Kurtomatic
First Post
Some of the best swordy PPs belong to other arcane classes (I'm looking at you, Warlock). Guess that kinda goes with the hybrid nature of the class.
Vote for your favorite Paragon Path - Part 9: Swordmage
- Thread starter mkill
- Start date
Fortunately, Swordmages are one of the classes that can do really well without the intended secondary stat. Shielding swordmages miss out, but the others are fine.
Wow, surprised the Wandering Swordmage is doing as well as he is. It's my favorite PP of my favorite class, but I like it more for fluff reasons than mechanical reasons. Mechanically, I think it's kind of a stinker. As people have already said, you have to plan from level 1 if you want to play as one. Aegis Insight has the potential to be powerful, but I have a hard time justifying a Wisdom higher than 15 at level 1. That comes out to a +3 modifier at level 11, boosting your Aegis burst from 2 to 5. Significant, but game-changing? Not sure; haven't see it in play. "Learn From Experience" is, in my opinion, downright weak for a 16th level passive benefit, requiring you to be hit by a crit, survive, and be close enough to counter-attack before it even comes into play. "Arcane Tanglestep," the 12th level utility, sounds sweet, but I doubt it'll really beat an 11th level Swordmage's normal Aegis-violation immediate interrupt. "Heritage of Blades," however, is sweet. Minor action attacks are delicious, and the flavor of the power just meshes perfectly with what a Swordmage should be, I think.
What I like best about the PP, though, is that it doesn't come with a lot of baggage. For some reason, the creators decided to present Swordmagic as this ancient, esoteric form of magic brought either from the Feywild by eladrin or the genasi from the Elemental Chaos. And that's cool and all, but it's just too similar to wizardry for me. I prefer to think of my Swordmages as self-taught virtuosos, boldly pioneering some new form of magic. Or as quasi-insane magical improvisers, constantly experimenting and teleporting around almost on accident. Or (my personal favorite background) mages whose academy was burned to the ground while they were still learning the basics, so they've been forced to combine their natural magical ability with swordplay to survive.
Point is, Wandering Swordmage just seems appropriate, because let's face it, that's what most adventurers are going to be. They're not going to have time to study the ancient styles of Shyr or what-have-you. They're just going to pick up whatever dirty, slapdash tricks they can.
What I like best about the PP, though, is that it doesn't come with a lot of baggage. For some reason, the creators decided to present Swordmagic as this ancient, esoteric form of magic brought either from the Feywild by eladrin or the genasi from the Elemental Chaos. And that's cool and all, but it's just too similar to wizardry for me. I prefer to think of my Swordmages as self-taught virtuosos, boldly pioneering some new form of magic. Or as quasi-insane magical improvisers, constantly experimenting and teleporting around almost on accident. Or (my personal favorite background) mages whose academy was burned to the ground while they were still learning the basics, so they've been forced to combine their natural magical ability with swordplay to survive.
Point is, Wandering Swordmage just seems appropriate, because let's face it, that's what most adventurers are going to be. They're not going to have time to study the ancient styles of Shyr or what-have-you. They're just going to pick up whatever dirty, slapdash tricks they can.
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When I created my Eladrin Swordmage, I had something of a scholar-warrior in mind. He is a descendant from a long line of court astronomers.
When AP came out, and I saw the sigil carver, it was a great fit for the image that I had in mind with the character, even before the book was published. Of course, sigil carver is also a top choice from a rules perspective, because it adds a punishment effect to the already excellent shielding interrupt. So I'm very happy.
Shielding Swordmages are in the lucky position that they have 3 excellent PPs to choose from, the other two being the Coronal Guard and the widely underestimated Ward Guardian.
When AP came out, and I saw the sigil carver, it was a great fit for the image that I had in mind with the character, even before the book was published. Of course, sigil carver is also a top choice from a rules perspective, because it adds a punishment effect to the already excellent shielding interrupt. So I'm very happy.
Shielding Swordmages are in the lucky position that they have 3 excellent PPs to choose from, the other two being the Coronal Guard and the widely underestimated Ward Guardian.
