Flailmage!

[bloodshed343]

Would there be anything particularly broken about a homebrewed Swordmage|Warlock who uses flails instead of blades?

[GPuzzle]

Eh... No. I mean you have to pick up two Expertise feats if you really want to get the best out of it, but other than that nothing much.

Well, besides the homebrew, which we have no idea what it is.

[Yakk]

Here, a fun (to me) homebrew feat:

Flailmage: Requires: Swordmage, Warlock, Aegis of Ensnaring power. You can summon a "Scourge of Exquisite Agony" as a Gloom pact hexblade. If you are wielding a flail, you can treat it as a sword for the purposes of Swordmage Warding, and if your offhand holds a rod, it is considered empty for the purpose of Swordmage Warding.

I think restricting it to possibly the weakest of the pacts gives lots of room for power. Getting a hexblade is awesome, as is being able to dual-wield a hexblade and a rod while getting full warding.

[Gilphon]

If the Homebrew is what I think you're suggesting- just letting them use Flails as Implements and letting it count as a sword for Swordmage Warding- No, there's nothing broken. It gives them access to a handful of weapon Enchantments and feats they wouldn't otherwise be able to use, but there's nothing particularly impressive I see. It's possible it opens up some weird build that's not obvious at first glance, but even if that's true, I feel like it would be more 'unique' than 'game-breaking'.

Though it's worth pointing out that without further house rules, White Lotus Dueling Expertise would be the only way to avoid picking up a second Expertise feat. Unless you just avoided taking any Weapon powers, I suppose.

[NecroRebel]

Um. There's a feat that adds a slide to Eldritch Strike, isn't there? You could combine Aegis of Assault, Eldritch Strike, that feat, and some of the flail's slide-boosting powers for some pretty heavy lockdown I'd think. Not sure if it'd be any better than a Fighter using the same sort of tactics, though - harder for a single target to avoid, but less able to spread it around.

[GPuzzle]

Um. There's a feat that adds a slide to Eldritch Strike, isn't there? You could combine Aegis of Assault, Eldritch Strike, that feat, and some of the flail's slide-boosting powers for some pretty heavy lockdown I'd think. Not sure if it'd be any better than a Fighter using the same sort of tactics, though - harder for a single target to avoid, but less able to spread it around.

Eldritch Strike has a Slide 1 naturally. And Aegis of Assault is a Reaction, not an interrupt.

Yeah, it can work for lockdown if you're looking at something like a Swordlock/Sword of Assault which relies on applying Booming Blade and then letting him run away before hitting him with a double tap because Booming Blade's 2nd attack would apply and so would Eldritch Strike for more damage if we're going with the "an additional damage instance for every square moved" and try to exploit it, or just in general attempting to make a heavily-damaging Swordlock.

Which in that case you probably wanted to go Swordbarian with Barbarian Agility and a Firewind Fullblade since you're a Genasi.

[bloodshed343]

I just checked, and there's not a significant enough mechanical difference between the triple-headed flail and the bastard sword to warrant actual homebrew, except for the hobgoblin weapon feat, so I'll probably just refluff the bastard sword as a flail.

[GPuzzle]

I just checked, and there's not a significant enough mechanical difference between the triple-headed flail and the bastard sword to warrant actual homebrew, except for the hobgoblin weapon feat, so I'll probably just refluff the bastard sword as a flail.

Better overall feats, actually (although they do rely on some investment in Dexterity).

But yeah, there's not really much of a difference.

And by the way, in case you wanted to do a Flailmage, go Swordmage|Cleric and use a Holy Symbol.

[Waddacku]

I made a Hobgoblin Swordmage|Battlemind with Net Training, Deadly Immobilization, WSG, and Vicious Advantage. Hobgoblin Phalanx Soldier for penaltyless Heavy Shield in one hand, net in the other. Loses a point of AC compared to Warding with a blade, but the entire point is to not have a blade. Only picked weapon powers. Hybrid Talent for Persistent Harrier, took Aegis of Ensnarement mainly as a nice fit for the theme, by no means a necessity. Haven't really crunched the numbers, but Deadly Immobilization ought to make up for some of the damage loss from wielding a net instead of a bigger weapon, and slowing/proning everything is pretty appealing. Much more of a controller than a striker. Battlemind side gives access to shenanigans, of course.

[Kurald Galain]

You should get a flail snail as your familiar...

[bloodshed343]

It would also be super easy to get the Elemental initiate theme for Ki Focus. Anyway...

I thought Swordmage|Cleric was just a stupid idea, then I made one and I love it.

Gonna try a Swordmage|Fighter next and Swordmage|Wizard next.