Comparative Marking

Marking is a pretty neat addition to 4e, but the mechanic has brought up questions. These questions are exacerbated by the fact that there are 5 Defender classes each with its own mark. Okay, so marking is basically dividing into two parts: 1) application and sustaining of the mark and 2) what you can do to marked targets. One of the universal parts is applying the Marked condition. This condition imparts a -2 penalty to all attacks the don't include the marker. This is especially great if the Marked target can't attack you!

Application:

• Fighter: Every target attacked is marked until the end of next turn.
• Paladin: Minor Action to mark up 5 squares away but you must sustain the mark by either attacking or ending next to your target.
  
• Warden: Free Action on your turn to mark all adjacent until end of next turn.
• Battlemind: Minor Action to mark up 1 (or 2 if augmented) targets up to 3 squares away. Lasts until you use the power again.
• Swordmage: Minor Action to mark 1 up to 2 squares away. Lasts until you use the power again.

So right off you see some interesting things. Fighters can mark outside of their turn with immediate and opportunity actions. Paladins have the best range (not counting fighters with ranged weapons), although since they need to sustain their marks they have a hard time taking advantage of this without ranged weapons. Wardens can mark a lot of targets, but they all have to be adjacent.

Added Effect

• Fighter: Immediate Action to get basic attack against adjacent who attacks another or shifts.
• Paladin: Free Action to do damage AT RANGE when mark attacks another. Once between turns.
• Warden: Immediate Action to do a vs. Fort attack that causes combat advantage when target attacks another OR Immediate Action to do slide, slow, and prevent shift when mark attacks another target.
• Battlemind: Opportunity Action to shift when adjacent mark shifts OR Immediate Action to do same damage done by mark to adjacent enemy.
• Swordmage: Choice of 3 that go off when mark within 10 HITS another target. They can either teleport to be adjacent to the mark and take a basic attack or make it grant combat advantage. Or they can reduce the damage done.

Each type of defender has strengths and weaknesses in the way it marks and can open up different tactics. For example, the Swordmage and Paladin have mark benefits that can be used at range. A Swordmage can mark a target a 2 squares away, get to a spot the mark can't reach within 10 squares, and then constantly reduce its damage as well as give it a penalty. A Paladin with a bow can mark a target within 5 squares and constantly apply mark damage at range while keeping its mark up with a bow attack.

So one tactic I want to bring up is applying a lot of marks in order to give a lot of people the -2 penalty. Although every class has abilities that allow marking multiple targets, only the basic marking of Fighter and Warden really allows this. The danger of this is drawing too many attacks and getting wiped out. Also, the mass marking tends to be limited to enemies close by. One exception is a ranged Fighter. You could build a Fighter designed to mark multiple targets at range, but then your build is getting so specific that you are making valid tradeoffs to act more like a Controller than a Defender.

Another things I want to note is the bonus. Most of these bonuses are Immediate Actions or can only be used once per round. This is a basic tenet of the special extra damage abilities. Warlock's Curse, Sneak Attack, Hunter's Quarry and so on do extra damage only once each round. The special mark extra damage is the same. You can apply it once per turn. The only marking ability that does not follow this is the Battlemind ability to shift as an opportunity and this doesn't do damage.

Defenders mark abilities tend to be useful against targets that try and get away from. Fighters get their attack versus people shifting away. Paladins can do their damage despite the target not being in range. Wardens get their mark attack with reach weapons and can use a movement hampering ability on marked targets at range. Battleminds can shift after targets shifting away and Swordmages can just teleport range attackers back adjacent. Of these, the Fighter seems to be the best in terms of pinning down shifters. A ranged attacker mark by a adjacent fighter had 3 options. They can shoot at point blank. The fighter can then get a free attack and can stop the attack without using his Immediate. The ranged guy can shift away. The fighter can then use his immediate action to attack. Next turn the fighter will be close by and can continue to press the attack. Or they can run away and attack. They take the opportunity attack and don't use up the Immediate action of the fighter, but they can at least make an uninterrupted attack and now have some distance, but expect that fighter to charge you next turn.

Fighter: Fighter are fairly versatile in applying their mark since it can be attached to any attack they make. Their Immediate Action is a basic attack. The drawback of this is you have to be adjacent to make the attack and you might miss, but the advantage is that you get this attack on a shift. Fighters are the only Defender that can mark outside of their action with opportunity attacks.

Paladin: Paladin marks are a little bit like a Fighters in that the target they attack is likely to be the one they mark. But they can only mark one target. This is made of for by the flexibility of not attacking your marked target and instead just being next to them. Paladins can't respond to shifts, but they don't need to since they can do their damage at range. The other drawback shared by many Defenders is needing to use a Minor Action to change marks. The Paladin mark does require the most management since you have conditions to sustain it and can be penalized for letting it drop.

Warden: Marking is really easy. You just hit everyone adjacent. You don't even have to stay adjacent since your mark abilities can hit targets at range or reach. You of course have the issue that you need to hit and you can't mark targets at range, but you can pull people back to you and slow anyone trying to get away. Warden marking is very good

Battlemind: Battleminds have the only Opportunity Action mark ability. This allows them to shift after a ranged unit shifting away, but doing so uses their AoO and the ranged unit can then attack them without worrying about an attack. So they aren't great againt artillery. The have a encounter long mark and can even augment their marking to mark two targets but they don't have to engage the target to maintain the mark like a Paladin, but of course, they can't use their special mark abilities at range either. The neat thing about their marking ability is that they do the damage done by their target. This requires the target to hit unlike the marks noted above, but doesn't require a hit roll like the Fighter and Warden marks. This is very nice against powerful single targets that can dish out a lot of damage.

Swordmage: Unlike some other Defenders that mark at range but then can only use it while close the Swordmage can only mark targets close by, but can then use the mark ability to teleport to the marked target and then get either a basic attack or make it so they grant combat advantage. They also have the option of having damage reduction. These are all fairly nice, but you suffer because your marked target can essentially pull you out of position if you want your mark benefit. The other major drawback is that it requires your marked target to actually hit. You don't get the advantage if they miss. This combined with the fact you need a hit roll probably makes the Swordmage marking the least damaging marking.