D&D 4E The (Finally Useful) Vampire Class

[Tigris]

The core issue with 4e's Vampire is that it is a class on which they used all their design hours coming up with a custom healing dynamic to make the class extra durable but then forgot to make it a defender.

I think the core issue is more that hardcore optimization boards often fail to understand that you can have advantages outside your "main role".


Also a vampire fits a lot better to be a striker than a defender especially with this mechanic, since a defender can lose potentially several healing surges in a fight if the defender manages to really make the enemies focus on them.


In the end 4E combat is about losing the least amount of healing surges. Strikers help by killing enemies faster. But if one has a defender which has slightly lower damage, but uses themselves less healing surges than normal, thats perfectly good for the team.


A cooperative team game, even if it has roles, still is flexible, and its about working well together in a team, its not about whiteroom situations. A vampire being a striker which can take quite a bit of beating (similar to the barbarian) is a plus.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Honestly the problem with the vampire is that it's a striker with basically no double-tap abilities, reactions, or bonus action attacks. And unlike the thief or slayer it's very hard to smuggle them in. So at low optimisation or in a pure Essentials game it's fine and genuinely fun but when the optimisers comes out it gets left behind.