What's broken/overpowered? What's weak?

[GoodKingJayIII]

Actually I don't think it's funny that a superior 1handed weapon is better than a military 2handed weapon, especially if there is no superior 2handed weapon being better than the 1handed bastardsword to fill the gap (at least according to what people tell).

From the limited info we have sword&board is just superior to 2handed.

A trade off would be less damage but more AC vs. more damage but less AC. But we get same damage and more AC, that doesn't sound balanced.

I'm going to say this again, because I think many people are not very aware of it, and it is a marked difference from 3rd edition.

Based on my reading of the PHB, bonuses to hit are extremely rare. That +3/1d10 Greatsword is a much more reliable weapon than that +2/2d6 Maul. Also consider if you're going to compare the Bastard Sword to the Greatsword, the Greatsword wielder has an extra feat to spend as he wishes. That is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[themilkman]

One interesting thing I noticed... I'm not sure that it counts as overpowered or broken, since I haven't really explored it in practice, but it's certainly an interesting thing to note: Weapon powers that attack defenses other than AC have a much greater chance of hitting.

Weapon powers get proficiency bonuses to hit, which is offset by the fact that weapon powers usually attack AC. AC for most mobs is 1-3 points higher (due to armor bonuses) than their other defenses. Most attacks against Fort Reflex and Will are implement attacks, so they don't gain weapon proficiency bonuses.

The rogue, in particular, has a lot of powers that can take advantage of his dagger bonuses (+1 to hit from class feature and +3 from dagger proficiency) but attack the weaker defenses, rather than AC. Piercing Strike, as just one example, is an at-will weapon power that attacks reflex defenses. Kobold Dragonshields have an AC of 18, but a Reflex of 13. Even the more Dex-heavy Kobold Skirmishers have an AC of 15 and a Reflex of 14. In fact, in KotS, artillery mobs are the only ones that have AC that is the same as their other defenses. Against all other mobs, Weapon vs. Fort/Reflex/Will attacks will net a 5-25% greater chance to hit.

I know that the rogue's a striker, so he's supposed to hit, but this is an advantage that even the other strikers don't have. Rangers mostly attack AC, and Warlocks use implements.

Once again, I'm not sure whether it's actually that important in practice, and I'm not sure whether it shakes out the same way at higher levels.

 

[Cadfan]

I get the feeling a warlord (who pretty much has to stand at the front-line to do his thing) utility power tied to the same condition, granting whoever scored the critical hit a pittance of temporary hit points and in the process provoking an OA, isn't exactly up to par either.

I don't have the book, but if the power you're describing gives a benefit to an ally who scores a critical hit, its actually much better than the other critical hit abilities. The chances of the warlord scoring a critical hit are low, but the chance of at least one ally scoring a critical hit isn't so bad.

I don't have the text to read the ability, but at least the odds of a crit are much better.

 

[The Grackle]

IMO, the 3 multiclass power swap feats (in which you trade a feat and a power for a power from another class) are too weak. I'll be houseruling them almost definitely. Current thought is to allow them to give an additional power 4 or more levels lower than your character level, rather than swapping.

That might be too powerful though considering how few powers one gets. I think getting rid of the swap feats would be better. Changing a power for a power seems more balanced than changing a power for a power AND a feat.

 

[Regicide]

Since powers stay, by and large, level appropriate, this is a bad idea. You're giving characters extra powers (which are strong) at the cost of feats (which are weak). It changes the situation from 'maybe weak', to 'no-brainer'.

There aren't any splat books yet. Feats will grow more powerful with them. The basic feats in the PHB in 3/.5 with a couple exceptions were pretty weak too. With a couple splat books worth of feats it was pretty easy to be quadrupling your damage output from the PHB.

 

[Voss]

Imban- Interesting analysis of the half-elf. Looking at it though, I'm not sure that the race itself is lacking, exactly (though the floating diplomacy bonus for others should certainly be kicked to the curb and exchanged for something good). Rather, I think its that the half-elf just doesn't mesh well with the classes in this book, since there no other primary-Con or Primary-Cha classes in the book, despite the veritable plethora of high charisma races. I suspect that when more classes appear, the half-elf is going to look a lot more appealing. I just wish they had meshed the races and classes together more effectively.

 

[Voss]

There aren't any splat books yet. Feats will grow more powerful with them. The basic feats in the PHB in 3/.5 with a couple exceptions were pretty weak too. With a couple splat books worth of feats it was pretty easy to be quadrupling your damage output from the PHB.

So on the basis that it will probably be broken later, we should just go ahead and break it now? That doesn't strike me as a good idea, even if they do cast feat balance to the winds in later books.

 

[shinmizu]

No matter how charismatic and diplomatic you are, you don't walk onto Jeopardy and try to sweet-talk Trebek into giving you the win.

Why not? Hell, I talked him into giving me his moustache a few years back. I will admit that was a mistake, as he looks really, really weird without it. Not as goofy as Commander Riker, though.

 

[mjukglass]

Dwarf and Eladrin makes fine warriors. Their racial feats makes up for the stat and then some.

On the same note, and feat, Eladrin makes fine warlords, warlords needs to hit things to do pretty much anything.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Reasons half elves are underpowered.

I'll try for half-elves.
POINT 1: - POINT 5:

Yay - I think 1/2 elves should be rare, and are found more as individuals than an actual race. In both 3rd and 4e I am in favor of them being a suboptimal choice. Good for the occasional RP concept, poor for general use.