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Grading Encounter Attack Powers
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<blockquote data-quote="Fedifensor" data-source="post: 4359220" data-attributes="member: 7289"><p>You use Split the Sky to give the defender time to move up and engage.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Command lets you cover for the absence of a Wizard or Warlord by providing a control effect (daze) and moving the enemy.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It's helpful, but most fighters, paladins, and warlords will have melee weapons in hand, not ranged weapons. Same with two-weapon rangers and battle clerics. I would say that it isn't as useful as you think.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I would lower the rating simply because light blades, spears, and flails are generally subpar weapons for a fighter.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The usefulness depends on how often your party members get bloodied. Since this is an encounter, not a daily, I'd have to give the nod to Righteous Smite (even though it attacks a typically higher defense).</p><p></p><p></p><p>And it increases your damage per round, because it's an interrupt that goes off on someone else's turn. The combination of reducing damage and increasing your damage potential makes it a winner.</p><p></p><p></p><p>A +2 or +3 to AC with no penalties to hit or damage? It's better than you give it credit for. A trickster rogue should have at least a +2 Charisma modifier by 4th level, and the ubiquitous halfling rogue should have a +3. I'd rate it as high as Bait and Switch - you can't always get away from foes, and the next best thing is to raise your AC so they're less likely to hit.</p><p></p><p>A daze effect can be saved against before you get another chance to act. What Setup Strike does is prepare you for the use of a Daily power without having to blow an Action Point to ensure you keep combat advantage.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't consider damage equal to your secondary stat modifier to be "very solid" for an encounter power, though I will agree that it's an amazing minion killer.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Effects, not effect. The +2 power bonus to AC to adjacent allies, and the ability for them to completely ignore push/pull/slide is huge. I would move this up to a B, or even a B+.</p><p></p><p></p><p>A typical wizard will have a +4 or +5 Int bonus to begin with, raising another point during the heroic tier. Giving a -5 or -6 penalty to a group of enemies for a turn can waste a bunch of their actions with whiffs, immobilize can neutralize melee foes, AND this power can be extended with Orb mastery for another full turn. I think you have significantly underrated this power, at least for Orb wizards. It is the king of control for this level.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In relation to Color Spray, it's much worse. Only 2 points more damage on average, only targets two foes instead of an area, the secondary effect is not nearly as good, and the damage type is worse (cold is more resisted, and less prone to getting bonus damage than radiant). It's only advantage is range, which is of minimal use (if you're fighting targets that use ranged attacks, immobilize is worthless). Okay if you have all the cold feats (and you won't Lasting Frost until Paragon tier), otherwise suboptimal.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The overall area covered by Fire Shroud is HUGE, it only affects enemies, and the damage (including the minimum one round of ongoing damage) is better than any of the other powers at this level. It does take a slight hit for targeting Fortitude, but the damage potential makes up for this.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The damage is the same as a level 1 encounter power with the same area (Burning Hands), and only slightly more than your at-will AoE power (Scorching Burst). The area is nice, but the lack of any secondary effect really lowers this power in my eyes.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Maze of Mirrors is competitive with Color Spray. The damage on Color Spray is nice, but keep in mind that while it's decent damage at level 3, you'll have this power all the way to level 17. At level 16, Maze of Mirrors can dish out up to a -7 to hit. It can also be used at a longer range than Color Spray.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fedifensor, post: 4359220, member: 7289"] You use Split the Sky to give the defender time to move up and engage. Command lets you cover for the absence of a Wizard or Warlord by providing a control effect (daze) and moving the enemy. It's helpful, but most fighters, paladins, and warlords will have melee weapons in hand, not ranged weapons. Same with two-weapon rangers and battle clerics. I would say that it isn't as useful as you think. I would lower the rating simply because light blades, spears, and flails are generally subpar weapons for a fighter. The usefulness depends on how often your party members get bloodied. Since this is an encounter, not a daily, I'd have to give the nod to Righteous Smite (even though it attacks a typically higher defense). And it increases your damage per round, because it's an interrupt that goes off on someone else's turn. The combination of reducing damage and increasing your damage potential makes it a winner. A +2 or +3 to AC with no penalties to hit or damage? It's better than you give it credit for. A trickster rogue should have at least a +2 Charisma modifier by 4th level, and the ubiquitous halfling rogue should have a +3. I'd rate it as high as Bait and Switch - you can't always get away from foes, and the next best thing is to raise your AC so they're less likely to hit. A daze effect can be saved against before you get another chance to act. What Setup Strike does is prepare you for the use of a Daily power without having to blow an Action Point to ensure you keep combat advantage. I don't consider damage equal to your secondary stat modifier to be "very solid" for an encounter power, though I will agree that it's an amazing minion killer. Effects, not effect. The +2 power bonus to AC to adjacent allies, and the ability for them to completely ignore push/pull/slide is huge. I would move this up to a B, or even a B+. A typical wizard will have a +4 or +5 Int bonus to begin with, raising another point during the heroic tier. Giving a -5 or -6 penalty to a group of enemies for a turn can waste a bunch of their actions with whiffs, immobilize can neutralize melee foes, AND this power can be extended with Orb mastery for another full turn. I think you have significantly underrated this power, at least for Orb wizards. It is the king of control for this level. In relation to Color Spray, it's much worse. Only 2 points more damage on average, only targets two foes instead of an area, the secondary effect is not nearly as good, and the damage type is worse (cold is more resisted, and less prone to getting bonus damage than radiant). It's only advantage is range, which is of minimal use (if you're fighting targets that use ranged attacks, immobilize is worthless). Okay if you have all the cold feats (and you won't Lasting Frost until Paragon tier), otherwise suboptimal. The overall area covered by Fire Shroud is HUGE, it only affects enemies, and the damage (including the minimum one round of ongoing damage) is better than any of the other powers at this level. It does take a slight hit for targeting Fortitude, but the damage potential makes up for this. The damage is the same as a level 1 encounter power with the same area (Burning Hands), and only slightly more than your at-will AoE power (Scorching Burst). The area is nice, but the lack of any secondary effect really lowers this power in my eyes. Maze of Mirrors is competitive with Color Spray. The damage on Color Spray is nice, but keep in mind that while it's decent damage at level 3, you'll have this power all the way to level 17. At level 16, Maze of Mirrors can dish out up to a -7 to hit. It can also be used at a longer range than Color Spray. [/QUOTE]
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