D&D 4E New Information on 4E Classes from Races & Classes Book

Sir Brennen

Legend
Aage said:
Damn, now I really have to place my hope in the multiclassing. Forcing rogues to use sneak attack sucks... big time
Why does it suck? According to the info we have, it'll be easier for the rogue to do, won't rely on having to flank with someone (though that helps), and can be used on virtually all critters. Plus, I'm very interested in seeing what kind of at will/per encounter abilities they'll get.
 

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Gort

Explorer
I just hope that while they're expanding sneak attack to affect all targets and making it easier to pull off, they remember to nerf "sneak attack plus two-weapon fighting = 66D6 damage a round".
 


Stormtalon

First Post
Agamon said:
LOL, beat me to it. But if that says what it does...erm, well, not sure how such an ability is useful in combat....

Let the pages and pages of of arguing and unsubstantiated speculation begin! :p

But it does say exactly what it means: "Feather me yon oaf," is simply an archaic way of saying, "Hey, guys, see that annoying fellow over there? Shoot him now. Lots." Thus allies can immediately draw their ranged weapons and fire. :)
 

Cadfan

First Post
I'm pleased that the Warlord actually leads his party in combat. In the hands of a decent player, that leads to a really strong synergy between roleplay and gameplay. Too often those who boost their allies aren't leaders, they're the in-game equivalent of shield bearers. They make their ally better but all the tactical decisions are still made by their ally.

Being able to pick out targets for enhanced damage from the rest of the team is great. Being able to directly call in an arrow strike, and powers like it, let the warlord essentially use the rest of the team's abilities as his own. Conditional buffs, like in Tome of Battle can do some of the rest. If I, as a warlord, do something which gives a bonus to your damage output if and only if you do a particular action, I can encourage you to take that action without forcing you. For example, the White Raven school can grant its allies a significant bonus to charge attacks. This provides incentives for other players to charge, even if, were all things equal, they might not. It lets the Warlord call the shots a little bit without actually coercing anyone.

The only danger is what will happen in the hands of a weak willed player. Everyone else at the table will try to pressure the warlord player to "lead" in the direction they want to follow.

I like the dex bonus thing for fighters. Anything that makes more stats useful is good in my book.

The druid gets shapechanging and ranged firepower? Interesting pairing. I wonder if you're expected to focus on one or the other. Shapeshifting, or calling down lightning.
 

Agamon

Adventurer
Stormtalon said:
But it does say exactly what it means: "Feather me yon oaf," is simply an archaic way of saying, "Hey, guys, see that annoying fellow over there? Shoot him now. Lots." Thus allies can immediately draw their ranged weapons and fire. :)

Yeah, I got that, just being a tad facetious... ;)
 

Aldarc

Legend
Yeah, I would say that fighters, clerics, and warlords are the classes which now have my greatest interest and attention.
 

Rechan

Adventurer
Cadfan, thank you for pointing that out. More and more, the Warlord is showing to be my favorite class thusfar.

I'm not sure what I want to play more - a Dragonborn Warlord, or a Dresden-style Guts and Smarts Wizard.
 

mmu1

First Post
I'll probably get jumped on for this, but that Warlord ability feels awfully "video-gamey" to me.

I'm not crazy about the Warlord class in general, but I think it'd be much better if it simply had an ability to grant a certain number of immediate actions to allies a certain number of times per day, to represent leadership and situation awareness - anything from "Behind you!" to "Everyone, take that troll down before it kills Bob!" to "Get him before he can escape!" - extra chances to avoid attacks, concentrate on a specific foe, or cut off someone trying to run for it.

Instead, we get the ability to order the allies to do one specific thing... Even if there are more of these kinds of abilities, having them limited to only one type of action feels very arbitrary and artificial to me. Hit the magic button, all your units do X... it reminds me, if anything, of the way hero abilities sometimes work in RTS games.
 

Lord Zack

Explorer
Looks pretty good, except maybe Bards and Clerics. Bards seem to me to not be the kinds of guys who'd get they're powers from "otherworldly patrons.". I know that this is probably inspired by the idea of court minstrels, but that's not the typical bard in my mind. My idea of a bard is a vagabond, a wandering minstrel with no home and no lord. That's a pretty minor concern, though and I'd like to see what Wizards has in mind for the Bard whenever it shows up.

My main concern is that the cleric shouldn't all be healers. Certainly even Nerull and his dread
faith might have those who heal and aid others in combat, probably leading Nerull's undead hordes. Of course they'd use negative energy often rather than positive, but I can see that. But what about a cleric who blasts infidels with lightning bolts from the heavens, or another calls upon his deity to create pillars of earth and pools of acid to impede his enemy and tangling plants to stop them from moving or clerics who call upon they're deity to protect them from damage, and have they're opponents attack them rather than his allies? Not all clerics would be Leaders so I think they should have the option to choose other roles.
 

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