I wouldn't really say the thread's repeating. The current "wizards suck" defender is more in the "the wizard isn't a unique snowflake" camp than the "padded sumo" camp. However, I am getting deja vu from the start of the "wizards are weak" thread in the character development boards.
so Shimeran, casting spells is not a class feature of the spellcaster classes
The thing is in 4E, rituals are not spells. Spells are the powers of arcane casters, just as prayers are the powers of divine casters. Rituals are treated more like elaborate special procedures that if done properly will be effective regardless of who the user is. Examples of this are common enough in fiction. This first one to pop into my head is the movie Army of Darkness. In contrast spells and prayers are more like special abilities gained through initiation and/or training. Spellcasters are characterized by those "touched by magic" abilities. While knowing how to perform rituals is common amoung caster, not all casters get that training (paladin and warlock don't).
geting somethign because you multiclass, is diferent that geting it because you take general feats
How is it different? The only difference I'm seeing is that multi-classing feats are a subset of general feats. In both cases the player is saying, "I want to expand my character concept to get a bit more magic". By the same token, why doesn't the cleric suck when the fighter can raise dead? Why doesn't the rogue suck when another class can be just as good at spotting and disabling traps (though skill training feats)?
a priest or warlord could have replaced the wizard easilys eting in the same place healing the warrior and hiting the foe as they aproached
Ah, but the Kruthik had a damage aura and neither or those classes has the ability to force the enemy back out of melee range. That means even if they healing provided kept up with the Krutik's damage on the fighter, they would be taking damage themselves. In the same scenario, the wizard took no damage. The closest match would be a ranged cleric and they could have kept it up for a maximim of two rounds at the cost of not being able to heal anyone else. There was also a second front in the battle. By locking down that front by himself, the wizard let the fighter swing around to help deal with an attack on the other side.
I said in my previus post, not because I can catch 5 bugst with a lvl 2 trooper means the troopers are l33t
Just like being taken down when the odds and/or dice are against you doesn't mean you suck. So let's look at average performance. Yes, last session was probably the wizard's best so far. However, that character hasn't had a single session where she sucked. Even when acting as a second melee character (I mentioned this is a heavily ranged party), she's only gone down once and that scenario was one character away from being a TPK (and that one character wasn't a defender).
it just fall short and is too similar to the other classes to be called a wizard, I also did the comparation with controller from similar sistems (PC MMORPG ragnarock online), and while the pow has been proved to work at low levels and agaisnt minions mostly, this plus the uncertainty of hiting, hurt it badly, control need to be at least certain to be reliable.
So the wizard sucks unless it's a unique snowflake with it's own separate system that no other class has, but cantrips and spell preparation (which was previously shared with other classes) aren't enough? Interesting, in those same games you mentioned in your comparison I believe everyone automatically hits. Thus the wizards in those games have the same level of accuracy as every other class, just like in 4E. As tigg mentioned, multiple attack rolls actually increase the chance for at least limited control. The wizard also has a variety of auto-damage powers, which means more reliable damage. They can also lay down terrain with automatic effects for reliable control effects. For example, even on a miss Icy terrain can reduce enemy movement.
finally Tigg75 I did read all the post before responding, and in those 58 pages I have yet to see a well funded counterargument to the mage suck thesis (ok from the very limited scope of 4E is only marginally worse than the rest, and I accepted that if you check my post), but it just fall short and is too similar to the other classes to be called a wizard, I also did the comparation with controller from similar sistems (PC MMORPG ragnarock online), and while the pow has been proved to work at low levels and agaisnt minions mostly, this plus the uncertainty of hiting, hurt it badly, control need to be at least certain to be reliable.
The title of the thread is "Wizards DO Suck", but just saying 'wizards suck' is very vague. There have been two major meanings of 'wizards suck' over these last 58 pages: 1) 4E Wizards suck because their power level and ability to contribute effectively to a party (in battle, mostly) is considerably smaller than the rest of the 4E classes. 2) 4E Wizards suck because the design of the class has bad features (individual choices that are much better than the other possible choices, etc). 1) has been debated a lot more than 2) on this thread.
What you're suggesting, comparing the Wizard against controllers in other systems--hasn't really been debated here. This is why you're not seeing any counterarguments against it--that's not the argument. Likewise, your argument that wizards such because other classes get rituals too has little bearing on argument 1) (if every class has feature X, then it's the non-X features that determine relative class power), and pretty much none on argument 2). Feel free to continue to make those points, but people aren't necessarily going to necessarily engage you on them, because they're tangential to the main thrust of the thread.
n647 wrote:
2- in the system the warrior is a defender, so actually if he hit 50% of the time is not that bad, that would be bad for strikers, and I can make again the comparation to ragnarock online, a hunter that does not hit is useless, a crusader that doesn’t hit but hold, is doing his job, now for control you need reliability, if you don`t get that reliability is hard to control
Well, it's not clear that the strikers are going to be hitting that much more than the fighter; rangers/warlocks get prime shot and rogues get rogue weapon talent, but fighters get fighter weapon talent. Strikers may get combat advantage more than the fighter, but not necessarily much more; the fighter's perfectly capable of flanking too. Ultimately, though, if you think any role (striker or controller) needs significantly more than a 50% chance to hit, then yes, those roles are going to look bad to you, since attacks at around 50% are a pretty basic part of 4E. I'm not sure why you think controllers _need_ to hit all 3 targets in your example, though; affecting 1 or 2 monsters with a status effect doesn't seem like a bad thing to me. Plus, a 50% hit chance can be balanced by the severity of status effects; would you rather have a burst 2 that slowed targets and hit 90% of the time, or a burst 2 that stunned targets but only hit 50% of the time? I'll take the stunning, easily.
n647 wrote:
3- You are talking about 2 or 3 spells that are daily, I expect to see every wizard take them... not a good sign for balance is it?
I assume by that you mean the walls. But not every wizard is going to take the wall spells, as nice as they are. Consider the alternatives: At level 9 daily: Wall of Fire, or Ice Storm -- Immobilize (save ends) is nice for Orb wizards.
Level 15 daily: Wall of Ice, or Prismatic Beams -- very nice, especially for Orb wizards Bigby's Grasping Hands -- wizards with high Con (staff wizards) can get an amazing amount of damage out of this.
Level 1 daily: Flaming Sphere (wall-ish), or Sleep -- LOTS of wizards are going to take sleep.
Terrain spells are nice, but by no means the only choice.
and yes i understand your example, wath hapenned was a casuality, not the norm, and given the conditions a priest or warlord could have replaced the wizard easilys eting in the same place healing the warrior and hiting the foe as they aproached, as I said in my previus post, not because I can catch 5 bugst with a lvl 2 trooper means the troopers are l33t, it means I make a very good use of my tools
The measure should be whether a different class could have replaced the wizard, but rather if the wizard pulls its own weight. As it is any one class could be replaced in a party and it could still be functional. So if replacement was a measure then all classes suck. Also note that at this time the wizard is the only controller.
TarlSS I understand that well, but taking the most comon example of a wizard, I invite you to read this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_%28fantasy%29 , you might notice that wath you say is actually just a very limited view of the wizard, maybe the wiev a fighter that just hear some tales might have but that´s just not the big picture...
That is irrelevant to a 4th edition wizard. The traditional fantasy wizard progresses in a quadratic power progression and in general has solid limits on what it could do.
finally Tigg75 I did read all the post before responding, and in those 58 pages I have yet to see a well funded counterargument to the mage suck thesis
As it is (unless I missed something) it is up to the those that think the wizard sucks to put forth proof of such. Until that happens a counter isn't possible.
(ok from the very limited scope of 4E is only marginally worse than the rest, and I accepted that if you check my post), but it just fall short and is too similar to the other classes to be called a wizard,
Being too similar, even if true, is a matter of taste. That would be subjective and as such every difficult to prove either way.
As for falling short a clearly stated out post why would help move the argument along.
I also did the comparation with controller from similar sistems (PC MMORPG ragnarock online), and while the pow has been proved to work at low levels and agaisnt minions mostly, this plus the uncertainty of hiting, hurt it badly, control need to be at least certain to be reliable.
Certain and reliable are basically the same concept. Also how other systems work is irrelevant.
Also the little math that has been put forth on the subject has shown that the 50% chance to hit holds for all classes at all levels. However, multi targeting effects of the wizard means that when they strike for numerous targets they get an increased chance to control at least one target.
WoW hunters get a pet, and are far more consistent with their attacks. 3.5 rangers had spells, hide in plain sight, an animal companion and superior to hit chances. clearly, the 4E ranger sucks too.
WOW fighters taunt, which forces monsters to attack them, not just deters them from attacking others. They also hit far more consistently and have powers that produce some serious control effects. 3.5 fighters had huge damage potential, awesome to hit ratio's and generally superior control options that allowed them superior battlefield control. Clearly 4E fighters suck.
WOW clerics aren't limited to 3 healings per fight that don't rely on an attack roll or use of a day long refresh to use, and those healings the WoW cleric does get are superior to 1/4 HP's of the target and don't spend the targets resources. 3.5 have a similar healing superiority such as the WoW cleric, superior defenses, superior control ability and far better overall utility and power. Clearly the 4E cleric sucks.
Wow Shamans get superior healing, superior melee and superior ranged attacks over the warlord. They also get totems which are longer duration buffs then anything the warlord can provide. 3.5 had the druid. clearly the warlord sucks.
Shall I continue or can you see your system of comparing to other games is flawed and can make every class in the 4E suck. Accept the fact that 4E is it's own game and judge it on it's own internal merits.
Now, as to your issue of wizards having entirely damage based powers. It is partly due to the fact that, well ... your looking at the attack powers. Surprise suprise most of the attack powers have a damage component. You'll note though that, most of them have something else far more valuable then damage. That said, due to the desire to not have spells completely remove someone from an entire combat with a single spell, they reduced the duration on spells and added a damage component so that, although the spells don't remove them from the fight completely (only for a few moments), they are also taken closer to death simultaneously, thus the spells serve a dual purpose instead of serving a single purpose to the detriment of the game.
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ok, i'm gonna give you an example of incredible wizard dmg
what we need????
lvl 23 encounter spell: chain lightning mage lvl 30 with 28 int (18 base +2 race, +8 level) wand +6 feats: raging storm spell storm mage path feature: extra damage action a pack of 10 monster attacking our group.
the mage need to use his action point, and gain extra damage action. with the action point, the mage casts his chain lightning
1st target: 4d6 + 30 2nd targets: 2d6 + 30 each (2 objetives) 3rd targets : 1d6 + 30 each (all other 7 enemies)
so.... 44 + 74 + 234,5 = 352,5 total dmg, average. (385 dmg average in 3.5 version of chain lightning, almost the same!) i don't think melee classes can do same dmg as mages... so i don't understand why everyone says that mages do low damage...
well... in hypothetical encounter... a mage surrounded by a 40 x 40 squares of kobolds, and the mage casting the same spell:
4d6+30 + 4d6+60 + 1597d6+47910 dmg = 53617,5 dmg, average :D (the same spell in 3,5 did only 1050 dmg, average in this case)
still do you think the mages do low damage? :D well, only with the first example, i think mages do average dmg, but against various enemies.
ok, i'm gonna give you an example of incredible wizard dmg
what we need????
lvl 23 encounter spell: chain lightning mage lvl 30 with 28 int (18 base +2 race, +8 level) wand +6 feats: raging storm spell storm mage path feature: extra damage action a pack of 10 monster attacking our group.
the mage need to use his action point, and gain extra damage action. with the action point, the mage casts his chain lightning
1st target: 4d6 + 30 2nd targets: 2d6 + 30 each (2 objetives) 3rd targets : 1d6 + 30 each (all other 7 enemies)
so.... 44 + 74 + 234,5 = 352,5 total dmg, average. (385 dmg average in 3.5 version of chain lightning, almost the same!) i don't think melee classes can do same dmg as mages... so i don't understand why everyone says that mages do low damage...
well... in hypothetical encounter... a mage surrounded by a 40 x 40 squares of kobolds, and the mage casting the same spell:
4d6+30 + 4d6+60 + 1597d6+47910 dmg = 53617,5 dmg, average :D (the same spell in 3,5 did only 1050 dmg, average in this case)
still do you think the mages do low damage? :D well, only with the first example, i think mages do average dmg, but against various enemies.
Wow! I'd like to see your dice rolls cuz I think you're cheating. You never missed a single target
While I think most (including me) agree that wizards aren't worse than other classes, I more and more understand why a lot of people feel that wizards do suck.
While classes as fighters and rangers seemed to get a lot more power, wizards lost a lot of options.
While they can cast as much (or even more) spells as before, they have less different things to pick from. I don't know if it would hurt much, but giving wizards an additional at-will power at level 11 (so that non-human wizards have three and human wizards have four at-wills) shouldn't hurt too much.
Maybe they should spend a feat for that "Arcane Versatility" or something like that :D
While I think most (including me) agree that wizards aren't worse than other classes, I more and more understand why a lot of people feel that wizards do suck.
While classes as fighters and rangers seemed to get a lot more power, wizards lost a lot of options.
While they can cast as much (or even more) spells as before, they have less different things to pick from. I don't know if it would hurt much, but giving wizards an additional at-will power at level 11 (so that non-human wizards have three and human wizards have four at-wills) shouldn't hurt too much.
Maybe they should spend a feat for that "Arcane Versatility" or something like that :D
I can understand missing what wizards used to be...I guess. I like wizards now. I hated them before. Everytime I wanted to play something OTHER than a wizard, all I ever got was, "Why do you wanna play that? Just play a wizard." The only thing I hated more than wizards were paladins. Wizards had to get nerfed, even with the buffing up and restructuring of other classes, wizards just plain had TOO MUCH. I guess people don't have to like it, but complaints only matter when they affect change, and that CANNOT happen now. It's done, it's over, it's finished. The old wizards are dead in 4e, forever. The only way to get them back is to go back to 3.5. If people wanna do that, go for it, I don't begrudge them their preference. But, I like 4e wizards better, so I'm staying with it.
Anyway, I offered as a suggestion once to include encounter powers in spellbooks. Learning more as time goes on, and preparing a selection of them each day along with dailies and utilities. At-wills would be pointless unless they made a LOT more of them, but if they did...then ok fine, go for it. Doing so, of course, would probably mean doing something about the Expanded Spellbook feat. And my suggestion for that is to make 2 more feats. One for at-wills, and one for encounters. The price of improving the return to versatility would be a total of 3 feats. Cheap, in my opinion, but I don't think it'd be the downfall of the game. I think there's a little bit of leeway and wiggle-room with regard to relative class power level.
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