I think my character is broken. :-(

[baberg]

First, unless something has changed, you don't get automatic max damage on sneak attack, just on the [W] portion of your attack. Second, you had two action points to burn here? That's pretty much going all-out. Third, you only get one attack from Riposte Strike because it's an Immediate Interrupt, and you only get one Immediate action per round (PHB 269). Lastly, if just one of your rolls had gone the other way, you and your Wizard friend would have died.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not trying to point out all the things you got wrong - we're all still pretty new to 4e. I'm just pointing out that with only a few changes, that encounter goes from a domination where you only lose half your HP to one where you and your friend are slaughtered without even touching the monster. In other words: You got lucky.

Do you remember the exact name or description he gave? I'd be interested in running that encounter a few times myself and seeing how the results turn out. I think if we did that we'd find 9/10 times you're rerolling characters.

 

[Obryn]

tldr.... hehe, just kidding.

Anyway, thanks for the detail! I'll go over this step by step, and let you know where I see problems.

Okay the 9th level fight was like this.... The DM put this spider looking thing in front of the castle I needed to get into. My wizard friend was in the castle attempting to exit, but the door was blocked by the beast. I had my friend run up to it (despite his claims of WTF are you crazy??) but I assured him it'd be fine. Once he had the beasts attention, I stealthily jumped from the bushes to use trick strike w/ sneak attack for a +11 to hit, and a roll of nat 20 meant i crited (since my 31 would have hit, it meant max damage) and I dealt 37 damage. (2d8+4 + 3d4+5)

OK, 37 is definitely a lot of nice damage, but it's pretty reasonable for critting on a Daily. (A fighter would likely do as much if he crits on Brute Strike.)

I popped my action point to throw torturous strike next, which I rolled a 17, making 28 total and hitting its 25 or 26 AC, i forget which. I dealt 13 damage (2d4+9) because I am a nice high rolling lucksack.

OK - was combat actually started yet? If this were a surprise round, you can't spend an action point and only get 1 action. Otherwise, yeah, dropping an encounter power right after a daily, along with an action point, will also tend to do a lot of damage.

.... Another 10 or so damage dealt saw its way to my turn, where I decided to use Riposite Strike (successfully with my +11 to hit) for 8, and then popped my Action point to do another 7.

There's a problem here - you can only spend 1 action point per encounter.

The DM looking flustered attacked me finally for more than half my HP, only to be surprised when i told him what the effect of riposite strike was... I'd get to counter attack now. I missed the first, but the second saw its way through for 5 damage and the beast fell to the ground with a mighty sigh that nearly crushed both the wizard and myself.

Two problems here. Both involve your immediate interrupts.

(1) You technically get to attack before the creature attacks, since it's an interrupt.
(2) You're limited to 1 immediate action per combat round. Even if you use Riposte Strike twice, you can still only Riposte once.

Our DM is new to DMing, as this is his first game to DM in 4e or in 3.5, where I have DM'd and played for years in 3.5 and played one game of 4e before this as well. Don't say something is impossible, because in a game where luck reigns just as much as skill and tactics, anything is possible.

Well, no doubt there was a lot of luck to it. It wasn't a level 9 solo, though... in fact, I don't have any idea what it was, since most level 9 creatures have more than 72 hps. There were a few rules hiccups which probably really changed the encounter balance. Don't stress - you're still learning the system - but it goes a long way to understand why your character seemed so unbalanced.

EDIT: Also, it's good to keep in mind that the 4e combat assumptions are way different from 3e's. Facing off against solo foes is uncommon, and definitely not the default assumption... unless they're specifically-designed Solo creatures. Stuff like this is one of the reasons... A level 9 creature is 400 xp. A party of 5 characters should be facing an xp "budget" of 500 for even a weak encounter. With that said, level 9 foes are probably not good to throw against low-level parties because of their crazy defenses, but alone they're not even a minimal level 1 encounter.

-O

 

[Obryn]

First, unless something has changed, you don't get automatic max damage on sneak attack, just on the [W] portion of your attack.

That actually has changed. The only dice that aren't maxed are dice you get specifically from a crit - magic weapon properties, high crit, and maybe other on-crit class/feat abilities.

-O

 

[baberg]

That actually has changed. The only dice that aren't maxed are dice you get specifically from a crit - magic weapon properties, high crit, and maybe other on-crit class/feat abilities.

-O

Thanks for the correction. Do you recall if this came from a CSR response or from the Compendium? I just spent some time searching through the Compendium but couldn't find anything relevant (as usual)

 

[James McMurray]

So it was neither a solo monster nor a solo fight. That makes beating something 8 levels higher much more possible.

I think you'll find that your character will not be anywhere near as powerful once the GM and players know the rules and use them. the other PCs will still look weak in terms of damage dealt, because you're a striker with ungodly stats. But, assuming everyone comes up to speed, it probably won't feel broken anymore.

 

[James McMurray]

Thanks for the correction. Do you recall if this came from a CSR response or from the Compendium? I just spent some time searching through the Compendium but couldn't find anything relevant (as usual)

It's in the FAQ.

 

[RigaMortus2]

All your attack rolls appeared to be over 17. And the one attack roll the monster got was a natural 1. That's not called "over powered", that's called being lucky.

Add to the fact that you used two Action Points in the same encounter (not allowed) and you used an Immediate Interrupt twice in the same round (not allowed)... Well, I think we've figured out why you *think* the Rogue is uber powerful.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

That actually has changed. The only dice that aren't maxed are dice you get specifically from a crit - magic weapon properties, high crit, and maybe other on-crit class/feat abilities.

-O

Huh. That's not how I read it.

11. Which dice do I maximize when scoring a critical hit?


Only the dice you would normally roll to calculate damage are maximized. If another bonus (like from a weapon or feat) causes you to roll extra damage dice when scoring a critical hit, those dice are rolled as normal.

I see the damage one would "normally roll to calculate damage" as the [W] damage only. Everything else is extra. To be fair though, this response is ridiculously vague.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Huh. That's not how I read it.



I see the damage one would "normally roll to calculate damage" as the [W] damage only. Everything else is extra. To be fair though, this response is ridiculously vague.

Everything else isn't extra. Everything else is extra only when scoring a critical hit.

Read it again... If another bonus (like from a weapon or feat) causes you to roll extra damage dice when scoring a critical hit.

Since Sneak Attack damage has nothing to do with scoring a critical hit, if you would normally apply Sneak Attack damage (because of Combat Advantage) and you happen to score a critical hit when doing so, it should be maximized per this WotC CS ruling.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Aha, you're right. Go go, reading comprehension.