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Half-orc Bard
2010-11-04, 06:03 PM
I want to play a new class, and I was wondering if I should play a Wu Jen War Mage or Shugenja. We have all bases covered like healing close combat and ranged and the like. Which one is the best and why?

hamishspence
2010-11-04, 06:05 PM
Wu Jen is like a wizard with a more limited (but still nice) list.

War Mage is very limited- most of its stuff is blasting.

Shugenja I can't remember offhand- might be to the cleric what Wu Jen is to wizard- more limited but still reasonably powerful?

Starbuck_II
2010-11-04, 06:08 PM
Shugenja is a mixture in dvine/arcane in spells known (they have arcane spells like burning hands but divine stuff like Cure light Wound). The elemental type you choose matters as Fire can't use Water.

Warmage is a Evocation/Conjuration only spells dude. Mostly a blaster but does have some control.

Wu Jen sorta a variant Wizard. Has 70% of Wizard spells but the rest are new stuff (some are better but some aren't). They also have unique class features.

Psyren
2010-11-04, 06:33 PM
Shugenja are actually closer Druids than Clerics; they're just more on the blasty than summoning side. They are focused around the elements and are totally Charisma-SAD.

Because they get Diplomacy rather than Bluff (and are Cha-focused) they make decent party-faces. Their list is pretty weak (though Spell Compendium boosts this significantly) but the combination of offense and defense can make them quite friendly to a new player. They also get a slightly beefier d6 HD, they can cast in full plate (once you get proficiency anyway), and get 9th-level spells.

gbprime
2010-11-04, 07:19 PM
Think of Shugenja as a sorcerer with clerical domains. They have a very narrow spell list that they select themed "domains" of spells on top of. They're otherwise quite playable.

Warmage, as stated, is very limited. you can blow stuff up, that's it. It's best use is on one side of a gestalt, or as the spontaneous half of an Ultimate Magus build. (Though single classing it and jumping into Wild Soul has possibilities, narrow though they might be. Ditto with Arcane Disciple.)

And Wu Jen functions much like a generalist mage with a different spell list. This makes it more limited, but only a little, and it's still playable.

Amphetryon
2010-11-04, 07:27 PM
Shugenja (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4367.0) has a handbook. They play like either a healer, a dragon shaman, a warmage, or a beguiler, depending on element.