Is Fey Step really the best racial power?

[Cirex]

I have seen this :

DM : crit !
Halfling : second chance !
DM : normal hit ! And... I made a 8 with the D8.

BTW, you are not critted every encounter. If you keep this power "just in case", you may end up not using it while you should have to.
On the other hand, when you need to teleport, you know it. No need to guess and pray the probability gods.

Don't forget about extra damage from critical strikes. A human berserker adds d12 with a critical strike.

 

[ki11erDM]

So. Is it just assumed that the halfing knows what the damage is before he forces a re-roll? It just says “when an attack hits you”.

All attacks follow the same basic process:
1. Choose the attack you’ll use. Each attack has an attack type.
2. Choose targets for the attack. Each target must be within range. Check whether you can see and target your enemies.
3. Make an attack roll.
4. Compare your attack roll to the target’s defense to determine whether you hit or miss.
5. Deal damage and apply other effects.

Looks to me a DM would be well within his/her right to say the halfling has to make the decision before he knows the damage.

 

[Plane Sailing]

So. Is it just assumed that the halfing knows what the damage is before he forces a re-roll? It just says “when an attack hits you”.

I don't think that would be assumed.

AFAIR only 'Staff Implement Mastery' expressly talks about applying an effect after the damage has been rolled.

 

[ki11erDM]

'Staff Implement Mastery'

wow... that is a totally wakko ability i had not seen.

 

[clearstream]

Fey Step pwns the other racials. It always works, in and out of combat, and is extremely versatile. Most importantly, to me, it's extremely interesting. I'm always finding new ways to use it. Step also emulates some Rogue powers, like getting out of grabs, standing jumps, and tumbles to shift in combat (no OAs).

Elven Accuracy gives you a modest improvement on your odds on one attack per encounter. (Someone posted the tables somewhere, if you can find them.) If that rings your bell, you should definitely play an Elf.

Practically the only racial better than Fey Step is Eladrin Education. Oh, wait...

-vk

 

[Stalker0]

I don't think that would be assumed.

AFAIR only 'Staff Implement Mastery' expressly talks about applying an effect after the damage has been rolled.

And the wizard utility shield.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Teleport is an answer to immobilise.
That, in itself, is made of awesome .. when paragon and epic tiers roll around, this game is about action denial, and inflicting/recovery from status effects is extremely important.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I've heard people say it is. But in my opinion, I'd rather have Elven Accuracy any day of the week. Fey Step is certainly valuable, but I don't think it's nearly as valuable as greatly upping your chances to hit with your daily powers.

Same here. I hate nothing more than missing on my daily power, and it happens to me alot. I've found fey step to be situationally useful. Elven Accuracy, on the other hand, is something I'd probably make use of every single encounter.

 

[Celtavian]

re

Same here. I hate nothing more than missing on my daily power, and it happens to me alot. I've found fey step to be situationally useful. Elven Accuracy, on the other hand, is something I'd probably make use of every single encounter.

I was mostly thinking in terms of a face off. I guess that is only one way to think about best racial. If the races were going toe to toe, I think Second Wind as a minor action is the most useful as the dwarf could get his hps back and not have to waste time not attacking. That is a very huge advantage in combat. On top of that Second Wind works guaranteed unlike the halfling or elf ability.

But as far as general use I would imagine Elven Accuracy or the Dragonborn breath weapon would be best. Both can be used every combat and will provide a very useful benefit each encounter.

It also depends on your role in the group. I play a dwarf paladin and am a defender. I consider Second Wind as a minor action for a defender extremely useful since I will be taking hits quite often and will be more likely to reach low hit points. I could see it being much less useful to most of the other classes.

So I guess best racial would depend on alot of factors including class and situation. I just know when you're either going toe to toe alone or in a tough fight that is ripping your group up, Second Wind as a minor action is huge.

 

[Iron Sky]

In our 3-session pre-campaign 4e playtest we had a halfling, a dragonborn, and eladrin, and a human.

The dragonborn breath weapon was used every fight, often killing as many as 1/2 of the minions in one go and really screwing up the swarms we fought. It gets and A in my book - always useful.

The eladrin used his teleport about three times in combat, twice outside of combat(out of about 25 combat encounters). I'd give it about a C+, useful once in a while, and extremely useful on occasion.

The halfling second chance was used about every third fight or so. It turned a couple crits into hits or misses, was fun for the player to use, but about half the time the enemy hit anyway. About a B- in our play through, though I wasn't DMing so I don't know how much of it was lucky DM rolls.

I think the human used his extra at-will about twice in those 25 combats... D - though it was a Cha/Wis ranged cleric with 10 strength having to take a Str power...