They likely choose that power either because it was powerful or not samey. So by using the foundation of what people actually played with you actually are already sifting to most of the less samey and/or powerful powers. Not surprisingly most of your list is still extradionarily samey for you to have done that.
And as mentioned the scale you are using makes fireball samey to a sword swing. The in game effect doesn't matter to you. The damage doesn't matter to you. The number of targets doesn't matter to you. How it's done doesn't matter to you. Therefore a sword swing is literally the same as fireball.
Yes. And there ought to be a sufficient level of differentiation to make most things that would be samey be different. This is accomplished in 5e in dramatic ways between the barbarian/rogue/fighter classes.
Um... no.
In 4e a Barbarian swings exactly the same way as a fighter. In 4e a rogue swings in the same way as a fighter
In 4e that differentiation rested the shoulders of push 2 or pull 2 or grant +2 to attack, etc. In 5e that differentiation is Rage/Reckless,
Attacking with rage is a literal +2 bonus to the damage roll. In other words a tiny bonus to the attack. Reckless is a bit bigger - but it doesn't do one single thing to change the possible range of outcomes. This is not just the stuff you would complain about as samey if it was presented as a power, but samier than most at will attack powers.
Push 2 does more to change the way the fight looks than rage does even when you have a boring DM who doesn't include much scenery to interact with. And
Rage is a
Daily power
. At first level a 4e barbarian doesn't just rage, they get to decide how they rage. Whether it's getting a free attack whenever they take an enemy down, gaining temporary hit points when they hit an enemy as they psych themselves up, or whatever. Meanwhile all 5e rages are the same and literally do what you complain that 4e at wills do.
If you're wondering the 4e version of Reckless Attack is Devastating Strike - a Barbarian at will that does an extra 1d8 damage per tier but gives the enemy +2 to attack rolls against you unless you are raging. As is so often the case the concept is there in 4e but 5e threw some spackle on it.
Action Surge/Lots of Attacks,
W00t. You mean literal "We do the same as everyone else but more."
Sneak Attack/Cunning Action.
Sneak Attack appeared in 3e and 4e.
5e's differentiation in how characters play round over round is to a much greater degree than 4e's formulaic differentiation.
Literally the reverse of this is true. Without the movement on the abilities characters walk up to the enemies and play patty-cake until one of them falls. Some roll a few more
In 4e the difference between a fighter and a barbarian is not just the powers (which are different) but the fact that all fighters have the equivalent of the Sentinel feat and always mark their targets. This is far more than "we do the same but more often". It is "we engage the enemies and lock them down".
In 4e all rogues get Sneak Attack (an ability that was introduced in 3.0). The difference is Cunning Action which allows Dash, Disengage, or Hide. Disengage is "shift 1" in 4e terms - something a lot of 4e powers had but most did not. Both Dash and Hide are covered by movement - and both dash and hide are therefore covered literally by the at will I listed, allowing you to move before attacking.
Even with the examples you listed 5e's tiny amount of differentiation is covered within the scope of the 4e class features and at wills. Which leaves 5e combat classes as the equivalent of airline food after the plethora of options of 4e.
Now find me the 5e rogue able to blind enemies. At level 1.
Further the 5e sneak attack was watered down as against the 3.5 and 4e versions (at least until the thief with Tactical Trick). In 3.5 and 4e alike the rogues have to put in a little work to get Sneak Attack to work, so they are moving and looking for an advantage which may or may not last. In 5e because sneak attack triggers against anyone next to an ally of the rogue the rogue can (like everyone else) waddle up to the enemies and play patty-cake until they fall just as long as they are beside someone. The combat situation does not change from round to round in the same way.
Now you are zooming out to far. Just like anything you want to call samey I could zoom in so far on that there's nothing samey about it.
I'm zooming out to the point where the explicit differences you have mentioned are all samey.
I think there are different degrees of differentiation that affects perceptions on sameyness. 5e has a much higher degree of differentiation.
No it doesn't. Cunning Action is covered by at will abilities. 5e fighters do not come with something that goes way beyond the Sentinel feat. 5e Rage is
literally the definition of what you say makes 4e powers samey. The examples you give are objectively smaller than 4e differences even when you stick to at will abilities.
The reason you think 5e classes are more different is because they present medium sized differences covered in neon paint. 4e presents big differences and shows you the structure rather than covering it up. And in almost every case where 5e has a difference that doesn't involve spells it was in 4e.
