Weapon/Implement Expertise: +1 to-hit?! Yuck!

[Nymrohd]

When heroic tiers feats that provide a bonus to hit are always circumstantial, a feat that gives the same bonus invalidates them. That is bad design. I could see it as maybe a paragon feat.

 

[Jack99]

Yeah, it does seem odd. Do we know for sure it's a feat bonus?

 

[yesnomu]

Yeah, it does seem odd. Do we know for sure it's a feat bonus?

I bloody hope so, an untyped bonus would be way worse.

About the best type (as in, least power-creepy) would be a power bonus, but that'd be kinda annoying with a warlord/other bonus-granting leader.

EDIT: Actually, the best bonus would be proficiency, and have it still cap at 3 (so WE would be useless for a sword-user). That would make it roughly equal to Weapon Prof, in terms of picking a superior weapon with 3 prof. That'd be less creepy, although still not negligible.

 

[yesnomu]

The rogues in our group frequently hit when they roll a 2, so this would be a mostly useless feat for them. My eladrin warlord would take it once he's taken care of his party-buffing feats. I'd probably want it for my mordenkrad fighter asap.

That's one out of four for whom it's an immediate gimme. Sounds good, but not too ridiculous.
-blarg

So those rogues didn't take Nimble Blade? This is better for them if they did.

And when even half the group wants a single feat (and I'd bet the rogues would still give it a look as monster defenses began to outstrip their bonuses), that sounds overpowered already. What PHB feat had half the group taking it? Toughness, maybe.

 

[Jack99]

I bloody hope so, an untyped bonus would be way worse.

If it's untyped it would be powerful (spelled b-r-o-k-e-n), but at least it wouldn't invalidate every other feat available

 

[bganon]

EDIT: Actually, the best bonus would be proficiency, and have it still cap at 3 (so WE would be useless for a sword-user). That would make it roughly equal to Weapon Prof, in terms of picking a superior weapon with 3 prof. That'd be less creepy, although still not negligible.

Unfortunately, no, the barbarian has Weapon Expertise (heavy blades) and seems to be getting a +1 to hit from hit, though it's not clear what "Goliath Greatweapon Prowess" does.

Then again, keep in mind that some of these character sheets probably have typos; for example, I'd think a level 3 sorcerer with 16 Dex should be getting at least +8 with a thrown +1 dagger.

My personal suspicion/hope is that Weapon Expertise has some prereqs (maybe 13 Dex minimum?) that make it a less obvious choice. I'm less sure about Implement Expertise.

 

[Blizzardb]

What PHB feat had half the group taking it? Toughness, maybe.

If by "half" you mean "almost all", then yes. In all the games I played, this was the most popular feat by far.

 

[yesnomu]

If by "half" you mean "almost all", then yes. In all the games I played, this was the most popular feat by far.

OK, and now here's the question, would they swap it out if WE/IE were available? I can't think of a character I've made where I wouldn't spend a feat on it, and for many I'd take it level 1, no question.

 

[Mengu]

Unfortunately, no, the barbarian has Weapon Expertise (heavy blades) and seems to be getting a +1 to hit from hit, though it's not clear what "Goliath Greatweapon Prowess" does.

I suspect it's the equivalent of dwarven weapon training. So a +2 damage with a set of weapons. Note the damage with the barbarian's greatsword.

 

[Blizzardb]

OK, and now here's the question, would they swap it out if WE/IE were available? I can't think of a character I've made where I wouldn't spend a feat on it, and for many I'd take it level 1, no question.

Hard to tell... I think most people will eventually take both, but it is not obvious which one is more desirable. For the last character I made probably Toughness would be the first one (serious low HP issue).

Oh, and I agree that it is not cool to have "must have" feats.