Class Acts - Wizard

[renau1g]

Am I the only one who thought the powers were pretty poor? They almost all were just damage spells, but the wizard is a controller and most of them had nothing to do with controlling. If you want to be an arcane blaster-y type the sorcerer is a much better option. Flame scythe was pretty cool, but unless your allies go before the enemies, I'm not sure how likely they are to grant CA and as well waste their move action next turn to stand up for the mediocre damage you want to deal.

The utility one was a nice touch though.

 

[Rechan]

They almost all were just damage spells, but the wizard is a controller and most of them had nothing to do with controlling.

Arcane Whirlwind.

The ability to slide a target 2 squares for a minor action all enoer is pretty dang controller-y.

 

[renau1g]

Hence the almost all. That one was the daily right?

 

[mattcolville]

I like Mystical Debris!

Me too. Seems like the kind of thing that should be Illusion, though. I feel liek Illusionists don't get enough love.

 

[mattcolville]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the Wizard design discussions. They seem to be going toward "screw it, let's let the wizard do a lot of damage," which I'm not opposed to, since I think that's what people want from a Wizard.

But I'd have liked to see them really dial up the controlling. I think not enough people are embracing the Controller role and that's probably because the Controller doesn't Control enough.

I, as the GM, can and have thrown tons of bad guys at the PCs thanks to minions and the great encounter design tools built into the game. I think RPG R&D are a little too worried about balancing the Controller. They need to unbalance him, to hook people on it. Then dial it back over time.

In the end, given the non-critical function of the Controller, I think being a little unbalanced is good for it.

 

[Oni]

I think there is a fundamental flaw with the controller regarding how it relates to the rest of the game. If you make a controller actually good at control then it does one of two things, either the encounters become ridiculously easy or the encounters have to compensate such that the controller role becomes absolutely required.

 

[JPL]

I can think of a few things that leaders can't do, that no other class does currently.

For instance, making walls. Or creating cover or concealment in certain areas.

Another is a power that would create a trapped area. Working similar to cloud of daggers/etc: a square, or a close burst 1 that just stays dormant (does not make an attack) until an enemy (or creature) steps into it. It would likely be an encounter power though.

Agreed, and those would be suitably "controller" versions of the abjurer.

Transmutation is a pretty easy fit, too --- change the physical characteristics of the battlefield or your foes.

Necromancy is tricky insofar as it seems better suited to the shadow power source, but no reason you couldn't have various debuffs fall under this header.

 

[Rechan]

That's one thing I do feel is very lacking: wall powers. I love walls. And the ability to create proper circumstances to allow allies to succeed, or enemies to flounder. Creating difficult terrain is a good example of an offensive battlefield shaping, but I love me walls and fogs and suchlike.

Even the ability to just create higher ground. Or ground period (so you have a few squares of solid space in water).

 

[Destil]

Why does scattering shock do the exact opposite of what its name implies?

 

[FireLance]

Scattering Shock scatters only if you want to waste the secondary attack. Attracting Shock would be a more appropriate name.

Why does scattering shock do the exact opposite of what its name implies?

While I think it could have been better named, it's not entirely inaccurate. You can use it to scatter your allies (the initial attack targets each creature in burst) before grouping your enemies together and attacking them.