How is PvP in 4th Ed?

[Bagpuss]

How do the classes play out in PvP (player vs. player) in 4th ed, has anyone had much experience at this?

Particular at low level I'm interested in.

 

[Kaelkatar]

My only experience is pitting a 13th level warlock against a 13th level swordmage/wizard hybrid to kill time one night. (Three battles, daily powers do not reset). The swordmage ended up winning them all, due most to his character being designed entirely around defense. It seemed like the damage done to health ratio is off for PVP, and players die too quickly.

The biggest other issue is that some classes, leaders primarily but also rogues unable to flank, perform sub-optimally.

 

[shamsael]

Group PvP is fun and usually well balanced. One on one fights are another story. Leaders usually can only buff their allies, but not themselves. Defenders and controllers wind up being way stronger in the one on one fights.

 

[Solvarn]

How do the classes play out in PvP (player vs. player) in 4th ed, has anyone had much experience at this?

Particular at low level I'm interested in.

The system is based around fighting monsters which do less damage than most PC's and have more hitpoints than most PC's.

I don't think you can really provide much of a balanced or even a decent narrative of what would happen if two characters faced off with the current system not being really modified.

PvP doesn't have much of a place in D&D at all. If a player goes rogue, the DM needs to take over and convert the PC to monster stats.

Edited:

On second thought, it might not be a huge issue with HP 1 on 1. Team vs. Team I would think the battles would be a lot shorter, particularly if each side focus fires.

 

[Festivus]

At the end of D&D Encounters Season 1, two tables faced off. One made entirely of drow, the other entirely of non-drow. It was a lot of fun to play, and very dependent on how well the teamwork and synergy of the party was. With 12 players it took a bit of time but it was entertaining to do. The same guy who ran that also ran a PVP event at our last meetup, with prize support (make your best build and put it to the test in all out PVP action, last survivor wins. They seemed to have fun with that too, but I was a bit busy to watch it all.

So yeah, it can be done.

 

[Solvarn]

At the end of D&D Encounters Season 1, two tables faced off. One made entirely of drow, the other entirely of non-drow. It was a lot of fun to play, and very dependent on how well the teamwork and synergy of the party was. With 12 players it took a bit of time but it was entertaining to do. The same guy who ran that also ran a PVP event at our last meetup, with prize support (make your best build and put it to the test in all out PVP action, last survivor wins. They seemed to have fun with that too, but I was a bit busy to watch it all.

So yeah, it can be done.

That's pretty neat, I'd like to see how something like that played out.

 

[Stumblewyk]

How do the classes play out in PvP (player vs. player) in 4th ed, has anyone had much experience at this?

Particular at low level I'm interested in.

This interests me as well, as I'll be starting my monthly game's Dark Sun campaign in an arena where all the slave-bound PCs will be competing for the same prize, with a few NPCs thrown into the mix to keep things really interesting.

 

[Riastlin]

My experience (albeit rather limited) has been that group v. group pvp works fairly well, though can be quick as others have mentioned.

Individual PvP though does not work nearly as well. Although I think the classes are fairly well balanced against each other, the balance is aimed at balance within the group (i.e. each class/PC feels just as important as the rest) rather than a pure offensive-defensive balance against each other.

In other words, the classes were not really made to be paired against each other in 1 on 1 combat, but rather to be compared against each other in a 5 PC vs. Monsters combat.

 

[babinro]

I've only experienced 1 on 1 PVP so far in 4E and it was pretty much unplayable. To no ones surprise the Fey Warlock immediately won due to their invisibility at-will. We banned action point use in PVP because the matches were essentially decided with initiative rolls.

One on One PVP could likely work with certain classes, like two melee strikers or a striker vs a high defense defender. But stick any range class against a melee on a board where there is distance between the two, and the match is already determined.

Group PVP would likely be far more playable and fun especially if you limit the group to one of each role to maintain balance.

 

[Tony Vargas]

In duels, the defender, leader, and controller classes all 'lose' class features or effectiveness in some way. Some strikers are a bit dependent on having allies around, but aside from that, Striker-on-Striker duels should be fair enough - fast, but fair.