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<blockquote data-quote="knightofround" data-source="post: 4553033" data-attributes="member: 27884">Yeah I'd say that a Swordmage who replaces blades with another weapon group should be fine. It has both upsides and downsides. The downside is that as a semi-controller class, so making sure they have a high +attack is more important than a couple extra points of damage. It's much more about popping minions than it is cutting down swathes of solos and elites. And swords are the best for accuracy. Another thing to note is that SM powers have low [W] values, so the size of damage dice isn't as important as it is to other classes.The upside is that by taking a weapon group other than weapons, they can actually, you know, pick up some decent feats for their weapon. Blades require STR and DEX. Str has very limited use to a shielding Swordmage, and investing lots of points into dex makes very little sense because INT is their primary stat and no dex-based class skills. Also, as a semi-controller class it isn't as important to have a high init, because you often want to give your allies the opportunity to move out of range of your AEs, or move enemies INTO range.As a shielding swordmage who actually uses a sword, choosing feats is incredibly annoying. Using the base point buy its difficult to get two 13s in low-usage stats, get something decent in your primary two, and make sure your will defense/social skills don't totally suck.If anything, Swordmages seem to do better (imho) with a Int/Con build, which would make more sense for hammers &amp; axes. Even assault swordmages need to keep a high con because most of their AEs are PBAEs, so they often need to provoke OAs to get into position. Also, SMs start off with less healing surges than other defenders.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="knightofround, post: 4553033, member: 27884"] Yeah I'd say that a Swordmage who replaces blades with another weapon group should be fine. It has both upsides and downsides. The downside is that as a semi-controller class, so making sure they have a high +attack is more important than a couple extra points of damage. It's much more about popping minions than it is cutting down swathes of solos and elites. And swords are the best for accuracy. Another thing to note is that SM powers have low [W] values, so the size of damage dice isn't as important as it is to other classes. The upside is that by taking a weapon group other than weapons, they can actually, you know, pick up some decent feats for their weapon. Blades require STR and DEX. Str has very limited use to a shielding Swordmage, and investing lots of points into dex makes very little sense because INT is their primary stat and no dex-based class skills. Also, as a semi-controller class it isn't as important to have a high init, because you often want to give your allies the opportunity to move out of range of your AEs, or move enemies INTO range. As a shielding swordmage who actually uses a sword, choosing feats is incredibly annoying. Using the base point buy its difficult to get two 13s in low-usage stats, get something decent in your primary two, and make sure your will defense/social skills don't totally suck. If anything, Swordmages seem to do better (imho) with a Int/Con build, which would make more sense for hammers & axes. Even assault swordmages need to keep a high con because most of their AEs are PBAEs, so they often need to provoke OAs to get into position. Also, SMs start off with less healing surges than other defenders. [/QUOTE]

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