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Message: <blockquote data-quote="keterys" data-source="post: 4358538" data-attributes="member: 43019">Encounter 1 ReasoningCleaning things up so I can add encounter 3s and have room for future additions. In terms of grades, these cover a wider spread of effect than the At-Wills seemed to, and there seem to be less that feel "Wow, that's crazy". It is interesting how close the top at-wills (Righteous Brand, Twin Strike, Scorching Burst, Thunderwave) are to many of these encounter abilities.*CLERIC*C / Cause FearA- / Divine GlowB / Healing StrikeB / Wrathful ThunderMy rough order/appraisal:Divine Glow is a decent close blast that hits enemies only and can give multiple allies a bonus to attack.Healing Strike does decent damage, marks, and has a decent heal.Wrathful Thunder does low damage, but adds daze which is a very solid status.Cause Fear is a bit too specialized and it's too easy to just move back. It can trigger some nice OAs, but I think it's the worst of the lot.*FIGHTER*C+ / Covering AttackC / Passing AttackC- / Spinning SweepC+ / Steel Serpent StrikeSteel Serpent Strike and Covering Attack both do decent damage and have pretty reasonable secondary effects, but they're nothing special. Passing Attack can be quite good, but I dropped it a little because if you miss on the first attack you don't get to shift or make a secondary attack. Its second attack also must be on a different target.Spinning Sweep does low damage and knocks prone. It seems just worse than Steel Serpent Strike except in some very specific combat advantage granting circumstances.*PALADIN*B- / Fearsome SmiteB+ / Piercing SmiteB / Radiant SmiteC / Shielding SmiteAll powers deal 2W base damage which is pretty much my assumed baseline for a level 1 encounter power. Shielding Smite is a Cha attack that gives someone Wis to AC, and frankly I think Cha attacks that require a good Wis to be meaningful lose a point due to poor stat synergy. Also I think AC to one ally is not that impressive. Fearsome Smite, as a Cha attack that gives a Wis penalty to attacks seems a far better implementation in many cases. Piercing Smite targets Reflex which is nice, and marks a lot of enemies, so seems even better. I'm assuming that dealing radiant damage is an advantage given the amount of vulnerability to radiant, synergy with other items and powers, and things like preventing regeneration on some undead - add on a solid Wis kicker for damage.*RANGER*B+ / Dire Wolverine StrikeB+ / Evasive StrikeB+ / Fox's CunningA- / Two-Fanged StrikeFox's Cunning is just low damage and low effect - while I concede the Ranger could potentially get away with using Twin Strike and having some encounter powers for really specialized or reactive things, it just seems poor. Dire Wolverine Strike is a close burst 1 that hits enemies only. Great for minion killing and such. Evasive Strike on a Wis built Ranger is a very impressive amount of shift before or after the attack. Two-Fanged Strike is potentially the top damage power for encounter 1s.*ROGUE*B / Dazing StrikeB / King's CastleA- / Positioning StrikeB- / Tortuous StrikeTortuous Strike is quite respectable damage, but I actually consider it the clunker of the rogue options at this level. Dazing Strike is basically the same as Thundering Wrath - it sacrifices a bit of damage to daze, which is a great effect. King's Castle targets Reflex which is nice and allows you to swap places with an adjacent ally. I'd say it's worse than Piercing Smite, to make a cross-class comparison though. I think Positioning Strike is the clear winner at this level - while it deals slightly less damage, it targets Will and can slide an enemy a huge distance.*WARLOCK*A- / Diabolic GraspB / Dreadful WordC+ / Vampiric EmbraceA- / WitchfireAll the powers do roughly the same damage. Dreadful Word and Vampiric Embrace are only ranged 5, which is a detriment. After that, it's mostly comparing special effects. Vampiric Embrace gives a moderate amount of temporary hp - at level 1 it's actually a pretty large amount, but it doesn't stack with dark one's blessing and it doesn't really help your team. And it targets Fortitude, with necrotic damage. Diabolic Grasp slides a large number of squares, which I consider very powerful. Witchfire gives a huge penalty to attacks. Dreadful Word I wanted to score lower, but it does give a large penalty to Will defense so can potentially set up some other serious power.*WARLORD*C+ / Guarding AttackA- / Hammer and AnvilB- / Leaf on the WindA / Warlord's FavorGuarding Attack is slightly better than Shielding Smite, because it doesn't have the Cha/Wis problem - it'll be a big bonus to AC. It is restricted to just attacks by the target, but it still struck me as better. Leaf on the Wind is okay damage and lets you potentially do a nice setup move. Hammer and Anvil targets Reflex and can potentially be the top damage power of the encounter 1s if you're in a good setup with an ally. Top notch stuff. Warlord's Favor does solid damage and gives a huge bonus to attacks. Given an ally can then action point, burn dailies or good encounters, it's probably one of the best power plays of the encounter 1s.*WIZARD*C+ / Burning HandsB+ / Chill StrikeB+ / Force OrbA- / Icy TerrainC- / Ray of EnfeeblementA- / Grasping ShadowsRay of Enfeeblement really isn't all that much damage for a single target effect and weaken is cool, but not exactly impressive when used on a monster (instead of a PC), so I consider it the clunker of the bunch. Burning Hands is a solid area and there are definite uses for close powers, but it's not exceptional. Chill Strike is basically just like Dazing Strike and Thundering Wrath, but more damage. Quite solid. Force Orb is decent single target damage and/or a area burst 1 that hits enemies only, and it's very long range. I would rate it higher if you got the secondary attacks even if you missed the primary, but you'll see a lot of people just hit the ground with it. Icy Terrain is an area burst which is always appreciated and it knocks prone and creates an area of difficult terrain. It's not an amazing power, but it's still one of the best options at this level. I think Grasping Shadows is slightly stronger in terms of the Effect of its Zone, but they both have their uses.</blockquote>

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