D&D 4E Tell me about your 4e combats (and 2h weapons)

[Old Gumphrey]

The Dwarf has a better Fortitude defense than the fighter.

Actually, it was 2 less due to the human having 18 str vs. dwarf's 16 con and being a human for +1 to all defenses. It had more AC, more fortitude, more attack bonus, and 2 less average damage. And that was with a greataxe. If I had a greatsword, I would have done LESS damage than a guy with a 1h weapon!

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I'd say the basic problem here is that greatswords are just slightly not good enough. If they did 1d12 damage, they'd probably be about perfect: slightly more accurate than greataxes, but without the "high crit" attribute.

As it is, a bastard sword held two-handed does more damage than a greatsword... which is silly.

 

[Victim]

Using a two handed weapon without Polearm Gambit seems like a bad idea to me. +2 AC and Ref has been much more useful in the adventure we've played than ~+1 damage per [w]. But that feat is awesome.

 

[Mirtek]

I'd say the basic problem here is that greatswords are just slightly not good enough. If they did 1d12 damage, they'd probably be about perfect: slightly more accurate than greataxes, but without the "high crit" attribute.

As it is, a bastard sword held two-handed does more damage than a greatsword... which is silly.

I think the 1d10 greatsword is fine within the military tier. There a sword fighter can either go for 1d8+shield or 1d10 without shield.

Once the superior bastard sword enters the fray and gives the 1h fighter 1d10+shield while the 2h fighter is still stuck at 1d1ß without shield it would be time for a superior 2h sword with 1d12 without shield.

It's not that the greatsword is too weak for it's tier, it's fine compared to the 1h weapon of his tier, it's the lack of a 2h sword in the superior tier that could replace the greatsword.

 

[Family]

Falchion for the win.
- No feat required.
- +3 vs +2 to hit. (It is always better to hit than to do a bit more damage)
- 2 dice roll ups the damge average by a bit.
- Power Attack is possible.
- Useful with powers of upper tiers.
- High Critical is the cherry on top.

 

[med stud]

Of course the bastard sword is stronger than the 2H- sword, it takes a feat to use it.

I think this is one of the 4e "monks", so to speak. It looks bad, but I suspect it will come to play out well.

Also, about shields: The largest defense bonus you can get from a shield is +3 and then it costs a feat. In 3e, a two handed sword had to match a potential +7 in defense. Therefore it makes sense that the twohander is downplayed.

 

[Mirtek]

Falchion for the win.
- No feat required.
- +3 vs +2 to hit. (It is always better to hit than to do a bit more damage)
- 2 dice roll ups the damge average by a bit.
- Power Attack is possible.
- Useful with powers of upper tiers.
- High Critical is the cherry on top.

Actually no, the damage of 2d4 (5.0) is lower than the damage of 1d10 (5.5).

The high crit ability doesn't help in the heroic tier (+0.25 damage) and makes the scimitar equal in the paragon tier 0.25 better in the epic tier.

Of course the bastard sword is stronger than the 2H- sword, it takes a feat to use it.

Actually that is not a necessary consequence. As a 1h weapon that requires a feat it should of course be better than a 1h weapon that does not require a feat.

That it's also better than a 2h weapon shows that either the 2h weapon is too weak or that there is a lack of a 2h weapon requiring a feat which is better than the 1h weapon requiring a feat