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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 4506781" data-attributes="member: 61155">From level 1-30, monster's Defenses will rise by 29 points. A PCs attack will rise by 25 points from default bonuses.  Other possible bonuses: Paragon Paths (Kensai, Battlefield Archer, etc)Epic Destinies (Demigod)Conditional Bonuses from Feats (Nimble Blade, Hellfire Blood, Student of the Sword, Back to the Wall, Elven Precision, Precise Hunter, Moradin's Resolve, Action Surge, etc)Conditional Bonuses from items (Berserker Weapons, Helm of the Eagle, Headband of Intellect, Totemic Belt, Opal Ring of Remembrance, etc)Greater ability to acquire Combat Advantage (through Stealth, items, powers, etc)More bonuses from Powers, both on ones own, and through allies, especially Leaders - and many Powers that reduce the enemy's Defenses as well. More access to Weapon powers that target Non-AC Defenses.  Now, I don't think all of these translate fully into a +5 bonus for every character. But I'd say it is probably worth +2 to +3 to hit, in total. By level 30, every character is going to have a number of tricks to help them hit, and they will be constantly seeing buffs thrown around that give sizable bonuses to hit.  In addition to the various bonuses they are gaining via all this, they are also much more potent - more status effects, more multi-target attacks, and just more Encounter and Daily Powers overall. The level 1 character has 2 At Wills, 1 Encounter and 1 Daily Power. By level 10, he has 2 At Wills, 3 Encounter, 3 Daily and 3 Utility Powers. By level 20, he has 2 At Wills, 4 Encounter, 4 Daily, and 5 Utility Powers. By level 30, he has gained Epic Destiny features that can throw these guidelines out the window - in addition to now being able to crit more often, triggering all manner of special effects, and use more powers from magic items that are - by level 30 - very, very effective.  So I'd say that difference counts as another +2... in some ways, I think, the math was balanced around the high-level play, and then they gave some extra bonuses to low-level play to make up for the lack of options - an average high-level character is designed to generally hit half the time, while a first level character will hit more often (to make up for being much more reliant on At Will Powers.) From what I can tell, the math isn't quite perfect (and that's even with making the assumptions I made earlier, which are admittedly somewhat arbitrary.) I'd say there is a +1 missing in their somewhere, putting level 30 characters ever so slightly behind - especially since they aren't likely to face average level 30 monsters, but instead Ancient Dragons and the like, whose Defenses will be above average. On the other hand, having that small extra step of difficulty in the end-game isn't entirely unreasonable - but I suspect those who have played their characters from levels 1 to 30, and have grown skilled at using them as effectively as possible, will be up to the challenge.</blockquote>

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