Neonchameleon
Legend
So its a system mastery issue where its a bad choice if you aren't using certain weapons but its not a power for only those weapons hmm...
Oh, anyone who says there's no system mastery in 4e is talking out of their hats. The only way to avoid system mastery playing a part is no options at all. The big problem with 3.0 and system mastery is that 3.0 was intentionally designed to reward system mastery and feats were put in that weren't very good and were intended to look good, like Toughness. And the difference between high and low is just too great.
That's not what's happening here. In this case Rain of Blows is a perfectly decent encounter power even without the kicker of an extra attack. It's not great but isn't a wasted choice under most circumstances. But the 4e reward for system mastery isn't "avoid trap choices and be able to overshadow other people". It's "Be able to create viable and interesting characters that don't fit the superficial restrictions". For instance a high dex shortsword or rapier based fighter. Doesn't seem like the 4e fighter should - but add a power or two like RoB in and it works well. Or the lazy warlord (who yells at people and never makes an attack roll), or scrappy bard (who uses a mix of psychically insulting damage and powers like blunder that get passed off as coincidences).
Of course there is charge-cheese in 4e. And if anyone shows up with more than one of Horned Helm, Vanguard Weapon, or Surprising Charge at my table I'm going to DM-veto. I'm also going to frown at psionics and hybrids.
I am absolutly open to any suggestions to improve him although this thread might not be the best place. Regarding augmenting ToI believe it or not its been very helpful in a number of situations to get enemies off certain positions on the battlefield or getting them off other more squishy party members. If there is a better place to start a thread to go over tweaking the build I am certainly open to all suggestions. Honestly I picked RoB becauseIi like the idea of iterative attacks and that plus Hack and Hew helps emulate that to a certain extent also Hack and Hew allows me to mark multiple opponents which can be handy.
Oh, I absolutely agree that high pushes are useful, and use them myself. As a PC I also firmly believe the best place for monsters is inside their own pit traps. And if you want to put the build in the 4e forum I'd be happy to help