Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 6215889" data-attributes="member: 1165">Sure. My wizard PC is currently 3rd-level and his best encounter power is Icy Rays. It targets two opponents, dealing 1d10 + Int cold damage on a hit, and immobilizes the victim until the end of my next turn. Another power is Icy Terrain, that deals 1d6 + Int in an area burst 1 within 10, knocks prone anyone it hits, and creates a zone of difficult terrain that lasts until the end of my next turn.I also have a level 1 daily, Phantom Chasm. This spell is an area burst 1 within 10 (targets enemies only), deals 2d6 + Int psychic damage, and immobilizes the target and knocks it prone. It deals half damage on a miss and still knocks the victim prone. And it creates a zone (an illusory pit) that causes any enemy that enters the zone (say, by me using Thunderwave on them) to fall prone. The zone lasts until the end of the encounter.Daily powers frequently include saving throw effects, rather than ending after 1 turn.Zones and other effects may last the entire encounter. Some of these effects (such as Stinking Cloud) can get very complicated and frankly it's a good thing these don't come up very often. Many controller effects that literally reshape the battlefield fall into this category.Stoneskin gives lots of damage reduction for the entire encounter. Utility powers that give damage reduction until the end of your next turn are encounter powers instead.Attack effects such as stunning pretty much never crop up unless they're daily.I'll give a fighter example too. A 7th-level hammer-using knight can take Staggering Hammer, which will immobilize an enemy that's next to them for 1 turn. Handy when you use it to prevent someone from shifting past you to someone behind you. Knights don't have daily powers. (By that level, the knight can use it twice per encounter.)A 5th-level PH1 fighter can take Dizzying Blow, which will deal 3[W] + Strength damage and inflicts immobilized (save ends). It's also reliable (as many fighter dailies are). It deals no damage on a miss, but instead you don't lose the power. You can keep trying until you hit with it, and only then is it expended. Yes, that's flat-out better, but of course you can only use it once.Another 5th-level fighter daily is Rain of Steel, which surrounds you with an aura of 1[W] damage. Any creature that starts its turn next to you takes this damage, and given how difficult it is to move away from a fighter (you risk taking a hit even if you shift, which will probably do more damage) the enemy might well resign themselves to staying next to you and taking the damage. This is a minor action stance that lasts until you drop the stance (the entire encounter if you don't switch stances).A fighter in my last campaign used Rain of Steel every campaign day. He also used Come and Get It, an encounter power that lured enemies next to him. So, he pulled enemies adjacent to him (and even if he missed, that marked them, since every fighter attack marks). Then, they he activated Rain of Steel. If an enemy stayed, they took 1[W]. If they shifted, they provoked a Combat Challenge response. If they moved away, they provoked an opportunity attack that would stop them from moving if it hit (due to Combat Superiority). We called that combo "the blender" and I'm very happy it could be done once a day!There's a cleric daily power that weakens enemies in an AoE... but also increases the amount of healing of all of its powers by 5 for the rest of the encounter. There's a shaman power that gives all allies regeneration while bloodied and allies can sacrifice the regeneration for another 10 hit points... on top of the damage dished out. There's a warlord power that gives all allies huge attack bonuses against a single enemy for the entire encounter (really deadly if said enemy is a literal solo). Daily powers change the battlefield.True. You still get your half level bonus and enhancement bonuses to armor, of course. The system works pretty well, although Int/Dex classes see their AC scores rise a bit faster than heavy-armored PCs over levels.A 1st-level fighter (weaponmaster) likely has an AC score of 17 or 19. 10 + 7 (scale armor) and maybe +2 (heavy shield). A 1st-level wizard likely has an AC score of 14 (Int 18). A 1st-level ranger likely has an AC score of 16 (+4 Dex, +2 leather). Note that it's fairly common for Dex/Int classes to take a 20 in that stat because it's giving +1 to hit, damage, and AC.You can even get a lightly-armored defender to work (a "dodge tank") perfectly in the system. The swordmage, for instance, doesn't wear armor at all, but has a warding feature that gives +3 AC if you're using a single bladed weapon. A 1st-level swordmage probably has an AC score of 17 (+4 Int, +3 warding).Not much.A larger creature cannot move into spaces that are two or more sizes smaller than it. Any creature (including a PC) can "squeeze" into a space one square smaller, but there's defined penalties for doing that.You can't grapple a creature that's much bigger than you. Some powers let you push and pull creatures that are no more than one size larger than you (because picking up and tossing a Gargantuan titan without using magic is just ridiculous).You can step over a creature if you're much bigger than it, or you can walk through its space if you're much smaller than it.Size impacts reach, although strictly speaking it's more of a common sense thing (you don't normally give a Tiny creature a reach greater than 0, and you don't normally give a Gargantuan creature a reach of 1). All of the playable races (except maybe pixies?) have reach 1, as they're all Small or Medium (except maybe pixies?).</blockquote>

Verification