looked in a few times over the years and never got past the docks for various reasons). Spellblade-type builds are my jam normally, and Im looking for something along those lines. I'm aware there's Eldritch Knight available to Sorc/Wiz/Warlock, but I dont know what else there is that fits that general idea that works. Are there divine options in the FvS/Cleric/Paladin space? Do Rangers/Artificers have anything that mixes up weapons and magic?

Are any of these options even viable for a first life?


Im open to both offensive (melee and ranged - i believe Arcane Archer exists?) and tankier type styles, I just have no idea what's out there.

[Discpsycho]

Hello and welcome!

You're correct that an actual Eldritch Knight tree is in Sorc / Wiz (not Warlock). It's possible to make a multiclassed version that meets your needs, pretty much regardless of what they are, but gish builds are super easy to wreck if they're not planned out in advance. What would your preferred spellblade play like, and how is that different from the existing EK tree?

Cleric / FvS have a tree for physical damage, but it's not in the best place and I wouldn't recommend mixing it with the casting tree because your feats and gearing will be pretty tough (as opposed to just gearing). Ranger's Arcane Archer doesn't cast spells, it just fires magical arrows, pretty similar to the Fighter 5e subclass. Paladin spells are even worse than Ranger - do they even have damage spells...?

Off the top of my head, there are a few other classes that can sorta mix spell and weapon damage, but they're not quite as optimized as EK:
- Artificer, melee or ranged
- Bard, but you probably won't want to multiclass much
- Alchemist, and frankly that's only on paper because I've never seen an actual alchemist hybrid
- Warlock, but there's zero melee support, so you'd probably want to either go full tanky caster sans melee, or sink a ton of points into Vistani Knife Fighter

[Dhamp]

Hello and welcome!

You're correct that an actual Eldritch Knight tree is in Sorc / Wiz (not Warlock). It's possible to make a multiclassed version that meets your needs, pretty much regardless of what they are, but gish builds are super easy to wreck if they're not planned out in advance.

I figured that would be the case - which is why I'm asking the questions!

What would your preferred spellblade play like, and how is that different from the existing EK tree?

I'm not super aware of how EK actually plays - based on what I can put together, it's along the lines of a typical wizard who uses melee around spells, with a choice between evocation/conjuration or Illusion/Enchantment specialisation for those spells.

My preferred playstyle is magically enhanced melee/tanking, rather than "melee with spells", if that makes any sense? The two elements being synergistic rather than a bit of both.

Cleric / FvS have a tree for physical damage, but it's not in the best place and I wouldn't recommend mixing it with the casting tree because your feats and gearing will be pretty tough (as opposed to just gearing).

Ranger's Arcane Archer doesn't cast spells, it just fires magical arrows, pretty similar to the Fighter 5e subclass. Paladin spells are even worse than Ranger - do they even have damage spells...?

Off the top of my head, there are a few other classes that can sorta mix spell and weapon damage, but they're not quite as optimized as EK:
- Artificer, melee or ranged
- Bard, but you probably won't want to multiclass much
- Alchemist, and frankly that's only on paper because I've never seen an actual alchemist hybrid
- Warlock, but there's zero melee support, so you'd probably want to either go full tanky caster sans melee, or sink a ton of points into Vistani Knife Fighter

Im not too interested in Bard or Alchemist, and it sounds like the Cleric/FvS are out then!

Arcane Archer might be an option though.

[FoliumSakura]

I personally play a fvs/fighter mutli class using longswords, especially in heroic it works well due to having fvs healing and getting to use nightforged blades giving you higher then normal crit. You get all the buffs of a divine and have some combat buffs too like divine favor and divine might. Fighter provides you the dps/tankyness with kensei and defender tree, also gives extra feats to buff your damage.

It might not really fit the damage spell casting spellblade aspect, but it can fit your spell enhancement vibe for sure. Plus getting to deal great melee damage AND getting to heal support allies is fun and satisfying

[C-Dog]

Hey!

For all intents and purposes im a new player... Spellblade-type builds are my jam normally, and Im looking for something along those lines...

Im open to both offensive (melee and ranged - i believe Arcane Archer exists?) and tankier type styles, I just have no idea what's out there.

By and large, it's all out there.

However - and this is critical - DDO is a different "edition" of D&D, one that tabletop players have never seen before. No amount of book-DnD will prepare you to throw together your own DDO character. 95% of those who try fail by level 5-10 or so, and the rest are just lucky.

So, be prepared (as with any new edition) for some of your favorite builds to be "unworkable". Just the nature of a new edition, unfortunately - happens every time.

The good news is that there will be some unexpected builds that give you the same enjoyment of those "unworkable" builds - same result, just a different path to get there. (And, btw, multi-classing can be a big part of that - just fyi.)

So, shake off your pen-n-paper expectations, preferences and prejudices, and embrace D&D 6.e - this is the same world, same game feel, just a diff set of rules to get you there.

Have fun stohmin da cassul!
o/

(Re-)Start Here:

o Build Repository*

(* Some of the builds in these links are becoming old, but few of the builds are so dated that they won't work. A very few may be considered "obsolete" by current standards, but only in that there have been improvements which should not be missed or alternate approaches which are clearly superior, and some can be (easily/greatly) improved. The majority are still perfectly serviceable, just not "as maximized as they might (now) be". In some cases, a tree or rule change may provide a considerable update and improvement (e.g. Sorcerers, Paladins) - once you find something you like, post it on the boards and see if the build gurus have any insight on obvious/necessary improvements.)

o Strimtom's Build Repository

o Kent's Custom Character Builds
o Request a Build, Get a Build

Specific to your spellblade request, try here:
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post5850690
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...r-First-Lifers

However, as others pointed out earlier, spells + melee can be achieved without the predictable Wizard path.

[Dhamp]

By and large, it's all out there.

However - and this is critical - DDO is a different "edition" of D&D, one that tabletop players have never seen before. No amount of book-DnD will prepare you to throw together your own DDO character. 95% of those who try fail by level 5-10 or so, and the rest are just lucky.

So, be prepared (as with any new edition) for some of your favorite builds to be "unworkable". Just the nature of a new edition, unfortunately - happens every time.

The good news is that there will be some unexpected builds that give you the same enjoyment of those "unworkable" builds - same result, just a different path to get there. (And, btw, multi-classing can be a big part of that - just fyi.)

So, shake off your pen-n-paper expectations, preferences and prejudices, and embrace D&D 6.e - this is the same world, same game feel, just a diff set of rules to get you there.

Have fun stohmin da cassul!
o/

(Re-)Start Here:

o Build Repository*

(* Some of the builds in these links are becoming old, but few of the builds are so dated that they won't work. A very few may be considered "obsolete" by current standards, but only in that there have been improvements which should not be missed or alternate approaches which are clearly superior, and some can be (easily/greatly) improved. The majority are still perfectly serviceable, just not "as maximized as they might (now) be". In some cases, a tree or rule change may provide a considerable update and improvement (e.g. Sorcerers, Paladins) - once you find something you like, post it on the boards and see if the build gurus have any insight on obvious/necessary improvements.)

o Strimtom's Build Repository

o Kent's Custom Character Builds
o Request a Build, Get a Build

Specific to your spellblade request, try here:
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post5850690
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...r-First-Lifers

However, as others pointed out earlier, spells + melee can be achieved without the predictable Wizard path.

Thanks! Ive tried to adapt a build I liked the look of as you suggested, and posted it in the Sorc forums