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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 5088642" data-attributes="member: 6562">Character Optimization in 4e is nothing like it was in 3e. Like Draco says, it's no longer a single-player "I win" button.This is for two reasons:1/ The smallest unit of battle in 3e (and earlier) was the PC. You could plan your dude in isolation, and you lived or died mostly on your own merits. In 4e, the smallest unit of battle is the party. You live and die based on party synergy, not on the strength of your PC's build in isolation.2/ The optimization ceiling is a lot lower in 4e. In 3e, a spellcaster could literally win fights by himself. Initiative was huge, because a save-or-die battle could be over in the surprise round. 4e eliminated this in several ways, but the important upshot is that you can no longer build a dude who can win every fight by himself (this is only mostly true, as loopholes do still exist).However, in trade for the lower optimization ceiling, the game seems to have a higher optimization floor. In the previous edition, you could have a sucky casting stat, but make up for it by casting spells which didn't allow a saving throw, like party buffs or battlefield control. Sure, you'd also have fewer spells per day, but you could make up for that with the Scribe Scroll feat and some cash.4e doesn't allow that kind of trade-off. Everything is an attack: it's a nice unified mechanic, and it makes the DM's job a lot easier, but it means your PC can't avoid making attacks -- if you can't buff your allies without also hitting, you can't compensate for being bad at hitting by buffing your allies.So: you no longer have the "freedom" to break the game, but you also no longer have the "freedom" to suck at your chosen class.- - -In contrast, because of these changes, optimization is no longer a spotlight-hog's tactic. I can -- and do -- play a Cleric who is as ZOMG TEH BORKENZ as he can be, but only in so far as he pushes the rest of the party's expected damage through the roof.In past editions, the "optimal" tactic was usually to buff yourself and then out-fighter the Fighter -- in 4e, the "optimal" tactic is teamwork: help the party focus fire, keep them healed so they don't waste actions healing themselves, and attract OAs from foes whom your allies have marked.- - -Finally, there are some great characters who don't have an 18 (post-racial) in their primary attack stat. They are the exception to the rule -- and they are the minority -- but they do exist. The 16/16/16 Dwarf Fighter is a good example.Cheers, -- N</blockquote>

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