D&D 4E 4e, Non-Martial Characters, and Limited Feat Choices

[theNater]

Case in point: Tiefling Ranger vs Elf Ranger.

The Tiefling is actually 4 points down from the Elf by playing an off-class. Elf gets +2 to 2 core stats, Tiefling gets +2 to 2 dump stats. Works out the same as an Elf Barbarian in 3e, but the +2 dex arguably helps a Barb slightly more than int or cha helps a ranger...

For starters, let's do some 3rd edition Barbarian comparisons. Dwarf vs. Elf is, as you mention, not too awful. But let's try Half-orc vs. Halfling. The Halfling is(relative to the Half-orc) at a -1 on all attack rolls and a -3(or more) on all damage rolls.(Size bonus helps with attacks, but between small sized weapons and 1.5x str if they go for two-handers, the Halfing's going to feel it). Note that the reduced damage gets multiplied on crits.

Now let's look a 4th edition Rangers. I have yet to aquire my books, so I have to make some guesses here. With the exact same build, including pre-racial boost ability scores, the Tiefling is at -1 on all attack rolls, and -1 on all damage rolls. The reduced damage is not multiplied on crits or other damage multipliers, but is a constant -1 across the board, even on 3[W] powers. The Tiefling also has less wis than the Elf, but from what I've seen, it doesn't look like that will be a major effect at any point. Even if it does come into play, it's a -1 at worst.

That's identical (archery) Rangers. Try making the Tiefling a two-weapon Ranger. His str is still not as good as an archery Ranger Elf's dex, but he's now on the front lines where he can make good use of his Infernal Wrath racial power. With the new build choice, dex is less valuable for him, as he won't have many(if any) powers that key off of it, so he can dump dex and use his int for AC and Reflex bonuses. On the wis vs. cha, it depends whether the bonuses Rangers get for high wis are more or less valuable to him than the damage bonus Infernal Wrath gains from cha. I figure with this build a Tiefling Ranger could be favorably matched against an Elven two-weapon Ranger, and could give an Elven archery Ranger a run for his money.

If anyone has a similar secondary build idea for the 3rd edition Halfling Barbarian, I'd like to hear it. Can you turn him into a Barbarian archer or something that can compete with the Half-orc axe-wielder?

 

[Zurai]

What you're missing is that -1 on attack rolls is HUGE. There are very, very few things that add to attack rolls (and no way to enhance stats except for the racial bonuses and leveling up). For a character to be permanently, irrevocably at -1 to hit is a major penalty.

The only feats I can recall off the top of my head that add to attack, rather than damage, are Action Surge (Human only, +3 to hit on a power you used an Action Point to initiate) and Precise Hunter (Ranger only, +1 to hit for allies but not self after you land a ranged critical hit).

Also, it's -1 damage per attack. Rangers especially deal in multiple attacks per action. Almost all Ranger powers that are designed as damage-dealing (rather than status-inflicting or movement-oriented) give you multiple attacks.