Blackguard Design & Development is up.

[Jhaelen]

Which is why Lasting Frost/Wintertouched is even better

Compared to cheese everything sucks.

I have no idea what you've been smoking, but I think it's perfectly fine as an at-will power.

 

[ffy]

And, in fact, specifically mentions it, when discussing the two vices, Domination and Fury:

"Domination, I feel, embodies the “lawful evil” expression of the blackguard; those dark paladins who choose it grow their power by striking and defeating enemies. The basic mechanism is to grant the blackguard temporary hit points. The character can then sacrifice them to spike the damage for his or her next attack.

If domination is “lawful evil,” then fury would be “chaotic evil.” These blackguards are a bit more straightforward and deliver extra damage to targets granting them combat advantage. Rather than have to wait for enemies to gain the right condition or to move into flank, the blackguard gains combat advantage each time he or she hits with the green attack power, ferocious strike."

So not every Blackguard thrives on temps - just those with the Vice of Domination. (And I do like the flavor of that, feeding on opponent's power to establish your authority.)

Edit: Ninja'd!

i guess i should read the article thoroughly next time before i comment thanks for clearing it up guys

 

[Aegeri]

Compared to cheese everything sucks.

Considering that Blackguards already have their striker feature with necrotic + cold (which as I keep saying is a great decision), lasting frost/wintertouched is an excellent combination. Also strikers are supposed to deal damage, so the basic permanent CA + vulnerability is pretty much a great choice for the Blackguard.

I have no idea what you've been smoking, but I think it's perfectly fine as an at-will power.

It really isn't. For one thing, needing to hit to get CA on your next attack is really bad and that it's otherwise a completely unremarkable at-will. There are many other superior ways of getting CA in the same circumstances (including several feats). Unless the other at-wills are truly terrible I don't see anyone taking this. Especially if it has competition with powers that grant temp HP (which apparently interact with the blackguards striker feature).

Of course I did realize that as this is an essentials class, certain Blackguard builds might get lumped with it anyway without a choice. What a shame for them, because it really is an extremely poor power :/

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Problem is it requires hitting and frankly, Wintertouched/Lasting Frost is going to do you a lot better. Or the multitude of other ways of getting CA (most of which require no roll to hit in the first place). I am really hoping they get a cold at-will. I did like that they clearly thought about the necrotic problem and threw cold onto it as well. Necrotic and Cold is a good combination of energy types - just hoping the blackguard has more necrotic + cold powers than just their encounter replacement.

Oh, missed that... thought you get CA as an effect...

 

[Obryn]

Problem is it requires hitting and frankly, Wintertouched/Lasting Frost is going to do you a lot better. Or the multitude of other ways of getting CA (most of which require no roll to hit in the first place). I am really hoping they get a cold at-will. I did like that they clearly thought about the necrotic problem and threw cold onto it as well. Necrotic and Cold is a good combination of energy types - just hoping the blackguard has more necrotic + cold powers than just their encounter replacement.

Oh, come on. By the time they are able to implement the frostcheese, they will have a frost weapon anyways. The damage type of any of their powers is irrelevant.

-O

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Oh, come on. By the time they are able to implement the frostcheese, they will have a frost weapon anyways. The damage type of any of their powers is irrelevant.

-O

Not only that but frostcheese requires being paragon. What do you do for the first 10 levels? This at-will gives you a useful option. Yes, there are lots of ways to get CA, but few of them apply to Paladins in general and far fewer are easily available at low levels. There are plenty of reasons to want an at-will that can grant you CA. It may become fairly irrelevant at higher levels. At level 1? It may well be a pretty reasonable choice depending on exactly how the striker mechanic works. We'll see soon enough anyway.

 

[Jhaelen]

Of course I did realize that as this is an essentials class, certain Blackguard builds might get lumped with it anyway without a choice. What a shame for them, because it really is an extremely poor power :/

What I don't understand:
With what other level 1 at-will powers are you comparing it?

Bonus points for comparing it with available at-will powers of defenders!

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

What I don't understand:
With what other level 1 at-will powers are you comparing it?

Bonus points for comparing it with available at-will powers of defenders!

Well, if you assume CA is no big deal then basically it is a 1W+Str damage at-will. Damage types will rarely matter, so at that point it is an MBA basically. So there WILL be a modest number of situations where the power will be as weak as an at-will could possibly be. Of course you'll have a second at-will for those situations and that's a worst-case scenario. Personally I think an at-will that isn't useful 100% of the time is no big deal. The player should keep that in mind and make sure their other at-will is complementary. I don't think this is the BEST power around, and there might be some characters that won't even want it, but it may be a perfectly viable choice for some builds, and might be really strong depending on the striker mechanic.

I'm not sure I understand the hate on the minor action power either. Again, it is something that will be handy in some situations, and again may not be all that exciting at higher levels when you have better options. Seems OK to me.

 

[MrMyth]

Considering that Blackguards already have their striker feature with necrotic + cold (which as I keep saying is a great decision), lasting frost/wintertouched is an excellent combination. Also strikers are supposed to deal damage, so the basic permanent CA + vulnerability is pretty much a great choice for the Blackguard.

But the point isn't whether the frost combo is good for them or not - the point is that it isn't a reasonable baseline for comparison.

For myself, I don't think it is a great At-Will, but it has its uses. And if there is a solid alternate At-Will you can take as your default, having this as a back-up isn't bad. Especially in situations where you know you have CA right now, but aren't sure if you will have it next turn. The ability to set up a round of CA, especially against other enemies who you might normally have difficulty acquiring that...

...it is situational, sure, but not nearly as terrible as you have condemned it to be.

 

[gyor]

The encounter allows for enough frost cheese on its own that you don't need a frost weapon. After all it deals automatic cold/necro damage and on a hit dealing ongoing cold necro so the frost cheese continues. A crusader weapon could be cool. Have your encounter power deal radiant/cold/necrotic power damage and milk bith cold and radiant feats.

Or a cunning weapon the deals penalties to saves against ongoing damage dealt by the weapon.