Proposal: Dragon 372

[Atanatotatos]

It's not the same. A warlock's eldritch blast will be anhanced by feats, items and what else that won't work with a weapon. So Reaper's touch is clearly more powerful.

 

[elecgraystone]

Basic melee attacks can't be enhanced by feats, items and what else? Weren't you complaining that there were TOO many ways to boost melee damage on the nerf thread?

Bloodclaw weapon and an infernal warlock. Nuff said.

 

[Atanatotatos]

And you'd leave your class' powers behind? You only have so many feats, so many item slots, and so much money.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

Heh, you two really don't agree on anything, do you?

I'm not sure there's a lot of cause for concern. For one feat you get an effective MBA, whether that feat is Melee Training or Reaper's Touch. Extra feats on top of that make the attack more effective on both ends. The weapon-user has to take another feat, choose a specific type of weapon, or maintain two magic items in the future. If you 'do it right', attack and damage between the two options should be pretty comparable. Right?

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

I'm going to say that Reaper's Touch is superior to Melee Training because it requires a much smaller investment of feats and money to pull off. Someone sort of has to build their character around Melee Training to get it to work, but any one willing to spend one feat can make Reaper's Touch good. And many feats that improve Melee Training are only improving the Warlock's melee attack (proficiency, what have you), while feats that boost Reaper's Touch are very likely to improve your other attacks, like your ranged Eldritch Blast at the very least. I don't know which one is better if you devote your character to it, but Reaper's Touch is more efficient.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

All I know is that as a warlord, I want all the casters in my group to take Reaper's Touch

 

[Lord Sessadore]

I'm going to say that Reaper's Touch is superior to Melee Training because it requires a much smaller investment of feats and money to pull off. Someone sort of has to build their character around Melee Training to get it to work, but any one willing to spend one feat can make Reaper's Touch good. And many feats that improve Melee Training are only improving the Warlock's melee attack (proficiency, what have you), while feats that boost Reaper's Touch are very likely to improve your other attacks, like your ranged Eldritch Blast at the very least. I don't know which one is better if you devote your character to it, but Reaper's Touch is more efficient.

I'll grant that it's more efficient, true. One feat and you're good to go, no matter what other choices you make, compared to having to do/get very specific things for the weapon route to work.

 

[covaithe]

I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable about Reaper's Touch. Call me old fashioned, but I kind of like the idea that ranged casters are in a bit of trouble when they get into melee range. Take that away, and it feels like the tactical complexity of the game has been reduced, somehow.

Yes, I know that even without this, some ranged casters are pretty tough toe-to-toe, but this widens it quite a bit.

 

[Atanatotatos]

Covaithe says it better

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Understandable Covaithe, but that brings us around to the question, ban it outright, or make it Shardi-Kai only?