Targeting "closest enemy" with curses, powers

[Nifft]

No, he can't. Battlefield Archer only lifts the restriction on number of quarries. The target still has to be the closest creature (not even the closest non-quarry creature) to be designated a quarry.

Yeah. This makes it (oddly) an excellent ability for a TWF melee ranger, who could easily be in melee with three or four equidistant foes.

Cheers, -- N

 

[WalterKovacs]

Yeah. This makes it (oddly) an excellent ability for a TWF melee ranger, who could easily be in melee with three or four equidistant foes.

Cheers, -- N

Unfortunately, you'd have to take the Archer class feature initially to take that Paragon. [But you can still mix and match with powers, you just lose the ability to weild a one handed weapon in the off-hand, instead of being limited to just off hand].

 

[MindWanderer]

They've already errata'd it--to closest enemy you can see. The Curse and the ranger's Hunter's Quarry work exactly as they're meant to, and they do a great job of encouraging tactical gameplay.

So you make yourself a pair of pinhold glasses, or just hold your hands up in front if your eyes so that the only opponent you can see is the boss. Quarry them, then take the blinders off.

 

[Surgoshan]

Yeah, but it's a minor action to put on the glasses, a minor action to curse, and a minor action to take them off.

And it's not "The closest enemy you see", it's "The closest enemy you can see" (emphasis mine). Thus, though you aren't seeing the enemy right now, you would be able to see them if you were looking in the right direction.

 

[Ziana]

No, he can't. Battlefield Archer only lifts the restriction on number of quarries. The target still has to be the closest creature (not even the closest non-quarry creature) to be designated a quarry.

I received this today from Joe at Wizard's customer service:

Question 3: Page 104 states that you can designate the enemy nearest you as your Quarry (errata modifies that to "nearest enemy you can see". In order to designate additional Quarries per page 113, is it necessary to adjust position before doing so, so that the new Quarry is the nearest enemy target, or is it sufficient to designate quarries in order of proximity from the character?

3. This appears to be a minor over sight but order of proximity will cover it.

(The rest of the Q/A is here)

 

[Zurai]

Ah, thank you for that. Battlefield Experience would still be a great ability without order of proximity, but that does help a lot with making the best use of it.

 

[Ziana]

Yes, I can understand not wanting to allow the ranger to arbitrarily pick one target in a mass (like the leader of a group), but it seems an undue restriction to be unable to designate the next closest target if they've already tagged the nearest one.

 

[Goobermunch]

Let me also point out the Rod of Corruption.

Cheers, -- N

Which makes the wizard the Star Pact Warlock's best friend.

--G

 

[Saeviomagy]

Or with feypact, curse the front rank mook, kill him with a power, teleport as a free action to the back rank of the battlefield, then use a move action to travel far enough to get your concealment. Make a stealth check while you're at it. Next round, you're all over the back rank guys like a cheap suit.

I'll have to tell us that one - our warlock had the impression that his concealment bonus only applied from immediately after the end of his turn to immediately before the beginning of his next, which would stop that stealth check.

Also - cursing 3 mooks in a round is entirely possible, and since you still get your pact boon if someone ELSE kills your cursed target, even more mobility is possible.

 

[AGFlynn]

Great discussion, thanks for chiming in everyone. Got some good solid ideas on how I will play my 'lock.
No-one will ever convince me, though, that the "closest you can see" rule makes any sense other than to manipulate and "encourage" a type of gameplay.
I completely understand why it's there mechanically, but it feels contrived to me from a simulationist (sigh) point of view.
That being said, I will be comfortable with it in gameplay, I think. It does at least stop the 'lock from nuking people in the back row from the back row and get him into the thick of things. Which is good.
Maybe it should have been an enemy within a short range with clear line of sight and no cover or concealment? OR maybe there will some day be a feat to target the curse beyond the first mook in the way? Meh, I dunno. I'm sure my perspective will change after some playtime experience.