Warblade, the martial controller [4e class, PEACH]

[Fortuna]

Warblade
I have devoted my life to mastering every technique, every option open to me. Know this, and be afraid.

Role: Controller. You use a blend of ancient techniques and innate ingenuity to command the battlefield. You make your surroundings a very unpleasent place for your enemies.
Power Source: Martial. Your ablities come from years of hard training, not from an outside force. When it comes down to it you rely on your wits and your mind.
Key Abilities: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chain; light shield
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged
Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Will

Hit Points at First Level: 12 + Constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5
Healing Surges per Day: 6 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: From the class skills listed below, choose four trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), History (Int), Insight (Wis), Perception (Wis)

Build Options: Intuitive warblade, anticapatory warblade
Class Features: Combat reflexes, warblade path, combat mastery

Warblades are a rarity, a truly strange kind of person. Fighters learn to guard, warlords learn to lead, rangers learn their own narrow focus, and others have their paths. But only warblades have the commitment, the drive, and the ability to learn the fundamentals of combat, the most esoteric maneuvers, and everything in between. A warblade is the true master of battle: he needs no tool beyond a stout weapon and the strength of his arm and mind. No foe can feel safe against a member of this select group.

Creating a Warblade (WIP)

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Warblades are, by their nature, masters of every aspect of combat, but most have a specialty, some aspect of combat in which they truly excel.

Intuitive Warblade
No plans, no books, no ancient dusty scrolls for you. As an intuitive warblade, your sharpest weapon is your wits, and you keep them at the ready constantly. Your highest ability score should be Strength, to allow correct control over the battlefield. Your second-highest score should be Wisdom, since it improves Intuitive Recovery and powers related to your chosen path. Intelligence makes a good third score, improving your Reflex defense and letting you dabble in powers intended for anticapatory warblades.
Class Feature: Intuitive Recovery
Suggested Feat: ??? (Human Feat: ???)
Suggested At-Will Powers: ??? (Human Power: ???)
Suggested Encounter Power: ???
Suggested Daily Power: ???
Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Heal, Insight, Perception

Anticapatory Warblade
Long practice, long study, and long plans: these things are the keys to your success. You spend combats watching and learning, coming to anticipate your enemies' actions. Strength should be your highest score, followed by Intelligence to get the most out of Anticipatory Cunning. Wisdom makes a good third score, shoring up your Will while opening new powers to you as options.
Class Feature: Anticipatory Cunning
Suggested Feat: ??? (Human Feat: ???)
Suggested At-Will Powers: ??? (Human Power: ???)
Suggested Encounter Power: ???
Suggested Daily Power: ???
Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, History

Class Features

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Combat Reflexes
Once per round, when an enemy provokes an opportunity action from you and you have already made an opportunity attack since your last turn, you may make an opportunity attack against that enemy.

Warblade's Path
Warblades invariably focus on one particular aspect of their acumen, making the most from it. Below are the two most common options, and the abilities associated with them.

Intuitive Recovery: Once per encounter, when you make an attack and it misses, you may add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll. If the attack targetted multiple enemies, you may add your Wisdom modifier to each attack roll that you make or made as part of the attack, not just one.
Anticapatory Cunning: When you roll initiative, select one enemy that you can see or hear. Each time during that encounter that that enemy hits or misses you, you gain a +1 bonus to defenses against that enemy for the rest of the encounter, to a maximum of your Intelligence modifier.

Combat Mastery
You gain Combat Mastery as an At-Will power.

Combat Mastery
Your enemies cannot escape, whatever they try.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt | Personal
Trigger: An enemy who you have hit with an attack since the start of your last turn shifts.
Effect: You shift one square.

New Keyword: Momentum

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Certain Warblade powers, in particular daily powers, have the Momentum keyword. This keyword is always applied to Stance powers. When a player uses a Momentum power, they should start counting. Every time that they end their turn while maintaining the stance, they add one to their count. Momentum powers are unusual in that you must be rolled into initiative to use them: you cannot activate a Momentum power without the adrenalin of combat pumping through your blood. When they end the stance, as outlined in the individual power, they will gain benefits based on how many turns they have ended while in this stance, denoted as M.

Warblade Powers
As a martial character, your powers are called exploits.
Level 1 At-Will Exploits

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Dominating Blow
You assert your control over the battlefield, adopting a more aggressive position.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you gain reach 1 and threatening reach until the end of your next turn.

Unbalancing Strike
You throw your enemy off-balance, weakening its attacks.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage and the target takes -1 to all attacks until the start of your next turn.

Maneuvering Jab
You strike quickly, doing little damage but providing an opening that you slip through
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: Strength modifier damage and you move to a square adjacent to the target. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks from the target.

Whirling Blow
Your weapon becomes a blur, striking all around you.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Close burst 1
Target: All enemies in burst
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: Strength modifier damage and you push the target 1 square.

Level 1 Encounter Exploits

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Duck and Weave
You leap through the battle, exploiting openings even as you create them.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage. You shift 1 square and repeat the attack with a stackable -2 penalty against a target you have not hit with this power yet in this encounter. You may repeat this attack so long as targets remain and you continue to hit.

Your Mistake
Your foe's eyes show a flicker of fear as you exploit their mistake.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Immediate Reaction | Melee weapon
Trigger: An enemy misses you.
Target: The triggering enemy.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: Strength modifier damage, and the target is dazed until the end of its next turn.

Anticipatory Cunning: The enemy also takes a penalty equal to your Intelligence modifier to attack rolls until the end of its next turn.

Enclosing Grasp
You entrap your enemy in a net of bewildering strikes and movements.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and the target is slowed until the end of your next turn. As your first action on your next turn, you may shift adjacent to the target as a free action.

My Turf
You let out a roar as you stake your claim. This is YOUR ground.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Close burst 2
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Effect: The burst creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn and moves with you. Any creature that enters the zone willingly provokes an opportunity attack from you, and you can use any square in the zone as the origin for any attack that you make.

Intuitive Recovery: Any enemy that moves while within the zone also takes damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Level 1 Daily Exploits

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Stance of Clarity
You tune out all distractions, systematically isolating your foes one by one.
Daily | Martial, Momentum, Stance, Weapon
Minor action | Personal
Effect: You enter the stance of clarity until the end of the encounter. While the stance lasts, you select one enemy at the start of each of your turns. You gain +2 to all defenses against that enemy, but suffer -1 to all defenses against all others. Whenever you hit that enemy you may slide it one square. You may end the stance to make the following attack.

Standard Action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength + 2 vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you gain +2 to all defenses against the target until the end of your next turn. You slide the target M squares and then shift adjacent to it.
Miss: Half damage, and you slide the target 1 square. You then shift into the space it just vacated.

Thicket of Blades
Your sword becomes a blur - nothing gets past you.
Daily | Martial, Momentum, Stance, Weapon
Minor action | Personal
Effect: You enter the thicket of blades stance. While the stance lasts, you can make the following attack as often as you wish.

Opportunity Action | Melee weapon
Trigger: An enemy moves or shifts adjacent to you.
Target: The triggering enemy.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: Strength modifier damage.

You can end the thicket of blades stance to make the following attack.

Opportunity Action | Melee weapon
Trigger: An enemy moves or shifts adjacent to you.
Target: The triggering enemy.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + M + Strength modifier damage and the target's shift fails. The target cannot shift (save ends, to a maximum of M turns).
Miss: Half damage and the target's shift fails.

Leaping Dragon Style
You assume the stance of the dragon, claiming the air itself as your domain.
Daily | Martial, Momentum, Stance, Weapon
Minor action | Personal
Effect: You enter the leaping dragon's stance. While you remain in this stance, all jumps that you make are considered running jumps, you take no armor check penalty to Athletics checks make to jump, and if your only form of movement in a given turn is jumping your jump ignores your speed: it is limited only by your check. You may end this stance to make the following attack.

Standard Action | Melee weapon
Effect: You fly your speed. If you do not land at the end of this flight, you fall. You can make the attack at any time during this movement.
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Level 2 Utility Exploits

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Master's Stride
You cross the battlefield, weighing each step with practiced precision.
Encounter | Martial
Move action | Personal
You move your speed. During this movement you have a bonus to all defenses equal to your Intelligence modifier. If an enemy attacks you during this movement, you slide that enemy one square as a free action.

Seize the Moment
Your enemy stumbles, giving you the opportunity you need.
Encounter | Martial
Immediate Reaction | Personal
Trigger: An attack misses you
Effect: You shift one square and gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Dancing Advantage
You exploit your position to gain a yet better one.
Daily | Martial
Minor action | Personal
Requirement: You must have combat advantage against all enemies adjacent to you, and you must be adjacent to at least one enemy.
Effect: You gain +4 to attack rolls against enemies granting you combat advantage until the end of your next turn.

Diamond Moment
Like the facets of a diamond, all defense is based on the same principles.
Encounter | Martial
Immediate Interrupt | Persona
Trigger: An enemy hits you with an attack.
Effect: You may substitute a defense of your choice other than armor class for the defense targetted by the attack.

Level 3 Encounter Exploits

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Sapphire Nightmare Blade
Mind, body and soul flow as one, freezing your opponent where they stand.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. Will
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and the target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.

Moments Stretch to Seconds
You take full advantage of the time available to you, more so than most.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Effect: You may take a move action as a minor action and make the following secondary attack:

Melee weapon
Target: One enemy other than the primary target
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you take a minor action as a free action.

Spirit of Steel
Your blade is not merely a blade: it is the thing and the idea of the thing, and both are weapons in their own ways.
Encounter | Martial
Standard action | Close blast 5
Target: All enemies in blast
Attack: Strength vs. Will
Hit: Strength modifier psychic damage, and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.

Level 5 Daily Exploits

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Hungry Tiger Technique
You rip through your foes with a tiger's howl in your throat and stripes of enemy blood.
Daily | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Effect: You shift your speed. The first time that you move adjacent to a given enemy during this shift, you must make the following attack:

Target: The triggering enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage and you must push the target 1 square. Make the following secondary attack, treating the target's square as the origin.

Close burst 1
Target: All enemies in burst
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage and you must push the target 1 square.
Miss: You must push the target 1 square.

Miss: You must push the target 1 square.

Rock and a Hard Place
You take the principle of a rock and a hard place to extremes: you make yourself become both.
Daily | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] + Strength damage, and the target is immobilized (save ends). Whenever you hit the target before the condition ends, the target suffers a penalty equal to your Strength modifier to saving throws against this condition until the end of your next turn.
Miss: Half damage, and the target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.

Iron Whirlwind Maneuver
Nothing is safe from your blade.
Daily | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Close burst 3
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Level 6 Utility Exploits

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Flash of Inspiration
All of a sudden, the answer hits you: you know your foe, and you know how to exploit that.
Encounter | Martial
Minor action | Close burst 10
Target: One enemy in burst.
Effect: You may immediately roll a knowledge check against the target as though you were trained in the appropriate knowledge skill. In addition, the target grants combat advantage to you and your allies until the end of your next turn, and you cannot grant the target combat advantage until the end of your next turn.

Feigned Opening
Your enemy learns too late that you make no sacrifices, only gambits.
Encounter | Martial
Move action | Personal
Effect: You move your speed. Enemies that attack you during this movement fall prone.

Baffling Defense
The best way to block a strike is not to be there when it hits.
Daily | Martial
Immediate Interrupt | Close burst 10
Trigger: An enemy targets you with an attack.
Target: The triggering enemy in burst.
Effect: The target must roll twice and pick the worse result. If the attack hits anyway, then you grant combat advantage to it until the end of its next turn. If the attack misses, you shift one square. In adition, if both attack rolls miss, the target grants combat advantage to you until the end of your next turn.

Level 7 Encounter Exploits

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One Weapon, Two Blows
Your weapon flashes through the air, seeming to fill your enemy's world.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength damage and the target is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Effect: Repeat the attack against the same enemy. If both attacks hit, the target is immobilized (save ends).

Crashing Wave
Like the ocean, your attacks are unstoppable.
Encounter | Martial, Weapon
Standard action | Melee weapon
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength damage and you push the target one square, shifting into the square it vacates. Make a secondary attack against each enemy that was adjacent to the target before you pushed it.

Melee weapon
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength damage.

Effect: After the attack, push the target one square and shift into the square that it vacates. Then repeat the attack against the same target or a different one.

To do: The rest of the powers, paragon paths, feat support, maybe an epic destiny.

Due credit to Shadow_Elf with his Swashbuckler, from which I shamelessly stole the formatting for this class.

[Fortuna]

Reserved for more.

[Fortuna]

Reserved for yet more.

[Fortuna]

One last reserve, just in case. You can, however, post now.

[Ziegander]

This does not seem to be a controller to me. None of the class features help it to control the battlefield, and while 3/4 of its at-wills are capable of "control" their effects are far too weak or short-reaching (or both) to get the job done in any reasonable fashion.

The Swordmage class is intended to be a Defender primarily, with elements of control, and yet 2/4 of the Swordmage's core at-will powers have more effective and powerful control than any of your Warblade's at-wills.

The only strong form of control in your 1st level Encounter powers is the MY Turf power, but if it's a burst 2, and you have no reach, how will you take the attack of opportunity? Are Warblades basically required to wield reach weapons? I should think that a well-designed class should be able to get along fine with a variety of different equipment choices.

Below are a couple at-wills that operate at the level of power I would think a martial controller needs to be competitive with other controllers at doing his job.

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Blade Storm
In a flurry of motion you assault your foes.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Close Burst 1
Target: All enemies in burst
Effect: You may shift up to half your Speed, -1 squares before making this attack.
Attack: Str vs Reflex
Hit: 1[W] damage.

Notes: Blade Storm is meant to be somewhat balanced against the Wizard's Scorching Burst power. It's not got as much range, but it does help you position for OAs.

Crashing Wave
With a powerful sweep you knock your foes reeling.
At-Will | Martial, Weapon
Standard Action | Melee Weapon
Target: One enemy. Also make a secondary attack.
--Secondary Target: Up to two enemies both adjacent to you and the primary target.
Attack: Str vs AC
Hit: 1[W] + Str modifier damage. Push the target up to two squares.
--Secondary Attack: Str vs AC
--Hit: Str modifier damage. Push the target up to one square.

Notes: Crashing Wave is meant to be somewhat balanced against the Wizard's Thunderwave power. It doesn't hit nearly as many targets, nor as reliably, and it doesn't deal as much damage OR push targets as far.

[Fortuna]

Blade Storm is insanely powerful, purely for the movement. Compare it to monk powers: that's a good baseline for the value of movement as part of a power. Crashing Wave is better, and I'll consider putting that in.

As to your concerns about the powers: I've revised a couple of them. Dominating Blow now grants threatening reach (for movement control), and My Turf now lets you treat squares in the zone as the origin square for your attacks. But the swordmage has very different kinds of control: pulling and a bit of multitarget damage. The swordmage works on keeping enemies close, while the Warblade's objective is a combination of mobility and keeping enemies away: as I said in the blurb, you make the area around you a bad place to be.

[Ziegander]

Blade Storm is insanely powerful, purely for the movement. Compare it to monk powers: that's a good baseline for the value of movement as part of a power. Crashing Wave is better, and I'll consider putting that in.

I was afraid of that. Really, a power combining Blade Storm with Crashing Wave is probably more something that a martial controller ought to have. A Close Burst 1 power that deals 1[W] and pushes targets hit 1 square.

Dominating Blow now grants threatening reach (for movement control)

This is what I assumed you meant with the first version of Dominating Blow, since without the threatening reach it didn't do anything. It's still lacking since it doesn't directly control the battlefield.

But the swordmage has very different kinds of control: pulling and a bit of multitarget damage. The swordmage works on keeping enemies close, while the Warblade's objective is a combination of mobility and keeping enemies away: as I said in the blurb, you make the area around you a bad place to be.

I agree that the Swordmage has a different kind of control, for sure. I'm arguing that the Swordmage's kind of control is not only different, but it is also more effective. If the Warblade's only method of control is "keep the enemies away from me" how on earth is that helping the rest of his party? An effective controller needs to have ways to accomplish ALL of the following: damage to multiple foes at once, pulling or pushing foes, restriction of foes' actions. Right now, your Warblade set up appears to accomplish pushing foes (though not literally) and restricting foes' actions, but only in very limited ways. I stand by my verdict that this class is FAR weaker as a controller than other classes that aren't designed in the Controller role.

[Mulletmanalive]

Ugh, different green, dude. Eyestrain...

Reading with pronounced academic interest.

[Fortuna]

If a controller needs to do that, let's see how the Warblade measures up.

Combat Reflexes: Movement control.
Warblade's Path: None.
Combat Mastery: Keeping enemies close, which limits their movement options.
Dominating Blow: Movement control.
Unbalancing Strike: Probably a bad idea. I may replace this with something.
Maneuvering Jab: Allows you to set yourself up for better movement control.
Whirling Blow: Multi-damage and pushing.
Duck and Weave: Multi-target damage.
Your Mistake: Tangentially, multi-target damage. Also hard action control.
Enclosing Grasp: Hard movement control and positioning.
My Turf: Movement control.
Blood in the Water: Currently under consideration for revision anyway.
Stance of Clarity: Sliding.
Thicket of Blades: Soft movement control.
Leaping Dragon Style: Positioning.

The Warblade is good at movement control and positioning, which in turn leads to more movement control. The movement control takes the form of soft control leading to multi-target damage because you attack enemies who ignore it. Normal multi-target damage and other forms of action control are a more minor focus. I think that's a reasonable set of goals and specialties for a melee controller.

EDIT: Lime amended to Green.