Flail, Holy Symbol, Ki Focus, Totem expertise - what should they do?

[RangerWickett]

So the other expertise feats give bonus to attack and another ability:

[sblock]Axe - Terrible. Makes axes 'brutal 1-ish.'

Bludgeon - Push or slide farther.

Bow - Bonus damage if target is alone.

Crossbow - Ignore cover.

Heavy Blade - Bonus to dodge OAs.

Light Blade - Bonus damage with CA.

Master at Arms - Quickdraw.

Orb - Push, pull, or slide farther.

Rod - Bonus to defense.

Sling - No OAs.

Spear - Bonus damage on charge.

Staff Expertise - Reach, no OAs.[/sblock]


What could flail do that's distinctive? Holy symbols? Ki Foci? Totems? Any ideas?

 

[Aegeri]

Get released so that classes that want them actually have a viable option.

It's baffling to me that two of these don't exist yet. Especially flail expertise, which is actually desired by a class in the book.

Edit: Also add to your above list,

Ki-Focus expertise: Applies to weapons and implement attacks, adds +1/+2/+3 damage per tier against bloodied enemies.

Holy Symbol expertise: Whenever you attack with an implement power (IIRC) that uses the holy symbol you don't concede CA until the beginning of your next turn (So no flanking and such. I think if you concede CA due to running or similar you will still give it though).

Edit2: I think you may have missed the publication (recently at that) of two of these :O

 

[WalterKovacs]

Flail's seem to be tied to sliding people around ... so maybe just add it to hammers and maces as part of bludgeon expertise?

The Holy Symbol is correct (you only grant combat advantage if you use a power or ability that states you grant combat advantage).

Totem ... maybe some sort of elemental resistance? Maybe get forestwalk? [ignore difficult terrain due to dense forest, bushes, etc]

Tome ... no idea what they would do for that.

The OP missed wand on his list, which is the same as the crossbow.

 

[Azlith]

So the other expertise feats give bonus to attack and another ability:

Axe - Terrible. Makes axes 'brutal 1-ish.'
Heavy Blade - Bonus to dodge OAs.

Actually Axe is better than Heavy Blade. You can re-roll ANY 1 damage die, including a crit die or extra damage die. Personally, I prefer to not provoke OA's, so the +2 AC is only rarely useful.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Flail Not so sure about this one. Getting around shields has been done before but is really weak. Making it a mace/hammer would be an easy fix. But does not sit well with me.

Holy Symbol The CA thing is pretty weak, overall. How about an enemy that attacks the wielder is dealt one radiant damage (per tier) once in a round.

Ki Focus I like the +1 dmg per tier to bloodied creatures in HoS. Seems to fit assassins and vampires well. Not sure if it fits monks so well, but not badly.

Totem Primal seems to me to be a loner power source, so maybe "Can shift one square (per tier) as a free action if no creatures are adjacent."

 

[WalterKovacs]

Holy Symbol The CA thing is pretty weak, overall. How about an enemy that attacks the wielder is dealt one radiant damage (per tier) once in a round.

It is, but unfortunately, it's the actual feat (in HoS).

 

[brehobit]

For flail, how about "immobilize target on a critical until the start of your next turn or until you are no longer adjacent to the target"? Seems pretty reasonable (tangle them up)? Not what flails traditionally do, but not unreasonable for a critical-only power.

 

[mneme]

Holy Symbol The CA thing is pretty weak, overall. How about an enemy that attacks the wielder is dealt one radiant damage (per tier) once in a round.

While the CA thing is mediocre (although it seems likely to keep leaders alive when dealing with rogue-like monsters, and prevent quite a bit of damage from those critters), I'm glad, in retrospect, that they didn't go with the above.

Vampires can wield Holy Symbols. So with the above, vampires who chose to use Holy Symbols...would sparkle.

 

[Incenjucar]

Or perhaps a hand holding a flail is considered a free hand for the purposes of grab attacks.

 

[RangerWickett]

Or perhaps a hand holding a flail is considered a free hand for the purposes of grab attacks.

I like this. Especially if you let it be used for the grab attack, so it can add its proficiency bonus/enhancement bonus/etc. Since otherwise, grabbing at high levels gets pretty hard.