Editing Duskblade (section)

===Basics===
On the surface, duskblade is actually a pretty front-loaded class that can go all the way to 20th level without much fuss.  You'll actually only have a few dead levels, and they are almost worth waiting for some of the good stuff later.  You start with pretty great combat ability (good BAB, d8 hit points, and all the proficiencies you'll ever want), and you even get some decent utility SLAs and skill choices.

First, let's talk about your spellcasting.  It looks like it kind of sucks, but it's not that bad.  You'll only get to 5th-level spells, but you can get a fucking ton of those spells to cast per day, capping out at around 10 of them each spell level at the top character levels.  Your spell list seems depressingly limited, but most of them are actually really good fundamental spells you might take elsewhere for a gish: ''chill touch'', ''ray of enfeeblement'', ''resist energy'', and ''shocking grasp'' are all essential stuff for melee-based casting. If you're up to digging in [[splat]] there are a few ways to add spells to your spells known (Most of the same tricks that [[Warmage]] uses) and go beyond your niche, which really improves your versatility.

After that, your class abilities are what's clutch here.  You start with casting in light armor, and get better at casting in heavier armor over time.  You get to cast in medium armor pretty fast, and heavy shields not long after that.  The real fun, however, is Arcane Channeling, which lets you use a standard action to deliver a standard action attack spell through a weapon attack all at the same time; at 13th level, you can do this with a touch spell as a full attack and the spell will apply to every target you hit.  Note that arcane channeling doesn't specify that it only works with duskblade spells, but rather with any spell you can cast.  You also get Combat Casting for free really early as a bonus feat.

Needless to say, these factors alone make duskblade a gish-in-a-can for anyone who wants something that's not aiming for min-max gameplay.  It is considered a [[Tier System|Tier 3 class]], though its very focused spell list mean it may be considered a tier 4 class.