Songbow, Character Builder, Expertise feats

[RangerWickett]

My bard with the Euphonic Bow paragon path uses a songbow, but in the character builder I don't think there's a way for my bow expertise feat to apply to implement attacks. If I pick Implement Expertise (bow), I end up with a 1-point lag in my attack bonus.

Is there any fix to this? And does WotC have any good reason for not having fixed the game mechanics for weapliments by now?

 

[Ryujin]

Are you given the option of taking "versatile expertise" then selecting bow for both weapon AND implement?

Other than that I'd say it's a bug in Builder, so report it.

 

[OnlineDM]

Bow Expertise reads:

Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to weapon attack rolls that you make with a bow. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll of any weapon attack you make with a bow against a single creature that is not adjacent to any other creature. Both of these bonuses increase to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 21st level.

Emphasis added - the feat only applies to weapon attacks made with the bow, not implement attacks.

No, they haven't "fixed" this yet. Versatile Expertise and Implement Expertise (bow) will just be +1 until 15th level.

 

[DracoSuave]

Are you given the option of taking "versatile expertise" then selecting bow for both weapon AND implement?

Unnecessary.

By taking bow as your weapon, you gain the bonus to attack rolls with all attacks with it, not just weapon attacks.

 

[Ryujin]

Unnecessary.

By taking bow as your weapon, you gain the bonus to attack rolls with all attacks with it, not just weapon attacks.

That was my thought also, as it seems to be the way things work with sword weaplements, for example. I was merely looking for a patch/fix, for the OP.

 

[OnlineDM]

Unnecessary.

By taking bow as your weapon, you gain the bonus to attack rolls with all attacks with it, not just weapon attacks.

I'm confused. I thought the passage I quoted from the Compendium about the Bow Expertise feat pretty clearly stated that the bonus only applied to weapon attacks.

Am I missing something?

Edit: To be clear, I know that DracoSuave is a man who tends to know his stuff, so it is indeed quite possible that I'm missing something!

 

[WalterKovacs]

I'm confused. I thought the passage I quoted from the Compendium about the Bow Expertise feat pretty clearly stated that the bonus only applied to weapon attacks.

Am I missing something?

Edit: To be clear, I know that DracoSuave is a man who tends to know his stuff, so it is indeed quite possible that I'm missing something!

He's talking about the weapon chosen by versatile expertise. You don't need both choices to be bow, as both options get the bonus to attack whether they are being used as weapons or implements.

 

[DracoSuave]

He's talking about the weapon chosen by versatile expertise. You don't need both choices to be bow, as both options get the bonus to attack whether they are being used as weapons or implements.

This. This is why Versatile Expertise is the weapliment fix.

 

[RangerWickett]

Right, as OnlineDM said in his XP comment, it's irksome that from level 11 to 14 I'm behind the curve of someone whose class doesn't split weapons and implements.

I really hope 5e (or whatever Mearls is working on) eliminates these sorts of janky shenanigans.

 

[DracoSuave]

Right, as OnlineDM said in his XP comment, it's irksome that from level 11 to 14 I'm behind the curve of someone whose class doesn't split weapons and implements.

I really hope 5e (or whatever Mearls is working on) eliminates these sorts of janky shenanigans.

It's -1 over 8 levels. You're not exactly on the road to being gimp here.

It's not as big a deal as people make it out to be.