Class Acts: Greatweapon Fighter

[Asmor]

The Class Acts for Fighter is up, focusing on great weapon. Looks interesting, a lot of feats and powers to support the build.

One of the powers really caught my eye; Warding Steel is an at-will level 16 utility which, for a minor action, gives the fighter his con bonus to AC and Fortitude. Seems a little overpowered to me, but I don't really have a great grasp on what's par for the course.

Class Acts: Great Weapon Fighter

 

[CubeKnight]

The Class Acts for Fighter is up, focusing on great weapon. Looks interesting, a lot of feats and powers to support the build.

One of the powers really caught my eye; Warding Steel is an at-will level 16 utility which, for a minor action, gives the fighter his con bonus to AC and Fortitude. Seems a little overpowered to me, but I don't really have a great grasp on what's par for the course.

Class Acts: Great Weapon Fighter

My Greatspear wielding Warden MC Fighter is SO taking that Utility.

 

[Grydan]

Oh it's definitely overpowered.

My Barbarian/Fighter should have a +5 Con mod at that level, and never really has a use for minor actions. There's no reason NOT to take the Acolyte Power feat and grab this power.

Even if it was a Daily stance that needed a Standard Action to activate, it would be hard to pass up.

 

[Shroomy]

Yeah, I wonder if it is supposed to be a standard action. That makes it much more reasonable IMO. I'm assuming that this power is supposed to be some sort of replacement for not having a shield; how does it stack up?

 

[Rechan]

I like several of these, mainly for style or the thing they're trying to emulate.

Restoring Strike, Brutal Advance, Who's Next, Line in the Sand, and Bitter Harvest.

I love Toppling Finish.

I personally think Hurricane Strike is very very meh. Considering how you don't shift, you MOVE, and it's spamming a lot of attacks for little damage. A minion killer sure, but it's a daily.

 

[LightPhoenix]

My Greatspear wielding Warden MC Fighter is SO taking that Utility.

Oh it's definitely overpowered.

If the new Avenger MC feat in Divine Power weren't so incredibly useful for the Warden, it'd be on my list too.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced it's overpowered. There's a lot of stuff in paragon you could be doing with your minor action. If you want to use that every round, you'll basically be choosing between another minor action and movement (or a move action). So yeah, you'll be defensively strong versus two of four defenses, but you'll also be sacrificing mobility or versatility. It's not exactly like they're defenses that are low for Fighters either. It'd be a whole different story if it were Reflex and Will, but I would expect Fighters to have a fairly good AC and Fortitude anyway.

Putting that aside, as a standard action (as has been suggested) it would be useless. Who would use it when you could be attacking (the best defense)? However, it could be an interesting tactical choice as a move action.

 

[Shroomy]

Putting that aside, as a standard action (as has been suggested) it would be useless. Who would use it when you could be attacking (the best defense)? However, it could be an interesting tactical choice as a move action.

I was thinking more along the lines of an elaborate total defense power, but I see your point.

 

[yesnomu]

If the new Avenger MC feat in Divine Power weren't so incredibly useful for the Warden, it'd be on my list too.

And hey, that one's broken too. I'll be shocked if it doesn't get beaten with the nerf bat in the next round of errata.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced it's overpowered. There's a lot of stuff in paragon you could be doing with your minor action.

Like what? Pulling out potions? Fighters have next to nothing to use minors on. If it were a Swordmage or Paladin utility, then I could see your point.

 

[Shroomy]

Like what? Pulling out potions? Fighters have next to nothing to use minors on. If it were a Swordmage or Paladin utility, then I could see your point.

I was curious, so I just checked and 27 of the fighter's 43 utility powers in the Compendium are minor actions (admittedly, 11 are stances; also, the 5 attack powers that are minor actions are all stances); almost all the rest are immediate actions of some type. Interestingly, the fighter's 16th level utility powers are the only ones that require move or standard actions. In any case, I still think the power will eventually get nerfed a bit (easiest would be to make it an encounter power and otherwise leave it as is).

 

[Cadfan]

Yeah, I can't see how that power is balanced. I look for an errata in the final published copy.

Seriously, my not particularly optimized great weapon fighter would expect to get +5 AC from that power. And all he pays is a power slot and a minor action he hasn't used in his entire career. That's way better than what you could get with a shield, which is probably the easiest proof that its too good.