Recent content by Malicea

It can really be as simple as having monsters with a variety of resistances and defences. It's rare for the whole party to attack the same defence or use the same element to attack, so there'll always be certain monsters who are much less worthwhile for certain party members to attack. It's...

Actually, having two primary stats (in different defense categories) is fine. However, one of them should be in the AC group, or the class should come with heavy-armor proficiency. The 18 Str 18 Cha Dragonborn paladin, and 18 Str 18 Wis Longtooth Shifter cleric are fine, as the heavy armor...

You have the wrong version of the Class Act article. The final version in the Dragon release has Grasping Shadows reduced to 1d8 + Int mod damage. Best to go look for it, as a number of other changes were made also.

Exactly this. And for those who are spouting that you take a 'hit' to defenses, that's complete nonsense. Unless you are going up to a point-bought 18, you do not sacrifice any net points of defense at all. Even buying an 18 only sacrifices 1 point in net defenses, for certain classes that can...

While there is no explicit answer that says armor does not automatically upgrade, it is clear that it does not. If it did, it would say it did. You can rationalize upgrading the 'material' of the armor if your crafter enchants a higher level version since there's no cost to it anyway...

His stats are really not that out-of-this-world. A Bugbear rogue could come pretty close to those stats with a 22 point-buy, and a 20 Dex for a rogue isn't at all rare. Rogues really are just that much more accurate than other classes in 4E.

I didn't say a thing about how often it worked in 3.5, just how much more it could. Not every group would optimize to mitigate bad situation streaks with daily resources - where bad situations can arise beyond the players' control through streaks of bad luck (randomness.) In my own group, there...

Except that you're ignoring the fact that 4E is much more reliant on the d20 to resolve everything than 3.5 - and that is where the problem lies. It was possible in 3.5 to stack odds on important attacks to the point where you could almost auto-hit, in a way that is mostly impossible in 4E...

NeoNick's example was an extreme one, but it's relevant still when applied to actually balanced encounters. Against an AC of 18, which is not uncommon among level 3 creatures, +7 hits on an 11 (50%) while +8 hits on a 10 (55%.) The difference in hit rate, and hence damage output, and hence...

It really isn't particularly hard to grasp. You need to keep your attack stat and enhancement bonus up to par at every opportunity. The stat boost system IS set up to allow the advancement of two attack stats if you choose, so classes with two attack stats are only at a minor disadvantage. It's...

Multiclass feats don't qualify you for Epic Destinies, only Paragon Paths.

(b) is false. You can use Adept Power to swap a 29th level power if you want. You can retrain power/feat choices 1/level. At 20th level, 7 powers can come from your second class out of 15. That's almost half. If you discount utility powers, 5 out of 10 powers come from your second class all...

Do you have a page reference for this general rule? I don't seem to be able to find anything that explicitly states the sequence in which damage and effects of an attack that hits have to be resolved.

Actually I find that a variation in the 'structure' of a class reduces the supposed 'sameyness' that some people have complained about 4E. I don't find that lacking a secondary stat is a weakness for the wizard. In fact the opposite: lacking a secondary stat makes a starting 20 for Int much more...

For the 'lock, if he's Infernal and using Hellish Rebuke, it's quite possibly worthwhile for him to intentionally take the OA for using it adjacent. With say a 20 starting Con on a Dwarf, with a minor action Second Wind to help with his damage taken as well, it's a viable tactic. Note that the...