Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="OnlineDM" data-source="post: 5582305" data-attributes="member: 90804">Your suspicions are more or less correct for the simplified Essentials classes (this doesn't apply to the Mage, Warpriest, etc. - the classes that still have the AEDU - At-Will, Encounter, Daily, Utility - structure). I've seen a bunch of them in play (and used some of them myself) and they do appear to be simple to play (not just simple to build) compared to original 4e versions of those classes.Thief: He has some tactical choices about which exact move to use this turn, but it doesn't usually matter much - he's going to get combat advantage (either directly from the move itself or from flanking) and not take any opportunity attacks. My take on the thief in action is <a href="http://onlinedm.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/the-4e-thief-is-brutally-effective-and-boring/" target="_blank">here</a>.Slayer: I've only seen one or two in play, but it's about the simplest class in 4e. You walk up to something and smash it in the face for a bunch of damage. The stances are usually even less interesting than the Thief's movement tricks, and it's typical for the Slayer to pick one stance (do I want extra damage or extra accuracy?) and stay in it. Hulk smash.Knight: Slightly more interesting in play since there's an element of trying to position the Knight so that the maximum number of enemies are in the defender aura. Plus, he has to remember to turn that aura on (but really just once per day - then it stays on). I've seen the Knight change stances a little more often than the Slayer. But it's certainly easier than having to remember to mark the people you attacked as with the PHB1 Fighter (sigh  - "Weaponmaster").Hunter: I've played one of these through 4th level in Living Forgotten Realms. He's a little more interesting since the decision about when to use Disruptive Shot is more of a decision than when to use Power Strike (whenever you hit something other than a minion) or Backstab (whenever you want to really wreck something). Disruptive Shot and Clever Shot (the bread and butter attack) also provide choices on a hit (daze/immobilize for Disruptive, prone/slow/slide for Clever). Finding a good place to drop a Rapid Shot is a little bit interesting as well. But overall, I'd say the Hunter is still pretty simple.Scout: I've not actually seen one in action yet, so I can't say too much about it.Cavalier: An interesting case, as the Cavalier actually does have the AEDU structure. However, a player in one of my games created a Cavalier and played her for a few sessions and then asked to change to something else because the Cavalier felt boring to her compared to what the other characters were able to do. Again, the defender aura is simpler than Divine Challenge from the original Paladin. Having played an original Paladin for 10 levels of LFR, I think that the Paladin is generally a pretty straightforward class anyway, so it's not so much an issue of the Cavalier being over-simplified as the Paladin not really being what this particular player was looking for.</blockquote>

Verification