Dragon 370 - Invoker Preview

[Dionysos]

That's what experiences are. Of the occasions we've had a wizard, he's been categorically subpar.

In my humble opinion, wizards don't do enough status effects, have enough vs. will attacks, nor persistent/sustained zone effects to really pull their weight. Area effects that do small damage just doesn't seem to do it.

Off the top of my head, the Wizard in my game has Sleep (talk about a status effect!), Stinking Cloud (5x5 persistent zone that blocks line of sight, damages and can be moved), Ice Storm (7x7 area immobilize with some damage, and turns area to difficult terrain for encounter), and Wall of Fog (wall 8 that blocks LOS).

That's without looking at the sheet or thinking about it for very long, so I know he has a bunch more stuff too.

Anyway, even in the Heroic tier, this Wizard has a potentially crippling Daily vs. Will (always gets the Orb penalty, too), big persistent battlefield control spells and many ways to give status effects in a wide area. Which, I suppose, is why your points are a but weird to me.

"Area attacks that do small damage" are fine, but the Wizard does so much more.

As for the enemies not "bunching up", I recommend not playing most encounters on an open plain. Even 3x3 is big enough to catch multiple enemies that are not adjacent to one another. And 5x5 and 7x7 are simply huge on the battlemat. Add a modicum of terrain to the mix, and these spells are incredibly potent.


More to the topic of this thread, I really dig rhe Invoker so far. Some people are bothered by the fact that it is the least "gimmicky" controller so far, but I don't mind. They wield undiluted divine power; a bit of directness seems called for. And not all classes need the same level of complexity; they just need a to be reasonably balanced in terms of power level.

As it is, it looks like the Invoker will be good for people who want to just blow stuff up with the Wrath of God, and not have to think quite so hard. And there is nothing wrong with that

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I like this class.

I love that "old school believer" flavor.
I also can't help but think of the Ori from Stargate. As much as I disliked that plotline, their "Priests" were intriguing. (I am looking at Shroud of Awe and Emissary of the God specifically here)

The balance of the At-Wills is interesting. Their basic attack powers have some extra effects more then the Wizards Magic Missile (which as none ). But they lack the range. There have been many scenarios where that 20 squares of range made a difference in my experience. (One of the most dangerous foes on the battlefield can be Artillery monsters that strike from distance while the party is busy dealing with Soldiers or Brutes.)
Avenging Light also has the disadvantage of attacking Fort, from my experience one of the typically highest defenses in the game.

Offering of Justice is a neat power. Always "hits", but only affects if the target does something specific.



Nitpick:
They should describe the Summoning Keyword somewhere in that article, otherwise you can't really test all of the class.

What I suspect:
- Summoned creatures have simply determined hit points, probably something like your healing surge value or n hit points per tier.
- They have your defenses.
- You can spend actions to make them move (possibly minor actions, but maybe also move actions).
- Specifics like how they attack, their damage, their speed and similar things will always be found in the power description.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Rods have some of the best implements for inflicting damage. I seem to recall that Star Warlock article had a rod with criticals of 18-20 for powers with the fear or radiant keywords, with a pretty high critical damage die. In the hands of an Invoker, that could also be quite powerful.

And I do detect a hint of the Truenamer inside the Invoker along with the Favored Soul. Certainly the bit about using Words of Creation, I see some true name fluff creeping in.

 

[Phaezen]

I like this class.

I love that "old school believer" flavor.

This.

The invoker has a nice old testament fire and brimstone, wrath of God, style priest feeling too it, none of this pansy healing stuff.

Interesting to see that one of the utility powers has a skill challenge specific ability.

Should be a fun class to play as an alternative to the Wizard as a controller.

Edit:
Just had an interesting idea for a campaign, basic premise: The players are a vanguard for a dwarven crusade, leading the assault on a goblinoid empire to reclaim an ancient dwarven city. All characters must be Dwarf with only martial and divine power sources allowed.

Maybe it was just the thought of a dwarven cleric and a dwarven invoker combining to lead the party in a fight against ancient enemies.

Phaezen

 

[Baumi]

As a Wizard I envy the Invokers At-Wills and the fact that he targets only enemies (sometimes even benefits allies).

 

[Shadowsong666]

Races: Dwarves and devas make particularly good invokers; both the dwarven devotion to the gods and the devas' heritage lend themselves to the invoker's worldview. Ancient and long-lived, eladrin and elves have a racial memory that keeps alive the legends of the first wars between the gods and the primordials, and the two races often follow in the paths of the first invokers. Invokers can be found among all races, however.

Dwarves (+2 CON +2 WIS) and Devas get mentioned here as good invokers.
Next mentioned are races with a single attribute matching the needed ones, elves (WIS) and eladrin (INT).

As such it could be save to assume that the bonuses of the deva race are +2INT +2WIS, right?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I wonder if there's going to be a class in PHB 2 that has two attack stats like the Cleric, Paladin, Ranger and Warlock. All classes that have been released since PHB 1 have used a single stat for attack rolls: Swordmage(Int), Artificer(Int), Barbarian(Str), Bard(Cha), Druid(Wis), and now Invoker(Wis).

I think bard's other build may be dex for some attacks...but don't quite me on that

I like this class.

I love that "old school believer" flavor.
I also can't help but think of the Ori from Stargate. As much as I disliked that plotline, their "Priests" were intriguing. (I am looking at Shroud of Awe and Emissary of the God specifically here)

You know that was the first thing I said "Hollow are the Ori"

The balance of the At-Wills is interesting. Their basic attack powers have some extra effects more then the Wizards Magic Missile (which as none ). But they lack the range. There have been many scenarios where that 20 squares of range made a difference in my experience.

I think of that as the effect of MM...unlike Eldritch blast is is long range..

Nitpick:
They should describe the Summoning Keyword somewhere in that article, otherwise you can't really test all of the class.

I bet it will be a hybrid of the conjuration and Beast key words...

This.

The invoker has a nice old testament fire and brimstone, wrath of God, style priest feeling too it, none of this pansy healing stuff.

I love the smiteing enimies angle myself

As such it could be save to assume that the bonuses of the deva race are +2INT +2WIS, right?

that would be freaking metal...

 

[Rechan]

Dwarves (+2 CON +2 WIS) and Devas get mentioned here as good invokers.
Next mentioned are races with a single attribute matching the needed ones, elves (WIS) and eladrin (INT).

As such it could be save to assume that the bonuses of the deva race are +2INT +2WIS, right?

Yeah. I had a similar thought. Although I was hoping that Deva would get +2 Wis/+2 Cha. (Yes, I know that both of those go to the same Defense, but so do the +2 Str/Con of WF/Minotaur/Orcs (likely) and +2 Dex/Int of Eladrin; +2 Wis/Cha would make Deva clerics and paladins kick major ass.)

 

[Rechan]

One thing is for certain:

No invoker should be without the Astral Fire feat.

 

[Starfox]

PHB2 can't get here soon enough.

This reaction, presumably, is why they give us these tidbits.