Eldritch Glaive Master (3.5e Optimized Character Build)

Introduction

Uses the eldritch glaive and persistent divine spells to maximize melee damage.

Think "anti-hero" with a chaotic good alignment. Typically a loner, but in order to aquire great power one must occasonally interact with others.

You are generally not trusted in the community due to either rumor or the actual use of the dark arts. Keeping a low profile keeps interactions on an "indifferent" level. If a good deed is done it is best not to take credit, just leave things be. The satisfaction is in the deed, and it is unlikely any praise will be given.

Those who become aware of your Hellfire Warlock capabilities immediately become unfriendly, seeing you as a menace. If necessary your charismatic talents are sufficient to overcome most NPC interactions.

References

• Book of Exalted Deeds (Luminous Armor)
• Complete Arcane (Warlock)
• Complete Champion (Travel Devotion)
• Complete Divine (Sacred Exorcist)
• Complete Mage (Eldritch Disciple, Enlightened Spirit)
• Dragon Magic (Invocations, Dragontouched, DragonScale Husk)
• Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (Destory Undead)
• Fiendish Codex II (Hellfire Warlock)
• Players Handbook (Cleric)
• Players Handbook II (retrain)
• Spell Compendium
• Tome of Magic (Binder, Naberious, Faster Ability Healing)
• Unearthed Arcana (Flaws)

Game Rule Components

Items

No items are required, however the following are definitely worth considering:

• Reliquary Holy Symbol
• Metamagic Rod, Extend
• Bracers of Entangling the Blast
• Gloves of Eldritch Admixture
• Third Eye Dampening
• Rod of Eldritch Power
• Gauntlets of Eldritch Energy
• Ring of Enduring Arcana
• Nightstick
• Chausuble of Fell Power
• Warlock's scepter
• Circlet of rapid casting
• Strand of Prayer Beads
• Ioun Stone (Orange Prism)
• Ring of Spell Battle

Progression

Starting Ability Scores (Before Racial Adjustments): Str: 12 Dex: 14 Con: 14 Int: 12 Wis: 14 Cha: 14

Race (Templates): Human

Alignment: Chaotic-Good

Diety: Olidammara

Starting Racial Traits:

ECL	Class/HD/LA	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Feats	Class Features	Special
			Fort	Ref	Will
1st	Cleric 1	+0	+3	+1	+3	Travel Devotion, Dodge, Luck of Heroes, Toughness, Dragontouched	Knowledge Domain	Destroy Undead, Dragonscale Husk Armor, Inattentive, MurkyEyed
2nd	Warlock 1	+0	+	+	+	Dodge, Mortalbane	Eldritch Blast 1d6, Eldritch Glaive
3rd	Cleric 2	+1	+	+	+	Practiced Invoker	Eldritch Blast 2d6
4th	Cleric 3	+2	+	+	+		Wisdom +1	<- other stuff ->
5th	Binder 1	+2	+	+	+	Luck of Heroes, Extend Spell	Eldritch Blast 3d6	Faster Ability Healing
6th	Eldritch Disciple 1	+2	+	+	+	Toughness, Divine Metamagic EDIT: You need to specify a Metamagic feat for DM, Persistent Spell	Eldritch Spear, Healing Blast
7th	Eldritch Disciple 2	+3	+	+	+	Dragontouched, Extra Turning	Eldritch Blast 4d6	Luminous Armor
8th	Eldritch Disciple 3	+4	+	+	+		Wisdom +1, See the Unseen
9th	Eldritch Disciple 4	+5	+	+	+	Extra Turning	Eldritch Blast 5d6, Gift of the divine patron
10th	Eldritch Disciple 5	+10	+	+	+		Fell Flight, Eldritch Spellweave	Divine Power, Greater Luminous Armor
11th	Sacred Exorcist 1	+11	+	+	+	Extra Turning, Maximize Spell-Like Ability	Eldritch Blast 6d6, Turn Undead, Exorcist Domain
12th	Hellfire Warlock 1	+12	+	+	+	Extra Turning	Hellfire Blast 2d6, Wisdom +1
13th	Hellfire Warlock 2	+13	+	+	+		Hellfire Blast 4d6, Hellfire Infusion, Fire Resist 10, <- lesser invocation ->
14th	Hellfire Warlock 3	+14	+	+	+		Eldritch Blast 7d6, Hellfire Blast 6d6, Hellfire Shield
15th	Eldritch Disciple 6	+15	+	+	+	Quicken Spell-Like Ability	<- lesser invocation ->
16th	Eldritch Disciple 7	+16	+	+	+		Wisdom +1, Vitriolic Blast, Gift of the divine patron
17th	Eldritch Disciple 8	+17	+	+	+		Eldritch Blast 8d6
18th	Eldritch Disciple 9	+18	+	+	+	Extra Turning	<- greater invocation ->
19th	Eldritch Disciple 10	+19	+	+	+		Gift of the divine patron, timeless body
20th	Enlightened Spirit 1	+20	+	+	+		Eldritch Blast 9d6, Aura of Courage, Aura of Menace, Spirit Blast, Wisdom +1, <- greater invocation ->

At level 20: Warlock 1 / Cleric 3 / Binder 1 / Eldritch Disciple 10 / Enlightened Spirit 1

Epic Progression: Continue with Eldritch Disciple.

Persistent Spells

By level 20 you should have about 54 turns. That means you can make 9 spells persistent(EDIT: Since you need Spell LVL Adjustment +1 Turn Attempts for DM you could Persist only 7 Spells). With the appropriate Extend Metamagic rod you can make them last 48 hours, effectively allowing 18 spells persistent.

The following is a short list of spells that can either be persistent or extended such that they last all day:

• Level 1
  • Bless: +1 moral to attack and fear save, 50ft burst
  • Nightshield: +1 saves per 3 levels, stops magic missles
• Level 2
  • Balor Nimbus: 6d6 fire grapple damage
  • Cloud of Knives: Free action to throw 1d6 dagger every round
  • Elation: +2 morale bonus to Str/Dex, +5 movement, 80ft radius
  • Luminous Armor: 5 AC, +4 vs melee
  • Heart of Air: +10 jump, +10 fly, feather fall
• Level 3
  • Footsteps of the Divine: +50 ft.. or fly 40ft
  • Prayer: +1 luck bonus on attack, saves, and skills. -1 foes. 40ft radius.
  • Ring of Blades: 1d6+1 per CL, 5ft radius.
  • Vigor, Mass Lesser: FastHeal1 20ft radius
  • Visage of the Deity, Lesser: +4 CHA, 10/acid/cold/elec resistance
• Level 4
  • Divine Power: BAB of fighter, +6 STR, +1/lvl HP
  • Holy Transformation, Lesser: +2 sacred bonus to Str/Con/saves, 60 fly, darkvision 60
  • Luminous Armor, Greater: 8 AC, +4 vs melee
  • Recitation: +2 luck bonus on attack and AC. 60ft radius.
• Level 5
  • Divine Agility: +10 Dex
  • Righteous Might: +1 Size, +4 Str, +2 Con, +2 Natural, DR/Alignment
  • Righteous Wrath of the Faithful: 30ft radius haste, +3 moral bonus to attacks.
  • Superior Resistance: +6 resistance bonus to saves.
• Level 6
  • <- Need more research ->
• Level 7
  • <- Need more research ->
• Level 8
  • <- Need more research ->
• Level 9
  • <- Need more research ->

Highlights

This build can rival a wizard blaster build. At level 20 you are doing 9 EB + 6 HW + 2 Chausuble = 17d6. A wizard will do 20d6 on a regular basis. Now if you get into melee (which you should) you will do 17d6 four times for a whopping 68d6 damage. Both builds can empower, enlarge, and quicken their spells. Wizard gets area of effect spells, but the reflex save offsets this benefit somewhat. The wizard build gets save or die spells, but with an average of 238 hp of damage on a single melee target it gets pertty close to death in a single round.

Besides all the damage you can layout, you have several divine area party buffs.

Your armor class should be in the general range of a typical Fighter. At level 9 you can fly which is a huge advantage. Ranged attacks typically do less damage than melee attacks. Just hover 10ft above the battlefield, you still have an effective 15 reach. Indoors not as effective.

• Eldritch Glaive + Divine Power gives you multiple attacks per round. If enlarged your reach is 20ft. The eldritch glaive last 1 full round so you can make attacks of opportunities with it.
• The Travel Devotation feat allows you to move and cast Eldritch Glaive.
• The Naberius visage from the Binder class grants Faster Ability Healing. This means you can use your Hellfire Warlock abilities and heal the CON damage 1 round later. Consider making your CON an odd number to avoid paperwork headaches with your HPs.
• This build uses divine metamagic to power persistent spells. Six turns gets you one 24hour spell. Seven turns gets you one 48 hour spell. So seven turns per day will persist two spells (alternate days). You can use a Metamagic Extend wand instead of the extra turn.
• The Destory Undead (alternate cleric class option) combined with Turn Undead (from Sacred Exorcist) will double the number of turns you can use for divine metamagic. If your DM disallows this then you may want to drop Sacred Exorcist for earlier entry into Hellfire Warlock, then add another prestiege class on at level 20.

Munchkin-Size Me

• Eldritch Glaive + Divine Power + Righteous Might is an incredible combination.
• Combatch Reflexes might be worth taking if you enlarge yourself.
• If your DM will gloss over the Chaotic/Evil diety requirement of Eldrith Disciple and overlook the domain/diety relationship, then take the Planning Domain(grants Extend Spell) & Undeath Domain (grants Extra Turning).
• Create a custom magic item that grants Extra Turning (approx cost is 10,000gp).
• Research a custom spell that has a fixed range or a range of personal. Base it off a spell that has a variable range. For example Shield of Faith reworked to be personal instead of creature touched.
• Buy a Monk's Belt. Can't use a shield, but your Luminous Armor technicaly isn't armor, just provides an armor bonus just like bracers of armor.
• Buy Strongarm Bracers. RAW doesn't state the size of the eldritch glaive, just that it is a weapon-like reach weapon that resembles a glaive. If you are large it likely creates a large glaive. If you use strongarm bracers, why not create a huge glaive. In fact why not a Colossal glaive and take the -4 tohit.
• Consider replacing maximize/empower spell like ablity feats with Extra Turning to get 4 more presisted spells.

Side Notes

Limitations

• The Practiced Invoker feat is a homebrew feat. Grants improved Eldritch Blast/Glaive damage in addition to caster level bonus. Not overly powered since few invocations have reliance on CL. If DM won't allow then replace with Extra Turning (or another feat).
• Attacking adjacent squares with Eldritch Glaive isn't possible. You have two solutions. Take the Shorten Grip feat, or use your Eldritch Blast instead. Both need to be cast defensively if you are threatened.
• Your HP are a bit low to be in melee. Keeping your AC and saves high will help. The Lesser Vigor, mass also helps. Flying helps alot. Just be careful about getting in too deep, stay at the edge of the battle. If you start getting hit hard, just cure yourslef and hope your party can take care of the problem. Play smart and you should be fine.
• You can only benefit from one Nightstick and one Holy Requilary Symbol. You can use both at the same time, but can't benefit from more that one of each. If you read the FAQ you will note that turns are counted by how many you have used in a day, not how many are left.

DM Counters

• This build is heavy in persistent 24+ hour spells. Foes with dispel magic and antimagic are a good counter. In fact eldritch blast doesn't even work in an antimagic field.
• Creatures with spell resistance or immune to magic are a problem for this build at levels 1-15. At level 16 Vitriolic Blast overcomes spell resistance. Gauntlets of Eldritch Energy help, but are only usable three times per day.
• Swarms are a problem. Taking a Eldritch Cone at level 18 is an obvious fix, but rather late in the character build.
• Indoor adventures that limit the flight benefits.
• Grappling pretty much negates eldritch blast, and any other somantic spell or spell-like effect. Most builds can get away, but at least a grapple will slow them down a bit.
• The DM can point out you're cheating by taking feats at levels 2 and 5.

Miscellaneous

Flaws with the build:
- BAB Build is too high after lvl 9. BAB cannot not jump 5 points between level 9 and 10. Progression afterward rivals that of a fighter. (This is from assuming that you cast Persisted Divine Power every day - most classic Cleric cheese there is)
- Practiced Invoker is a homebrew and flawed
- Persistent Spells list:
= Bless - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Elation - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Prayer - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Vigor, Mass Lesser - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Recitation - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Divine Agility - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
= Superior (or any) Resistance - not a personal or fixed spell. Can't be persisted
- It costs 7 (not 6) turns to activate Divine Metamagic (Persistent) spells. There is no casting for a 48 hour buff.
- This build has far to many feats selected even after flaws are taken into account. - You need to have the base metamagic feat in order to take the divine metamagic equivalent.

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