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How would you do the sword mage in 5e?
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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8864353" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>Yes, swordmages got some fun "you violated my aegis" encounter powers.</p><p></p><p>And unlike the paladin, "I mark you and run away" was on-brand for a swordmage, as it was an evasive defender.</p><p></p><p>Paladin's mark required they attack the target or move adjacent to it. Swordmage's by design did not. So the swordmage was encouraged to kite their foes -- mark one foe, move off and engage another, then if the first foe didn't chase them punish them for it.</p><p></p><p>...</p><p></p><p>In 4e, the swordmage could use int to AC in light armor (instead of dex).</p><p></p><p>In 5e this is off-brand.</p><p></p><p>In 4e, the swordmage got a free +1 AC from holding a sword (its ward), and another +2 if the offhand was free (basically replacing a shield). In 4e, there are no shields with AC boosts, so that +2 was a full replacement. So their choice was +2 AC, or higher damage from 2H weapons.</p><p></p><p>Some abilities got a further boost from 2H weapons as well.</p><p></p><p>Their spells used int (even if they involved a melee attack), but the assault (teleport and hit) used a basic attack; so they wanted strength as well. This turned out to have ... math issues ... so a feat was added giving them int on basic attacks (in 4e, your int bonus could hit +10, and foes AC expected your stat to scale; so unless you heavily invested in strength, assault swordmage mark became gimped. Similarly, your OAs became gimped).</p><p></p><p>5e has less of this.</p><p></p><p>The light/medium armor problem remains. To have decent AC, you need 14 Dex in medium armor, and you need to cap dex in light armor. If your class is making melee attacks you are going to have a huge incentive to use finesse weapons.</p><p></p><p>There are no light armor "attack with weapon" classes that don't use Dex; barbarian is close, but really 14 Dex+medium armor is optimal (they are just <em>less</em> gimped in lighter armor then others, especially if they have a high con) defensively. And they use rage (1/2 damage from most weapon attacks) for defence.</p><p></p><p>I don't think siloing swordmages into "finesse weapons" is great.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 8864353, member: 72555"] Yes, swordmages got some fun "you violated my aegis" encounter powers. And unlike the paladin, "I mark you and run away" was on-brand for a swordmage, as it was an evasive defender. Paladin's mark required they attack the target or move adjacent to it. Swordmage's by design did not. So the swordmage was encouraged to kite their foes -- mark one foe, move off and engage another, then if the first foe didn't chase them punish them for it. ... In 4e, the swordmage could use int to AC in light armor (instead of dex). In 5e this is off-brand. In 4e, the swordmage got a free +1 AC from holding a sword (its ward), and another +2 if the offhand was free (basically replacing a shield). In 4e, there are no shields with AC boosts, so that +2 was a full replacement. So their choice was +2 AC, or higher damage from 2H weapons. Some abilities got a further boost from 2H weapons as well. Their spells used int (even if they involved a melee attack), but the assault (teleport and hit) used a basic attack; so they wanted strength as well. This turned out to have ... math issues ... so a feat was added giving them int on basic attacks (in 4e, your int bonus could hit +10, and foes AC expected your stat to scale; so unless you heavily invested in strength, assault swordmage mark became gimped. Similarly, your OAs became gimped). 5e has less of this. The light/medium armor problem remains. To have decent AC, you need 14 Dex in medium armor, and you need to cap dex in light armor. If your class is making melee attacks you are going to have a huge incentive to use finesse weapons. There are no light armor "attack with weapon" classes that don't use Dex; barbarian is close, but really 14 Dex+medium armor is optimal (they are just [I]less[/I] gimped in lighter armor then others, especially if they have a high con) defensively. And they use rage (1/2 damage from most weapon attacks) for defence. I don't think siloing swordmages into "finesse weapons" is great. [/QUOTE]
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How would you do the sword mage in 5e?
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