4E Classes You Like

[Herschel]

I suppose my top-5 would be:

1. Assault Swordmage - All kinds of fun on a bun. Versatile, durable and I love being able to pull a companion out of the frying pan. Plus the mobility is awesome.

2. Retribution Avenger - Not really sure why, but I picture a Deva in a "The Crow" mode for this in a way. The Favored Soul Paragon Path is also cool. I like mobility and flight is my favorite.

3. Prescient Bard - I shoot you, you hurt. You swing and miss, you fall prone and the rogue says 'ello to your kidney. And extend the crit range for a round as an encounter? Yes, please.

4. Hybrid Tempest Fighter/Swordmage with a Spiked Chain - Markasaurus Me up to range three (dual strike and lightning lure for at-wills).

5. Tactical Warlord - Because just me being good isn't enough, making everyone better rocks hard.

 

[Obryn]

Wow, no love for the shaman. Only 20%. I didn't think they were that bad.

Frankly, I still don't get how they would work in play. Even their healing powers are a little wacky, IMO.

I'd love to see one in action. I just don't want to be the one doing it.

-O

 

[fba827]

I, too, would enjoy playing (most) any class. But I picked the top few that inspire me the most for character ideas/concepts.

But some classes I simply couldn't play beyond a one-shot type session -- mainly looking at martial type classes -- I like to desribe my attack effects and I have trouble coming up with flashy descriptions for simple weapon damage attacks.
So for long-term campaigns and such, I defintaly prefer those with a little more variety in damage effects/types.

 

[Cadfan]

I have played:

Fighter- two handed weapon talent, hammer wielder. He's a lot of fun. Simple and effective.

Rogue- brutal scoundrel, wielding a katana (rethemed rapier). Also a lot of fun.

Cleric- charisma based, tons of healing improvements. Very strategic, but a relaxed kind of character.

Avenger- pursuing. The theme I've built into the character is that he's slowly gaining the powers of a warrior angel. He's a lot of fun, although I think there's a few flaws in the class' power list. He's already incredibly mobile, and his enemies rarely even try to escape from him because the penalty for doing so is so extreme. And yet most of the Avenger encounter powers let me do that even more than I already do. Which just isn't necessary.

Invoker- preserving. I feel like preserving invokers are a little short on support. They have a lot of encounter powers that aren't necessarily better than Hand of Radiance. The good parts are really, really good- a controller with a retributive feel is pretty sweet. That theme just isn't as well integrated with the power list as it could be.


I want to play:

Shaman- rethemed as a summoner of angels.

Warlock- fey pact. I know they start slow, but you can do some incredible stuff at mid levels, and paragon feats give you ways to boost your damage.

Warden- goliath, earthstrength, selecting stone themed powers. You can make an awfully indestructible, highly themed character. I know people feel like the warden's theme is murky- I think that's mostly a communication problem. The actual class is pretty thematic once you really get into it.

 

[Garthanos]

Shaman isnt showing much love right now... but my daughter is playing a a Shamaness skinned as a unicorn priestess... that just fits so slick ;-), the flavor is extra good.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

in my order of coolness today...

1. Wizard: lower levels, by far, cooler than ever
2. Paladin: my only gripe is the removal of his LG requirement
3. Cleric: I like the leaders and he's still the best healer
4. Invoker: played him during GameDay and was the star of the show, very impressed
5. Sorcerer: all the types look good to me and I like the randomness
6. Warlord: I like the team tactics of 4e and he shines
7. Druid: about as good as previous editions
8. Avenger: had a great first impression, but he's down a little since spring
9. Bard: 4e is the first time I've thought about playing a Bard
10. Shaman: this one looks to be on the upswing the more I get to know him
11. Ranger: he still brings the damage, but the class has faded from previous editions
12. Warden: primal power might give him a boost
13. Artificer: saw this one played on GameDay and was intrigued

above this line I'm willing to play

14. Swordmage: played it on Gameday too, it has its moments but not for me
15. Fighter: can't we just hire Men At Arms?
16. Warlock: the position of arcane striker has been filled
17. Monk: I haven't read anything yet where this class would be above it's usual spot
18. Psion: I hate psionics in fantasy games, intriguing mechanical idea though
19. Barbarian: Conan was lame and it's been downhill from there
20. Rogue: get out of the game you gin soaked mountebank
21. Assassin: no idea what it's like now, and I don't care

 

[Invisible Stalker]

Frankly, I still don't get how they would work in play. Even their healing powers are a little wacky, IMO.

I'd love to see one in action. I just don't want to be the one doing it.

-O

Once Primal Power comes out, I'm hoping Shamans and Wardens will look a little better to me. The group I DM for start a "primal" campaign in November, so I'm looking forward to see how it goes.

 

[Thasmodious]

Fighter and wizard remain my favorite classes (or more correctly, the fighter is again a favorite class after emerging from the Dark Ages for the fighter). But I really want to give the Warden a whirl. It seems quite different and I love the flavor.

Lowest on the list is the cleric and druid, two classes which just don't interest me much and never have. I've played a few clerics over the years, usually when an interesting concept strikes me, and I've played one druid. Just not my thing, I guess.

 

[Herschel]

in my order of coolness today...
14. Swordmage: played it on Gameday too, it has its moments but not for me

Ugh! The Game Day Ensnaring build was an abomination. Heck that might have turned ME away from Swordmages. (Okay, maybe not THAT bad, but close)

 

[Lancelot]

I'd play nearly all of them. I didn't mark the artificer or the warden because they don't particularly appeal to me, but I'd consider playing them in the right campaign.

There's only one class I truly loathe: shaman. I dislike both the fluff and the mechanics, and it seems I'm not alone. My group has gone through over 40 characters to date (we game regularly and have a high casualty count due to "no mercy" DMs), and shaman remains the only class that nobody will touch. We've had 4 barbarians, 3 druids, 2 wardens, 2 swordmages, an artificer... but not one shaman.

The one player who actually considered it came back with this response: "It's just too... weird. I can't get my head around how it's supposed to be played (i.e. optimally, from a tactical sense)."