Blade of the Eldritch Knight?

[Orcus Porkus]

I think you are underestimating the power of being able to stand 5 squares away from your target when you hit them in melee. I would expect that the defensive benefits, the ability to ignore enemy defenders and the rounds of combat that you don't waste due to not being able to reach a juicy target would all outweigh the meagre value of 5% more of your attacks being crits, for instance.

Sure, it has value. Perhaps it also compensates for the fact that many monsters at the weapon's level have reach and are large or huge size, which means traditional reach weapons become much less useful. The new item kind of gives the reach quality back to the PC's, as an option.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I pretty sure that what Brad was saying was "The swordmage in my game doesn't use any melee weapon powers, so this item is not a big deal."

Exactamundo. Well, both his at-wills are Ranged or Close Burst, so very few of his are actually melee. But hey.

Of course, it's a raging insanity of reach with ANY other class. Now that I look at it, my Avenger might just want one of those.

I'm not entirely sure that it's broken, but it's definitely very powerful. Maybe slap a Swordmage-only on it?

Brad

 

[DracoSuave]

Exactamundo. Well, both his at-wills are Ranged or Close Burst, so very few of his are actually melee. But hey.

Perhaps, but a Swordmage with this will put away those at-wills and go with Booming and Greenflame.

Greenflame with a reach of 5!?! Wow.

 

[keterys]

Booming with reach 5 doesn't sound very effective from what I recall of it... Greenflame with reach 5 is intriguing, but taking it over sword burst would be a mistake from my perspective.

So, _if_ you take a suboptimal at-will choice _and_ you trade out your weapon for something else, you can then have something pretty darn good? Well, I'd hope so.

 

[WOLead]

Huh, would this work enchantment work with Commander's Strike? If so, Half-elves and Warlords may start to move this enchantment. Yelling at an ally from 5 squares away to make a basic melee attack is always a nice option. Especially as it leaves the off-hand open for another weapon, shield, or implement. Just need the lowest level version of the enchantment on an off-hand weapon, and profit.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I really don't think a lot of thought was put into this weapon. The fact that it's supposed to be part of a set for swordmages, and yet it's way, way better for characters who are not swordmages is a big hint.

 

[DracoSuave]

Huh, would this work enchantment work with Commander's Strike?

Amazingly.


And reach 5 synergizes well with a swordmage who uses a 'I'm over here, defending against you over there' mentality.

Sure, the at-wills -you- use might not work as well with it, but that doesn't make the weapon bad.

I hear that a bow is -also- bad with melee Ranger powers. It doesn't make bows bad for Rangers.

 

[WOLead]

I really don't think a lot of thought was put into this weapon. The fact that it's supposed to be part of a set for swordmages, and yet it's way, way better for characters who are not swordmages is a big hint.

Such as Paladins and their Divine Challenge limitations, or possibly work it with their Ardent Strike to have two creatures in a range of 5 squares marked? It would be nice for a Paladin to be adjacent to the creature they challenge, and Ardent Strike another creature over by their ally five squares away.

Fighters and Wardens won't see much use of this, as they want to be adjacent to their marks. Beast Rangers may love the enchantment, but two weapon rangers may prefer other enchantments then two of these. Avengers won't touch this enchantment. Rogues rather like Flanking their targets unless they have a large amount of possible ways to gain CA at range, though it would mean new fear for the "Ranged" rogues who could use Piercing Strike at range 5.

On the other hand, Str-based Clerics can have fun at Range 5 with their attacks rather then just Wis-based Clerics. Bards can use Guiding Strike and War Song Strike at the same distance.

Warlords? Another class other then the Paladin that will love this weapon more then the Swordmage. Commander's Strike usable at 5 squares. Furious Smash becomes a very simple way to give a very needed bonus to any ally, as you can give the +Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls to an ally adjacent to the foe or an ally you are adjacent to 5 squares away. Opening Shove turns into a very useful way to grant an ally free movement as a standard action, if not a decent way to shove a foe around at range and give an ally the attack as well. Viper's Strike and Wolf Pack Tactics? Both also work well at a "Reach" of 5.

For Swordmages? Its still quite a tool to have on hand. Frostwind Blade and Greenflame Blade make the most use of it, while Luring Strike also has a hand in making a Swordmage near impossible to catch. With some of the Swordmage Encounter powers, this really shines. Fox Feint to swap places with a foe 5 squares away, Foesnare to pin a target away from any ally, Transposing Lunge to teleport a target five squares away to a square adjacent to you, and more. Daily-wise? Lashing Asp, so your Reach 5 Melee Attacks also deal +Con poison damage to enemies adjacent to the target you hit. Hunter's Pursuit to be able to constantly immobilize a target out of reach. While the At-Will part may be limited in use, the Encounter and Daily part of having Reach 5 can be quite a reward.

Just because it has synergy with other classes, does not mean it still isn't meant for the Swordmage.

Blasted Enchantment is making me rethink my Human Hybrid Swordmage|Warlock. Hybrid may not even be needed for the keep-far-away approach, though using Dire Radiance on your Marked is still a fun way to drive the DM batty.

 

[Ryujin]

It also effectively kills the "knock the fighter prone and then shift one" tactic.

 

[Shin Okada]

Seems good. But I doubt if that is too good. The weapon's reach increases only when attacking with a standard action. Thus, cannot be combined with most of the OA related combos. It cannot be used for Immediate powers such as Warden's Fury, too. And of course, it cannot be used for close powers.

Seems good for strikers and controllers who uses Melee Weapon powers. A friend of mine is now playing a Gliath Thaneborn Barbarian/Stoneblessed with reach 3. He is using a Greatspear. But if that property can be applicable to a Glaive, Reach 4 attack seems to be good. And another 5-foot is good for PCs who uses Righteous Brand, Furious Smash and such.