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A Touch of Class (EN5ider): Class Review
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<blockquote data-quote="Zardnaar" data-source="post: 7133759" data-attributes="member: 6716779"><p><strong>The Morph</strong></p><p></p><p>What is the Morph? Its similar to the PHB Moon Druid that can wildshape and can't cast spells. Its is wildshape on steroids. Starting from level 8 you can do it 3/short rest and it scales up to 4 times by level 15 and at will at level 20. You can select a variety of class features to enhance the wild shape or turn yourself into other creature types that are not beasts. There are 2 subclasses the Primordial Beast and Trickster. The Trickster is the weakest one and its supposed to be a rogue type and you are kind of like a doppleganger, the Primordial Beast is the Moon Druid on steroids. You are also proficient in con and dex saves so go figure. </p><p></p><p>There is not a lot to say about this class. Whats more broken than being a bear at level 2 in 5E? How about a bear resistant to non magical weapons and a bonus action attack? At higher levels you can pick talents that let you turn into Elementals and Dragons and Oozes and constructs (CR level/3 rounded down). You can also pick up the Polymorph spell at level 5 enabling you to turn into a CR 5 critter at lvl 5. </p><p></p><p>This class is out right broken at low levels being a Moon Druid on steroids in regards to its shape shifting. A Moon Druids shapes do not scale that well and the Morph has the same problem but you can turn into other things than beasts. With Tome of Beasts and Volos Guide you also have more options to turn into as well. So yeah this class is great at low levels, if you roll meh ability scores and at higher levels there is enough top make the class useful. So does this class pass muster? Sort of its powerful enough but it depends on how you like your power levels, OP at lower levels probably meh later on depending on what splat the DM allows. </p><p></p><p><strong>The Noble</strong></p><p></p><p>This class seems more or less unchanged front he original. This is EN5iders take on the warlord class. This was the 1st EN5ider class. Not a lot to say about this class as it has been covered over the last year+. There are 3 subclasses the Path of the Heart, Path of Bravery and Path of the Tactician. Its more or less a cleric type replacement/support class with Path of Bravery being the warrior subclass, Heart being pure support and Tactician somewhere in the middle. </p><p></p><p>I would have to see the classes in action but one of them the Path of the Heart is potentially out right broken in the right party. The right party being some combination of Rogue, Warlock and anyone using the -5/+10 feats. This is because you can grant at will attack or spell casting granting to other people. A support class like cleric doesn't tend to do that much damage, this one here can do its thing and give up its action to enable an ally to do its best attack or situation ally best attack (eg a ranged attack). Ideally that extra attack is a sneak attack, eldritch blast or -5/+10 attack and it fits the best situation. </p><p></p><p>The other two subclasses are a bit more restrained they can do the attack granted thing 1/short rest but they are better at combat. They have been revised with better weapon proficiency that are less clumsy than the original noble. </p><p></p><p>Either way the class is basically a take on the 4E Warlord and I am not touching that argument with a 10' pole. Do the classes pass muster mechanically? The Path of the Heart does in the right party, the other 2 look OK as you probably won't suck. You can also add in feats like Healer, Inspiring Presence and the 3pp Commander feat to enhance the support part of the class. So yes this class just gets a tentative pass although I think I would rather just play a cleric or bard if you are playing on pure power. </p><p></p><p><strong>Occultist</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>The Occultist is a strange sort of class that doesn't really fit into the traditional roles of the 5E PHB classes. The closest class I can compare it with IMHO is Monk as the class is a type of skirmisher as far as I can tell. It also helps that the class has a Dark strike ability that scales at the same rate as a Monks unarmed strike, supernatural movement later on and 2 attacks a round at 5th level. You probably want to go dex based and wear light armor. You are proficient in con and charisma saves and pick up another save at level 6 and 18 which is almost unique- Transmuters have that option at level 6, Rogues and Monks get more saves at higher levels. For extra damage you can turn your dark strikes into necrotic damage and add your constitution onto them as well. Not quite as good as a Monks extra attack or flurry. At level 10 you get dex+con onto your AC and gain resistance your choice of slashing/bludgeoning/piercing damage. Otherwise most of your abilities come from the subclasses. So far you are a skirmisher that deals less damage than Monks and probably Rogues, and are fairly useless vs things immune or resistant to necrotic damage ie undead. There are 3 subclasses that more or less turn you into a abomination, were creature or Vampire.</p><p></p><p>Abomination</p><p>An abomination is basically Frankenstein. Damage is still low but this basically turns you into a tank with damage reduction and resistance/immunity to various effects. It looks good but then you realise Monks and Rogues also get a variety of defensive abilities and deal decent damage. It might be marginally better at the price of a lot less damage on a skirmisher. Does this subclass pass my do I want to play this? Well short answer is no I would just play a Monk or Rogue instead. </p><p></p><p>Vampire</p><p>You become undead and can drink blood to regain hit points (with disadvnatage to hi). You gain vulnerability to sunlight and lose your resitances and immunity in sunlight. M'kay.</p><p>You can charm things, summon children of the night, turn into a bat go into gaseous form etc. 3 of these options are level 11+. Yay. I would play an abomination instead and see that one for my opinion on it vs Rogue or Monk. </p><p></p><p>Werecreature. Well its better than the Vampire, perhaps better than abomination, still not very good still fails the would I play this test.</p><p></p><p>Overall the Occultist fails as a class IMHO as it is strictly inferior to things like Monk and Rogue at dealing damage and the various immunity/resistances etc are mostly situational and do not do enough to close the gap and are often inferior to something as simple as uncanny dodge. The class does not even compare that well to dual wielding and that is already generally acknowledged as being weak. Damage is not everything but you do not have spells to make up for it, skill monkey like a Bard/Rogue either, and you deal less damage than both Rogue and Monk and are worse at tanking damage than a Moon Druid or Barbarian. The class needs something like a bonus action attack a'la monk, a bonus dice of damage a'la hex/hunters quarry, frenzy/rage or a 3rd attack in there somewhere and even then it seems marginal.</p><p></p><p> <strong>Conclusion</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Overall A Touch of Class I think is quite good with perhaps 1 class I would not play at all (Occultist), 1 class I do not grok (card caster), and several I think are very good. Overall the Feywalker is my favourite and I think it is the best designed with all the subclasses looking quite playable/interesting. I also like the Science of Creation Alchemist and the Diabolist/ Morph/Noble all being playable IMHO. The gish Knight of Swords Cardcaster also looks good, I just don't get the class so feel free to help me out there. </p><p></p><p> A Touch of Class is also good for EN5ider patrons as you get it for free and EN5ider is already good for the amount you pay especially for the basic deal which is player orientated ($2 a month IIRC?). Of the 7 classes 3 of them had takes on pets and they all looked interesting and it was a niche the PHB did not cover or did not cover very well (Beastmaster). On of the pet classes is weak with a great pet, another is in the middle while the last one is good at combat with the weakest pet that is still useful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zardnaar, post: 7133759, member: 6716779"] [B]The Morph[/B] What is the Morph? Its similar to the PHB Moon Druid that can wildshape and can't cast spells. Its is wildshape on steroids. Starting from level 8 you can do it 3/short rest and it scales up to 4 times by level 15 and at will at level 20. You can select a variety of class features to enhance the wild shape or turn yourself into other creature types that are not beasts. There are 2 subclasses the Primordial Beast and Trickster. The Trickster is the weakest one and its supposed to be a rogue type and you are kind of like a doppleganger, the Primordial Beast is the Moon Druid on steroids. You are also proficient in con and dex saves so go figure. There is not a lot to say about this class. Whats more broken than being a bear at level 2 in 5E? How about a bear resistant to non magical weapons and a bonus action attack? At higher levels you can pick talents that let you turn into Elementals and Dragons and Oozes and constructs (CR level/3 rounded down). You can also pick up the Polymorph spell at level 5 enabling you to turn into a CR 5 critter at lvl 5. This class is out right broken at low levels being a Moon Druid on steroids in regards to its shape shifting. A Moon Druids shapes do not scale that well and the Morph has the same problem but you can turn into other things than beasts. With Tome of Beasts and Volos Guide you also have more options to turn into as well. So yeah this class is great at low levels, if you roll meh ability scores and at higher levels there is enough top make the class useful. So does this class pass muster? Sort of its powerful enough but it depends on how you like your power levels, OP at lower levels probably meh later on depending on what splat the DM allows. [B]The Noble[/B] This class seems more or less unchanged front he original. This is EN5iders take on the warlord class. This was the 1st EN5ider class. Not a lot to say about this class as it has been covered over the last year+. There are 3 subclasses the Path of the Heart, Path of Bravery and Path of the Tactician. Its more or less a cleric type replacement/support class with Path of Bravery being the warrior subclass, Heart being pure support and Tactician somewhere in the middle. I would have to see the classes in action but one of them the Path of the Heart is potentially out right broken in the right party. The right party being some combination of Rogue, Warlock and anyone using the -5/+10 feats. This is because you can grant at will attack or spell casting granting to other people. A support class like cleric doesn't tend to do that much damage, this one here can do its thing and give up its action to enable an ally to do its best attack or situation ally best attack (eg a ranged attack). Ideally that extra attack is a sneak attack, eldritch blast or -5/+10 attack and it fits the best situation. The other two subclasses are a bit more restrained they can do the attack granted thing 1/short rest but they are better at combat. They have been revised with better weapon proficiency that are less clumsy than the original noble. Either way the class is basically a take on the 4E Warlord and I am not touching that argument with a 10' pole. Do the classes pass muster mechanically? The Path of the Heart does in the right party, the other 2 look OK as you probably won't suck. You can also add in feats like Healer, Inspiring Presence and the 3pp Commander feat to enhance the support part of the class. So yes this class just gets a tentative pass although I think I would rather just play a cleric or bard if you are playing on pure power. [B]Occultist [/B] The Occultist is a strange sort of class that doesn't really fit into the traditional roles of the 5E PHB classes. The closest class I can compare it with IMHO is Monk as the class is a type of skirmisher as far as I can tell. It also helps that the class has a Dark strike ability that scales at the same rate as a Monks unarmed strike, supernatural movement later on and 2 attacks a round at 5th level. You probably want to go dex based and wear light armor. You are proficient in con and charisma saves and pick up another save at level 6 and 18 which is almost unique- Transmuters have that option at level 6, Rogues and Monks get more saves at higher levels. For extra damage you can turn your dark strikes into necrotic damage and add your constitution onto them as well. Not quite as good as a Monks extra attack or flurry. At level 10 you get dex+con onto your AC and gain resistance your choice of slashing/bludgeoning/piercing damage. Otherwise most of your abilities come from the subclasses. So far you are a skirmisher that deals less damage than Monks and probably Rogues, and are fairly useless vs things immune or resistant to necrotic damage ie undead. There are 3 subclasses that more or less turn you into a abomination, were creature or Vampire. Abomination An abomination is basically Frankenstein. Damage is still low but this basically turns you into a tank with damage reduction and resistance/immunity to various effects. It looks good but then you realise Monks and Rogues also get a variety of defensive abilities and deal decent damage. It might be marginally better at the price of a lot less damage on a skirmisher. Does this subclass pass my do I want to play this? Well short answer is no I would just play a Monk or Rogue instead. Vampire You become undead and can drink blood to regain hit points (with disadvnatage to hi). You gain vulnerability to sunlight and lose your resitances and immunity in sunlight. M'kay. You can charm things, summon children of the night, turn into a bat go into gaseous form etc. 3 of these options are level 11+. Yay. I would play an abomination instead and see that one for my opinion on it vs Rogue or Monk. Werecreature. Well its better than the Vampire, perhaps better than abomination, still not very good still fails the would I play this test. Overall the Occultist fails as a class IMHO as it is strictly inferior to things like Monk and Rogue at dealing damage and the various immunity/resistances etc are mostly situational and do not do enough to close the gap and are often inferior to something as simple as uncanny dodge. The class does not even compare that well to dual wielding and that is already generally acknowledged as being weak. Damage is not everything but you do not have spells to make up for it, skill monkey like a Bard/Rogue either, and you deal less damage than both Rogue and Monk and are worse at tanking damage than a Moon Druid or Barbarian. The class needs something like a bonus action attack a'la monk, a bonus dice of damage a'la hex/hunters quarry, frenzy/rage or a 3rd attack in there somewhere and even then it seems marginal. [B]Conclusion [/B]Overall A Touch of Class I think is quite good with perhaps 1 class I would not play at all (Occultist), 1 class I do not grok (card caster), and several I think are very good. Overall the Feywalker is my favourite and I think it is the best designed with all the subclasses looking quite playable/interesting. I also like the Science of Creation Alchemist and the Diabolist/ Morph/Noble all being playable IMHO. The gish Knight of Swords Cardcaster also looks good, I just don't get the class so feel free to help me out there. A Touch of Class is also good for EN5ider patrons as you get it for free and EN5ider is already good for the amount you pay especially for the basic deal which is player orientated ($2 a month IIRC?). Of the 7 classes 3 of them had takes on pets and they all looked interesting and it was a niche the PHB did not cover or did not cover very well (Beastmaster). On of the pet classes is weak with a great pet, another is in the middle while the last one is good at combat with the weakest pet that is still useful. [/QUOTE]
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