FR Preview-Sword Mage and Genasi

[FireLance]

I have not seen the Artificer yet. Is there a link?

Link to the Dragon article.

 

[Spatula]

Er, did I miss something...

Was the warding ability culled? I thought it was supposedly double your INT modifier

I believe that was speculation that the warding ability was + your Int mod to AC, which would have been effectively 2x your Int mod when wearing light armor. That was just based off of an example sword mage, and not any actual information on where those numbers came from.

 

[Zsig]

Ok, this blows me up, I soo want to play one.

Curiously, they removed the Keyword: Teleport from Aegis of Shielding

Lightning Lure is now probably my favorite At-will.

Also, Greenflame blade is some sort of Cleave on steroids...

..hum... still digesting it...

 

[mach1.9pants]

The aegis of assault is actually pretty weak, because its a melee basic attack, and strength won't be their primary stat. On the other hand, you can often flank with the teleport so that might make up for it.

With the Blastback swipe Enc power that help the aegis, I think this is a better defender than a fighter (upto level 3!) but probably equal to a paladin...A pals extra healing bits are so useful in any party IMO
I would like to play one for sure! But I reckon for damge output the fighter may turn out better over the 30 levels but we'll just have to wait and see

 

[greatamericanfolkher]

I'm actually from the Akanul region, and I've wanted to play a Genasi Swordmage since before the rules were released... I really hope that I don't get labelled as the new cheesy build.

It's good, but I wouldn't call it cheesy good. The region's benefit, in my opinion, overshadow the other regions, but not so mush that it would be the only choice you should make.

 

[Spatula]

Overall, the flavor is very cool, but ultimately, I still worry that this is going to be a better defender than the fighter and paladin.

Since he's int based, he's likely going to have a +4 int mod starting off. With his warding ability that's 10 + 4 int + 2 leather armor + 3 warding = 19 AC, and a +4 bonus to reflex saves. A scale mail, heavy shield fighter also has a 19 AC, but only has a +2 reflex (unless he's a light blade fighter and is using dex for his secondary stat), and also has a -1 speed and a -1 armor check penalty.

Even a non-blade fighter is going to want Dex for initiative and Reflex... while it's not a main stat, it's very likely that you'd have at least a +1 bonus there at 1st level, and then the +2 from the heavy shield, for a total of +3 (vs the swordmage's +4).

 

[Rechan]

They don't really give you any Con-based powers for the Assault build.

I don't really understand Transposing Lunge. Does this mean that you teleport an enemy into any square adjacent to you, or what? I can see this being a real benefit if you have a reach weapon.

I like how the Aegis ability you pick is what's amplified by certain powers, rather than your "Build". That really lets you pick and choose. Also, the ability to use Blastback Swipe in a charge and with your Aegis is good; I like how they spell that out, too.

The genasi racial powers look really powerful compared to what's in the PHB.

God this class looks fun.

 

[Zsig]

I don't really understand Transposing Lunge. Does this mean that you teleport an enemy into any square adjacent to you, or what? I can see this being a real benefit if you have a reach weapon.

They removed the Teleport Keyword from Aegis of Shielding. That means, basicly, you're using Transposing Lung at "Range 10", even though it's a "Melee Weapon" power, that's what they mean with "beyond your reach".

Also, I don't think using a reach weaopn would make any difference.

Finally

I like how the Aegis ability you pick is what's amplified by certain powers, rather than your "Build". That really lets you pick and choose. Also, the ability to use Blastback Swipe in a charge and with your Aegis is good; I like how they spell that out, too.

I agree. I'm trying to fool around building one up, and it's quite difficult to choose one between Lightning Lure and Sword Burst...

...actually, Lightning Lure is a go...

 

[mach1.9pants]

I don't really understand Transposing Lunge. Does this mean that you teleport an enemy into any square adjacent to you, or what? I can see this being a real benefit if you have a reach weapon.

IMO it's main use is with your aegis but still the ability to move a creature into one of any of your eight surrounding squares is still pretty useful, setting up flanking, ending flanking, dropping him in some terrain that you want etc.

 

[Rechan]

They removed the Teleport Keyword from Aegis of Shielding. That means, basicly, you're using Transposing Lung at "Range 10", even though it's a "Melee Weapon" power, that's what they mean with "beyond your reach".

But what if you have Aegis of Assault; does it just mean that you can teleport the enemy into any of your 8 adjacent squares?

Also, I don't think using a reach weaopn would make any difference.

Reach means you can hit someone two squares away, and move them around, rather than having to be adjacent.