List of Broken Powers

[KarinsDad]

I was interested in putting together a list of powers which are generally considered broken, or at the minimum, overly bent. Not just potent, but more or less encounter breaking. The purpose of the list is so that myself and other DMs can determine if they want to house rule certain powers before they get introduced into their game and the DM gets sideswiped by them.

Spectral Assailants (Assassin Encounter 13, when combined with a zone that damages for each square moved through)

Astral Condemnation (Cleric Daily 1)
Moment of Glory (Cleric Daily 1)
Consecrated Ground (Cleric Daily 5)
Iron to Glass (Cleric Daily 5)
Cloak of Courage (Cleric Encounter 16)

Certain Justice (Champion of Order Encounter 11, Paladin)

Fountain of Flame (Wizard Daily 1)


Honorable Mentions:

Stirring Shout (Bard Daily 1)

Lightning Rush (Battlemind At Will 7)

Come and Get It (Fighter Encounter 7)

Protective Roots (Shaman Daily 2)


I'll start it off with two Cleric powers:

Level 1 Daily: Astral Condemnation. Range 5 Wisdom vs. Reflex, 3d6+Wis damage, plus an effect that lowers the damage of the target by 5+Cha until end of Cleric's next turn. Sustain the effect as a minor each round.

It's not too difficult with this to get -8 or -9 damage and take out a solo or potent elite encounter once per day at first level. It's equivalent to giving 8 or 9 damage resistance to every PC against the toughest creature in the fight for the encounter. If it were just a Cha reduction, then it would be ok. But at 5+Cha, it makes a solo almost impotent.


Level 16 Encounter: Cloak of Courage. Close Burst 2. All allies get temp hit points equal to their surge value. There is also a +4 Fear defense boost, but it is irrelevant.

Players use the Cloak of Courage immediately after a short rest and get a lot of temp hit points. For example, a 5 PC group gets 4 healing surges worth of temp hit points for every encounter. In a 5 encounter day, that's 20 healing surges worth of hit points. Compared to the exact same level Cure Critical Wounds which is 3 healing surges of healing, this is way overpowered. It should be a Daily instead of an Encounter (and if it were a Daily, players would consider using it for the Fear boost as well, not just the hit points). CCW for a given PC might give 75 to 100 hit points at mid-paragon. CoC can give 500 to 1000 free temp hit points per day.

And because the power gives so many free temp hit points, PCs have the potential of being in more encounters per day (7 encounters = 28 healing surges worth of free temp hit points).

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Ouch. Yeah, those two make a good start to any list.

 

[sigfile]

Iron to Glass (Cleric 5). Has a similar damage-reducing effect to Astral Condemnation but it lasts until the end of the encounter with no sustain requirement. Solos (particularly the newer-style solos with multiple attacks) and swarms are virtually nullified.

 

[MrMyth]

Level 16 Encounter: Cloak of Courage. Close Burst 2. All allies get temp hit points equal to their surge value. There is also a +4 Fear defense boost, but it is irrelevant.

Astral Condemnation is definitely busted. I think the issue with Cloak of Courage is the way the rules handle temporary hp. It is clearly intended as an in-combat power - it has a potent effect, due to needing to spend a Standard action on it and make sure everyone is clustered in a burst 2.

Except, as you note, your group uses it out of combat and the temps just stick around. There are some other similarly problematic powers.

The way I tend to handle it is to simply have temps not last indefinitely like that. Like other buffs, they go away after 5 minutes, unless a power explicitly makes clear they are supposed to last longer.

So something like Cloak of Courage becomes an in-combat power, and is suddenly much more reasonable. Still strong, but not quite as broken. PCs can still try and use it before going into a combat, but won't be quite as easy, and will risk losing the temps entirely if they misjudge the timing.

 

[Pseudonym]

Astral Condemnation (Cleric Daily 1)

Wow. I'd not heard of that power before, but damn, that's crazy and I say that as an unrepentant min/maxer.

 

[KarinsDad]

Iron to Glass (Cleric 5). Has a similar damage-reducing effect to Astral Condemnation but it lasts until the end of the encounter with no sustain requirement. Solos (particularly the newer-style solos with multiple attacks) and swarms are virtually nullified.

When we used to have a Cleric in the group, this was definitely the anti-solo power du jour.

 

[KarinsDad]

The way I tend to handle it is to simply have temps not last indefinitely like that. Like other buffs, they go away after 5 minutes, unless a power explicitly makes clear they are supposed to last longer.

I prefer making it a Daily power. That way, it has a similar effect as Cure Critical Wounds (which is also a Standard action Daily) and it is also used in combat.

Doing it as you suggest just means that in a few encounters per day, the PCs might lose the temp hit points (or they might race through empty rooms to find foes). It could still be 500 hit points in a day. That's still way too strong.

 

[Destil]

Consecrated Ground. AKA: The PCs can't die.

Best fix is just not let it work on unconscious PCs. Making it actually grant regeneration may also be a good idea, as written they stack (this is less of an issue now that healer's lore doesn't apply).

Note: If nerfing this one I'd also throw the cleric a bone and let them move the zone when they take a move action to move, rather than make it a separate move. I'd keep the speed at 3, myself.

 

[The Little Raven]

Except, as you note, your group uses it out of combat and the temps just stick around. There are some other similarly problematic powers.

Temporary hit points last until you take a rest (short or extended). So, basically, each use of the power would last for an encounter at the most. If they avoid a rest in order to keep the temp hp, the cleric won't refresh the power.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Consecrated Ground. AKA: The PCs can't die.

Best fix is just not let it work on unconscious PCs. Making it actually grant regeneration may also be a good idea, as written they stack (this is less of an issue now that healer's lore doesn't apply).

Note: If nerfing this one I'd also throw the cleric a bone and let them move the zone when they take a move action to move, rather than make it a separate move. I'd keep the speed at 3, myself.

Making it actual regeneration definitely fixes it because regen doesn't work when you are dying. It isn't quite as extreme as Astral Condemnation either. There are ways team monster can mess with it. AC CAN also be dealt with, but only if you can stun the cleric and that is unlikely at the levels where 5+CHA damage reduction on one enemy is a win button (though honestly even at high levels it sure isn't bad). AC probably should drop the '5+' and just make it CHA bonus. Still quite effective, but not a total damage lockout at low levels, plus it at least requires a specific build to be worthwhile (albeit one most clerics seem to take).

I'm with KD on CoC. It is a power of daily level potency, it should simply be a daily. Why mess around with trying to make odd rules exceptions that won't always reign it in? Even as a daily it is still an excellent power anyhow, so it should be a good fix.