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Ardent Admiration: An Ardent Handbook (by Dedekine)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6703896" data-attributes="member: 74499"><p><strong>Originally posted by Dedekine:</strong></p><p></p><p>Ardent Admiration</p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>An Analysis of Ardent Abilities</strong></span></p><p></p><p><img src="http://oi62.tinypic.com/jjpy78.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Why play an Ardent?</strong></span></p><p></p><p>The ardent is a leader by birth. Warlords study tactics and strategy, clerics are trained in seminaries, bards must constantly hone and refine their art. Ardents simply <em>believe</em> -- in a cause, in their allies, or in themselves -- and that belief warps reality around them. Their psionics are fuelled by the emotions of those around them, but their power fundamentally arises from certainty. An ardent knows his victory is pre-ordained, and allies, foes, and the world itself change to make this true.</p><p></p><p>Mechanically, the ardent is a melee leader with a versatile selection of powers. Its at-wills are augmentable, which essentially means that all the ardent's encounter powers are rechargeable. Combined with the versatile power selection (the class has at-will powers that can enable movement and attacks by your allies, reposition enemies, buff, debuff, and heal), this means the ardent always has the right tools for the encounter. When non-psionic classes choose encounter powers, they need to balance the need to cover different scenarios against the possible need to provide the same effect more than once, running the risk of having unused encounter powers at the end of the fight. The ardent, conversely, can safely try to cover as many bases as possible, with augmentation covering any need for repeats.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #800000">This handbook and hybrids</span></strong>: This handbook is written assuming you are not using a hybrid ardent. While I hope that players with hybrids will find this guide useful, it's very difficult to give any meaningful guidance for only half a character: ardent|bards are a very different beast from ardent|battleminds. People wanting to pursue hybrids should consult the Miscibility Table(x) maintained by <em>Mommy was an Orc.</em></p><p></p><p>The following colour-coding is used in this handbook:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Red</strong></span>: A very bad choice.</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Purple</strong></span>: Situationally useful, but usually a bad option.</p><p><strong>Black</strong>: A reasonable choice, useful without being the best.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Blue</strong></span>: A good choice.</p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Sky Blue</strong></span>: Head and shoulders above the alternatives.</p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Gold</strong></span>: No other choice possible, usually reserved for feat taxes and the like.</p><p></p><p><strong>Abbreviations</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p>AC: Armor Class</p><p>DSCS: Dark Sun Campaign Setting</p><p>EPG: Eberron'Player Guide</p><p>FRPG: Forgotten Realms Player Guide</p><p>HoFK: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms</p><p>HoFL: Heroes of the Fallen Lands</p><p>HoFW: Heroes of the Feywild</p><p>HoS: Heroes of Shadow</p><p>MBA: melee basic attack</p><p>NAD: Non-Armor Class Defense</p><p>RAW: rules as written</p><p>PHB: Player's Handbook</p><p>PHB2: Player's Handbook 2</p><p>PHB3: Player's Handbook 3</p><p>PsP: Psionic Power</p><p>THP: temporary hit points</p><p>[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nibelung, post: 6703896, member: 74499"] [b]Originally posted by Dedekine:[/b] Ardent Admiration [CENTER][Size=4][b]An Analysis of Ardent Abilities[/b][/size][/CENTER] [IMG]http://oi62.tinypic.com/jjpy78.jpg[/IMG] [CENTER][Size=3][b]Why play an Ardent?[/b][/size][/CENTER] The ardent is a leader by birth. Warlords study tactics and strategy, clerics are trained in seminaries, bards must constantly hone and refine their art. Ardents simply [i]believe[/i] -- in a cause, in their allies, or in themselves -- and that belief warps reality around them. Their psionics are fuelled by the emotions of those around them, but their power fundamentally arises from certainty. An ardent knows his victory is pre-ordained, and allies, foes, and the world itself change to make this true. Mechanically, the ardent is a melee leader with a versatile selection of powers. Its at-wills are augmentable, which essentially means that all the ardent's encounter powers are rechargeable. Combined with the versatile power selection (the class has at-will powers that can enable movement and attacks by your allies, reposition enemies, buff, debuff, and heal), this means the ardent always has the right tools for the encounter. When non-psionic classes choose encounter powers, they need to balance the need to cover different scenarios against the possible need to provide the same effect more than once, running the risk of having unused encounter powers at the end of the fight. The ardent, conversely, can safely try to cover as many bases as possible, with augmentation covering any need for repeats. [b][COLOR=#800000]This handbook and hybrids[/COLOR][/b]: This handbook is written assuming you are not using a hybrid ardent. While I hope that players with hybrids will find this guide useful, it's very difficult to give any meaningful guidance for only half a character: ardent|bards are a very different beast from ardent|battleminds. People wanting to pursue hybrids should consult the Miscibility Table(x) maintained by [i]Mommy was an Orc.[/i] The following colour-coding is used in this handbook: [COLOR=#008000][b][/b][/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][b]Red[/b][/COLOR]: A very bad choice. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Purple[/b][/COLOR]: Situationally useful, but usually a bad option. [b]Black[/b]: A reasonable choice, useful without being the best. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Blue[/b][/COLOR]: A good choice. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Sky Blue[/b][/COLOR]: Head and shoulders above the alternatives. [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Gold[/b][/COLOR]: No other choice possible, usually reserved for feat taxes and the like. [b]Abbreviations[/b] [sblock] AC: Armor Class DSCS: Dark Sun Campaign Setting EPG: Eberron'Player Guide FRPG: Forgotten Realms Player Guide HoFK: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms HoFL: Heroes of the Fallen Lands HoFW: Heroes of the Feywild HoS: Heroes of Shadow MBA: melee basic attack NAD: Non-Armor Class Defense RAW: rules as written PHB: Player's Handbook PHB2: Player's Handbook 2 PHB3: Player's Handbook 3 PsP: Psionic Power THP: temporary hit points [/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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