[Scottg]

I should also add to the build that I recommended..

With the exception of the 3 levels of Rogue - its a pure wizard and it plays like one for most of the game.

That still nets you 9th level spells, basically toping out as a level 17 purist Wizard. You loose out on two additional feats relative to a purist Wizard. Thats pretty much it.

What you gain is a *LOT* of versatility with skills, particularly the "Stealth" feature. But even for a Wizard its very handy for also Scouting for traps to avoid and also improving your ability to target concealed opponents.

If you have 3 levels of ASoC - then you also gain quite a bit with Improved Empower Spell. (In fact I'd recommend this for ANY purist Wizard build.)

So despite there being a multitude of classes apparent, for the most part its just a 17th level Wizard with 3 levels of Rogue.

Note that in the OC I believe (but am not certain) you could forgo 3 levels of Rogue and instead utilize the prestige class Shadow Thief of Amn. 3 levels of it should provide your required 2d6 of sneak attack damage needed for the Arcane Trickster. I don't know IF it will be soon enough in the build for your 10 or 9 levels of Arcane Trickster though.