Assassin, Battlemind, and Vampire

[mneme]

keterys's ideas on fixing the assassin are good (though it's worth noting that the OAssassin will typically be using a d12 weapon, not a d8 weapon).

Fixing the psionic classes: well, con for basics is a given. Regarding the math of psionic classess...why not:

Double base damage at epic (because...of course you should).
Double the cost of an augment each time it's used in an encounter.
Fix brokenly-scaling low level powers so they don't brokenly scale (just like brokenly scaling at wills from other classes have been fixed).

Vamps: I think they basically just need more damage to make them more exciting. But they're actually pretty OK to hybrid with now, I think, though the charisma hybrid could use a 1st or 5th level daily cha power.

 

[Chris Knapp]

This is assuming that the creature is adjacent. This is where Mind Spike falls flat on its face. Without a good opportunity attack all monsters will run than face a Battlemind (since all monsters are assumed to know the effects put on them). It's more of an annoyance that doesn't go off because it's so easy to circumvent. And unlike a Paladin, whose mark doesn't have a range requirement, or a Fighter, who just stops you from leaving, a Battlemind can do absolutely nothing about it. Blurred Step just isn't helpful in that regard, because a monster will prefer to just run away and take the opportunity attack.

This, of course, sounds useful until the Battlemind spends the rest of his time chasing the bloody monster down again, to little effect. The monster can almost always outrun the Battlemind and, while it does take a penalty to attack rolls, faces no other penalties.

I see. Agreed. That is a lame situation for the Battlemind to be put in if the DM constantly has the monsters move, then attack. Our BM didn't have that problem too often due to the way our battles played out. When it did, It got kind of messy and annoying. The player would switch tactics and just start readying actions with his reach 2 weapon with a trigger "when the target leaves a square adjacent to me without shifting." He'd then ready an at-will and get his hit that way. Sometimes the player would add a a power point or 2 or ready a daily and that caused the DM to pause for a second. If the monster doesn't move, or shifts and attacks, he'd still get blurred step & mind spike. Admittedly, readied actions don't stop the move and are a weak alternative to mind spike. It also leaves the BM out of position for any follow-up. But, it works until Lightning Rush is acquired. Either way, he had fun and seemed effective to us.

 

[keterys]

Fair enough on the superior weapon - but it's worth note that a current assassin is ridiculously feat starved, so you're getting that instead of better shrouds, +2 feat to damage, etc. It's pretty much a wash for my comparison (which was pretty low level), but long term it does matter.

 

[Walking Dad]

The biggest flaw of the Vampire class, IMHO, is his survivability with Skill Challenges that drain Healing Surges on a failure. Few surges and no enemy to steal them back.

The rest would be fine, but the lack of options for powers is really bad.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The other problem with the vampire is that their resiliance doesn't scale. Regen Cha hit points per turn is nice at low levels but effectively an out of combat thing at epic. While their at will that gains them temp hp again needs to scale. As for surge drain, allowing vampires to take it on raw HP would be an idea.

Also I really dislike the vampire's level 3 encounter power; it needs a serious boost to be worth a surge. Especially between levels 3 and 7 when you only generate one surge/fight.

 

[mneme]

[MENTION=87792]Neonchameleon[/MENTION]: You've got a point re regen -- if one follows the scaling of other powers, it should be Cha in heroic, Cha+3 in Paragon, and Cha + 6 in epic (so about 10 in paragon and 15 in epic, which seems plausible). If you're thinking in-flight fix, one could bury a boost into a tax feat. Maybe:

Vampiric Expertise: [Prerequisite: Vampire] Gain a +1 feat bonus to hit with Shadow powers (increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 21st level). Your Enduring Soul regeneration increases by 3 (6 at 11th level, 9 at 21st level).

Obviously, the easiest way to fix Feral Assault (although the double target bonus doesn't seem bad, situationally, and its damage isn't terrible if you're not spending the surge) is to hybrid or multiclass into vampire and thus avoid that issue. I don't think an in-flight fix would work there, but providing another 3rd level vampire power to take as an option would work and I could see Wizards printing one if it was wrapped in a nice enough article (mind, it would have to be spring).

 

[Saagael]

Now I haven't DMed or played an Assassin, but from reading what people have said, I think I would probably change one thing.

Assassin shrouds no longer target an enemy, and instead are a self-buff you can choose to use when you attack. This way it doesn't matter if your desired target dies, as you still have the shrouds to use on a different enemy. This can be flavored as the assassin drawing out his shadow-self to empower his attack or something similar.

I might also use the "4d12 damage for four shrouds", too, though I don't have experience with their damage and whether its low or not.

 

[SpydersWebbing]

The biggest flaw of the Vampire class, IMHO, is his survivability with Skill Challenges that drain Healing Surges on a failure. Few surges and no enemy to steal them back.

The rest would be fine, but the lack of options for powers is really bad.

Hm. Sounds like the vampire needs more stuff period. It would be interesting to make it a sub-class of the oAssassin, giving it access to their utility powers, and possibly encounter and daily powers.

The vampire's durability needs to scale, as does its damage.

 

[Neonchameleon]

OK. Let's tweak Feral Assault slightly.

Feral Assault Attack 3
Free Action
Trigger: You hit a foe with a vampire melee at will power
Effect: You gain no effect beyond damage from this attack. Instead you may repeat this attack against the target.
Effect: You may spend one healing surge to make an at will melee attack against each other adjacent target
Special: You may not use Feral Assault and Blood Drinker on the same turn.

Also for the boost they need, Vampires should gain more out of multiclassing than other classes - after all they have longer to do it. As there IIRC was little multiclassing in Essentials, try the following:

Power of the Damned:
When you multiclass as a Vampire you gain the following benefit based on the power source you are multiclassing to:

Martial: The endless warrior: Your vampire melee at wills gain the weapon keyword while you are wielding a weapon. The damage remains unchanged and they do not gain the benefit of weapon proficiency but they may use magic weapons and items that apply to weapon attacks now apply to these powers. (Why yes, I did just allow Iron Armbands of Power and a Charge Build). Gain +2 to Acrobatics and Athletics, and you count as trained in Acrobatics for the purpose of falling.

Arcane: Blood magic: Gain the Ritual Caster feat and two free rituals, plus a further two at the start of each tier. You may spend a healing surge to negate half the component cost of a ritual - or two to negate it all. In addition targets of your ranged Vampiric At Wills take -2 to attack rolls until the end of your next turn. Gain +2 to Arcana and Religion and you count as trained in both for the purpose of ritual casting.

Divine: Resilience of the Damned: Add half your level to your regeneration and to the temporary hit points granted by your vampiric At Will powers. In addition, at the DM's option you may only be permanently killed by "traditional means" such as a stake through the heart or being buried under a crossroads. Gain +2 to Religion and Endurance.

Primal: Savage Hunter: Gain a +1 bonus to hit with Vampire At Will powers, and +1 to your regeneration and the temporary hit points gained with your Vampire At Will powers. The bonus to regeneration and temp hp increases to +3 at 11th level and +5 at 21st. Gain +2 to Intimidate and Perception.

Psionic: Master Mesmerist: Your ranged Vampire at wills increase to range ten, becomes a Ranged Basic Attack, and can knock a target prone on a hit. (Of course it doesn't work with your Feral Assault). Gain +2 to Bluff and Insight.

You may only gain one of these bonusses even if a class has more than one power source.

 

[mudlock]

Because the Power Point scaling for the powers is meant to be that, at the full power point usage (that it includes a half-power usage is pretty much gravy), that it equals a non-PPUP classe's encounter power. Thus at 1, 3, and 7, they get 2 PP each, for a total of 6 PP. So, a 10th-level PPUP can use three full-bore powers at 2 PP each for the equivalent of 3 encounter powers, which the non-PPUP class can.

Maybe an easier fix is to change all powers to be 2 PP to augment, but don't ever give more PP unless you are gaining a new (not a replacement!) augmentable power.