This last week I played the Palor Cleric in a playtest session.
It was a fun play, but man... that Pelor cleric had a lot of potent stuff packed in at level 2.
At level 2 there is a power where you pump out some holy blinding light for an area effect around you which causes damage to every creature in range. It's actually rather similar to Pathfinder's Channel Energy ability for the Cleric class, but without the nuanced "settings" that a Pathfinder character can use it in. With the 5e playtest it just pumps out a load of damage regardless of who's around.
That was potent, though balance wise it seemed fine. Because it hurts everyone, you have to be rather selective in how your using it. I found myself needing to charge headlong into piles of orcs to blast them with it before too much collateral damage was possible. It didn't drop the orcs, but softened them all up that the rest of the party could usually one shot them. So in that regard it felt like a good low level crowd control. It was dangerous to use and didn't auto-win the situation.
The other major feature that stood out was this at-will radiant lance orison. I'm used to at-wills from Pathfinder and lots of characters having some kind of pewpewpew power, however in pathfinder these powers are always so weaksauce that they are hardly ever being used.
This Pelor power though was really good. Once it soaked in, which didn't take long, that this was an at-will ranged power with a high to bonus and good damage. Well... Pelor! Pelor! Pelor! I just starting firing that sucker off all-day-everyday and just coated and painted areas with this righteous laser beam. I cleansed diabolical totemic orc artwork with this holy fire, I conducted fire-and-movement strategies, peppering an area so the Rogue could run up the flank and get behind orcs. I even did snap shots from behind cover since everyone now can move/attack/move.
All of this was terribly good fun, though it sure didn't feel like D&D to me. I felt like I was playing a side-scroller version of D&D, or at best an Xbox Arcade game flavored with D&D. As a kid I wished D&D allowed a character to blast energy out of their hands like Venger would copiously do himself in the D&D cartoons, but now that my wish is fulfilled it feels... cartoonish, rather than the gritty low level exploration game I knew. I can concede the generational divide with the lean-down-and-fist-pump area effect lightshow damage from that channeling power. However the ranged at-will seemed like it was going too far in tone.
It was a fun play, but man... that Pelor cleric had a lot of potent stuff packed in at level 2.
At level 2 there is a power where you pump out some holy blinding light for an area effect around you which causes damage to every creature in range. It's actually rather similar to Pathfinder's Channel Energy ability for the Cleric class, but without the nuanced "settings" that a Pathfinder character can use it in. With the 5e playtest it just pumps out a load of damage regardless of who's around.
That was potent, though balance wise it seemed fine. Because it hurts everyone, you have to be rather selective in how your using it. I found myself needing to charge headlong into piles of orcs to blast them with it before too much collateral damage was possible. It didn't drop the orcs, but softened them all up that the rest of the party could usually one shot them. So in that regard it felt like a good low level crowd control. It was dangerous to use and didn't auto-win the situation.
The other major feature that stood out was this at-will radiant lance orison. I'm used to at-wills from Pathfinder and lots of characters having some kind of pewpewpew power, however in pathfinder these powers are always so weaksauce that they are hardly ever being used.
This Pelor power though was really good. Once it soaked in, which didn't take long, that this was an at-will ranged power with a high to bonus and good damage. Well... Pelor! Pelor! Pelor! I just starting firing that sucker off all-day-everyday and just coated and painted areas with this righteous laser beam. I cleansed diabolical totemic orc artwork with this holy fire, I conducted fire-and-movement strategies, peppering an area so the Rogue could run up the flank and get behind orcs. I even did snap shots from behind cover since everyone now can move/attack/move.
All of this was terribly good fun, though it sure didn't feel like D&D to me. I felt like I was playing a side-scroller version of D&D, or at best an Xbox Arcade game flavored with D&D. As a kid I wished D&D allowed a character to blast energy out of their hands like Venger would copiously do himself in the D&D cartoons, but now that my wish is fulfilled it feels... cartoonish, rather than the gritty low level exploration game I knew. I can concede the generational divide with the lean-down-and-fist-pump area effect lightshow damage from that channeling power. However the ranged at-will seemed like it was going too far in tone.
