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<blockquote data-quote="Spatula" data-source="post: 4442340" data-attributes="member: 2198">Yeah, this is my thinking as well.&nbsp; Monsters don't do enough damage to really be any kind of threat through the swordmage's damage reduction - and they're marked too, so the monsters are at -2 to hit and -7ish to damage, just at 1st level.&nbsp; The aegis of shielding basically becomes, &quot;negate this monster's (1st) attack each round, unless it attacks the swordmage.&quot;&nbsp; And unlike the paladin's divine challenge, there's no requirement that you stay in attack range of the creature.&nbsp; You do need to be within 10 squares of your allies, though, in order to shield them.Modelling the aegis as a bonus to AC (or to keep it simple, a further penalty on the monster's hit roll) would be more reasonable IMO.I'm also not sure when you'd ever use aegis of assault over the aegis of shielding, since the class is Int-based and won't have very effective basic attacks.&nbsp; A choice between negating a monster's attack and the possibility of dealing a few points of damage, isn't a very good choice.As far as offsets go, the class is a bit less durable than the fighter and the paladin - 8 healing surges vs 9 &amp; 10 respectively, and no bonus to Fort or Reflex defense from the class or from using a shield.&nbsp; The swordmage should have a good Reflex regardless, since Int is the prime stat.EDIT: Actually nevermind, the increased emphasis on Con makes the number of surges a wash.&nbsp; A defender swordmage has no real use for Str aside from getting hide armor proficiency, so everything goes into Int and Con.&nbsp; The numbers actually seem to come out roughly the same for everyone (assuming standard array and everyone having +2 items, fighter is wearing plate &amp; swordmage is wearing hide).[code]Human Fighter 8&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Human Paladin 8&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Human Swordmage 8STR 20&nbsp; &nbsp; HP 66&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; STR 15&nbsp; &nbsp; HP 63&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; STR 13&nbsp; &nbsp; HP 67CON 15&nbsp; &nbsp; Surges 11&nbsp; &nbsp; CON 12&nbsp; &nbsp; Surges 11&nbsp; &nbsp; CON 16&nbsp; &nbsp; Surges 11DEX 12&nbsp; &nbsp; AC 26&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; DEX 11&nbsp; &nbsp; AC 26&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; DEX 11&nbsp; &nbsp; AC 27INT 10&nbsp; &nbsp; Fort 24&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; INT 10&nbsp; &nbsp; Fort 20&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; INT 20&nbsp; &nbsp; Fort 20WIS 14&nbsp; &nbsp; Refl 20&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; WIS 14&nbsp; &nbsp; Refl 20&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; WIS 12&nbsp; &nbsp; Refl 23CHA 11&nbsp; &nbsp; Will 19&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; CHA 20&nbsp; &nbsp; Will 23&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; CHA 10&nbsp; &nbsp; Will 20[/code]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatula, post: 4442340, member: 2198"] Yeah, this is my thinking as well. Monsters don't do enough damage to really be any kind of threat through the swordmage's damage reduction - and they're marked too, so the monsters are at -2 to hit and -7ish to damage, just at 1st level. The aegis of shielding basically becomes, "negate this monster's (1st) attack each round, unless it attacks the swordmage." And unlike the paladin's divine challenge, there's no requirement that you stay in attack range of the creature. You do need to be within 10 squares of your allies, though, in order to shield them. Modelling the aegis as a bonus to AC (or to keep it simple, a further penalty on the monster's hit roll) would be more reasonable IMO. I'm also not sure when you'd ever use aegis of assault over the aegis of shielding, since the class is Int-based and won't have very effective basic attacks. A choice between negating a monster's attack and the possibility of dealing a few points of damage, isn't a very good choice. As far as offsets go, the class is a bit less durable than the fighter and the paladin - 8 healing surges vs 9 & 10 respectively, and no bonus to Fort or Reflex defense from the class or from using a shield. The swordmage should have a good Reflex regardless, since Int is the prime stat. EDIT: Actually nevermind, the increased emphasis on Con makes the number of surges a wash. A defender swordmage has no real use for Str aside from getting hide armor proficiency, so everything goes into Int and Con. The numbers actually seem to come out roughly the same for everyone (assuming standard array and everyone having +2 items, fighter is wearing plate & swordmage is wearing hide). [code]Human Fighter 8 Human Paladin 8 Human Swordmage 8 STR 20 HP 66 STR 15 HP 63 STR 13 HP 67 CON 15 Surges 11 CON 12 Surges 11 CON 16 Surges 11 DEX 12 AC 26 DEX 11 AC 26 DEX 11 AC 27 INT 10 Fort 24 INT 10 Fort 20 INT 20 Fort 20 WIS 14 Refl 20 WIS 14 Refl 20 WIS 12 Refl 23 CHA 11 Will 19 CHA 20 Will 23 CHA 10 Will 20[/code] [/QUOTE]

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