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<blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 5389615" data-attributes="member: 65726">As DM, I find swordmages to be very annoying, second only to fighters, I can normally ignore or get around wardens and paladins quite well. But in my experience this also depends largely on the player. I've played alongside a completely ignorable swordmage, and a warden who was impressive at limiting the enemy's options.There are a lot of factors to consider. Swordmages shine in encounters with a few powerful enemies and lots of minions or few lesser grunts, but in a skirmisher/artillery heavy encounter with lots of weaker enemies with no clear powerful opponent, they are not so good, while a fighter or warden might be able to exert exceptional control in those situations. Terrain can be problematic to a paladin or fighter, while swordmages and wardens may have an easier time bypassing it. And teammates who don't stay put and keep shifting the battlefield are annoying for fighters and wardens, while paladins and swordmages can do their jobs easier.It's obviously not all clear cut who would do best in what situation, a lot depends on the build, power choices, and such, but I think the swordmage's defender role is acceptable at worst. I probably wouldn't play one as the sole defender of a party of 5 or 6, but for a party of 4 it's quite sufficient, and as a secondary defender in a party of 6, it can add great flexibility.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mengu, post: 5389615, member: 65726"] As DM, I find swordmages to be very annoying, second only to fighters, I can normally ignore or get around wardens and paladins quite well. But in my experience this also depends largely on the player. I've played alongside a completely ignorable swordmage, and a warden who was impressive at limiting the enemy's options. There are a lot of factors to consider. Swordmages shine in encounters with a few powerful enemies and lots of minions or few lesser grunts, but in a skirmisher/artillery heavy encounter with lots of weaker enemies with no clear powerful opponent, they are not so good, while a fighter or warden might be able to exert exceptional control in those situations. Terrain can be problematic to a paladin or fighter, while swordmages and wardens may have an easier time bypassing it. And teammates who don't stay put and keep shifting the battlefield are annoying for fighters and wardens, while paladins and swordmages can do their jobs easier. It's obviously not all clear cut who would do best in what situation, a lot depends on the build, power choices, and such, but I think the swordmage's defender role is acceptable at worst. I probably wouldn't play one as the sole defender of a party of 5 or 6, but for a party of 4 it's quite sufficient, and as a secondary defender in a party of 6, it can add great flexibility. [/QUOTE]

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