Explain to me why are these feats good?

[Lord Sessadore]

There are only a few ways to get extra damage in 4E via feats so you should take advantage of them.

... if you want the extra damage. As people have noted, the extra damage isn't all that much, really. Which is good, in a way, because that makes it less essential to take such feats - you're free to take Skill Training or whatever else less combat-oriented feat you want. I like it - gives you a tangible (if small) bonus if you take the feat, but it's not great enough to make it a must have. That goes for just about any of the feats.

 

[OSD]

Don't dismiss HBO out of hand too quickly. Someone can go with the HBO, Polearm's Gamble route with the various "push" powers a fighter can have for a glaive fighter. Or a defensive Tide of Iron warrior that keeps the enemy away from the softies, this is super effective against skirmishers that tries to go around a fighter to reach a softer target. Let's not forget that epic level, you can regain encounter powers by hitting a crit at 19-20 via your weapon of choice + Epic Resurgence. That one encounter power might be a really useful one that can turn a fight around really easily.

 

[Klaus]

it would only be 5 points of damage. Other bonuses to damage don't apply, per the rc.

But still, as other's have pointed out, if you hit about half the time, then that's about as good as a feat that adds +5 to damage.

But you do have to use a scimitar, of course. A warhammer gives +1 damage per [w], while the scimitar's high crit is only a flat +0.5 or so (pre-mastery). So on a many [w] attack, a hammer would still be better (and you'd save a feat.)

you could compare to getting +1 to hit with a longsword, too. The same idea will apply: For high-damage attacks, the longsword will be better.

But of course, rangers don't get a lot of high-damage attacks. As a result, scimitar dance is quite nice. Go drizz't!

"rc"?

 

[Dooks Dizzo]

A warlord with HBO and Commanders Strike could be pretty cool or at least funny!

 

[Alraiis]

... if you want the extra damage. As people have noted, the extra damage isn't all that much, really. Which is good, in a way, because that makes it less essential to take such feats - you're free to take Skill Training or whatever else less combat-oriented feat you want. I like it - gives you a tangible (if small) bonus if you take the feat, but it's not great enough to make it a must have. That goes for just about any of the feats.

The extra damage isn't all that much, but if all five members of a party are taking two or three feats that increase their damage by ~2 per round each, you're looking at 20-30 extra damage a round for the group, which is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[RigaMortus2]

HBO is great for people who do not have high Str scores, and use other ability scores to power their At-Wills. For example, if you are playing a Protecting Paladin, chances are your Charisma is higher than your Strength, and you've taken At-Wills that utilize Cha as the main attack attribute. Also, you are often going to target defenses other than AC, which are often lower than AC. Also, most At-Wills have some sort of added benefit to them.

Standard OA
Uses Str mod
Targets AC

At-Will OA via HBO
May use another ability mod other than Str
May target a defense other than AC, which are often lower
At-Will powers often have other "effects" assigned to them as well, other than damage

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As for Scimitar Dance. It's there for when you miss. Whats better, dealing 0 damage on a miss or dealing "some" damage on a miss?

 

[Gloombunny]

Don't dismiss HBO out of hand too quickly. Someone can go with the HBO, Polearm's Gamble route with the various "push" powers a fighter can have for a glaive fighter.

Only one at-will pushes the target, and you can't use it with a polearm.

Or a defensive Tide of Iron warrior that keeps the enemy away from the softies, this is super effective against skirmishers that tries to go around a fighter to reach a softer target.

If you're a fighter, your OAs already halt the target's movement. Being able to halt it and then push it back a square can be handy, but it's not that big of a boost.

Let's not forget that epic level, you can regain encounter powers by hitting a crit at 19-20 via your weapon of choice + Epic Resurgence. That one encounter power might be a really useful one that can turn a fight around really easily.

Er... does this have anything to do with Heavy Blade Opportunity?

 

[Brian Gibbons]

As for Scimitar Dance. It's there for when you miss. Whats better, dealing 0 damage on a miss or dealing "some" damage on a miss?

Scimitar Dance is a decent feat for a two-weapon ranger, but it's a great feat for an archer ranger, since their melee weapons will have less of an enhancement bonus, and their Dex will be higher.

When the archer has to fall back on melee attacks, Scimitar Dance lets him do a guaranteed 10 hps of damage a round, thanks to his 21 Dex and Twin Strike. (If his GM won't let him automatically fail the attack roll, he can always close his eyes for the -5 attack penalty, since he wants to miss for 10 damage instead of hit for 2d8.)

 

[tiornys]

(If his GM won't let him automatically fail the attack roll, he can always close his eyes for the -5 attack penalty, since he wants to miss for 10 damage instead of hit for 2d8.)

Nah, he wants to make the enemy his quarry so hitting at least once is still more exciting than missing twice (3d8 > 5). Besides, he only needs a +1 scimitar to make the non-quarry hits average better than 5 damage. Voluntarily missing seems like a losing proposition.

t~

 

[zoroaster100]

I assume RC means Rules Compendium?