Classes and Roles: supply and demand

[Hereticus]

They did make another defender class. It's the swordmage. Just because your group doesn't want to use it doesn't mean it's not there.

That class is not from a core book.

I did find the lack of Wizards interesting.

If Mephistopheles did a breakdown of the races by class (and role), i wonder how that would turn out.

 

[MacMathan]

As I look at the current DDI CG I see 18 classes + the monk by next month so that would be:

4 Defenders (w/Swordmage which was fully supported in Arcane Power_
5 Leaders (w/Artificer which was not)
7 Strikers (w/ Monk)
3 Controllers

Hopefully PHB will add at least one class for each role.

 

[Xris Robin]

That class is not from a core book.

I did find the lack of Wizards interesting.

If Mephistopheles did a breakdown of the races by class (and role), i wonder how that would turn out.

Every book is a core book.

 

[fissionessence]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hereticus
That class is not from a core book.

I did find the lack of Wizards interesting.

If Mephistopheles did a breakdown of the races by class (and role), i wonder how that would turn out.

Every book is a core book.

This. And don't forget that Dungeon & Dragon are core as well.

~

 

[Hereticus]

Original Group:
Eladrin Wizard (me)
Elf Wizard
Tiefling Cleric of Bahamut
Dragonborn Infernalock
Dragonborn Warlock
Human Fighter (great weapon)
Human Ranger (two weapon)

New Group:
Eladrin Wizard (me)
Dwarf Paladin
Minotaur Fighter (great weapon)
Dragonborn Warlock
Tiefling Starlock
Half Elf Ranger (bow)
Halfling Rogue
Deva Invoker (NPC later played by DM when new DM took over)

Controllers are fiddly. You need to kind of really enjoy tactics, and then if you do, the classes leave a bit to be desired so far (and had an inauspicious start with the wimpzard). They're kind of context-dependent because the quantity of enemies and the battlefield you face them in is a function of the DM's whim.

I am quite content with the capabilities pf my 12th level Wizard, but I wish I had a greater variety of utility powers.

 

[Dedekind]

As purely anecdotal evidence, I've always heard that pick-up RPGA games are always striker heavy. Everyone wants to hand out damage, I guess.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I've updated the original post with some charts of the data so far.

The swordmage is core. Everything published by WotC is core, according to their 4E definition of the concept.

The Forgotten Realms campaign and player's guides are both listed as accessories and not core game products on the WotC product list.

Boringly one of each role, but if things don't improve for the Wiz I reckon he'll swap PC to another striker, sorcerer probably....he likes to hand out 'teh pwnage' damage rather than 'teh inconvenience' effects to the baddies!

I think the wizard suffers from a case of mistaken identity: the 4E wizard is not the wizard some players are looking for - that wizard is now the sorcerer.

 

[fissionessence]

The Forgotten Realms campaign and player's guides are both listed as accessories and not core game products on the WotC product list.

Well that is quite mysterious, and I wonder why it's the case. However, Wizards has stated dozens of times in articles and whatnot that everything is core. In addition, here's a quote directly from the FRPG [page 5]:

This book focuses on you, the player, and what kinds of characters you can make in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game using the flavor and concepts of the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting. This book is part of the core rules of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. It uses the same game mechanics as that game, and its powers and abilities are scaled in line with that game in a unified way.

(Emphasis mine.)

I don't have a problem if people want to exclude certain material from their games (well, actually I sometimes do, but that's not the discussion here), but it just irks me when people say "core only" after Wizards has gone to so much trouble to redefine core to mean "everything we make".

~

 

[mach1.9pants]

This. And don't forget that Dungeon & Dragon are core as well.

Yep EVERYTHING is core, it makes financial sense!

 

[Ceramicwombat]

The first group I'm playing in is:

Human STR Paladin
Half-Orc Rageblood Barbarian
Dragonborn Inspiring Warlord
Longtooth Shifter Retribution Avenger
Orc STR Cleric

We have a gratuitous amount of inspiring words, healing words, lay on hands, and Leaderly bonuses in this group. It gives the DM fits. Our paladin isn't very Defender-ish, so it plays like three Leaders and two Strikers. The paladin player's first character was a human wizard but he became bored with the character by 4th level.

The second group is:

Genasi Swordmage
Elf Fighter
Halfling STR Cleric

The halfling in this group took the Warpriest paragon path and has invested a lot of feats into increasing AC and can mark with his 16th-level paragon path ability. This group plays as if we are all Defenders.

I don't know where the lack of enthusiasm for Controllers in our groups comes from. I'd like to play a wizard or druid at some point, but I am not interested in the invoker.