Fighter (Samurai) - Martial/Psionic Defender - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Fighter (Samurai) - Martial/Psionic Defender

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
El_Karlos
Dec 06, 2011 23:12:52 The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with.

Fighter (Samurai)

I wanted to capture the flavor of a classic Edo period samurai infused with some high flying martial arts action, like Jin from Samurai Champloo or any of the warriors from Samurai 7.

The result is a Martial/Psionic Fighter subclass using a modified Essentials template focusing on single target lockdown with the ability to bring the pain when its needed. Access to Fighter feats should help with both of those areas.

I'd like some input on the Draw Technique mechanic and whether I should make Ki Strike into its own At-Will that counts as an MBA or leave it the way it is.
#2
ciaran
Dec 07, 2011 1:33:33 I don't care for the dual power source, but aside from that I like the concept. You are going for a class more in line with the PH3 Monk than you are the traditional D&D Samurai (which was based on one kind of movie samurai).

I suppose if I was working on a project like this, my two builds would be the armored samurai and the unarmored samurai. Perhaps the armored one would be strong and fierce, with History, Intimadate and Diplomacy, while the unarmored is agile and wise, with Athletics, Acrobatics and Insight.

I'm glad yours doesn't assume Samurais dual wield a Katana and Wakizashi.
#3
El_Karlos
Dec 07, 2011 7:27:31
I suppose if I was working on a project like this, my two builds would be the armored samurai and the unarmored samurai.

The two different Kenjutsu schools reflect this:

Iron Mountain is STR/WIS with scale armor and a "Hold the Line" style stance.

Silken Blade is STR/DEX with an unarmored AC feature based on the berserker's Arid Desert option; their stance exemplifies fast strikes and mobility.
#4
ciaran
Dec 07, 2011 9:01:49 Ah. I saw silken warrior and cloth armor proficiency and thought it was for both. Didn't see the other option.
#5
mhbjarkistef
Dec 08, 2011 23:19:48 I love it! It's close enough to the fighter to be "safe" yet it's flavourful enough to be something more.
I have never played a psionic character and don't like the power point system, but I am more than willing to play this defender.

I only looked at the class features (what matters most to me in a homebrew) and I dig it.

What is the armor bonus granted by scale + the builds armor bonus versus the other builds unarmored bonus + dex + shield bonus? I got a hunch that they end around the same number...

Playtest the **** out of this and keep updating it. I'm making it available for my next game for sure.
#6
El_Karlos
Dec 09, 2011 9:37:55 The unarmored build pulls slightly ahead in AC, because of feats like unarmored agility, a stacking Dex Bonus to AC, and possibly two-weapon defense, similar to Swordmages and Berserkers.

The str wis armored build could go Hafted defense, then pull some polearm shenanigans, provided they used a glaive or naginata, or invest a little in CON to get plate armor.

#7
mhbjarkistef
Dec 09, 2011 11:16:14 You really know your game.

So which one does have the defensive advantage? 'Cause it sounds to me like the offensive build has a bit to good defenses for an offensive build of a defensive class... Isnt usually the concept of "-1AC and +1 to damage" with these builds, essentially?
#8
El_Karlos
Dec 09, 2011 11:38:06 Both have the same offensive potential; they differ in their defending playstyle.

Iron Mountain's stance is geared towards locking down a chokepoint and preventing things from breaking the front line by buffing opportunity attacks and stopping movement; playing like a traditional fighter tank.

Silken blade, the unarmored samurai, is geared towards mobility with a stance that provides dex mod shifting and a cleave for handling minions, playing more like a battlemind.

Both schools have access the same built in offensive feature, Draw Technique, so any significant difference in DPR will be determined by positioning and tactical gameplay, not class mechanics.
#9
Namagem
Dec 10, 2011 10:25:11 This is really cool; this is what samurai should be IMO. My only complaint is that there isn't enough to spend power points on. By the time you reach paragon, you'll have enough power points to do an augment 3 ki strike (using the stance augment with ki strike augment 2) every attack without worrying about running out. My suggestion is at each encounter level, add augment 1 and augment 2 possibilities to melee basics. Also, are you making paragon paths for this?
#10
El_Karlos
Dec 10, 2011 10:39:47
This is really cool; this is what samurai should be IMO. My only complaint is that there isn't enough to spend power points on. By the time you reach paragon, you'll have enough power points to do an augment 3 ki strike (using the stance augment with ki strike augment 2) every attack without worrying about running out. My suggestion is at each encounter level, add augment 1 and augment 2 possibilities to melee basics. Also, are you making paragon paths for this?

I'll need to get some playtest feedback from paragon before I play around with more augment options.

They have access to all psionic, martial, and fighter PPs already (stuff like Kensei fits thematically too), so maybe i'll make some more once I see how they play out in a game.
#11
skynet2.0
Dec 28, 2011 1:52:28
The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with.

Fighter (Samurai)

Honorbound Strike is a melee 1 opportunity action. Opportunity actions intterupt the triggering action. So if your marked enemy shifts, you shift/teleport before their shift and make your opportunity attack.

Did you intent for the power to work in this way?

The fighter's combat challenge is an immediate interrupt and works well because it interrupts the shift and stops any further movement on a hit.

The battlemind's blurred step is a free action and is resolved as a reaction to the trigger. It works for the battlemind when a mark tries to shift+charge. The mark shifts, you blurred step to follow, and if he tries to charge you get to make your OA.

Your incorporation of a teleport into the ability makes it the same as the battlemind's blurred step with the harrying step feat. The purpose of this feat upgrade is to deal with more mobile enemies. The shift X number of squares, which triggers your blurred step allowing to teleport to a square adjacent to them.

I recommend you rework this power. It can work as it is, but it requires the PC make investments in a way to pin down his/her mark (i.e. proning on OA hits) for the Silken Blade build because you suffer from the same lack of stickiness that the battlemind class does.
#12
skynet2.0
Dec 28, 2011 2:19:49 Silken Blade school - '... you gain +2 bonus to AC against attacks made by any target under the effects of your Honorbound Challenge.'

If you mark gives the target a -2 penalty to hit your allies, and at the same time you make yourself +2 to AC harder to hit you haven't encouraged your mark to prefer to attack you. You are a defender and should have higher hp and defenses than the allies you are trying to protect. The -2 to hit penalty from a mark equates to the defender giving his/her allies a +2 to AC; this puts there AC on par or slightly higher than the defender's AC, hence encouraging the mark to take a swing at defender.

Let me put it to you this way, would you rather attack the low hp controller with a -2 to your attack role, or would you rather attack the high hp defender with a +2 bonus to his defenses (i.e. the same as a -2 to your attack role)? If I was the monster I would rather take a swing at the squishy controller, and if you went with the Silken Flurry you can't stop (you can take a OA but can't immobilized me) me from shifting off you and charging (grants a +1 to hit for the charge attack) the controller.

#13
skynet2.0
Dec 28, 2011 2:49:57 In general I think this guy needs to be nerfed a fair bit. He/she is going to be an absolute monster in combat. Essentially, you have taken a striker and given them the defender mechanics of mark and mark punishment.

I love the idea of creating a badass samurai, but I think this guy is to much badass to be a team player. He is going to out shine the rest of the party in combat without breaking a sweat --> this is not a good thing!

I don't know your group dynamic or what you have planned for your campaign, but I would speak to your player(s) who are planning to use this homebrew class ahead of time and say, "Look, this is a first draft. I may have to nerf your powers, feats and abilities several times as we go, are you okay with that?"

Good luck in play testing, and let us know how you make out. I'm looking forward to the finished product.
#14
El_Karlos
Dec 28, 2011 10:25:42
The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with.

Fighter (Samurai)

Honorbound Strike is a melee 1 opportunity action. Opportunity actions intterupt the triggering action. So if your marked enemy shifts, you shift/teleport before their shift and make your opportunity attack.

Did you intent for the power to work in this way?

I see your point, using Honorbound Strike as an OA on a shift means they can charge right past you after you make the attack, and you wouldn't be able to do anything having already spent your OA.

The reason I didn't make it an Immediate Reaction, is that in Multi-marking situations, you would only be able to punish one mark per round, whereas an OA could punish different creatures in the same round. But since my Samurai is a one-on-one themed class, I'll probably switch it to Immediate Reaction.

As for the stickiness problem, what if Ki-strike slowed or proned on augment 1, and added extra damage on augment 2? That way you could use a PP to add some stickiness to the target of Honorbound Strike. Would that be OP?

Silken Blade school - '... you gain +2 bonus to AC against attacks made by any target under the effects of your Honorbound Challenge.'

If you mark gives the target a -2 penalty to hit your allies, and at the same time you make yourself +2 to AC harder to hit you haven't encouraged your mark to prefer to attack you. You are a defender and should have higher hp and defenses than the allies you are trying to protect. The -2 to hit penalty from a mark equates to the defender giving his/her allies a +2 to AC; this puts there AC on par or slightly higher than the defender's AC, hence encouraging the mark to take a swing at defender.

Let me put it to you this way, would you rather attack the low hp controller with a -2 to your attack role, or would you rather attack the high hp defender with a +2 bonus to his defenses (i.e. the same as a -2 to your attack role)? If I was the monster I would rather take a swing at the squishy controller, and if you went with the Silken Flurry you can't stop (you can take a OA but can't immobilized me) me from shifting off you and charging (grants a +1 to hit for the charge attack) the controller.

I didn't actually consider this. The reason the silken blade gets extra AC on their mark is because I was mimicking the established Berserker's approach to defending while wearing cloth armor. Cloth wearing 'zerkers get +3 to AC and +2 to REF at all times, with an additional +2 to AC while their defender aura is active. This lets them have Defender level AC without using a shield or heavy armor.

Silken blade also wears no armor and does not use a shield, and the +2 AC against marked enemies was to mimic the extra defense from a defender aura, otherwise they would have subpar defender AC unless HEAVILY invested in dexterity.

Any suggestions on how to approach this problem, without making the rest of the party more attractive targets?

In general I think this guy needs to be nerfed a fair bit. He/she is going to be an absolute monster in combat. Essentially, you have taken a striker and given them the defender mechanics of mark and mark punishment.

I don't think hes any more of a striker than the defenders he was based upon. Both incarnations of the defender fighter (Knight and Weaponmaster) get a bonus to accuracy and either a scaling bonus to damage (Knight), or extra damage when wielding specific weapons. The berserker's defender mechanic does EXTRA damage on a hit, and the battlemind can pull some insane DPR with brutal barrage and some off action attacks.

The Samurai gets a situational bonus to accuracy and a situational bonus to damage, which is why the numbers are slightly higher than the Knight's scaling bonus to damage. However, it still lacks a striker mechanic, like multi-attacks, sneak attack, or extra flat damage (slayer,blackguard,sorc), that would push its DPR into the realm of striking. Furthermore, its reliance on heavy and light blades prevents it from using the most damaging weapons in the game, such as a gouge.

The fighter was already one of the most damaging defenders in the business, and I doubt a samurai would be gamebreaking in comparison to the fighter builds currently available.

#15
skynet2.0
Dec 28, 2011 12:03:36 Where I'm coming from is the use of your minor action to generate more damage is a striker mechanic. The samurai uses its minor to up your accuracy and get combat advantage. Its similar to the Avenger getting two attack roles on his Oath of Enmity, upping his damage through increasing his chance to hit.

This class is built on a combination of the battlemind and fighter in its defender mark related abilities, but it uses the stances of the slayer, a striker. The level one is a beefed up version of the berserker's daily.

For example, the daily power is a 4[W] monster that hits against reflex (generally the non-AC defenses are easier to hit against than AC). Off the top of my head I can only think of two dailies that hit this hard at level 1: Barbarian's Life-Ending Strike (just added with the Heros of the Feywild content), and the Paladin's Blood of the Mighty and both of these powers target AC. A level 1 brute has an AC in the range of 13, and a reflex of roughly the same. A soldier (high defense target) has an AC of about 17 and a reflex of about 13 (AC = 16+level, reflex = 12+level roughly). This power is definitely on the strong end of the spectrum.

Now I am looking at the power more closely, the effect line happens after the attack (on hit or miss) is resolved. So you charge or attack the target, then you shift up to your speed to a square adjacent to the target and sheathe your weapon.
#16
El_Karlos
Dec 29, 2011 9:56:33
Where I'm coming from is the use of your minor action to generate more damage is a striker mechanic. The samurai uses its minor to up your accuracy and get combat advantage. Its similar to the Avenger getting two attack roles on his Oath of Enmity, upping his damage through increasing his chance to hit.

This class is built on a combination of the battlemind and fighter in its defender mark related abilities, but it uses the stances of the slayer, a striker. The level one is a beefed up version of the berserker's daily.

For example, the daily power is a 4[W] monster that hits against reflex (generally the non-AC defenses are easier to hit against than AC). Off the top of my head I can only think of two dailies that hit this hard at level 1: Barbarian's Life-Ending Strike (just added with the Heros of the Feywild content), and the Paladin's Blood of the Mighty and both of these powers target AC. A level 1 brute has an AC in the range of 13, and a reflex of roughly the same. A soldier (high defense target) has an AC of about 17 and a reflex of about 13 (AC = 16+level, reflex = 12+level roughly). This power is definitely on the strong end of the spectrum.

Now I am looking at the power more closely, the effect line happens after the attack (on hit or miss) is resolved. So you charge or attack the target, then you shift up to your speed to a square adjacent to the target and sheathe your weapon.

Actually, it uses the stances of the Knight with a samurai specific stance based on the build.

I was worried about that Daily being powerful, which is why I limited it to bloodied targets only. It would make sense to change it to target AC for the sake of balance however.

Using a minor action to ready your sword for a draw technique fits the flavor of a samurai, and I figured it made sense for them to get an accuracy bonus for attacking from sheathed. It looks like the Samurai Theme that they added to the CB does the same, but instead of granting simply CA, its a flat +2 to the attack roll, free action, shift, and a bonus crit range.

Accuracy is important to any class, and a defender that relies on attack rolls to punish its mark would benefit from a once per round bonus to accuracy as a minor action. It only works for one attack unlike Oath of Emnity, so you dont get the accuracy and damage bonus over multiple attacks made in the same round without sacrificing more of your actions.
#17
skynet2.0
Jan 07, 2012 17:56:27
...

Did you have a chance to do any play testing yet?

#18
Ocule
Mar 01, 2012 14:29:46 Is this by any chance an active project?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 El_Karlos Dec 06, 2011 23:12:52	The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with. Fighter (Samurai) I wanted to capture the flavor of a classic Edo period samurai infused with some high flying martial arts action, like Jin from Samurai Champloo or any of the warriors from Samurai 7. The result is a Martial/Psionic Fighter subclass using a modified Essentials template focusing on single target lockdown with the ability to bring the pain when its needed. Access to Fighter feats should help with both of those areas. I'd like some input on the Draw Technique mechanic and whether I should make Ki Strike into its own At-Will that counts as an MBA or leave it the way it is.
#2 ciaran Dec 07, 2011 1:33:33	I don't care for the dual power source, but aside from that I like the concept. You are going for a class more in line with the PH3 Monk than you are the traditional D&D Samurai (which was based on one kind of movie samurai). I suppose if I was working on a project like this, my two builds would be the armored samurai and the unarmored samurai. Perhaps the armored one would be strong and fierce, with History, Intimadate and Diplomacy, while the unarmored is agile and wise, with Athletics, Acrobatics and Insight. I'm glad yours doesn't assume Samurais dual wield a Katana and Wakizashi.
#3 El_Karlos Dec 07, 2011 7:27:31	I suppose if I was working on a project like this, my two builds would be the armored samurai and the unarmored samurai. The two different Kenjutsu schools reflect this: Iron Mountain is STR/WIS with scale armor and a "Hold the Line" style stance. Silken Blade is STR/DEX with an unarmored AC feature based on the berserker's Arid Desert option; their stance exemplifies fast strikes and mobility.
#4 ciaran Dec 07, 2011 9:01:49	Ah. I saw silken warrior and cloth armor proficiency and thought it was for both. Didn't see the other option.
#5 mhbjarkistef Dec 08, 2011 23:19:48	I love it! It's close enough to the fighter to be "safe" yet it's flavourful enough to be something more. I have never played a psionic character and don't like the power point system, but I am more than willing to play this defender. I only looked at the class features (what matters most to me in a homebrew) and I dig it. What is the armor bonus granted by scale + the builds armor bonus versus the other builds unarmored bonus + dex + shield bonus? I got a hunch that they end around the same number... Playtest the **** out of this and keep updating it. I'm making it available for my next game for sure.
#6 El_Karlos Dec 09, 2011 9:37:55	The unarmored build pulls slightly ahead in AC, because of feats like unarmored agility, a stacking Dex Bonus to AC, and possibly two-weapon defense, similar to Swordmages and Berserkers. The str wis armored build could go Hafted defense, then pull some polearm shenanigans, provided they used a glaive or naginata, or invest a little in CON to get plate armor.
#7 mhbjarkistef Dec 09, 2011 11:16:14	You really know your game. So which one does have the defensive advantage? 'Cause it sounds to me like the offensive build has a bit to good defenses for an offensive build of a defensive class... Isnt usually the concept of "-1AC and +1 to damage" with these builds, essentially?
#8 El_Karlos Dec 09, 2011 11:38:06	Both have the same offensive potential; they differ in their defending playstyle. Iron Mountain's stance is geared towards locking down a chokepoint and preventing things from breaking the front line by buffing opportunity attacks and stopping movement; playing like a traditional fighter tank. Silken blade, the unarmored samurai, is geared towards mobility with a stance that provides dex mod shifting and a cleave for handling minions, playing more like a battlemind. Both schools have access the same built in offensive feature, Draw Technique, so any significant difference in DPR will be determined by positioning and tactical gameplay, not class mechanics.
#9 Namagem Dec 10, 2011 10:25:11	This is really cool; this is what samurai should be IMO. My only complaint is that there isn't enough to spend power points on. By the time you reach paragon, you'll have enough power points to do an augment 3 ki strike (using the stance augment with ki strike augment 2) every attack without worrying about running out. My suggestion is at each encounter level, add augment 1 and augment 2 possibilities to melee basics. Also, are you making paragon paths for this?
#10 El_Karlos Dec 10, 2011 10:39:47	This is really cool; this is what samurai should be IMO. My only complaint is that there isn't enough to spend power points on. By the time you reach paragon, you'll have enough power points to do an augment 3 ki strike (using the stance augment with ki strike augment 2) every attack without worrying about running out. My suggestion is at each encounter level, add augment 1 and augment 2 possibilities to melee basics. Also, are you making paragon paths for this? I'll need to get some playtest feedback from paragon before I play around with more augment options. They have access to all psionic, martial, and fighter PPs already (stuff like Kensei fits thematically too), so maybe i'll make some more once I see how they play out in a game.
#11 skynet2.0 Dec 28, 2011 1:52:28	The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with. Fighter (Samurai) Honorbound Strike is a melee 1 opportunity action. Opportunity actions intterupt the triggering action. So if your marked enemy shifts, you shift/teleport before their shift and make your opportunity attack. Did you intent for the power to work in this way? The fighter's combat challenge is an immediate interrupt and works well because it interrupts the shift and stops any further movement on a hit. The battlemind's blurred step is a free action and is resolved as a reaction to the trigger. It works for the battlemind when a mark tries to shift+charge. The mark shifts, you blurred step to follow, and if he tries to charge you get to make your OA. Your incorporation of a teleport into the ability makes it the same as the battlemind's blurred step with the harrying step feat. The purpose of this feat upgrade is to deal with more mobile enemies. The shift X number of squares, which triggers your blurred step allowing to teleport to a square adjacent to them. I recommend you rework this power. It can work as it is, but it requires the PC make investments in a way to pin down his/her mark (i.e. proning on OA hits) for the Silken Blade build because you suffer from the same lack of stickiness that the battlemind class does.
#12 skynet2.0 Dec 28, 2011 2:19:49	Silken Blade school - '... you gain +2 bonus to AC against attacks made by any target under the effects of your Honorbound Challenge.' If you mark gives the target a -2 penalty to hit your allies, and at the same time you make yourself +2 to AC harder to hit you haven't encouraged your mark to prefer to attack you. You are a defender and should have higher hp and defenses than the allies you are trying to protect. The -2 to hit penalty from a mark equates to the defender giving his/her allies a +2 to AC; this puts there AC on par or slightly higher than the defender's AC, hence encouraging the mark to take a swing at defender. Let me put it to you this way, would you rather attack the low hp controller with a -2 to your attack role, or would you rather attack the high hp defender with a +2 bonus to his defenses (i.e. the same as a -2 to your attack role)? If I was the monster I would rather take a swing at the squishy controller, and if you went with the Silken Flurry you can't stop (you can take a OA but can't immobilized me) me from shifting off you and charging (grants a +1 to hit for the charge attack) the controller.
#13 skynet2.0 Dec 28, 2011 2:49:57	In general I think this guy needs to be nerfed a fair bit. He/she is going to be an absolute monster in combat. Essentially, you have taken a striker and given them the defender mechanics of mark and mark punishment. I love the idea of creating a badass samurai, but I think this guy is to much badass to be a team player. He is going to out shine the rest of the party in combat without breaking a sweat --> this is not a good thing! I don't know your group dynamic or what you have planned for your campaign, but I would speak to your player(s) who are planning to use this homebrew class ahead of time and say, "Look, this is a first draft. I may have to nerf your powers, feats and abilities several times as we go, are you okay with that?" Good luck in play testing, and let us know how you make out. I'm looking forward to the finished product.
#14 El_Karlos Dec 28, 2011 10:25:42	The group I DM for is heading into an Asian themed area pretty soon, so I took the liberty of drawing up a homebrew Samurai class for them to play around with. Fighter (Samurai) Honorbound Strike is a melee 1 opportunity action. Opportunity actions intterupt the triggering action. So if your marked enemy shifts, you shift/teleport before their shift and make your opportunity attack. Did you intent for the power to work in this way? I see your point, using Honorbound Strike as an OA on a shift means they can charge right past you after you make the attack, and you wouldn't be able to do anything having already spent your OA. The reason I didn't make it an Immediate Reaction, is that in Multi-marking situations, you would only be able to punish one mark per round, whereas an OA could punish different creatures in the same round. But since my Samurai is a one-on-one themed class, I'll probably switch it to Immediate Reaction. As for the stickiness problem, what if Ki-strike slowed or proned on augment 1, and added extra damage on augment 2? That way you could use a PP to add some stickiness to the target of Honorbound Strike. Would that be OP? Silken Blade school - '... you gain +2 bonus to AC against attacks made by any target under the effects of your Honorbound Challenge.' If you mark gives the target a -2 penalty to hit your allies, and at the same time you make yourself +2 to AC harder to hit you haven't encouraged your mark to prefer to attack you. You are a defender and should have higher hp and defenses than the allies you are trying to protect. The -2 to hit penalty from a mark equates to the defender giving his/her allies a +2 to AC; this puts there AC on par or slightly higher than the defender's AC, hence encouraging the mark to take a swing at defender. Let me put it to you this way, would you rather attack the low hp controller with a -2 to your attack role, or would you rather attack the high hp defender with a +2 bonus to his defenses (i.e. the same as a -2 to your attack role)? If I was the monster I would rather take a swing at the squishy controller, and if you went with the Silken Flurry you can't stop (you can take a OA but can't immobilized me) me from shifting off you and charging (grants a +1 to hit for the charge attack) the controller. I didn't actually consider this. The reason the silken blade gets extra AC on their mark is because I was mimicking the established Berserker's approach to defending while wearing cloth armor. Cloth wearing 'zerkers get +3 to AC and +2 to REF at all times, with an additional +2 to AC while their defender aura is active. This lets them have Defender level AC without using a shield or heavy armor. Silken blade also wears no armor and does not use a shield, and the +2 AC against marked enemies was to mimic the extra defense from a defender aura, otherwise they would have subpar defender AC unless HEAVILY invested in dexterity. Any suggestions on how to approach this problem, without making the rest of the party more attractive targets? In general I think this guy needs to be nerfed a fair bit. He/she is going to be an absolute monster in combat. Essentially, you have taken a striker and given them the defender mechanics of mark and mark punishment. I don't think hes any more of a striker than the defenders he was based upon. Both incarnations of the defender fighter (Knight and Weaponmaster) get a bonus to accuracy and either a scaling bonus to damage (Knight), or extra damage when wielding specific weapons. The berserker's defender mechanic does EXTRA damage on a hit, and the battlemind can pull some insane DPR with brutal barrage and some off action attacks. The Samurai gets a situational bonus to accuracy and a situational bonus to damage, which is why the numbers are slightly higher than the Knight's scaling bonus to damage. However, it still lacks a striker mechanic, like multi-attacks, sneak attack, or extra flat damage (slayer,blackguard,sorc), that would push its DPR into the realm of striking. Furthermore, its reliance on heavy and light blades prevents it from using the most damaging weapons in the game, such as a gouge. The fighter was already one of the most damaging defenders in the business, and I doubt a samurai would be gamebreaking in comparison to the fighter builds currently available.
#15 skynet2.0 Dec 28, 2011 12:03:36	Where I'm coming from is the use of your minor action to generate more damage is a striker mechanic. The samurai uses its minor to up your accuracy and get combat advantage. Its similar to the Avenger getting two attack roles on his Oath of Enmity, upping his damage through increasing his chance to hit. This class is built on a combination of the battlemind and fighter in its defender mark related abilities, but it uses the stances of the slayer, a striker. The level one is a beefed up version of the berserker's daily. For example, the daily power is a 4[W] monster that hits against reflex (generally the non-AC defenses are easier to hit against than AC). Off the top of my head I can only think of two dailies that hit this hard at level 1: Barbarian's Life-Ending Strike (just added with the Heros of the Feywild content), and the Paladin's Blood of the Mighty and both of these powers target AC. A level 1 brute has an AC in the range of 13, and a reflex of roughly the same. A soldier (high defense target) has an AC of about 17 and a reflex of about 13 (AC = 16+level, reflex = 12+level roughly). This power is definitely on the strong end of the spectrum. Now I am looking at the power more closely, the effect line happens after the attack (on hit or miss) is resolved. So you charge or attack the target, then you shift up to your speed to a square adjacent to the target and sheathe your weapon.
#16 El_Karlos Dec 29, 2011 9:56:33	Where I'm coming from is the use of your minor action to generate more damage is a striker mechanic. The samurai uses its minor to up your accuracy and get combat advantage. Its similar to the Avenger getting two attack roles on his Oath of Enmity, upping his damage through increasing his chance to hit. This class is built on a combination of the battlemind and fighter in its defender mark related abilities, but it uses the stances of the slayer, a striker. The level one is a beefed up version of the berserker's daily. For example, the daily power is a 4[W] monster that hits against reflex (generally the non-AC defenses are easier to hit against than AC). Off the top of my head I can only think of two dailies that hit this hard at level 1: Barbarian's Life-Ending Strike (just added with the Heros of the Feywild content), and the Paladin's Blood of the Mighty and both of these powers target AC. A level 1 brute has an AC in the range of 13, and a reflex of roughly the same. A soldier (high defense target) has an AC of about 17 and a reflex of about 13 (AC = 16+level, reflex = 12+level roughly). This power is definitely on the strong end of the spectrum. Now I am looking at the power more closely, the effect line happens after the attack (on hit or miss) is resolved. So you charge or attack the target, then you shift up to your speed to a square adjacent to the target and sheathe your weapon. Actually, it uses the stances of the Knight with a samurai specific stance based on the build. I was worried about that Daily being powerful, which is why I limited it to bloodied targets only. It would make sense to change it to target AC for the sake of balance however. Using a minor action to ready your sword for a draw technique fits the flavor of a samurai, and I figured it made sense for them to get an accuracy bonus for attacking from sheathed. It looks like the Samurai Theme that they added to the CB does the same, but instead of granting simply CA, its a flat +2 to the attack roll, free action, shift, and a bonus crit range. Accuracy is important to any class, and a defender that relies on attack rolls to punish its mark would benefit from a once per round bonus to accuracy as a minor action. It only works for one attack unlike Oath of Emnity, so you dont get the accuracy and damage bonus over multiple attacks made in the same round without sacrificing more of your actions.
#17 skynet2.0 Jan 07, 2012 17:56:27	... Did you have a chance to do any play testing yet?
#18 Ocule Mar 01, 2012 14:29:46	Is this by any chance an active project?