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Message: <blockquote data-quote="guybrush" data-source="post: 4381973" data-attributes="member: 71800">That would be the case if someone were building a Paladin who was going to mainly or exclusively used ranged weapons. But this feat allows you to use all your melee weapon attack powers with ranged weapons, so what's to stop anyone from taking it so that, when the enemy tries to run, they can just switch to ranged weapons?Well, I'm all for supporting character concepts. If you see your Paladin or Cleric as firing arrows empowered with holy might, that's pretty cool - but if that's the concept, why does the character also need to be able to swing her broadsword with holy might as well? Is it just a Paladin who, on top of all the other stuff she does, uses a bow? If the feat allowed you to pick one at-will power with a ranged weapon that'd fulfil that goal.When I worry about balance I never really worry about competitiveness, but one of the strengths of the new edition is making sure everyone has cool stuff they can do that no-one else can. Being really good at attacking at range is pretty much reserved for Wizards, Warlocks and Rangers. If Paladins and Clerics can smite foes from 10 squares away with more damage than a Wizard or Warlock - and they probably will, when they get their hands on a magic bow - and take the fight right up to the monster's face, then it's not that the Paladin player has "won", but it does rather make being a Ranger redundant. (Remember, only half of a Ranger's possible powers are only usable at melee or only usable at range.)More than that, though, the trouble is one for your DM in how to challenge your character. Classes are - except maybe the Ranger - usually focussed on attacking at range or close up. This is great for DMs since it means you can easily challenge combatants by including ranged and melee enemies. But if you can take punishment, dish it out in close combat, and fire back at enemies with ranged attacks, well...that makes my life as a DM a bit tough. It's maybe too broad a skill set for one character, and much more powerful than multiclassing into Ranger, because it turns every melee weapon power into two powers, one melee and one ranged.If you still don't think this power is kickarse, think about marks. Currently the only way to get rid of a Paladin's mark (behind powers that shed marks) is to run away from him so he can't attack you and keep the mark active, since you can't reactivate it the next turn if you don't attack the creature. But if you can mark a creature on the other side of the battlefield, and keep it marked by using ranged attacks - and which, thanks to this feat, make use of the mark to cause additional damage or affect (like all the Paladin At-Will powers do) - then it will take -2 to all its attacks (since, unless it also has a ranged attack, it can't attack you) and will have to either not attack anyone or take damage from the mark as well. The Divine Challenge is a Minor Action too, so you can mark your foe up to 5 squares away, move your speed further away, and then shoot him, keeping the mark going and gaining benefits from the mark.  Now, here's the thing: you might think this is awesome. Maybe the other players in your group are cool with you being able to do this. Perhaps half the reason you want to do this is to differentiate yourself from the Fighter in your party who is a melee specialist. Or hey, maybe you don't intend to do this, you just want to whip out your bow when the flying undead thing tries to get away and shoot it with Bahamut's arrow - and now I've typed that sentence, who wouldn't want to do that? It's an awesome concept.  But for my money, it's running counter to the concept of a Paladin, especially in the class's role as a defender. A Paladin's job is to run into danger and protect others from it. That necessitates getting up close with enemies and taking their attention. A ranged Paladin is more of a striker, and while I don't dislike the concept, I think to really make it work alongside the existing classes we're looking at a whole new - and really interesting - class: a Divine Striker.Don't mistake me - if this idea works for you, and just as importantly it works for your DM, go ahead and use it. When I say it's kickarse, I mean it though - the one real weakness of a Paladin is that he has to get up close and smack you to unleash his god's wrath, but if he can also do that from the other side of the dungeon while wearing his armour and hanging on to his massive hit points, I don't see how he's risking much for the glory of his god.</blockquote>

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