A good read about physicaly strong wizards

[Volourn]

Not quite.

[swordofthesith]

RE the hubbub around MIGHT. 

 

First I would like to point out that I understand where all the confusion is coming from here.

 

Every pen & paper and computer role-playing game since the dawn of recorded history has usually had an attribute for strength (big muscles!) and I think most role-players are conditioned to expect and look for it.  But the PoE crew has moved away from a traditional attribute system in favor of something new and I support new 100%. I do not believe we need to re-hash RPG systems around the Dungeons & Dragons forever and I like the fact that the PoE team is moving away from it somewhat. 

 

In the new system there is no strength attribute that determines physical prowess. Instead we have MIGHT and it governs all prowess: Physical or magical. Period! 

 

MIGHT is now a catchall attribute for damage potential - not a measure of physical strength. A Wizard or spell caster that has a crap ton of might is not a muscle bound freak of nature. They instead have a tremendous command over their magical abilities and can wreck havoc on their enemies. And I am OK with that. It provides build versatility. 

 

And there are existing checks and balances to prevent a Wizard from having everything + the kitchen sink even with a high MIGHT score. The PoE Team has ensured that they will never be able to hit as hard in melee as well as a fighter or fighter hybrid. The spell casting classes are baked to be mostly subpar at melee combat with some exceptions. Additionally while you can don ANYONE in heavy armor it does come with important drawbacks. Most crucially it effects action speed. 

 

You can put your Wizard in full plate and send them up front but he or she will take FOREVER to cast their spells. Cleverly though, Obsidian has given us advantages and drawbacks at almost every turn with our choices. Yes - the Wizard will take forever to cast spells with full plate but they will have increased survivability in melee and it will allow them to better position from of their offensive spells without having to worry about friendly fire. 

 

You can play your Wizard that way if you wish. The PoE Team has made that possible for us. Or you could equip them in the lightest armor possible, put them in the back ranks of your party and turn them into magical gatling gun. That is also a perfectly viable way to play the Wizard. And yet again, you can dump might and boost intellect and dexterity to increase the area of effect and accuracy of your spells. The choice is yours.

 

While this system is not perfect I am impressed with the checks & balances the PoE Team has given us with this system along with options and flexibility they have given us. There is a vast array of play style choices we can pursue with this system. De-bug, tweak and GAME ON!

 

I say.^_^

 

[wickermoon]

Additionally while you can don ANYONE in heavy armor it does come with important drawbacks. Most crucially it effects action speed. 

 

This also affects melee characters. It's not as if casters are the only ones affected by action speed. And regarding the effectiveness of melee wizards: The only advantage melee fighters have over melee wizards is that they can choose a stat to increase their damage with certain weapons. Other than that, mages have almost the same effects in magical form plus even more powerful spells that no melee fighter could compare with.

 

Streamlined attributes will lead to cookie-cutter builds and I'm going to predict that they will be even less diversified than in any D&D setting. You forego the specialists in favour of jack-of-all-trades and that always makes a game dull, blandness, that is.