Powers confusion

[TheProphet]

I'm confused, and don't want to have gotten this wrong:

If a player is say... 4th level, and has 2 total encounter powers known, according to page 29 (PHB), but is a Dragonborn and a Cleric, having taken Armor of Bahamut, can he only use 2 Encounter powers between the multiple Encounter powers he has (all three cleric Class Features, his first level prayer, possibly a second level Encounter Utility Prayer, a a level 3 encounter prayer, dragonborn dragon breath, and the Armor of Bahamut encounter Feat power) or can he conceivably use all of them in one encounter?

 

[DracoSuave]

Okay, let's sort this out for ya.

Firstly, let's group up all your powers into easily understood stacks.

The first stack is your Class and Race features and powers. That'd be Healing Word, Channel Divinity (and it's variants), and Dragonsbreath. Let's put those over there.

That leaves your class powers, and powers from paths and destinies. You don't have a path or destiny, so those stacks are empty. Leave them aside.

That leaves your class powers. Class powers are divided into four distinct stacks- At-Will Attacks, Encounter Attacks, Daily Attacks, and Utilities. When you have a table that says you have 2 encounter powers for your level, it's really refering solely to your Encounter Attacks. They are distinct from your Utility powers, even if those powers have the Encounter keyword.

So, let's say you have an Encounter Utility. This is what you can do:

You can do the following At-Will:
Your class at-wills
Melee Basic Attack
Ranged Basic Attack

The following can -each- be done Once Per Encounter, and you can use them all if you like:
Dragonsbreath
Two Healing Words
Your level 1 Encounter Attack power
Your level 3 Encounter Attack power
Your level 2 Utility
One of: (Divine Fortune, Turn Undead, or Armor of Bahamut)

This is a total of 7 powers you can potentially use per encounter.

And lastly, one hit with your Daily Attack power.

 

[Shroomy]

He could use all of them, though their might be restrictions on the usage of certain powers. The progression your referencing only applies to class powers, not powers derived from race, feats, class features, or magic items.

 

[Kordeth]

I'm confused, and don't want to have gotten this wrong:

If a player is say... 4th level, and has 2 total encounter powers known, according to page 29 (PHB), but is a Dragonborn and a Cleric, having taken Armor of Bahamut, can he only use 2 Encounter powers between the multiple Encounter powers he has (all three cleric Class Features, his first level prayer, possibly a second level Encounter Utility Prayer, a a level 3 encounter prayer, dragonborn dragon breath, and the Armor of Bahamut encounter Feat power) or can he conceivably use all of them in one encounter?

With a few exceptions, each encounter power can be used once per encounter. The table on p. 29 is only what he knows from his class power list.

That's the general rule, but there's an exception when dealing with the cleric: Clerics don't have three encounter class features, they have two: healing word and channel divinity. Healing word can be used twice per encounter.

Channel divinity is a single, oce-per-encounter ability that allows the cleric to choose which effect to manifest: turn undead or divine fortune. Selecting the Armor of Bahamut feat allows you to also choose the armor of Bahamut effect for your Channel Divinity feature, but Channel Divinity is still a once-per-encounter ability.

So, in total, your cleric could do the following every encounter (assuming he has no other feats, magic items, etc.):

- One 1st-level encounter power from the cleric power list.
- One 1st or 3rd-level power from the cleric power list (depending on which power he chose at 3rd level).
- Two healing words.
- Dragon breath.
- Any one of turn undead, divine fortune, or armor of Bahamut.

 

[Kordeth]

The following can -each- be done Once Per Encounter, and you can use them all if you like:
Dragonsbreath
Two Healing Words
Your level 1 Encounter Attack power
Your level 3 Encounter Attack power
Your level 2 Utility
One of: (Divine Fortune, Turn Undead, or Armor of Bahamut)

This is a total of 7 powers you can potentially use per encounter.

And lastly, one hit with your Daily Attack power.

Probably a minor nitpick, but since the OP is confused about power usage I'd just point out that you can only use your 2nd-level utility prayer once per encounter if you chose an encounter utility prayer. Clerics have two 2nd-level choices that are daily, and while technically daily powers can be used once during an encounter, they can't be used once per encounter unless you only have one encounter per day.

 

[DracoSuave]

Probably a minor nitpick, but since the OP is confused about power usage I'd just point out that you can only use your 2nd-level utility prayer once per encounter if you chose an encounter utility prayer. Clerics have two 2nd-level choices that are daily, and while technically daily powers can be used once during an encounter, they can't be used once per encounter unless you only have one encounter per day.

So, let's say you have an Encounter Utility. This is what you can do:

I believe I covered that.