I think, given what I’ve seen here, that the whole high HP might have come as a result that they don’t appear to (though I might find this to be untrue once i finally get a hold of the PHB2) have less manipulative abilities than the warlock or wizard. (bonus damage is cool and all, but it ain’t blindness/stunning pushing/pulling etc on nearly every other spell.) so it could be that we should expect to see sorcerers facing a more successful attacks against them than their spellcasting counterparts.

As for the strange and wonderful ways to boost your AC, I agree it is rather like a large and fuzzy security blanket, but at the same time I can relate to the frustration of trying to make a fun character whose stats and story match what you think they should be as opposed to the statistically ‘best build’ that stat minded people eventually work out. (which in turn tends to mean anything falling outside that perfection becomes ’sub-optimal’ (*cough* World of Warcraft *cough* for example *cough, cough*))

On Chaos Bolt – is the target for the secondary any creature within range, or is it enemy only? Forced backlashing of your own party seems hurtful, though i would love to see one bolt decimate a group of minions.

Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a Shaman preview released until Friday. Went completely under my radar.

Thanks for the comments and readership, everyone!

Will the dagger implement allow you use Flaming/Frost/Radiant weapons to change your spells damage type or has that already been errated?

Chaos Bolt is cute, but consensus seems to be that you have to hit with the primary to even get a chance at the secondary, so you won’t be seeing multi-hit chains very often. The base damage die on encounter powers doesn’t really seem very different from the warlock who has lots of 2d8, some 2d6, a 2d10 (I think in Dragon), and a 3d6, all with nice riders.

And as people have pointed out, 6d6 on a daily is very nice, but a dwarven fighter(!) can hit that with a 3W power on a 2d6 weapon at first level. The hp probably don’t need to be lowered any more, especially since before feats the sorc will generally start with the worst AC in the game. The sorc is a good direct damage-dealer and looks like fun, but doesn’t obviously outshine any of the other classes.

I read the Character Optimization boards and almost all the new material is fun and unique, but definitely NOT overpowered (Barbarian for example suffers from being horrible without using a Daily each battle). The only really overpowered things that has come out recently are the new choices for old classes. 4e is a much better designed product compared to 3e which was a joke with all the silly prestige class loopholes that you could do. Plus, if you have a problem with a specific element in any RPG, just ban it from your home campaign and problem solved.

AC is not just dodging. It’s also ability to ignore/block an attack. “I’m so strong/tough that you can’t penetrate my mighty muscles” has been used with strong-guy archetypes for years. If Marvel Comics’s Thing was a 4e character, do you think he’d be using his Dex to dodge attacks, or his Con to block/ignore them?

“Even using INT to determine AC is taking it too far, I think. “I’m really smart, so you’re not going to hit me.””

It’s more like, “I’m so smart that I can tell exactly what you’re doing as you’re doing it. I’ve seen it a million times. As such, avoiding it is child’s play.”

I don’t have a problem with the whole “use another stat for AC.” I can understand that the value of stats is less, but you have to factor in what skills you will be good in. Skills are much more important in 4e due to Skill Challenges, so a Sorcerer would be better at Athletics than a Wizard. If you removed stats from the equation then you’d have weird combinations like a Wizard who was good at Thievery and Athletics.

Strength isn’t just a measure of how much you can lift stuff, but more like the requirements of being able to use your own physical body to enhance your spells through sheer force (while CON would be through fortitude). Remember that Sorcerers are based on “blood” rather than training, which is more physical based than a Wizard. It is a little bit of a stretch, but it is understandable in my eyes. Plus, his power source is Arcane, which means it is “MAGIC” so it can ignore some common sense. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t see something like that in a Martial class.