Grading Encounter Attack Powers

[keterys]

Encounter 17 Analysis

*CLERIC*
B- / Blinding Light
A- / Enthrall
C / Sentinel Strike
B / Thunderous Word

Blinding Light Weapon attack vs Fort and blind is still a great condition.
Enthrall is a very large area of enemies only that immobilizes and prevents attacks against the caster. Damage is quite respectable and it's against Will.
Sentinel Strike decent damage, but its special is unlikely to be terribly useful.
Thunderous Word Good area of enemy only with a large push and your allies can shift 1. Interesting to compare to the level 13 Wizard Thunderlance.

*FIGHTER*
C- / Exacting Strike
B+ / Exorcism of Steel
C / Harrying Assault
C / Mountain Breaking Blow
B / Vorpal Tornado
B- / Warrior's Challenge

Exacting Strike Fairly reliable damage, but not that much and no riders make it fail to compare well to many powers at this tier.
Exorcism of Steel Unfortunately a very hit or miss power. In some circumstances, it's just a low damage attack vs Ref so just scraping by, but in certain fights it's completely decisive. Against some solos, it's practically a fight ender.
Harrying Assault Two attacks are always better than one, though the move is unlikely to be more than a couple squares and it provokes. It's a bit sad to compare this to the level 3 Ranger Cut and Run, which is very similar but two weapons, more versatile and a shift.
Mountain Breaking Blow Solid damage and push, plus shift after.
Vorpal Tornado Very similar to Cheetah's Rake (Ranger 17) - low damage close burst, but knocking prone is helpful especially combined with the push that can force an enemy to either lose its turn or crawl a square to attack.
Warrior's Challenge I'm probably overrating the usefulness of marking all enemies within 2 squares of the target, but it's on top of an acceptable effect (a bit worse than Mountain Breaking Blow) so it seems a decent option.

*PALADIN*
C / Enervating Smite
C / Fortifying Smite
A / Hand of the Gods
B- / Terrifying Smite

Enervating Smite weapon attack vs Will, but damage is fairly low and weaken 1 round is only okay.
Fortifying Smite Decent damage, nice bonus but unfortunately MAD.
Hand of the Gods Small enemies only burst. Damage is solid and radiant and it marks all enemies. Added kicker is that all allies in the area gain +Wis to attacks. Oh, and do note that it's been errata-ed to standard action.
Terrifying Smite Slightly worse rating if the paladin can't manage to have good Charisma and Strength, but that's potentially a big push and the special power can often effectively immobilize.

*RANGER*
A- / Arrow of Vengeance
B / Cheetah's Rake
B+ / Triple Shot
C / Two-Weapon Eviscerate

Arrow of Vengeance Basically guaranteed to come up in any fight, this lets you frontload damage faster by using an immediate for extra damage. The attack is also almost guaranteed to hit given you can add Wis to the attack roll. This plus Twin Strike should result in higher damage than Triple Shot, but they are close enough that I'm slightly bothered with the grading.
Cheetah's Rake Small enemy only burst for low damage, but immobilize and knock prone sets up other attacks and, assuming the Ranger moves at least one away, really makes many creatures lose their turn.
Triple Shot Versatile firing options, can really pile the damage onto target. Very good power.
Two-Weapon Eviscerate Barely better than the level 1 Two Fanged Strike (less versatile and for demigods at higher level possibly worse than TFS). Still better damage potential than many options from other classes due to the power of multiple attacks.

*ROGUE*
C+ / Dragon Tail Strike
B / Hounding Strike
C+ / Stab and Grab

Dragon Tail Strike vs Fort. Basically a heavily upgraded Riposte Strike that can be done at ranged. Given you can make the interrupt attack ranged and at a significant bonus to hit, it's also good for area attack prevention.
Hounding Strike vs Will, solid damage, gives combat advantage for a followup sneak attack, and a massive defense bonus for artful dodgers.
Stab and Grab vs Reflex, decent damage. Not sure how often a grab is useful here, but it has some interesting synergy with garrote at least.

*WARLOCK*
A / Strand of Fate
C+ / Thirsting Tendrils
C- / Warlock's Bargain

Strand of Fate Sets up immense damage powerplays.
Thirsting Tendrils Attacks which heal are always welcome, and a double Int kickback might be sizable though Star Pact is potentially a little MAD.
Warlock's Bargain Very good damage, especially if you lead in with a hellish rebuke first, but the range is quite short and the damage taken is sizable.

*WARLORD*
B+ / Battle On
A- / Hail of Steel
A- / Thunderous Fury
B- / Warlord's Rush

Battle On Potentially a lot of saves given and with Cha added, they're almost guaranteed. Very nice at this level since effects increasingly bear saves.
Hail of Steel Potentially severe amount of damage.
Thunderous Fury Good damage, and daze + Int to hit for all allies is a serious powerplay.
Warlord's Rush A ton of allowed movement. Very nice, even if poor compared to all of the other Warlord options at this level.

*WIZARD*
B- / Combust
A / Crushing Titan's Fist
B+ / Force Folley
A / Ice Tomb

Combust Solid damage, good range, okay area.
Crushing Titan's Fist Solid damage, good range, okay area... and a ton of control. Serious lockdown on its area. The target at the center of the area has to move _10_ just to get through 2 squares to exit so that's effectively a stun even if used single target on many melee monsters. On a miss.
Force Volley Low damage, but very versatile targetting or a nice bonus to attack if you need to hit one target, and daze is a good effect.
Ice Tomb Stuns, good damage, good range - its line of effect disadvantage keep it out of A+ territory.

 

[Marshall]

A number of times you list a power as "the same as x lower level power" or "worse than x lower level power of y class" and then grade that power as a C or better.
Isnt being worse than a lower level power the definition of a D/F power? Especially if its in the same class?

 

[keterys]

Not if the power it's based on was exceedingly good. The power curve is not that huge. I also am trying to not, say, have all fighter powers be D or F

For example, Two-Weapon Eviscerate (C) and Two Fanged Strike (A-) are surprisingly comparable, but it's (TFS or TWE) still better than your 'generic 3W' that the fighter ones seem balanced around.

Which may indicate I should bump those powers even further down, true.

 

[Victim]

Sentinel has good damage and it's pretty easy to make the special worthwhile. Assumption: enemies subject to Divine Challenge or Combat Challenge will usually attack the person challenging them. So let the fighter or pally tag someone, then hit that enemy with Sentinel. If they attack the fighter, it does 0 damage (but still might impose some bad status). If they don't attack the defender, then the penalty attack or damage (or both) kicks in.

You forgot Vorpal Tornado and Warrior's Challenge as level 17 fighter attacks.

Ice Tomb, as single target attack that prevents allies from attacking, seems like one of the weaker wizard 17s. It seems worse than the rogue 13 stun power. And compared to the other wizard powers? Crushing Titan's Fist immobilizes a group of enemies on a hit, or pratically does the same thing on a miss by making it cost at least 5 to move a square. And Force Volley provides some selectivity, is good against a single guy and dazes.

 

[keterys]

Sentinel has good damage and it's pretty easy to make the special worthwhile. Assumption: enemies subject to Divine Challenge or Combat Challenge will usually attack the person challenging them. So let the fighter or pally tag someone, then hit that enemy with Sentinel. If they attack the fighter, it does 0 damage (but still might impose some bad status). If they don't attack the defender, then the penalty attack or damage (or both) kicks in.

So I put it on par with Harrying Assault (deals ~50% more damage) and Mountain Breaking Blow (push 3 and follow, potentially forcing into harmful terrain and otherwise hindering/protecting).

You forgot Vorpal Tornado and Warrior's Challenge as level 17 fighter attacks.

Huh, they're on the spreadsheet, but so I did. Shame, since those are the good fighter powers for that level!

Ice Tomb, as single target attack that prevents allies from attacking, seems like one of the weaker wizard 17s. It seems worse than the rogue 13 stun power.

Range 20 instead of melee and about four times the damage. But, yes, that's why it's not an A+. The attack limitation is not a severe one in a lot of fights - worst case you just lose one turn's worth of action from the wizard and everyone else readies.

Encounter stun powers are pretty much the upper bar of all encounter powers. There's a sizable forum population who actually don't think any of them are balanced citing battles against folks like the Tarrasque and Orcus in which said solos never act at all, but eh.

Crushing Titan's Fist immobilizes a group of enemies on a hit, or pratically does the same thing on a miss by making it cost at least 5 to move a square.

It's much less of a problem (on miss) unless you're in the center, since you can just step out of the edge with no problems. I do think I'll upgrade it, however, cause I didn't factor in using it to completely screw with someone in the center square who has to move 10 just to leave the area, even on a miss.

And Force Volley provides some selectivity, is good against a single guy and dazes.

I like both of these powers a ton and personally I don't favor stun powers and have a big place in my heart for more versatile powers (like Force Volley) - I'm not sure anyone would have blinked if Force Volley were slightly better and it seems a natural extension of of the path started with Icy Rays.

 

[ilmoin]

Ice Tomb isn't quite that bad if you work to take advantage of it. Because of the way conditions with "end of turn" work, all the Wizard has to do is delay and then immediately use his turn. Because detrimental effects only last to the end of your original turn, the ice will thaw off and you can blast away.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Necroing for adding Martial Power Options.