Yes. You get one to three max, with an convoluted combination of three different spells that all must go off without a hitch, or reasonable doubt on the part of any of your enemies, which even then is NOT a no-save effect. The swordsage requires one, which given the fact that there are entire builds devoted to effectively doing what the swordsage does with a maneuver, tends to argue in favor of the tripping tactics not being entirely useless.
But you are missing my point (which is understandable, since I don't recall you being there when I was making my original point). My point was that I do not see how the spell casting potential of the other tier 3 casters put them that far ahead of the swordsage (i.e. why people hate direct damage)? It was then that people got wrapped up using spell combinations only a tier 2 or higher could reasonably be expected to pull off would supposedly no save kill a whole group of enemies by tricking them into all running into a pit like a pack of brain-less zombies. Make a bit more sense why I was addressing all of them?
Nowhere did I say the Swordsage is below tier 3. I'm fairly certain the Duskblade is anchoring the lowest end of tier 3, not the Swordsage, and that's because it's lacking the versatility of the Swordsage, not the damage. Damage only gets you so far because it is limited in application and it has a lot of defenses stacked against it. Part of the Swordsage's power is the various ways it can negate defenses against HP damage. That ability to negate a monster's defenses against HP damage counts for a lot more than the raw damage potential of the class.
Why are the tier 3 casters at or above the level of the Swordsage despite the Swordsage's superior HP damage? The Dread Necromancer plays pokemon really well, probably better than any other base class. It also deals out alternatives to damage (negative levels, ability damage) that are potentially lethal and harder to defend against. It has some save or die effects, which are as effective as hitting a monster for its total HP. When the Beguiler hits a save or suck/die, it's as effective as damage equal to the monster's total HP, and the Beguiler has class features to stack up DCs. You seem to be under the impression that HP damage doesn't count. It counts. It's just nowhere near the top of the list for determining how powerful a class is.
I'll grant I don't believe you did. Others did, however, make this statement, and as such I was responding more to them than you. But even assuming it isn't the lowest, I was questioning why it was being considered low tier 3? (Ostensibly as compared to the other tier 3 classes)
See this is the thing about the save or die/suck. There is the
save part which, in most circumstances, makes your spell entirely useless. Especially given that save or die/suck effects typically call for a fortitude save, coupled with the tendency for monsters to have spell resistance at higher levels, it seems to have gone somewhat unnoticed that, of all the saves the higher difficulty monsters have, fortitude tend to be almost universally the highest. Take, for instance, the Pit Fiend, the quintessential pain in the arse for any party. Bastard has a +19 to Fortitude Saves, and this isn't even his highest save (+23, if you count the Unholy Aura they, as per the MM1, typically cast on themselves prior to combat). This coupled with a an SR of 32, makes casting spells on them...tricky, to say the least. Even assuming a starting 18 to your primary DC stat (and a racial bonus of, say, +2 to back it up), assuming you are burning a 9th level spell on them, assuming you put all five points into your primary DC stat, and assuming you have the requisite item to give you a maximum +6 to said primary casting stat, for a grand total of 31 (since, tragically, the various boosting spells are incapable of stacking with said +6 item). This gives you a total DC of 29. Even with all this, the Pit Fiend still makes the save on a roll of 6+, assuming you overcome the approximately 60% chance for the spell to fail anyways due to SR. Say though, you add feats to the mix, taking, for instance, spell penetration (along with the greater variety), for a total of +2, and ass spell focus and greater spell focus for good measure, bringing your DC up to 33. The Pit Fiend is,
still unaffected by your attack 50% of the time. Still, say we take into account the +5 inherent bonus from wishes/books (which you'll need to get from someone else), putting your primary DC stat up to a 36. Even with all this stacked on itself, you still only kill it 60% of the time. And this is at level 20, where the Pit fiend is only supposed to use up about 33% of your resources. (All assuming said Pit Fiend has been entirely unable o place some kind of
Death Ward on itself, which is not entirely implausible, given the paranoid nature of devils, or god forbid, a simply cloak of resistance). And this is one of the lowest for this level. (The balor is naturally at +22 before unholy aura, dragons are up at +26 before any of their own sorcerer spells or magic items. See the problem I'm getting at? Yes, you do have the potential to do, effectively, full HP damage in one round to a target. But, especially as one gets to higher level, it also becomes more and more likely that your spell will do absolutely nothing, or if you are lucky, its reduced secondary effect (typically some small amount of damage). Given that a 17th level swordsage can potentially take out the same thing, in one round, through direct damage...I dont really see the advantage.
P.S. unless I am missing something, the Dread Necro gets one ability damage spell, at 1st level. No ability drain. Please though, correct me if I'm wrong, because in this case I probably am.