So now that I have gotten to play around some with ED and maneuvers, I wanted to give my general summary of each of them. I'm also going to give each one a rating. An "A" is the creme de la creme, whereas an F I can never see taking as written.
Deadly Strike (A): I'm doing this one out of alphabetical order because I believe this is the current benchmark by which all other maneuvers are judged. If I take a combat maneuver, I'm always going to ask "will this help me as much as deadly strike?"
So how "deadly" is deadly strike? Let's do a damage check. Since I don't know all the possible damage bonuses that will exist in the game, I'm going to give this example fighter the high side on some damage numbers to try and compensate. I'm also not going to factor in crits.
1st level Fighter with 18th strength wielding a two-handed Greatsword. I don't believe THF currently gives you x1.5 damage from strength, but I'm going to use this to once again account for other damage bonuses I don't know about. So 1d12 (6.5) + 6 (str) = 12.5.
So a d4 deadly strike = 2.5 average damage, which is 20% more damage.
5th level Fighter now with +2 magic weapon. 1d12 (6.5) + 6 (str) + 2 (magic) = 14.5.
Deadly Strike is 2d6 = 7 average damage, which is 48% more damage.
10th level Fighter with 20 str, and a +3 magic weapon. 1d12 (6.5) + 7 (str) + 3 (magic) = 16.5
Deadly Strike is 3d10 = 16.5, which is 100% more damage.
So the conclusion is that anytime a character is not using deadly strike, he is giving up a significant portion of his damage ability. As currently written, I think this maneuver is likely too powerful. It's simply too swingy in damage between when its used and when its not, and it creates too much competition for other maneuvers.
Cleave (C): This one is still causing confusion as written. Unlike other maneuvers, it sounds like I get to roll the expertise dice and still keep my damage bonus. If that is true, then it's not too bad, but I still question why I would pick this maneuver up when I have deadly strike. Sure...it's great to be able to hit multiple targets, but I only do it if I kill the first one (and better to use DS to ensure that I do). I also think forcing an extra attack roll is unnecessary. Just use the original attack roll and save some rolling (and then I can get a double crit which I think would make this maneuvers much sexier).
Composed Attack (C): This one has an okay effect that it does in a clunky way. Players are always going to try and negate disadvantage whenever possible on their own, so a big question is how often this is going to come up? Combine that with the randomness (it may not help you at all depending on your roll) and this maneuver is lackluster to me. I think it should read: "spend all of your expertise dice and again advantage on any attack that has disadvantage". That way it would be clean and effective at what it does.
Controlled Fall (D): Maneuvers like this are very situational, and situational anything has either be very common or extremely powerful to compete with general abilities. Controlled fall is okay at what it does, but it's just powerful enough to warrant taking compared to other maneuvers.
Danger Sense (B): Initiative bonuses are always useful. This maneuver both provides a bonus that could stack with other initiative bonuses and it doesn't conflict at all with other combat maneuvers, meaning it's simply a true bonus.
Defensive Roll (C): Just like controlled fall, but mostly against blast spells. Since we still have a good amount of Dex save for half spells out there, I feel this one will come up more than controlled fall, hence its higher rating.
Deflect Missiles (C): Unlike parry, the AC bonus here may provide you complete protection or no bonus at all. When it comes to defense, certainty is a big factor so the AC bonus isn't as good. Also, ranged weapons tend to do less damage than melee ones. The follow-up abilities to throw missiles is currently too complicated and provides too little benefit to be worthwhile.
Flurry of Blows (D): It's basically a mook killer. Because I'm rolling only my expertise die I'm basically doing a lot of rolling for piddly damage, so unless the creature only has a few hitpoints this is a lot of rolling for wasted effort.
Glancing Blow (C): On the surface, this ability is pretty lousy. I have to roll a 10 or better and miss, so its situational use is fairly rare. And I once again do paltry damage. Its only saving grace is because it works on a miss it doesn't conflict with other combat maneuvers. I can hit and do deadly strike, or miss and do glancing blow. So for the characters who hate to do nothing, its an okay maneuver.
Great Fortitude/Lightning Reflexes/Iron Will (B): I'm lumping these all together. While their bonus is random, saving throw bonuses seem very rare in the game right now and characters tend to make a lot of them. The way I'm interpreting them is I can roll my save and then choose to use the maneuver, which means they don't conflict with other maneuvers as much. At low levels I don't think it will see a lot of use but once I can get +5-10 on my saving throws I think it will be huge.
Hurricane Strike (B): This maneuver provides a true "maneuver" that your character can do. Push effects were pretty useful in 4e and this one can be scaled to how much you need. If you just need a quick push you can also lump in some deadly strike. If you need to knock the guy flat out then you can spend a lot of dice.
Iron Root Defense (B): I like the strength of this one and that it's so solidly different from maneuvers like parry. It provides a very nice bonus, has good flavor, but has important restrictions that keep it from conflicting with other maneuvers. If you want defense, this is a great way to go about it.
Mighty Exertion (B): For the character that wants to sacrifice damage from other abilities this is the one to do it. It gives you the equivalent of an attack bonus on all combat maneuvers like disarm, push, and trip...and provides a bonus to strength skills as well. What makes this one is that it works during those times when you aren't planning to do damage anyway, so it doesn't compete with damage maneuvers.
Opportunist (F): Opportunity attacks just don't come up enough to warrant spending abilities on them. If we still had 3e rules that let reach weapons generate lots of OAs or standing from prone provoked them it might be one thing, but as is I can't see opportunity attacks coming up enough to make this worth it.
Parry (B): Just a solid all around defensive maneuver. It works most of the time and because it can turn hits into misses you can actually negate other effects like poison.
Precise Shot (F): This is a stinker in my opinion. First of all, cover just doesn't come up that often, so you are already spending a precious maneuver for something rare. Second, the effect is very fiddly. I think the maneuver should read: "spend 1 expertise die to negate 1/2 cover, spend 2 to negate 3/4 cover". Even with that, I would rate it a C at best.
Protect (B): Parry for an ally. It's not going to come up as often as parry so on that I would rate it lower. However, this ability so well provides the "defender" ability many like to have that I think it will see a lot of use for that alone. Also, it does work against ranged weapons unlike parry.
Skill Mastery (A): The definitive maneuver for the rogue right now. Gives you a powerful skill bonus in or out of combat. Literally makes you the master of skills compared to those who don't have it.
Sneak Attack (B): Deadly Strike - lite. Its just as strong as DS, but more situational. Its also controversial right now because people are asking "why can't the rogue just get DS?"
Spring Attack (C): The damage is poor, but spring attack also lets you perform attacks when you normally cannot, so it gives you a lot of flexibility. And you can combine it with effects like DS to account provide decent damage.
Step of the Wind (C): On the one hand, this is a very defining ability, as speed can be a great asset. But the randomness is a very very large drawback. Moving is often an all or nothing thing, either I can make the distance, or I can't....in which case I won't move at all. It gets a C right now because of its higher level abilities which are actually really nice even if I didn't get any speed bonus at all. If this maneuver simply provided a set amount of speed per die spent, it would likely be a B in my book.
Tumbling Dodge (D): With my experience with rogue's, you try to avoid OAs like the plague. Rogue's don't want bonuses to OAs, they don't want to take OAs. If this maneuver negated one OA per die spent, it would be a hit. Otherwise, there is better stuff out there to take.
Vault (D): Again, the randomness kills you here. If I'm going to make a jump I want consistency not randomness. And beyond that this is exceptional situational. It only avoided an F because there are so few ways to increase your jump because it's not a skill.
Volley (C): In some ways its better than cleave. You don't have to knock something down to 0, and you can do it with ranged attacks which offer more opportunities to use it. Also you get to keep the original attack, so you have more consistency and possibility for mass crits. On the other hand the damage is much lower than cleave. Overall I rated it the same.
Whirlwind Attack (D): Similar to volley, but volley will have an easier time finding targets to use this on, and cleave and whirlwind conflict with other, and I think cleave it actually the better choice.
Deadly Strike (A): I'm doing this one out of alphabetical order because I believe this is the current benchmark by which all other maneuvers are judged. If I take a combat maneuver, I'm always going to ask "will this help me as much as deadly strike?"
So how "deadly" is deadly strike? Let's do a damage check. Since I don't know all the possible damage bonuses that will exist in the game, I'm going to give this example fighter the high side on some damage numbers to try and compensate. I'm also not going to factor in crits.
1st level Fighter with 18th strength wielding a two-handed Greatsword. I don't believe THF currently gives you x1.5 damage from strength, but I'm going to use this to once again account for other damage bonuses I don't know about. So 1d12 (6.5) + 6 (str) = 12.5.
So a d4 deadly strike = 2.5 average damage, which is 20% more damage.
5th level Fighter now with +2 magic weapon. 1d12 (6.5) + 6 (str) + 2 (magic) = 14.5.
Deadly Strike is 2d6 = 7 average damage, which is 48% more damage.
10th level Fighter with 20 str, and a +3 magic weapon. 1d12 (6.5) + 7 (str) + 3 (magic) = 16.5
Deadly Strike is 3d10 = 16.5, which is 100% more damage.
So the conclusion is that anytime a character is not using deadly strike, he is giving up a significant portion of his damage ability. As currently written, I think this maneuver is likely too powerful. It's simply too swingy in damage between when its used and when its not, and it creates too much competition for other maneuvers.
Cleave (C): This one is still causing confusion as written. Unlike other maneuvers, it sounds like I get to roll the expertise dice and still keep my damage bonus. If that is true, then it's not too bad, but I still question why I would pick this maneuver up when I have deadly strike. Sure...it's great to be able to hit multiple targets, but I only do it if I kill the first one (and better to use DS to ensure that I do). I also think forcing an extra attack roll is unnecessary. Just use the original attack roll and save some rolling (and then I can get a double crit which I think would make this maneuvers much sexier).
Composed Attack (C): This one has an okay effect that it does in a clunky way. Players are always going to try and negate disadvantage whenever possible on their own, so a big question is how often this is going to come up? Combine that with the randomness (it may not help you at all depending on your roll) and this maneuver is lackluster to me. I think it should read: "spend all of your expertise dice and again advantage on any attack that has disadvantage". That way it would be clean and effective at what it does.
Controlled Fall (D): Maneuvers like this are very situational, and situational anything has either be very common or extremely powerful to compete with general abilities. Controlled fall is okay at what it does, but it's just powerful enough to warrant taking compared to other maneuvers.
Danger Sense (B): Initiative bonuses are always useful. This maneuver both provides a bonus that could stack with other initiative bonuses and it doesn't conflict at all with other combat maneuvers, meaning it's simply a true bonus.
Defensive Roll (C): Just like controlled fall, but mostly against blast spells. Since we still have a good amount of Dex save for half spells out there, I feel this one will come up more than controlled fall, hence its higher rating.
Deflect Missiles (C): Unlike parry, the AC bonus here may provide you complete protection or no bonus at all. When it comes to defense, certainty is a big factor so the AC bonus isn't as good. Also, ranged weapons tend to do less damage than melee ones. The follow-up abilities to throw missiles is currently too complicated and provides too little benefit to be worthwhile.
Flurry of Blows (D): It's basically a mook killer. Because I'm rolling only my expertise die I'm basically doing a lot of rolling for piddly damage, so unless the creature only has a few hitpoints this is a lot of rolling for wasted effort.
Glancing Blow (C): On the surface, this ability is pretty lousy. I have to roll a 10 or better and miss, so its situational use is fairly rare. And I once again do paltry damage. Its only saving grace is because it works on a miss it doesn't conflict with other combat maneuvers. I can hit and do deadly strike, or miss and do glancing blow. So for the characters who hate to do nothing, its an okay maneuver.
Great Fortitude/Lightning Reflexes/Iron Will (B): I'm lumping these all together. While their bonus is random, saving throw bonuses seem very rare in the game right now and characters tend to make a lot of them. The way I'm interpreting them is I can roll my save and then choose to use the maneuver, which means they don't conflict with other maneuvers as much. At low levels I don't think it will see a lot of use but once I can get +5-10 on my saving throws I think it will be huge.
Hurricane Strike (B): This maneuver provides a true "maneuver" that your character can do. Push effects were pretty useful in 4e and this one can be scaled to how much you need. If you just need a quick push you can also lump in some deadly strike. If you need to knock the guy flat out then you can spend a lot of dice.
Iron Root Defense (B): I like the strength of this one and that it's so solidly different from maneuvers like parry. It provides a very nice bonus, has good flavor, but has important restrictions that keep it from conflicting with other maneuvers. If you want defense, this is a great way to go about it.
Mighty Exertion (B): For the character that wants to sacrifice damage from other abilities this is the one to do it. It gives you the equivalent of an attack bonus on all combat maneuvers like disarm, push, and trip...and provides a bonus to strength skills as well. What makes this one is that it works during those times when you aren't planning to do damage anyway, so it doesn't compete with damage maneuvers.
Opportunist (F): Opportunity attacks just don't come up enough to warrant spending abilities on them. If we still had 3e rules that let reach weapons generate lots of OAs or standing from prone provoked them it might be one thing, but as is I can't see opportunity attacks coming up enough to make this worth it.
Parry (B): Just a solid all around defensive maneuver. It works most of the time and because it can turn hits into misses you can actually negate other effects like poison.
Precise Shot (F): This is a stinker in my opinion. First of all, cover just doesn't come up that often, so you are already spending a precious maneuver for something rare. Second, the effect is very fiddly. I think the maneuver should read: "spend 1 expertise die to negate 1/2 cover, spend 2 to negate 3/4 cover". Even with that, I would rate it a C at best.
Protect (B): Parry for an ally. It's not going to come up as often as parry so on that I would rate it lower. However, this ability so well provides the "defender" ability many like to have that I think it will see a lot of use for that alone. Also, it does work against ranged weapons unlike parry.
Skill Mastery (A): The definitive maneuver for the rogue right now. Gives you a powerful skill bonus in or out of combat. Literally makes you the master of skills compared to those who don't have it.
Sneak Attack (B): Deadly Strike - lite. Its just as strong as DS, but more situational. Its also controversial right now because people are asking "why can't the rogue just get DS?"
Spring Attack (C): The damage is poor, but spring attack also lets you perform attacks when you normally cannot, so it gives you a lot of flexibility. And you can combine it with effects like DS to account provide decent damage.
Step of the Wind (C): On the one hand, this is a very defining ability, as speed can be a great asset. But the randomness is a very very large drawback. Moving is often an all or nothing thing, either I can make the distance, or I can't....in which case I won't move at all. It gets a C right now because of its higher level abilities which are actually really nice even if I didn't get any speed bonus at all. If this maneuver simply provided a set amount of speed per die spent, it would likely be a B in my book.
Tumbling Dodge (D): With my experience with rogue's, you try to avoid OAs like the plague. Rogue's don't want bonuses to OAs, they don't want to take OAs. If this maneuver negated one OA per die spent, it would be a hit. Otherwise, there is better stuff out there to take.
Vault (D): Again, the randomness kills you here. If I'm going to make a jump I want consistency not randomness. And beyond that this is exceptional situational. It only avoided an F because there are so few ways to increase your jump because it's not a skill.
Volley (C): In some ways its better than cleave. You don't have to knock something down to 0, and you can do it with ranged attacks which offer more opportunities to use it. Also you get to keep the original attack, so you have more consistency and possibility for mass crits. On the other hand the damage is much lower than cleave. Overall I rated it the same.
Whirlwind Attack (D): Similar to volley, but volley will have an easier time finding targets to use this on, and cleave and whirlwind conflict with other, and I think cleave it actually the better choice.
