Is power attack too powerful?

[Darklone]

Edit: Doing a little math, a falchion ties a greatsword with a Str mod of... wait for it... +39! Wow.

Or only +19.5 comparing keen or improved critical versions.

Mmm.

Could you check that again? Last time someone posted this calculation, the result was a tie at +17 to damage... which is much easier to achieve with Power Attack and twohanded strength bonus.

 

[frisbeet]

What I seem to remember is that falchion turns out to have suck-ass damage, compared to the other weapons. Most of the other weapons are fairly balanced, all things considered.

(checks his math)

Falchion does average of 5.75, greatsword 7.7, greatclub 5.775, and greataxe 7.15.

With +4 strength mod:
10.35, 12.1, 9.975, and 11.55

Even an improved critical or keen falchion is still only up to average 6.5, which doesn't even match the other two-handed weapons.

AND the falchion is the most expensive two-handed weapon! But it's relatively light...

Edit: Doing a little math, a falchion ties a greatsword with a Str mod of... wait for it... +39! Wow.

Or only +19.5 comparing keen or improved critical versions.

Mmm.

Not to pick on Will specifically, but this kind of analysis is kinda sucky. Turns out the Falchion is slightly more powerful than the greatsword, against opponents vulnerable to crits..

You really need to consider probabilities of hitting--in particular, the 18-20 vs. 19-20 crit chance.

Here's how the #s compare for average full attack damage/round against a range of ACs, with zero and optimized power attack.

This is a Fighter 18 /Barb 2, raging.
26 Str
Feats of power attack, WF, gWF, WS, gWS, iC in either Greatsword or Falchion.

Wields +5 weapon.

Both kick butt.

opp AC	GS	opt PA	GS+PA	Fal    opt PA	Fal + PA
10	141.4	20	293.9	143.3	20	309.5
11	141.4	19	285.7	143.3	19	300.5
12	141.4	18	277.4	143.3	19	291.8
13	141.4	18	269.3	143.3	18	283.1
14	141.4	18	261.3	143.3	18	274.6
15	141.4	17	253.5	143.3	17	266.2
16	141.4	16	245.7	143.3	17	258.0
17	141.4	16	238.1	143.3	16	249.8
18	141.4	16	230.6	143.3	16	241.9
19	141.4	15	223.3	143.3	15	233.9
20	141.4	14	215.9	143.3	14	226.0
21	141.4	13	208.6	143.3	13	218.1
22	141.4	12	201.3	143.3	12	210.1
23	141.4	11	194.0	143.3	11	202.2
24	141.4	10	186.7	143.3	10	194.3
25	139.5	9	179.3	141.4	9	186.4
26	137.6	8	172.0	139.5	8	178.4
27	135.8	7	164.7	137.6	7	170.5
28	133.9	6	157.4	135.7	6	162.6
29	132.1	5	150.1	133.8	5	154.6
30	128.3	4	142.7	130.1	5	147.0
31	124.6	4	135.7	126.3	4	139.5
32	120.9	3	128.8	122.5	4	132.3
33	117.2	3	122.1	118.8	3	125.1
34	113.5	2	115.5	115.0	3	118.3
35	107.9	2	109.2	109.3	2	111.5
36	102.3	1	103.0	103.7	1	104.8
37	96.7	1	97.0	98.0	1	98.3
38	91.1	0	91.1	92.0	1	92.1
39	85.6	0	85.6	86.1	0	86.1
40	77.9	0	77.9	78.5	0	78.5
41	70.4	0	70.4	71.1	0	71.1
42	63.0	0	63.0	63.7	0	63.7
43	57.4	0	57.4	57.7	0	57.7
44	51.8	0	51.8	51.8	0	51.8
45	46.0	0	46.0	46.1	0	46.1
46	40.4	0	40.4	40.5	0	40.5
47	34.9	0	34.9	35.1	0	35.1
48	31.2	0	31.2	31.0	0	31.0
49	27.4	0	27.4	27.0	0	27.0
50	23.5	0	23.5	23.1	0	23.1

Use mine or similar sheets to compare to your heart's content (click sig).
Ultimately,

Most of the other weapons are fairly balanced, all things considered.

falls just short of the truth: nearly all core weapons, from an average dam/round perspective, are balanced, except perhaps Spiked Chain.