Is this overpowered? Weapon Finesse

[Nymrohd]

Weapon Finesse
Prerequisite: Dex 15
Benefit: You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier when making a melee basic attack with a light blade.

Would this be overpowered? Discuss

 

[the Jester]

I made it an at-will 1st level rogue power; the balance seemed about right.

As a feat... I dunno. It's potentially a HUGE bonus for a feat.

 

[misalo1]

The 'Intelligent Blademaster' feat {FR-PG p134} does the same thing for Int. and melee weapons but only a Swordmage can take it.

So opening it up to everybody and limiting it to Dex 15 and Light Blades should be fine.

I've already added a similar feat to my game.

Weapon Finesse
Prerequisite: Rogue
Benefit: You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier when making a melee basic attack with a light blade.

 

[Nymrohd]

The thing is, the swordmage is a defender and opportunity attacks are a big part of the defender shtick. Do you guys think that Str rogues are balanced on being able to use opportunity attacks better than Cha rogues?

 

[Stalker0]

OA seem such a small portion of the game for nondefenders that I don't think its broken at all.

Monsters are usually trying to close in a kill strikers, not run away from them.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Not broken at all. My only suggestion is that if you absolutely have to have a prereq, lower it to 13 Dex.

 

[Nymrohd]

Tbh it's not so much OAs than it is basic attacks. My group has a tactical warlord who grants a lot of basic attacks which feel wasted on the Cha rogue and granting basic attacks seems to be a common mechanic that I expect is there mainly to amplify damage (sure it helps fighters as well, but it is primarily a source of out of turn damage for strikers). And with the avenger coming up soon I was wondering on whether Str based melee classes have a significant advantage.

 

[Irda Ranger]

This really isn't an argument against the Feat's balance, but ...

This seems so obvious that I figured there was a good reason the designers left it out of the PHB. I don't know what that reason is, but ... well, I've spent a lot less time immersed in 4E than Mearls, et. al. have. I just sort of assume they knew what they were doing on this one.

 

[amadeus-darkened]

Not overpowered at all. Comparatively to Intelligent Blademaster (FRPG) this feat allows a to-hit stat (dex) be substituted for basic attacks. That is almost exactly what Intelligent Blademaster does, however, Intelligent Blademaster limits it to swordmages and adds a second weapon group.

Your feat opens the option to everyone and limits it to a single weapon group. Seems fair to me.

The only change I would make would be to add the rogue class to the prerequisites and drop the Dex requirement.

 

[Samurai]

Not overpowered at all. Comparatively to Intelligent Blademaster (FRPG) this feat allows a to-hit stat (dex) be substituted for basic attacks. That is almost exactly what Intelligent Blademaster does, however, Intelligent Blademaster limits it to swordmages and adds a second weapon group.

Your feat opens the option to everyone and limits it to a single weapon group. Seems fair to me.

The only change I would make would be to add the rogue class to the prerequisites and drop the Dex requirement.

I don't think it needs to be limited to Rogues. Here is how I implemented the same thing:

Weapon Finesse (Req: Prof. with Light Blades, Dex 13) – You may use your Dex bonus for basic melee attack rolls with Light Blades instead of Str. However, Str is still used for the damage bonus and this does not affect which attributes are used for powers.