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Origins - Swordmage is full of win
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<blockquote data-quote="Toben the Many" data-source="post: 4346348" data-attributes="member: 19273"><p>Grossly overpowered? Nah, that was not my impression. The Swordmage was tremendously fun to play because he was what I always wanted out of the only fighter/magic-user...a guy who can fight pretty well but can do some cool "magicy" things. A Jedi basically. </p><p></p><p>So the Swordmage's fluff is great. His attacks are not only martial but magical in nature. He's doing stuff like creating sonic whiplash with his sword and whatnot, and sending out arcs of electricity from his hilt. That said, what his powers actually do <em>mechanically</em> are pretty balanced with the rest of the other classes from what I can see. </p><p></p><p>The broken-ness in 4e seems to come from character combinations, as far as I can tell. For example: the wizard places a Cloud of Daggers on an opponent fighting the Fighter, who's marked him. If the opponent remains in the square with Cloud of Daggers, he takes damages. If he shifts out of that square, the fighter's Combat Challenge tags him with an OA. Or, in the case of the Fighter + Swordmage...the Fighter stays up front, takes a lot of damage, deals a lot of damage, and then the Swordmage uses his power to switch places with the Fighter, replacing the front line with a fresh Defender. </p><p></p><p>Those are the kinds of things that will get broken in 4e.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>From what I was told, the Swordmage will be in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. So, it'll be out sooner than the PHB II. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Swordmage's marking ability is awesome, but not any more awesome than the Fighter's or Paladin's. When the Fighter marks you - you're screwed. If you attack anyone else besides the Fighter, he gets a free attack on you. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> If you try to shift out of the way? The Fighter <em>still</em> gets to attack you. With the Paladin, if you pick another target, he does damage to you. The Swordmage, on the other hand <em>prevents</em> damage that you do to someone else. So, I think it's balanced with the other Defenders. </p><p></p><p>The big thing about being a fighter is that damage is <em>guaranteed</em>. Reaping Strike, Comeback Strike, Brute Strike...those abilities are guaranteed damage. The Swordmage doesn't have stuff like that. At best, his Daily abilities do half damage on a miss. So he's not quite as reliable as the Fighter. But in exchange, he gets a bit more variety.</p><p></p><p>In terms of the Wizard vs. the Swordmage...well there's not even a comparison. Wizards have the biggest AoE spells in the game. And that's as it should be. Also, the Wizard can switch out powers with his spellbook - the Swordmage cannot. Finally, the Wizard has all of those cool utility thingys like Mage Hand, Light, and Rituals. Swordmage doesn't have those. </p><p></p><p>So what I'm saying is, the Swordmage can do a little Fighter, a little Wizard, but doesn't overshadow those other classes. Nor is the Swordmage weaker for it by any means.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Toben the Many, post: 4346348, member: 19273"] Grossly overpowered? Nah, that was not my impression. The Swordmage was tremendously fun to play because he was what I always wanted out of the only fighter/magic-user...a guy who can fight pretty well but can do some cool "magicy" things. A Jedi basically. So the Swordmage's fluff is great. His attacks are not only martial but magical in nature. He's doing stuff like creating sonic whiplash with his sword and whatnot, and sending out arcs of electricity from his hilt. That said, what his powers actually do [i]mechanically[/i] are pretty balanced with the rest of the other classes from what I can see. The broken-ness in 4e seems to come from character combinations, as far as I can tell. For example: the wizard places a Cloud of Daggers on an opponent fighting the Fighter, who's marked him. If the opponent remains in the square with Cloud of Daggers, he takes damages. If he shifts out of that square, the fighter's Combat Challenge tags him with an OA. Or, in the case of the Fighter + Swordmage...the Fighter stays up front, takes a lot of damage, deals a lot of damage, and then the Swordmage uses his power to switch places with the Fighter, replacing the front line with a fresh Defender. Those are the kinds of things that will get broken in 4e. From what I was told, the Swordmage will be in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. So, it'll be out sooner than the PHB II. The Swordmage's marking ability is awesome, but not any more awesome than the Fighter's or Paladin's. When the Fighter marks you - you're screwed. If you attack anyone else besides the Fighter, he gets a free attack on you. :p If you try to shift out of the way? The Fighter [i]still[/i] gets to attack you. With the Paladin, if you pick another target, he does damage to you. The Swordmage, on the other hand [i]prevents[/i] damage that you do to someone else. So, I think it's balanced with the other Defenders. The big thing about being a fighter is that damage is [i]guaranteed[/i]. Reaping Strike, Comeback Strike, Brute Strike...those abilities are guaranteed damage. The Swordmage doesn't have stuff like that. At best, his Daily abilities do half damage on a miss. So he's not quite as reliable as the Fighter. But in exchange, he gets a bit more variety. In terms of the Wizard vs. the Swordmage...well there's not even a comparison. Wizards have the biggest AoE spells in the game. And that's as it should be. Also, the Wizard can switch out powers with his spellbook - the Swordmage cannot. Finally, the Wizard has all of those cool utility thingys like Mage Hand, Light, and Rituals. Swordmage doesn't have those. So what I'm saying is, the Swordmage can do a little Fighter, a little Wizard, but doesn't overshadow those other classes. Nor is the Swordmage weaker for it by any means. [/QUOTE]
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