PHB2 Review: It’s Good To Have a Shaman Around
I'm going to roll an NPC shaman, but instead of a spirit bear, he's going to summon a spirit Wayne Cashman.
The shaman is the perfect class for the type of D&D player who likes to hang in the back of combat, acting as a support unit for the front line fighters. But at the same time, the shaman’s spirit animal will be right there on the front line itself, dishing out bonuses to allies and ripping up the enemy.
The shaman is a leader with a primal power source. Almost all of the shaman’s powers come from summoning or calling on the power of nature spirits, and the majority of them are based on the spirit animal. You can focus on defense (with a bear-like spirit) or cunning (panther). Your actual spirit animal’s shape doesn’t have to be a bear or a panther – you can use anything as long as you can create a reason for it to fit your character’s background. Beware my spirit wombat!
Especially at earlier levels, it’s hard to get too excited about the shaman. The attack powers do mediocre damage at best, and the buffs are fairly vanilla. Other leader and controller classes provide similar buffs in more interesting ways. I think what bothers me most about the shaman is that you aren’t really doing anything yourself. The shaman just stands there, calls some spirits, then watches while the spirits do all the heavy lifting.
There are two ways shaman powers are focused on the spirit animal: it can make melee attacks, and many of the shaman’s buffs and debuffs affect allies and enemies adjacent to the spirit animal, respectively. Some powers let you teleport the spirit animal around, and it can move when the shaman moves. Beginning at 10th level, a shaman can summon more than one spirit animal at a time.
The shaman does have some of the most powerful pure healing spells in 4E right now. Once you get above 15th level or so, you can restore full hit points, give huge asaving throw bonuses and even bring the entire party back to life from a total party kill (assuming the shaman managed to survive long enough to cast Call the Dead).
If you’re really into the spirit animal thing and like playing a support role, the shaman class is practially tailor made for you. For any other combination of player attributes, though, there are other classes that do it better. A warden makes a better animal based front line fighter, a warlord is a better front line supporter, and druids make the combination of ranged support with melee attacks more fun. Maybe I’m being too harsh – there’s nothing wrong with the shaman, but it just seems too detached to be very enjoyable.
April 24th, 2009 6:29 AM
I had a player who LOVED to be the summoner– he was always wrestling with me over what he could & couldn’t call up to do his (unholy) bidding. Maybe this is a good template for that– I have said before, there is tons of room for new powers a la the specialist wizard.
April 24th, 2009 9:21 AM
I wonder, has anyone thought about creating a power for a class? I’ve thought about different weapons (I want to do a quick session that involves magic everyday items), but what about creating your own powers, or paragon path… Just some food for thought.
April 24th, 2009 11:59 AM
@Lady Shada
Creating a power is pretty easy. Balancing the power is hard.
Compare it to powers of the same level from that class and from other classes in the same role. If your power is a “Must Take”, then it’s probably the wrong level. Other things to consider – Does it fit the theme of the class? Does it step on somebody else’s theme? Is it too similar to another power from the same class? Does it give you something that’s not usually available to chgaracters?
I suggest getting several opinions from different people, many of them GM’s.
April 24th, 2009 12:19 PM
Philo nailed it, that’s exactly what I was going to say. If it’s purely a damage power, it’s fairly easy to place level wise, but other effects, you’ll have to make a judgement call.
April 24th, 2009 2:02 PM
How about this alternate Invoker At-Will I’m working on?
Holy Flashbang, Batman!
At-Will Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Area burst 1 within 10 squares
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Reflex
Hit: Target is blinded, deafened and stunned until the end of your next turn.
Too strong?
On Shaman, I agree that it takes a particular type of player to enjoy playing one. Luckily, there are plenty of those players out there. I’ve been in several campaigns with the player that likes D&D, but would rather sit back from the group and support. I’m glad Wizards provided that type of player with an alternative to Archery Ranger.
April 28th, 2009 2:07 PM
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