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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5986610" data-attributes="member: 87792">Um... hit points are an utterly absurd mechanic for representing "state of health".  If your state of health is reduced then you get slower and clumsier.  A PC on one hit point has all the offensive potential of a PC on 100 hit points.  They aren't battered, wounded, and struggling to hold their sword up as someone with 1% of their health left would be.  It's straight from able to bounce off the walls to unconscious.  It doesn't is the simple answer.  And if they are even close you should choose a different power.  There are four parts to the damage done by a power.  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The damage roll.  1[W] in both cases.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The stat modifier (if applicable - Tide of Iron only).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The static bonusses, added to any damage roll.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The conditional bonusses (often 1/round or 1/turn - e.g. Hunters' Quarry).</li> </ul>I doubt you have any conditional bonusses (and RoB is more likely to trigger them - you only need to hit with one of the blows).  So we can ignore them. The important part of the damage done by a power for multiattacks is static bonusses - bonusses like those from Weapon Focus (+1/2/3), a +X weapon/inherent bonus (+X from 1-6), or Iron Armbands of Power (+2/4/6).  (There are more but those are the major ones).  This is because each hit is a separate damage roll. Assume a character who picked Str 20 at level 1, has inherent bonusses, weapon focus at level 6, and Iron Armbands at level 6.  (You shouldn't be picking RoB unless you get the third attack but this makes the point about damage).  I think a trident is a +2/1d8 weapon?  And the to hit chance is equal so I'm ignoring it and just calculating damage in the sblock. [sblock]At level 4:Tide of Iron does 1d8 (trident) + 5 (str) + 1 (enhancement) or 10.5 damage.Rain of Blows does 2*1d8 (trident) + 1 (enhancement) or 11 damage. [It only does less damage on average if you have no magic weapon at all and a strength of 20] At level 8:Tide of Iron does 1d8 (trident) + 6 (str) + 2 (enhancement) + 2 (Iron Armbands of Power) + 1 (Weapon Focus) or 15.5 damage.Rain of Blows does 2 * 1d8 (trident) + 2 (enhancement) + 2 (Iron Armbands of Power) + 1 (Weapon Focus) or 19 damage. At level 12:Tide of Iron does 1d8 (trident) + 6 (str) + 3 (enhancement) + 2 (Iron Armbands of Power) + 2 (Weapon Focus) or 17.5 damage.Rain of Blows does 2 * 1d8 (trident) + 3 (enhancement) + 2 (Iron Armbands of Power) + 2 (Weapon Focus) or 23 damage.[/sblock]  As we can see, Rain of Blows both does more damage than Tide of Iron and scales better.  Especially if you then throw some sort of damage bonus and get to claim this damage bonus twice.   But like a lot of things in 4e, Rain of Blows real purpose isn't fully explained.  What it is there for is to make agile spear, flail, or light blade wielding fighters into a force to be reckoned with.  With two attacks it's about equal to a very strong at will (Twin Strike).  With three you're deep into striker damage territory on this power - enough of a boost to make what would otherwise be a sub-par build that should work well thematically into something highly effective (9.5 extra potential damage for the L8 example is a lot).</blockquote>

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