The Arms Race of Races

[Mal Malenkirk]

I like the tiefling.

I'd like to try a tiefling swashbuckler (ranger) focusing on melee and two weapon fighting.

Bonus to Int means higher AC since he won't wear heavy armour.

Remember that +2 Int and +2 Cha gives a bonus to 3 of the four defenses. Not every races have such a good spread.

+1 to hit against bloodied enemy is sweet, especially since we know a ranger fighting with two weapons is liable to have some powers that let him attack twice. I's a bonus that will be used a lot and will translate into a lot of extra hits over time. Since this particular builld is a striker, these are heavy hits, with bonus hunter's quarry damage so it's extra nice. More importantly, it scales with my level which isn't the case of all the flashy powers (The teleport, for example).

Infernal wrath is wicked cool if you sneaked in a 16 charisma. I'd probably use it on my daily. And I'd wait for my enemy to be bloodied. +2 to hit and +3 damage on my daily? I say Yay.

Fire resistance is very sweet for more than the obvious reasons. It's great to coordinate with the wizard and make sure he learns some fire area effect... So when I'm getting swarmed/flanked, it's a solid option for the wizard to just send an area fire attack my way that catches everyone. With a good reflex save and fire resistance, this is an excellent scenario for our team in term of damage dealt/received.

So my tiefling darts in, strikes hard. When he smells blood, he's even nastier, making him a great finisher. And when things get too hot, he asks the wizard to carpet bomb his location.

Yes, tiefling can be very nasty.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

its good to hear that elves racial power is useful. I still wish they had a useful power outside of combat like the Eladrian

 

[That One Guy]

You know, that suddenly makes me think of a tactically-minded Tiefling Striker who goes in, hits hard, and then lures the baddies back to be hit by a wizard/dragonborn with a lot of fire.

Could be good times.

 

[Ulthwithian]

I must agree that Mal seems to have hit on one of the best ways to use a Tiefling. Generate as many attack rolls as possible on a single target. Don't mind as much about AoE fire damage incoming, because it will barely affect you.

Perhaps allowing the player to select a damage type for his resistance, similar to the way a Dragonborn can select his breath weapon 'type', could help.

 

[That One Guy]

Perhaps allowing the player to select a damage type for his resistance, similar to the way a Dragonborn can select his breath weapon 'type', could help.

Agreed. But, I think fire tends to be the generic PC's elemental damage type of choice, so I think it makes a good default. Maybe there's a feat to train an additional elemental resistance? That could be pretty sweet.

 

[Ulthwithian]

Well, fire was the elemental damage type of choice in previous editions. Of the Wizard spells we've seen thus far in 4E, I can't think of a single Fire spell that isn't AoE in nature. (The three I can think of are Flame Burst, Fireball, and that fire-ice spell in the teens.)

Really, the issue of Resistances comes down to the GM. The gamemaster knows the Resistances of the PCs better than the PCs know the Resistances of the monsters (and that is especially true of exception-based-design-driven 4E). If your gamemaster is the type of person who would never hit you with fire damage as a tiefling because you have Resistance, then it is clearly less useful to you.

 

[Incenjucar]

The thing with fire is that it's one of the few damage elements that's self-spreading, and is simply a larger natural possibility.

Other elements either require a highly specific environment or an uncommon source.

Fire?

Fire just needs a fuel, oxygen, and that first spark.

Really, tiefling fire fighters are a must for any decent-sized but flammable city or wooded region.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, fire was the elemental damage type of choice in previous editions. Of the Wizard spells we've seen thus far in 4E, I can't think of a single Fire spell that isn't AoE in nature. (The three I can think of are Flame Burst, Fireball, and that fire-ice spell in the teens.)

Really, the issue of Resistances comes down to the GM. The gamemaster knows the Resistances of the PCs better than the PCs know the Resistances of the monsters (and that is especially true of exception-based-design-driven 4E). If your gamemaster is the type of person who would never hit you with fire damage as a tiefling because you have Resistance, then it is clearly less useful to you.

That just means the PCs have to meta-game more themselves". "So, the DM would never target us with AoE Fireball spells since the Tiefling is resistant to it? Yay, we need one Mass Resist Energy spell less!"

 

[hong]

Huh. If I was DM, I'd target the PCs with fireball spells MORE if there was a tiefling present. It's all about giving the character the chance to showboat.

 

[That One Guy]

That just means the PCs have to meta-game more themselves". "So, the DM would never target us with AoE Fireball spells since the Tiefling is resistant to it? Yay, we need one Mass Resist Energy spell less!"

Which implies a counter meta of the dm knowing that and then hitting the non-tief w/ uber-fire.

Just saying.

I really am not a fan of meta-gaming, nor building scenarios to specifically foil my PCs/their features/powers... unless the badguys have encountered the PCs or spied on them and have anti-goodguy things going.

Edit: Throws a fireball at hong. ...j/k.