So... what has changed?

The new paperbacks don't invalidate any old classes, they're just introductory books with new classes. So you're invoker is still around, and in the new online character builder.

But if you're playing in a game I'd recommend the Rules Compendium. It has all the rules needed to play (except Rituals) in one convenient smaller size. And there are a few tiny rules updates included in it, as the skill DCs have changed again (Making the easy DCs easier, and the hard DCs slightly harder), the only other change I've found that I can easily remember that characters charging with reach weapons can now end their charge adjacent, rather than one square away.
 

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I'll have to check that out then. I normally play Martial classes and don't mind doing the same thing over and over again (I play WoW that's second nature to me LOL!) but it depends on the campaign specifics as to what I play.

Thanks!
 

(hey this sounds like WoW - Warriors get nerfed, Mages get buffed!

The Fighter still has like 40-50 more powers than the next closest class, even counting the new powers from Heroes of Shadow, and is about to get some errata love from the Class Compendium article (with feats, too). The Martial Power Source still has more powers than Arcane, despite Arcane having more classes. This "caster uber alles" fear is not quite justified yet.
 

The earlier responses are pretty good. I would sum up by saying that nothing really changed to the pre-existing content that you already have (I believe most of the major rules updates were already out by the time you left, with the exception of newer monsters dealing a lot more damage than older ones starting with Monster Manual 3). New stuff has come out, which may or may not interest you. Nothing old has been taken away (with the exception of updates to the downloadable Character Builder, though I'm happy enough with the online version now - I wasn't when it launched, though).

My take on the Essentials books is here, with a recent revisit here. I personally like having the new options. So far I'm not impressed with Heroes of Shadow, but that's because I tend to prefer more traditional heroic characters.
 

I've given HoS overall a C-, overall disappointing but the odd thing with some merit. It's probably the worst 4E book so far for me and I really hope for improvement soon.

With the exception of the repeated materials, I did like both Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of the Fallen Lands. Incidentally that is something to note for wayne: Because both of those books are designed to be entirely stand alone, they do repeat quite a lot of content between them. So choose carefully if you don't want to pay for things you might not use for a while, because they are both remarkably similar in places.
 

Re: VTT: the beta is live and all you have to do to get in is to ask Wotc and be a DDI subscriber. Options are still small compared to Maptool, but the import of monsters and characters goes smooth and easy (and is, let's be honest, the killer argument for the VTT).

I have no problems with the CB, and i build test chars practically any day. The only drawback is (of course) the "no houserules" thingy (and it is a major one). It is worth it's money right now, nevertheless.

The monster builder is practically a monster viewer right now, and IMHO will stay that way until the VTT beta ends - adding options means complication import.
 

I need to be able to make my own monsters and import them, plus import my own maps (from the likes of Cartographer's Guild). Unless the VTT can do both of these things, it's useless to me.

The other thing is most of my players have given up in disgust with DDI and I think only 1 (of nine) players actually subscribes to DDI anymore. I don't know about the guys in my IRL group as we're still sorting out DnD there, but I don't believe any of them subscribe. When I asked my players in the maptools games, I got a universal rejection of trying the VTT (partly because most of them don't subscribe).

So sadly it's not something I will actually be making any use of any time soon.
 

Slightly off-topic, but I've skipped much of the new material as well, and am currently playing a wizard in one campaign. So for entirely selfish thread-derailment, what kind of wizard builds are you talking about?

As to the whole essentials thing, I skipped it for time, not because it looks bad - I think it's really cool that some classes escape the mold of exactly N encounters + M dailies etc. As long as the overall characters resulting from this are equally fun and can slot into a party normally, more diversity is fun, right?
 

There are a bunch of them, you have the Pyromancer who is basically a fire specialist as the name would suggest. They are a solid blaster wizard and they can really make spells like fireball shine once they get their master feature (which turns the area of fire keyword spells into a burning zone). The Evoker is also a solid blaster wizard and basically ignores resistance once he gets his mastery feature. The Illusionist is more of a controller and so is the Enchanter. Heroes of Shadow added the Necromancer - who is alright and the Nethermancer who gets a really impressive paragon path.

Plus HoS added a whole bunch of other Wizard spells into the game as well. So if you're a fan of wizards you have so much stuff to get out of those books.
 

Mages are simply tweaked wizards. If you didn't lose ritual casting I'd have changed my wizard to a mage - being defined by your school of magic is IMO far more evocative than being defined by whether you use an orb, a staff, a wand, or a tome. But the tweaks are just that. Tweaks.

For the three new pure-martial classes (Knight, Slayer, Thief), everything is a melee basic attack. The slayer is simple - he gets a handful of at will stances, a bonus to damage rolls (with this bonus scaling in place of getting dailies), and his encounter powers are replaced by Power Strike (do an extra [w] damage after you hit). Give him a two handed weapon and let him hit stuff. The Knight is similar doesn't get a damage boost - he's a defender. Instead of marks he gets a defender aura so anyone next to him is effectively marked while they remain there and his mark punishment is an Opportunity rather than an Immediate. And the thief gets move action tricks (most giving combat advantage), and some extra utilities. His encounter powers are all Backstab - +3 to hit and +d6 damage. Solid high damage guy - and squishy as a rogue. Still, all three are simpler to play than the classic versions.

The Warpriest is a wisdom based melee cleric with minor additional powers but slightly less healing and no ritual casting (instead they get a daily resurrection). It also allows classic laser clerics melee powers. Simpler to build, little change overall.
 

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