The latest character class to be previewed from the PHB3 is the Seeker, a Primal Controller. There are several surprising things about this.

First, unless I’m overlooking something, then this marks the first only the second time** time that a power source has been given more than one class to fulfill a role besides Striker. That’s notable in and of itself, but it’s doubly notable in that Controllers have been the least represented group… there’s only one Controller in the original PHB, and even now Controllers are the only role that don’t exist in every power source.

The concept behind the character is a hunter, so it would have been fairly easy to make this into the second Primal Striker class… but then, I suspect, it would have been difficult to distinguish it from a Ranger*.

Second, it’s a Controller that channels powers through weapons. That doesn’t bend or break the system, nor does it really have any unusual in-game implications (although if the Seeker is using a longbow, it does give this Controller the longest effective range of any character in that role), but at a meta level it shows that the designers aren’t letting themselves be pigeonholed by obvious assumptions that could be drawn from the initial examples of each role. While a Druid’s non-beast evocations are very spell-like and the Invoker is very much like a divine Wizard, the Controller role is not limited to “Wizard Types”.

I’m not going to give an exhaustive overview of the class as detailed so far, but one of the previewed at-will powers, Elemental Spirits, is both pretty much a perfect example of what an at-will power should be and a great power for adding some mystical/elemental panache to a multiclass/hybrid character using a bow (Ranger, Bard, Artificer). It lets you make a ranged weapon attack doing cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, with splash damage to all creatures who start their next turn adjacent to the target.

I say it’s a good example of what an at-will power should be because there will be situations where it is clearly called for and because it will retain its usefulness throughout a character’s lifespan. The ability to inflict different elemental damage types is more valuable as you gain in experience, which is why all the “elemental admixture” abilities are Paragon tier.

*On a related note, the existence of a bow-wielding Primal class gives people who want more nature-based Archery Rangers some more options: multiclass between Ranger and Seeker, hybrid between them, or just flat out make a character who is of the Seeker class but call yourself a ranger in-game, if that’s what you desire. Combining this with Nature Skill Powers… yeah, once again, I must say that PHB3 is going to represent a giant leap for 4E.

If I were to make a “Nature Ranger” character by hybriding Ranger and Seeker, Elemental Spirits would be my Seeker at-will, along with the Ranger’s Twin Strike. Really want to make sure you definitely do as much damage to a single big target or that you bring down the minion before it sounds the alarm/gets away/triggers a trap? Twin Strike. Need to get a cluster of enemies, take advantage of elemental vulnerability, make sure the Troll stays down? Elemental Spirits.

It’s useful, and the ability to pull out a fire arrow, ice arrow, or storm arrow at will really sells the idea behind the character

**Whoops, yes… as noted in comments, I forgot about the Bard and Artificer both being arcane leaders.