Bracers of Mighty Striking

[Danceofmasks]

Better that it isn't an OA anyhow .. then you can OA as well.
I'm trying to figure out how to generate OAs ... readied actions in response to a charge is an obvious one .. and if your foe is dazed or prone, you can pretty much guarantee a charge attempt.

Would be amusing to ready a charge in response to a charge .. since they've locked in their trajectory, and you charged to be a little off to the side ... it's double-whack time.

 

[Mirtek]

At the moment the selection of bracers for a high level 2h weapon character is behing the utility of the selection of shields. I think that Martial Power or Tome of Treasures will add more bracers

 

[eamon]

Depending on what at-wills you have this may not apply, of course. Twin Strike is always better than a basic attack at +2 damage, for instance.

well....
if you're a simple ranger with two-weapon fighting, (and, say two-weapon defense, which isn't relevant here)

Then both twin strike and a basic attack have the same to-hit.
Twin strike effectively deals 2[W] +1(twf)+2*enh, whereas a melee basic attack with those gauntlets would deal 1[W]+str+3 +enh.

Even with just a 16 strength an enhancement-bonus less weapon would be competitive with twin strike (criticals make an exact comparison a little tricky), and if you had 18 or 20 strength, a melee basic attack would be plainly better!

OK, that's not a very likely situation, but these are low-level items, it could occur.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Not the same to hit - you get 2 attack rolls.
Odds of dealing damage = much higher, as well as odds of dealing quarry damage.

 

[eamon]

Not the same to hit - you get 2 attack rolls.
Odds of dealing damage = much higher, as well as odds of dealing quarry damage.

Quarry damage is indeed an issue. To-hit is not: you get the same to hit, just two chances to hit it. On average this means you'll miss less frequently, but you'll fully hit less frequently as well. In other words, your damage variance will be lower, but your average damage not higher.

But after accounting for quarry damage and critical damage, a melee basic attack is only going to be better in extreme (and thus rare) circumstances - most importantly being that you have such a pair of gauntlets in the first place, and chose to take two weapon fighting before bastard sword proficiency, and have a high strength (preferably 20).

Anyways, once you have a few magic bastard swords, this won't ever occur again.