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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eamon" data-source="post: 4987832" data-attributes="member: 51942">I think changing the class bonuses is an overcomplicated idea - as a general fix.  Not all builds of a class have the same "poor" defense; and it requires actual decision making for each character thus.  In practice, for one group, this 'll be fine; but its a weakness of the approach that I don't like.For that matter, specialization per se isn't bad; it's the excessive specialization we see.  I prefer the "raise all stats at 4/8/14/18/24/28" approach - simple and not-too-fiddly.  It also ameliorates excesses in skill overspecialization, and reduces the impact of some poorly chosen stat prerequisites in PHB1 (where the prerequisites suddenly make some builds much less viable than others for no particularly clear reason - and thus penalize those that don't preplan characters fully).  It also ameliorates AC problems in basic builds like the Con/Cha warlock or the Con/Wis shaman, and turns hide armor expertise from an OMG must-have into a just very nice feat for Con-heavy light armor builds.If this overpowers PC's, an easy fix would be to simply increase monster damage - or just use an extra elite now and then.  Then again, it's par for the course to give strong parties stronger encounters, so most DM's shouldn't have a problem raising overall difficulty so long as the intra-party balance remains OK.</blockquote>