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1 year ago ::
Dec 13, 2011 - 1:44PM
#141
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The sword is disappointing for a Rare. Weren't Rare items supposed to be game-changing items from a story perspective (if not mechanical)? The sword should be an Uncommon, should have an Encounter power to create darkness, and shouldn't have the penalty to attack rolls. With no weapon keyword, not quite.
Lack of a weapon keyword means it loses the following:
-Expertise (1 per tier)
-Proficiency bonus (+2 or +3)
-Enhancement bonus (+1 to +6)
- It attacks Reflex, so it needs no proficiency bonus.
- +3/+5/+7 is the same as having a +2/+4/+6 enhancement bonus and a fixed +1 feat bonus, so all in all, you'd only be losing a total of 2 points of attack at Epic. (Though I have no idea why it simply doesn't scale +3/+6/+9)
Cattle die, kindred die, every man is mortal. But the good name never dies of one who has done well.
Cattle die, kindred die, every man is mortal. But I know one thing that never dies: the glory of the great dead.
- Hávamál
D&D 4th Edition Bard builds: The Dashing Swordsman, The Master of Sound and Illusions, The Warrior Skald
Captain Morality! (No point in not having fun with it. ;-))
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1 year ago ::
Dec 13, 2011 - 3:59PM
#142
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Date Joined:
Aug 31, 2009
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The sword is disappointing for a Rare. Weren't Rare items supposed to be game-changing items from a story perspective (if not mechanical)? The sword should be an Uncommon, should have an Encounter power to create darkness, and shouldn't have the penalty to attack rolls.
But it is a game-changer.
It changes the game to "let's go reeally out of our way to always fight in the dark!"
What I hate the most about these light-level-dependent items, feats and whatnot is that they increase the amount of bookeeping you have to do. I thought the whole point of the design refocus last year was to decrease this kind of thing. I don't want to have to map out the light level in every damn square of an encounter, but just saying everywhere is "x" light level means the character can't control the conditions for the bonus or penalty. You end up just letting the PC glue an Enshrouding Candle to his head just so you don't have to deal with it anymore. I appreciate the thematics behind these things, but the translation to mechanics is just a pain. /rant
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 7:58AM
#143
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Date Joined:
Jul 31, 2005
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Why is it a game changer? I wouldn't go out of my way to ensure a single +1 to hit. I'd just use a different, better, weapon. Instead of a wildly situational potential +1 hit, marred by a -2 to hit when I dont have the +1, I could get any number of consistently better weapons that are uncommon.
Its only a game changer if its good enough to make you want to go out of your way.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 9:09AM
#144
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Date Joined:
Nov 17, 2011
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+3/5/7 to reflex is the next best thing to an auto hit,
With no weapon keyword, not quite.
Lack of a weapon keyword means it loses the following:
-Expertise (1 per tier)
-Proficiency bonus (+2 or +3)
-Enhancement bonus (+1 to +6)
And that's just the ones that apply to every single character. Others might have other bonuses (like a rogue with Dagger Talent or a fighter with 1h Weapon Talent). If you're using a +2 prof weapon, that 3/5/7 is really a -2/-3/-4. If a +3, -3/-4/-5.
(It is still vs reflex, so if you want to compare it against an attack vs AC, reduce the penalties by 2 for an average case.)
Hmm, that does make it worse, but still.
Reflex cancels proficiency, and Expertise brings it down to a +2/+3/+4. That really only starts to look shoddy at the epic levels, and is better than solid through most of heroic.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 11:51AM
#145
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Reflex cancels proficiency, and Expertise brings it down to a +2/+3/+4. That really only starts to look shoddy at the epic levels, and is better than solid through most of heroic.
Attacks vs NADs should be level+3 (+13/23/33 (All numbers at 10/20/30)): Stat (post-racial 16) +1/2 level gives you +9/15/22, which leaves a shortfall of +4/8/11 if that's all you get. Expertise+Enchantment gives +3/6/9, which is what the best non-weapon/Implement powers get. Which *still* leaves a shortfall of +1/2/2
You can get an extra +2 from starting with a 20 in your attack stat, +1 from picking a +3 weapon/accurate implement, and +1 from your Epic Destiny Stat bump. Which brings you up to tofu-level accuracy.
All of that means that this power has an accuracy penalty of -0/1/2 over a weapon or implement power, *and* doesn't have as many options for boosting it's accuracy back up to Tofu levels.
Did I forget anything?
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 4:00PM
#146
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Why is it a game changer?
He's being sarcastic.
Cattle die, kindred die, every man is mortal. But the good name never dies of one who has done well.
Cattle die, kindred die, every man is mortal. But I know one thing that never dies: the glory of the great dead.
- Hávamál
D&D 4th Edition Bard builds: The Dashing Swordsman, The Master of Sound and Illusions, The Warrior Skald
Captain Morality! (No point in not having fun with it. ;-))
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 4:41PM
#147
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Date Joined:
Dec 25, 2009
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Hmm, that does make it worse, but still.
Reflex cancels proficiency, and Expertise brings it down to a +2/+3/+4. That really only starts to look shoddy at the epic levels, and is better than solid through most of heroic.
Reflex only cancels proficiency if you're using a +2 prof weapon.
Unless it's a gouge, you probably shouldn't be using a +2 prof weapon.
Note that I'm not saying the power is useless. Even if it WAS an auto-miss (which it isn't), it does have an effect line, after all. But it is absolutely not an auto-hit.
The difference between madness and genius is determined only by degrees of success.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 9:14PM
#148
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Have any of the other paragon paths beyond the demonologest been spoiled? If not, dose anybody care to spoil them? I am paticularly looking at those which would be good for an evil wizard, evil artificer(or evil bard), or evil warlord, if any would apply.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 14, 2011 - 9:56PM
#149
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Date Joined:
Feb 14, 2008
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Have any of the other paragon paths beyond the demonologest been spoiled? If not, dose anybody care to spoil them? I am paticularly looking at those which would be good for an evil wizard, evil artificer(or evil bard), or evil warlord, if any would apply.
Here's the basics on the...
Contract Killer
Prerequisite: Evil alignment, trained in Stealth
Action Point to use an attack power, each adjacent enemy grants CA UEOYNT
Hit an enemy granting you CA during your first turn, +1d6 damage to that enemy. (This feels like it should scale, but sadly, does not.)
The level 11 attack power is "Fulfill Contract", a no-action that triggers when you make an attack roll with an at-will against an enemy granting you CA. +3 power bonus to hit, +2d8 extra damage if it hits. If it bloodies or drops them, you gain temp hp 3+half level.
Level 12 utility is a daily that is similar to Bravo, in that you single out one enemy and get bonuses until the end of the encounter against them. CA until end of encounter, and free action shift 2 whenever the enemy moves more than 2 squares on its turn, BUT you take a -2 to attacks against creatures other than your selected enemy.
Level 16 feature is an untyped +1 bonus to attack rolls vs enemies from which you are hidden. You also gain an additional per encounter use of Fulfill Contract, but only 1/turn.
Level 20 brings you "Certainty of Death", a no-action daily that triggers when you hit a bloodied enemy with an at-will attack power and are hidden from it. Add an extra 5d8, and it grants you CA until EOYNT.
Of all the paragon paths that actually require evil alignment, this one feels like it would refluff the easiest, and works the best across both AEDU and Essentials style builds.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 15, 2011 - 1:04AM
#150
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Date Joined:
Oct 28, 2010
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There's absolutely no mechanical reason for that to require evil alignment.
Alignments are stupid.
Certainty of Death is one of those power to save for a crit. Since you can. An extra 40 damage is better than an extra 5d8. But an extra 5d8/40 damage isn't stupendous for a PP daily. The 16th feature is pretty tasty. The AP feature is pretty lame, since the path is predicated on Hidden, and being Hidden means things grant you CA anyway. The 11th feature seems pretty lame (it's Shadowdancer's Gloves, the first-turn feature) - and it would probably be lame even if it scaled. It would need to be an additional damage roll, like Echoing Weapon, to be meaningful at single-figure numbers of dice. The encounter power is solid, but not exceptional - again, it would need much better damage to really be meaningful, though the +3 to hit is good. Things which trigger on bloody or drop tend to be a little tough to time. Overall, not awful, except for the pointless alignment restriction which (along with being published in this book) means I won't get to use it in the foreseeable future, playing as I do in LFR. WOuld be best on an Executioner Assassin.
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