Does the swordmage marking power suck?

[Prestidigitalis]

My DM became very... bothered... when I informed him that my mark never went away, no matter how far away I went. His poor, useless elite...

Although you can't use the Immediate Interrupt caused by the attack if you are more than 10 squares from the marked creature. You are taking that into account, right?

 

[yesnomu]

Of course. I never got that far away. It was mostly the way that I didn't need to do anything to sustain it that frustrated him.

 

[Marshall]

...the swordmage mark is rather amazing compared to the other classes. Mind you, I haven't played a warden or looked at it much, as my preference is clearly for the swordmage.

Firstly, the shielding mark is by far the strongest of the bunch. You sit back attacking other foes while the primary marked target just has his damage shut down unless its a striker.

The assault power is best when you have a second defender who can serve as the primary tank. You can mark a target that harasses your other party members, run off to hit some other guys then come back and smash the marked target.

Ensarement is something that has potentual, but I haven't played it yet.

Shielding - Fantastic
Assault - Good
Ensnaring - Worthless

Shielding stops damage. Assault deals damage. Ensnaring? Makes you a target. Everything that makes the other two Aegis useful is defeated by ensnaring mark.

 

[yesnomu]

The fact that it's a reaction, so you can't even use it to negate close hits is definitely a shame.

 

[Hejdun]

This. Defenders are one of those roles you want to double up on, before Controllers or Strikers, and yes, even before Leaders.

100% disagree. Unlike every other role, the the second defender actually actively interferes with the first defender. The value a second defender adds to a party will never approach the value the first defender added.

We have a party with a Fighter and an Assaulting Swordmage. The Swordmage is so overshadowed by the Fighter that I can count the number of Aegis attacks the Swordmage has gotten on one hand (we're level 11 now). First you have to get close to the target to mark it, then you have to run away to make it hard for it to just follow you, then you have to have it attack a teammate, then it has to hit despite your mark, then you have to drop whatever it is you're doing to teleport next to the target and then YOU have to hit, or it does nothing. A lot of times you don't even want to teleport away from where you were to begin with. And once you teleport there, you have to find a way to get away from your mark so he'll provoke it again.

Assault Aegis is the worst mark in the game, and it's not even close. This becomes particularly acute in a party with multiple defenders.

 

[yesnomu]

The point of a defender isn't to constantly punish the marked enemy, it's to put the enemy into a lose-lose situation. If the SM's mark isn't triggering, that means their mark is attacking them--and they have higher defenses/are tougher than the non-defender party members, no? Sounds like he's doing his job, even if it's not as sexy as the way the fighter's doing it.

And please, Ensnaring is much worse than Assault. And the Battlemind looks like it's got some problems at the moment as well...

 

[Nifft]

A lot of times you don't even want to teleport away from where you were to begin with. And once you teleport there, you have to find a way to get away from your mark so he'll provoke it again.

Assault Aegis is the worst mark in the game, and it's not even close. This becomes particularly acute in a party with multiple defenders.

This has been my experience as well. Swordmagi get some Encounter teleportation powers, so it's easy to get away once -- perfect for a Shielding, sucky for an Assault.

Cheers, -- N

 

[DracoSuave]

Shielding - Fantastic
Assault - Good
Ensnaring - Worthless

Shielding stops damage. Assault deals damage. Ensnaring? Makes you a target. Everything that makes the other two Aegis useful is defeated by ensnaring mark.

Don't forget it also gives combat advantage to everyone. That +2 to hit it from everyone is NOT something to sneeze at.


As well, the ensnaring powers are NOT terrible.

 

[Kurtomatic]

I love my assault swordy, although I completely agree that shielding provides better defense. Assaults have been described as dissuaders more than defenders, and I'll cop to that. I focus my swordmage on the strong striker seconday role and a crazy teleportation shtick. My assault mark is only part of what my character does; what I'd like the most for better marks is more of them at once, which I'll eventually get.

What I do have is often the best AC at the table, plenty of hit points and surges (CON secondary, self-heal encounter power), decent attacks, and fantastic mobility. Difficult terrain? Cool; slows them down and not me. Slowed? Somebody remind me to roll my save next round. Grabbed? ORLY? Are you sure?

If I need to open against artillery way in the back: fey step 5 squares to front line; mark some critter; dual lightning strike another 5 squares; and if needed, action point + armathor's step for 5 more squares; "hello, Mr. Archer!" With eladrin swordmage advance, thats 3 weapon attacks (+14/+11 @8th level) and 15 squares of teleportation. If its really important to bounce back an forth repeatedly from the line to the backfield and back, careful use of marking and dimensional bond handles that.

This character can be a bit situational, but he's also very flexible, so there aren't too many combat encounters where I feel like a spare. When my mark is mostly redundant, I focus on damage and bypassing defenses; burst and reflex implement attacks can make me very popular; some LFR mods use LOTS of cheesy swarms.

 

[Kurtomatic]

One other thing that just occurred to me... The -2 mark penalty is a bit perverse when it comes to the aegis of assault; I'd gladly trade the -2 critter penalty for a +2 bonus on my aegis basic attack. That helps the trigger and fits the punishment theme much better, but violates the universal base marking mechanic.