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<blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 5385990" data-attributes="member: 65726">Level 12 Paladin or Knight would have AC 31 out of the box, 32 with Plate Specialization which the Knight can easily manage, same as the base for your swordmage. So in a comparative sense, the swordmage is fine.However I feel your pain with not being able to hit defenders. That's part of why they fixed the brute attack bonus. At paragon levels I think it's best to use a lot more aura damage, ongoing damage, environmental damage, etc. And taking cues from Monster Vault, I've been giving a lot more half damage on miss to monster powers, especially soldiers and elites. And I do tend to use artillery with slightly higher attack bonuses vs AC or targeting FRW.I also try to include leaders in fights where I want to make things a bit more challenging without increasing monster levels that increases their hit points. And I give those leaders powers that boost attack bonuses, give rerolls etc. To give an example, I had a leader type with an aura 5 around him where allies gained +2 attack and damage. Another example, I gave a witch (elite leader controller) the ability to take 5 damage to have an ally reroll an attack or save by spending a blood token, which she started with 5 blood tokens. Yet another example, in an upcoming encounter I have a small group of chanter minions who don't hit too hard, but run around chanting to aid attack rolls of their allies.I sometimes use monsters that are even lower level than the PC's so have to come up with creative ways to boost their attack, give them combat advantage, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mengu, post: 5385990, member: 65726"] Level 12 Paladin or Knight would have AC 31 out of the box, 32 with Plate Specialization which the Knight can easily manage, same as the base for your swordmage. So in a comparative sense, the swordmage is fine. However I feel your pain with not being able to hit defenders. That's part of why they fixed the brute attack bonus. At paragon levels I think it's best to use a lot more aura damage, ongoing damage, environmental damage, etc. And taking cues from Monster Vault, I've been giving a lot more half damage on miss to monster powers, especially soldiers and elites. And I do tend to use artillery with slightly higher attack bonuses vs AC or targeting FRW. I also try to include leaders in fights where I want to make things a bit more challenging without increasing monster levels that increases their hit points. And I give those leaders powers that boost attack bonuses, give rerolls etc. To give an example, I had a leader type with an aura 5 around him where allies gained +2 attack and damage. Another example, I gave a witch (elite leader controller) the ability to take 5 damage to have an ally reroll an attack or save by spending a blood token, which she started with 5 blood tokens. Yet another example, in an upcoming encounter I have a small group of chanter minions who don't hit too hard, but run around chanting to aid attack rolls of their allies. I sometimes use monsters that are even lower level than the PC's so have to come up with creative ways to boost their attack, give them combat advantage, etc. [/QUOTE]

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