Warlord Exploit - Commander's Strike

[Eldorian]

The point is, it's a unique power in several aspects as far as I can tell. It's the only power whose Attack: line is not an attack roll. It's the only power which does not directly affect the target. The power affects an ally, and the ally gets an attack because of the power.

And this is the main point: It's needlessly unique. The power write up I did was sufficiently short, and not complex despite what was said (far less complex than the power is as written). And the fact remains that it could be even easier if you change the intended effect to be ranged, as the fluff suggests.

 

[Zurai]

If you make it a ranged power, it provokes OAs.

 

[Eldorian]

If you make it a ranged power, it provokes OAs.

Nit picker! Close was what I suggested. Also, ranged, along with OA provoking would also fit the fluff. Having to drop your guard to notice that an ally could get a free hit in makes sense too.

 

[godfear]

You're really just over thinking it. It's not a difficult power to use.

The Warlord must be in melee range and equipped with a melee weapon because he's distracting the opponent. The ally you choose then makes a basic melee attack with a damage bonus equal to your Int mod. Nowhere does it say your ally gets any kind of modification to their attack roll.

The power has the "melee weapon" keyword as a prerequisite to use the power, but you're not making an attack, your ally is. And since your ally doesn't have your prof and enhancement bonuses, he uses his own like with any other attack he makes.

That isn't unreasonable. I just thought (like Eldorian) that the Power was worded kind of strangely. : )

 

[Surgoshan]

I'm pretty sure that in another thread, started by GnomeWorks above, WotC_Miko (I think that's the name) came in and confirmed that the warlord has to be adjacent to the target for the power to work.

 

[Liebot]

That's the way we've been playing it Surgoshan. The way I flavor it is, (usually from a flanking position) I (the warlord) give the enemy a head butt, a punch, or a shield bash and it opens up the foe for a real damaging strike from my ally. Lot's of fun, particularly when combined with Wolf Pack Tactics, an action point, and a rogue.

 

[Surgoshan]

Yeah, that's kind of the way I see it working. Or something like at 2:45 in this video.

 

[ebenmckay]

As I imagine it, the warlord menaces the enemy, maybe fouling up their weapon with his, distracting them and opening up a hole in their defense for another ally to take advantage. The smarter the warlord, the better opening he makes for the ally to really hurt the enemy.

As I read it, it seems to be that both the warlord and the ally have to be in melee range of the target. The ally who makes the attack uses his own attack and damage bonuses for a basic melee attack, with a lil' something extra to damage from the warlord interfering with the enemy's defenses. Which nicely meshes with my imagination.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

It's straightforward. You are in melee, distract the opponent and your ally makes a basic attack.

By the by ; this power is top notch when you have a fighter in your team. It really rocks, especially if the warlord opted for INT 18, STR 16 instead of the reverse.

But in my campaign, the defender is a charisma based paladin so it makes that particular warlord power completely useless; the warlord is the one with the most powerful basic melee attack in the party! No sense giving a free basic attack to the paladin; he does them at +5 (level 2)!

As it stands, Furious smash is a much better option (though it is for the charisma based warlord) in most circumstances if you want to increase damage output (especially at level 1 when you don't have magic weapons).

 

[Mr. Wilson]

You're really just over thinking it. It's not a difficult power to use.

The Warlord must be in melee range and equipped with a melee weapon because he's distracting the opponent. The ally you choose then makes a basic melee attack with a damage bonus equal to your Int mod. Nowhere does it say your ally gets any kind of modification to their attack roll.

The power has the "melee weapon" keyword as a prerequisite to use the power, but you're not making an attack, your ally is. And since your ally doesn't have your prof and enhancement bonuses, he uses his own like with any other attack he makes.

That is how I'd read the power as well.