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Pre-Release Review of Heroes of Shadow by Wizards of the Coast
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<blockquote data-quote="Malisteen" data-source="post: 5565986" data-attributes="member: 44380"><p>This review doesn't seem to delve into the mechanics very much, or very accurately. You object to the vampire on thematic grounds, but what about its shocking lack of options? What about its terrible mechanics - legitimately fighting with the original assassin for worst striker in the game?</p><p></p><p>And the binder - the weakest controller in the game - weaker at controlling than a regular warlock, or even a hexblade? The binder is a complete trap option, and should never have been printed.</p><p></p><p>The executioner is better then either of those, but still thematically little different from yet mechanically far short of a rogue. The necromancy school for the mage is overall quite weak, and the individual abilities are mostly just blasting powers, leaving it feeling not very much like a necromancer at all, and when compared to the support for that concept in 3.5 it is extremely disappointing. The one summon necromancers and nethermancers can get suffers since two of the options presented have half the normal summon hp for no discernible reason, and the shadow beast has a speed bonus on charging despite having no ability to charge.</p><p></p><p>And then there's the feats - rather anemic, and they do nothing to mitigate how terrible necrotic damage is, despite its frequent use by the power source.</p><p></p><p>And lets not even get into the Shade. Dear lord.</p><p></p><p>And then there's weird stuff. Like, if a new player comes to this book from essentials, how are they supposed to play an executioner without any option for a ki focus? And the Blackguard has one less daily power then everyone else, including it's cousin the cavalier, because when writing it's retraining bits, they forgot it didn't get one at first level (much as the cavalier also lacks a first level daily, but they don't start retraining old ones until one power later so they end up with the same number)</p><p></p><p></p><p>There's decent stuff in the book. Nethermancy is pretty decent. The death warpriest and gloom hexblade options are ok. The Blackguard, despite the daily power issue, is still fun and effective. Revenants are still good, and Vryloka are a decent addition as a race. One or two of the paths and epic destinies are pretty good, even if most are lackluster and add little to the game beyond glut.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The production value of the book is pretty decent, even if it suffers from re-used art. And the fluff is pretty good, too. But a lot of the mechanics are flawed, if not just outright bad, and when one looks back at Primal or Psionic and considers what Shadow could have been in 4e, it's hard not to see the entire book as a major missed opportunity.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Malisteen, post: 5565986, member: 44380"] This review doesn't seem to delve into the mechanics very much, or very accurately. You object to the vampire on thematic grounds, but what about its shocking lack of options? What about its terrible mechanics - legitimately fighting with the original assassin for worst striker in the game? And the binder - the weakest controller in the game - weaker at controlling than a regular warlock, or even a hexblade? The binder is a complete trap option, and should never have been printed. The executioner is better then either of those, but still thematically little different from yet mechanically far short of a rogue. The necromancy school for the mage is overall quite weak, and the individual abilities are mostly just blasting powers, leaving it feeling not very much like a necromancer at all, and when compared to the support for that concept in 3.5 it is extremely disappointing. The one summon necromancers and nethermancers can get suffers since two of the options presented have half the normal summon hp for no discernible reason, and the shadow beast has a speed bonus on charging despite having no ability to charge. And then there's the feats - rather anemic, and they do nothing to mitigate how terrible necrotic damage is, despite its frequent use by the power source. And lets not even get into the Shade. Dear lord. And then there's weird stuff. Like, if a new player comes to this book from essentials, how are they supposed to play an executioner without any option for a ki focus? And the Blackguard has one less daily power then everyone else, including it's cousin the cavalier, because when writing it's retraining bits, they forgot it didn't get one at first level (much as the cavalier also lacks a first level daily, but they don't start retraining old ones until one power later so they end up with the same number) There's decent stuff in the book. Nethermancy is pretty decent. The death warpriest and gloom hexblade options are ok. The Blackguard, despite the daily power issue, is still fun and effective. Revenants are still good, and Vryloka are a decent addition as a race. One or two of the paths and epic destinies are pretty good, even if most are lackluster and add little to the game beyond glut. The production value of the book is pretty decent, even if it suffers from re-used art. And the fluff is pretty good, too. But a lot of the mechanics are flawed, if not just outright bad, and when one looks back at Primal or Psionic and considers what Shadow could have been in 4e, it's hard not to see the entire book as a major missed opportunity. [/QUOTE]
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