Powers that weren't as good as you thought or were better.

[Aservan]

I agree I thought flames of Phlegethos would be good as it is the most damaging warlock power and I was supposed to be a striker right? Wrong. When you miss you often get a measly 5 damage through. Whoopty do. You can't even get the curse damage in as there is no roll.

Armor of Agathys seemed really mediocre. Yeah it was auto damage but I had all ranged powers. I had no desire to be in melee with the enemy. Now I use it early in the fight (only a big one though - it is a daily), wait for some temp HP, then I use my ranged attack and move into the biggest group I can find. The temp HP can save my bacon and I get some auto damage in. It doesn't work for long and my damage is still behind other strikers but it does work.

 

[blargney the second]

Knight's Move is much much better than I thought it would be. Our rogue absolutely *loves* when I use it on her.

 

[Ingolf]

Sure Strike does improve as you advance in level and your strength bonus becomes less and less of a percentage of your overall damage.

I still wouldn't pick it except as a human's bonus at will, though.

Actually, if you do the math, you'll see that even at high levels, and assuming lots of kickers like weapon focus and Kensai, Sure Strike still does less damage on average than a basic melee attack. It gets closer, but the fact that your strength bonus also scales up as you level means it will always be the worst choice.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Our human 2HW fighter took 'sure strike' as his third at-will since tide of iron was patently useless for him.

Turns out to have been his most-used at-will power to date (currently 2nd level).

(nb although he is a 2HW fighter, he is optimised around Con rather than Str - which is why reaping strike isn't such a good option for him to use most of the time)

The ranger got good mileage out of 'foxes cunning' in every encounter.

 

[Klaus]

Knight's Move is much much better than I thought it would be. Our rogue absolutely *loves* when I use it on her.

Glad to hear, as our dragonborn warlord took Knight's Move as his Utility 2 power (and our ranged took Yield Ground).

The fey warlock has decidedly unimpressive powers at Utility 2. Our tiefling had to take Fiendish Resilience.

 

[Plane Sailing]

The fey warlock has decidedly unimpressive powers at Utility 2. Our tiefling had to take Fiendish Resilience.

Our fey warlock went for ethereal stride (utility 2), and used it as his 'get out of jail free' card when they were imprisoned by the goblins - it arrived just in time!

I agree that the warlock utility 2 powers are not that impressive though.

Cheers

 

[Saeviomagy]

Effects which knock an enemy prone seemed way better than they turned out to be. Its easy for an enemy to stand back up, and the players in my group keep forgetting to delay their action until right after their enemy, THEN knock them prone, to maximize the team's ability to beat on the prone target.

Make sure you shift away from the foe that you knock prone. That way it's impossible (barring some special ability) for them to attack you. They can't charge because you are too close, and they can't move and attack.

I think knockdowns take a lot of coordination to take advantage of.

Sure strike can help a fighter kill minions, but that's really all it does, and unless there's only one minion around, cleave is much better.

As for me? I found that riposte strike was pretty bad - in order to get your riposte, you have to hit, so you've already sneak attacked for the round. The basic attack it grants is going to be quite weak compared with the likely effects of anything that swings at you in melee, and so it's not going to be any major deterrent for a foe.

I replaced it with deft strike, which originally looked awful. 2 squares of movement? Pah! But I was so wrong. Deft striking (with ranged attacks) out from total cover and then moving back into it is a great defensive tactic. Deft strike has also helped me get more than a few flanks. I think rogues will find that piercing strike is a gimme, and then artful dodgers will find a hard choice between sly flourish and deft strike. Brutes should take deft strike and not look back.

 

[Kzach]

Passing Attack has been awesome for me. But I went with a high strength build and the bastard sword. So I tend to hit more often than I miss. Marking two targets and getting great damage on one, moving and almost guaranteed damage on the other is fantastic.

Another awesome encounter power is Positioning Strike. I absolutely love being able to move a target wherever I want, up to 4 squares. I love using it on the bosses or mini-bosses when they try and outmanoeuvre me. I just shout, "Get back over here where I can flank you and our fighter can ruin all your shifting!"

 

[Eccles]

Bastion of Defence.

Don't get me wrong, it's GREAT for everyone else in the party. Their defences and HP all just went up.

Whilst me in my chainmail armour and light shield (ie not a tanking AC) just threw myself in the path of the nearest villain and hit him as hard as I could in the face, thus ensuring that my allies would be all the safer.

After all, the villain's going to try and hit me next turn.

So many of the warlord's powers that don't affect the warlord and leave you in harm's way. It's very frustrating.

 

[Pielorinho]

So many of the warlord's powers that don't affect the warlord and leave you in harm's way. It's very frustrating.

Wow--I was sure that "allies" included yourself. According to the target rules on page 57, it doesn't. I might end up houseruling that.

Daniel