Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Herores of the Fallen Lands - Are Slayers underpowered?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 5494682" data-attributes="member: 61155"><p>Well, I don't know what to tell you, other than that my experience differs from yours. My first 4E character was a melee rogue - who usually was too reckless and got beat up, but rarely actually spent time unconscious, just went through surges rather quickly. And did a <em>lot </em>of damage. </p><p> </p><p>I later played a ranged rogue in LFR, up to level... 7 or 8, I believe. And would consistently be able to set up combat advantage almost every single round of every combat. And that was before Martial Power 2 or other resources that support such a build. </p><p> </p><p>This assumption that a rogue going into melee is nearly guaranteed to end up unconscious... I don't see it. Sure, they will get beat up, if they don't pick their battles wisely. But even ranged characters aren't always safe - enemies that a defender isn't engaging can go after them. If a defender is holding the line, though, that can provide safety for melee characters as well. </p><p> </p><p>Melee characters certainly are more vulnerable than ranged characters, but I don't think it is quite as extreme a difference as you feel. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>I didn't so much ignore them as find them built on false - or at least, incomplete - assumptions. Scenario A wasn't "Both the Rogue and Thief have Combat Advantage" but was instead "The Thief is specifically able to charge into Combat Advantage". It didn't acknowledge what happens if the reason they have CA is because they are already in melee flanking an enemy. Or in melee and able to get to a flank via a shift - both situations that would prevent your build's assumption of the charge, and one of them preventing the use of Acrobat's Trick. </p><p> </p><p>Similarly, Scenario B was what happens when neither have Combat Advantage - in which case the Thief uses Tactical Trick to get his CA. Except that also ignores many factors - such as the most common way to be deprived of CA, which is to be dazed by an enemy, which shuts the Thief down just as well as the Rogue. Or the other likely scenario - not having anyone you are able to flank with, which might mean no allies adjacent to enemies, and thus no Tactical Trick. Or even just being based by an enemy with no allies nearby - even if you have enemies on the other side of the field that Tactical Trick will work against, the Thief would need to suck up an OA to get there. </p><p> </p><p>Yes, there are scenarios where a Thief will have an advantage. But there are many others where they will not. And I think it is largely impossible to measure the difference here, since that will likely change wildly from one game to the next. </p><p> </p><p>In my experience, the rogue very rarely has trouble getting CA. The Thief even less so, though he still gets shut down by the most common difficulty, Daze. The advantage of the Thief is mainly in being able to get CA at range without needing to really focus on doing so - in short, the versatility this provides that allows him to go melee or ranged as the situation demands. </p><p> </p><p>This <em>is </em>a legitimate benefit. But the Rogue has his own benefits, in the form of Encounter and Daily powers, and arguably specific benefits from his At-Wills. And how useful such benefits are, just like how often Thief Tricks will be important, is hard to quantify, because there really is no cold hard answer. </p><p> </p><p>But in terms of the raw numbers? That's what we can look at. And a Rogue does similar damage compared to a Thief. And both of them compare similarly to non-strikers. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Well, that's not my experience with Rogues. I admit, the rogues I've played did not get Sneak Attack damage as often as your guy - probably to the extent of one or two attacks without it per session. But almost all of the situations that caused such things were due to conditions like Daze or enemy positioning that would be just as much a problem for a Thief. </p><p> </p><p>Rogues having Combat Advantage every round is in no way <em>unheard of</em>. Honestly, it's the default assumption of the game, and almost every rogue I've seen played has CA the vast majority of the time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MrMyth, post: 5494682, member: 61155"] Well, I don't know what to tell you, other than that my experience differs from yours. My first 4E character was a melee rogue - who usually was too reckless and got beat up, but rarely actually spent time unconscious, just went through surges rather quickly. And did a [I]lot [/I]of damage. I later played a ranged rogue in LFR, up to level... 7 or 8, I believe. And would consistently be able to set up combat advantage almost every single round of every combat. And that was before Martial Power 2 or other resources that support such a build. This assumption that a rogue going into melee is nearly guaranteed to end up unconscious... I don't see it. Sure, they will get beat up, if they don't pick their battles wisely. But even ranged characters aren't always safe - enemies that a defender isn't engaging can go after them. If a defender is holding the line, though, that can provide safety for melee characters as well. Melee characters certainly are more vulnerable than ranged characters, but I don't think it is quite as extreme a difference as you feel. I didn't so much ignore them as find them built on false - or at least, incomplete - assumptions. Scenario A wasn't "Both the Rogue and Thief have Combat Advantage" but was instead "The Thief is specifically able to charge into Combat Advantage". It didn't acknowledge what happens if the reason they have CA is because they are already in melee flanking an enemy. Or in melee and able to get to a flank via a shift - both situations that would prevent your build's assumption of the charge, and one of them preventing the use of Acrobat's Trick. Similarly, Scenario B was what happens when neither have Combat Advantage - in which case the Thief uses Tactical Trick to get his CA. Except that also ignores many factors - such as the most common way to be deprived of CA, which is to be dazed by an enemy, which shuts the Thief down just as well as the Rogue. Or the other likely scenario - not having anyone you are able to flank with, which might mean no allies adjacent to enemies, and thus no Tactical Trick. Or even just being based by an enemy with no allies nearby - even if you have enemies on the other side of the field that Tactical Trick will work against, the Thief would need to suck up an OA to get there. Yes, there are scenarios where a Thief will have an advantage. But there are many others where they will not. And I think it is largely impossible to measure the difference here, since that will likely change wildly from one game to the next. In my experience, the rogue very rarely has trouble getting CA. The Thief even less so, though he still gets shut down by the most common difficulty, Daze. The advantage of the Thief is mainly in being able to get CA at range without needing to really focus on doing so - in short, the versatility this provides that allows him to go melee or ranged as the situation demands. This [I]is [/I]a legitimate benefit. But the Rogue has his own benefits, in the form of Encounter and Daily powers, and arguably specific benefits from his At-Wills. And how useful such benefits are, just like how often Thief Tricks will be important, is hard to quantify, because there really is no cold hard answer. But in terms of the raw numbers? That's what we can look at. And a Rogue does similar damage compared to a Thief. And both of them compare similarly to non-strikers. Well, that's not my experience with Rogues. I admit, the rogues I've played did not get Sneak Attack damage as often as your guy - probably to the extent of one or two attacks without it per session. But almost all of the situations that caused such things were due to conditions like Daze or enemy positioning that would be just as much a problem for a Thief. Rogues having Combat Advantage every round is in no way [I]unheard of[/I]. Honestly, it's the default assumption of the game, and almost every rogue I've seen played has CA the vast majority of the time. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Herores of the Fallen Lands - Are Slayers underpowered?
Top