Dragon #382 - Swordmage Essentials

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

New Essentials article is up: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Swordmage Essentials)

In many ways, the swordmage is a study in contradictions. A lightly armored defender. A front-line fighter who teleports around the battlefield. A melee warrior who wields flashy arcane spells. These contradictions confuse those who don’t understand the way of the swordmage, often leading them to believe their bladewielding opponent weak or vulnerable. As defenders, swordmages stand between their allies and the monsters who seek to devour them. However, most swordmages have a strong secondary flavor either of striker if they favor mobility and high-damage attacks, or of controller if they rely on blasts, ranged attacks, and enemy lockdown effects. Now those can be augmented with six new feats, seven new spells, and plenty of advice on how to get the most from your swordmage character.

I think it's very well written and makes sense to me. The tactical considerations described seem to work with my experiences with the class so far. (Limited as the are, I think we've seen them two or three times so far in play.)
I like how the article uses a specific combat scene and describes your decision-making process depending on the details. Of course, it could be done more thoroughly, but it should give solid advice to a player unfamiliar with the character class (and maybe with D&D 4 tactics in general).

 

[vagabundo]

Are you going to get into trouble for not posting in the 4e rules section. hmmm who knows!!

Anyway, Swordmages, I'm still not sure how to taken them. None of my players have shown an interest so it is not a huge deal to me.

I think it is cool to have some classes be niche; maybe there just aren't many of them around. They can join Assassins, Avengers and Shamans in the Rare category of my game worlds MM.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I hate worrying about right places for a threads, but this thread is for me not about lawyering the rules or stuff like that. Otherwise I would have put it there.

The Essentials articles are about advice for (new) players, and especially this one seemed more to go into details on "tactical" considerations, which I think is not directly tied to rules.

 

[Rechan]

I wonder.

All the other defenders thus far can mark multiple enemies. The swordmage though cannot. He has one power that grants his aegis on multiple targets now, but the SM has no equivalent of Divine Sanction.

If they gave the Paladin the DS, why would the Swordmage not receive it?

The only reason I can think of is that the SM's mark works best when he avoids his target, rather than engages, so he's better off than any of the other defenders.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I wonder.

All the other defenders thus far can mark multiple enemies. The swordmage though cannot. He has one power that grants his aegis on multiple targets now, but the SM has no equivalent of Divine Sanction.

If they gave the Paladin the DS, why would the Swordmage not receive it?

The only reason I can think of is that the SM's mark works best when he avoids his target, rather than engages, so he's better off than any of the other defenders.

I think you might be on the right track.

While a Fighter can mark multiple foes, he can still attack only one with his mark-related ability. That never gets better. All other foes he might have marked "only" have a -2 penalty to attack. It's similar for the Warden. And both present themselves a target at that point - they are adjacent and need to stay there pretty much to gain benefits from it.

The Swordmage can disengage and still hampers the marked guy. The marked guy actually has to do actively follow the Swordmage, so he'll usually suffer more consequences from the mark than with other classes. Either he takes the full marks penalties, or he follows the Swordmage, opening himself up to other attacks and leaving a possibly advantagous position.

 

[MrMyth]

Yeah - as a Swordmage, I would often mark one enemy, and then engage another (or several others). Even if not marked, if I'm the only one adjacent to the enemy, that definitely encourages them to deal with me rather than chase down others.

Other defenders can't really run away from their marked targets like that.

Swordmages also get a lot of effective interrupts that cancel enemy attacks, teleport enemies away from allies, etc; and, of course, more multi-aegising at Paragon and Epic levels.

 

[HandofMystra]

Yeah - as a Swordmage, I would often mark one enemy, and then engage another (or several others).

That is the typical strategy for my swordmage.
I find that these articles that give you build advice based on your detailed party role (primary defender vs secondary defender, in this case) ignore the realities of RPGA play. I do not know my role in the party until I sit down at the table. I will frequently play with a pally that can give Vulnerability 5 Radiant so I am thinking of buying a Sunblade to use with him (and I know that I will be secondary defender in that case).