This guy has Heroes of the Feywild.

[Larrin]

Powers are fully and freely swapable for all classes, abilities are not as they have no precise counterpart given that you could swap them for. There are a couple of swap type feats that let you trade specific abilities for specific abilties for a few classes.

 

[Neverfate]

I think someone already confirmed that these class builds cannot swap class features with their parent class - it comes as a package deal.

There seem to be feats that allow you to swap features. It's a feat cost, yeah, but it's nice the option is there. We didn't get those with the other Essentials books and had to wait for a Dragon articles 7 or 8 months later to allow us to swap things (and even then some of the choices were odd).

Also it makes me really sad Heroes of Shadow wasn't this awesome. Can we get a mulligan on that? Cant' wait to get this book.

 

[Istar]

So this two handed weapon feat.

Is it +1 damage per tier, or more ?

And stacks with Goliath Great Weapon prowess ??

 

[WalterKovacs]

On the new class features:

The O-bard can take a feat to swap majestic word for Skald's aura, old druids can spend a feat to swap a daily power for a use of summon nature's ally, while a new druid can spend a feat to get wild shape and can trade a use of summon nature's ally for a daily power. The witch adds a new cantrip to the mage's list of options. For the barbarian it's picking either set of features, no swapping.

However, all the powers are reverse compatible (although some power may not be useful without some creative usage. A barbarian would need to get access to some other defender's aura to benefit from some of his powers, the O-bard would need some basic attack and/or the skald aura to make use of most of their powers.

Paragon Paths:

There are only 4 in the book, each exclusive to the 4 new builds in the book. They are presented seperately from the class, after all the classes, so less like an essential book.

Fey gifts:

Most are similar to the Scent of Gold, a kind of minor ritual that you can cast for free. The one that could have the most obvious actual use is the ability to turn a nonhostile tiny natural beast into a mount until your next extended rest. But none are particularly combat useful.

The two handed weapon feat is a traditional expertise bonus to hit and +1 untyped damage per tier when charging.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

[MENTION=1601]Skald[/MENTION]:

if it is possible to make a strength primary bard, dexterity/charisma second, I am sold!

 

[Zaran]

Is there a feat where a sentinel can get wild shape?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Wow, that arid land berserker gets a +3 untyped bonus to AC...
IMHO that is too much... together with unarmored agility and hafted defense and mabe a defensive weapon, you really get some high AC...

I really believed that it was common now to give out shield bonuses in such cases...

 

[Doctor Proctor]

Wow, that arid land berserker gets a +3 untyped bonus to AC...
IMHO that is too much... together with unarmored agility and hafted defense and mabe a defensive weapon, you really get some high AC...

I really believed that it was common now to give out shield bonuses in such cases...

Yeah, I noticed that too. I think that they didn't make it a shield bonus so as not to prohibit the player from using a shield. But even still...

I almost wonder if what they should have done instead was give them Unarmored Agility for free, along with a +1 bonus to AC. This would at least keep them from combining it with Unarmored Agility, which is the big offender here.

To get a Defensive Weapon or Hafted Defense is going to cost you a feat for a +1 bump, whereas Unarmored Agility gives you a +2 bump for the same feat cost, which means it's going to be the one that's taken most fequently. Give them that for free, along with the extra +1 somehow, and you make it much more expensive to get that extra +2 (since now it requires two feats, instead of one).

 

[Vael]

Yeah, I noticed that too. I think that they didn't make it a shield bonus so as not to prohibit the player from using a shield. But even still...

I almost wonder if what they should have done instead was give them Unarmored Agility for free, along with a +1 bonus to AC. This would at least keep them from combining it with Unarmored Agility, which is the big offender here.

Actually, they could have made it a shield bonus, as arid builds cannot use a shield, or any armor heavier than cloth and retain the +3 AC bonus.

Your fix is reasonable, but the Arid build is giving up a fair amount of other bonuses to get that AC.

 

[Larrin]

@Skald :

if it is possible to make a strength primary bard, dexterity/charisma second, I am sold!

The Skald depends almost completely on basic attacks....very little dependence on CHA or even secondaries, you could easily go strength as you primary stat.