Class Acts: Black Flame Zealot

[Mummolus]

Huh.

Actual support for the Oassassin, including one feat (Lethal Shroud) which will almost certainly become mandatory for them.

Some pretty good stuff here, though I do lament the missed opportunity to support the Executioner as well.

Edit: Though I suppose combined with the "Master of Shrouds" class feature from last month's Hybrid/Multiclass Options article, this kinda supports the Executioner as well.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Wow. This is very, very nice.

Lethal Shroud looks really brutal. d8+5/10 per shroud invoked? Wow, that's a boatload of damage.

Hrm, the Ki Focus looks weird, though, with the enhancement bonus 5 levels behind (+1 is a level 10 item, +2 15, etc), and it doesn't look like it's worth that big a penalty, especially since it's a Rare. Unless the item rarity system is even weirder than I thought.

Brad

 

[keterys]

Assume the Ki Focus really goes from +2 to +6... but otherwise I agree that it's an Uncommon, not a Rare, or should be lower level.

I'm guessing that's something that got lost in translation from design to publish, so I suggest folks submit it for errata on the D&D Insider Article Errata forum.

 

[Kzach]

Inexorable Shroud and Lethal Shroud are feat taxes IMO. Having them as a core part of the class would go a long way towards fixing it.

 

[Mummolus]

Lethal Shroud looks really brutal. d8+5/10 per shroud invoked? Wow, that's a boatload of damage.

It isn't actually all that much. It's potentially +1d8+5/10 for each shroud invoked, which can be placed once per turn, whereas the Executioner gets +1d8/2d8/3d8 whenever it hits.

Basically the average damage is similar, but the Executioner doesn't need to burn a feat to get there and can trigger theirs on a granted attack (from say a warlord) or opportunity attack.

That said, the shrouds can build up to a nice burst, problem is you're sacrificing damage every round and sometimes multiple times per round to do so.

 

[keterys]

Hybrid assassins can potentially get nifty, though...

 

[Dannager]

It isn't actually all that much. It's potentially +1d8+5/10 for each shroud invoked, which can be placed once per turn, whereas the Executioner gets +1d8/2d8/3d8 whenever it hits.

Basically the average damage is similar, but the Executioner doesn't need to burn a feat to get there and can trigger theirs on a granted attack (from say a warlord) or opportunity attack.

That said, the shrouds can build up to a nice burst, problem is you're sacrificing damage every round and sometimes multiple times per round to do so.

In my experience, by the time you hit Paragon you can max out your shrouds every other turn on average. And you deal damage on a miss.

 

[Destil]

Inexorable Shroud and Lethal Shroud are feat taxes IMO. Having them as a core part of the class would go a long way towards fixing it.

Fixes are always feat taxes in 4E. Just the way they design the game, sadly.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Am I the only one that is disappointed that the Black Flame Zealot wasn't an avenger paragon path?

I guess assassin makes sense. There was always this air of shadow around the class, even in the artwork. Still, I was kind of hoping for an avenger.

 

[keterys]

Well, there was already a drow assassin feat called "Keeper of the Black Flame" - dunno if it was connected or not, but there ya go.