July Errata: Battleminds, Magic Missile, Monster stats

Another round of errata has gone by, bringing some very needed changes. The biggest news are the fixing of the Battlemind class, the updated DMG tables for monster statistics, and an unexpected power-up for many previously marginal options, including an spell as classic (and worthless) as Magic Missile! Nevertheless, almost as important as what was included is the one missing thing: the psionic system, along with its flawed power point progression that turns heroic augments into spammable monstruosities at higher levels, is left untouched. I hope that one will be fixed by the time Psionic Power is around. Anyway, let’s take a look at today’s changes!

The first change, the new monster design paradigm with increased attack damage and more balanced roles, has already been discussed to death in previous posts. The Dungeon Master’s Guide tables describing monster statistics have been updated accordingly, so you should be prepared for deadlier encounters, particularly after paragon tier (where, to be fair, difficulty tended to be lacking).

Apart from that, the most exciting update is the one applied to Battleminds. The psionic defender, introduced in Player’s Handbook 3, suffered from a poor implementation in a class feature that was key for successfully carrying out their role. Originally, Blurred Step was intended as a way for battleminds to chase after shifting enemies, a crucial function given that their mark punishment only worked in melee. However, as written it cost an opportunity action, which had the unfortunate side-effect of having your follow-up move actually happen before the triggering shift resolved. Among other things, this meant that enemies in a diagonal from the battlemind could always escape freely, with disastrous results.

All that is gone, since Blurred Step is now a free action that can only be used once per turn. This turns battleminds into extremely mobile and sticky defenders, and a force to be reckoned. Not only that, but the increase in monster damage also helps them indirectly, since their punishment mechanic, Mind Spike, deals damage equal to the monster’s.

Also interesting is the revision of several powers that were neither overpowered nor utterly useless. Improving game elements is something that only happens on rare occasions, so it is surprising to see this treatment applied to several mediocre cleric utilities, such as Shield of Faith or Bless (which now work as minor actions rather than standards), but also to definitely playable staples like the rogue’s Tumble (whose movement has been doubled). More understandable, though no less surprising, is the complete redesign of Magic Missile.

Magic Missile! No spell screams “D&D Wizard” like the humble missile (though I can’t deny a soft spot for the good old Fireball, of course). Although 4E Wizards have always stood out because of their selection of awesome powers, Magic Missile wasn’t among them. As bland an attack as it gets, its only virtues were counting as a basic attack and having a range of 20, so a wizard who invested an at-will slot for it only got what any bow wielder already had for free. Well, that has come to an end. Starting this month, Magic Missile gets some brand new mechanics with a classic flavor: now it no longer requires an attack roll, but it automatically deals a fixed amount of damage instead. The final result is not quite a powerhouse (in fact, it performs worse in hyper-optimized scenarios), but is pretty decent, and has a well defined function. So, if you really need to damage something reliably, the Missile is your new go-to power. Either that, or Cloud of Daggers.

Finally, the errata has hit an impressive number of munchkin favourites. Forgotten Realms regional background Windrise Ports, for example, used to allow additional multiclass options, populating its associated region with a number of characters only comparable to the amount of followers of Tempus. This enabled many weird builds, and has been removed from the game. The paragon paths Long Night Scion and Feytouched used to be part of the most damaging build in the game, and have been appropiately toned down. The avenger feat, Improved Armor of Faith, granted an AC bonus that scaled across tiers for no apparent reason, boosting epic avengers’ defenses to the astral plane - so it has been reduced to a flat modifier. The epic wizard daily, Legion’s Hold, was arguably the strongest controller power in the game, and has become slightly less brutal. Also, the wizard utility Wizard’s Escape no longer negates automatically a melee hit per encounter (being reduced to a daily), whereas ranger daily Snarling Wolf Stance has completely lost it’s attack cancelling capabilities. On a more general note, free action attacks now have a hard limit of one per turn, in order to prevent some almost infinite chains, usually triggered off crits in combination with multiattacks.

There are many more fixes - mostly overpowered elements and clarifications, but the ones above are probably the most significant. Overall, this has been a very positive round of errata, and very likely one of the last with such sweeping changes, as the developers intend to have a more stable game by the time the Essentials line is released.

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New feats and multiclass rules for battleminds!

Following my tradition for debut classes (except for the Ardent - no love for you, Warlord copycat!), I have created a bunch of new feats for players who feel like trying the Battlemind before the release of Player's Handbook 3. Since the book is pretty close by now, I have chosen not to go the easy way of expanding class features with feats, as you will have plenty of that in a couple of months. Rather, I wanted to show a cycle of feats with a common mechanic, based more on my perception of the class' personality than in existing game rules.

The idea is the following: Battleminds are renowned for their extreme arrogance towards their opponents. How does that manifest in a battle? In my mind, the BM will have countermeasures prepared against a number of common enemy tactics. Not only will such attacks be more difficult to carry out but, when they fail, the psionic defender will have gained some kind of tactical advantage. Or just feel good about it.

Roleplaying these feats should be quite a fun experience (for the battlemind, anyway). The triggering of each of these effects should be followed by displays of verbal abuse against the poor victim. Pointing at them and shouting "Ha,Ha!" should also do the trick.

Note that they all work only for attacks against your allies, except the one about Will defenses, which also affect the Battlemind. Because, you know, psionic.

Battlemind Feats

Confidence of the Stubborn

Prerequisite: Battlemind, Battlemind's Demand power.

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes an attack targeting Will, the enemy takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack misses, you gain a +2 bonus to saving throws until the end of your next turn.

Confidence of the Stout

Prerequisite: Battlemind, Battlemind's Demand power.

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes an attack targeting Fortitude that does not include you, the enemy takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack misses, you gain temporaty hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Confidence of the Swift

Prerequisite: Battlemind, Battlemind's Demand power.

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes an attack targeting Reflex that does not include you, the enemy takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack misses, whenever you shift before the end of the enemy's next turn, you can increase the distance by 1 square.

Confidence of the Rebuking Bastion

Prerequisite: 11th level Battlemind, Battle Resilience power

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes a charge attack that does not include you, the enemy takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack misses, the enemy is knocked prone.

Confidence of the Fleet-Footed

Prerequisite: 11th level Battlemind, Speed of Thought power

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes an opportunity attack against an ally, the enemy takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack misses, that enemy cannot make opportunity attacks until the end of the ally's next turn.

Confidence of the Iron Fortress

Prerequisite: 21st level Battlemind, Mind Spike power

Benefit: When an enemy marked by you makes a melee attack against an ally adjacent to you, the ally gains resist 5 against the attack. If the attack hits, you can use Mind Spike against the attacking enemy as if it was adjacent to you.

Multiclass feats

The Novice Psionic power and Novice Non-Psionic power were originally released in the Psion feat article. I have updated them for compatibility with all psionic classes.

Iron Mind Initiate [Multiclass Battlemind]

Prerequisite: Con 13

Benefit: You gain training in one skill from the battlemind's class skill list.

Once per encounter, you can use the Battlemind's Demand power.

Novice Psionic power [Multiclass Encounter]

Prerequisite: Any psionic multiclass feat, 4th level

Benefit: You can swap one encounter power you know to gain one psionic at-will power of the same level or lower from the class you multiclassed into. You can use that power once per encounter. In addition, you gain power points depending on the level of the swapped power:

Level 1 to level 10 - 2 PPs

Level 11 to level 20 - 4 PPs

Level 21 to level 30 - 6 PPs

Novice Non-Psionic power [Multiclass Encounter]

Prerequisite: Any psionic class, Psionic Augmentation class feature, any non-Psionic multiclass feat, 4th level.

Benefit: You can swap one psion at-will power that you know and has augmentations for one encounter power of the same level or lower from a class you multiclassed into. In addition, you lose power points depending on the level of the power you swapped out:

Level 1 to level 10- 2 PPs

Level 11 to level 20 - 4 PPs

Level 21 to level 30 - 6 PPs Read More......

Player's Handbook 3 Debut: Battlemind

Battlemind. Not the most exciting of names, but coming up with iconic and simple ones for something like a Psionic Defender can't be an easy task. You shouldn't take this as a signal that the game developers are running out of ideas, though, because this class' mechanics and power selection are among the most imaginative that the game has to offer. Let's take a look at them.

This is not a generic fighter with a brilliant halo painted over her head. Honest.

Overview

Gear-wise, the Battlemind is a defender of the old school: a reliable set of heavy armor, a solid chunk of metal to bash enemies with, and possibly a shield. On a battlefield, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart from regular Fighters, if not for the silly Halos around their heads. According to their flavor, they have egos that occupy several squares, and their combat style overwhelms opponents with sheer prepotence (which is somehow tied to their Constitution modifier). One might question whether their fighting prowess really justifies this degree of self-confidence, but there is one thing you can't deny: they have some really cool tricks up their sleeve.

As all other Psionic classes (except for monks, who aren't really psionic, but we love them anyway!), battleminds use a groundbreaking resource system for their powers. You can find a detailed description in my Psion review but, in short, instead of at-wills and encounter powers they have at-wills that can be augmented (in two different ways) by expending Power Points... which, appropiately, are regenerated each encounter. Dailies and Utilities remain unaffected.

So far, we had seen a basic use of power points in the Psion class, and a terrible one with the Ardent. Battleminds get to be the creative powerpointers. Baseline effects that would have looked completely out of place in non-psionic at-wills (like non-standard actions), lesser augmentations that are actually worth using, and even augmentable class features make sure that Battleminds are not just "like that other class, but with power points". Unlike ardents.

Features

I am torn between loving and hating the class features. On the one hand, they are flavorful, slightly weird, and just different from those of other classes. On the other... they don't quite work as they should. While I'm writing this, D&D message boards all over the world are raging about the class' alleged incompetence at the Defender role. As usual, there is a good deal of exageration here but, as much as I want to like the class, even I have to admit that it feels weak on certain areas.

Their method of marking is actually pretty good, with an at-will power that lets them mark a creature within 3 squares for the rest of the encounter - or until you mark a different one. There is an option to spend one power point to make this affect two foes at once - something you won't want to do very often, but that could be extremely handy in certain encounters. In addition, there is a good amount of at-will powers that can mark enemies (sometimes in multiples!). Overall, they have multimarking capabilities almost as good as a warden's, as well as a Swordmage's ability to maintain marks at range. This would make them good candidates for Swordmage-like mark-and-run strategies... if not for their punishing mechanic.

The punishing mechanic, it must be said, is one of the coolest things that I've seen on a player's handbook. A power called Mind Spike triggers against enemies breaking a mark, hurting them for as much damage as they have dealt an ally. It's concentrated karma punching the monster on its face.

Unfortunately, its efficiency leaves a bit to be desired. It only works against adjacent enemies, it won't trigger on missed attacks, and it costs an immediate action. It is true that it never misses and that, looking at average monster damage values, it hits slighly harder than a maxed out Divine Challenge (by a few points)... but the basic attacks of other defenders will easily outdamage it.

Along with Fighters, Battleminds are the only defenders who can penalize enemies for shifting around them. But the similarities end here - if Fighters answer shifts with a swing of their blade (which is their universal answer to all problems), Battleminds prefer to do as their foes, and shift after them. Except that it isn't exactly 'after'. The power in question, Blurred Step, costs an Opportunity Action, thus resolving before the enemy gets a chance to get away.

While this is a good thing when attacking, in this case it prevents the battlemind from going into the square their foe is going to leave. Among other complications, this means that shifting enemies in a diagonal square from a Battlemind are gone for good - there is no way to end up adjacent to them. Also, a much-criticized side-effect of the Opportunity Action cost is that you'll never get an Opportunity Attack if the enemy then chooses to charge. Then again, that OA would have been equally impossible without Blurred Step, and at least there is a chance of moving to an advantageous position.

The build-related feature for the Charisma build ("Quick Battlemind") is quite original, as well as extremely useful for a defender. It grants them a free movement when the combat starts, giving an unprecedented control of where the front line will be set. I have lost count of the number of times that my fighter rolled a low initiative, only to see allies and monsters maneuver into hardly defendable positions - incidentally, this is part of the reason why I value powers like come and Get it so highly. At any rate, I see this as a major incentive to take the class.

As for the Wisdom Build, Resilient Battlemind, it honors its name with a power called Battle Resilience, which triggers the first time they are attacked, granting a high resistance to damage for a turn. This has the potential to go wasted if, for example, the triggering attack misses and nobody else attacks the character during that turn, but if you can somehow attract the attention of several enemies from the beginning, you can prevent a lot of damage.

Overall, the class suffers from a punishing mechanic that is difficult to use, so the plain mark penalty will often be the only adverse effect that marked enemies take. This is aggravated by the lack of good basic attacks, which makes the Melee Training feat a must.

Powers

Although the features left a bittersweet taste, a Battlemind's catalogue of powers is nothing but pure sugar. There is, inevitably, some filler material, but most choices are interesting either in their at-will or their augmented form, which creates a nice tension. More importantly, there are several at-wills that are radically different from those of any other class - great examples of the potential of the Power Point mechanic.

The basic lineup of level 1 at-wills isn't all that impressive, but covers essential functions. There are at-wills to mark, push, and penalize attacks, and augmentations for close bursts, blasts, and even a blinding debuff, all of them very tempting as spammable encounter powers. But the undeniable star is Iron Fist, a strike that grants resistance equal to Wisdom modifier whether you hit or miss. This looks like a better version of the Temporaty HP- granting powers of other defenders - which is to say a lot.

The real surprises begin at level 7. Lightning Rush is an Immediate Interrupt at-will attack! It triggers when a nearby enemy attacks an ally, allowing you to move adjacent and attack, sacrificing the standard action of your next turn (a necessary, but profitable tradeoff). If that wasn't enough, both augmentations offer great effects.

Also at level 7, and competing for the same slot, is Psionic Speed, which could be described as a marking, better version of Dual Strike that hits three enemies and can be used with two-handed weapons. This will typically be similar in effect to a Sword Burst, but it can easily be upgraded to a close burst 2 with a reach weapon. Also, the mass-marking should prove invaluable.

Even more gems await at level 13. Brutal Barrage is the first at-will (and probably the last) in the game that lets you attack a single target three times, incidentally knocking him prone if two or more hit. Of course, in order to keep the damage at a sane level, each hit only deals your Constitution modifier in damage - which, multiplied by three, is acceptable but far from stellar. Accuracy is nothing short of insane, though, and I personally find the interaction with Hammer Rhythm hilarious.

The next remarkable power is Armor of Blades (level 23), a variant of Lightning Rush that trades out-of-turn movement (along with its great reach) for the awesome effect of redirecting enemy attacks to oneself. It isn't probably worth taking over Lightning Rush, but I would be very tempted to take both.

Finally, Brilliant Recovery is another unprecedented at-will effect, though one that I see as horribly unbalanced. It is a minor action attack that you can only use after missing. It would be extremely effective, but actually fair, if it was somehow limited to one attack per turn, but it isn't. As it is, there is a huge incentive to force a miss on your first attack (say, attacking bare-handed with your eyes closed) in order to blow two minor actions for an improved Twin Strike. This really deserves errata, but once it gets it, it will be one of my favourite powers.

The selection of dailies is merely passable, in my opinion. For each level, there is an attack that comes with a stance that boosts opportunity attacks. Some of these are quite good, others less so. Nevertheless, I'm not sure it is a mechanic that justifies so many slots, as it gets boring quick. Utility powers are also decent, my favourites being an at-will Water Walk at level 2, and an encounter power that lets you turn a melee strike into a ranged 10 attack.

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