D&D 4E 4e Duskblade

[Kinie]

If it's meant as a striker, it needs something on par with Hunter's Quarry (ranger), Sneak Attack (rogue) or Warlock's Curse (warlock), i.e., something to increase the damage of an opponent.

Something like this:

Arcane Slash
If you hit an opponent with your melee weapon and then hit him with an arcane spell before the end of your next turn, you deal extra damage (+1d6 per tier).

This takes care of the "spell + weapon" aspect of the 3.5e Duskblade.

That's why there's the Arcane Infusion power. You get extra damage that way because you're basically having two attacks in the same turn. The only difference is that its limited to 2/encounter and not based upon how close the person is to you. I suppose I could add something similar to what you suggested. Really my biggest fear is that I'm going to turn this into a powerhouse class. I mean, as it is now the damage output is a little high. If I add a Quarry-like ability, won't I be overpowering it?

I guess I should add that, IMO, Strikers are meant to deal out lotsa small damage while another person (or another Striker) comes in and deals enough damage to kill off the creature.

I haven't read the powers yet, but just two small points:

-) the Hit Points should be 12+Con like every other striker
-) you should have at least 3 Skills to choose (and in my opinion not automatically athletic, since not even the fighter, rogue or ranger has that)

- I guess the starting HP should be that, to make it a bit easier to kill.
- He automatically gains training in Athletics because of the 'spirit' of the Duskblade; that they trained hard and studied hard to be able to use swords and spells at the same time. Not that I'm saying the Fighter, Rogue or Ranger don't train, but that they stop once they reach a certain level. The Duskblade doesn't stop, because if he does, his skills will dull. It also adds to the original playability of the Duskblade, because in 3.5 they had one of the lowest starting Skill points.