Generic Power Question(s)

[dvvega]

Greetings,

I have just finished creating my first Seeker using the Character Builder and I am a little confused about the output. I understand that it has issues here and there with certain things (I noted it ignored my Primal Eye feat), however my question is one closer to the basics of powers.

I noted that on one of my powers : Guardian Harrier (Melee/Ranged), the CB supplied my attack/damage ratings as being my best ones (Ranged).

My Melee and Ranged attacks differ, especially in the damage modifiers by a fair amount.

So the question is: do you treat all Melee/Ranged powers as your best output like the CB is implying? Or should you be using the correct data for each version of the power - essentially having Guardian Harrier Melee and Guardian Harrier Ranged powers.

And if you use the best of everything can I get a reference citation please.

Thanks In Advance,
D

 

[LuckyAdrastus]

First, to answer your question, you would use different numbers if your melee and ranged attacks have different modifiers.

I intuit from your question that you *might* have made a common mistake. Are you thinking of your melee attack as your "melee basic attack" which uses your Strength (unless you took a feat) and your ranged attack as your "ranged basic attack" which uses Dex (unless you are using a heavy thrown weapon)?

(My apologies if you didn't switch that up.)

Guardian Harrirer is a Wisdom attack, and it uses your Wisdom for both the ranged and the melee version, instead of Strength or Dexterity. The only difference is that the ranged version requires a ranged weapon, and the melee version requires a melee weapon. The damage dice and proficiency bonus may vary if you use two weapons, but you use Wisdom either way to make the attack.

Final note: if you are playing a Str/Wis seeker, you likely use the same weapon for ranged and melee, so you probably have the same modifier. If you are a Dex/Wis seeker, you likely use a bow for ranged attack, and would need to switch to a different weapon to make melee attacks (which could be Str based basic attacks, or Wis-based seeker powers with a melee option, like Guardian Harrier).

 

[Mengu]

You should use the value you know to be correct, and not rely on CB to calculate both versions. For instance if you had equipped heroic Iron Armbands, your melee damage should be 2 higher than your ranged damage, regardless of what CB says.

 

[samursus]

An addendum to Lucky's post:

If you right click on your power card on your character sheet in CB, you can choose which weapon attacks will show up on the card. So if you want the melee and the ranged numbers up there, you will probably have to check off the appropriate box for each. They tend to show up with a default weapon, and sometimes, curiously, Unarmed.

 

[dvvega]

Thanks for the replies.

Using samursus' reply as the probably cause for my issue.

I am using a Hungry Spear (which is a melee weapon masquerading as a Heavy Thrown). So I only have one weapon to select from - can't change the card.

And from the other posts it is clear that the CB is at fault and my own calculations are correct - just needed the confirmation before I finalised my character sheet.

Luckily I created a summary sheet of all the types of attacks that I would be possibly using. What led to my confusion was the disparity between some of the attacks. This screenshot shows my working out for a 12th level Seeker/Swift Strider with WIS22 STR18, Weapon Focus and Expertise, Primal Eye, Spiritbond class option. You can see why I was unsure - the disparity in damage output is not insignificant.

Thanks
D

 

[Mengu]

Your numbers seem correct.

 

[dvvega]

That is what I thought ... the Character Builder just confused me.

Thanks for the help.

D