Spellswords

[a shrouded figure]

So far I’m loving the changes, I would, however, comment that the AB may a bit over the top on its current state.

[Void]

To be honest, I looked at the page with announcements, and the first thing that came to my mind was....
can't I just play a plain old boring eldritch knight?

https://nwn2.fandom.com/wiki/Eldritch_Knight

Although in nwn2 this class also could benefit from Practiced Spellcaster feat.

I see that a lot of people are going to love the Spellsword Class, of course. One difference between current Spellsword and Eldritch Knight, however is that EK could be sorcerer based and likely Bard based as well (never tried this one, though).

[Drowboy]

I think something that's going to be jarring to a lot of players is just how few spellslots new spellsword gets (and how many really necessary spells are concentrated in the same levels), so it would be nice if they retained access to wizard gear at the least, and got some of their own custom-tailored to the class ideally.

[Watchful Glare]

I think it's pretty alright where it is right now, my spellsword is a bit weaker than he used to be, but now it has a lot more flavor and variety, as a class

[Good Character]

Personally enjoy the benefits from going a pure spellsword.

I am on the fence of the spellsword's AB. Its lack of AB was always its handicap, especially with its focal point being centered around landing a hit. In other words, maybe it's not its AB but something else.

Hands down, though... does a great justice to my favorite class. Retains what made it feel like a martial class that uses arcane. Hats off once again to Kalopsia. Really throwing out great reworks.

I hope we do see the abjurant champion path get an undispellable mage armor. To reduce your AC by 7 (mage armor + shield spell) off a breach is going to be heavy even with how low they are on the breach list.

[Naghast]

so, generally, i do like 30 spellsword, it's fun

and the class being vulnerable to breaches is, well, one vulnerability to have. i don't mind it that much.
even though it does remove, like, what.
4 deflection AC, 5 natural armor AC, and 3 dodge AC (literally 12 AC drop from being breached)
especially since you can use shadow conj wand to re-apply mage armor. and get full benefit from it.
(getting back 3 deflection / 3 natural armor / 3 dodge, so you reduce that drain of AC from 12 to 3)

the abjurant champion path, it... concerns me though.
since, for a tax of 4 feats
(3 pre-epic feats of combat casting, heavy armor proficiency, and the path itself, and one epic feat in form of autostill 3)
you gain...
2 ac, esf abj, and QoL of not having to hotswap your weapon to use different elemental strike to it's full power.
it's... i guess kinda nice? i like it thematically but not sure if it's worth the massive feat tax. maybe that part could be looked upon?

[Ork]

I have a strong suspicion we'll see abjurant champion nerfed, surprisingly. The feat tax isn't too crippling for a class that gets bonus feats.

[Apothys]

Awesome rework love it all, looking forward to playtesting it even more.

One thing though.

Blade song path is only elves and Half elves. This does not seem to include drow? Ive been on the PGCC and I fit all the requirements and its not there... my dreams of a drow Deathsinger are seriously being crushed right now.

[Drowboy]

Drow deathsinger (or something similarly drow-y, maybe a cool bonus when using a rapier, whip, or light crossbow?) would be nice.

Holding out hope for some spellslot gear as well (7 and 8 slots are especially rough, but I suppose by design?)

[stoneheart-]

Bladesinging is an elven tradition, taught only to to elves and half-elves, mentor-to-student. I would think that the restriction on drow is intentional. "Deathsinger" isn't a thing in the realms.

Perhaps a more drow-appropriate path will be released, perhaps it won't. Dex-based, non-bladesinger spellsword is probably still more than fine.

[Apothys]

Bladesinging is an elven tradition, taught only to to elves and half-elves, mentor-to-student. I would think that the restriction on drow is intentional. "Deathsinger" isn't a thing in the realms.

Perhaps a more drow-appropriate path will be released, perhaps it won't. Dex-based, non-bladesinger spellsword is probably still more than fine.

You could say the same for Arcane Archer then, but thats a thing with drow isnt it?

[Drowboy]

Bladesinging is an elven tradition, taught only to to elves and half-elves, mentor-to-student. I would think that the restriction on drow is intentional. "Deathsinger" isn't a thing in the realms.

Perhaps a more drow-appropriate path will be released, perhaps it won't. Dex-based, non-bladesinger spellsword is probably still more than fine.

ancient oath paladins don't exist in the version of FR we play, if we are assuming arelith isn't homebrew, which we have to assume, because otherwise this server couldn't be set in an island that does not exist in Ed Greenwood's Official Forgotten Realms

Runeaxe path for dwarves?

[Nintendo Entertainment System]

even though it does remove, like, what.
4 deflection AC, 5 natural armor AC, and 3 dodge AC (literally 12 AC drop from being breached)
especially since you can use shadow conj wand to re-apply mage armor. and get full benefit from it.
(getting back 3 deflection / 3 natural armor / 3 dodge, so you reduce that drain of AC from 12 to 3)

This is very easy to mitigate with a bit of preparation. If you're expecting PvP or PvE enemies that will breach you, use a normal Barkskin wand first so you only lose 1 nat armor off of breaches.

Similarly, Spellswords aren't any more MAD than other self-buffing classes. It's pretty easy to incorporate a +3 helmet into your gear and not wholly rely on the Shield spell.

Doing both steps reduces your breach vulnerability to 5 AC (1 deflect, 1 nat armor, 3 dodge), which is significant but not crippling, and keeps your AC pretty solid until you can reapply some buffs.

[stoneheart-]

You could say the same for Arcane Archer then, but thats a thing with drow isnt it?

I wouldn't be surprised if the age of drow AAs is soon to end with these changes to spellsword, moonblade, etc.

Judicator could potentially be a drow-based SS path, as they are magical fighters, though it would have to be a dev decision to do this as they can also be divine casters. They're also Selvetarm-only.

Bringing ancient oath paladins and other 5e imports is strange because they're just things from another edition of D&D, not any kind of thing that overwrites existing FR lore.

[Cabarcos]

I love arcane fighters, so I created a new character as soon as I read about the rework.
I'd already started playing with a human with high strength, so the abjuration path looks wonderful.

Looks like at level 27, if not sooner, you can select Automatics Still spell III as a feat. I don't know if that is intended or not.

[Good Character]

Looks like at level 27, if not sooner, you can select Automatics Still spell III as a feat. I don't know if that is intended or not.

Intended per Kalopsia. It's how abjurant champs can actually ignore ASF when using elemental strike.

[Drowboy]

Some other stuff: You can imbue weapon 2/day, and armor once, but relogging appears to wipe those, as does server transitioning. If they could carry over somehow, that would be dope.

[Hunter548]

Is there a reason sonic imbue was removed? Not really a complaint, just curious about its absence.

[stoneheart-]

Some other stuff: You can imbue weapon 2/day, and armor once, but relogging appears to wipe those, as does server transitioning. If they could carry over somehow, that would be dope.

Have you tried unequipping your weapon before transitioning? I noticed this is the case with temp essences and class bonuses that get applied to your weapon (swash, inivisble blade, fighter, etc) as well and putting away the weapon before doing the transitioning did the trick.

Of course it would be best if it could be fixed, but try that in the meantime.

[Tarkus the dog]

What is the AB?

[Good Character]

What is the AB?

Realistically hits 47-49, but elemental strike gives most builds an extra +4 for a hit.

[Tarkus the dog]

What is the AB?

Realistically hits 47-49, but elemental strike gives most builds an extra +4 for a hit.

Thanks for the numbers. I'm not sure how is that over the top then.

[AstralUniverse]

What is the AB?

Realistically hits 47-49, but elemental strike gives most builds an extra +4 for a hit.

Thanks for the numbers. I'm not sure how is that over the top then.

Its like 50 with Warcry on. It's quite a lot for a mage (with g.sanc, mords, timestop) with 55 ac (str based) and probably what... 61 ac (dex based). For comparison, b-cleric gets 55 ac as well, gets 53-54 ab realistically (without crippling their windup and dps severely), longer wind up, no high level mage spells (but wofs and harms instead). I think you get the picture. The spellsword looks very strong but I wouldnt shout for nerfs just yet.

[Good Character]

DEX version should hit 59 with the cold armor imbue and with the bladesinger path.

[Watchful Glare]

Realistically hits 47-49, but elemental strike gives most builds an extra +4 for a hit.

Thanks for the numbers. I'm not sure how is that over the top then.

Its like 50 with Warcry on. It's quite a lot for a mage (with g.sanc, mords, timestop) with 55 ac (str based) and probably what... 61 ac (dex based). For comparison, b-cleric gets 55 ac as well, gets 53-54 ab realistically (without crippling their windup and dps severely), longer wind up, no high level mage spells (but wofs and harms instead). I think you get the picture. The spellsword looks very strong but I wouldnt shout for nerfs just yet.

Any class can use Mords and Timestop, provided they either have UMD, Lore, or pick a 5% race like Aasimar (Greater actually, not major), Tiefling, Rakshasa, Imp, or even use the consumable gems for Mords.

Their imbued elemental strike is elemental which gets completely shut down by an Energy Buffer spell.