Grading Encounter Attack Powers

[Gladius Legis]

Paladin:

Thunder Smite is at least a B. Possibly a B+. That 19-20 crit range at level 7 is simply too good to ignore with an enchanted weapon of any sort in hand. And knocking prone is awesome because it sets up combat advantage and makes the enemy waste a turn. Also in Paragon Tier you can take the Solid Sound feat and get a free +2 untyped bonus to Fortitude, Reflex or Will for a turn.

 

[keterys]

One thing that I think you need to keep in mind is that any cleric who takes Break the Spirit or any other wisdom based power isn't going have to worry about Wis/Cha MAD.

While the cleric could invest deeply in both Wis and Cha, bumping them both at every time, etc allowing them to keep up with the non-MAD options... that means they're up to 4 defense behind their team mates.

So whether they're paying in terms of lower stat or paying in terms of lower defense, that's still a way in which the power is less effective (or a balancing mechanism on the power).

 

[keterys]

Paladin:

Thunder Smite is at least a B. Possibly a B+. That 19-20 crit range at level 7 is simply too good to ignore with an enchanted weapon of any sort in hand. And knocking prone is awesome because it sets up combat advantage and makes the enemy waste a turn. Also in Paragon Tier you can take the Solid Sound feat and get a free +2 untyped bonus to Fortitude, Reflex or Will for a turn.

You could get Solid Sound, certainly... but you could also run into thunder resistance. The doubled crit range adds less than 1 point of average damage - I actually had handwaved it as adding 10% more damage which apparently was slightly high.

At 12th,
2d10 + 5 (Str) + 3 (Enh) + 2 (Feat) = 21 avg.
With 60% hit, 19-20 crit: 14.55 avg
With 60% hit, 20 crit: 13.575 avg
At paragon tier it's the same gap.

 

[Goumindong]

You could get Solid Sound, certainly... but you could also run into thunder resistance

You could get Solid Sound, but that seems only like a good idea for wizards or other classes which are going to have a thunder/lightning option every single round. +2 to one defense 1/encounter when you use a single limited use power just doesn't seem worth it to me over something that actually made you better.

 

[keterys]

Hopefully they'll resolve the stupid weapon inheritance thing before someone claims solid sound is awesome for tanks since it lets you have +2 defense every round you attack with a thundering weapon (or whatever)

 

[Gladius Legis]

You could get Solid Sound, certainly... but you could also run into thunder resistance. The doubled crit range adds less than 1 point of average damage - I actually had handwaved it as adding 10% more damage which apparently was slightly high.

At 12th,
2d10 + 5 (Str) + 3 (Enh) + 2 (Feat) = 21 avg.
With 60% hit, 19-20 crit: 14.55 avg
With 60% hit, 20 crit: 13.575 avg
At paragon tier it's the same gap.

People have agonized over less of a DPR gap. And doubling a crit chance has its other benefits as well besides just adding extra damage per round, depending on weapon or feats.

 

[keterys]

I'm not saying that it's not an increase. It's just like having a power that targets Fortitude, for instance. It all gets added in.

 

[NorthSaber]

Hopefully they'll resolve the stupid weapon inheritance thing before someone claims solid sound is awesome for tanks since it lets you have +2 defense every round you attack with a thundering weapon (or whatever)

Well actually feats like Lightning Reflexes etc already provide the +2 feat bonus to the defense in question, and Solid Sound doesn't stack with those... I find it about balanced that you either get +2 to defense X all the time, or +2 to defense X, Y, OR Z, and only for a round after you hit with a specific weapon/attack.

Actually, I'd probably choose the static defense bonus, as it also applies when you can't make attacks (like when you're being blasted from afar, or during a surprise round).

The keyword inheritance is probably intended like this, IMO.

 

[NorthSaber]

(double post, sorry)

 

[keterys]

I think the Wand debate proves there are kinks in weapon inheritance to work out. Whether it's balanced or not in this particular instance