Essentials Paladin (Sentinel) is up

[UngeheuerLich]

I would have preferred divine sanction used as paladin marking mechanic. The rest seems fine.

 

[Primal]

I don't think its the hundreds of thousands 3.5/Pathfinder players, as much as the 25 millions lapsed players of former editions.

On topic: I honestly didn't think I would find a use for Essentials, but as it is now, I am ditching 4e core asap. Essentials is what 4e should have been from the start.

Hey, stop dissing us, Jack!

As a Pathfinder guy myself, this is actually the first preview that has got me interested in Essentials classes. Now, I had thought about not getting any 4E (or Essentials) products before the core books would be reprinted with errata, but I may have to reconsider my stance. I mean, the latest news may not appeal to 4E player base, but I think I could settle to Class Compendium + RC (plus DM goodies, of course) and finally give 4E a try. And the cavalier looks so interesting (IMO it seems far better than the "classic" 4E paladin) that I might get at least one of the "class" books, too.

 

[fuzzlewump]

Why isn't the cavalier Martial and Divine, like we saw for the essentials ranger? I was sure it would be both especially after reading "Paladins are well trained with their weapons and armor, but they augment that skill with divine powers that allow them to shield their allies and smite their enemies." Well, on second thought, 'well trained with their weapons and armor' could be said of nearly any class regardless of power source, but I figured the Primal/Martial 'hybrid' ranger was going to set a precedent for the paladin.

Also, we don't know how Paladins punish enemies violating the Defender's Aura, right?

 

[erf_beto]

Why isn't the cavalier Martial and Divine, like we saw for the essentials ranger? I was sure it would be both especially after reading "Paladins are well trained with their weapons and armor, but they augment that skill with divine powers that allow them to shield their allies and smite their enemies." Well, on second thought, 'well trained with their weapons and armor' could be said of nearly any class regardless of power source, but I figured the Primal/Martial 'hybrid' ranger was going to set a precedent for the paladin.

Also, we don't know how Paladins punish enemies violating the Defender's Aura, right?

Yeah, I was excited about these hybrid sources, I really thought the paladin should have both. Then again, the warpriest has lots of martial flavor, and it's just divine.

Regarding the punishments, I'm thinking the Righteous Radiance power will be a Divine Challenge like power, dealing radiant damage to punish a foe, and Righteous Shield will probably reduce the damage the ally takes, like the shielding swordmage does. Just a guess.

Anyway, I love this preview. The cavalier is, like others have said, what the Paladin class is all about. I love their choice of Virtues as means to differentiate one from another, and I like the fluff regarding blackguards and their Vices. Very thematic...

Also, have you notice this class gets Daily Powers on levels 5 and 9, but not at level 1? I love how they've been messing with the structure of 4e.

 

[fuzzlewump]

Also, have you notice this class gets Daily Powers on levels 5 and 9, but not at level 1? I love how they've been messing with the structure of 4e.

Didn't notice that, but that's cool. I think it would be funny/cool if the paladin could take Cleric (STR based, most likely) dailies as well as their own, to give a nod to Paladins of 3.X and before using cleric spells as they leveled.

I doubt they would do that though, for balance issues and just to keep everything in its own design space so as to not have to worry about doing balancing acts later.

 

[Dalamar]

I would guess it's more likely that either Righteous Radiance or Righteous Shield is the Cavalier's 1st-level daily, just pre-chosen. Same seems to hold true for the second level (the table notes them getting Restore Vitality instead of a Utility Power).

 

[TerraDave]

Like the flavor text (blackguards in the monster vault?). And definatly a class that can benefit from a more straight forward take. The clear secondary leader vs secondary striker virtue is also nice.

 

[brehobit]

They're less different than you think. For example Cleaving Assault is just Cleave presented in a different manner, and Power Strike/Backstab combined with stances/tricks are normal Encounter powers. Really, the only thing that's changed is the absence of Daily powers, which isn't all that weird given that Psionic classes (other than Monk) don't have Encounter powers.

Yeah, but still pretty different. The at wills are fairly similar, though with enough differences to be interesting. The encounter powers are actually very different--just one power and very simple at that. Plus it only works on the hit of a basic attack.

Different enough for sure.

 

[captainspud]

Was anybody else surprised to see his class features not including a mount by default (even if it popped up at a later level)? The word "cavalier" kind of implies cavalry, no?

 

[Jack99]

Was anybody else surprised to see his class features not including a mount by default (even if it popped up at a later level)? The word "cavalier" kind of implies cavalry, no?

Even cavaliers have to start somewhere In this case, on foot.