Fighter At-Will: No Quarter

[comrade raoul]

The basic idea is that I'd like to design an at-will for fighters that (a) is more damaging than other attacks, but (b) gives them a big defense penalty. That way, they could use the power both as a risky but high-payoff attack (or to finish off weak, low-AC, or otherwise vulnerable enemies) or to give their opponents even more incentive to swing at them, rather than their allies. But I'm not sure whether the secondary attack is the way to do this, or, if it is, how accurate and damaging it ought to be. Should it just be, say, 1[W] + Strength and some other ability modifier?

Anyway, consider for balance:

No Quarter-- Fighter Attack 1
Your enemy won't forget your relentless assault, but leave yourself so open that you hope he won't have a chance to remember it, either.
At-Will <> Martial, Weapon
Standard Action -- Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage. Make a secondary attack.
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.

Secondary Target: The same creature.
Secondary Attack: Strength - 2 vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.​

Effect: You take a -5 penalty to your AC and Reflex defense until the beginning of your next turn.

 

[MeMeMeMe]

Pewrsonally I think At Will powers should always be safe to use. The critieria you have: "(a) is more damaging than other attacks, but (b) gives them a big defense penalty" sounds exactly the sort of thing that should be an Encounter or Daily power.

In any case, that -5 AC is a massve penalty, considering that defenders are usually facing greater numbers and/or the most powerful melee opponents.

 

[Doomhawk]

[...] exactly the sort of thing that should be an Encounter or Daily power.

A feat would work too, but otherwise I agree.

 

[lordkiwi]

For an at-will powere you'd want to make the effects more subtle... +4 damage -2 defences or something similar. It does sound better as an Encounter power if you want a more pronounced effect.

As a feat, I'd suggest it could be a Paragon tier follow-on to Power Attack that allows you to turn the Hit penalty into a Defence penalty.

The only problem I can see with having it as an encounter power or feat is it'd be much more useful for a striker than a defender... which defeats the object a little. At-Will powers are harder to get from other classes, so maybe the -2/+4 version I suggested would be the best option.

 

[Khaalis]

This is a striker power not a defender power. I also think that is too powerful for an At-Will power.

The Ranger Paragon Path, Stormwarden, already has this basic effect as a 12th level Encounter Utility power "Throw Caution to the Wind". Even though this is a stance, it offers only -2 Defense for +2 Attack.

Not only are you adding a 'utility' style striker power to a defender's at-will, but the penalty suffered also runs completely contrary to the defender's role. Additionally, no other power has a defined debuff/penalty like this. The system is supposed to support more "You Can" rather than "You Can't", which IMHO is what this power does.

If you are simply seeking a way to increase the Fighter's At-Will damage capacity you could always make a variation of Cleave that effects a single target rather than the secondary damage to a second target (such as 1[W] + twice your Strength modifier damage).

JMHO.

 

[comrade raoul]

That seems right. I'd thought of it as more defender-focused because the penalty is supposed to give your enemies an incentive to attack you, not make you a less appealing target. (Compare it to the rogue's riposte at-will, for example.) But now I'm convinced that it's really more of a striker power.

Let me try again in another post!