Well from what I can tell, it's a half caster, I'm not really comparing it to full casters. A martial warlock or eldritch Knight-type would be more appropriate.Even compared to "normal" spellcasters?
Well from what I can tell, it's a half caster, I'm not really comparing it to full casters. A martial warlock or eldritch Knight-type would be more appropriate.Even compared to "normal" spellcasters?
Ok so coming from the other direction- what're the trade offs that make it reasonable and not outshine core book options? Getting spells AND maneuvers AND being able to get an attack in while spellcasting and built in magic weapon etc bonuses is pretty .. intense.I will also say: think the wielder is probably plenty strong, even at lower levels, and by the time you hit 5, they're likely to be an absolute wrecking machine. The spell list is really good (notably including shield), the combat traditions list is really good (including Tempered Iron, Cutting Omen and Unending Wheel), and the proficiencies are also excellent. The D8 hit die isn't that big of a deal with the rest of that stuff at your fingertips.
My player ended up choosing the Wielder and the game starts next week, so we'll quickly find out.Ok so coming from the other direction- what're the trade offs that make it reasonable and not outshine core book options? Getting spells AND maneuvers AND being able to get an attack in while spellcasting and built in magic weapon etc bonuses is pretty .. intense.
A good set of points, and actually confirms something specific that I observed when I was working on the warlock/wielder chain for MMV1: the foundations of the warlock and wielder are so similar that I think mixing the two will almost feel like a single-class build.I don't think power is a huge concern. The class is essentially in the warlock chassis for spellcasting. They don't have eldritch blast as a consistent damage option, and have a MAD problem if they want to fight with weaponry and get less invocation equivalent ability that's traded off for limited maneuver access and more static class features. There's a lot of build options, but they'll narrow down to whatever you actually pick, and the class structure forces you into a gish role. I ultimately expect the characters to generally play like blade pact warlocks with slightly different abilities.