We finish out the review of Fighter subclasses with the Echo Knight from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and the Psi Warrior and Rune Knight from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Wildemount brought new spells and three new subclasses. Unlike those found in Ravnica, Theros, and Eberron, the Wildemount subclasses/classes did not see reprint in Tasha's. One could argue that they're deeply tied to the dunamancy of the Wildemount setting, but I think you could fit them in other worlds.
Let's start with the Echo Knight, which uses alternate versions of oneself from other universes or timelines (variants, to borrow the terminology of Loki, though they work in a different way) to literally be in two places at once.
At level 3, you get Manifest Echo, which is the core of the subclass. You can manifest an echo of yourself as a bonus action within 15 feet of you. The echo is grey and translucent. It has an AC of 14 + your proficiency bonus (meaning a range of 16 to 20, which is pretty comparable to a character in heavy armor.) You can move it 30 feet per turn, but if it's ever more than 30 feet away from you, it is destroyed. It has a single hit point.
While it's out, you can use a bonus action to teleport and swap places with your echo, which uses 15 feet of your movement. When you attack, your attacks can originate from your space or from your echo's, and you can choose this for each attack. Also, if a creature can provoke an opportunity attack by running away from your echo, which uses your reaction.
You also get Unleash Incarnation. When you take the attack action, you can make one additional attack from the echo's position, which you can use a number of times equal to your Con modifier, regaining all uses when you finish a long rest.
While Unleash Incarnation is certainly nice - getting an extra attack a few times a day - the core of the feature is really what makes this subclass amazing. The potential for positioning, which is a pretty huge deal in D&D, is unparalleled. And the fact that there's no limit to the number of echoes you can summon (just one at a time) means that you always have this effect up. While you won't fool anyone into attacking your echo instead of you, the fact that you can swap places with it every turn means that your foes need to be watching both very carefully.
At 7, you get Echo Avatar. As an action, you can see through your echo's eyes and hear through its ears, during which your real body is deafened and blinded, which you can do for 10 minutes. You can end this at any time, and while you do this, the echo can be up to 1000 feet away without being destroyed. Giving a fighter a safe way to scout out a location is pretty awesome, and again, with no limit on this, you can get away with a lot.
At level 10, you get Shadow Martyr. If an attack is made against another creature you can see, you can use your reaction to teleport the echo to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the targeted creature, and have the echo take the attack instead (you do this before the attack roll is made.) You can use this once per short or long rest. Your echo is totally disposable, so being able to save a downed ally or a squishy character from a big hit is pretty great.
At level 15, you get Reclaim Potential. When an echo of yours is destroyed by taking damage, you can gain temp HP equal to 2d6 plus your Con modifier, as long as you don't already have temporary hit points. You can do this a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier per long rest. Given that any successful attack will destroy the echo, this just adds insult to injury when you get temp HP and then summon another echo on your next turn.
Finally, at level 18, you get Legion of One. You can now create two echoes with your Manifest Echo. Likewise, if you start a fight without a use of Unleash Incarnation, you regain one use. While not mind-blowing, being able to be in three places at once is better than two!
This subclass is really freaking cool, and even if it's pretty mechanically simple when you boil it down, the mobility makes it very strong.
Next, we're going to look at the Psi Warrior. This is one of Tasha's psionic subclasses.
First off, you get at level 3 Psionic Power. You have d6s equal to twice your proficiency bonus, called Psionic Energy dice, which you use for various things. Some abilities expend these, while others simply use them without consuming them. You get them all back on a short or long rest. At 5, they become d8s, at 11, they become d10s, and at 17, they become d12s.
You can use them in the following ways:
Protective Field lets you use a reaction to shield either yourself or an ally within 30 feet when they take damage. You roll the die and reduce the damage taken by the number rolled plus your intelligence modifier. This expends the die.
Psionic Strike let you, once per turn, after you hit a target within 30 feet of you with an attack and deal damage to it, roll a psionic energy die and deal force damage equal to the roll plus your intelligence modifier. This also expends the die.
Telekinetic Movement lets you, as an action, target a loose object that is large or smaller or a single willing creature. If it's within 30 feet of you, you can move it up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space. Or, if it's a tiny object, you can move it to or from your hand. You can use this once for free each short or long rest, but can spend psionic energy dice to use it again.
These are simple effects, but with twice your proficiency bonus worth of them, you'll be able to be somewhat liberal with their use, which is nice.
At 7, you get Telekinetic Adept, which adds new uses of psi dice.
Psi-Powered Leap lets you, as a bonus action, gain a flying speed equal to twice your movement speed. You get one use of this for free per short or long rest, but can spend a psi die to use it again.
Telekinetic Thrust lets you enhance your Psionic Strike. When you deal damage with it, you can force the target to make a strength save against a DC determined by your Intelligence, and on a failure, you can knock them prone or move them 10 feet in any direction horizontally.
60 feet of flight (or 80 if you're a centaur!) is a nice thing to get on-demand, and it's generally useful for a fighter to be able to knock someone prone or away.
At 10, you get Guarded Mind. You have resistance to psychic damage. Also, if you start your turn charmed or frightened, you can spend a psi die to end every effect on yourself that subjects you to those conditions. This is where I think the psionics really start to feel flavorful - having a somewhat alien, powerful mind that can nope out of the usual crowd-control effects on a fighter is pretty great.
At 15, you get Bulwark of Force. As a bonus action, you can choose a number of creatures equal to your intelligence modifier (including you, potentially,) and give them half cover for 1 minute or until you're incapacitated. You can do this once for free each long rest, but you can do it again by spending a psi die.
Finally, at 18, you get Telekinetic Master. You can cast telekinesis at will, requiring no components (not just material - no verbal or somatic either,) using intelligence as your spellcasting ability. Once per turn while you concentrate on the spell, including when you cast it, you can make a weapon attack with a bonus action. You can do this once for free per long rest, but can spend a psi die to do it again.
So, overall I think this subclass has some real strengths. Like the Eldritch Knight, it does mean spreading stats into Intelligence, which can be a burden even with a fighter's 7 ASIs. I like the general theme of Tasha's letting you spend resources to reuse really cool effects.
Finally, we come to the Rune Knight. This giant-themed subclass has a lot of flavor to it, really focusing on the fighter's bond to their gear through the magic runes you learn. If you squint hard enough, this subclass actually shares some DNA with the artificer, which is cool.
First off, you get proficiency in smith's tool sand you learn the Giant language.
At 3, you get Rune Carver. You learn two runes from a list of giant-type-associated runes, each with their own effects. When you finish a long rest, you can inscribe different runes into weapons, suits of armor, jewelry, or other things you'd wear or hold in your hand. You can inscribe each rune you know into a different object (each object can only have one rune at a time). The object retains the rune until the end of your next long rest, and an object can only have two at a time. You can put two runes on objects at level 3, then get 3 at level 7, four at level 10, and 5 at level 15.
There are only six runes to choose from, so by high level, you'll have all but one of them active. Now, the wording is slightly unclear, but I think you need to be using the runed object to use the effect - I don't think another character could use the effect of a rune you put on their weapon, but I could be wrong.
The runes with effect DCs are based on Constitution. The runes generally have passive effects as well as an active effect that you can use once per short rest. Hill and Storm runes can only be used at level 7 or higher. The passive effects are often non-combat abilities, while the active abilities will enhance various combat abilities (for example, the Hill rune can be used as a bonus action to give yourself resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for one minute.)
Also at 3, you get Giant's Might. As a bonus action, you can get the following for 1 minute. If you're smaller than Large, you become Large, unless you lack the room to do so. You get advantage on strength checks and saving throws. And once per turn, one of your attacks with a weapon or unarmed strike deals an extra 1d6 damage to the target when it hits. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain uses on a long rest.
At 7, you learn an additional rune and get Runic Shield. When another creature you can see within 60 feet is hit by an attack roll, you can use a reaction to force the attacker to reroll the d20 and use the new roll. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
At 10, you get another rune and then get Giant Stature. Your height grows by 3d4 inches (which is great and pure flavor) and your Giant's Might damage bonus die becomes a d8 instead of a d6.
At 15, you get another rune and then Master of Runes. Each of your runes can be invoked twice, instead of once per short or long rest.
At 18, you get Runic Juggernaut. The extra damage of your Giant's Might becomes a d10, and your size can increase to Huge when you use it, and your reach increases by 5 feet while you're huge.
I realize I kind of skipped past a lot of the big option lists for Battle Masters, Arcane Archers, and Rune Knights, so some of the strength here is a bit "take my word for it." But the fact that you can get so many different bonuses, which you can also switch out every day, makes the Rune Knight a pretty cool and strong choice. Also, the fact that you can literally become giant-sized at level 18 is fantastic. Also, unlike the Psi Warrior, who relies on intelligence, most fighters can, I think, easily expect to have a high constitution, which makes it easier to get good DCs for your effects.
I would definitely say that the Fighter has some good subclass options. Even if the Battle Master overshadows them a bit, and the ones in Xanathar's are a bit underwhelming (and I now see why I've never seen anyone play a Purple Dragon Knight) there are some really cool options in the most recent publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment