The Essentials articles are atrocious.

[Cadfan]

My problem with CharOp isn't the math or the theory. I like math, and I like theory.

My problem is their issues with basic literacy. Part of literacy is the ability to recognize when a passage of text has multiple possible meanings, and the ability to recognize multiple arguments for the various possible interpretations. Part of literacy is recognizing different styles of writing (technical, informal, etc), and how those affect the way we should read text.

CharOp as a community is a group of people who need absolute technical precision with no ambiguities or unanswered questions. Because they need that, they have collectively come to view the world and the D&D rules in particular as actually providing that. And because insisting that the D&D rules have technical precision and a lack of ambiguity (coupled with a desire to find ways to optimize a character) often leads to results that in game would be bizarre, they rationalize that away as well.

If I want to deal with people who think that way, I can go to work.

 

[catsclaw227]

I am not a huge fan of optimizing every element down to the .5 dpr (or even the 1-2 dpr difference). I want to have fun at the game table. Dice can do some interesting things.

I would agree that some of the ability array's are odd. That said, I think the articles are interesting and I don't think that they do any disservice to players, new or old.

It's not like they are trying to tell everyone how to play. They're small articles offering light advice. Some are better than the others. But I would argue that the whole series is "atrocious".

 

[Rechan]

Sure Strike is a great power to fall back on when facing, say, solo soldiers or hobgoblins with Phalanx Fighter up the wazoo. +2 to hit in exchange for not adding Str to damage? Specially with low-accuracy, high damage weapons (including a few brutal ones)? Not a bad trade!

Heh, that very situation came up in our last combat: hobgoblins using phalanx. Our fighter rolls terrible, but he managed 14 damage with SS.

Although, honestly, Brash Assault is the better Sure Strike. It has the same +2 to attack, which grants str damage, AND additional damage equal to your con.

The drawback is combat advantage, but it's definitely a good tradeoff compared to SS.

Have to agree with OP, is that information useful for people?

I sent the Warden article to a player who was confused by how his warden worked. Among other things, it taught him about his marking mechanic.

 

[Rechan]

As a side note, I think that CharOp has one real good feature that WotC is just now starting to use:

Rules troubleshooting.

With the Class Acts wizard article, one of the designers posted in the CharOps boards with 3 optional ways to do automatic damage, and asked the CharOps guys to break them. That lead to handling the Arcane Arrow power.

Just think, if WotC had done that a year ago, they wouldn't have had to errata the Battlerage Vigor build.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Just one thing.

On the 15 strength. Yes, 15 Strength seems like a bad idea for a fighter. However, 17 strength isn't anywhere as bad. 18 is considered to be the minimum starting attack stat for most characters. In the case of a fighter that is using one of the builds with a built in +1 to hit, and sword and board is less concerned with pure damage output, so the extra damage from a high attack stat is less important.

They could have done a better job of adressing racial modifiers and the like. The sword and board concept they were pushing may have been more effective as 16/14/14/13/10/8 (with 13 for Con) it would still give the bonus to Dex and Wis so that all the defenses were supported, and wouldn't have a huge effect on hp/surge value. And a sword and board fighterwould be aiming for shield specialization probably (or a heavy armor spec with paragon defenses), so in neither case would it need the 15 con going into the paragon tier (not to mention, the lower attack bonus would want a heavy blade over an axe or hammer, again deemphasizing con).

Still, a 15 STR for a single weapon fighter using a longsword would have a better to-hit chance than the battlerager with 16 STR.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

"This is what we have been waiting for. Since the khopesh is a heavy blade and an axe, we can take the Deadly Axe paragon feat and add 2d8 damage to all of our critical hits, and we can reroll 1s on that damage too!"

The khopesh is totally brutal, and therefore, is totally metal.

 

[M.L. Martin]

CharOp as a community is a group of people who need absolute technical precision with no ambiguities or unanswered questions. Because they need that, they have collectively come to view the world and the D&D rules in particular as actually providing that. And because insisting that the D&D rules have technical precision and a lack of ambiguity (coupled with a desire to find ways to optimize a character) often leads to results that in game would be bizarre, they rationalize that away as well.

Now you've got me wondering what would happen if we airdropped a bunch of HERO System Rulebooks (4th, 5th, 5th Revised or 6th--take your pick) on CharOp. Would they go into rapture over the possibilities for character customization and detail, or would the room for GM discretion and multiple ways to build something break their minds?

 

[EarthSeraphEdna]

Sure strike is one of those powers that actually is useful, but not to people who just want to maximize their character's damage output. There's a reason why it's recommended for a sword and board fighter. Once you get to paragon, a sword and board fighter with Heavy Blade Opportunity can use sure strike as his opportunity attack. As a sword and board fighter, you're not caring that much about damage on the opportunity attack, just hitting so you can stop the monster's movement. Between a decent to high strength, the higher proficiency bonus from a longsword, adding your wisdom bonus to opportunity attacks, fighter weapon talent, heavy blade opportunity, combat reflexes and sure strike, you've just turned a good chance to stop an enemy's movement with an opportunity attack to a nearly guaranteed chance to stop an enemy's movement. That's what a sword and board fighter does, and that's why they do it well.

Basic math time, people.

Level 1 sword-and-board fighter with 18 Strength and Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword) vs. Hobgoblin Commander, Level 5 Soldier, with Phalanx Soldier (AC 23):
Attack Bonus: +7 (4 Strength modifier + 3 proficiency)
Hit Chance (Melee Basic): 25%
Hit Chance (Sure Strike): 35%
Average Damage on a Hit (Melee Basic): 9.5
Average Damage on a Hit (Sure Strike): 5.5
Average Damage on a Swing (Melee Basic): 2.375
Average Damage on a Swing (Sure Strike): 1.925

Level 1 sword-and-board fighter with 18 Strength and Weapon Proficiency (Waraxe) vs. Hobgoblin Commander, Level 5 Soldier, with Phalanx Soldier (AC 23):
Attack Bonus: +6 (4 Strength modifier + 2 proficiency)
Hit Chance (Melee Basic): 20%
Hit Chance (Sure Strike): 30%
Average Damage on a Hit (Melee Basic): 10.5
Average Damage on a Hit (Sure Strike): 6.5
Average Damage on a Swing (Melee Basic): 2.1
Average Damage on a Swing (Sure Strike): 1.95

As you go higher in the levels, things are still stacked against Sure Strike. Oh, sure, your opportunity attacks are more accurate with them. That is wonderful. Meanwhile, the sword-and-board fighter with the wiser power selection can use Footwork Lure or Tide of Iron on an opportunity attack, stopping the enemy's movement and bringing herself and her foe to a more advantageous position, also getting to be more useful on her own turns since she has a choice between two very nice at-wills. And dealing more damage while at it too.

 

[Runestar]

How exactly do the characters in these articles stack up against optimized PCs? As in, how big is the power disparity?

I can't comment since I don't subscribe and so cannot view those articles. But I used to purchase dragon magazines, which had articles on building 3e characters, and the advice was horrible. The builds were literally multiclassed to uselessness.

I do know of that one free 4e excerpt which offered advice on how to build a fighter/mage. Really terrible advice, what with taking magic missile as an encounter power and all.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Basic math time, people.

Basic Sanity: If playing a game requires spreadsheets, you're doing it wrong.