Mearls: Druid a Striker/Controller (maybe?)

[questing gm]

I'm hoping they split the druid in two, actually - a shapeshifter class and another spellslinging.

I think the most they would do is offer 2 builds, not 2 seperate classes.

 

[Steely Dan]

I think the ranger was originallly meant to be primal instead of martial.

I do believe I read that they originally wanted the ranger to be a controller, but didn't have a good enough bead on what a controller entailed earlier on in the design, I guess that is why the archer build ranger is dripping with controller.

 

[lutecius]

I do believe I read that they originally wanted the ranger to be a controller, but didn't have a good enough bead on what a controller entailed earlier on in the design, I guess that is why the archer build ranger is dripping with controller.

The only place i read that was here in the enworld forum. Did a designer actually mention it? Controller seems weird for a ranger but again, i'm not sure what this role is. It seems to overlap with both striker and leader anyway.

 

[davethegame]

The only place i read that was here in the enworld forum. Did a designer actually mention it? Controller seems weird for a ranger but again, i'm not sure what this role is. It seems to overlap with both striker and leader anyway.

Yes, in the seminar I attended run by Mike Mearls (http://www.critical-hits.com/2008/0...hing-you-wanted-to-know-about-fourth-edition/) he said that they were thinking Ranger would be a controller so that there would be 2 of each role in the core book, but it just didn't work with the concept of the Ranger.

Also, answering a question further up, as the guy who conducted that interview I can tell you that Mike was definitely saying "no" to hybrid roles, as least in the stage of development they're in now.

 

[Dedekind]

Surely CHA will be the tertiary stat.

Barbarian could be a highly mobile defender (like the swordmage).

I think druids will be strikers. Spells that immobilize or pester a single foe (entangle and summon swarm) and shapeshifting abilities that allow for mobility and high damage output.

But, I like druid best as a controller. Entangle effects and summoned allies from nature all seem to fit in to a controller type and I never felt that the shifting and the spells complemented each other (from a flavor point of view).

 

[TerraDave]

On his gleemax blog, David Noonan did float the idea of a hybrid druid, and that may be exactly what Mearls is talking about.

And now it is confirmed that is not going to happen. (Noonan also mentioned shifting and weather magic, we will have to see if those are still in).

But, to Noonan's credit, these statements he hedged. "Could be", not "will be".

So no broken promises.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

For the Barbarian I personally hope he is a Defender so they can base it off the extremely old-style of Barbarian like the Berserker in Celtic mythology (forgot the name). Who built a wall of corpses at the end of a bridge by fighting off hordes of enemies.

That legend even shows off how epic-rage would look like, since the Berserker "Warped" and became a monstrous beast while fighting.

 

[frankthedm]

Barbarian - Melee striker with defender flavoring. Damage boost trigged by being attacked or by being bloodied.