Do you take powers without a build specific benefit?

[Dice4Hire]

Well, this is a bit confusing as we are really talking four different cases here.

1: Classes like warlock, ranger and paladin that have two separate stats for attack powers plus a few build modifiers,

2: Classes like rogue, barbarian, and avenger that have one stat for attack, but modifiers based on builds

3: Classes like cleric that have two stats, but not build modifiers

4: The fighter that have one stat and only weapon types

Edit: No vote cast.

Lumping them all together makes the discussion difficult.

 

[babinro]

Excellent poll. I'm very surprised to see the results thus far.

While it does ultimately depend on the options, I would say 4 out 5 powers for every 4E character I've ever seen built since release focuses extremely heavily on the build specific benefits. This poll suggests that all my 4E players are well within the minority which is a big surprise to me.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I select powers based on which power is "best" for my character.

 

[Marshall]

I go with BPA. Sometimes the rider pushes a power over the top. Sometimes the rider is useless. They are always the first thing I look for when looking at a new level of powers, but a rider on a bad power still makes a bad power. At other times, there just isnt a rider option available...I think WotC forgot Storm Sorcerer exists.

 

[Kzach]

It entirely depends on the character and what power I feel suits it best. I also go for optimisation and sometimes this means taking the class feature benefit power and other times it doesn't.

In other words, there are way more factors involved in power selection than the ones given above.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Cleric takes mostly Str powers, but has one or two Wis-based (like, say, Bacon, which I pop out when I need to start panic-healing).

The pursuit avenger has mostly Pursuit powers, but not all.

Brad

 

[N0Man]

It's tough to say. I like to pick powers for various characters for different reasons.

For example, the character I'm playing most is a Wizard that I wanted to be weather themed, so I concentrated on the majority of my powers being Lightning, Thunder, and Cold based.

It just so happens that many of my powers also involve knocking enemies down and pushing them around, so there's been a running joke in my gaming group of retraining him into Orb implement expertise and calling myself "The Bowler" (with my orb having 3 finger holes).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Excellent poll. I'm very surprised to see the results thus far.

While it does ultimately depend on the options, I would say 4 out 5 powers for every 4E character I've ever seen built since release focuses extremely heavily on the build specific benefits. This poll suggests that all my 4E players are well within the minority which is a big surprise to me.

I am not sure if it's "excellent" enough.

I am wondering if people, if they look down at the character sheets of characters they actually made and played, what powers they did pick in practice?

One question is the decision process in picking a power.
The other is with what do you end up after with?

But then, these are two different questions and they might yield different answers. Hmm. Maybe another poll, another time?

 

[eamon]

My selection process:

1. Eliminate all the hopeless misfits. This is usually the majority of powers. This means getting rid of powers that are just plain poor (quite a few), excessively situational (not my thing), use a wrong attack stat, depend on an implement/weapon I don't have, or depend crucially on a rider I can't use. Sometimes, this reduces the choice down to 1 or even 0 (i.e., pick another level's power or multiclass).
2. If there's a power that's head and shoulders better than the rest, pick that.
3. Otherwise (most normally), pick whatever seems to fit the character. This is usually a power without a build specific rider, though of course I try to include them. I just don't like em that often.
4. As a general rule, I don't like sustain powers (annoying gameplay overhead, and limits your options on subsequent turns...), and daily utility powers, powers that slow the game down with unnecessary mechanics tracking (specifically if it requires constant attention even after your turn), and do like minor actions, immediate actions, and powers that do more than one thing (as long as you can resolve it now), in particular leader-like or controller like powers that give a tactical edge.

 

[Starfox]

I realize as I read the thread (not merely the poll text) that Build-Specific power here means a power that gets a bonus from your chosen class features. There is actually a whole slew of things this could mean, depending on how you define build.

• A power that gets a bonus from your chosen class features
• A power optimizing the power of your character
• A power fitting your character concept and role