Hunter's Rapid shot question

[brehobit]

Something I'd missed the first time around is that the hunter's rapid shot power seems to require you to take a basic attack against allies within in or adjacent to the one square you pick.

You make a ranged basic attack with a weapon against each creature in or adjacent to a square within the attack’s range. You take a -2 penalty to the attack rolls.​

Two things:

1. I assume everyone agrees that means you must make such an attack on every creature?
2. What mechanisms can you use to reduce the change of hitting/damage on allies?

For #2 the best I can think of is using magic ammunition which should reduce the hit chance and damage. Thoughts on that tactic? Too "metagame-y"? Other ideas?

 

[mneme]

I'd think that the best means to avoid hitting allies is to pick a spot not adjacent to any allies -- just like most controllers with ally-unfriendly at wills.

I think using special arrows is fine, actually; you're spending money for the purpose, so it's not like it's free. +1 arrows, of course. Although at the moment, due to the rarity c*, you can't technically make or buy magical arrows, but can only find them.

 

[OnlineDM]

The thing that amuses me about Rapid Shot from a flavor perspective is that you can shoot yourself with it. Hey, if you're surrounded by minions, maybe it's worth it, but when I try to imagine what this would look like in-world, my mind refuses.

A wizard dropping a zone of fire or cold or shadows or whatever on himself - that I can envision. A hunter shooting a bunch of arrows at a bunch of targets including himself? Well, that strains the bounds of plausibility. Maybe it's assumed that the room has REALLY high ceilings and he's shooting a bunch of arrows straight up into the air...

 

[bganon]

I'm imagining the hunter spinning from nearby target to target so quickly that they get dizzy and injure themselves. Still silly, but hey.

 

[Spibb]

The thing that amuses me about Rapid Shot from a flavor perspective is that you can shoot yourself with it. Hey, if you're surrounded by minions, maybe it's worth it, but when I try to imagine what this would look like in-world, my mind refuses.

A wizard dropping a zone of fire or cold or shadows or whatever on himself - that I can envision. A hunter shooting a bunch of arrows at a bunch of targets including himself? Well, that strains the bounds of plausibility. Maybe it's assumed that the room has REALLY high ceilings and he's shooting a bunch of arrows straight up into the air...

I think Wizard's assumption with this is that someone never do this because it would grant opportunity attacks from everything around them

 

[Azlith]

We actually had one player that took advantage of the line of effect requirement on attacks. He used the stance to move 2 squares after each attack. He chose the PC in the area as the last one to attack and moved around a corner between the last enemy and the PC, losing line of effect.

 

[OnlineDM]

I think Wizard's assumption with this is that someone never do this because it would grant opportunity attacks from everything around them

I've seen it done, believe it or not. As I recall, the hunter was immobilized and surrounded by three or four minions that didn't deal a lot of damage but that DID immobilize on a hit. He knew he would get by the opportunity attacks (and potentially his own attack as well) but wanted to be able to attack, so he dropped a Rapid Shot on his area. It hurt, but he survived and took out all but one of the minions.

 

[Dracorat]

We actually had one player that took advantage of the line of effect requirement on attacks. He used the stance to move 2 squares after each attack. He chose the PC in the area as the last one to attack and moved around a corner between the last enemy and the PC, losing line of effect.

Introduce mechanics that break the normal rules and you enter the gray territory a`la 3rd Edition.

This is not a "which version is better" post - but rather a point that 4E is supposed be straightforward and to-the-point for which this ability breaks that paradigm. As a DM, you have to decide how to resolve that.

 

[Aulirophile]

Introduce mechanics that break the normal rules and you enter the gray territory a`la 3rd Edition.

This is not a "which version is better" post - but rather a point that 4E is supposed be straightforward and to-the-point for which this ability breaks that paradigm. As a DM, you have to decide how to resolve that.

Um, those are the normal rules. Attack sequence and the timing of reacting to attacks are both explicit rules.

@OP: Have a power that is an RBA (Eldrtich Bolt, Divine Bolts+Power of Skill, etc) not based on Dex. Dump dex. Make a standard RBA against your allies at a huge penalty (no proficiency, low stat, no magic weapon, etc). Use the power that is an RBA on the monsters. If you MC Seeker this can actually generate extra attacks by missing your allies. The builds that are theoretically capable of exploiting this are rather complex though.

 

[Dracorat]

Um, those are the normal rules. Attack sequence and the timing of reacting to attacks are both explicit rules.

Those aren't the rules being broken. Rather, the power is breaking the normal rules by allowing movement in between the "strikes" of an attack by calling them "attacks" where normally, the "strikes" of an attack are resolved as a normal "attack".