FR Preview-Sword Mage and Genasi

[-Avalon-]

* Opportunity Attacks
* Bonus damage on many powers (Greenflame Blade, Flame Cyclone, Burning Blade)
* Feat qualifications (Armor Proficiency: Hide, Heavy Blade Opportunity, Heavy Blade Mastery)

Heavy Blade Opportunity is particularly important. Not only can you use an Int-based attack instead of a Str-based melee basic attack on an OA, but you can hit an entire area around the foe (via Greenflame Blade). That means a minimum 14 Strength at 1st level if you want access to it by Paragon tier without using level bumps...12 won't be enough.

Hide maybe, but no hvy armors (not mentioned but... so str can be drastically lower), they are pumping their Int through the roof, and the heavy armors will actually hinder the character. And Hide requires only a 13 str and 13 con.

Weap prof's/feats require a 15 str (hvy blade opp), and 21 str (hvy blade master) so if you are gunning for the feats at earliest possible moment (21st level for the epic tier and 11th for the paragon one) you need only start with a 15 str, otherwise a 14 is perfectly fine.

OA's are nice, but not the meat of the class, the main "OA" style attacks look to be immediate interrupt at-wills, so yet again, focus on Int, and have str at an "ok" number. (with a 14 str, will have a +5 to hit AC or more on OA's)

Aside from extra protection for your ally with Aegis of Shielding, Constitution isn't that important. The only at will attack that uses it is Burning Blade, and the only other power that uses it is Chilling Blow (which is okay, but not as good as Flame Cyclone). You can raise Constititution to increase the protection you can give an ally, but I don't think it's worth losing access to all the other things a high Strength can give you.

Dexterity is also important...I'd try to get a 15 by the Paragon tier, and a 17 by Epic tier, so you can qualify for several useful feats.

Dex is ok also, I would keep at a decent amount, and try to bump it every once in awhile...

With tiefling, I would go with an 18 int (16+race), a 15 Cha (13+race), 14 Str, 13 Con, 12 Dex, 8 Wis (ick, but necessary I think)

This will give the char a decent starting point to work towards getting those feats, a nice bonus at 1st level to hit with his "Int vs" attacks, The tiefling feat for +1 Att/+1 Dam on fire based, with a longsword, should have +8 vs AC on Greenflame blade (with 1d8 + 5 Damage, and 3 damage to all adj enemies)

Not to mention the other powers...

 

[parcival42]

Those who oppose his shield must yield!

Weap prof's/feats require a 15 str (hvy blade opp), and 21 str (hvy blade master) so if you are gunning for the feats at earliest possible moment (21st level for the epic tier and 11th for the paragon one) you need only start with a 15 str, otherwise a 14 is perfectly fine.

Also, another consideration for the Assault build aside from the proficiency in Hide armor is proficiency in Light and Heavy Shields. They require a 13 and 15 Str respectively.

If you're willing to sink the feats in it, you can have an Assault Swordmage with as good an AC and better Ref defense than a Shielding Swordmage.
Hide, Lgt. Shield, Hvy. Shield and maybe Bastard Sword to get more out of your weapon...only 4 feats...not too bad of a trade off?

 

[Zsig]

IMO, it's not really worth it to have the Heavy Blade feats,
-Heavy Blade Opportunity will let you use Greenflame Blade instead of a regular Basic Attack when making an Op. Attack, not a big deal (all other at-wills either doesn't have the Weapon keyword, or in the case of Booming Blade, favors Con instead of Str).
-Heavy Blade Mastery, even though awesome, it is quite prohibitive for you, unless you cripple yourself on your main stat (Int), Str 21 and Dex 17, no way.
-Polearm Gamble to use with your Glaive? Yeah, good luck with your Wisdom 15 (which should be your dump stat, unless you've chosen Cha).

Now, that Heroic Tier feat, Blade Opportunist (which only requires Str and Dex 13) is quite reasonable for the Swordmage to get. If you feel like you need to.

Also, Charisma Paladins and Artful Dodger Rogues have lived this far with poor Op. Attacks, why is this a big deal to worry about it now? It's not like your Op's interrupt target's move or anything.

Paladins got Enfeebling Strike to make it for the lack of "glue", Swordmages have Booming Blade and Lightning Lure (to some extent).

Now, there are a couple interesting things you can do with light blades... think about multiclassing into Rogue for the sneak attack... maybe get yourself a rapier. Sure, Dex might be a problem if you decide to keep going through the Rogue path.

Lastly, Swordmage attacks are pretty inconsistent, I'm not sure how they end up at higher levels, but the damage types are pretty diverse, being it difficult to specialize in a certain damage type/keyword (there is the Greenflame Blade>Flame Cyclone>Burning Blade though), and it could also be a problem for the Weapon/Implement ones, you never know if the power you want will benefit from Weapon Focus, unless you plan ahead. This makes the Swordmage quite unreliable at being optimized for doing damage.

And I think it's fine.

 

[Plane Sailing]

IMO it's main use is with your aegis but still the ability to move a creature into one of any of your eight surrounding squares is still pretty useful, setting up flanking, ending flanking, dropping him in some terrain that you want etc.

Especially powerful if you are standing next to a wall, cliff, pit, lavaflow etc.

Too powerful? I don't know, but I'm biased because I dislike (perhaps even hate) lots of low level teleporting powers. Doesn't fit with my vision of fantasy setting.

Cheers

 

[Xris Robin]

Hm. Keeping in mind how little we've actually seen of Swordmage, does anyone think it's possible (or perhaps, viable) to multiclass it with Paladin?

Because the concept really interests me, since they're both Defender versions of spellcasting classes.

Err, also, does anyone know why certain powers are 'Implement' and some aren't?

 

[Rechan]

Err, also, does anyone know why certain powers are 'Implement' and some aren't?

Same reason the Paladin's powers are split between weapon and Implement, probably.

 

[Danceofmasks]

On the subject of starting regions, aside from the obvious choices, skill rerolling looks like being possibly overpowered.
Especially once Druids become available, I'm wondering what consequences being able to reroll every single nature check is going to have.
(The +1 untyped initiative bonus is handy, too)

 

[small pumpkin man]

Why go for strength with a high priority? if you have a 12 or 14 str, should be perfectly fine.

Because if you take Aegis of assault, and your strength is lower than 16, you'll have too much trouble hitting with your primary marking ability.

 

[Zsig]

Just thought about something.

Swordmage Warding gives you a +3 AC bonus if you got one hand free, and +1 if you don't.

What happens if I am using a Longsword, then attack wielding it 2-handed, and simply release one hand from it after the attack? I remember there was some sort of discussion regarding what kind of an action was it to release grip and such, but I don't remember seeing any sort of "official" statement.

Does the AC bonus from the Warding keeps getting "checked" everytime at any given time?

 

[AllisterH]

Just thought about something.

Swordmage Warding gives you a +3 AC bonus if you got one hand free, and +1 if you don't.

What happens if I am using a Longsword, then attack wielding it 2-handed, and simply release one hand from it after the attack? I remember there was some sort of discussion regarding what kind of an action was it to release grip and such, but I don't remember seeing any sort of "official" statement.

Does the AC bonus from the Warding keeps getting "checked" everytime at any given time?

Heh. Interesting question.

Obvious rules cheese but you know some people will exploit it. Assuming it doesn't get changed in the actual FR guide, I'd tentatively rule that the LAST attack you make determines the status of Warding.

re: Cleave vs Greenflame blade.

Cleave simply blows Greenflame blade. An earlier poster mentioned there's a "slight" advantage for Cleave but that's totally untrue.

It's a HUGE advantage and why Cleave makes Greenflame blade look sad.

Greenflame blade is useless when the swordmage is flanked. It basically requires the enemies to bunch up whereas Cleave is pretty much good to go in any situation where you are surrounded.