13th Level Brawny Rogue -- which Encounter Power to lose?

[Sagiro]

I offer this conundrum to the savvy denizens of EN World.

In Piratecat's 4E campaign, we have just hit 13th level. My character is a Brawny Rogue/Daggermaster -- pretty much he just sticks his dagger into monsters until they die.

Heretofore I have selected Dazing Strike, Low Slash and Imperiling Strike as my Encounter Powers. At 13th Level it seems like I'd be nuts to eschew Stunning Strike, but it's not at all clear to me which of my existing three Encounter Powers ought to get tossed in the dustbin.

Dazing Strike is great; a dazed enemy grants combat advantage not only to me (for a worry-free Sneak Attack) but to all of my allies for a full round. Plus lots of Piratecat's monsters can take multiple actions on a turn, which Dazing Strike prevents.

Low Slash is great; not only does it slow and push, but (best of all) it's a minor action. So if I miss with my standard action, I can still use Low Slash to try getting that all-important Sneak Attack in. Oh, and it targets Reflex, which is nice.

Imperiling Strike is great. My STR mod is +4 (+5 next level), and giving an enemy MINUS FIVE to his AC and Reflex for a whole round is fantastic. Plus it's my only attack power to target Fortitude, which is a nice tool to have in the bag.

In your doubtless expert opinion, and assuming a fairly eclectic mix of enemies fought, which of these will I be least sad to lose?

Thanks!

-Sagiro

 

[Jack99]

Not low slash, its just too good. I would ditch dazing, since its (only) amazing against monsters with multiple actions, whereas the other works well against all monsters equally.


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[mneme]

Have to agree with Dazing. Going to Stunning is a pure upgrade, and if you're finding that the three are (more or less) equally useful it's best to keep the flexiblity. If you hang on to Stunning and Dazing, you're doubling up on control, but losing the debuf or minor action attack.

 

[SSquirrel]

Funnily enough, I have a Halfling Artful Dodger Daggermaster in a Revenge of the Giants campaign and I had the same question you did about a month ago when we leveled. I replaced Dazing w/Stunning as well. I think my other 2 were Low Slash and Snap Shot and since they were both minor actions I didn't want to lose them. Snap Shot paired w/the dagger I have that can once a day teleport an enemy to me is too nice a combo to lose just yet Dazing is awesome, but Stunning someone, you basically victimize them. I can't think of too many monsters that I have gotten a successful Stunning Strike off on that lasted long enough to get another action. Heck, if I pile on attacks that round, I probably at least bloody them heh

Really sad that game has gotten put on hold till May. Stupid grad school. Ahh well, our DM's schooling is more important, as it should be.

 

[keterys]

I'd trade Dazing to Stunning, too - you just learn to twist the knife at the end of the attack, so now it stuns

 

[Sagiro]

One additional thing I should mention: our party doesn't really have a controller. Our wizard is fire-blaster, and there's no defender, either. We've got four strikers, a war-wizard, and a shaman. As such, the ability for strikers to put disabling conditions on enemies is at more of a premium than it would be in most parties.

I haven't been keeping strict track, but if I had to guess, I think I use Dazing Strike more often than the other two powers mentioned. I love Low Slash, but I typically keep it in reserve in case I miss with a main attack (since piling on Sneak Attack damage every round is so important.) But I'm also very accurate with CA, and in many combats I simply don't miss with CA, and so Low Slash goes unused.

Still, I'm leaning in the same direction (toward losing Dazing Strike) as the consensus of this thread. I can always swap out something else at Level 14 if it's clear I've made a mistake.

 

[Jack99]

If Low Slash is going unused, you are playing too conservatively. Use it earlier. It's damage should at roughly equal SA damage, so would be kinda silly to waste it.


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[Pickles JG]

My rogue sounds a lot like yours including the Low Slash "reroll". I upgraded Dazing to Stunning strike but I think I will retraijn to lose Low Slash as being "too good", not controlling (all of my dailies also have status effects) & not used effeectively by me.

 

[Abraxas]

Here's another vote for losing dazing for stunning - it's what my brutal scoundrel/daggermaster rogue did. Plus in the paragon levels we started to run into creatures that did something when bloodied. I would stun them, follow that up with low slash, and then spend an action point to get an attack that also got S.A. damage because of the slaying action feat. This could, and often did, bloody targets without them getting off those nasty "when first bloodied X happens" powers.

 

[SSquirrel]

but I think I will retraijn to lose Low Slash as being "too good", not controlling (all of my dailies also have status effects) & not used effeectively by me.

How is slow not a controlling status effect? If you have Expert Sneak, that gains you CA as well. I can understand holding it as a backup, but if I have a turn where I have 2 enemies right next to me, I can split up a Low Slash onto one and possibly status effect both in one round. Or if it's someone we need to take down quick, go nova on him, standard attack of some sort, low slash, burn an AP and hit him with something else as well.

My Daggermaster will do things like Knockout, Bloodbath, Critical Opportunity, Low Slash, and kill or severely bloody most anything we face. Oh yeah, that Bloodbath will be an autocrat and w/Two Weapon Opening, any crit I get will generate a free offhand attack. My DM has told me that he has to include an Elite in every combat (often times w/a template added to boost his health) just to make sure he has someone who won't fall in a single round to me. I love my Halfling :")