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You nailed it. And your real game examples are perfectly appropriate. I'm finding it to be exactly the same way. The whole expertise scare is a good example of theoretical problems that don't exist in actual play. Expertise is a nice useful feat for those sub-optimal builds but hardly...

I know I can't. Rower!

I think this pretty much sums it up. I don't think there are any classes that really gain a strong attack relative to their at-will powers by taking this feat. It's more and less useful depending on the class, but it's hardly game breaking. Sure didn't break the sword mage to be able to do it...

For completeness sake, let's make an 18 stat one as well: C: 55% * 11 = normally 6.05, but goes to 7.15 with 65%. Net gain: 1.1 But what does one have to give up to get that 18 or 20? Not much for an 18. If your race gives you bonuses to both your primary stat and your seconday, you can get...

And for the Shaman as a druid on Athas, you can reskin the spirit companion to be a manifestation of what a Dark Sun druid channels for power. Another option might be to make a cleric and multiclass into shaman. That'd probably get you closer to a 3e druid.

And the ability to get concealment by moving. Against most attacks that's like +2 to all the defenses. Sorcerer's have a big weakness in the form of bad AC without spending a lot of feats on it. Add in that the dragon magic is full of close blast abilities and suddenly you're in the thick of...

I sort of agree. Though I must admit that even though I know the math, I may take a feat to go from a d10 damage to a d12 even though it nets me less than a +1 to hit. Rolling those twelvesiders is fun. Another good example is going from the maul to the modernkrad (which gives you brutal 1)...

I thought so too until I took a look at the mathematical difference between a superior weapon and the equivalent non-superior weapon of the same type. Battleaxe vs. War axe: You get a d12 damage die. So that's an extra point of damage per [w] on average. Flail vs Triple headed flail: You...

Another thing to consider when assessing this feat is where you spend most of your playing time. Heroic tier? Paragon? Epic? If you're the type of group that runs full campaigns and will go through all 30 levels, then Expertise is a very different feat than those who will likely only run a...

This is how I handle it in one of the games I'm running right now. The 3 players are all hard core 3.xers who love system mastery and want to try out as many options and whatnot as possible (they enjoy crunch). So they each have a character that they RP with and then can add a character of the...

This is the best solution to the boring but effective feats vs interesting feats conundrum. If I find that actual play proves it to be a problem, I'll likely adopt a similar solution.

You're quite correct, because average damage is the result of the percentage hit rate multiplied by the average damage roll result. Increasing the bonus to hit has a larger net effect on the average damage overall in almost all cases (perhaps all cases?). If someone wants to maximize their...

What I'm about to say only applies to levels 1-14. When expertise hits the +2 bonus and level 15, it's in a whole new ball park compared to other feats. Perhaps a good comparison is what you get to hit by spending a feat on a superior weapon proficiency. Generally speaking, you're going to...

I think it's fair and balanced until level 15. The scaling is a bit much. It's certainly a top tier feat, even at heroic tier. If my priorities are to be more effective in combat, it'll be taken some time during the 6 (7 if human) feats available in the heroic tier. The next time a group I'm...

I'm one of the minority here who doesn't see the need for a patch to the math and believes that the game currently works fine and situational modifiers to hit can fully compensate for the scaling difference between monsters defenses and PC to-hit bonuses. Absolutely. And when their priorities...

I like 1 (both a and b)-- they're essentially the same as putting the attack roll up or the target number down produces pretty much the same result. I'm of the opinion though that expertise is fine as it is as it allows players/groups to choose whether or not they're finding hitting to be too...

They are a strange lot, those avengers. Unlike a lot of other strikers, their class feature damage bonus is very conditional. At first I thought they weren't high damage dealers, but after reading the first few levels of power, I think they're on par with other strikers-- but once again, with...

My favorite thing about expertise is that it's here. I opened my PHB2 and there it was. Nice and published in a core rulebook. I'm already used to designing encounters for parties with very high variance in both the to-hit bonus and level of optimization. Even if the least optimized...

When I lived on the coast, all my books did this and straightened out over the next few months.

I plan on doing the same thing. I added myself to the preorder at a local store and will get it when it comes in, but enjoy the PDF in the mean time.