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Wow. Defending by just killing the enemy and moving to where trouble is. I think this will be polarizing for folks. It's pretty much a striker.

No plate. No shields. Streetwise, no Diplomacy.

There is a dichotomy between the favored secondary stat (DEX) and armor. I can't imagine that folks wouldn't want a huge DEX, and by extension want to leverage that for AC. Melee Training DEX would make this a beast. Why bother giving folks heavy armor? It seems like a trap for many Slayer builds.

Speaking of which, this turns traditional secondary stats on its head. Typically the big poundy weapons love CON, and little stabby weapons (and Heavy Blades) love DEX. The Knight is geared toward one-handed weapons but loves CON, and the Slayer loves GIANT weapons but also loves DEX. I suspect that either for these classes or in general, Mastery crit feats gets overhauled because the stat reqs will be way out of sync for these builds.

Speaking of Favored Stat... Heroic Slayer doesn't quite catch Sneak Attack for damage, but tack on Unfettered Fury and it will for anyone with an acceptable two-handed weapon, decent to-hit, and a 16+ DEX. Dunno about other tiers, but it looks like in some cases the Heroic tier Slayer is a premum Striker. Then again, the Slayer can barely nova, and looks like a one-trick pony.

Weapon Talent is a base +1 to hit; I hope this carries over to all Fighters. Sure, it would make a feat or two obsolete (Versatile Talent), but that's OK.

Duelist's Assault could be a defendery-punishment stance. Not sticky?

Will Mobile Blade allow more movement, a bonus to defence against OAs... both?

Berserker's Charge does not appear to be great shakes (only good for charges), but then again Slayers don't appear to get a lot of built-in out-of-turn stuff. It may not matter.

Unfettered Fury: Power Attack scaled a bit better. I'm sure some folks would rather have Battle Wrath. [Even though they are similar, can Knights and Slayers not swap stances as they are not levelled?]

Speculations:

Improved Power Strike just scales Power Strike to 2W.

Quick Swap lets you sheathe and whip out a weapon as a free action 1/turn. (I don't know how valuable this will be unless you golf-bag weapons and stack up on the new Expertise feats ala Bludgeon Expertise. Maybe that's how they put riders on basic attacks?)

Mighty Slayer: Adds more damage to Heroic Slayer, or gives push? Damage on miss? Cleave-y stuff?

Extra Fighter Stance gives you 3 stances total.

Weapon Specialization: I can't imagine it's like the Fighter Weapon Specialization feat, as you already get junk to add to Damage in this build (but the Knight also gets this ability). Then again, the Slayer is all about Damage. Scaling Feat bonuses from Expertise feats you have? No clue.

Inexorable Slayer: Bonus to hit? Damage on miss? Cleave-y stuff?

TL; DR: The Slayer is pretty much a DEX striker, and Power Strike is the new core feature for stance Fighters (not Defender's Aura & Battle Guardian).

Aug 6, 2010 -- 6:39AM, MaximumHavoc wrote:

the slayer does not need melee training (dex) because str is his attack stat.

But STR doesn't have to be their attack stat. Pump DEX. Dump everything else. The only things that suffers are NADs and Heavy Thrown RBAs. As CharOp notes, most of the Slayer stuff is fine with RBAs. Welcome back, Bow Fighter.

Aug 6, 2010 -- 8:13AM, Keenath wrote:

My understanding (which may be wrong) was that the Essentials classes can only pick feats off a very limited list, sort of like the even-level "class feat" selections from Star Wars Saga Edition.

I have never heard this, and have seen no evidence that this will happen. I'm not saying that Melee Training is safe from being changed, merely that I have heard nothing that indicates that Slayers (or Knights or....) can only take feats in the Compendium which appear in Essentials products. Do you have a source? (I'm not calling you out... I have just never heard of this concept.)