NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 4745607" data-attributes="member: 46713">Well, almost.'The math' _seems_ to be off because it doesn't take synergy bonuses, powers, and other game mechanics at Epic level into account.I'll say this:If 'the math' was fine, how important would it be how good a party's tactics are? Why continue playing into epic levels if things don't get more challenging? Where's the satisfaction in a math that will make sure you're going to always win encounters without giving your very best?My theory: The math is set up to be in favour of the pcs in the beginning of their career to make sure they'll survive into paragon levels even if they're still making bad decisions regularly. It's a safety net for inexperienced players.It would be wrong to assume the math has to be identical in the epic tier. It's one of many reasons why new players should not start with epic characters. They need to grow into the increased challenge that is epic level play.Now PHB2 offers a couple of feats intended for those players who prefer to have an easier time or want to start at levels that would otherwise be beyond their ability. So, in a way, it's good the feats are available, but they aren't for everyone and definitely aren't a must have.Another point:People have been mentioning how (in heroic level games) encounters don't really seem to be challenging (for experienced players), unless using encounter levels that are about 3-4 levels higher than the party.Will the same be true in the epic tier? I don't think so.And that's a good thing because there are fewer monsters available at high levels. If you wanted to create a challenging encounter for a level 30 party you'd have a problem if you had to pick level 34 monsters...Now, obviously, I cannot prove that my assumptions are correct. Maybe you're right and the 'pre-PHB2' math in the epic tier isn't the math the designers wanted it to be. I'm fairly certain they didn't playtest the epic levels as thoroughly as heroic and paragon levels. But until we have more examples of organically grown parties and their experiences, it cannot be decided. Time will tell. Maybe the DMG2 (or DMG3) will give us more insights.</blockquote>

Verification