jmartkdr2
Hero
The 4e swordmaged worked so well by accident.I will have to investigate that... as the Eldritch Fighter feels like a dabbler for the most part stuck with meh spells.
I get the impression that the 5e team oft lacked empathy/understanding of what for me composed the greatest elements of 4e. I totally like some of their structural choices (even having the Warlord be Battlemaster with the right selection of maneuvers invokes the Tome of Battle classes and wouldn't be horrible if they actualy "GOT" the Warrior Lord and he could be an intellectual Tactician *without having the worst saving throws on the planet" and other mechanical conundrums as well as the rather sparse Warlord behavior. ).
Also SCAG?
In all other editions, any swordmage-y option was built using the wizard spell list. 4e's structure simply didn't allow or that: they had to make an all-new spell list specifically for swordmages. And so they made a bunch of swordmage spells that support playing as a swordmage.
But in 5e, they tell you to use the wizard (or sorcerer or warlock) list. But the wizard list isn't built for swordmages - it's built for wizards. As it should be, but that means a swordmage gets a list of spells that are designed for characters who are very much not swordmages.
Which is part of the reason I think you can't get a really good gish without a new base class.