Description[]
The Knightly Sorcerer is essentially a full-fledged Sorcerer (he's only missing 1 level) with some Divine assistance in the form of Paladin Feats and considerably more melee and Metamagic power than any single class arcane caster. He's closely related to the Eldritch Paladin of Candlekeep, but don't be misled -- the class and level distributions are identical, but the builds are not (anything other than 6/4/10/10 costs you something, so this is a pretty popular distribution).
Pros
- Full Sorcerer spellcasting and DC with effectively Medium BAB progression
- Very high saves due to Divine Grace; even higher against Spells (add 8 to all) because of ASoC and Spellcraft
- Metamagic specialist: Metamagic on-the-fly is even better when combined with ASoC's Improved versions
- Meets Feat prerequisites in a neat way that saves some Feats
- Divine Might with high CHA
Cons
- Slow to develop. Two levels behind a pure Sorcerer in spell progression (until level 22) in addition to +1 ECL
- Low AC. Must rely on buffs and special items (e.g. EK Chain Shirt from the OC, Mithril Shields, etc.)
- But this is not necessarily a bad thing. See Notes
Character Creation[]
| Initial Values |
Final Values | |
| STR | 14 | 14 |
| DEX | 12 | 12 |
| CON | 14 | 14 |
| INT | 14 | 14 |
| WIS | 10 | 10 |
| CHA | 18 | 26 |
| Base attack bonus | 22 | |
| Fortitude save | 26 | |
| Reflex save | 18 | |
| Will save | 24 | |
| Spell resistance | None | |
| Hit Points | 284 | |
| Natural AC | 11 | |
- Race: Aasimar
- Classes: Sorcerer 6, Paladin 4, Eldritch Knight 10, Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep 10
- Cleric Domains: Not Applicable
- Build Nature: Warrior/Mage
- Alignment: Lawful Good
- Deity: Mystra
The race is Aasimar because of the +2 to Charisma and Favored Class: Paladin. If you wanted to, you could also use a Human and have an extra Skill at the cost of 1 Feat. Take Epic Prowess instead of Great Charisma I at Epic levels -- better melee, worse spellcasting.
The initial version of this build included Persistent Spell, but as implemented, it is simply not worthwhile because it cannot be applied to most spells you'd want to apply it to. The only real reason to take it is Haste, but even if you just Extend it, it will last you nearly 6 minutes (and you're not spending a 9th level spell on it). Besides, there are other ways to be Hasted...
I have replaced Persistent Spell and Epic Prowess with Epic Toughness and Epic Resilience to make full use of the high saves. The latter is probably not very useful in MotB, but comes in handy in environments where a failed saving throw is a serious setback.
If you prefer defense to offense, take Divine Shield instead of Divine Might and trade damage for AC.
Notes[]
I can vouch for this character in the OC and MotB -- I've played a very similar one at Normal Difficulty for my very first run through the game and I'll soon try this exact build at the highest possible setting. I believe it should do just fine in settings which do not modify the rules. If the rules are changed (e.g. if you play in places where casters get less XP than everyone else), a different approach may be in order. Note also that being hit is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly at higher levels. With Extended Elemental Shield and Death Armor, you're doing a fair amount of damage (around 30 in the beginning of MotB and around 40 towards the end) to enemies that hit you without actually doing anything. This is not a good idea against creatures that can kill you in 3-4 rounds or faster, but it's quite nice against everyone else.
Unfortunately, the build cannot make use of Epic Divine Might because there is no way for it to attain the requisite 21 STR without severe min-maxing and/or a much lower CHA. If you really want a Sorcerer build with EDM, try this one: Sorcerous Dragon Knight (Sor 11/Pal 5/EK 10/RDD 4). Procedural note: if you have any questions about the build, please post them in the Discussion section (accessible from right next to the Edit button on top of the article) rather than in the Notes. You could post them here as well, but this is exactly what the Discussion section is for.
Spell List[]
Spells are to be taken in the order they're listed. The list is designed for party-based play.
0: Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, Daze, Flare, Resistance, Light
1: Magic Missile, Identify, Mage Armor, Protection from Alignment, True Strike
2: Mirror Image, Scorching Ray, Death Armor, Blind Sight, Knock
3: Haste, Heroism -> Displacement (16), Protection from Energy, Lightning Bolt
4: Greater Invisibility -> Enervation (22), Ice Storm, Elemental Shield, Stoneskin
5: Firebrand, Cacophonic Burst, Vitriolic Sphere, Lesser Spell Mantle
6: Isaac's Greater Missile Storm, Greater Heroism, Greater Spell Breach
7: Energy Immunity, Bigby's Grasping Hand, Avasculate
8: Premonition, Sunburst, Polar Ray
9: Wail of the Banshee, Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Etherealness
Note: X -> Y (##) means to change spell X for spell Y at character level ##. Sorcerers are allowed to change 1 spell at even Sorcerer levels. Since Heroism and Greater Heroism no longer stack (as of 1.12), Heroism becomes redundant once you get Greater Heroism so I recommend getting rid of it in favor of Displacement at level 16 (Sorcerer level 14). Once you have Displacement and Etherealness, there is little need for Improved Invisibility so switch it out for Enervation at level 22 (Sorcerer level 20).
Character Progression[]
| Diplomacy | Lore | |||||||||
| Concentration | Spellcraft | |||||||||
| Bluff | Save | |||||||||
| CL | Class | Feat | Bonus/Class Feats | Attributes | ||||||
| 1 | Sorcerer 1 | Spellcasting Prodigy | Summon Familiar | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 2 | Sorcerer 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 3 | Sorcerer 3 | Skill Focus (Spellcraft) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | Sorcerer 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 19 | ||||
| 5 | Sorcerer 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 6 | Sorcerer 6 | Empower Spell | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| 7 | Paladin 1 | Armor, Shield and Martial Proficiencies, Smite Evil | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| 8 | Eldritch Knight 1 | Combat Casting, Skill Focus (Concentration) | 1 | 1 | 2 | CHA 20 | ||||
| 9 | Eldritch Knight 2 | Practiced Spellcaster: Sorcerer | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 10 | Arcane Scholar 1 | Maximize Spell | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 11 | Arcane Scholar 2 | Spell Knowledge I | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 12 | Arcane Scholar 3 | Extend Spell | Improved Empower Spell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 21 | ||
| 13 | Arcane Scholar 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 14 | Arcane Scholar 5 | Quicken Spell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 15 | Arcane Scholar 6 | Toughness | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 16 | Arcane Scholar 7 | Improved Maximize Spell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 22 | |||
| 17 | Eldritch Knight 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 18 | Eldritch Knight 4 | Blind Fight | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 19 | Arcane Scholar 8 | Spell Knowledge II | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 20 | Eldritch Knight 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 23 | ||||
| 21 | Eldritch Knight 6 | Epic Toughness | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 22 | Eldritch Knight 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 23 | Paladin 2 | Power Attack | Divine Grace, Lay on Hands | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 24 | Paladin 3 | Aura of Courage, Divine Health | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 24 | |||
| 25 | Paladin 4 | Divine Might | Turn Undead | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 26 | Eldritch Knight 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 27 | Eldritch Knight 9 | Epic Resilience | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 28 | Eldritch Knight 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | CHA 25 | ||||
| 29 | Arcane Scholar 9 | Great Charisma I | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | CHA 26 | |||
| 30 | Arcane Scholar 10 | Improved Quicken Spell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||