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

[shadowoflameth]

I read a tale on another board about how a table almost came to blows over Rain of Blows - apparently a Tempest fighter with a Bloodclaw weapon using Rain of Blows was obliterating enemies every single combat and it was frustrating the rest of the group and people were asking the player to tone down RoB, but he refused and things got heated.

It was a bit shocking to me, but I'd say that it's fair to apply the "broken game" moniker in that instance.

Tables like that are why WOTC markets the game to ages 10 and up.

besides, it sounds like it's time in that game for some enemies that make melee more of a challenge, or avoid it, not for blaming the player making effective ue of his character's powers.

 

[shadowoflameth]

I'm reasonably sure everyone here is aware that it works only when you hit. But even you recognize that it will be used when "he's sure he'll hit". See how it works when the human Paladin from Chauntea with Action Surge, a Lance of Faith power bonus, combat advantage and a Tactical Warlord ally crits in 4 of 5 encounters. Let's just say it isn't all that difficult to pull off.

Saying that it uses up channel divinity doesn't mean much. If there are no undead, a Cleric is only giving up +1 on their next attack. A Paladin gives up allowing an ally to make a save with their CHA bonus. An Avenger gives up giving an ally a reroll (which IS rather good).

Saying it uses up a minor action doesn't mean all that much either. Even though all the classes that make use of RRoT actually do use minor actions, in many cases swapping out a move action or not healing/challenging/oath targetting that round isn't too difficult.

Saying it uses up an attack power is meaningless. What ELSE are you doing with your standard action???

As for using a feat, so what? A feat to get a good chance of a once per encounter crit is the issue here.

You can certainly see that it dwarfs to oblivion the Divine Strength Channel Divinity Paladin feature, right? I'm surprised RRoT isn't higher on the list.

These are all valid points certainly, but the other party members powers mentioned here are for the exact purpose of making it easy to pull off. It doesn't make any one of those powers broken either. What you're saying though is that the power is broken in part because the other party members break it by helping on their turns to set up a 'big bada boom'.

In play for the last year with 4e, my group has found crit dependant powers to be over rated. with 5 playes and an average of 5 rounds per fight, chances are somone will crit anyway, and if it was that concerning, then have the player get on the bad side of the church of Tempus, and have an avenger show up invoke his oath of enmity on him, and use the same power against him.

 

[Regicide]

It would not prevent thirst or starvation, as in past edditions, these and other conditions cannot be cured without ending the cause first. Just as drowning cannot be healed without getting the victim out of the water.

Starvation works by: a) causing damage once per day, b) not letting you get back healing surges. This power means you never need to eat or drink. Yes, you will be out of healing surges, but at full HPs and it makes doing things like, say, crossing a desert without food and water a reality.

Maybe it opens up some things for the DM, like being able to find a prisoner in an abandoned dungeon who has spent the last 50 years keeping himself alive by the power, but in the hands of the party it means there are a bunch of things the DM can no longer challenge the party with.

 

[Kordeth]

Starvation works by: a) causing damage once per day, b) not letting you get back healing surges. This power means you never need to eat or drink. Yes, you will be out of healing surges, but at full HPs and it makes doing things like, say, crossing a desert without food and water a reality.

Maybe it opens up some things for the DM, like being able to find a prisoner in an abandoned dungeon who has spent the last 50 years keeping himself alive by the power, but in the hands of the party it means there are a bunch of things the DM can no longer challenge the party with.

Given that the starvation rules as presented already allow a first-level character to survive without any food at all for nearly two months (and that's assuming he fails every single save), I'm not really sure Unicorn's Touch is that wonky. The easy fix is to alter the deprivation rules to say "once a character has lost all healing surges due to deprivation, he cannot regain any lost hit points, even if the healing effect doesn't require the use of a healing surge."

 

[Fundin Strongarm]

In play for the last year with 4e, my group has found crit dependant powers to be over rated. with 5 playes and an average of 5 rounds per fight, chances are somone will crit anyway, and if it was that concerning, then have the player get on the bad side of the church of Tempus, and have an avenger show up invoke his oath of enmity on him, and use the same power against him.

This isn't so much a crit dependant power as much as it is one that gets you a crit more often. If all 5 players had this power you'd see several crits per encounter.

Your DM fiat solution doesn't work very well for RPGA-LFR games, btw. In a home game it is much easier to substitute the equivalent Kord version (which I did in mine). (Of course, using a broken/overpowered feat/power against the party doesn't mean it's not a broken/overpowered feat/power.)

 

[Tarrl]

What do you all think of Spitting Cobra Stance?

 

[keterys]

Pretty awful (and I don't mean it performs poorly), but not terribly encountery

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

What do you all think of Spitting Cobra Stance?

As others said, I think it's a daily. But it is also a power that primarily does damage and needs to be compared to other dailies. In a really large combat with lots of foes, it is amazing. In smaller combats, it is somewhat underwhelming--especially if the bad guys are focused on one of your melee allies anyway. Of course, since it's a daily, you only use it in the combats where it is good, but I don't think it's broken unless you do something like take it as a multiclass feat and combine it with magic missile, white lotus riposte, etc.

 

[Tuft]

Of course, since it's a daily, you only use it in the combats where it is good, but I don't think it's broken unless you do something like take it as a multiclass feat and combine it with magic missile, white lotus riposte, etc.

Had one such instance in a game yesterday. The encounter consisted of an ogre leader and 30 or so ogre minions. With a bunch of action points, the team's three strikers made mincemeat of the leader in the first few rounds, and then the minions rushed into the Warlock's (ranger multiclass) cobra stance.... I think there were three or four minions left after that.

 

[CapnZapp]

Given that the starvation rules as presented already allow a first-level character to survive without any food at all for nearly two months (and that's assuming he fails every single save), I'm not really sure Unicorn's Touch is that wonky. The easy fix is to alter the deprivation rules to say "once a character has lost all healing surges due to deprivation, he cannot regain any lost hit points, even if the healing effect doesn't require the use of a healing surge."

I think you're missing the point here. If UT was fixed, you didn't have to come up with fixes to the starvation rules.

In other words, the point is: why not fix the problem (unlimited surgeless healing) at its root?