I have the PHII...

[CrusaderX]

FWIW I don't see an awful lot of paladin minmaxing feats anyway - unless you are thinking of "divine" feats which they use their turn attempts for?

Right. I rarely find players complaining that the Paladin is overpowered. This PHII variant is nice, but it still doesn't make them uber.

 

[Victim]

Don't jump to conclusions, Derren!

It isn't a feat, it is a replacement class ability that a paladin could have instead of his mount.

You don't get that many smite evils a day, and it means that if you do a charging smite evil you can get +(3*level) damage instead of +level damage.

If you compare that with a mounted paladin using spirited charge (and especially with a lance) doing smite evil, you'll see that this has considerably lower total damage potential, balanced by being available somewhat more often.

FWIW I don't see an awful lot of paladin minmaxing feats anyway - unless you are thinking of "divine" feats which they use their turn attempts for?

Cheers

Paladins without special mounts can still use normal ones. Or not so normal ones, as the case may be. I don't have the book, so there might be something that prevents substitution charging bonus from working at all while mounted.

I agree that paladins generally aren't that awesome offensively. However, their path to overpoweredness is based on charging damage multipliers, so they probably shouldn't be handed out so casually. Especially for something of such limited use as the special mount feature.

 

[MarkB]

I have an archer who's just hit 9th in my Tuesday campaign (The Adventures of Burne and Some Others of Lesser Importance). Is there any good crunch for me in the PHB II?

A few feats.

Deadeye Shot is very much a rogue or scout's feat - if you Ready to make a ranged attack against a foe at the same time as an ally hits them in melee, they lose their DEX bonus against you.

Penetrating Shot is an interesting alternative to Rapid Shot or Manyshot, especially if low on ammo. A single shot can wound multiple enemies along a 60 ft. line.

Ranged Weapon Mastery spreads a fighter's weapon specialisation across groups of ranged weapons.

The Combat Form feats may well work well for a ranged specialist, as their benefits kick in with the first successful attack, and a ranged combatant may achieve that earlier in the battle.

The Ranger's alternate class feature works well with ranged attacks, as has been mentioned.

 

[yell0w_lantern]

I got a look at this book today.
It did manage to exceed my expectations but that's really not saying much.
I'll try to just focus on the good: the Beguiler would make an okay Illusionist, probably a lot closer to how I have pictured it than the specialist wizard. Spekaing of specialist wizards, the alternate abilities from the Expanded Classes section are interesting - I've never liked the, "familiars for one and all! Can't be a magic user without a familiar! Yes sir, get 'em while they're hot! Get your familiar now! Don't be the only mage on your block without one," routine in PHB I. I prefer having a choice.
I looked over the Duskblade too quickly to make an informed decision - it seemed to have possibilities.
The Knight appeared very workable - new, different abilities - not just a Paladin without spells.
Several of the feats impressed me although I'm miffed that WotC feat names are increasingly identical to feat or ability names from non-WotC supplements. Melee Weapon Mastery and Ranged Weapon Mastery, in particular, are a welcome addition for me.

Overall, it appeared to be another sanitized WotC release with a nice bit in it here and there and, like I said, that's better than I had expected.

 

[Nightfall]

I'm looking forward to adding this book to my collection come June 13-14.

 

[Greylock]

To be honest, the more I read it the more I like it.

Just noticed that they chucked the old rules regarding dropping old spells for new ones for spontaneous casters. I approve of that most whole-heartedly.

 

[Aaron L]

What?

Sorcerers cant swap out spells as they level anymore?

That isnt too cool...

 

[MarkB]

What?

Sorcerers cant swap out spells as they level anymore?

That isnt too cool...

I suspect he's refering to the new Retraining options, which do not supplant the sorcerer's ability to swap out lower-level spells, but supplement it. In a game with Retraining implemented, a sorcerer can choose to swap out any one known spell each time they level up, providing they don't choose to retrain any other aspect of their character that level.

 

[jcfiala]

Spekaing of specialist wizards, the alternate abilities from the Expanded Classes section are interesting - I've never liked the, "familiars for one and all! Can't be a magic user without a familiar! Yes sir, get 'em while they're hot! Get your familiar now! Don't be the only mage on your block without one," routine in PHB I. I prefer having a choice.

Yeah, I'm fond of the options in Unearthed Arcana for specialist wizards. I recently started a campaign playing a conjurer, and happily gave up having a familiar in exchange for being able to cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action. If you haven't, you should have a look at those.

 

[Klaus]

I asked these before the Big Crash of May, so I'll ask again:

How does the druid variant to trade Spontaneous Summon for Spontaneous Fast Healing work?