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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4000793" data-attributes="member: 58197">Uh... what?  4E looks like balance being infinitely simpler than 3E.First of all, it looks like they're shifting to using tier as the main prerequisite for pretty much everything.  That alone is a HUGE improvement to balance.  With 3E's system, you always had to worry that somebody would weasel out a way to meet your prerequisites before the level minimum that the prerequisites were supposed to enforce.  But when the level minimum is the prerequisite... pretty hard to weasel out of that one.And the other balance mechanisms, like requiring weaksauce feats as prereqs for powerful PrCs, were unreliable as well.  What if a new combo comes along and suddenly the weaksauce feat is now super-powerful?  Or what if you find a way to stack several powerful PrCs that all happen to use the same weaksauce feat as a balance mechanism--or a decent PrC that gives the weaksauce prereq as a bonus?  (See for example: Master Specialist Abjurer + Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil.)  With any luck, 4E will do away with such things.Second, the shift to a "universal bonus" of half your character level will have the effect of drastically simplifying balance calculations.  If a fighter has an attack bonus of +6 at level 1, while the rogue has an attack bonus of +3, you know that dynamic will stay roughly the same.  A 21st-level fighter will have an attack bonus of +16 and a 21st-level rogue will have +13.  They won't diverge off to infinity the way they do in 3E.Third, giving up PrCs and replacing them with paragon paths/epic destinies means no more dips in front-loaded PrCs.Fourth, putting everyone on the same recharge mechanic (a mix, which will presumably be about the same across classes, of at-will, per-encounter, and per-day powers) means that there is no longer a balance concern with some characters benefitting from long adventuring days and others gaining from short ones.  Furthermore, powers can now be weighed against each other directly.  A 10th-level wizard power and a 10th-level fighter power can be compared in isolation and balanced on that basis alone, rather than having to try to consider how each one fits in the larger context of the class.</blockquote>

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