Help with a hexblade - where to go from here.

[genuine]

Current character is a Dragonborn (lesser Aasimar).

Stats are: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 18.
Feats are: Entangling Exhalation, Intimidating Strike.

He is level 5 (Hexblade 4, Cloistered Cleric 1).
He has taken the Dark Companion variant of Hexblade, swapped Knowledge Devotion for the domain from cleric, and carries the Strength and Hatred domains.

He's playing in an arena game. This means that battles are one-on-one, and there is only one battle a day. The arena rules have eliminated stealth and ranged tactics as options, spellcasting is strongly nerfed as well (no ranged spells that do hp or ability damage). ToB, ToM, Dragon material, & online sources are banned.

He's done remarkably well so far, but I'm kind of stuck as to how I'm going to advance him from here on out. I intended the level in cleric as just a dip to grab a couple domains and a free feat (yes, I know that the Strength domain power is crappy, but making sure that I have enlarge person is useful; and one round a day is less crappy when you usually only have 5-10 rounds of combat in a day anyway). Similarly, I'm not sure if continuing Hexblade is great, either (though it may be worth it just to progress the curse. I'm not sure here).

So, I've been looking at PrCs but not seeing much that seems to fit well. Greenstar adept seems good, but it'll take a few levels before he can manage the skill requirements.

Any ideas? A gem I'm missing?

[Ithamar]

Dragon Disciple will give you a nice combat boost.  Will cost you some skill points though.

[ninjarabbit]

Power attack and divine might are good ideas since you have turn undead.

[genuine]

Dragon Disciple will give you a nice combat boost.  Will cost you some skill points though.

And yeah, feats are easy. Stuff fueled by turn attempts as well as devotion feats seem obvious, given that he has a lot of turn attempts and not much to do with them. I'm mostly concerned with class progression.

I was thinking Dragon Disciple - I've already got ranks in arcana because I'm working towards Greenstar Adept (why o why does that PrC have so many worthless skill prereqs). While it offers a nice boost, it just kinda feels ho-hum, you know?

[Ithamar]

Why would Dragon Disciple feel ho-hum?  Given the horrible wording of the stat increases and Dragon Apotheosis, you end up with +16 STR, +4 CON, +4 INT, +4 CHA, and +8 Natural Armor over the course of 10 levels.  Plus, you can use those bonus spell slots to help fuel Arcane Strike.

Not to mention the wings, blindsense, breath weapon, etc. all coming in handy from time to time.

[Solo]

I was thinking Dragon Disciple - I've already got ranks in arcana because I'm working towards Greenstar Adept (why o why does that PrC have so many worthless skill prereqs). While it offers a nice boost, it just kinda feels ho-hum, you know?

Better than getting addicted to space crack.

[jameswilliamogle]

Start taking level in Truenamer
(jk; put my hat into that arena game)

[ninjarabbit]

Why would Dragon Disciple feel ho-hum?  Given the horrible wording of the stat increases and Dragon Apotheosis, you end up with +16 STR, +4 CON, +4 INT, +4 CHA, and +8 Natural Armor over the course of 10 levels.  Plus, you can use those bonus spell slots to help fuel Arcane Strike.

Not to mention the wings, blindsense, breath weapon, etc. all coming in handy from time to time.

Because I'd rather get actual spellcasting progression rather than some bonus slots. And eventually you'll get alter self and polymorph as a hexblade which blow away what you get as a dragon disciple.

cloisteredcleric1/hexblade14>>>>> cloisteredcleric1/hexblade4/dragondisciple10

[genuine]

Why would Dragon Disciple feel ho-hum?  Given the horrible wording of the stat increases and Dragon Apotheosis, you end up with +16 STR, +4 CON, +4 INT, +4 CHA, and +8 Natural Armor over the course of 10 levels.  Plus, you can use those bonus spell slots to help fuel Arcane Strike.

Not to mention the wings, blindsense, breath weapon, etc. all coming in handy from time to time.

Actually hadn't thought of arcane strike. Maybe it'll work. I've decided on one more dip (barbarian; I wanted a bit more BAB before branching off, the extra speed, skill points and rage are nice too) before moving into PrCs. I think my end build (should he survive that long) will end up Hexblade 4/ Cloistered Cleric 1/ Barbarian 1/ and some mix of Dragon Disciple and Greenstar adept.

And, yeah, ordinarily the full casting of a hexblade would be better than bonus slots - however, in this game a large chunk of the Hexblade's list is strongly nerfed. Additional caster levels are always useful, but melee options and power is better (mostly)(buffing still works nice).

So, here's another question: what would be a better breakdown for those last 14 levels? Dragon Disciple 4/ Greenstar Adept 10, or Greenstar adept 4/Dragon Disciple 10?

Last, what other PrCs are there that I'm missing that are good for melee while still progressing casting? Ideally on a cha-based character.

[gorfnad]

How about Abjurant Champion? Hexblade has something like 15 abjurations according to the Hexblade Handbook and it has the benefit of setting your caster level equal to your BAB which is definitely nice.

[Widow]

How about Abjurant Champion? Hexblade has something like 15 abjurations according to the Hexblade Handbook and it has the benefit of setting your caster level equal to your BAB which is definitely nice.

Not sure how great this is normally, but I ran this in a game that only allowed classes (base and prestige) from the Complete books.

Hexblade 5/Abjuration Champ 2/Divine Crusader 8/Contemplative 2/Abjuration Champion 3

You end up with a BAB of 17, 9th level spells from up to two domains, plus the other normal hexblade and abjuration champion goodies.  You could always drop one level of abjuration champoin if needed to keep your cleric level. 

The force domain works really well with the Invisible Needle Reserve feat.  1d6 points of damage at range x highest level spell slot.  Reserve feat is not spell casting, so it could be useful if that gets by your DM's restrictions.  Plus with force spells you can really push around the enemy, even without the damaging spells.  I also took blade of force and practiced spell caster to push up my caster level with those spells.  Blade of force is decent, but only in a limited environment. 

The hero domain from Oriental adventures is also interesting for more offensive power or the healing domain if you want to be able to heal while in combat.

[genuine]

How about Abjurant Champion? Hexblade has something like 15 abjurations according to the Hexblade Handbook and it has the benefit of setting your caster level equal to your BAB which is definitely nice.

Awesome - Abjurant Champion is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Good melee capability, good synergy with hexblade, short. Thank you, I think I've got my intended build worked out.

Too bad my first 5 levels are already locked in. If I known and remembered this class I wouldn't have dipped cleric. Oh well, this'll be fun.