How much spotlight time for at-wills?

[jasin]

A question for people who have played a bit: how often does a character end up using his at-will powers?

Say you have a character whose at-will powers you're really happy but his encounters are merely okay; and a character whose at-will powers are okay, but whose encounter powers are really fun. Which is likely to be more fun to play?

 

[NMcCoy]

At-wills will generally not be spectacular unless you stuff them full of feats, or otherwise build around them. I do quite adore my (KotS pregen) rogue's Sly Flourish, though - 1[W] + 7 + 2d8 Sneak Attack at first level is quite delicious (Yes, I did more damage in that attack than I have total HP. You got a problem with that?), although shoving someone into a river with Positioning Strike and then following up with an action-point-powered sneak attack (DM: *exaggerated sigh* Yes, sinking grants combat advantage...) is hard to top.
And I singlehandedly tripled the experience point value of an encounter with a well-executed daily, but to say more would be spoilers.

 

[Victim]

Depends on your level. Basically, higher level -> fewer at will uses. At first level, even if you love your encounter, it's generally going to be 1 action out of many. On the other hand, you usually give up quite a bit of effect using an will at higher levels.

Basically, I'd say that you want to have a good encounter pick at least every other slot for them.

 

[That One Guy]

From my Pre-4e game experience Sly Flourish, Tide of Iron, Lance of Faith, and Eldritch Blast are consistent and stable options (The PCs are almost level 3... which is perfect considering the books come out this week). Even though they have encounter powers, those tend to be more situational or reserved for whatever baddie proves the largest threat in an encounter. I believe every PC has their daily stored up for the boss fights coming in the next session (a grudge match against a mini-boss and then the big bad finale. They have a four day time limit to finish off the fights and get some magical stuff back before Really Bad Things happen, so they've only stopped for breathers. They're low on healing surges and such).

 

[Otterscrubber]

At-wills will generally not be spectacular unless you stuff them full of feats, or otherwise build around them. I do quite adore my (KotS pregen) rogue's Sly Flourish, though - 1[W] + 7 + 2d8 Sneak Attack at first level is quite delicious (Yes, I did more damage in that attack than I have total HP. You got a problem with that?), although shoving someone into a river with Positioning Strike and then following up with an action-point-powered sneak attack (DM: *exaggerated sigh* Yes, sinking grants combat advantage...) is hard to top.
And I singlehandedly tripled the experience point value of an encounter with a well-executed daily, but to say more would be spoilers.

My my, how spoiled we get. 4e at-wills are generally much better than most starting powers from 3e. In the games i've played already they see a lot of time. Generally people save their daily for the big fight that is expected in the play session unless we have reason to believe we are going to get a chance to rest. So basically most people use their encounter, then it's at-wills for the majority of fights.