Player's Handbook 2: I haz it

[davethegame]

How do the Avenger's and the Sorcerer's damage dealing capabilities seem to stack up compared to the other strikers? Also, you mentioned on your site an Avenger power in the Epic tier that wowed you. Were there any similar Avenger powers that stood out for you in the Heroic & Paragon tiers? (General descriptions of the powers & not crunch, of course...)

It still seems like the Avenger's shtick is to hit more often but not do as much damage as other strikers. They have more ranged powers than I was expecting, so that could be a pretty interesting concept to focus on that. They have a strong "pursuit" vibe to many of the powers too.

Sorcerers get striker damage through a class feature, just not a variable one.

 

[Vendark]

Could you give a brief description of the new epic destinies?

 

[davethegame]

What's the general feeling you got from flipping through the book?

As someone who has followed all the previews to cover them for my site, not a whole lot jumped out at me as surprising, but it did make me want to roll up some new characters and try a lot of these things out.

The art? Is it good/bad? Comparable to? Are there any recycled art in the book?

Good. More consistent in style than PHB1 for sure, and it leaves out some of the artists who have appeared in other 4e books that I strongly dislike. I didn't spot any recycled art, which is excellent.

What can you tell us about the concept of the races and classes presented in the book? I mean, by now we all know for sure what they are and such, but how do they look like, the fluff and etc?

Devas are an excellent concept that carries through whenever they show up. Gnomes, Half-Orcs, and Shifters all occupy unique niches for the game. Goliaths... enh. They didn't excite me in 3e and they're pretty similar now.

What's your personal opinion regarding the book overall? Is it up to expectations? Better? Worse?

Up to my expectations, as noted earlier, the previews (and my trip to New York Comic Con) took a lot of the mystery out of what was going to be in it. The sacrifices I make

Any particular noticeable flaw/typo/inconsistence/whatever you noticed already?

Not that has jumped out at me, but after doing a full day editing at work, I don't always turn that part of the brain back on.

Thanks for taking the time and doing this Dave!

Sure!

Roughly what kind of things does the Bard-specific rituals do? Are they party-buffers, or problem-solvers?

Mainly utility/problem-solvers, with some skill-buffing to boot.

-Are there any material in there to support other classes and races from previews books such as feats (besides Versatile Master half-elves, of course), and paragon paths (besides the racial paragon paths)?

Besides the things you mention, it either works for something from PHB2 OR it's something anyone can take.

-How awesome are the Deva?

I dig them a lot, and I think it's one of the stronger concepts behind the various races. (I also have a fondness for Warforged in that regard). It reminds me both of that quasi-Monk skill using class from Arcana Unearthed and the Trill from Star Trek, to muddy up my nerdom there.

-Tell us about the rules updates.

Largely an explanation of the keywords they've set in other books- Conjuration, Summoning, even stuff like Rattling from Martial Power. Stealth is the biggest errata there.

Do you notice any sort of power creep between the PHB2 classes and what's available in the Core PHB?

It's hard to say since the PHB contains a wide variety of things on the power scale. Nothing has jumped out at me as being strictly power creep, but I'd have to look closer.

 

[Mr.Black]

1. What are the half-orc racial modifiers? (+2 str, +2 ???)

2. Are there any paragon paths that add ability score modifiers to damage? (Such as Pit fighter and wisdom)

Thanks.

 

[davethegame]

Could you give a brief description of the new epic destinies?

The two that stood out are Harbringer of Doom (you're the messenger for some kind of apocalypse) and Revered One (sort of like the Contemplative prestige class, a seeker of ultimate truth).

 

[Kzach]

Are there songblades for bards or any rules around such a concept?

What's the Con-bard (Charisma main, Con secondary) like? Is it a melee leader-type like I'm expecting?

Who's your daddy?

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Can you describe the Avenger's at-will powers? It's the only class for which we don't have all the at-wills.

Are there any feats that improve a druid's wild shape, or improve the Shaman's spirit? (And please don't just say "yes" )

You mentioned on your site that there's something that improves paragon multiclassing. Can you tell us what it is, and how it improves multiclassing?

 

[davethegame]

Are there songblades for bards or any rules around such a concept?

Yep! They're in the magic items.

What's the Con-bard (Charisma main, Con secondary) like? Is it a melee leader-type like I'm expecting?

It seems more Leadery to me, a lot more shouting. It does look a little like the Warlord. Int bard seems more controllery (tricking your enemies).

Who's your daddy?

That one I will choose to ignore.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

please tell us if Implment/Weapon Expertise is as bad as we have heard.

is it really +1 att, and are there pre reqs to it....we had such a fight on the wizard boards about it, I just have to know...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

i must be doing it wrong, i rarely have that reaction to any game book anymore. Since it's mostly rules there's not much to react against, but if i had to pick something, i was a bit disappointed at the lack of pudgy/hardy gnomes or anything to go with them.

I REFUSE TO GO ON A DIET, WOTC! Gimme mah Krispy Kremes!