[Proposal] New Magic Weapon

stonegod said:

There are no bard melee implement powers. As I mentioned earlier, there are very few such for the swordmage. Now, for the weapon powers for both classes: They can already take Arcane Implement Proficiency (Staffs) and pick up the Battle Staff for their melee crit needs. Actually, they don't have to take that feat if they are just using weapon attacks as it is a simple weapon and they are already proficient in it; it only matters for implement attacks if they want to use the implement bonus (no crits there).

Edits: In either case, swordmages are loosing their warding bonus, of course.

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Using a staff as a weapon takes both hands. A swordmage could carry this in one hand and a Rhythm dagger in the other. Still gets +1 AC from Warding (you don't need the blade to be in your main hand) and the shield bonus of +1 to AC and Reflex. A bard could use this and still get a light shield. And while they could get a similar benefit from Hafted Defense, this mace leaves DIS as a possibility, as well as all the Warding buffs for the swordmage.

There are already plenty of ways to get around the Artificer's implement/weapon woes. Crossbow Caster, Feral Armor, staffs, thrown blades with Arcane Implement Proficiency, I'm sure I'm missing some, but these are all available right out of the gate. A Self-Forged with Crossbow Caster seems to be pretty much set with regards to implements and weapons. If you really want the 19-20 crit, a Jagged thrown blade should fit the bill. This mace doesn't seem to do much that isn't already done, and I'd rather not allow it. I really am more concerned about setting a precedent than I am about this particular item.

Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I'm willing to tweak for balance reasons. For those that disagree about using the proposal system this way, that is fine too, but I think we should discuss that more in depth in another thread and keep this focused on the item. THB, feel free to vote no based upon your desire not to use the system this way if you wish (though, I will point out, like r1, that the system is designed to do this as well).

As for THB's other points in his last post: I see them as well. The crit use a Swrodmage gets its earlier than they would from jagged (which works w/ implement powers last I checked) so that's another point against it (though it does require a feat that isn't optimal for them otherwise). I wonder what the balance would be if we just introduced a mace-as-implement feat for artificer powers only (an analog to crossbow caster). Would solve the other issues (even for hybrids).

At this point, it doesn't look likely to pass, modified or not, unless Kalidrev chimes in.

I'm not sure how I feel about the weapon itself. I can see both sides, though I'm actually leaning towards the modified version, myself. I must say, however, that I really like the idea of the feat you mentioned. I'd like to see the full layout of the modified version before I vote, though.

Personally, I like the "only for artificer powers"