Alabast
First Post
Of the eight classes in the PHB 1, six of them have attack powers that make regular use of melee weapons (Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warlord). All except the rogue use STR at their primary stat for making melee attacks (Though the paladin, strangely, has some weapon attacks that use Charisma, and the distinction seems to be arbitrary). Since the rogue uses light weapons primarily, this makes sense, and consistency is established. Huzzah.
Since the release of the PHB, however, a number of new classes have come along that use melee weapon attacks, as well, namely Swordmage, Avenger, Barbarian, Bard and Warden. The Warden and Barbarian use STR to attack, like the others. The bard, swordmage, and avenger, however, use mental stats as their primary attack stat. I have no problem with this, since these classes are non-martial, except that they (the avenger in particular) seems inconsistent with the previous design philosophy.
I can easily imagine that an Avenger's wisdom score represents how we he channels his god's wrath, and thus affects his ability to strike his enemies. But how come a cleric, also a divine servant, needs to rely on his plain ol' physical strength to wallop enemies? Why not have all of the cleric's attacks use Wisdom, with STR helping out for little perk bonuses for melee attacks, as other classes do? Additionally, why are Paladins the only class that uses two different stats for melee attacks? Doesn't this automatically either a) diminish their ability scores by forcing a near-even split between two important stats or b) drastically reduce their choices for effective powers?
Does this seem like something that was intended from the start? Or was it a deliberate shift in game design philosophy to have every non-martial melee class have an primary attack stat be mental to reduce the importance of Strength and Dex that proliferated previous editions of D&D?
Since the release of the PHB, however, a number of new classes have come along that use melee weapon attacks, as well, namely Swordmage, Avenger, Barbarian, Bard and Warden. The Warden and Barbarian use STR to attack, like the others. The bard, swordmage, and avenger, however, use mental stats as their primary attack stat. I have no problem with this, since these classes are non-martial, except that they (the avenger in particular) seems inconsistent with the previous design philosophy.
I can easily imagine that an Avenger's wisdom score represents how we he channels his god's wrath, and thus affects his ability to strike his enemies. But how come a cleric, also a divine servant, needs to rely on his plain ol' physical strength to wallop enemies? Why not have all of the cleric's attacks use Wisdom, with STR helping out for little perk bonuses for melee attacks, as other classes do? Additionally, why are Paladins the only class that uses two different stats for melee attacks? Doesn't this automatically either a) diminish their ability scores by forcing a near-even split between two important stats or b) drastically reduce their choices for effective powers?
Does this seem like something that was intended from the start? Or was it a deliberate shift in game design philosophy to have every non-martial melee class have an primary attack stat be mental to reduce the importance of Strength and Dex that proliferated previous editions of D&D?
