Changes Coming in Essentials, Part 2

[Zaran]

I honestly think that they just aren't thinking things through. This was the perfect time to give us stat changes for the PHB2 races. It was the perfect time to give same rules change to Hunter's Quarry and the Warlock's Curse that they gave Sneak Attack.

They said that they want to give us less errata but I rather they give us thorough eratta. So now we have the latest races and the first races with adjustable stat increases but who knows when we will see the same for the gnome, shifter or goliath. I don't know about everyone else but I see far less drow being made than gnomes. In my opinion, this just tells me that there is very little support for the core rulebooks at WotC since they are only changing what Essentials hits on.

So do we have to wait until January for another chance for errata to be made since they are back to a quarterly schedule?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I honestly think that they just aren't thinking things through. This was the perfect time to give us stat changes for the PHB2 races. It was the perfect time to give same rules change to Hunter's Quarry and the Warlock's Curse that they gave Sneak Attack.

They said that they want to give us less errata but I rather they give us thorough eratta. So now we have the latest races and the first races with adjustable stat increases but who knows when we will see the same for the gnome, shifter or goliath. I don't know about everyone else but I see far less drow being made than gnomes. In my opinion, this just tells me that there is very little support for the core rulebooks at WotC since they are only changing what Essentials hits on.

So do we have to wait until January for another chance for errata to be made since they are back to a quarterly schedule?

Yeah, OTOH we don't really know that they are sure what those changes are yet. They obviously decided a while back that they would change races to all have a stat choice, but that doesn't mean they've sorted out who gets what except in cases where they actually had to make a decision. It also keeps their options open for a bit longer. Basically it would be lovely if we could all instantly get the gratification we crave, but the people over there at WotC have their own considerations and only a certain amount of time to work on stuff. People get all upset if they release something that isn't PERFECT and they also complain if it isn't released RIGHT NOW.

It is like we say in the software world, better, faster, cheaper, pick 2.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

It is like we say in the software world, better, faster, cheaper, pick 2.

Or, as we say in the world of observing how software managers usually behave, pick 1 so long as it happens to be "cheaper".

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Or, as we say in the world of observing how software managers usually behave, pick 1 so long as it happens to be "cheaper".

Well, it is generally considered to be better, cheaper, faster: pick 2 but one needs to be better, lol.

 

[Saeviomagy]

It was the perfect time to give same rules change to Hunter's Quarry and the Warlock's Curse that they gave Sneak Attack.

They may have zero intention of doing this. If there's one thing that rangers don't need, it's more damage.

That said, it dosn't quite explain the warlock.

 

[Deverash]

I seem to recall a post by Mearls that there was no plans to update Hunter's Quarry and Warlock's Curse like they did Sneak Attack. I don't recall where I read that, though.

 

[Zaran]

I seem to recall a post by Mearls that there was no plans to update Hunter's Quarry and Warlock's Curse like they did Sneak Attack. I don't recall where I read that, though.

I have to wonder why they think rogues need the boost over rangers and warlocks.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I have to wonder why they think rogues need the boost over rangers and warlocks.

Well, I think rogues in general didn't NEED a boost, but they had NOTHING going for them on an OA, usually. Unless you were a BS (or RR perhaps?) rogue you had squat for an OA or anything else using MBA, so without a good str there are only a few powers like Riposte Strike where it makes a big difference. RP and similar stuff though just doesn't work all that well anyhow, what monster is going to provoke the riposte? Add SA damage on there, you'll almost never see that attack provoked.

So, yeah, it is sort of a boost in power, but honestly rogues weren't touching bowrangers and have to really work at it to be equal at best. Warlocks could use the curse damage every turn, I agree, but nobody seems to have really figured out what changes to make to non-Essentials stuff.

We MAY well see these tweaks made when and if a 2nd book of revised classes comes out. Personally I always thought HQ was a bit too good and too easy to use attached to a range 45+ weapon doing d12 damage and load free? Is the fact that the ranger is NEVER getting HQ 1/turn in a million billion years there is no reason that should mean the rogue and warlock can't get 1/turn, they are not all identical classes that need to work exactly the same way.

 

[Dice4Hire]

they are not all identical classes that need to work exactly the same way.

This is really the main point for me. All strikers are not the same, and even different builds of the same striker do not need to be the same in defenses, accuracy or damage potential.

One reason I see for Rogues getting a boost is that they will only get the OAs if they are in melee (unless I miss something, it is nearly impossible to get and OA with a ranged weapon) so that is a major drawback for the rogue right there. A ranger shooting form 20+ squares away is nigh invincible.

 

[Lord Ernie]

There may be another factor for rangers not getting the upgrade. For ranged rangers, one of their main sources of frontloading damage in an encounter comes from immediate action attacks. You can very easily build a ranger that attacks twice in the first 3-4 rounds of every combat (Fox's Cunning, Disruptive Strike, Splitting-Cobra Stance, Battlefield Archer's Combined Fire...).

Getting to add Quarry damage on top of every single one of those extra attacks would have the ranger get ahead even further where DPR is concerned.