Recently I posted a few discussions around various messageboards asking about the 4e math and whether it was 'bad' or needed fixing.
Primarily this was a reaction to a particular thread that brought the issue into question and made me investigate. Previously I had ignored most discussions on this issue as I had been concentrating on the heroic level where the problem, if there is one, is far less prevalent.
After reading through several threads on the issue and having investigated it by creating characters of my own and comparing them to monsters within their level range, I must say that the issue doesn't seem as clear-cut as I first thought.
There seems to be a strong argument to contend that the bonuses granted by various feats aren't 'fixes' but rather gap-fillers. Generally a build will have a weakness and it's nice to be able to plug it. And in the case where magical item bonuses and various character powers aren't compensation enough for the level disparity, these feats fill that niche.
But for players who have a strong grasp of optimisation and who work well as a group in a well-rounded party that fills all the roles and each player knows their role well, these feats seem to become superfluous. Other options seem to provide greater benefit.
And so I find myself, through lack of actual play experience at high levels, somewhat on the fence about it all. I can clearly see the arguments for and against and can't quite decide which side has the greater merit.
So I figured I'd take the pulse of the internet community and see where the majority have sided. Do you think the math is off, or is it just fine as it is?
Primarily this was a reaction to a particular thread that brought the issue into question and made me investigate. Previously I had ignored most discussions on this issue as I had been concentrating on the heroic level where the problem, if there is one, is far less prevalent.
After reading through several threads on the issue and having investigated it by creating characters of my own and comparing them to monsters within their level range, I must say that the issue doesn't seem as clear-cut as I first thought.
There seems to be a strong argument to contend that the bonuses granted by various feats aren't 'fixes' but rather gap-fillers. Generally a build will have a weakness and it's nice to be able to plug it. And in the case where magical item bonuses and various character powers aren't compensation enough for the level disparity, these feats fill that niche.
But for players who have a strong grasp of optimisation and who work well as a group in a well-rounded party that fills all the roles and each player knows their role well, these feats seem to become superfluous. Other options seem to provide greater benefit.
And so I find myself, through lack of actual play experience at high levels, somewhat on the fence about it all. I can clearly see the arguments for and against and can't quite decide which side has the greater merit.
So I figured I'd take the pulse of the internet community and see where the majority have sided. Do you think the math is off, or is it just fine as it is?