Scoundrel Rogue Playtest Up


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Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, rogues are one of the more controllery strikers so it makes sense to retain the control aspect of this power. And that aspect of it is still impressive.

Considering that the power is called Blinding Barrage, it needed to (1) blind and (2) be a barrage, without also being overly complex or overpowered. With those design goals in mind, and I think they did a reasonable job.

They are falling into the same pitfall with Sorcerer, they fixed the issue slightly with Monk, giving them the ability to apply extra damage to one target in their AoE's.

They could easily have changed Blinding Barrage to:

Hit: Dexterity modifier damage, and the target is blinded until the end of your next turn. One creature you hit in the blast takes additional 2[W] damage.
Miss: Dexterity modifier damage.

It would still blind, and be a barrage, and neither be overly complex nor overpowered. Striker standard actions should do damage. If it was a minor action, I'd be fine with just the Dex damage. But particularly on a standard action daily, I want to see damage.
 

We (well especielly the rogue) have had a lot of fun with blinding barrage. But I guess the nerf won't really hinder that.
 

Last week, I reopened my subscription, and two or three characters changed class names. One was the rogue, that changed to the scoundrel. Is this expected? It was very confusing to me I look through the powers and didn't see much change from the previous character sheet.
 

Last week, I reopened my subscription, and two or three characters changed class names. One was the rogue, that changed to the scoundrel. Is this expected? It was very confusing to me I look through the powers and didn't see much change from the previous character sheet.

This has been planned for a bit. They took material from the cancelled Class Compendium and have been posting it for the PHB1 classes. They are adopting the formatting that appeared in Heroes of the Fallen Lands and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, and giving the PHB1 classes new subclass names (to match things like Knight, Warpriest, and Mage) that fall under larger umbrella classes.

So far, I think we've seen the Marshal (Warlord), Weaponmaster (Fighter), Templar (Cleric), and now the Scoundrel (Rogue). Some have had large changes (like the templar/cleric), others have had very minor changes (like the scoundrel/roque).
 

Other than upset some people, I'm not sure what exactly the blinding barrage nerf is accomplishing. If they don't want drow to deal 2d8 damage with it because they think it's too much or something, they could reduce it to 1[W]. Reducing a standard action daily attack power for a striker to deal such piddly damage seems like a rather unnecessary change.

There were more elegant solutions if they are worried about multi-target damage, like applying the 2[W] against only one target in burst you hit. But a striker daily power should do some damage. If it was an invoker or wizard power, I'd say sure, no problem, ditching the damage dice isn't as big a deal, controllers are after effects. but for the rogue, the change doesn't sit well with me.

I think the argument was that, well, pretty much every rogue took blinding barrage. It needed to be reigned in. Not sure if they went too far, but that is what the playtest is for. You give up some basic striker power... in return for some serious controller power, in the form of an area attack with a potent condition. Seems fair enough.
 

Isn't changing the name of Rogue Weapon Talent to Scoundrel Weapon Talent going to have an impact on some feats?

I haven't read the article yet, (damn you work filters!) but if the Rouge Weapon Talent and the Scoundrel Weapon Talent do the same thing I would think that the feats interact with them the same way.
I could be wrong. It happens from time to time. 
 

I haven't read the article yet, (damn you work filters!) but if the Rouge Weapon Talent and the Scoundrel Weapon Talent do the same thing I would think that the feats interact with them the same way.
I could be wrong. It happens from time to time. 

It would be more a matter of RAW, where a feat which actually had the term "rogue weapon talent" in its text would no longer technically apply to a Scoundrel which has "scoundrel weapon talent" instead. Obviously it would be easy enough for people to ignore that, but you get into all the usual ugly debates about RAW vs RAI and playing in official venues.
 

I think the argument was that, well, pretty much every rogue took blinding barrage. It needed to be reigned in. Not sure if they went too far, but that is what the playtest is for. You give up some basic striker power... in return for some serious controller power, in the form of an area attack with a potent condition. Seems fair enough.

My argument is more philosophical than power level related. I don't really care if they reign in the power in some fashion. It was a really potent power, possibly still is, but that's not the point. The main question is, is it a good fit for the rogue? In its current incarnation, I'd be inclined to say no, hence my proposed tweak.

I'm sure many will still use blinding barrage, action point sneak attack sequence. But my feedback would be that as a striker daily, it needs a little more punch, at least against one target.
 

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