Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 4387134" data-attributes="member: 996">Yep, that's the way it is:&nbsp; a Brutal Scoundrel is generally better at OAs, charging, and other melee basic attacks than is an Artful Dodger.&nbsp; Same goes for Avenging vs Defending paladins, TWF vs Archer Rangers and War vs Devoted Clerics.&nbsp; OTOH, the Artful Dodger is better at Bluff, Diplomacy, and even Intimidate, likely has a better Will defense, and so forth.&nbsp; They also qualify for different feats.&nbsp; For that matter, I'd go so far as to say that Sly Flourish is better than Riposte Strike.&nbsp; The 'Dodger gets a lot of cool stuff, including a name that makes some sense and is a Dickens reference, the Brutal Scoundrel gets to make decent basic attacks.&nbsp; Which stats you put good scores in have more consequnces than just how well your class abilities work for you.&nbsp; Insulating one class from those consequences would mess with balance among the classes (or, in this case, builds).The Artful Dodger who wants to work well with a warlord can invest some in STR, but he can also just get by on Dagger Proficiency (+3), Combat Advantage (flanking with the Warlord, say, for +2), and any bonuses the Warlord gives along with the free basic attack.&nbsp; For his part, the Warlord can give the 'Dodger the occassional Standard Action, instead, either through some higher level exploits or via a Helm of Heroes (check it out, awesome for the Warlord who likes giving his allies extra actions).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 4387134, member: 996"] Yep, that's the way it is: a Brutal Scoundrel is generally better at OAs, charging, and other melee basic attacks than is an Artful Dodger. Same goes for Avenging vs Defending paladins, TWF vs Archer Rangers and War vs Devoted Clerics. OTOH, the Artful Dodger is better at Bluff, Diplomacy, and even Intimidate, likely has a better Will defense, and so forth. They also qualify for different feats. For that matter, I'd go so far as to say that Sly Flourish is better than Riposte Strike. The 'Dodger gets a lot of cool stuff, including a name that makes some sense and is a Dickens reference, the Brutal Scoundrel gets to make decent basic attacks. Which stats you put good scores in have more consequnces than just how well your class abilities work for you. Insulating one class from those consequences would mess with balance among the classes (or, in this case, builds). The Artful Dodger who wants to work well with a warlord can invest some in STR, but he can also just get by on Dagger Proficiency (+3), Combat Advantage (flanking with the Warlord, say, for +2), and any bonuses the Warlord gives along with the free basic attack. For his part, the Warlord can give the 'Dodger the occassional Standard Action, instead, either through some higher level exploits or via a Helm of Heroes (check it out, awesome for the Warlord who likes giving his allies extra actions). [/QUOTE]

Verification