Warmage - how balanced?

[BlueBlackRed]

I know this has been covered, everything's been covered on ENWorld.

What is the downside to the warmage? Not being able to cast untility spells?

I've seen two in action between levels 1 and 13, and they are heavily powerful putting any other wizard and sorcerer to shame.

Please tell me there is something I'm missing.

 

[Crothian]

Versatility. If all you do is combat, the Warmage will be great but the DM is running a game that plays to its strength. Warmages are perfectly find in a campaign that has a variety of encouters.

 

[smootrk]

If a campaign is all-combat driven, then yes, the Warmage is ultra-powerful.

However, if your campaign is role-play heavy, with little or no combat... then your Warmage is at a severe disadvantage.

Most play, comes somewhere in-between these extremes, where the warmage is good in combats but not so great out dancing amongst the nobility of the land.

 

[Darkwolf445]

As above, if you are just blowing things up, you are the best of the best.

If you need magic for other uses, however, then what are you going to do?

It's almost like saying Fighters blow Paladins out of the water in combat due to their extensive feats. Except fighters do not turn undead, heal, cure disease, and the like.

I have watched Warmage characters feel completely useless when there was no combat occurring. Since I have more than combat events in my game, such characters tend to find themselves on the outs during an investigation (Divination) and interaction (Enchantment). During combat, however, they shine.

It's about how you play and what you enjoy doing.

 

[Fishbone]

Eh, your core casting stat is Charisma yet for some odd reason you don't get enough skill points or Charisma skills to be a really good face. Sure, you can face it up if you really try but other classes will put you to shame on it for the most part.
Spell limitation is a huge bummer, too.
You can't really claim to be filling the "mage" role all that well unless you spend money out the yang buying items that will let you add spells to your spell list. And even then they have to be evocation. You are a big fat arcane archer with spells instead of arrows.
The plus is you get a bigger die and a bunch of other goodies. You can also prance around in Mithril Mountain Plate and with other AC boosting things not be nearly as squishy as the average mage.

 

[delericho]

The Warmage is one of those things that looks really broken at first glance, but is actually surprisingly balanced. (Its like the Mystic Theurge in that regard).

The Warmage has no buffing spells. No Invisibility, no Fly, no See Invisibility, no Dispel Magic, and no ability to use these things from scrolls. And is missing lots of other very useful spells (even 'combat' spells). A Sorcerer with the right selection of spells will destroy the Warmage without breaking a sweat, and given that the Sorcerer is probably the weakest class in the PHB...

That said, if you create a Sorcerer or even a Wizard to try to "out-Warmage the Warmage", you'll lose. It's really good at what it does, and really bad at everything else.

I wouldn't play a Warmage in a campaign. (I would in a one-off, but I'd play just about anything in a one-off.) I would much rather play a Sorcerer. And, in a campaign, I would much rather play a Wizard than either of the other two classes.

 

[satori01]

It is a really good class for new players to D&D. The spell list is small, they get lots of spell slots, and unlike warrior types, beyond the Warmage's edge, there are not a lot of variables to keep track of.

I am DMing one in a secondary Savage Tide campaign, and they are pretty fun to watch in action. I think the player, (who has a 14 level Unfettered/Paladin/Knight of the Pale) is enjoying not having to add up Smite Evil with Divine Might, Power Attack 10 on any given hit.

D6 Hit points and the Warmage Edge makes them really potent. Even 0 level Acid Splash is dangerous in a Warmage's hand at low level.

 

[Wik]

I wasn't prepared for the strength that is the warmage, and it wound up contributing to a campaign's implosion. A 2nd or 3rd level warmage, with a single spell, was able to take out the main villain for an adventure of mine. Hit it for something like 15-odd damage, at a range of about 30 feet (It was flying). Surprised the hell out of me, really.

That being said, I don't think they're really that tough. In my Savage Tide game, I think the group could use a Warmage, if only because they need someone who could take out monsters at a range (their archer can't really deal a whole lot of damage, as she lacks a magical weapon to overcome DR). The group's cleric is debating whether or not to multi into warmage; should be a good combo.

From my experience with other GMs, Warmage isn't really a problem class; Warlock seems to create many more headaches.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

It helps if they can somehow get more social skills. My DM added some for me, so he'd have something to do when we weren't in a fight, and with the high Int you'll undoubtedly have, you've got lots of skill points to use.

And, yes, not having to worry about memorizing spells means it's a very good first caster class. Plus, you get to do damage, which is always fun. On the other hand, it's really not a good sole arcane caster, for fairly obvious reasons.

Brad

 

[Beckett]

The Warmage is one of those things that looks really broken at first glance, but is actually surprisingly balanced. (Its like the Mystic Theurge in that regard).

The Warmage has no buffing spells. No Invisibility, no Fly, no See Invisibility, no Dispel Magic, and no ability to use these things from scrolls. And is missing lots of other very useful spells (even 'combat' spells).

Bingo. I've played in a game where our only arcane caster is a Warmage. He can put out the damage, but honestly, my Bone Knight w/ Fighter cohort and the Valenar Elf mounter warrior crazie aren't slouches in that department. What we do have problems with are dispelling magic, or turning people invisible, or hasting people. And so does the Warmage. You don't really think about how nice those utility spells are until you don't have them.

On the other hand, I've been running AOW as a gestalt game. The main arcane force is a Warmage/Sorcerer. That's been a pretty good mix.