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In my campaign, I am playing a Hybrid Swordmage who is using the Vigilante Character Theme to allow him to apply marks with the Mark of the Vigilante power. This power reads:

Effect: You assume a stance, the mark of the vigilante. Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits.

  • Whenever you hit an enemy with a melee or ranged attack, you can mark the enemy until the end of your next turn.

  • You gain a +2 power bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks that you provoke by moving."

My question is about the marking. If the target is marked by the mark of the Vigilante power, can I use my Swordmage Aegis of Assault power? The power reads:

Effect: You mark the target. The target remains marked until you use this power against another target. If you mark other creatures using other powers, the target is still marked. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place.

If your marked target makes an attack that doesn't include you as a target, it takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls. If that attack hits and the marked target is within 10 squares of you, you can use an immediate reaction to teleport to a square adjacent to the target and make a melee basic attack against it. If no unoccupied space exists adjacent to the target, you can't use this immediate reaction.

Note that it refers to the target as a "marked target". Does the effect apply if the target is marked by another power?

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2 Answers 2

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It depends on the class

Different classes use marks in different ways, some having generic marks, and some having special, named marks. For example, Paladins have not just one, but two named marks, Divine Challenge and Divine Sanction, which have additional features beyond generic marks.

Swordmage Aegis marks are indeed special marks with extra features you can apply if the mark is ignored, and thus must be applied with your appropriate Aegis power or some other power that specifies that it counts as your Aegis to gain the extra benefits. This is further supported by the Aegis Blade magic weapon, which has the following power:

Power (Daily): Minor. Mark each enemy within a close burst 3 (save ends). If you have the Swordmage Aegis class feature, treat each mark as if you applied it with your chosen aegis.

Generally speaking, any such effects named within a power that adds the mark only apply for marks created with the same power, while other powers that only specify a mark work with any mark. Paladins and Swordmages have these special marks. Cavaliers, Knights, and Berserkers use a Defender Aura instead of marks. Fighters, Wardens, and Battleminds primarily use generic marks.

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In your case, no.

The ability for you to to make your Aegis Assault attack is listed as an effect of your Aegis of Assault that comes after the marking action. If the target was not marked by the Aegis, then it isn't vulnerable to the Aegis attack granted as part of the marking power.

The Aegis says "your marked target" as opposed to the fighter's Combat Challenge that says "If a target marked by you". Combat Challenge also does not have an integrated marking ability and therefore is much looser.

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