Bladesinger Preview!

[Don Incognito]

A few things.

1. As written, this is a terrible controller. It lacks an at-will AoE, and while "hit dude A and dude B gets a debuff" is neat, it lacks the sheer power of what ever other non-Binder controller can do with their at-will powers. Moreover, Bladesong, their level 1 encounter power, does not do anything that controllers care about. It's not your job to deal damage or take hits, it's your job to control the goddamn battlefield.

2. That said, the Bladesinger actually looks to be a very flavorful and fun striker. Bladesong sets them up for one hell of a nova round, and they can pick up MBA cheese / charge cheese for some serious damage potential

3. Encounter powers as Daily Powers is something that I'm sure sounds a lot more mechanically viable on paper than it is in practice. Think about it: it's a big fight, so the party's bringing out the big guns. The Sorcerer is using Dazzling Ray. The Wizard drops a Flaming Sphere. The Fighter unloads a Lasting Threat. The Bladesinger? The best he's got is Ray of Enfeeblement. From what I see, the Bladesinger is actually better served by ignoring that feature entirely and focusing only on his at-wills.

 

[Obryn]

Maybe this is the reason why they gave the wizard miss effects for their encounter powers in the last class playtest -> so the bladesinger isn't the only class with dailies that are neither reliable, nor have a miss effect

Naah, that's been in the pipe since HotFL.

-O

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The bladesinger uses his dailies when ar wills are not enough. Same boat as the hunter. High damage low number of targets controller. Pretty effective at least at low level.

 

[Zaran]

Anyone notice that it uses the old character sheet? Wonder if that means we are seeing it's return or that it could be they have to use the old builder to make their playtest characters.

 

[Marshall]

Ah, I love the new essentials direction!

Class Repeat after me....

There is no Swordmage, only Wizard
There is no Sorcerer, only Wizard

There is no Swordmage, only Wizard
There is no Sorcerer, only Wizard

There is no Swordmage, only Wizard
There is no Sorcerer, only Wizard

There is no....

Gee, i cant wait for the Abjurer Mage so I can replace my Bard with a Wizard too!

Really?!? Why after going out of your way to make all the powers and class abilities say "one-handed melee weapon" to you go and make Bladespell a SINGLE type of ONLY light/heavy blades? If you want it all to be light/heavy blades then say light/heavy blades, if you want to leave the class open to Dwarven HammerRythms than leave it open to that skin. For gods sake, pick a direction and stick with it!
BTW, which is it? Is this class so overpowered that its Dailys are only as good as wizard encounters or are wizard encounters so broken that they are better than other class dailys?

 

[FireLance]

Ah, I love the new essentials direction!

Class Repeat after me....

There is no Swordmage, only Wizard
There is no Sorcerer, only Wizard

Gee, i cant wait for the Abjurer Mage so I can replace my Bard with a Wizard too!

Eh. I don't think any of the wizard variants can actually replace a defender, a leader or a striker.

Which is it? Is this class so overpowered that its Dailys are only as good as wizard encounters or are wizard encounters so broken that they are better than other class dailys?

I think the former is closer. Not that the class as a whole is overpowered, but its at-will abilities are better than normal to balance its less powerful dailies.

 

[SPECTRE666]

No, it is not.

Fluff-wise, it mentions eladrins, elves and half-elves, and the sample character is a drow.
Mechanically, though, there's no racial restrictions.

I guess only in 4E the classic racial restrictions will not apply.

I guess I will shut up now and let the D&D know it all's talk.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Here's an idea:

Str + Dex Bladesinger (or X + Dex Half-Elf with an out of class MBA replacer)

Use the no attack roll encounter powers as dailies (i.e. Phantom Foes, Mass Charm, Arcane Bolt). You'll miss out on some damage from stuff like Arcane Bolt and Magic Missle, and there is a chance that some of the higher level encounter powers (it looks like 3 and 7 give different powers) use Int, but if not, the class doesn't actually require Int.

It's an interesting idea ... it trades some of the wizards control for durability (you basically have about leader AC/hp because you have effectively a heavy shield and chain/scale equivalent depending on if you go with 18 or 20 for Int or Dex. And with 5hp per level, you are going to be much sturdier than the normal wizard. And being free from OAs for your attacks is nice as well.

 

[Aegeri]

I called this as being a Swordmage or Wizard build so long ago it isn't funny, so in many ways I am pleased to see that I was right. It's interesting mechanically at least, but I'm not sure how well it will do as a controller based on what I've seen. At least it gets some of the nice wizard encounters.

But then again, YAFW.

Why is every bloody build devolving into "LOOK, WE CAN MAKE ANOTHER WIZARD?".

At this point why bother having other classes outside of the Wizard?

Edit: Class racial restrictions are so dumb, I'm actually surprised they didn't get put back in with the current direction. Some common sense at last?

 

[Walking Dad]

Naah, that's been in the pipe since HotFL.

-O

You are sure they had no idea for a bladesinger then? It is all a big conspiracy

With all their powers wizard powers, can a Wizard/Mage choose them?

Can they take a wizard multi-class feat?