Horizon Walker... Is this broken?

[DracoSuave]

True, but that's, like, maybe 7 hit points every encounter, and most of those action point abilities give bonuses to the attack that you didn't get with the AP...

...It's basicly like having Knight's Move every other encounter but with some synergies with other abilities you probably don't have. So really, slightly less than having an Encounter power, until you hit Epic.

Then you're getting a bonus you got every other encounter twice as often. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but is it broken?

 

[Votan]

Then you're getting a bonus you got every other encounter twice as often. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but is it broken?

Probably not, good and fun does not make it broken. Besides, I like the flavor of the wanderer and the epic class with that flavor seemed kind of meh!

Even with Warmaster, I am not convinced that it would be grossly out of line with other level 30 powers . . . It certainly seems ok for level 11 . . .

 

[tsuyoshikentsu]

A Warlord|Ranger, Warlord|Fighter, Ranger|Fighter, Bard, or any of the above classes on their own with the Windrise Ports background can get HW, Warmaster, and Quicksilver Stance. Then you add in Shock and Awe....

This is an old trick; it came out on the CO Boards around eight months ago.

 

[Chimerasame]

Apologies if I missed something, but I'm curious--does anything prevent a 30th level Horizon Walker/Warmaster from using an unlimited number of action points on move actions during one round?

And in so doing, granting an unlimited number of extra actions to allies within 5?

This seems beyond the usual levels of level-30-brokenness. Even a Demigod rerolling with Elven Accuracy until he crits isn't as good as this. I would say it's still extremely powerful with simply granting an extra standard action to someone else once per round, but that, at least, is within tolerable levels of level-30-brokenness.

 

[tsuyoshikentsu]

And an unlimited number of basic attacks to themselves with Quicksilver Stance, yes.

 

[Chimerasame]

The Windrise Ports article doesn't seem to be available online... is that an annual-only thing, or ... ?

Edit: Never mind, found a link. Weird, they made it difficult to access.
Edit x2: Is it just me, or are Backgrounds seemingly exempt from the balance they've tried to implement to most things in 4e?

 

[borg286]

The Windrise Ports article doesn't seem to be available online... is that an annual-only thing, or ... ?

Edit: Never mind, found a link. Weird, they made it difficult to access.
Edit x2: Is it just me, or are Backgrounds seemingly exempt from the balance they've tried to implement to most things in 4e?

Backgrounds are much like the DM giving everybody weapon/implement expertise for free. Since everybody has it everybody has equal access to the cheese they offer. The PHB2 backgrounds are a balanced way of permitting the fluff of backgrounds while maintaining a no-cheese game.

 

[Mengu]

Edit: Never mind, found a link. Weird, they made it difficult to access.
Edit x2: Is it just me, or are Backgrounds seemingly exempt from the balance they've tried to implement to most things in 4e?

They seem to exist outside of the balance system. Windrise Port is just broken good if you're getting it for optimization (partly fault of particular multiclass options and paragon paths which are too good, like Hero of Faith + Pit Fighter for a Ranger). But if you don't abuse it, and just use it as a way to get an extra multiclass feat for the skill training+, it's not too bad.

 

[Garthanos]

Backgrounds are much like the DM giving everybody weapon/implement expertise for free. Since everybody has it everybody has equal access to the cheese they offer. The PHB2 backgrounds are a balanced way of permitting the fluff of backgrounds while maintaining a no-cheese game.

A gift for everyone --- deprives nobody ;-) all in good fun.

I find I like backgrounds with impact... for instance this background
multiclass dabbling lets my players customize there characters a little
better (some of my players want to emulate rather particular character)
and the touch of extra another MC feat may be all that is necessary... they
still have to pay for that mc. My players are unlikely to hunt up the ultimate cheese from the char op boards so its generally a win win situation.

Total fluff phb2 backgrounds are too light for me ;-)

 

[borg286]

Total fluff phb2 backgrounds are too light for me ;-)

I was meaning the +2 to a skill or make a skill a class skill or additional language. This isn't total fluff, but small enough to never be broken. The worst thing that can happen is that the PC picks up perception (one of the best skills to be trained in) and still have to allocate one of their skill slots to it, which isn't all that bad.

Windrise is CharOP gold as seen in the divine feycharger