Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="DracoSuave" data-source="post: 5667219" data-attributes="member: 71571">You're confusing 'Higher amounts of maximum hitpoints/surges' with the real point:  More efficient use of surges that are actually spent.The reason Durable doesn't show up on the list is because the point is not to have more surges on your character sheet... the point is to spend LESS surges.  Less surges spent means less actions spent and more healing done with those actions, meaning more attacks negated, meaning more survivability.  Durable doesn't make you spend less surges.  Its benefit has nothing to do with this.It's not about having higher hitpoints on the character sheet... it's about making damage not happen.That's the defender's job.  He takes enemy attacks because attacks against him are less effective against him than against others.  This is why powers that give temporary hitpoints are good.  This is why Shielding Aegis is good.The concept is erasing attacks and it works in multiple ways.Higher defenses means less attacks hit.  Every attack that misses you erases that attack.Temporary hit points cause the damage from an attack to simply go away.  If an attack's damage is absorbed by temporary hit points you've erased that attackWhen a swordmage's aegis of defense is triggered, and they absorb all the damage from an enemy's attack... They've erased that attack.Higher surge values make those surge values more effective.  If your surge value is 10, and a monster hits you for ten damage... but your buddy the defender has a surge value of 20... it takes two attacks to deplete him by one surge value.  If he's spending a surge, and you are not, then he has erased an attackAnd every time you erase an attack, you've negated a monster's action.  And D&D4th edition is about action economy.Those five hit points from toughness aren't erasing enemy attacks as effectively as other, better feats.  Strikers talk about DPR, defenders should be talking about attacks they've erased from existance and defenders should be looking at as many of them as they possibly can.You know what else keeps you up in combat?  Erasing attacks.    You know what does a way better job of it?  Erasing attacks.Toughness only keeps you up if your other defenses didn't.  It's NOT about keeping yourself up as a defender.  It's about making entire attacks disappear as efficiently in actions and healing surges as possible.  If you do that... well... that's going to make sure you don't drop.Durable doesn't erase attacks.  It's to add length to the combat day for most classes. It's not about who has more surges at the end of the day.  It's about effective those surges were used, and the actions used to activate them.  Toughness doesn't do much to negate enemy's actions, or make your own more efficient.  The other feats in question DO.  That's why they are superior.  It's the same AC bonus as Hide.  While I do relent it opens up magical armor properties for those characters, fact is, most magical armor properties pale in comparison to raw AC.  And if light armor would be better for them in the AC department, well.. they now have some extra options for properties, and that's good for them.But, they're already in Hide, so it's not like light armor's suddenly opened up as this new option for them.</blockquote>

Verification