Warlock and Sorcerer

[Salamandyr]

I love the warlock. It has a very classic fairy tale/pulp feeling to magic, where magic is less heretofore unknown principles of the universe, a la alchemy, and more the trafficking with things unnatural. It feels dangerous. I can see having it be the standard kind of magic for my sword & sorcery campaign.

Also, you can definitely feel the Dr. Strange origins of the class. Another big plus.

 

[Ultimatecalibur]

It synergizes very well with the ability to go ethereal, which a fey-pact warlock can potentially do for two rounds every encounter at first level.

So? You can spend an action to take half damage till the end of your next turn, and on your next turn you can make an attack to deal 4d6 damage. It is not like you are doing both at the same time. In fact a 1st level Rogue can do something similar(and possibly better) an unlimited number of times: Hide(can't be targeted) and then Sneak Attack the next turn.

 

[Remathilis]

What is AEDU?

Is pronounced "Adeiux", which is French for Good-bye, as in "kiss this system of power management good-bye".

 

[The Shadow]

Is pronounced "Adeiux", which is French for Good-bye, as in "kiss this system of power management good-bye".

Well, the warlock does have at-will, encounter, and utility powers. (The ritual spells.) No dailies, though.

TrippyHippy: It stands for At-wiil, Encounter, Daily, Utility. The types of powers that occur in 4e.

 

[Ahnehnois]

And...warlock is pretty much a disaster. The spell rituals are okay, but instead of getting at-will and always-on, they get limitations, and, even worse, those limitations are encounter-based. Completely defeats the point of the class from a mechanical perspective. Spell point sorcerer is fine, good even, but this update is bad news.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

The Eldritch Blast is also ranged and force damage.

A longbow (with +3 dex) does 2 damage less that a greatsword on average, so the fighter still does a bit more damage, at least at 1st and 5th level. It also has triple the range, and it's held by a dude with more HP, better AC, and damage reduction on call.

I'm more concerned with the level 5 sorcerer casting 8 Acid Arrows (or 4 Acid Arrows and 8 Burning Hands) a day. Isn't that a bit much?

 

[The Shadow]

So, now that we have three systems for arcane magic, anyone else think we might eventually see similar options for divine?

I could totally sink my teeth into a divine version of the sorcerer. Though I suppose 'Favored Soul' would be the traditional name, something like 'Avatar' might be even better - you become more and more like your deity. Hey - with a martial focus (not dissimilar to the draconic bloodline) that could make a dandy paladin!

Not sure a divine version of warlock really makes sense. If it did, 'theurge' might be a good name. Though... Just maybe, the druid could make sense along those lines. The idea is you dedicate yourself to the forces of nature and allow them to work through you. Things like Wild Shape would be the equivalent of invocations.

Certainly the legends of druids in the real world are closer to fey-pact warlocks than to the nature-priests D&D has always gone in for.

On a final note, who else is with me in wanting to see cleric Domains give access to specific lists of spells 2e-style, rather than the whole list being up for grabs?

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Well, the warlock does have at-will, encounter, and utility powers. (The ritual spells.) No dailies, though.

Well, it would seem odd if there are "minor" and "lesser" invocations but no "major" ones...

I'm kind of surprised that there isn't a major (daily) invocation by level 5. Not for balance reasons, but because I'd think every class should have all its major features in play by about 5th level. Maybe they just don't have any dailies ready for playtesting ATM.

I had just assumed at first that the level 3 power used a favor. If not, it would mean the warlock can never be sneak attacked, so I'm guessing it DOES take a favor.

 

[Greg K]

On a final note, who else is with me in wanting to see cleric Domains give access to specific lists of spells 2e-style, rather than the whole list being up for grabs?

I do. For 3e, I house ruled clerics so that their spell lists are based upon the domains of the deity + a handful of generic cleric spells (e.g., augury, bless*, bestow curse*, remove curse, mark of justice*, atonement, planar ally**)

* spell is tailored to deity's domains.
** each deity has a specific creature that appears for each of the planar ally spells. As the DM, I create and assign the specific creature associated with the deity prior to the campaign.

 

[TwoSix]

I'm kind of surprised that there isn't a major (daily) invocation by level 5. Not for balance reasons, but because I'd think every class should have all its major features in play by about 5th level. Maybe they just don't have any dailies ready for playtesting ATM.

Well, they did say they would have non-Vancian casters. No dailies is pretty non-Vancian.