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This month's Dungeon magazine had updated versions of classic monsters in all its adventures. It's all low level, but very juicy stuff, including kobolds, gnolls and skeletons, among other common creatures. I have made a compilation of the changes in my blog.

The problem is that Heroes of the Fallen Lands (HotFL?) brings two wizard powers with the same damage and area as Scorching Burst, plus either slow or slide 1, making it as good as obsolete. The fire damage type is nice, but doesn't justify taking it over the stronger versions. Not really -...

More or less... there's the odd brute minion with old style stats. What's more interesting is the fact that there are many reprinted monsters that get a stat update. This seems to be the case with all Dungeon adventures since the beginning of this month, and there are a quite a bunch of classic...

I don't think that's such a big issue, but you could use Flawless Disguise to make your leather-bound, kukri-wielding assassin look like an iron-clad brute with a big stick. It's such a silly idea, it could just work. Re: Unseen Spearhead, I think there is a major factor that hasn't been taken...

Wow! I was afraid that thieves would end up a bit weak next to slayers, but that extra damage certainly evens things out. Superior Will is confirmed as a feat bonus, so it's extremely likely that all of them are typed, too. Besides, Great Fortitude, Iron Will and Lightning Reflexes are...

I think Superior Weapon Proficiency is a failure due to the lack of actual options for superior weapons. If there were something like two options for each slot (two superior one-handed swords, two superior bows, and so on), and both of them were of a similar power level but still somehow...

I agree that Expertise needs to get the axe... the others, I'm not so sure. Weapon Focus may be a must for damage-focused characters, but doesn't cause any balance problem, and I think it's nice to have a straightforward option for boosting damage. What I'd like to see is more alternatives to...

It's not that difficult to work out with the new values, but I've written down some easy to remember formulas for average monster damage. I find them rather useful: - Low (Area): 6 + 0.75*Level - Medium: 8 + Level - High (Brute/Limited): 10 +1.25*Level - Very High (Limited): 12+1.5*Level...

This won't work with the 'good' axes, but once you are proficient with heavy blades, you could use a Khopesh...

My guess is that these implements grant the +1 to attack vs one defense (Will) AND a +2 bonus to damage with a certain energy type (psychic and necrotic, respectively). So they can be really strong (that's about twice the benefit of a superior weapon, at best), but only if you follow very strict...

I wasn't really looking at it from a social perspective. The thing is, if you use damage output as a criteria to choose your PP, Pit Fighter and a few other paths are so far above the competition that there isn't much point in taking anything else. They are so good that many people choose to...

Well, the way I see it, there is a very small minority of Paragon Paths (maybe a dozen or so) with insane damage-boosting features, which are more or less balanced among themselves but are head and shoulders above the rest. Pit Fighter belongs to this group, as do Daggermaster, Stormwarden and...

The skill math in general is a bit of a mess. Unlike combat math, which they almost nailed, skill bonuses and DCs are all over the place, and you can end up with rolls that are automatic for one character and impossible for others. I would have preferred a more predictable progression (roughly 1...

I recently discussed the subject of resistances from a more generic point of view, but the solutions I proposed could also apply here. My house rule consists on limiting resistances (of any kind) so that they can never prevent more than half the damage dealt by the original attack. This way...

Regarding the omnipresent Iron Armbands of Power/Bracers of Archery, I had been toying with the idea of adding an equivalent effect to all magic bracers. To smooth things over, we could make it a +1 item bonus to all damage per 5 levels (i.e. +1 from 1 to 5, +2 from 6 to 10, and so on). This...

I would make a small correction to your version of the feat: while I agree that it's better to limit the proficiencies to martial weapons, I would have the damage bonus work with superior weapons, too (both for dwarves and eladrin). The goliath feat is fine, as their ability bonuses already make...

An interesting option would be to fill the setting with different, roaming tribes of savage humans in place of common humanoid monsters - so that you can use a variety of monster stats from the Monster Manual. Orcs would be a natural fit for your average barbaric tribe, whereas Hobgoblins would...

I'm arriving a bit late at the thread, but there's lots of interesting stuff to reply to, so I'll quote generously. Beware the wall of text... To make this (barely) coherent, I've ordered conversations by topic rather than chronologically: first the warlock's low damage, then the Starlock's...

Skill Challenges! How much did they change in the updated rules? Does the math finally make any sense?

I don't think it's worth the effort for dailies, as many of them have effects regardless of hitting, and you already have reliable powers. For encounter powers, though, it's very intriguing. I'd go with a recharge of 6 or more for encounter powers - not a guaranteed recharge, but likely enough...