What is this I don't even

[Storminator]

I just ran a pair of sessions where the entire party (except one PC) was swapped out for Essentials classes.

Thieves and strikers deal crazy damage. They fit right in with old style strikers.

Defenders Aura is much, much simpler than marking, and makes the game go faster and easier. It also works pretty dang well. Put a Knight next to a Slayer - most foes that can attack the Slayer are in the aura, and that makes the pair very effective. The one old school PC was a warden, and his marking felt fiddly and annoying by comparison.

The Infernal Hexblade was awesome. He threw out a lot of damage, and waded right into the middle of melee - everyone that dies adjacent to him grants him temp hp - no need to curse. Very efficient.

I didn't see any other classes, but overall I'd say the Essentials really hit the mark of being easy characters to make and play, without sacrificing any of the efficiency of old classes. I was impressed.

PS

 

[DracoSuave]

I had the joy of playing a blackguard recently. It seems simple but isnt. Went Dom. You get your encounter damage from thp as much as smite.

The new classes can involve more synergy that needs to be discovered. Taken in a vacuum the power blackguards get to get thp and concealment appears defensive but its an attack power when you convert thp to damage and deal more dmg with CA.

 

[Rechan]

I had the joy of playing a blackguard recently. It seems simple but isnt. Went Dom. You get your encounter damage from thp as much as smite.

The new classes can involve more synergy that needs to be discovered. Taken in a vacuum the power blackguards get to get thp and concealment appears defensive but its an attack power when you convert thp to damage and deal more dmg with CA.

I actually came here to ask about the blackguard - so how do the blackguard get their striker damage going?

The Smite is the equivalent of encounter powers. So where's the round-by-round damaeg? How does concealment become offensive?

 

[Rechan]

I onder what classes will be getting the E-treatment next, or if there are any other e-class books coming out at all? I'm surprised for instance to not see a Barbarian or Warlord.

Er...class compendium? They're keeping Weaponmaster, Templar, Arcanist, around (and, one expects, the other ADEU builds). And they made a new ADEU build of a class that had previously gotten an Essentials style treatment: the Binder.

What is this ADEU business? The Binder is new from what I can tell - where is it getting something elsewhere?

 

[Rechan]

Also what's the Class Compendium? Is that related to the DDi?

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

What is this ADEU business? The Binder is new from what I can tell - where is it getting something elsewhere?

ADEU or AEDU is the classic 4e power structure - At-Will, Encounter, Daily, Utility.

The Binder is a new subclass for the Warlock, if I'm not mistaken.

The Class Compendium is a canceled book that's being released piecemeal through free Dragon articles.

 

[Rechan]

So the Binder received the ADEU thing through a free article in Dragon?

 

[OnlineDM]

The Binder is a new build of the Warlock that's presented in Heroes of Shadow. It's a controller rather than a striker. It has the at-will/encounter/daily/utility structure natively,

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

So the Binder received the ADEU thing through a free article in Dragon?

No, the Binder is AEDU-based from the start, and it hasn't seen support in Dragon yet. The first subclass of the warlock in the Essentials books was the Hexblade which isn't AEDU-based. I believe that's what mneme was referring to.

 

[Rechan]

I see. Thanks for clarification.