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Melee and Reach
- Thread starter Smurtis
- Start date
Aulirophile
First Post
"Melee" is a type of attack.
"Melee 1" is a range, a melee attack that can attack within 1 square of the attacker or less (less in this case being in his own square). Basically if the target is adjacent to you or in your square.
Reach 1 adds a square to the range, if applicable. A "Melee 1" attack cannot be increased by a Reach Weapon, for instance. But let us assume the attack is "Melee Weapon." If you have Reach 1 you can use that attack against anything within 2 squares. If the target is adjacent to you, adjacent to a square that is adjacent to you, or in your square.
I fully concede the way "Reach" is written out is sometimes baffling btw.
"Melee 1" is a range, a melee attack that can attack within 1 square of the attacker or less (less in this case being in his own square). Basically if the target is adjacent to you or in your square.
Reach 1 adds a square to the range, if applicable. A "Melee 1" attack cannot be increased by a Reach Weapon, for instance. But let us assume the attack is "Melee Weapon." If you have Reach 1 you can use that attack against anything within 2 squares. If the target is adjacent to you, adjacent to a square that is adjacent to you, or in your square.
I fully concede the way "Reach" is written out is sometimes baffling btw.
Nullzone
Explorer
"Melee" is just the keyword that identifies the attack type; Melee, Ranged, Close, Area. If it doesn't specify a range after the keyword, it generally uses the range of your equipped weapon.
Melee 1 specifically gives the attack a range of 1 square from origin, regardless of your weapon or other reaching attributes.
"Reach" is a property defining the natural range of a creature; for most, this is 1. The property is usually set on weapons or monster stats and is the governing rule for the Melee keyword and the Threatening Reach attribute; a "rangeless" Melee attack uses your personal reach based on the relevant weapon, and Threatening Reach makes your available OA distance extend that many squares outward. Reach is also used to determine grabbing distance and breaking grabs via movement.
Edit: Bleh, I keep leaving posts half written and coming back to them to find someone else already answering the question
Melee 1 specifically gives the attack a range of 1 square from origin, regardless of your weapon or other reaching attributes.
"Reach" is a property defining the natural range of a creature; for most, this is 1. The property is usually set on weapons or monster stats and is the governing rule for the Melee keyword and the Threatening Reach attribute; a "rangeless" Melee attack uses your personal reach based on the relevant weapon, and Threatening Reach makes your available OA distance extend that many squares outward. Reach is also used to determine grabbing distance and breaking grabs via movement.
Edit: Bleh, I keep leaving posts half written and coming back to them to find someone else already answering the question
DracoSuave
First Post
Or... definitions that actually involve things that happen in game.
When you have any power, it has an entry used to indicate its attack-type and its range.
Attack-type is one of: Melee, Ranged, Close, Area, or Personal. This is true even for non-attack powers, this is just the technical term for it.
Range is what comes immediately after.
Okay, so how does this apply to Melee powers?
Basically, the range is a number, and ALL melee powers show up as: "Melee 1" which tells you the range of the power. Sometimes, however, it's not a constant, but a variable number. For Melee powers, there's two possibilities: Melee touch, and Melee weapon.
For "Melee touch" touch refers to your personal reach, without a weapon. Generally this will mean 1 square, however there are some paragon paths and epic destinies that can change this permanently, and there are some powers that can change this temporarily. 'Reach' is basically 'Melee range.' That's all it means.
For "Melee weapon" powers this refers to your personal reach, plus the reach of the weapon. So, if your weapon has the ability 'reach' then it will add one to your reach for this power. Where some confusion lies is thinking that this is indicating the power uses a melee weapon; this is not true. 'Weapon' is a number in this instance.
So, as for what is reach? Reach is a quantity a creature has; weapons may add to the creature's reach, and it essentially is a number that gets plugged into Melee touch and Melee weapon powers.
Also, there's no such thing as a Melee power without a range. This is a typo, as the power cannot be executed without one.
When you have any power, it has an entry used to indicate its attack-type and its range.
Attack-type is one of: Melee, Ranged, Close, Area, or Personal. This is true even for non-attack powers, this is just the technical term for it.
Range is what comes immediately after.
Okay, so how does this apply to Melee powers?
Basically, the range is a number, and ALL melee powers show up as: "Melee 1" which tells you the range of the power. Sometimes, however, it's not a constant, but a variable number. For Melee powers, there's two possibilities: Melee touch, and Melee weapon.
For "Melee touch" touch refers to your personal reach, without a weapon. Generally this will mean 1 square, however there are some paragon paths and epic destinies that can change this permanently, and there are some powers that can change this temporarily. 'Reach' is basically 'Melee range.' That's all it means.
For "Melee weapon" powers this refers to your personal reach, plus the reach of the weapon. So, if your weapon has the ability 'reach' then it will add one to your reach for this power. Where some confusion lies is thinking that this is indicating the power uses a melee weapon; this is not true. 'Weapon' is a number in this instance.
So, as for what is reach? Reach is a quantity a creature has; weapons may add to the creature's reach, and it essentially is a number that gets plugged into Melee touch and Melee weapon powers.
Also, there's no such thing as a Melee power without a range. This is a typo, as the power cannot be executed without one.
Just for clarity, most Melee attacks are Melee Weapon (Monk powers are a big exception) which sets your range to the reach of the weapon, usually 1. Melee 1 limits your range to 1 regardless of what your reach normally would be. Melee Touch (most monk attacks) limits your range to what your own personal reach would be without weapons (reach weapons as implements for monks lose the reach property for implement attacks). Remember very few things change the range of an attack, but your reach can be easily affected by powers, feats, weapon properties, paragon paths, and epic destinies.
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