Excerpts: Angels

[Saitou]

Why are people doubting the Angel of Vengeance's tactics? Does 4d10+4d8 fire+4d8 cold+36 in a single turn seem so unreasonable a first turn for a Brute?

Also, it's a shame all angels have two wings. 'Twould've been nice for them to dig a bit into some apocryphal books, but nothing that can't be houseruled. Art is otherwise quite nice. I especially like the faceless bit.

 

[Stalker0]

So we have finally gotten a good look at what a brute can do.

And they definitely pump out a lot more damage than the other types of monsters we've seen. The Angel of Vengeance is quite cool. Does damage when he hits you, does damage when you hit it, and you can't get away from it, it just keeps teleporting to you until you die. That is a cool monster.

 

[mach1.9pants]

So we have finally gotten a good look at what a brute can do.

And they definitely pump out a lot more damage than the other types of monsters we've seen. The Angel of Vengeance is quite cool. Does damage when he hits you, does damage when you hit it, and you can't get away from it, it just keeps teleporting to you until you die. That is a cool monster.

Yeah squishies be afraid, be very afraid!

 

[MaelStorm]

I think we should compare the current stats of the angel of valor with the angel of valor from Dungeons of Dread. Don't have time right now to transcribe both stat blocks, but from a quick skim it looks like nearly every stat is different in small ways. A major change is the HP, going from 57 to 88, confirming what has long been suspected about an across-the-board HP increase from the DDM statblocks

Here's the MM Entry:

Angel of Valor, Level 8 Soldier
Medium immortal humanoid (angel), XP 350

Initiative: +10 Senses Perception +6
Angelic Presence Attacks against the angel of valor take a –2 penalty until the angel is bloodied.
HP: 88; Bloodied: 44
AC: 24; Fortitude: 22, Reflex: 20, Will: 19
Immune: fear; Resist: 10 fire, 10 radiant
Speed: 6, fly 9 (hover)

Longsword (standard; at-will) Weapon; +13 vs. AC; 1d8 + 6 damage.
Dagger (standard; at-will) Weapon; +13 vs. AC; 1d4 + 6 damage.
Blade Fury (standard; at-will) Weapon; The angel of valor makes a longsword attack and a dagger attack.
Lightning Strike (standard; encounter) Lightning; Close burst 1; targets enemies; +11 vs. Fortitude; 1d8 + 4 lightning damage, and the target is dazed until the end of the angel of valor’s next turn.
Fiery Blades (minor, usable only while bloodied; at-will) Fire; Until the start of the angel of valor’s next turn, the angel of valor’s weapons deal fire damage and attack the target’s Reflex defense instead of AC.

Alignment: Any
Languages: Supernal
Skills: Intimidate +12
Str 23 (+10)
Dex 18 (+8)
Wis 14 (+6)
Con 16 (+7)
Int 11 (+4)
Cha 16 (+7)
Equipment: chainmail, longsword, dagger

Here's the DDM Card:

EDIT:
HP got boosted from 55 to 88
Alignment changed from Good to Any
Fly Speed from 8 to 9

 

[Jack99]

Maybe we should compare with the roleplaying side of the card?

 

[TwinBahamut]

I continue to be completely unimpressed by 4E angels. The mercenary element, in particular, is incredibly grating and bad. I don't like it at all. I don't really like the weak justification for making such changes, either. I applaud the changes to demons/devils and the change up in the pantheon, but other than that I really have not been liking the way 4E has been handling gods and other divine beings.

I must also say that I think it is a bit odd that Angels are given such a strong elemental focus. There is no possible way to argue that Archons are "elemental angels" anymore when basic Angels are wreathed in fire or ice.

Actually... Angels and Archons look way too much like each other, and they might be even more similar to each other than they were in 3E. If you compare the Angel of Valor to the Flame Archon, they both really just look like faceless humanoids made of fire with no legs who use weapons and armor. The only substantial difference is that one has a pair of wings. I thought they were trying to go to great lengths to differentiate the different creature groups, not make them more similar...

Also, if Devils are supposedly "Fallen Angels", then why is it that devils look so different than angels? How can a mercenary unaligned being that is willing to serve an evil god even fall in the first place? This is especially strange since evil gods like Bane might very well have both Angel mercenaries and Devil mercenaries working under them at the same time (Angels working directly under Pit Fiends?). It doesn't make any sense to me.

I am looking forward to 4E quite a bit, but I think this whole matter is a big failure on WotC's part.

 

[Incenjucar]

I seem to have missed something... what's an exarch, in 4E, again?

"Angels are more involved in the world and other planes than deities and exarchs. They act both openly and secretly, often acting as emissaries, generals, and even assassins"

 

[hong]

IIRC exarchs are the demigods.

 

[Incenjucar]

Ah. Huh.

I was hoping they were something more unique, perhaps things actually created by deities.

Ah well.

 

[hong]

I'm wondering why they decided to change angels from being created by the gods, to having an independent origin.