[Russ]

silly question. what's your criteria? what do you want out of your character? Is this a munchkin thing, and you simply want the most melee-powerful spellchucker, or...

do you want a character whose fighting ability and spellcasting equally improve, or a character who can fight, but is primarily a spellcaster? kensai or berserker, both are potent, and the advantages of each are obvious... pretty much six of one, and a half-dozen of another if you dual-class.