I have Heroes of Shadows

[Paper_Bard]

I have an issue with the binders. I picked up my heroes of shadow just today and it seems the binder doesnt get to add his or her secondary stat like the hexblade, even though I can see no reason why not. They have no ability to curse, and their damage isn't sorceror level... what's up?

 

[WalterKovacs]

I have an issue with the binders. I picked up my heroes of shadow just today and it seems the binder doesnt get to add his or her secondary stat like the hexblade, even though I can see no reason why not. They have no ability to curse, and their damage isn't sorceror level... what's up?

They are controllers. They aren't supposed to deal striker levels of damage.

 

[AntlerDruid]

They are controllers. They aren't supposed to deal striker levels of damage.

I got my copy today.

I am kind of disappointed that binders only get 1 summoning power at 9th though & 1 at higher level. The 2 shadow feats dealing with summoning is not worth it to them - only for wizards who already get enough stuff. I have actually really started to hate the glutton on wizards.

There are also no good wands or rods for Binders. Some new magic items would have been nice in the book besides the mundane stuff.

I do really like the Binder class though.

and why the 2nd level Warlock utility repeat that grants invisibility?? That was already in Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms! No need to repeat in again WOTC.

On a whole though I like the book.

 

[WalterKovacs]

wow The altar powers sound cool. If the servant of vice counts as an ally then when using the dailies that would be cool time to use it. Ongoing damage with no save if ally is near sounds brutal. It is not hard to make sure an ally is always near. The dom is going to love cunning weapons with all the ongoing damage.

How is the fluff on the vices themselves? Is it good fluff?

It sounds like it only prevents the save the first turn from the looks of it. Basically the enemy has to find a way to end it's turn away from the allies, which could mean provoking O/A's and end up causing more damage, just for a chance to save.

The servant of vice doesn't count as an ally (it's only a conjuration).

As far as fluff goes, they have a little write up at the start of the class write up, and then a bigger one at the start of the section with their at-will and other vice based features. They do a good job of showing how different the two vices are ... a blackguard of domination and a blackguard of fury would probably HATE each other in the same way a CN rogue and a paladin in a 3.5 game would. They are presented sort of as representative of order and chaos in a way, and sort of give some tips on how to play the character, as well as show the "path to evil" that either could slide down, either going to full blown tyranny or indiscriminate destruction for each of the vices.

The Blackguard's design and development mentioned four starting vices, two cut from the book. Does the Blackguard's section tell us what the other vices might be?

Nope. It does go with the "two are presented in this book" language, but outside of that, doesn't really hint at what they could be.

 

[WalterKovacs]

There are also no good wands or rods for Binders. Some new magic items would have been nice in the book besides the mundane stuff.

Hopefully the Shadowfell boxed set they are coming out with in May will handle the magic item load a bit. It seems like they are sort of a paired package, a bit like the old "player's guide/DM's guide" for settings.

Since they are doing a ki focus article for the vampires and assassins, hopefully next month they can put together a rod article for binders (and hexblades for that matter, most rods are tied to cursing warlocks, artificers or invokers).

 

[Paper_Bard]

They are controllers. They aren't supposed to deal striker levels of damage.

Ahh... thanks.

 

[TirionAnthion]

HoS

I just picked up my copy and have been thumbing through it. So far, outside of the Assassin and some of the pack boons and maybe a few other misc things, the powers all have a class and level. This means that they are usable beyond these builds. Also I was glad to see that I can make a Blackguard and still choose powers beyond this book.

Overall I like what I have seen so far. Admittedly I DM more than play so I have a slightly different perspective on the book than someone who plays more than DMs. I certainly disagree with some of the reviews that have knocked the book for being Essentials only. I did not get that from reading the book.

I did notice that casters are favored in the book and they get alot of love. I would have liked to see a few more martial choices but that is not a deal breaker for me. For now I am going to get back to reading the book.

 

[AntlerDruid]

Hopefully the Shadowfell boxed set they are coming out with in May will handle the magic item load a bit. It seems like they are sort of a paired package, a bit like the old "player's guide/DM's guide" for settings.

Since they are doing a ki focus article for the vampires and assassins, hopefully next month they can put together a rod article for binders (and hexblades for that matter, most rods are tied to cursing warlocks, artificers or invokers).

Thanks for the info WalterKovacs

The drow female blackguard photo in HoS is awesome too.

 

[WalterKovacs]

I did notice that casters are favored in the book and they get alot of love. I would have liked to see a few more martial choices but that is not a deal breaker for me. For now I am going to get back to reading the book.

I think it may just be a result of the subject matter. Martial classes don't easily lend themselves to dabbling in forbidden magic kind of concepts. Maybe if they didn't already have the assassin [and promised to make an essential version], they could have made it a rogue variant instead, but really shadow as a power source does seem to lend itself to arcane/divine more so than primal, martial or psionic. Depending on the focus of future books, that can go other ways hopefully. [Like the eldarin knight concept could be the kind of thing that could end up in the heroes of the feywild book].

 

[1darklord]

Hey,

Any chance of some more info on the cleric powers that you mentioned would be good for Laser Clerics? (mine is getting excited at the thought of new big blasts and bursts!)

Also any new healing powers for Clerics?

Cheers,

Daniel.