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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RLBURNSIDE" data-source="post: 5352098" data-attributes="member: 94650">Essentials v Non-EssentialsDon't forget encounter powers. I think probably by Epic (we aren't there yet, I'm just imagining), if typical combats last as long as they do now, we'll see at-wills being used only once or twice per combat, given how many encounter powers there are. Those are resources that can and should be used as often and early as possible in the most advantageous way every battle.If essentials PCs sacrifice burst damage for sustained DPR, one side-effect is that hit-or-miss dailies, being gone, no longer lower your overall damage significantly when you miss. We are notorious Daily-missers in our group. That's why I like stance powers and such. But that brings me to another point. Let's say I play a ranger, and am considering playing a Scout. By epic, I'll be giving up non-chalant collapse, possibly Hurricane of Blades if I have access to it, and Ultimate Confrontation. This whole time, when a battle is really tough, I can boost it with Snarling Wolf Stance. The benefit of being able to nova cannot be understated. If an enemy has 1hp left because you are an Essentials guy, and is dead because you are a non-essentials guy, your choice whether to sleep at the end of this encounter is taken away from you. At some point there is a hard limit.Sure, if you want a marathon work day, Essentials characters probably come out ahead, and I like chess game mechanics in 4e since I love minis (and chess, too to some extent). Anyway, we'll see what the rest of the classes have to offer. But I don't see most Essentials classes being able to compare with a Twin Striking Ranger with Ultimate Confrontation and a bunch of minor action powers, action points, extra standard actions, etc...just don't see how. Burst damage is fun. Sustained DPR, not so much. I mean, there is a balance between the two, but we have yet to see the Scout and other options in the next Essentials book. I guess a mix of Essentials and non-essentials character could work.I personally hate the daily mechanic, and would much rather a bit less bursty but hit-or-miss (especially if I activate a daily stance like SWS and only get one or two attacks off because the creature is attacking my allies who are marking it and teasing it away from me, etc). With at-will stances, it becomes that much more important for the party to synergize well with your tactics.Healing surges rule! I hated that mechanic at first, but I realize it solved a lot of pre-4e problems and now it makes me not want to play 3.5 as much. All players should be engaged, as much as possible. When you run out of surges, it's time to rest (or run!). But players are often blasé about death in this edition, and yes, combats last a long time. I like'em personally. A balance issue with surges now that we have a large party is our rogue is ALWAYS running out of surges, always getting into the most trouble, always at the front line, and then after 2-3 encounters when he goes into combat bloodied with 1 surge left and wonders why he goes down all the time, while the rest of the party still has 1/2 their surges left. Gonna ask my DM if he an grant him an auto-retrain to Durable so the party isn't left  needing to take an extended rest without having used anywhere near all their dailies.</blockquote>

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