D&D 4E Top 5 Encounter Powers That Need Fixing in 4e

I'm not too worried about Rain of Blows, given that it has such steep entry requirements. It's awesome if you've sunk a lot into your Dexterity and if you're using some pretty specific weapons, but many Fighters haven't.

RRoT is broken as hell. It's an insane power, IMHO.

Unicorn's Touch doesn't bother me any more than it ever has. It's possible to tweak it, but it requires some extreme specialization. I'm fine with it.
 

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From a different perspective, I haven't been happy with powers that let you trick or force enemies to attack each other. They're too situational, and even worse, the designers don't seem to have fully grasped the math involved in needing to successfully attack one monster in order to give it the chance to successfully attack another monster, at which point you finally deal damage.

For example, Turathi Highborn, selected by one of my players because it really fits her character, has "Bolts of Bedevilment." It says Bolts plural, but it only attacks one enemy. If you hit, that enemy makes a basic attack as a free action against another enemy. The enemy gets a +2 on the attack roll, and deals an extra 2d6 fire damage.

That may seem nice at first, but think about it. First you've got to have an enemy eligible to attack an ally without moving, but lets ignore that. Lets say you have a 60% chance of hitting with the bolts. Then the enemy has to attack its ally, which means maybe a 60% chance of hitting again due to the bonus you've granted it. Then it does regular damage +2d6.

Well, you're already looking at a 36% chance of actually dealing damage. And then the damage you deal is about equal to a regular level 11 encounter power, maybe.

It seems like the coolness of controlling an enemy caused the designers to overvalue the power. Even in optimal situations (forcing a solo to attack another enemy, for example) you're still not looking at good damage simply because of the terrible, terrible chance of hitting.

My group's solution, by acclimation, is to let Bolts of Bedevilment attack two enemies. I've felt like a lot of powers of this type seem underpowered, but this is the only one our group uses, so its the only change I've made.
 

re: STUN condition

I dont think we need to lose the STUN condition...It's fine I find ironically versus minions, regular monsters and even elites...It is just plain horrendous though against Solos (especially the MM1 solos).

D&D has never really understood the fact that when it comes to Solo monsters, you really have to ignore every rule/suggestion when creating a monster.

Personally, my answer is to work on the SOLO monster design (and I think WOTC agree with me)...It is much harder to stunlock a MM2 solo than it was to stunlock a MM1 solo.
 

Personally, my answer is to work on the SOLO monster design (and I think WOTC agree with me)...It is much harder to stunlock a MM2 solo than it was to stunlock a MM1 solo.

I agree. Lots of powers break down when the dynamics of the fight changes dramatically like that found in a solo fight. Stun vs. solos should only take out one of their attacks or something similar rather than incapacitate them completely.
 

I dont think we need to lose the STUN condition...It's fine I find ironically versus minions, regular monsters and even elites...It is just plain horrendous though against Solos (especially the MM1 solos).

My problem is, the condition sucks against players. Have a 3-man party fight 3-4 ghouls, and watch how frustrating it can get. In a 6-man party it's not terrible when 1 person is stunned, except that one person has to wait for 10 player turns and a number of DM turns, before he gets to act again, assuming he doesn't get stunned one more time.
 

Ah crap...just re-read Storm of Blades. It sais "The target or another"...yea, thats too powerful!!!

Ah well, house rule time :)
 
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My problem is, the condition sucks against players. Have a 3-man party fight 3-4 ghouls, and watch how frustrating it can get. In a 6-man party it's not terrible when 1 person is stunned, except that one person has to wait for 10 player turns and a number of DM turns, before he gets to act again, assuming he doesn't get stunned one more time.

That is relatively easy to modify on my part since as the DM, I'm the one who decides what monsters to use...For example, I would still use ghouls but like you noted, it isn't that bad if only a couple people get stunned...
 

#1 Rain of Blows (PHB, Fighter Attack 3) – A potential 4 attacks against a single target

I just looked up and read the power description and I don't understand it. Could someone quickly explain how that power would yield 4 attacks against the target? (sorry if I'm being dense - I'm new to the edition)
 

I just looked up and read the power description and I don't understand it. Could someone quickly explain how that power would yield 4 attacks against the target? (sorry if I'm being dense - I'm new to the edition)

It doesn't. I suppose people don't know how to read,

"Encounter ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Primary Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC, two attacks
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Weapon: If you’re wielding a light blade, a spear, or a flail
and have Dexterity 15 or higher, make a secondary attack.
Secondary Target: The same or a different target
Secondary Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage."

Even with a most generous reading it would be 3 attacks. But it really only does 2[W] and 2 X str mod damage.

If it did more damage than that it would say "1[W] + Strength modifier damage per attack" like the ranger powers do.
 


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