Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast

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We already discussed the lore of the Eladrin over here, along with how they differ from your standard elves and from the celestials of 3e. I recommend reading that post again for those basics.

The Monster Manual 2 contains three more eladrin stat blocks, along with a bit of additional lore on their society. I find it very funny that two of them correspond to very popular elfy classes of editions past, debuting in 4e in the form of monster entries. It would be some time before playable versions of them were published, which I imagine must have made their fans quite anxious.

Eladrin Arcane Archer

Arcane Archers are more than just wizards who can shoot a bow. They practice an art that’s seamless fusion of the two disciplines, and whose secrets are jealously kept by certain eladrin societies. The Bow Mage minions we saw in the MM1 are likely to practice the same style. This entry would represent a more advanced, experienced, or narratively important practitioner.

I don’t think we ever explicitly got an Arcane Archer class in 4e. The Seeker tries to implement the concept using primal magic but ends up not being very effective. I think there’s also a way to build a Bard specializing in magic ranged attacks with a bow.

The Numbers

Arcane Archers are Level 5 Artillery with 51 HP. Their speed is 6 and they have low-light vision, along with the standard Fey Step power all eladrin get.

In a fight, they stay at range and repeatedly fire Scorching Arrows from their bows. This ability is kinda like a better version of the PC Ranger’s Twin Strike, allowing them to make two attacks that target the lower of AC and Reflex. The arrows have the same range as mundane ones, and individually deal a low-ish mix of physical and fire damage. This adds up, though: an arcane archer that consistently hits with both attacks punches a fair bit above its weight class.

They can also fire an arrow that explodes into an Eldricht Burst (area burst 1 within 20 vs Fortitude; recharge 4+). This deals force damage and knocks enemies prone on a hit.

Eladrin Bladesingers

Ah, bladesingers. I first heard of them in 2e and I can’t remember a more controversial class from that edition, at least here in the Brazilian fan community. People either really loved them or really hated them. While I was eventually convinced that their highly cinematic combat style was cool, I never liked that they were an elf-only option.

Anyway, 4e bladesingers are eladrin practitioners of an ancient martial art that joins swordplay and magic. The resulting style resembles something a Jedi knight or wuxia hero might use, employing lots of empowered sword strikes and magic-assisted acrobatic maneuvers. Their code of conduct has elegance as an important principle, so they put real effort into making their combat techniques both graceful and effective.

The same code also compels them to behave honorably, so they tend to treat opponents with respect and despise those who slaughter the weak and defenseless. Despite this, there are many possible reasons for even a party of good-aligned PCs to come into conflict with bladesingers: they might have offended the eladrin’s liege, or a given group of bladesingers might have fallen to the Dark Side of the Force.

You can get pretty close to a playable bladesinger by playing a Swordmage, and apparently there was also a “bladesinger” class published late in the edition. More obliquely, a Blade Pact Fey Warlock could also fit the concept.

The Numbers

The MM2 bladesinger is a Level 11 Skirmisher with 114 HP. They have a very nice ground speed of 8, in addition to the low-light vision and Fey Step power all eladrin get.

They wear mail and wield a longsword, both of which are probably magical or at least very high quality. Their basic attack is a Brilliant Blade strike, which deals radiant damage and gives the target a -3 penalty to attack the bladesinger during the target’s next turn.

Dance of Brilliance is an at-will combination that allows them to make an attack dealing light radiant damage, shift 3 squares, and make a basic Brilliant Blade attack against another target.

They have two encounter powers. Crippling Strike targets Fortitude and deals no damage, but is guaranteed to slow the target even on a miss. On a hit it also weakens them. In both cases the conditions are “save ends”.

Wyvern Strike is much better, allowing the bladesinger to fly 8 squares without provoking opportunity attacks and perform a strike at any poing along the movement. This targets Fortitude, deals light physical damage, and 10 ongoing poison damage (save ends).

Finally there’s Combat Shift. This allows them to shift 1 square as a minor action, ending up adjacent to an enemy against which they have combat advantage.

Coure of Mischief and Strife

Time for more surreal fey nobility! Like “bralani” and “ghaele”, “coure” is a noble title whose meaning can be a little confusing to mortals. One of the reasons for this is that while most eladrin societies use the same names for the titles, the actual rank they confer, and the amount of influence attached to them, varies from culture to culture. So in this city state ghaeles might be the rulers, but on that kingdom over there they’re just minor provincial nobles and it’s the coures who call the shots. Attaining a noble title is rarely a matter of inheritance - there’s a lot of mystery and mystycism involved.

Whatever their rank, though, these titles always have some natural phenomenon or abstract concept attached to them, like “autumn winds”, “winter”, or “mischef and strife” in this entry. The noble in question will always have powers relating to this area of influence.

So yeah, a coure of mischief and strife is a pointy-eared Loki.

The Numbers

This coure is a Level 17 Lurker with 129 HP. It has the usual low-light vision and Fey Step ability, which in this case is completely redundant because the coure also has a teleport speed of 6 to complement its ground speed of 6. It wears leathers and fights with a rapier.

The coure can become invisible at will as a standard action, and this lasts until it takes damage or misses with an attack. If it attacks and hits, it stays invisible! If for some reason the eladrin doesn’t already starts the fight invisible, this is going to be its very first action.

Once the invisible trickster is close to the party, Winds of Luck’s Mischief is a good fight opener: a Close Burst 3 vs. Will that does no damage, but makes everyone it affects miss all attacks whose attack rolls were odd. This is a “save ends” condition, so it might stick around for a while! Good luck trying to damage an invisible enemy when half of your blows veer off course.

While invisible the coure can also use Spark of Strife, a Ranged 10 attack vs. Will that deals psychic damage and is stronger than the rapier. A hit also forces the target to charge its nearest ally, or make a melee basic attack if it’s already close. This compelled attack is a free action, so it doesn’t eat into the PC’s turn. However, if the compelled attack hits, the coure gets to use Spark of Strife against the ally that was hit by it as a free action as well! A series of lucky rolls is going to rapidly turn the party’s well-tuned battle formation into a Three Stooges skit.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

The sample encounter here is level 10: 3 bladesingers, an eladrin twilight incanter from the first MM, and a will-o’-wisp which I guess might be the incanter’s familiar.

I love how the different eladrin celestial types from 3e became a bizarre system of nobility ranks with a lot of that good faerie flavor. As one rises in rank, one becomes less tied to the mortal world.