Origins - Swordmage is full of win

[Shadeydm]

From what I was told, the Swordmage will be in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. So, it'll be out sooner than the PHB II.

Yeah I heard that too but I don't see myself buying the book for one class, therefore I was hoping it would reappear in the PHB2 for non FR fans.

 

[Toben the Many]

Agree with PS's concerns. Preventing a marked foe from damaging others is MUCH better than 5-15 radiant damage or having the Chance of hitting a foe when it shifts or aattcks another.

And I am curious about the "Now, it's just you and me...." teleport scenario, especially since teleports are supposed to require line of sight.

That's easy. The room had an arrow slit in it, and the sneak punk was shooting arrows at us from cover. The Warlock teleported into the room and proceeded to get pincushioned, since his best attacks were ranged as well. But I used the Swordmage to change things up. It was me in melee with a ranged attacker. So I had plenty of Opportunity Attacks and my regular attacks.

If it makes a difference, I could only prevent 9 points of damage with the 5th level Swordmage's marking ability. I'm not sure how they got their 9 number, but I'd guess that it's tied into an ability score.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yeah I heard that too but I don't see myself buying the book for one class, therefore I was hoping it would reappear in the PHB2 for non FR fans.

If we're lucky, it also ends up in the DDI - before it costs money.

 

[Vendark]

Agree with PS's concerns. Preventing a marked foe from damaging others is MUCH better than 5-15 radiant damage or having the Chance of hitting a foe when it shifts or aattcks another.

Meh. The Swordmage's mark does sound better than those of the other defenders. But Warlock's Curse is also better than Hunter's Quarry, and that hasn't made the Warlock broken. No sense in worrying before we everything in context.

 

[exile]

I've not always had the best things to say about 4E (but have tried not to be totally derisive either), but I must throw in a vote of goodness for the swordmage. There was a swordmage in the party in the delve events and...

1) The player running him looked to be having a good time.
2) His powers seemed cool, flavorful, and distinct from the other party members.
and
3) He was by no means overpowering; I think my halfling warlock was overall more powerful.

Go swordmage!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Everything sounds very cool and fun EXCEPT this:

The Swordmage's marking ability rocks. Not only do you mark your opponent, but you can prevent your opponent from damaging other people. This was important in the scenarios we played, because I'd mark an opponent, and he would run off somewhere...but become totally impotent because I could prevent him from damaging other people.

Toben, WHAT EXACTLY does the Mark do, EXACTLY? You seem to be dancing around this issue for absolutely no reason other than that you're perhaps uncomfortable with the Mark yourself. You haven't signed an NDA, and you can't possibly "break copyright" by explaining it in your own words. Does it hard-prevent an any from attacking anyone but him? If so that seems criminally stupid on a class that can teleport a lot. Particularly that could be ludicrous on solo mobs.

Or does it soft-stop an enemy in some way?

Explain how it works, please, because right now, you're making the Swordmage sound like a cool class with a horribly broken ability. We know that WotC is not very good at spotting broken marking abilities, given the Paladin fiasco, and one presumes Swordmages have been "locked down" given how soon the FR book is due out.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Toben, WHAT EXACTLY does the Mark do, EXACTLY?
Or does it soft-stop an enemy in some way?

If it makes a difference, I could only prevent 9 points of damage with the 5th level Swordmage's marking ability. I'm not sure how they got their 9 number, but I'd guess that it's tied into an ability score.

He did explain what it did. Having played it myself, I can confirm this tidbit. The 5th level swordmage was able to negate 9 points of damage dealt by the marked enemy. 9 points. That's it. We had people damaged by enemies marked by the swordmage; they just took less damage.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Rechan]

Explain how it works, please, because right now, you're making the Swordmage sound like a cool class with a horribly broken ability. We know that WotC is not very good at spotting broken marking abilities, given the Paladin fiasco, and one presumes Swordmages have been "locked down" given how soon the FR book is due out.

From here

Aegis of Shielding
Swordmage Feature
You create an arcane link between you and a foe, allowing you to instantly
respond to its attacks with a counterassault.
At-Will ✦ Arcane, Teleportation
Minor Action Close burst 2
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: You mark the target. The target remains marked until you use
this power against another target. If you mark other creatures using
other powers, the target is still marked. A creature can be subject to
only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was
already in place.
If your marked target makes an attack that doesn’t include you
as a target, it takes a ---2 penalty to attack rolls. If that attack hits and the attacker is within 10 squares of you, you can use an immediate
interrupt to reduce the damage dealt by that attack to any one
creature by 9 points.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

He did explain what it did. Having played it myself, I can confirm this tidbit. The 5th level swordmage was able to negate 9 points of damage dealt by the marked enemy. 9 points. That's it. We had people damaged by enemies marked by the swordmage; they just took less damage.

Thaumaturge.

I see, apparently I'm losing the ability to read in my old age.

However, more explanation is needed. Edit - Ty Rechan! - I see that's much more reasonable, 9 damage off one attack on one creature per round.

 

[Doug Justice]

I hope this class makes it into the PHB2, sounds really cool.

It has been said before that the swordmage would be in the Forgotten Realms book. The first 4e novel (set in the realms) is titled Swordmage