Battle Sorcerer (35 Sorcerer, 3 Paladin, Rogue)

[darthtorin]

35 Sorcerer + 3 Paladin +2 Rogue
Selfbuffing Dexer tank

IDEA:
This is somehow the good equivalent to the Bane Knight quasi class (but not with the special benefits of it). The basic idea is to take the Auto Still I-III feats manually and don’t need to take the prerequisites for the blackguard (Strength 13, power attack, cleave) & not 12 levels of BG. The result has 35 Caster levels of sorcerer + 3 levels paladin (tier 1 class for better tensers spell and CHA-bonus to saves) and 2 Levels free to choose. You simply could take 2 more levels of Sorcerer, I took 2 levels of Rogue for open lock, disarm traps and search (+evasion), UMD.

The Battle Sorcerer has 35 CL + 20 Epic CL = 55 CL. Therefore, you can take epic spells and HG Legendary spells with full benefit. Epic Mages Armor grants Epic Dodge (what a bane knight not get…hehehe). Tensers give + 2 Attack with 55 CL. On the downside, spells like Stoneskin or Premonition don’t work for the Battle Sorcerer like they do for Bane Knight. The spells of the Battle Sorcerer concentrates on self buffs or to summon alleys. (If you want to kill/damage enemies with your spells you must have a high DC – This build does not focus on DC.)

The most important spell is:
Tensers Transformation
- No longer polymorphs the caster.
- At CL20, grants +((CL - 20) / 2) AB and +((CL - 20) / 2) Natural AC.
- Grants +CLd6 temporary HP, plus 12 temporary HP per CL above 40, reaching 60d6+240 at CL60.
- Grants +(CL / 4) Str, Dex, and Con, to a maximum of +12.
- Grants additional attacks at CL45 and CL55.
- Increases Legendary BAB to that of a fighter if the caster has at least three levels in 1/1 BAB classes.

To max out tumble and discipline in Legendary Levels with control class Sorcerer, you need to take Blooded and Bullheaded at level 1. Therefore I recommend Human as race.

A free human subrace for this build is Yuan-Ti:
"Yuan-Ti"
- FCs: Wizard, Rogue / BC: Sorcerer
- CHA +2, INT +1, DEX +1, WIS-3, STR -1m +5 Spellcraft, sr5 +1/lvl, speaks Draconic, speaks Yuan-ti
- Humans get one feat at level 1 for free and +1 skill point per level

Starting Stats (Humanoid - Yuan-Ti)
STR 8 (7)
DEX 14 (15)
CON 14
INT 13 (14)
WIS 11 (8)
CHA 16 (18)


Level progression (Pala = Paladin, SC = Sorcerer, Ro = Rogue):

L1 Pala1 Blooded (for LL Tumble), Bullheaded (for LL Discipline)
L2 Pala2
L3 Pala3 Weapon Finesse // It is obligatory for a Dexer
L4 SC1 DEX+1 (16)
L5 SC2
L6 SC3 Weapon Prof. Exotic // you could fight with rapier and spare this feat…I chose to take it for Katana, that is finessable and can be keen with the “keen weapon” spell
L7 SC4
L8 SC5 DEX+1 (17)
L9 SC6 Weapon focus Katana
L10 SC7
L11 SC8
L12 SC9 Dex + 1(18) Blind fight
L13 Sc10
L14 Sc11
L15 Sc12 Still spell // l6 spells: Tensers!
L16 sc13 DEX + 1 (19)
L17 sc14 // you can cast your tensers as a stilled spell now!
L18 sc15 Toughness
L19 sc16
L20 sc17 CHA + 1 (19))

At L20:
Saves: 14, 14, 15
BAB: 11
HP 168

L21 Rg1 Epic Weapon Focus (Katana), Max: Tumble, Search, Disarm Trap, Open Lock, rest: UMD
L22 SC18
L23 SC19
L24 SC20 DEX + 1 (20), Auto Still Spell I
L25 Sc21
L26 Sc22
L27 Sc23 Auto Still Spell II+III // You are now somehow the good equivalent of the Bane Knight
L28 Sc24 (DEX+1 -> 21)
L29 Sc25
L30 SC26 Armor skin, *Epic Spell = Mage Armor
L31 Sc27
L32 Sc28 DEX+1 ->22
L33 Sc29 Extend Spell * Epic Spell = Epic Warding //Spellcraft = 35
L34 Sc30
L35 Sc31
L36 Sc32 DEX+1 (23), Imp. Crit. Katana, *Epic Spell = Mummy dust
L37 Sc33
L38 Sc34
L39 Sc35 Epic Prowess *Epic Spell = Dragon Knight
L40 Ro2 Dex+1 (24) ;Search, open lock, disarm trap, tumble = 42, Spellcraft = 35, (30 left)

At L40:
24, 27, 22
AB+32, (+56 with Tensers!) Has 6 + 6 extended Tensers
HP304

Saves should be high from the +10 boost due to divine grace (Paladin’s CHA bonus to saves)


LL: LL Tumble, LL Discipline, LL Weapon Focus,?, ? , ?,? // I’m uncertain about the 4 other feats
Maybe: Spell Focus, Greater spell Focus, Epic Spell Focus: Divination -> Contingency

I’ve played the Battle Sorcerer till level 35 and liked it much (but wasn’t able to defeat Angus. „Angus, I want revenge! “).

Comments are welcome (friendly please, it’s my first posted build here)

Thanks,
Torin

[the1kobra]

I really like the idea of a dexterity based sorcerer, and I really tried to get one to work, but I found that some things just didn't click together, AB is pretty low, damage output is mediocre (dexer with no "boosts), AC, nutty conceal, and a buff based epic dodge are really nice, especially with legendary illusion, but you will be lamenting low HP.
Oh, a note about tensers, the AB bonuses do not go past the +20 cap, that means it will at most, raise AB by 26 (20 enhancement, 6 from better LBAB), but most likely raise it by 6 in late-game situations.
As far as the build goes, I would reccomend switching class combination to 36/2/2 Sorc/pal/fighter, the 2 fighter levels will give you 2 more feats, while the 36th sorc level will give you 1 more AC from tensers (very nice), and increase greater ruin DC by 1, if you take it. Be sure to take pal and fighter levels pre epic so that it raises pre-epic BaB to 12, which you'll need every last point of. Also, I would drop the auto still line, and take extend. A dexer sorc is going to be using robes, and using EV concealment for defense. High dex and heavy armor doesn't really make a lot of sense, especially when you opt to skimp on 80%+ concealment.
I'd also drop wisdom to 8(5), it's your dump-stat, you don't need it. use the 3 extra points to raise dex by 1 and str by 1. (dex is an ab/ac, str is a damage, better than nothing really) I would try to get that dex as high as you can, it's your lifeblood.

[darthtorin]

Thanks for the input, Kobra.

I wasn't aware of the issue with Tensers. In fact that means that more than 3 levels of a tier 1 class make sense if taken pre-epic.