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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jbear" data-source="post: 5312815" data-attributes="member: 75065">Looking at your party make up you may find that the best way to play a shielding swordmage doesn't quite fit with what you are forced to do to protecct your other party members. Ideally a shielding swordmage wants to mark someone and stay away from that guy, leaving to deal with someone else, and hopefully getting some other melee characters in between you and them. When they attack anyone else they either miss due to the marking penalty or their hit is reduced to something pitiful due to your interrupt Aegis. But with a monk, a warlock and artificer ... you may find you have to just get up in peoples faces and leave all that fancy dancing around. A shielding swordmage is in my mind optimal when the party is strongly melee focused. Actually I prefer a hybrid shielding swordmage/wizard. They can mix it up in close quarters while they drop their Aegis on the chosen victim, then they move back to safety and play the wizard that defends. And of course with all those cantrips they are really fun out of combat as well. But that is when you have a heavily melee focused party, which yours doesn't seem to be. For up in your face, well you can't really look much further than the fighter. And you don't have to be a tempest fighter. They can do fun, interesting stuff with other builds. Here is the one I'm playing (and will play if I get high enough level) in Dark Sun. Obviously isn't in the CB yet. And Dwarves don't have Str/Con option yet but they will do, so I just used Goliath and changed that manually. It uses the Brawler Fighter build (because the pregen character Dark Sun Encounters comes with uses that build) however I've ditched all the grappling stuff and just made the most of having one hand free.Cleave is the main power of the build, and it becomes your everything power as you level up. Deft Hurler is the most fun one which allows you to forgo your extra Cleave damage and make a ranged basic attack that doesn't provoke Opportunity Attacks. Which means you can mark two people with cleave, one of them at a distance (pretty handy!!!) at level 2 (or 1 if you forfeit the AC + REF feat). This required a small investment in DEX, but 16 CON is fine, and 18 Strength ... well just imagine you are playing a Dwarf because Muls are Dark Sun not Eberron ... As you can see the build has two empty feat slots (Dwarven Weapon Training and hand axes).  Versatile weapons as your main weapon are the way to go, so when you're not pulling your magic javelin and hurling it and stashing it away again, you can wield your weapon two handed when you strike (+1 dmg) and then take your defense hand off again afterwards to protect yourself. DM approval may be necessary, I've seen a few inconclusive discussions about this but it seems like fair game to me. This all goes more smoothly with the Quick Draw feat at level 4. There are 2 slots left in the build. But you may want to use them for some feat tax feats or Dwarven Weapon Training. From what I've heard about essentials there are some new pretty cool expertise feats and NAD boosters that might be what would go there. But personally I'd just put some fun stuff in there that tickled your fancy.And well Weapon Master's Strike ... this allows me to carry around a number of weapons and play at the Martial Striker/Defender/Controller, although doubling up is probably a good idea as you will be collecting quite a lot of magic weapons as it is (but that's what the game is about anyway right?), using a Khopesh for example (axe and heavy blade), a Glaive for the reach and Polearm/Heavy Blade and well ... I'm going to talk to my DM about swapping Mace for Flail because Yuka comes with a Bone Alhulak and it just seems to make more sense that you'd slide someone with a flail not a mace (which seems like it shoud be a Push)... and for some reason maces have been abandoned by the 4e Gods in general... which fits Dark Sun ... but still... anyway here is a look. I think it's going to be lots of fun to play and really useful as an in-your-face defender who has a bag of tricks up his sleeve when the occaision arises.====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======Yuka, level 11Mul (Dwarf), Fighter, Pit FighterFighter: Combat SuperiorityFighter Talents: Brawler StyleBackground: Brother in Battle (Brother in Battle Benefit)FINAL ABILITY SCORESStr 21, Con 19, Dex 15, Int 9, Wis 14, Cha 11.STARTING ABILITY SCORESStr 16, Con 14, Dex 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.AC: 25 Fort: 24 Reflex: 18 Will: 18HP: 94 Surges: 13 Surge Value: 23TRAINED SKILLSIntimidate +10, Endurance +17, Athletics +17UNTRAINED SKILLSAcrobatics +7, Arcana +4, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +5, Dungeoneering +7, Heal +7, History +4, Insight +7, Nature +9, Perception +7, Religion +4, Stealth +7, Streetwise +5, Thievery +7FEATSLevel 1: Brawler Guard (+1 AC +1 REF when you have a free hand)Level 2: Deft Hurler Style (forgo extra cleave damge to make a ranged basic attack; No OAs are provoked)Level 4: Quick Draw (Now you can pull out that Javelin as part of the Cleave and stow it as a minor)Level 6: Untamed Berserker Style (Can forgo extra damage to receive THPs)Level 8: Level 10:Level 11: Heavy Blade Opportunity (Whoah, think about it ... now you can Cleave or Weapon Master Strike as an Opportunity Attack! ANd when you Cleave you can ... Whoah! So that investment in DEX just paid its dividends!)POWERSFighter at-will 1: CleaveFighter at-will 1: Weapon Master's StrikeFighter encounter 1: Passing AttackFighter daily 1: Comeback Strike (these are pretty Dark Sun focused where survival is pretty touch and go)Fighter utility 2: Inspiring Fortitude (and the Premade characters aren't so great... the team needs all the help they can get)Fighter encounter 3: Bull Charge (I think this is a good way to start a fight but at level 11 you can retrain this for Rain of Blows now your DEX has reached 15)Fighter daily 5: Rain of SteelFighter utility 6: Unbreakable (again, I'd say look at the power selection, decisions have been heavily influenced by the ridiculous damage output of monsters encountered so far)Fighter encounter 7: Come and Get It (I like this one... pull  everyone in and then action point your Daily Power below! Ouch!)Fighter daily 9: Thicket of BladesFighter utility 10: Fighter's GritITEMSScale Armor, , Javelin +1, Khopesh, Mace, Glaive====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======Also I could post the runepriest/fighter hybrid I run in my other game which is pretty effective defender that can step into both the striker and leader roles. Plus it has the 'magical element' to it that you are perhaps looking for in a swordmage. Although the source is divine it seems less praying for help and more hammering out your magical runes.</blockquote>

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