Important stats for fighters

[jasin]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20070816b

“Yeah. I thought about going high Con and using a hammer, but I wanted to start with the chance to make a couple of attacks, so I’m using rain of blows as my good weapon attack, and I went with high Wis so that I can switch to the better oppy powers later.”

The article has been discussed in general, but I'm interested in opinions about this particular bit.

High Con and using a hammer? Is this just the usual tank fighter schtick, or could there be more to it? Con somehow being an important stat for hammers? Wis obviously is important for some fighter powers... what does "oppy powers" mean anyway? Is it just a typo of some sort of slang?

Does this mean we might see fighters who favour other stats than Str? Monkish, calm Wis-fighters? Tricksy, cunning Int-fighters?

 

[FireLance]

Part of it could be setting the saving throw DC for the various weapon special effects. Another could be minimum ability score requirements for certain maneuvers, feats, or choices in certain talent trees.

 

[JRR_Talking]

sounds more and more like 'guild wars' pc game, this 4e does.

 

[jasin]

How so?

 

[Sound of Azure]

what does "oppy powers" mean anyway? Is it just a typo of some sort of slang?

Sounds like it's short for "Opportunity Powers". That says to me either something to do with attacks of opportunity, or with "specials" that get added on in specific moments in combat (criticals, I reckon). Wisdom could represent the fighter's wits and ability to take advntage of a situation in combat.

 

[Jhaelen]

sounds more and more like 'guild wars' pc game, this 4e does.

My thoughts, exactly Which I consider to be a good thing - I like Guild Wars.

For those who don't know the game: Warriors in Guild Wars have three abilities dealing with weapon categories: Hammer, Sword & Axe. For each ability there are lots of different skills.
E.g. hammer styles often cause knockdown, axe styles cause bleeding, etc.

The cool thing about the Guild Wars skills is that no skill is strictly better than any other one, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so no skill ever becomes obsolete.

I'd like to add that the Tome of Nine Blades also reminded me about Guild Wars A LOT. Guild Wars has different skill categories, just like maneuvers come in different types: strikes, counters, stances.
And just as in Guild Wars you have to decide on a limited set of maneuvers to prepare.

 

[masshysteria]

"I went with high Wis so that I can switch to the better oppy powers later."

Does "switch" imply some sort of retraining built into the game? Can you swap techniques/feats/maneuvers each level?

 

[KingCrab]

The best thing about Guild Wars is the ability to switch your skills around (unlike games like Diablo II where you have to come up with your build ahead of time and and every point placed was there forever.) I'm hoping that 4e tries to allow for a bit more flexibility than 3.5. Perhaps an axe fighter can convert to using a sword he/she likes over time, instead of never being as good because too many skills were used developing swordfighting early on.

 

[jasin]

Quite possibly. Bo9S classes can switch old maneuvers for new, much like the sorcerer.