I will bow to those with greater knowledge. Like I said in my original post, I do not play 4e. The thread title merely caught my attention. I will say as an outsider this seems confusing. From what I have read of OH1 choices and variety seemed to be going by the wayside anyhow. All the powers looked mechanically the same. The only difference in a fighter and a wizard seemed to be fluff. The mechanics were roll a d20 and add your class prime attribute.
If you hit roll you damage die and add your prime attribute. Encounter powers and daily powers were similar, did more damage a limited time per combat or day.
I really did not see a need for a cleric in the system, all "cure" powers did is allow a healing surge during combat rather than after. All abilities seemed to come from the character rather than items. This just seemed a superhero game rather than D&D. Am I missing something here? What is essentials taking away exactly? Your only allowed to attack ac rather than a save? That really appeared to be the only difference in the attacks. Like I said all else seemed to be fluff.
At first glance, many people come to the same conclusions you did. However, in practice, the mechanical differences are significant, and the play experiences of a fighter, wizard, and cleric are very different.
Do all three get attacks at the same levels? Yes.
Do all three work on the same core mechanic of rolling a d20 and comparing an attack result to a defence? Yes.
Do all three, generally speaking, then apply damage to the target? Yes.
Where the differences come in is a combination of class features, the effects that attacks impose, and in the side benefits those attacks grant. Even when attacks impose the very same effect, where and how it is imposed can greatly alter how it's used.
A fighter is sticky. Enemies have serious trouble ignoring and maneuvering around one. Their class features punish enemies that try to move away from them or attack those the fighter is protecting. Their attacks tend to impose additional effects that reinforce that, or make the fighter tougher in order to allow them to take the resulting punishment that comes their way. Their abilities focus on those in reach of their melee attacks; you can do some ranged combat with a fighter, but it's not where their strengths lie.
A wizard is relatively fragile, and in most cases never wants to be in the fighter's place. Their attacks tend to be ranged or area, and impose effects that try and keep enemies away from them (and hopefully away from other fragile targets), rather than draw them in as the fighter does. They also, unlike the fighter, rarely target AC, which means they have a greater ability to seek out an enemy's weakness and exploit it. They can clear out weak foes in large numbers rapidly, or impose serious conditions on stronger foes. Their daily spells tend to transform the nature of the rest of the combat in which they are used, either adding entire entities to the battle, or changing the battlefield itself.
A cleric is tougher than a wizard, and far more likely to get engaged in melee (though they can work at range as well). It's not as tough as the fighter, though, and its attacks tend to provide buffs or healing to allies. It's not sticky, like a fighter, nor does it want to be. Unlike the other two, its entirely possible (admittedly not through PHB1 options) to have a character that rarely (or even never) does damage, yet still contributes to the group. That ability to heal often
doesn't require surges, or augments surges. Even the ability to spend an unaugmented surge in combat can be hugely important, as most classes are quite limited in how many they can spend in combat. In combat is where healing matters most: an unconscious fighter isn't protecting anyone, an unconscious wizard's daily power usually ceases to function.
You do get some abilities from your items, but the designers intentionally shifted the bulk of your characters power to the character themselves, rather than what they carry. This was intentional, to make it that it was the character that mattered, rather than what loot you found. Is it superheroic? It can be, especially at higher levels, but Epic levels are called Epic for a reason.
Essentials doesn't really take anything away. Like we've said, they're just optional new versions of classes, that do not replace the prior versions.
The Essentials Martial classes break away from the At-Will, Encounter, and Daily power format, in part to simplify them, in part to make them more appealing to those that felt the structure turned fighters into wizards, and in part just to explore a different way of doing things.
They tend to rely on modifying basic attacks, which to some people feels more realistic. You make a normal attack, and it's modified because of what stance you're in, or what trick you just pulled.
Other Essentials classes may stick with the same power set-up (the Mage, for instance), but alter the class features. Mages get more class features, than the PHB1 Wizard does, and it's more flavourful. Power-wise, it still works the same as the old Wizard, and the old Wizard can take every new power that was added for the Mage, and vice versa.
Some are simpler, others aren't. Some get less choices than older classes. Others get more.
