I have Heroes of Shadows

[Aegeri]

I think he's saying they have two at-wills, the one that was previewed which gives you CA and a second one, which gives you a bonus to damage. Personally the bonus to damage sounds like the way to go to me.

 

[Gladius Legis]

The information on Blackguards is interesting, though I think the Fury Blackguard might be a bit better off unless the Domination Blackguards self damage applies for the whole round (Or just the next attack?).

Looks like a balancing act here. The Fury at-will, uh, leaves a lot to be desired, but I agree he appears to have the better extra damage mechanic. Fury also seems to have the better Grim Blackguard encounter power (at least if you're going for raw damage).

 

[WalterKovacs]

The nice thing about the hexblade having both weapon/implement is normally you can get a choice of things like expertise. For example the Hexblades with light blades can get a lot out of light blade expertise (and in fact it's a really good option). Flail hexblades just don't get that choice, because there is no flail expertise and it makes the non-inclusion of it just silly. Especially as there are other builds/classes who wouldn't mind it either. Oh well.

It would have been nice. (They even suggest that flails are a good weapon for the blackguard). Maybe they'll put that in a DDI article (along with say, slayer/knight options for flails, etc).

The information on Blackguards is interesting, though I think the Fury Blackguard might be a bit better off unless the Domination Blackguards self damage applies for the whole round (Or just the next attack?).

The self damage only applies to a single damage roll. On the other hand, outside of a few close burst attacks, most attacks are single targets. So, unless you are able to get c/a against multiple opponents and use a multi-target attack (or get O/A's against someone you have c/a against), you deal more damage with Domination, but the Fury deal more damage with multiple hits. (Also, Domination isn't all or nothing in terms of c/a, so if you have problems getting c/a, you still have the option of dealing extra damage). And, if nothing else, you get lots of ways to get thp, so it isn't hard to meet that part of the equation.

Ahh, I guess that answered my next question then. First daily at Lv. 5 a la the Cavalier?

Yup, they get dailies at all the other correct levels, just miss 1 (where they get the encounter utility instead).

Hmm, I don't remember this from the Fury at-will that was previewed. Or is this something else entirely?

That was a brainfart on my part. I editted the original post to what it should be. It's like the other vice I mentioned, it modifies the level 1 utility. I was just typing on autopilot and mentioned the at-will again instead.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Just wanted to throw this out there.

You know how PHB Paladin has a power to take damage on behalf of an ally? The Blackguard has a utility where, if they are going to drop to 0 HP, they take no damage and give that damage to an ally instead (and then give it 10 thp). I just think that's hilarious.

 

[Aegeri]

So I'm a little unclear on the blackguard: They get 1 at-will given to them by their vice and can pick a second at-will from whatever they want?

 

[WalterKovacs]

So I'm a little unclear on the blackguard: They get 1 at-will given to them by their vice and can pick a second at-will from whatever they want?

Nope, all blackguards get the same 1st at-will, it deals extra damage for each adjacent enemy (+2 per, up to a max of +8), and their 2nd at-will is based on their vice.

 

[Aegeri]

Nope, all blackguards get the same 1st at-will, it deals extra damage for each adjacent enemy (+2 per, up to a max of +8), and their 2nd at-will is based on their vice.

Ah. That's a bit poop, but still that's not the worst thing ever.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Another FYI: The cleric stuff is (nearly) all implement based. So, if someone wanted a warpriest that wasn't focused on weapons, the death domain is for you (and thus is supports the laser cleric as well, since it's implement based wisdom attacks). In fact, some of the attack powers are useful for Strength based clerics, since they are straight effects, no rolling to hit, and they don't have a stat mod for damage [some do, but are still no attack roll powers]. And they are close burst/melee so that works for weapon wielders.

[One example, at 29, the cleric gets a melee touch daily where they spend a surge to deal bloodied value in necrotic damage, as an effect, no roll necessary.]

So, Con-based warlocks are still shafted, but there is a good ammount of stuff that can be taken by a STR cleric that doesn't have a great WIS.

 

[Greatfrito]

Hm. I'm not clear on one aspect of the vampire class.

Does it actually get more uses of the "Blood Drinker" encounter power as it gains levels, or just the "spend a surge, deal more damage" power, or both?

 

[WalterKovacs]

Hm. I'm not clear on one aspect of the vampire class.

Does it actually get more uses of the "Blood Drinker" encounter power as it gains levels, or just the "spend a surge, deal more damage" power, or both?

It gets both. At level 3 it gets Feral Assault (the surge spender). At 7 it gets a second Blood Drinker. If you take Vampire Noble, you get a 3rd use of Blood Drinker at 11. At 13, you get an extra surge per day. At 17, unleashed fury replaces feral assault. (it's basically the same attack with more damage). At 23, blood drinker is improved (you get temp hp as well as the surge).

So you get a max of 3 uses of blood drinker per encounter at 11, but it does require you take the paragon path, otherwise you only get 2. Your other encounter power is feral assault (or unleashed fury), the attack you can spend a surge on to either target a second creature or boost the damage against one.

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Anyway guys, that's it for tonight. I'll check to see if there are any new questions tommorow after I've gotten some sleep.